BOOK TRAILER ALERT! Click on the D4T for a sneak peak into my upcoming book Desserts 4 Today - Flavorful Desserts with just FOUR INGREDIENTS. Official drop date is September 2010 but you can pre-order NOW and take advantage of unbelievable pricing! I'm looking forward to hearing all your comments.

Such a pretty cover! Check out the August issue of Bon Appetit for my  story The Big Chill ~ Six Spectacular Desserts to Help You Keep Your Cool. Recipes include Blackberry, Lemon & Gingersnap Cheesecake Pudding (cover recipe), Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream Cake with Orange Meringue, White Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie and Killer Ice Cream Sandwiches.

In the meantime, here's what's baking...

 Emergency Chocolate Cupcakes & Shortcut Marshmallow Butter Cream Frosting are up on the blog. These fast and easy recipes are just perfect when you need a dessert ASAP.....good stuff.

August 26th is the date of my next visit at Living Today w/ Mario Bosquez. This is one terrific show - loads of great info, recipes and guests. Mario is a gracious and fun host, Naomi always has interesting comments & questions and you must hear Chris chime in with his insightful and mouth-watering descriptions of whatever we are tasting that day. And, all the callers are big time baking fans -- love that!

Are you a CHEESECAKE fan? Check out FC's online Cooking Without Recipes --FC has turned my cheesecake feature (issue #104) into an interactive recipe maker, where you can play with all the various combos and get a finished recipe to print or save. http://www.finecooking.com/articles/cyor/cheesecake.aspx I test drove hundreds of cheesecakes this fun feature and I encourage you to make up your own combos. I swear, during testing/development, I felt like I was auditioning for The Cheesecake Factory reality show. Pretty cool stuff!

Do you suffer from"Pie Anxiety"? Even if you are a seasoned pastry pro, check out my series of finecooking.com baking videos. The vids focus on one of my fave subjects: Pies and Tarts. I'll show you 3 techniques for making flaky pie dough, fillings for both pies and tarts, my pre-fab lattice crust method that makes even a novice baker look like a pro , homemade (and easy) puff pastry and, of course, I'll relieve any and all of your 'pie anxiety' with tons of tips and hints. So check 'em out and let me know what you think.

And... a formal welcome and thanks for visiting abbydodge.com - a companion website for all my work in cookbooks, magazine articles, classes and events. I hope you find it to be a useful and refreshing resource. With 2 new cookbooks out in 2008, I've had the pleasure of meeting so many cooks and bakers of all ages! Thanks for coming out to meet me and for all your emails - Keep 'em coming! 2009 promises to bring more excitement and opportunities to hear from you so if you happen to be in a town I'm visiting, please stop in and say hi or, if not, listen in on my radio segments and check out my upcoming podcasts. Of course, you can always connect with me on Facebook and Twitter - it's easy.. just search "abbydodge"!

My Kids' cookbook, Around the World, is an award winner -- Good Morning America's Top 10 Cookbooks 2008; Parent's Choice Award 2008 + Cordon d'Or Culinary Academy Award 2008!! Like my first two immensely popular kids books - Kid's Baking and The Kid’s Cookbook - this new book is written for kids as well as the adults in their lives. Yes, indeed, I hear from many, many folks in the 20 and older category that cook from these books -- the recipes are that easy and that good! With foods like hummus and Pad Thai becoming as common as meatloaf and apple pie, kids today are growing up in an increasingly multicultural world, and with help from my new book, they can eat like it, too! I hope you'll agree that book is an essential feast for both the eyes and bellies of children (and their parents) everywhere. Click here for a peek inside the book and to order your copy.

And for home bakers, check out the NEW paperback edition of The Weekend Baker -- an indispensable guide to help you to fit baking into your busy life. It was voted one of the USAToday and Food & Wine's the top ten cookbooks of the year and was also honored as a 2006 IACP Cookbook Award Finalist.

As always, please keep me posted as to what's going on in your culinary world. I love hearing from readers and I make a point of answering everyone in a timely fashion. Your questions and comments help improve my work and, ultimately, make my next project better. Click on Ask Abby and, let me know what's cooking!