The Cookbook Gift Ideas
This is the first of several Bossy book gift idea lists I'll share on Fridays leading up to the holidays. I hope you'll find a book or two in these lists to delight you or someone you love!
I spend most of the year focusing on fiction titles, with a healthy dose of memoirs and some nonfiction mixed in. When it comes to giving books as gifts, I often focus on books that correlate with my loved ones' hobbies--and I know a lot of wonderful cooks.
Here are the six cookbooks that I'm most interested in giving as gifts these holidays. All of these were published this year.
Are you giving any cookbooks this year? Have you received any favorite cookbook gifts in years past? I'd love to hear!
You might also like to check out the books on some of my past Bossy Book Gift Guides:
01 Tu Casa Mi Casa: Mexican Recipes for the Home Cook by Enrique Olvera
I recently ran across this beautiful cookbook on a quick (and amazing!) trip to Sedona, and I immediately knew I wanted to include it in my Bossy cookbook gift guide.
Olvera is the chef featured in the Netflix series Chef's Table, and in Tu Casa Mi Casa, he shares 100 recipes of core Mexican cooking to set up any home cook for success.
With traditional Mexican flavors and cooking techniques as well as more modern combinations, 100 gorgeous photos, and step-by-step illustrations.
Enrique Olvera opened Pujol in Mexico City in 2000. He runs three outposts of Eno, a casual eatery in Mexico City; Criollo in Oaxaca; Cosme in New York and soon Los Angeles; and Atla in New York.
02 Half Baked Harvest Every Day: Recipes for Balanced, Flexible, Feel-Good Meals by Tieghan Gerard
In her newest cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Every Day, Tieghan Gerard offers 120 new recipes for "wholesome decadence," including recipes for a crowd and those sure to become everyday family favorites.
Recipes include Spinach and Pesto-Stuffed Butternut Squash, Pizza Pasta with Pepperoni Bread Crumbs, Crispy Carnitas Taquitos, and Chocolate Olive Oil Cake.
Gerard is creator of the popular blog and original recipe site Half Baked Harvest (and its corresponding Instagram account) and is the author of Half Baked Harvest Cookbook: Recipes from My Barn in the Mountains and Half Baked Harvest Super Simple: More Than 125 Recipes for Instant, Overnight, Meal-Prepped, and Easy Comfort Foods.
03 Smitten Kitchen Keepers: New Classics for Your Forever Files by Deb Perelman
In Smitten Kitchen Keepers, Deb Perelman, creator of the Smitten Kitchen blog and corresponding Instagram account and author of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and Smitten Kitchen Every Day shares 100 recipes. Some are favorites from her site, and others are new meals with the Smitten Kitchen stamp of approval.
With offerings like Cozy Chicken and Dumplings; Fettuccine with White Ragú; Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies; and Strawberry Summer Stack Cake, Perelman uses her signature efficiency to make sure steps (and mixing bowls) aren't wasted and tests rigorously to make sure each recipe is foolproof and delicious.
04 Love to Eat: 75 Easy, Craveworthy Recipes for Healthy, Intuitive Eating by Nicole Keshishian Modic
I followed the Instagram account Kale Junkie at the recommendation of my friend Amy--and quickly fell in love with Nic's wholesome, nourishing, creative, yet accessible recipes.
Nicole Modic grew up in Los Angeles with an Armenian father, and in Love to Eat she shares the influence of her heritage as well as her struggle with (and recovery from) an eating disorder. Together these key factors shaped her--and led to Modic's development of healthy yet indulgent creations in the kitchen.
The book is a mix of inspirational stories and plant-focused recipes, many of which are sure to be kid-pleasers.
05 Go-To Dinners by Ina Garten
Ah, a new Ina cookbook! Last year I gave Barefoot Contessa's Cooking for Jeffrey as a gift, and it's not difficult to think of multiple potential gift recipients for Garten's newest offering. Including...myself!
In Go-To Dinners, Ina shares some of the delicious, comforting meals she relied upon during Covid-19 lockdown, complete with make-ahead, freeze-ahead, and simple-to-assemble recipes.
From Overnight Mac & Cheese to Tuscan White Bean Soup, and Chicken in a Pot with Orzo to Hasselback Kielbasa, you'll be able to feed a crowd or simply serve up plenty for a hungry household.
Garten's handy "Two-Fers" show you how to turn leftovers from one dinner into a different and delicious meal on another night.
06 Seinfeld: The Official Cookbook by Julie Tremaine and Brendan Kirby
Last year I gave Jerry Seinfeld's book Is This Anything? as a gift, and because it seems that the Seinfeld obsession in this house may never subside, the first official Seinfeld cookbook caught my eye when it was published this fall.
With over 60 recipes inspired by Seinfeld, including mulligatawny soup, Elaine's Big Salad, George's Bedroom Pastrami, Newman's Jambalaya, The Opposite of Tuna on Toast, and muffin tops, this cookbook might just be the perfect way to get your Seinfeld lovers cooking!