I started hosting pretend tea parties for my stuffed animals when I was just a little girl. I made mud pies in the backyard and created huge messes in the kitchen as I taught myself to cook. I’ve always been enthralled by the warm feeling of being cared for, the love you feel deep in your heart when someone puts a plate of hot scrambled eggs in front of you after a long day. Now, as a cookbook author, I get to share that feeling with others through my own recipes and via my newsletter, Recipe of the Month. I hope you love these cookbooks as much as I do!
I wrote
The Hostess Handbook: A Modern Guide to Entertaining
I first came across this book when I was a college student, falling in love with a cute boy on the volleyball team. I adored how the book was dedicated to her husband: “My home is wherever Jeffrey is.” I loved all the recipes so much that I cooked every single one, some multiple times.
Throughout the years that she has lived and worked in East Hampton, Ina Garten has catered and attended countless parties and dinners. She will be the first to tell you, though, that nothing beats a cozy dinner, surrounded by the people you love most, in the comfort that only your own home can provide. In Barefoot Contessa at Home, Ina shares her life in East Hampton, the recipes she loves, and her secrets to making guests feel welcome and comfortable.
For Ina, it’s friends and family–gathered around the dinner table or cooking with her in…
I pulled this iconic cookbook from my mom’s bookshelves when I was somewhere around the age of ten—and it still ranks as one of my all-time favorites. I loved how inviting the cover was, and all the photography within made me wish I could teleport myself to Martha’s house to be a guest at her gorgeously set table.
With 500 glorious full-color photographs, 300 original recipes, and hundreds of innovative ideas, Entertaining is the book that revolutionized the way people entertain today. 500 full-color photographs.
There is no other cookbook that has had a greater influence on me as a writer. Suzanne’s recipes and menus for elegant yet unfussy dinner parties remain endlessly inspirational. After reading this book, I wrote a letter to Suzanne telling her how much I admired her cookbook and basically begging for a job. We ended up working together and I even got married at her restaurant.
Few chefs in America have won more acclaim than Suzanne Goin, owner of Lucques restaurant. A chef of impeccable pedigree, she got her start cooking at some of the best restaurants in the world–L’Arpège. Olives, and Chez Panisse, to name a few–places where she acquired top-notch skills to match her already flawless culinary instincts. “A great many cooks have come through the kitchen at Chez Panisse,” observes the legendary Alice Waters, “But Suzanne Goin was a stand-out. We all knew immediately that one day she would have a restaurant of her own, and that other cooks would be coming to…
I completely love how this book has recipes for all the little bites that go into a great meal but are not the main course. Things like roasted almonds with herbs, warm olives (a revelation to me!), plus sweet treats such as apricot jam, caramel sauce, and candied citrus peel. I find the everyday dishes like cheese omelet to be charming and comforting.
An indispensable resource for home cooks from the woman who changed the way Americans think about food.
Perhaps more responsible than anyone for the revolution in the way we eat, cook, and think about food, Alice Waters has “single-handedly chang[ed] the American palate” according to the New York Times. Her simple but inventive dishes focus on a passion for flavor and a reverence for locally produced, seasonal foods.
With an essential repertoire of timeless, approachable recipes chosen to enhance and showcase great ingredients, The Art of Simple Food isan indispensable resource for home cooks. Here you will find Alice’s philosophy…
My absolute favorite cookbook of all time. Although the recipes come from a beloved San Francisco restaurant, they are written with such care that you could easily be fooled into believing they came from your best friend instead. Every single recipe is such a hit, and I learn something new about cooking and showing love through food each time I pick up this book.
In The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, a book customers have been anticipating for years, chef and owner Judy Rodgers provides recipes for Zuni's most well-known dishes, ranging from the Zuni Roast Chicken to the Espresso Granita. But Zuni's appeal goes beyond recipes. Harold McGee concludes, "What makes The Zuni Cafe Cookbook a real treasure is the voice of Zuni's Judy Rodgers," whose book "repeatedly sheds a fresh and revealing light on ingredients and dishes, and even on the nature of cooking itself." Deborah Madison (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone) says the introduction alone "should be required reading for every person who might…
My helpful handbook offers readers 100 easy entertaining recipes, party planning advice, and curated menus to pull off the most delicious and delightful of gatherings, from an epic holiday bash to a casual get-together in the backyard or an inspired dinner party.
