Italian Desserts or Venus in the Kitchen

Italian Desserts: Dolce Memories

Author: Irene Doti

This luscious collection of Italian desserts (dolci) is based on recipes brought to the United States in 1926 by the author's Italian immigrant family. Serving dolci is an important link to their heritage for Italian-American families working to preserve the rich traditions of the old country.

Tired of the same old thing? From biscotti to gelati, cakes to custards, the recipes in this special collection will delight your guests and tantalize your taste buds.

Try such rich, pleasing recipes as Apricot Marsala Biscotti, Nuns' Chatter Cookies, Sesame Brittle with Almonds, Lemon-Ricotta Filled Panettone, Chocolate-Espresso Cream Tarts, Lemon Ice, Date-Walnut Cassata and Zabaglione.

Irene Doti's recipes and accounts of her family's cooking traditions make this book a treasure to enjoy and share with your own family and friends.

Look this: Turning the Tables or Cocoa and Chocolate 1765 1914

Venus in the Kitchen: Or Love's Cookery Book

Author: Norman Douglas

The cult classic-now available for the first time with its original illustrations.

Toss your Viagra in the trash and make room on your shelf for Venus in the Kitchen, Norman Douglas' wry, eccentric, and highly practical collection of aphrodisiac recipes. Compiled by Douglas and his friends during their twilight years, it was intended for private use among those who were 'anxious to preserve for as long as may be possible the vitality of their youth and middle age'. Now, Venus in the Kitchen is available to all of us who crave an extra dose of vigor in our diets.

A whimsical marriage of the utilitarian and the absurd, this collection of over a hundred annotated recipes runs the gamut from the simple and delicious (almond soup) to the dangerously effective (hysterical water) to the downright ridiculous (sparrows' brains, crane). Complete with beautiful vintage illustrations, introductions by Graham Greene and Stephen Fry, and an unforgettable frontispiece by D.H. Lawrence (whom Douglas quipped 'certainly looked as if his own health would have been improved by a course of such recipes as I had gathered together'), Douglas' irreverent cookbook is a gift you can either slip discreetly under your lover's pillow, or keep for yourself.