'Twas The Night Before Christmas And THESE Cookbooks Were On ...

From master chocolatier Maribel Lieberman, MarieBelle Entertains brings the best of her chocolate ... [+] universe together with her many travels.

Rizzoli Books

Merry, Merry, world! If there is ever a time to celebrate the wonders from kitchens here to there, it is holiday time. And no matter what is being celebrated during the winter season—be it large or small, festive or quiet—kitchens will be humming and tables will be adorned and peopled. It is also a time when new and much-loved cookbooks pour out onto countertops and nightstands in preparation of once-a-year spreads, bites, and feasts. I’m here to tell you, to insist actually, that you make room for these new cookbooks below. They are actually so much more than a bunch of colorful pages with tasty recipes; they reveal eureka moments, deeply creative pursuits, personal realizations, even revolutionary movements.

Visions of Cookbooks Danced in Their Heads MarieBelle Entertains: Savory and Sweet Recipes for Every Occasion from the Master Chocolatier by Maribel Lieberman

Holiday Bundles include the new book.

Rizzoli Books

Many of Maribel Lieberman fans have likely asked the chocolatier why it has taken so long to bring a book to life. Well, after nearly 25 years in the business, with chocolate shops in New York City and Japan, the wait is over.

If you are a chocolate fan—can you trust those who aren’t?—then you’ll swoon over the history and imagery of the delectable bean; if you love to travel, then you’ll be swept away by the detours from her native home in Honduras to other beloved locations like the South of France or Northern Italy.

And, if you want ideas on fun party, dinner, or picnic menus with decorative tablescapes that just might be worthy of a book on their own, than this book will check each of those boxes and more. The book also takes us inside her home and reveals just how much her husband Jacques and his abstract art influences the imagery behind the stunning imagery on her popular chocolates, the packaging of each one, and the design of the shops.

What Goes With What: 100 Recipes, 20 Charts, Endless Possibilities by Julia Turshen

Book cover to Julia Turshen's latest book, a real family affair.

Flatiron Books

First of all, everything Turshen does in the food-sphere seems to delight and illuminate in ways we hadn’t quite contemplated before. Her delivery of information and presentation of ideas is, for one, like a pal leaving a note on your desk—it’s friendly and approachable—and something that makes your day brighter.

Amidst the most straightforward, crafty and clear, food charts around, Turshen reveals recipes and menu ideas in a way many of us home-cooks see them in our heads: I kind of want a main protein, something crunchy, something creamy with it, and a little dash of something acidic too.

In between the charts and notes and useful tips—and recipes you’ll want to make asap—Turshen brings readers even closer to her personal life, including interviews with her mom about body issues and talks with relatives about a beloved family bakery. Additionally, she says in the book, “I think this is the queerest book I’ve worked on. No, it’s not wrapped in a rainbow Pride flag, but the charts are so queer.” She adds, “They allow me to show you exactly how I am constantly queering cooking, meaning I am constantly asking myself if there are other ways of approaching something.”

When Southern Women Cook: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes by America's Test Kitchen, Toni Tipton-Martin and Morgan Bolling

Book cover to When Southern Women Cook, a monumental endeavor bringing 70 women together to tell ... [+] untold stories rooted in southern kitchens and beyond.

Cook' Country for America's Test Kitchen

When Southern Women Cook might just make you speechless. No matter your first reaction, the second should be a standing ovation and roaring applause. What an undertaking by 70 women—a bundle of journalists, historians, chefs, home-cooks, and more—to bellow about storied women of the South who nurtured through food, some who soldiered on against all odds.

Then to display the feat amidst regional stories, techniques, 300 recipes, and thought-provoking essays will no doubt challenge what you may or may not have known about the complex history of southern cooking and the many women behind it—then and now.

Celebrating 25 years and counting, America’s Test Kitchen and it’s sister, Cook’s Country for 20 years, the two entities has become synonymous with serious home-cooking and the ability to arm cooks with endlessly-tested gear and recipes in order to nourish friends and family or individuals with confidence. This foray into history, however, let alone the deep dive into recipes—Hello Cowboy Caviar and Lowcountry Red Rice—brings ATK’s publishing dossier into an academic stratosphere they just might need to carve out on the regular. Bravo!

The Four Horseman: Food & Wine For Good Times by Nick Curtola, with Gabe Ulla, and James Murphy; Notes on Wine by Justin Chearno

Book cover to The Four Horsemen, a book that lets readers into a morsel of the magic that has made ... [+] the Brooklyn eatery a one of a kind experience.

Abrams Books

When a restaurant has a line of people outside willing to wait for hours just to spend an evening around its tables, it becomes something bigger than a place; it actually becomes something hard to put into words. From the very beginning of The Four Horsemen restaurant in Brooklyn (opened in 2015), there’s been a “thing” about it that people need to experience. Yes there are the deliverables: it’s a cozy space, has an award-winning wine list, and damn good food, but heck, it’s New York City, you can find a lot of places with some great wine and good food. So, what is it?

As James Murphy, Randy Moon, Justin Chearno, and Christina Topsøe—the OG horsemen—along with Chef Nick Turtola, try to explain in their debut book, there was a “Chance Meeting and A Terrible Idea” and they had no business trying to start a restaurant. But they did. It is just one of those occasions where passion and curiosity and a commitment to make something out of nothing paid off.

Of course the book will be a special treat for diners who’ve experienced some of the magic happening everyday on Grand Street, especially the glimpse at home-cook recipe versions of the restaurant’s popular small plates or the beloved dissertation on wine by the masterful Justin Chearno, who sadly passed away in August. His devotion to the wine program is still ever-present on every table at the restaurant and on the pages of this very special book. With the added signature art and letters by Mike Paré, readers will now “get it” even more than before.

Sun-Kissed Cooking: Vegetables Front and Center by Brooke Williamson

Book cover to Chef Brooke Wiliiamson's debut book.

xyz

Chef Brooke Williamson is another on this list who was hounded, frankly, for not having a book out despite more than two decades in the industry under her belt. Many just assumed she did. Nevertheless, she has one now with Sun-Kissed Cooking. [insert the sound of applause].

In what reads like a love letter to her past, present, and future, Williamson muses about the fruit trees that were outside her childhood window in California. She explains how once an interest in cooking revealed itself, it was through those windows where she would turn for inspiration.

Today, amidst running restaurants and appearing on television, or participating in panels or demos at food festivals, she is still deeply passionate about seasonal produce which is evident in the colorful array—from season to season—she features in recipes in the book. Some of the recipes are fueled by meals she makes with her teen son Hudson, to whom the book is dedicated.

Bake Club: 101 Must Have Moves For Your Kitchen by Christina Tosi and Shannon Salzano

Book cover to Christina Tosi's Bake Club book. Still running online every Friday, the ever-popular ... [+] community began during the pandemic.

Knopf Books

Can you hear the music? Grab your bandana, Chuck Taylors, and crank up the music, Christina Tosi of Milk Bar is rallying home bakers into the kitchen. What became a need to bring people together—as she seems to do like no other baker around—during the pandemic, evolved into a Bake Club community that still gets ‘together’ online every Friday.

As an homage to that core group, Bake Club the book includes recipes or moves that can turn any non-baker into a the next bake sale winner. One of the the driving forces behind the club is the fact that there are store bought ingredients likely in your cupboard right now, that could not only turn into a prized family treat, but make the neighbor you gift a batch to very, very happy.

In her previous books, at her Milk Bar store, and in this new book, Tosi continues to be a champion for the simple act of giving and how that act not only does so much, but that it is contagious in the best way. The scrappy, scrapbook format of the new book, which includes polaroid pics of Bake Club members and their baking efforts, is indicative of how authenticity, effort, and community can make sweet, sweet waves for good.

Sunlight & Breadcrumbs: Making Food with Creativity & Curiosity by Renee Erikson with Sara Dickerman

Book cover to Sunlight & Breadcrumbs by Renee Erikson. Part art appreciation, part cookbook, Erikson ... [+] let's us into her passion for art and how the expression of it spills over to the kitchen.

Abrams

You know how it is. You get so caught up in the doing of everything, you forget what got you there in the first place. It’s been ten years since her first cookbook, three since her second, but now, longtime Seattle chef and restaurant owner, Renee Erikson, has brought forth a more meditative project in her third book, Sunlight & Breadcrumbs.

Within the pages of recipes, paintings, and tips, Erikson includes “Work in Progress” notes with some of the recipes that, for example, asks readers to check in with their mood before tackling a recipe and to let that drive the process. Grilling and pan-roasting may be nice, but “poaching is a gentler method for a more contemplative mood. You have a beautiful broth that makes the kitchen smell delicious and let the fish bathe in it until it is done. It feels deliberate and restorative at once.”

This recent project introduces fans to her more artistic side, and re-introduces herself to the simplicity of early inspirations. Illustrated in part by her own paintings, we meet the artist in Erikson as she slows down to focus on place and the beauty of beginnings. Readers may also appreciate the unplugged, more naturalistic style of the food presented throughout the book.

Milk Street BAKES by Christopher Kimball and Milk Street

Book cover to one of Christopher Kimball and Milk Street's latest endeavors. Bakes tackles a ... [+] mountain of savory and sweet treats from all over the world.

Milk Street Studios

For many cooks, baking causes fear, trepidation, and perhaps the sweats. And, when first picking up a copy of Christopher Kimball and Milk Street’s latest tome, the weight of angst may still reveal its nasty head. And yet, just a quick toodle through the pages and the hand-holding can begin.

BAKES is a hefty foray into a global parade of delicious baked goods and is presented in a way that walks bakers and non-bakers alike into each experience feeling prepared and guided. With sections like “Before You Bake” and “Ingredient Insider” to notes on everything under the sun like temperature variables, or flour and sugar varieties, diving into recipes like Limpa Swedish Rye or Czech Kolaches will feel manageable, even thrilling.

Kimball and his family of creators at Milk Street have been around the block, with 15 years under the bow-tie, and dozens of cookbooks, magazines, and televisions shows. But a book like BAKES is not just another title in their portfolio that teaches everyone else how to bake; it is one that also shows that the team still gets curious, excited, and energized by learning. In the introduction, Kimball says, “I defy you to make a loaf of bread or a cake without feeling a connection to something deeper, a tie that binds, a source of happiness that results from working with your hands.”

Now Dash Away, Dash Away, Dash Away All