SLOB IN THE KITCHEN: Entertaining Advice and Recipes from a Housewife Superstar

Fans of Karen "Duff" Duffy's straightforward voice and offbeat sense of humor will be delighted by this book, which mixes recipes and entertaining tips with a bit of celebrity name-dropping and plenty of cooking tips and terminology. The former model, MTV VJ and Revlon spokeswoman shares recipes ranging from incredibly easy (the bulk of the book's offerings) to fairly tricky. Duffy isn't concerned with fat, calorie or carb content—butter, eggs, sugar and salt figure prominently in most recipes, and she begins the "Breadwinners" section by proclaiming, "Forget the Atkins diet." Among the simple, hearty dishes are Chicken Lime Soup with Tortillas, and Roasted Mashed Sweet Potatoes. A mother herself, Duffy also features clever kid-friendly recipes, such as Peanut Butter and Jelly Sushi. Her cooking advice is sound, and the glossary, equipment list and produce notes at book's end are useful. Although Duffy's humor does get a bit wearying, readers will surely warm to many of her suggestions (e.g., cooking eggs "Karaoke Style"), and find themselves fascinated by Duffy's recipe for "Gravy-Scented Candles," which aid nicely in Duffy's mission: looking like you "tried" by exerting only minimal effort in the kitchen. You may not need to be a perfectionist to be a superstar homemaker, but Duffy wants others to think you sure tried hard. (July)