Crabtree and Evelyn Cookbook: A Book of Light Meals and Small Feasts

``A well-stocked pantry is an essential requirement for today's cooking.'' Stocked amply with illustrations, this roseate, rubicund cookbook has the look of an overflowing dollhouse, packaged with the same quaintly domestic elan as Crabtree & Evelyn's specialty food product line--but blessedly free of injunctions to use this when assaying the recipes inside. Imaginative rehabs of old-fashioned standbys are organized into chapters on breakfast, brunch, lunch, picnics, tea, cocktails, dinner and supper, with themed menus (``Celebrating May,'' ``Herbal Extracts,'' ``Country Pursuits'') feyly festive but not yuppily grandiose in scope. (Granted, photos of bales of hay supporting a picture-perfect frittata and newly minted artichokes strain the limit.) Artful culinary makeovers include a succulent stand-in for everyday French toast--grilled jam sandwiches made from thick slices of brioche. Condiments, vinegars, oils, herbal infusions, sauces, extracts and flavorings are here in force, and strong, simple flavor combinations are another of the volume's hallmarks--e.g., frizzled ham (sliced and sauteed) on watercress. (Aug.)