One of my all-time favorite reads: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth, by Jill O’Connor.  I DREAM about the desserts in this book.  The book is excellent in all aspects – gorgeous photos, great recipes, whimsical writing, and a deliciously girly design.  I think the design of this book is my favorite part.  The book is filled with polka dots, candy cane stripes, italics, and pastel colors. 

 All the photos also have that pretty charm, with stripes, ribbons, and pastels galore.  And the book is chockfull of drool-inducing recipes, such as Dark Chocolate Soup with Cinnamon-Toasted Pound-Cake Croutons, Triple Layer Chocolate Silk Martinis, Milky Way Tempura-on-a-stick and those Cheesecake Pops that have been popping up everywhere in the dessert blogosphere.  I especially enjoy Jill’s writing in this book!  The introduction is my favorite part, as it references culinary highlights found throughout literature (in Willy Wonka, Little Women, The Secret Garden…).  The book also includes many easy and informative tutorials, such as the difference between caramel and butterscotch, and cute stories introducing every recipe. 

  I’ve had this book since it was published, and it never gets old.  I repeatedly go back to it, not only for recipes, but to READ!  I have to rank it up there with Harry Potter, on my list of favorite books. 

This book is my idea of heaven in paper format. 

You can find her recipe for Triple Chocolate Cookies here and Banana Bread Pudding with Hot Fudge and Toasted Walnuts here.

“…Food isn’t just substance.  It is adventure.  It is magic.  It is abundance, luxury, and excess, all tied up into on big, pink, innocent bow of childlike glee.”  Jill O’Connor