Very Good Collection of Comfort Restaurant Food . `The Foster's Market Cookbook' by Sara Foster, with Sarah Belk King, I bought in my `buy everything I saw on the Food Network' phase, especially after I saw Sarah Foster demonstrate her killer sticky bun recipe on the Food Network's `In Martha's Kitchen' show. This was also in my sticky bun-baking period, before I gave it up as too much work and went back to straight breads.    One of the main reasons the book sat unopened on my shelves for so long was the fact that the `killer sticky bun' recipe was simply not that killer. Do not believe anyone when they say they have an easy sticky bun recipe, because it probably means the end result will fall below expectations. Around the same time, I did a sticky bun recipe from funny baker Wayne Harley Brachman, and that one didn't come up to snuff anyway. Leave it to Julia Child to come through for me. I did the sticky bun recipe in `Baking with Julia' and it was a LOT of work, but it in fact surpassed anything you can get from the mall.    But getting back to Sarah Foster's book, I have come back to it because I harbored s suspicion that there was some really good stuff in the book, and I was not disappointed.    Part of my attraction is that I am a sucker for any cookbook that covers sandwiches. While I think Foster's sandwich recipes are not as interesting or as complete as those in Nancy Silverton's whole book devoted to the subject, they are a great resource if you happen to have no other source of ideas for sandwiches.    Otherwise, the book covers everything you would expect, and it is especially strong on topics where you would expect expertise such as muffins, biscuits, scones, soups, salads, and egg dishes. On one of my favorite criteria for evaluating cookbooks, the recipe for a classic French omelet, Foster comes through like a champ. The only omelet tip she does not follow is to let the eggs come to room temperature before cracking and beating them, but then, this is probably quite impractical for a restaurant kitchen.    She is also quite good on another of my favorite criteria, the making of stocks. Her recipes are very good for non-foodies and people who care not for haute cuisine, as they do not take very long to produce a very acceptable chicken, vegetable, or beef stock. My only reservations may be that some of her suggestions may lead to waste perfectly good poached chicken on the one hand and include less than edible vegetable cuttings into stocks. There is a reason some people are hyperfussy about stock making. These are but two of the reasons.    I fully endorse Ms. Foster's recipes for muffins, biscuits, and scones. They are as good or better than recipes I have seen in books by professional bakers and books specializing in these subjects.    The hardest aspect of whether it is worth buying this book is how if will complement your current cookbook collection. If you are a cookbook collector, the question is moot. Nothing will stop you from getting this notable title. On the other hand, if all you have is `The Joy of Cooking', this would be a welcome supplement, as like fellow Martha Stewart alumnae, Ina Garten's early cookbooks, all the recipes come from a commercial kitchen which depends on their products for good business and the products are relatively easy to make.    This also means that the selection of recipes is very good fare for church bazaars and bake sales. While Foster is downsizing her recipes to household serving numbers, I am sure that her soups would work well at two to four to eight times her recipe size. Just be a little careful on multiplying some of the spicier ingredients.    I find all the recipes extremely well written. They are full of important details for amateur chefs and unlike some books, everything is printed in good old fashioned black and white with a little highlight shading here and there for sidebars. And, several dishes are presented in living color photographs, and little real estate is taken up by cutsie pics of Foster's Market staff and customers. My only argument with the layout of the book is the chapter title pages where the names of the recipes are written in a kind of multicolored hodgepodge, similar to the maddening typography in Jamie Oliver's otherwise excellent cookbooks.    Fostering this kind of material is what made Martha Stewart so respectable in what she did on her shows. Of this genre of cookbook, this is a very good sample. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for recipes from this `feel good market' venue. I think, for example, that it is more value for the money than Ina Garten's first cookbook.
Output: POS