Take 5: “Quirk”-y Cookbooks (Quirk Books Week)

This week is Quirk Books Week so we are all about Quirk Books.  This week all came about actually because I was browsing their website one day while starving and they have all these cool cookbooks. I sat there drooling on my keyboard.  Seriously, the L key now sticks.  So when the books came in the mail, my 2 girls were ecstatic.  They have looked through them several times and marked tons of things they want us to try.  So these Quirk cookbooks all get a multi-generational thumbs up.  They also all have the one thing I really care a lot about in cookbooks: colored pictures, not for every recipe necessarily, but they are all attractive and colorful.  That is important to me, I’m shallow that way.  Today I am going to give you an overview of the books and then the next 4 days I will outline some programming and party ideas for 4 of the books.

Marshmallow Madness by Shauna Sever

Here’s what I knew to do with marshmallows before this book: 1) put them in hot cocoa, 2) use them in S’mores, and 3) use them in Rice Krispie treats.  Here’s some things I learned after reading this book: 1) you can make your own marshmallows, 2) you can make them in a lot of fun shapes, and 3) you can make them in a lot of fun flavors.  You can even make chocolate filled marshmallows! And cocktail themed marshmallows! Also, if you make me the S’mores cupcakes that are in the book we can be best friends forever.  

On a Stick: 80 Party-Perfect Recipes by Matt Armendariz

Corn dogs and skewers and fair food . . . oh my! And by oh my, I mean oh my yum! This book is exactly what you think it is: a bunch of food recipes that involve putting food on a stick.  But it is more than corn dogs (which, by the way, I adore) . . . There are sweet potato wedges,cake pops, candy apples, popcorn balls and more.  Sometimes the stick is food itself, such as the chocolate-tipped peppermint sticks, but most of the time the stick is just a vehicle for getting the food from the plate to your mouth – and I’m okay with that.  I was amazed by the creative recipes they put together.

Pops: Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella

When we were kids, my brother and I used to like to pour Kool Aid into ice cube trays with some tooth picks. Voila! We had our own ice pops.  We thought we were pretty cool like that.  This book proves we were totally amateurs.  There are recipes for healthy energy pops, fruit juice pops, soda fountain pops, coffee and tea pops, cream and pudding pops and – yes – cocktail pops.  Some of them are all layered and stripy looking, so take that Martha Stewart.

Sprinkles: Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts by Jackie Alpers

I am not exaggerating when I share that last year for Christmas we got the girls this small suitcase thing of sprinkles for Christmas.  So I needed this book, needed it I tell you! Because all I could figure out to do with them was to make cookies.  The first thing you need to know is that this is not just a book about sprinkles.  For example, it had a doughnut recipe in it so that you can make your own doughnuts – with sprinkles, of course.  Really, it’s a book of recipes for foods that are made more fun and festive with sprinkles.  The recipes include things like Gingersnap Cookie Butter, Rainbow Layer Cake and French Toast.  But it *does* also have some fun things you can do with sprinkles, like making party spoons that you can dip into a warm drink and stir or making festive rimmed glasses.  The Tween says this is her favorite of the 5 books.

Tiny Food Party: Bite-Size Recipes for Miniature Meals by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park

Everything about this title is epic: Tiny. Food. Party.  How can you not want to do this? If you don’t, you have a coldness in your heart that can only be rivaled by the pre-Christmas singing in Whoville Grinch; you know, when his heart was 3 sizes to small.  So this is obviously a bunch of tiny food recipes and ideas.  There are tiny Pop Tarts people! You can make your own tiny Pop Tarts.  Miniature meat loaves. L’il Hostess Cupcakes.  And they have outlined some great party themes for you and put the recipes into fun menu categories for: a Tiny Picnic, a Tiny Vegetarian Food Party, a Tiny Comfort Food Party (great for taking over to a newly dumped friend’s house), and a Tiny Fiesta Food Party (great for multicultural days).  Basically, this is the best recipe book ever.

As part of Quirk Books Week, Quirk Books has generously donated a prize package for one lucky winner that will include 2 of the above cookbooks, a copy of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, the first book of the Lovecraft Middle School series, and a copy of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. I’ve tried to give you as many ways as possible to enter so pick the one (or ones) that work best for you and do the Rafflecopter thingy below.  The giveaway closes on Saturday, December 14th and is open to U.S. Residents.  The books will be sent to you from Quirk Books and they are worth it.

Filed under: Cookbooks, Cooking, Quirk Books