2007 Cookbooks by Friends - What a Great Lot!

I know this won't surprise you, but I've got a lot of cookbooks.  I mean not just a lot, but a lot-a lot, as in lots going into the several hundreds.  (Actually, my husband says there are over a thousand weighing down the shelves we thought would be unbendable and he's better at numbers than I am.)  As soon as I got married, I started buying cookbooks.  I bought them then because I needed them: I'd hardly scrambled an egg before our marriage.  But, as soon as I started cooking, I started buying books for the pleasure of them - the discovery of new dishes, new worlds, new voices - and I've never stopped.

Books are my favorite gifts to give - I always give them for engagements and weddings - and, of course, my favorites to get.  So, in this season of giving and getting, I thought I'd make a list of books that would make great gifts and great gets. 

It turns out that this is a very special list because all of the books on it were written this year by friends.  2007 was a great year for cookbooks!  And it was a pretty terrific one for friends, too.

I made this list from memory, so if I've forgotten anyone or any book, I'm sorry.

I can't imagine a book on this list that wouldn't make a cook very, very happy, so I hope a couple of them find their way down your chimney.  I'm hoping for a few of them myself.

• Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells
• Chez Jacques by Jacques Pepin
• Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan
• How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman
• Desserts by the Yard by Sherry Yard
• Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
• Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld written with my friend Stephanie Lyness
• Great Coffe Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins and More by Carole Walter
• Demolition Desserts by Elizabeth Falkner
• The Greyston Bakery Cookbook by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan
• The Young Man and the Sea by David Pasternak and Ed Levine
• A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman
• The Sweet Spot by Pichet Ong
• The Art of the Dessert by Ann Amernick
• Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen by Lucinda Scala Quinn
• Yum: Tasty Recipes from Culinary Greats by Jeffrey Spear and Dara Bunjon

I'm lucky to have such talented friends and we'd all be lucky if we had their books.

OOOPS!  I was afraid this was going to happen.  I missed one of the best books of the year:

• Julia Child by Laura Shapiro

Comments

[Maria]

I love buying cookbooks as well. You can never have too many:) What a great list! Thanks for sharing!

[JEP]

I would be thrilled to find any of these under my tree! Thanks for your recommendations.

[manggy]

Great list, Dorie! I've leafed through a few in the store: Desserts by the Yard, Demolition Desserts, The Perfect Scoop, The Art of the Dessert, and the Sweet Spot. But I have to say the one I keep coming back to (okay, I'm quite poor, haha) is Pichet Ong's. It's really one-of-a-kind in American publications, and is a great introduction to unique flavor combinations.