Stirring Up Fun with Food: Over 115 Simple, Delicious Ways to Be Creative in the Kitchen

Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Gellar’s path from teenager to young mom is a trajectory undoubtedly mirrored by many of her fans, and they have a treat in store with this book, which goes beyond the merely aspirational and Pinteresty with blueprints for natural foods made from scratch that also manage to be cute and clever. Vegetables are allowed to be their own delicious selves, as in baked crunchy green bean “fries.” For each month, the proverbial busy mom gets a meal’s—or a party’s—worth of simple recipes that hang together. Some have show biz links, such as July’s Shark Week menu or May’s Star Wars menu (Gellar and husband Freddie Prinze Jr. voiced characters in an animated version of the franchise). Recipes are solid, thanks to coauthor Russo’s Martha Stewart Living background, and are as tempting for adults as for children—if a little weighted toward muffin-size versions of staples such as macaroni and cheese and shrimp lo mein, and a cheerful variety of food-on-a-stick that includes Caesar salad and latkes. Agent: Dan Strone, Trident Media Group. (Apr.)