Loads of spice with a dash of sugar Just when you thought you’d seen every imaginable cake, pie or sugar rush-inducing treat, Sweet Memories: A Gingerbread Family Scrapbook will have you wondering who spiked the cookie dough. The answer is writer and cookbook author Sally Ryder Brady and her daughter Sarah Brady Underwood, a garden designer and cookie painter. Using a mixture of puns and other riffs on contemporary culture along with sprinkles, icing and anything else that can be applied to a cookie the pair let their imagination run wild in this kooky confection that tells the story of Fred and Ginger Bread in lovingly preserved photos (the old-fashioned photo corners are a nice touch).
Here is the couple’s wedding photo, the family’s cookie-cutter gingerbread house, the kids’ school pictures, Ginger wearing a black negligee while greeting the milkman. Witty illustrations by children’s book illustrator Sara Pinto augment the story. Pair this with cocoa or a box of tea, a set of cookie cutters and cookie dough (there’s a recipe at the end of the book) and you have a delicious gift package. *An occasional look at some of the stranger books.
