Oct. 7th: Edible gifts that are dressed to impress October 7, 2011

With a little DIY savvy, Dinah Corley helps you give your next foodie present in style

WHAT: There’s nothing like giving someone a thoughtful, handmade gift. Especially when it came from your oven or mixing bowl: A batch of Sugar Pumpkin Chutney, or perhaps some delectable Strawberry Shortcake Trifle. But now that the cooking is finished, how do you wrap it? Can you craft a package that’s as classy as its contents?

In Gourmet Gifts: 100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion to Make Yourself and Wrap with Style (Harvard Common Press, November 2011, $19.95), longtime Martha’s Vineyard cooking teacher and food writer Dinah Corley shows readers how to cook and wrap their gifts with love. The result? Edible gifts that dazzle, before they reach a single tastebud.

After culling 30+ years of collected recipes for the very best travel-ready gifts, Dinah crafted eye-pleasing packages for each one. From money-saving gifts to opulent special-occasion gifts, foods that ship well over a long distance, gifts for people who are under the weather, and loads of ideas for the holidays, Dinah’s food crafts – shot in full-color by Alison Shaw – strike the perfect balance between tasty and pretty.

WHEN & WHERE: Cooking school teacher and author Dinah Corley presents her upcoming book Gourmet Gifts: 100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion to Make Yourself and Wrap with Style at a book signing and cooking / crafting demonstration.

Foodies and craft enthusiasts are invited to join her Friday, October 7, 7:30pm, at Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Martha’s Vineyard (44 Main St., Vineyard Haven, MA 02568, 508-693-2291). Dinah will be cooking as well as crafting - she'll make several recipes and then show us how to wrap them beautifully to present as gifts.

She will be joined by the book’s photographer, Alison Shaw, who will discuss her photography in the book and answer questions from the audience.

WHO: Dinah Corley is a lifelong cooking teacher, food writer, restaurant consultant and gift-giver. During her culinary training, she apprenticed to Simone Beck, and studied under both Julia Child and James Beard. After nearly 20 years of cooking in Martha’s Vineyard and Washington DC, she is now based in the Shenandoah Valley, where she continues to teach cooking classes. Find her online at: DinahsGourmetGifts.com

"Good food and generosity--what a wonderful, immediately appealing premise for a cookbook! With salt-cured whole lemons preserved in extra-virgin olive oil, and eggplant spread in a crisp wonton wrapper, there seems to be no end to the creative treats Dinah Corley provides here. Tempting is hardly a sufficient word for them. Alison Shaw's photographs are feasts for the eye." —David McCullough, author of The Greater Journey and John Adams

Official Website: http://www.dinahsgourmetgifts.com/