My friend, colleague, and fellow Seattle Dame Gwen Bassetti, is the founder of Grand Central Baking Company in Seattle, which has since sprouted branches elsewhere in Seattle and also in Portland.

Gwen has long since turned daily operations over to the next generation, and the happy news is that daughter Piper Davis is just out with a lovely new tome entitled (appropriately) The Grand Central Baking Book.

Published by Ten Speed Press, it’s chock full of recipes from the bakery, family favorites, and glorious photos. This is a book for every baker’s shelf, and would also make the perfect holiday gift.

Here’s a photo of Gwen (right) and Piper during a book signing at the venerable Elliott Bay Book Co. in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square neighborhood. The day after the signing, the sad word came out that the venerable bookstore is in financial trouble and may be forced to move, essentially pulling the plug on an anchor store in this part of our town.

The Seattle Times editorial page ran a thought-provoking article about Elliott Bay in its October 27 issue.