COOKBOOK WATCH

Chill out with three cool summer books. “Sorbets and Ice Creams” (Chronicle Books, $14.95) by small-book queen Lou Seibert Pappas has 50 easy but sophisticated ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen yogurt recipes, with enticing photos by Frankie Frankeny. Writer Elsa Petersen-Schepelern and photographer James Merrell take an international approach to ice cream with the 30 recipes in “Gelato, Sorbets and Ice-Creams” (Ryland Peters & Small, $12.95). Almond-and-pistachio kulfi and lemon grass gelato are two of the more intriguing recipes. Petersen-Schepelern and Merrell team up again in “Smoothies and Other Blended Drinks” (Ryland Peters & Small, $12.95), a more liquid approach to the subject of keeping cool.