Josey Baker's Josey Baker Bread
Get Baking, Make Awesome Bread

Thursday, May 1, 7 pm, Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing (3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton) 

This true entry-level bread-baking cookbook from Josey Baker (that's his real name!), a former science teacher turned San Francisco baking pro. Josey Baker Bread combines step-by-step lessons with more than 100 photographs, offering easy-to-follow guidance for aspiring bakers. Recipes start with the basic formula for making bread—requiring little more than flour, water, time, and a pan—and build in depth and detail as the user progresses to more complex loaves, including Josey's cult favorite Dark Mountain Rye. 

Claudia Lucero's One-Hour Cheese
Ricotta, Mozzarella, Chevre, Paneer—Even Burrata. Fresh and Simple Cheeses You Can Make in an Hour or Less! 

Wednesday, May 7, 7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books (1005 W. Burnside St., Portland) 

It's a DIY cook s dream come true: It's pizza night, and you ve made not only the crust and sauce but the mozzarella, too. Or you're whipping up quesadillas for a snack, using your homemade Triple Pepper Hack. Or the dinner party is in high gear and out comes the cheese plate and yes, you've made all the cheeses on it. In a cookbook whose results seem like magic but whose recipes and instructions are specific, easy-to-follow, and foolproof, Claudia Lucero shows step by step with every step photographed exactly how to make sixteen fresh cheeses at home, using easily available ingredients and tools, in an hour or less.

Jeffrey Morgenthaler & Martha Holmberg's The Bar Book
Elements of Cocktail Technique

Wednesday, May 28, 7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books (1005 W. Burnside St., Portland)

Written by renowned Clyde Common bartender and cocktail blogger Jeffrey Morgenthaler and Modern Sauces author Martha Holmberg, The Bar Book is the only technique-driven cocktail handbook out there. The guide breaks down bartending into essential techniques, and then applies them to building the best drinks. More than 60 recipes illustrate the concepts explored in the text, ranging from juicing, garnishing, carbonating, stirring, and shaking to choosing the correct ice for proper chilling and dilution of a drink.