FRONT BURNER: Consider cookbooks for culinary-inclined on list

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Book-to-Table Classic
Snoop Dogg: From Crook to Cook
Red Truck Bakery Cookbook: Gold-Standard Recipes From America's Favorite Rural Bakery
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Book-to-Table Classic Snoop Dogg: From Crook to Cook Red Truck Bakery Cookbook: Gold-Standard Recipes From America's Favorite Rural Bakery

Many of you know I'm a bit of a cookbook hoarder.

Let's call it an occupational hazard.

Here's a selection of what I've been reading lately — titles I think would make excellent Christmas gifts.

Cookbooks for literature lovers:

Are You There God? It's Me, Margarita by Tim Federle (Running Press, $15) is as much a delight for English majors and pun lovers as it is for cocktail enthusiasts.

The Little Library Cookbook by Kate Young (Sterling Epicure, $24.95) is more about the author's take on the food than the books that inspired it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless — especially Young's selection of books, spanning more than a century.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Book-to-Table Classic (Puffin Plated, $25) includes Dickens' entire novel with recipes by Giada de Laurentiis, Ina Garten, Martha Stewart and Trisha Yearwood dispersed throughout.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Book-to-Table Classic (Puffin Plated, $25) with recipes by Martha Stewart will make you want to host a tea even if you aren't looking to woo a wealthy suitor for one of your many daughters.

Cookbooks for music and pop culture fans:

Snoop Dogg: From Crook to Cook (Chronicle, $24.95) — I admit I almost dismissed this book because I assumed it was about cooking with cannabis. It isn't. In fact, it's filled with sound recipes written in Snoop Dogg's signature voice. Admittedly, it isn't for everyone, but don't knock it just 'cause Snoop wrote it.

Peanuts Family Cookbook (Weldon Owen, $24.99) brings the whole gang together to make cooking a family affair with recipes for young cooks and a corresponding Peanuts comic with each one.

The Cash and Carter Family Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Johnny and June's Table by John Carter Cash (Nelson Books, $29.99) is as much a family memoir as it is a cookbook, filled with candid family photos and family recipes.

Cookbooks for bakers:

Pie Squared: Irresistibly Easy Sweet and Savory Slab Pies by Cathy Barrow (Grand Central Life & Style, $28) was one of my most anticipated titles of the season and not just because I followed Barrow's progress on Instagram for months. The recipes are solid and so, so delicious.

Heritage Baking by Ellen King (Chronicle, $29.95) is for serious bread bakers who are serious about the type of flour they bake with.

Fantastical Cakes: Incredible Cakes for the Baker in Anyone by Gesine Bullock-Prado (Running Press, $30) features beautiful, whimsical, and even ornate-looking cakes, but thanks to Bullock-Prado's approachable style, they aren't intimidating.

Red Truck Bakery Cookbook: Gold-Standard Recipes From America's Favorite Rural Bakery by Brian Noyes (Clarkson Potter, $25) had me sold with the first recipe I read: Skillet Cornbread With Pimento Cheese Frosting.

Food on 12/12/2018

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