12 Days of Cookbooks (!!!) — Chatting About The Season’s New Books with Margaret Roach
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♬♬♬ It’s the most wonderful time of the year… ♬♬♬
I hum this to myself a lot: When my first CSA arrives in June. When the first good tomatoes all but fall of the vine in early September. When snowflakes the size of golf balls drop from the sky. AND, most of all, when it’s time to talk about cookbooks with my friend Margaret Roach, the master gardener behind A Way to Garden
Last year, we talked about all-time favorites, the first books we ever owned, and the ones with the most besmirched pages. This year, we’ve kept our chat to the latest crop: the fall and winter 2018 cookbooks, and we hope our chat might give you some ideas for gift giving this season. Rest assured, there is something for everyone — the bakers, the boozers, the pie lovers, the pizza lovers, the Ina fans, the Dorie fans, the gadget collectors, and more.
Read the transcript or listen here.
I have not had a chance to cook from all of the books we discussed, and there are many others I haven’t even had a chance to page through yet, namely Emily: The Cookbook, which is #1 on my Christmas wishlist—Santa, hope you’re reading. That said, I have cooked from a number of the season’s new books, and I’ve included some notes below.
ALSO, Margaret and I are each giving away 12 cookbooks (!!!). To enter, leave a comment below: tell me what your favorite cookbook is for gifting (or just your favorite) and a little bit about why. Now, go double your chances to win by copying your comment into the comment box over at Margaret’s website.
Starting Monday Dec. 3, 2018, we’ll each draw one random winner a day through Dec. 14th. Here’s the order of the 12 Days of giveaways. The list will be updated daily to reflect the winner.
- Season: UPDATE: Winner is Cara Priddy
- Everyday Dorie UPDATE: Winner is Frank Wilk
- Israeli Soul: UPDATE: Winner is KARA P.
- Cooking with Scraps: UPDATE: Winner is Katherine Hubbard
- Sister Pie: UPDATE: Winner is Renee D
- Cook Like a Pro: UPDATE: Winner is Jo Kurdzeil
- Genius Desserts: UPDATE: Winner is Susan Rode
- Skinny Taste One and Done: UPDATE: Winner is Amy Olmsted
- All About Cake: UPDATE: Winner is Marie Guiles
- Milk Street Tuesday Nights: UPDATE: Winner is Sarah Bach
- Comfort in an Instant: UPDATE: WINNER is Michelle Swift
- Now and Again: UPDATE: WINNER is Paulina Muratore
One entry per person. Entries end at midnight Thursday, Dec. 13, before the final drawing. U.S. only. Good luck to all.
Category #1: Weeknight-ish/Everyday Cooking
Cook90: On January 1st 2016, David Tamarkin of Epicurious resolved to cook more — to cook 3 meals a day for an entire month — an experiment he called “Cook90”. In the end, he emerged a better, faster, and healthier cook, and he has since inspired hundreds of thousands of others to take the challenge. His cookbook, Cook90, outlines exactly how to do it: recipes, strategies, meal plans, and more.
Category #2: Global Flavors
Category #3: Baking
Category #4: Nose-to-Tail
Waste Not: Learned about this one through Margaret and her podcast with Top Chef star Tiffany Derry. Waste Not is a new cookbook from the James Beard Foundation and a campaign of anti-food waste advocacy spearheaded by that organization.
Now and Again: The latest from Julia Turshen, who believes a complete meal doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive, that leftovers can lead to inventive/fun cooking, and that gathering people around the table for a meal is a good thing. Organize both by season and menu — a brunch or an easy Thanksgiving. Helpful tips about what can be made ahead of time. Each menu is followed by a section called “It’s Me Again,” which offers a few recipes for using the leftovers.
And last but not least:
Rebekah Peppler’s Apéritif: For Francophiles and beyond, Apèritif offers recipes for both classic and modern French cocktails, along with French-inspired bites and hors d’oeuvres.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
740 Comments on “12 Days of Cookbooks (!!!) — Chatting About The Season’s New Books with Margaret Roach”
I recently purchased Ottolenghi’s Simple and made several dishes to great acclaim! It’s my latest favorite but I would love Dorie Greenspan’s new book.
I’m getting Christmas cookies ready with Luisa’s Weiss’ Classic German Baking and and looking forward to checking out several of these cookbooks.
Smitten Kitchen, the recipes are so delicious. Alexandra, love love your blog 🙂
So my most gifted cookbook this past year has actually been Artisan Sourdough Made Simple by Emilie Raffa. I have given it along with some of my sourdough starter as gifts to make the bread their own.
I also love any of Ina Garten’s cookbooks for gifting.
My favorite cookbook to gift or share with others is Samarkand by Caroline Eden. Many people (including myself until I heard about this book on a podcast) aren’t familiar with this part of the world or their food. As soon as I heard about the ancient mix of cultures due to the Silk Road and trading routes I knew this cuisine would be really interesting to check out and the book and photos are gorgeous. Everything I’ve made has turned out delicious and it’s difficult to find Uzbek restaurants so cooking your own is sometimes the only way to learn about this cuisine.
I love Christopher and his bow tie, not to mention the Milk Street program. Please send me Tuesday night suppers cookbook. Thank you.
I love 12 recipes by Cal Peternell. It’s got amazing recipes and basic principles. It’s my go to wedding gift for people who are excited about getting into cooking. I keep coming back to it in my own kitchen too!
My new favorite is Bread Toast Crumbs — love love love the Oatmeal Maple bread, and getting ready to practice the Chocolate Studded Panettone for Christmas breakfast. . I made it last year and it was a hit!!
My favorite is Small Victories by Julia Turshen. So many simple recipes that are powerful, especially for new cooks!
My husband made me a sp atchcocked chicken for my birthday!
For friends new to the kitchen I gift Food and Wines quick from scratch one-dish meals cookbook, the recipes are well tested easy to make and a great spring board to the culinary world. I fed my daughter on these meals through elementary, middle and high school. Plenty of bent pages and our added notes. My favorite this year has been Bread, Toast and Crumbs. The cookbook has been my personal springboard into bread making removing all past fears, failures and anxieties and connecting the dots for techniques that made no sense from others sources.
My favorite cookbooks are stained and have turned pages. Bread Toast Crumbs falls into that category. We make The Peasant Bread and variations at least once a week. Ali shares wonderful tips and techniques as well.
Baking: From my Home to Yours is one of my favorites to gift. I was making cakes and cookies from it so much, I gave one to my sister. I’d love to win Everyday Dorie too!
I love anything Ina Garten 🙂 her cooksbooks make a great gift!
My favorite cookbook is the original Better Homes and Garden cookbook because my mom has probably made every recipe in it. Some of my favorite memories are holidays in the kitchen cooking away with my mom from the recipes in that cookbook.
Any cookbook by Christina Tosi is a winner for me. My boyfriend and I fell in love with her through watching Chef’s Table on Netflix. We both love to bake together, and love her lifestyle of eating whatever you want and just enjoying life’s simple pleasures. However, this year Sister Pie is on my wishlist. I grew up in the Detroit area, love supporting female bosses, and I am enchanted by the unique creations they cook up every day.
My favorite cookbooks are the Smitten Kitchen cookbooks, though I have yet to gift them. And I just bought a copy of Classic German Baking for a friend!
My favorite book to gift is the original Skinnytaste cookbook. All of Gina’s recipe are so approachable for the home cook, seasoned or not! They are healthy but with great flavor!
Currently salt fat acid heat because it teaches you the hows AND whys of cooking in a thoughtful way that I find benifts and cook- novice or more advanced =) but I also love dining in for someone who isn’t that into cooking but wants to be or six seasons for my mostly vegetarian friends =)
I’ve loved gifting Small Victories by Julia Turshen. It’s great for home cooks even if they’re not culinary-minded.
I love to give Apples to Jam by Tessa Kiros. It’s a beautiful book and I love the recipes.
I love foreign cookbooks, my obession is Bavarian right now so Alfons Schuhbeck called My Bavarian Cookbook the best part is I bought it whole I was in Munich! I try to collect cookbook where ever I go or ask my friends to get me one where they travel too! I would love more!
Great post! My fave cookbook to gift is Julia Turshen’s Small Victories! It’s so approachable for the home cook (even inexperienced) and she has a few possible variations on every recipe. Also love her lists in the back of book.
I love to give ottolenghi’s plenty cookbook! The recipes are so beautiful!
Wow! What a great list of cookbooks this is Ali!
I love bread, so my favorite cookbooks to give are usually bread baking books. Your “Bread, Toast, Crumbs” has made many recipients very happy 🙂
Love any of Ina’s books!
This time of year I love to share ‘Visions of Sugar Plums’ by former NYT food writer Mimi Sheraton. This cherished out-of-print cookbook provides a delightful collection of “cakes, cookies, candies, and confections from all the countries that celebrate Christmas.” Not just recipes but the customs that are part of the day and surrounding weeks. A lagniappe section includes Yuletide beverages – a variety of eggnogs, punches, and wassails.
I am a cookbook junkie. And I have been loving cooking from Myers + Chang At Home book this year. My daughters, ages 10 and 13, and I are addicted to the Mama Chang’s dumplings, and NEED to make them together every few weeks. I would totally gift this book to all my foodie friends.
I love “Comfort in an Instant”! I am really enjoying the ease of my Instant Pot. I’m always looking for ways to streamline my cooking time and have fallen in love with my “Pot”!
I love all of Ottolenghi’s cookbooks especially Jerusalem and Plenty. Every single dish is delicious! They are my go-to cookbooks every time I have a dinner party! Never fail!