I got a press release last week for a new cookbook and knew immediately that I had to own it: Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes, by Jennifer McLagan. Um...how could you *not* want this book? Don't worry, it's not filled with recipes for triple-bacon-cheeseburgers. It's a celebration of fat in all its forms, from butter to goose fat to bacon. So you'll find recipes for both simple and sophisticated fare, like spaghetti with butter and sage, slow-roasted pork belly with fennel and rosemary, cassoulet, and a "perfect" BLT (with bacon mayonnaise!). I'm most intrigued by some of the desserts, however -- Bacon Fat Spice Cookies and Bacon Baklava (using actual cooked bacon, not rendered bacon fat) might be at the top of my list, and of course, there's plenty of recipes for sweets using lard. There's also a recipe for Marrow Rice Pudding, which scares me just a little.