The Coffee Table Stack #2: Food

I'd estimate I spend around 75% of my time thinking about food.  A girl's gotta eat and all that, but I'm definitely not one of those people who sees it solely as fuel or a source of energy.  I reckon you always eat with your eyes first and love pouring over recipe books crammed with pictures (see the multiple post-its marking my favourite pages to drool over...just call me pig of the year 2K13), scouring Jamie Oliver's Instagram for his latest tasty snapshots as well as tuning in to a good cookery programme.  Part of me definitely maintains a pipe dream that Michel Roux Jr. will adopt me as his protégé and teach me the ways of a cordon bleu chef, but it's time to face the music - it just ain't gonna happen sunshine.

For this reason, the Leon series of books features highly in my coffee table edit.  They're colourful and eye-catching, full of drawn illustrations as well as photographs of their offerings.  My top pick is their baking and puddings book - I have an inexcusably sweet tooth and every turn of the page is accompanied by Homer Simpson style 'mmm...' It's a heavy-set bible of baked goods brimming with technical tips and more tantalising treats than you can shake a stick at.  Just make sure anything snack-based is safely locked away at the time of reading, otherwise you might find yourself awakening from a hunger-induced stupor, surrounded by empty packets of HobNobs.