As Thanksgiving is only a few days away and Christmas is right around the corner, I thought I would share with you all today some of my personal secrets to staying in shape and on track throughout the holiday season. True, it’s much easier right now to indulge in both good food and drink, and sometimes those indulgences are very, very worth it. However, when it comes to grazing at the office party dessert table or mindlessly sucking down another cosmo while chatting with coworkers, the indulgence is usually not worth the extra jean size or post-party bloat. Here some tips from me to you on how I beat the winter weight gain.

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I receive countless emails asking me what my favorite cookbooks are. Now, since I’m actually writing my own, I’m pausing to review that list a little more carefully and want to take this time to share with you all some of my favorite go-to’s. Cookbooks are classic and, to me, have so much more meaning than just something you flip open when looking for a new chicken recipe. Good cookbooks have stained pages and inky notes remembering anniversaries, birthdays and memorable meals. Page ends are worn and flipped and book jackets are lost. A good cookbook is like a really good friend, and can keep you company for hours when you have nothing but your stove and a set of knives to work with.

So, without anything further, here is my list of the best of the best in no particular order. I love each one of these so incredibly much and recommend them above all other.

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The past three days I’ve felt like I’ve been living a foodie’s dream as we have welcomed Chef Kevin Gillespie and Eli Kirshtein, Top Chef contestants, to the wine country, Murphy-Goode style. Turns out Hardy Wallace, the Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent, has some friends in high places and Eli and Kevin brought a little bit of the South to Northern California as they whirled into town this past Sunday. There were chicken wings, sweet potato fries, foie gras and of course, zinfandel, as we showed them a good time in our little town.

To start off the week, on Sunday we celebrated the chefs arrival with a reception at the Murphy-Goode tasting room, followed by a classy barbecue dinner for ten up on the Terra a Lago vineyard in Alexander Valley. The executive chefs for Kendall-Jackson, Chefs Ryan and Eric, prepared a fabulous meal of roast pork and we dined in style. I couldn’t believe how genuine and down to earth the guys were. We chatted and laughed about butter and bacon and shared crazy culinary school tales….all while sipping on Fume, Zinfandel and homemade grappa of course.

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So, last month at this time I entered a completely new industry head first— the wine industry. Having graduated from culinary school, I did have some basic knowledge of wine but discovered alarmingly fast that I had only touched the tip of iceberg. The subject of wine goes so much more deeper and vaster than I ever could have imagined; just when you think you might know something you talk to someone who actually does know something, and then you realize you know nothing at all. Welcome to my life. I walked into my first day at the job thinking it would be easy. I mean, I can totally break down a chicken in five minutes flat, whip up an unbreakable hollandaise and bake a mean loaf of French bread…of course I would be fine discussing different varietals and vintages. I mean, obviously. Little did I know.

In the past month I have learned about grapes. I’ve learned that Pinot Noir grapes like cool weather and the fog in Dry Creek Valley acts like a blanket for our “La Brume” Chardonnay (La Brume literally means “the fog”), providing that cool mist so the grapes ripen perfectly. I’ve learned about barrels—that new French oak barrels deliver the most flavor and after five years, a barrel is considered almost neutral and lends no flavor at all to the wine inside. French oak barrels come from five different forests in France, you know, and each forest’s wood has a special flavor that the winemaker selects specifically for that wine he is making. I’ve learned to think of the act of making wine like seeping tea; the longer you keep the teabag in the hot water, the stronger the tea will be. In turn, the longer the skins are kept on the grapes, the more tannic the wine will become.

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Beans might possibly be the most underrated food there is. And I’m not talking here about those canned pinto beans from the supermarket. I’m talking about real beans. The kind you soak overnight and then simmer in the morning until their skins blister and fall off and what’s left is the pure creamy interior, made perfect by an unadulterated sprinkle of sea salt and a fork.

There are many positive attributes to fresh shell and dry beans, cost being at the top of the list. Where else can you find a whole and healthy protein and complex carbohydrate source for under five dollars? Not to mention all the different varieties. Beans are seasonal, you know, and like anything else taste better when you pair them with the proper time of year. If you can get your hands on fresh shelled beans, consider yourself lucky. These beans are fantastic in soups and stews and taste great with a minimalistic approach of just a splash of olive oil and sea salt.

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