A Cookbook for Everyone
A Holiday Shopping Guide
I’ve been working on a second edition of my cookbook for a while and had hoped to have it ready for the holiday season. Alas, no — but hopefully it will be out in the early spring.
In the meantime, here are some cookbook suggestions for everybody on your holiday gift shopping list. Well, almost everybody. I can think of one person who would interpret a gift of a cookbook as veiled criticism. But for the rest of the world, a cookbook is a gift that keeps on giving — often right back to you, the giver.
If I could own only three cookbooks (other than mine), they would be:
Julia Child’s The Way to Cook
If I could take only one cookbook with me to live on a desert island, this would be it. The inimitable Child is best known for her classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking (featured in the film Julie and Julia), but The Way to Cook is more accessible for the more inexperienced among us. I’ve been using it since very early in my marriage, and I love how it’s arranged. Child organizes recipes around a technique, such as braising, which encourages experimentation once the basics have been mastered. Favorite recipes include Butterflied Leg of Lamb, Designer Duck, and Mousse au Chocolat.
