Bookworm Review: Cookbooks for the Family

Tis the season.

The season to bundle up when going outside. To anticipate a holiday tune or two, to admire lights on your evening walk or to decorate your own windows. ‘Tis the season to start looking for recipes to wow your guests this year, so why not check out these great cookbooks …

Just gazing at the cover of “Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By” by Al Roker with Courtney Roker Laga (Legacy Lit, $35) is going to make you hungry. Just paging through it is going to make you confident because what’s in here are easy-to-make dishes that your family will want again. Check out the sandwich section for those leftovers.

You don’t have to be from Wisconsin to want “Extra! Extra! Eat All About It! by Jane Conway and Randi Julia Ramsden (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, $30). What you will need, though, is an adventurous spirit to try the old-time suggestions and a willingness to enjoy the articles that go with them. Tasty recipes plus tasty history equals a yummy book for the person who likes to read cookbooks and then actually use them.

Of course, you want to bring the kids into the kitchen so they can host you someday, right? So have “Kids Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman (HarperCollins Harvest, $35), a nice hefty book that’s meant for the budding cook in two nice ways: this cookbook is easy for the 10-and-up reader to follow, and the recipes in here are both kid favorites and kid-enticing. The sidebars and illustrations just make it better. Be aware that you’ll want to be around to lend a hand, but then … how could you not, with this fun book?

For littler kids who need a little-kid-friendly first cookbook, find “Look and Cook Breakfast” by Valorie Fisher (Astra Young Readers, $19.99). Step-by-step pictures make this book perfect for the smallest kitchen helper, ages five to eight.

So your shelves are full of cookbooks, thank you very much, but you still want to read something new about food? Then look for “Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Journeys” by Caroline Eden (Bloomsbury, $27.99), and take a trip through Eastern Europe and Central Asia with Eden, a Scottish writer who’s happy to have you along. You won’t find recipes in this book, but you’ll find plenty of inspiration.

Likewise, there are no recipes inside “Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao’s Soul” by Rowan Jacobsen (Bloomsbury, $28.99) but chocolate. Chocolate in its most raw form, in its most hard-to-reach form, and how its fervent fans are working to ensure that the wild cacao doesn’t disappear. It’s a tale of adventure, perfect for reading between meals and with a big bar of, well, you know …

And if these great cookbooks aren’t enough for your hosting pleasure or your kitchen counter, then head to your favorite bookstore or library and ask to see the cookbook section. Better yet, ask if your favorite bookseller or librarian has some favorite dishes and where they got them. Because ‘tis the season for (r)eating.