I didn’t realize how many cookbooks I actually owned until I moved to a new apartment recently. With three shelves containing 72 titles, I’m both proud and slightly embarrassed. Each flour-covered spine and dog-eared page is a reminder of past dinner parties and, more importantly, proof of my growth as a cook.

I especially delight in the page layouts and photography and even the paperweight of these books. The design of a good cookbook should be just as inspiring as the recipes. I will never cook by Kindle, and I hope that my library will last the rest of my life, if not beyond.  

As we draw near to the final days of the holiday shopping season, I offer my all-time favorite recommendations for any cookbook collection. 

Martha Stewart Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook
Good for: the cooking newbie

While I normally shy away from celebrity cookbooks, this one is perfect, which I suppose one should expect from Martha. I’ve gifted this one to all my younger siblings and cousins upon their college graduations because it is such a thorough primer. Each step is photographed so that you’ll know how the food should look at each step of the way, no matter if it’s a fried egg (p. 84) or steamed fish en papillote (p. 215). Hint: it should look beautiful at every step, because Martha=mise en place.

Cook’s Illustrated: The Science of Good Cooking
Good for: perfectionists

This book is a game changer for me. I’ve seen the light and can never go back to mindless and uninformed cooking. Every single recipe I’ve attempted has been flawless and exquisite, the kind where your body aches in pleasure after the first forkful. Excellence comes at a price, however, namely the time it takes to follow each detailed instruction. But if you’re willing to plan ahead and commit to hours in the kitchen, you’ll reach a higher level of eating that’s typically reserved for more expensive restaurants. 

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
Good for: parents

I’m more of a cook than a baker and, consequently, have never been successful at making fresh bread. While other friends could magically coax yeast into producing beautiful loafs, I felt like a muggle, with my deflated ego matching my dough. This book, however, changed all that because the technique is so radically different than any other bread recipe. It is easy and fool-proof and encourages keeping the dough in abundance in the fridge. Should I ever have kids, I can now promise that they will be waking up to the smell of freshly made bread each weekend.

The Flavor Bible
Good for: The adventurous and creative cook

Sometimes I’ll open my fridge and find a lonely rutabaga staring back at me, and I’ll wonder, what should I make with it? I’ll then pull out this cookbook, which is a 380-page alphabetical list of ingredients and their common food pairings. Rutabagas, I just learned, go well with apples and maple syrup, or potatoes and rosemary. It’s like a book of color swatches, with recommended combinations. You won’t find instructions or recipes here, just inspiration for experimentation.

Canal House Cooking (series)
Good for: Overzealous Instagrammers

Regular contributors to Bon Appétit, authors Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton have the life that I want. Consider their introduction: “Our loft studio is in an old red brick warehouse A beautiful lazy canal runs alongside the building. We have a simple galley kitchen. We have a dishwasher, but we prefer to hand wash the dishes so we can look out of the tall window next to the sink and see the ducks swimming in the canal or watch the raindrops splashing into the water.” 

Sigh.

Their small, cloth-covered cookbooks are delightful in both the photographs and culinary musings. They encourage a seasonal approach to cooking, where the sublime can be found in the simplest of ingredients. The act of eating should be intentional and pleasurable, with friends or by oneself. (Especially by oneself, the authors might argue.)

 Surprise fact: Christopher and Melissa work in Lambertville, NJ, just across from our gayborhood-to-the-north, New Hope, PA.