Coming Up: Celebrity Italian Cookbook

I haven't been cooking much this week. I had a blast visiting my cousin in Connecticut early this week and since then I've been busy catching up with life and early preparations for our annual trek to the Adirondacks.
Instead of blogging about kitchen adventures, then, I'll mention that I'm waiting for Shut Up and Eat!: Mangia with Recipes and Stories from Your Favorite Italian-American Stars (Berkley; Oct., $24.95) by Tony Lip and Steve Prigge, which will feature family recipes from James Gandolfini, Chazz Palminteri, Lorraine Bracco and others. Right now, there's not even enough information available for me to provide a link, but I'm eager to borrow this one from the library.

The cookbook I most want to purchase these days is Cover and Bake: Casseroles, Pot Roasts, Skillet Dinners and Slow-Cooker Favorites by the editors of Cook's Illustrated. I've had it out from the library several days now, and I so appreciate the detailed discussion about the preparation and cooking of each dish. It's about 327 pages--filled with advice. I flipped when I went to Amazon and saw that Cover and Bake is part of their semi-annual sale and is 60% off. For $11.98 you get the book and a free copy of Cook's Illustrated. Terrific deal and one I couldn't resist.