The Shower Diva: Where Fun Reigns!

The Bubbly Bride: Your Ultimate Wedding Cocktail Guide by Natalie Bovis-Nelsen

Whether you're throwing an intimate bridal shower, wedding brunch or fabulous all out reception, keep a copy of The Bubbly Bride in hand!

Preggatini's author, Natalie Bovis-Nelsen, professional mixologist blogs and mixes spirits for a living. With her new book, The Bubbly Bride: Your Ultimate Wedding Cocktail Guide, Natalie guides readers through outfitting a home bar, hand-crafting simple syrups for signature cocktails, and today's chic flavors. Are you ready to learn champagne basics or how to put a libation twist on pre and post wedding parties?

A perfect little bartender's bible for the newlywed's household, The Bubbly Bride's washable cover is au courant, complimenting the contents. For those who don't know the difference between a shot glass or a shaker, The Bubbly Bride will be their go-to handbook.

We've mixed up a few of the more than 70 tasty cocktails to try; just the names invite giggles and a race to grab the shaker and ice! Try Battling the Bridezilla jitters with a frosty flute of Chill Pill, filling a martini glass with a White Pomegranate Teani or raising a toast to the newlyweds with a Love in Bloom cocktail.

Don't get the idea these recipes are just for bridal showers and girly get-togethers. Bachelor parties can serve up more than a pony keg or cases of beer. You may have to arm wrestle the man in your life for your copy of The Bubbly Bride once he's mixed up the Jackalope, Dirty Harry or Bachelor Party Punch!

There are plenty of tried and true recipes plus new renditions of traditional favorites. The Bubbly Bride has suggestions for cocktails with muddled herbs, fruit, nuts, and yes, even vegetables.

We loved the idea of planning a function around personalized cocktails. Think of fruity cocktails and mocktails from a juice bar at the reception or creating designer cocktails that compliment the wedding menu.

From first blush to happily ever after, the contents of The Bubbly Bride guarantee glasses will be raised and sprits bright, toast after inventive toast. Order online today!

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

"If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens."
Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet

Homemade bread ... how easy it is to wax poetic about homemade bread. The fragrance, the snap of the crust as you first bite into it, the splendid burst of flavors on the tongue ... so satisfying. What food has more power to turn a cold house into a welcoming home?

Of course the problem with homemade bread has always been you needing all day Saturday to baby-sit the dough and who has time?

Enter Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. No seriously. Five minutes a day and you can have homemade bread any time you want it. We've proven it the Team Diva kitchen and it's ruined us for store-bought bread.

Coauthors Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, a scientist and professional baker respectively, have worked out a method of pre-mixing and storing high-moisture dough so you can basically hack off a piece of dough, let it rise a bit, and throw it in the oven. It's so easy, anybody can do it and it's so fast, it fits into any schedule.

Here's the thumbnail version of how it works:

1. You dump all the ingredients in a big tub and stir them up.
2. Let the big tub sit on the counter for a couple of hours and then stick it in the fridge for up to two weeks.
3. When you're ready for bread, pull out of chunk of dough, work it for 30 seconds and stick it on a baker's peel to rise for 30 or 40 minutes while the oven preheats.
4. Slide the dough onto a preheated bread stone and let it bake for 30 minutes or so.
5. Remove your crusty artisan loaf from the oven and avoid the temptation to cut into it for a few minutes or you'll burn the heck out of your fingertips.
6. Gobble up warm bread with butter, a bit of cheese, jelly, or whatever you like. Sharing with your family is good, but not absolutely required.

The book gives detailed instructions complete with photos and about 100 recipes for everything from a basic loaf to pizza crust, pastries, flat breads, succulent main dishes, and amazing desserts and snacks. So far, everyone we know who has tried this method has become a raving fan. We highly recommend you give your favorite Bride-to-Be a copy of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day along with a baking stone. Then get thee to her home for a "coffee date" on a regular basis because she'll be serving the freshest artisan bread in town. Order online.

If I'd Known Then: Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves

By Ellyn Spragins

When a woman is preparing to marry, she spends a great deal of time reflecting on her life - where she's been and where she's going. If I'd Known Then is a book that validates that process and provides a wealth of sage advice from famous women who have learned some lessons the hard way and survived to thrive.

Among women, sharing stories of joys, hardships, laughter and tears is a way to gain some of the strength and savvy of our sisters and elders and integrate that into our own lives. If I'd Known Then enlarges the circle for all women. Take a closer look by reading Ellyn Spragins' May 2008 guest contributor article for TheShowerDiva.com. Then order If I'd Known Then: Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves for your favorite bride-to-be.