Is it too late to post a gift guide?  Are you all completely on the ball with these things and you’ve already got your gifts purchased and wrapped with chalkboard wrapping paper and cutely stylistic to’s and from’s adorning them?  Plus twine?  Is there twine?  And mason jars.  Please.

I want to share with you, specifically, some of my favourite food-related books that are sure to delight you and all the other foodies in your lives. 

ONE

My first pick is, of course, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.  This book was really one of the first cookbooks I’d ever flipped through that made me want to make and eat every recipe.  Which is quite unnerving for a Type A personality like mine, because it means paging through the entire book with one hand while frantically writing a grocery list with the other, because not only do I have to make all the recipes, I have to make them right now.  This book is responsible for things like this:

So there you have it.  It’s a must-have kitchen staple for any self-respecting foodie.

TWO

Joy the Baker has been one of my favourite food blogs right from the get-go.  I absolutely love her unique recipes, and her writing is delightful to read.  And, most wonderfully, she’s compiled all that into an awesome (pink) cookbook:  Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes.  Joy is personally responsible for my daily morning addiction to muesli, and other simple, delicious, and interesting foods, like coffee bacon sandwiches.  Yes.  Coffee.  Bacon.  Sandwiches.

THREE

 Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef is the best book I’ve “read” all year.  I say “read” because I decided to listen to the audiobook version of this memoir during the long days of driving that are often necessary for my work.  I’m not even sure I really have words for this book:  I was completely blown away by Gabrielle Hamilton’s narrative, which was not only intensely interesting but written like a song lyric, with a beat and the syncopation of beautifully chosen words.  Now, though I finished the book several weeks ago, I am still mourning its’ presence in my daily life.

FOUR

Simply put, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking has completely revolutionized my kitchen (there’s a reason I haven’t done a book gift guide before – there are but a few incredibly meaningful books that are my absolute favourite, that make me say things like best ever and only cookbook you’ll need).  I make bread from this book usually once every week or two – which is to say that rather than ever buying bread for our pantry, I make it from scratch, because the recipes in Artisan Bread in 5 are so dead easy, and taste better than any store bought bread could ever come close to.  Not only that, but there are recipes for other bread products, like bagels, danishes, pizza dough, and more.

FIVE

I was on a bit of a foodoir-reading streak when I discovered Gesine Bullock-Prado’s book Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman’s Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker.  This is a lovely little story about a woman’s transition from the corporate world to the world of flour, butter and sugar.  It’s the kind of stuff great daydreams are made of, and a fun, quick read.

I hope that gives you a bit of inspiration to round out your holiday shopping for that foodie on your list….or yourself!

Note:  this post contains Amazon Affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the above links and purchase the book, this blog will receive a portion of the proceeds.  For things like pounds of butter and cute photography props.  It ain’t easy being a blogger, you know ;o)