Maida is very specific in her directions, to the point of nitpickiness, but if you can get past that, the recipes are first class. Every one I've tried has turned out delicious. Everyone loves the mint brownies (Chocolate Mint Sticks, not listed as brownies in the index), with the layer of mint frosting under a thin chocolate glaze. My copy is embarrassingly coated with splatters of all sorts from being on the counter when I cooked. ( )

A compendium of COOKIES: drop, bar, icebox, rolled and hand-formed. Written in the days before microwaves (for melting chocolate), it also has many ingredients verboten today: butter and eggs, for example. The instructions are not only clear, but complete. A real treasure. ( )