Best cookbooks to give to your foodie friends

Nov 06, 2012 6:00 AM by Alicia McDonald

Posted in Holidays & Seasons

New Recipes For The Whole Year

Nothing says love like giving your foodie friends a good cookbook filled with new recipes for them to test out and find inspiration. After all, Julie Powell found her fame just by cooking one dish each day from Julia Child’s cookbook. You never know what a simple gift could lead to! We’ve rounded up our favorite new cookbooks that any foodie will want.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier

Ree Drummond is a wife and mother of four who started blogging about her tasty cowboy recipes and country life, and has since become a household name. Her recipes are comforting, packed with flavor and simple enough for the average home cook. Her book includes delicious classics — like rigatoni, meatballs and strawberry shortcake — as well as variations to switch things up. (Amazon, $19)

Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust

Food network star Ina Garten is known for her fresh, delicious recipes and her knack for entertaining. She takes simple recipes made with easy-to-find ingredients and presents them in a way that gives them the "wow" factor. For anyone who likes to entertain, Ina’s books are a must. Be on the lookout for her easy tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons or jalapeno cheddar crackers. (Amazon, $21)

True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure

Dr. Andrew Weil is more well-known for his books on health and well-being and less for his cooking skills. But he recently opened a restaurant with restaurateur Sam Fox with the goal of providing delicious meals that also promote well-being and health. Together with chef Michael Stebner, the men created a cookbook featuring delicious, healthy and sustainable recipes. This book will be perfect when New Year’s resolutions start flying around. (Amazon, $18)

Bouchon Bakery

This book had us at hello, and the good news is that we judged it by its cover. Thomas Keller and co-author Sebastien Rouxel bring you the best of American and French baked goods. If your foodie friend is a lover of bread, cookies and all things delicious, this book will be perfect. Just to give you an idea, there is a recipe for homemade Oreos in here that almost guarantees you’ll never buy packaged cookies again. (Amazon, $30)

Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker: 200 Ultra-Convenient, Super-Tasty, Completely Animal-Free Recipes

The slow cooker is every lazy foodie's dream appliance. Simply throw the ingredients in and let it do the work. However, the slow cooker is often used for meats, leaving vegans and vegetarians few options for letting their appliances do the cooking. This book is a must-have for any friends that fall in that category. With 200 recipes, vegans can use their slow cooker all year. (Amazon, $12)

Fifty Shades of Chicken: A Parody in a Cookbook

Come on, you have to be at least a little curious about what’s inside this book. With the mass hysteria over the Fifty Shades novels, it’s no surprise someone took to making a parody — and we think the fact that they did it via a cookbook is brilliant. This is for your friend with a sense of humor. The recipes will likely be tasty, but the commentary will add a new level of fun to your friend’s cooking routine. (Amazon, $14)