Sweet Gratitude: Bake a Thank-You for the Really Important People in Your Life

I just received the book this afternoon, and within five minutes I had already chosen a recipe I wanted to try. I was able to jump right in since most of the recipes don't require exotic ingredients. I started with the "melt-in-your-mouth coconut macaroons." While I didn't get 60 cookies, as the recipe indicates, they were incredibly easy to make and the lightest macaroons I have ever tasted. I will make these for my Christmas baskets this year. The book is wondeful, and you won't regret buying it.

Usually when I use a cookbook, I prepare a recipe and return the book to the shelf. Sweet Gratitude has been on my kitchen counter for weeks as I try to keep up with end-of-the-year school parties, summer picnics, baseball practice, and the list goes on. Every recipe I've tried has been excellent--Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies for my husband's office party, Peanut Butter Cookies with Crunch for a PTA meeting, Cupcakes for Busy Moms for my son's t-ball team, Lemon Mousse and Brown Sugar Shortbread for a dinner party, and Little Lemon Loaves for my daughter's school picnic. If it sounds like I'm exaggerating, I'm not! When you bake from this book you give the thank you and you get an even bigger one back.

I have ordered every gifts from the kitchen book I ever heard of, but was usually deeply disappointed. IMHO, only five are worth owning - and this is definitely one of them. Each recipe is preceded by a brief description of why it is special - and all are, indeed, special, often containing secret ingredients, such as pepper in ginger cookies. There are even wonderful slice and bake cookies. The recipes are awesome; don't miss this incredible book.

This is an absolutely charming book full of cute illustrations and top-notch recipes. The Super Fudgy Brownies are the best I've ever tried, and I've tried quite a few brownie recipes. I made the Totally Unlike Store-Bought Caramels and was floored by how deliciously chewy they were. The book also includes lots of helpful info on packing and shipping homemade sweets. You have MY gratitude, Judith Sutton!

Sutton is known for reliable, delicious, clear recipes. That should be enough to recommend it, but this wonderful book is so much more. Each recipe really makes for a memorable, tasty treat as special thank-you for a teacher, friend, or hostess. No kidding; when I took some cookies to a party of food-snobs, people went nuts over these delights! The beautifully written accompanying text and delightful illustrations raise this work above all others in its class: the book itself makes for a perfect Thank-You for the really important people in your life. This book makes you happy, and anyone who bakes will treasure it always. When is volume II?