Just Married & Cooking: 200 Recipes for Living, Eating, and Entertaining Together

Columnist and novelist Parkhurst (Belle in the Big Apple) and her chef husband, Briscione, present their "culinary guide to marital bliss," a compilation of recipes "accompanied by entertaining banter." The New York City authors and instructors of couple's cooking classes divide recipes into two main sections%E2%80%94"workhorse" dishes for everyday and recipes for entertaining and special occasions. A casual, but at times women's magazine tone%E2%80%94think sidebars with titles like "Prep Ahead for Nooky" and headlines including "Trading Onion Rings for Wedding Rings/Bar Food"%E2%80%94doesn't detract from the inspired recipes for hors d'oeuvres, mains, desserts, and cocktails. Many selections have a pronounced Southern influence, hailing from both authors' backgrounds, such as shrimp and grits with sherry; fried okra; and mint julep brownies. The obvious omission of how to divide up cooking tasks and work as a team in a kitchen, along with the multiple headnote references to the authors' lives, likes, and dislikes makes this more of a mini-memoir cookbook than instructional text, but well-thought-out dishes win out, making it a great gift for newly engaged, married, and domestic partners. (May)