My Top Ten

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.

1. Simple Food by Alice Waters
2. Apples for Jam by Tess Vella
3. Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
4. Eat Drink and Be Vegan by Dreena Burton
5. At Blanchard’s Table by Robert and Melinda Blanchard
6. The Gourmet Cookbook (aka the big yellow bible)
7. Vineyard Seasons by Susan Branch
8. Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
9. Le Cordon Bleu’s Complete Cooking Techniques
10. The Bon Appetit Cookbook

So there you have it: my top ten list. Since I have in my collection, over 200 cookbooks, I’m sure I’m missing some big ones but when I close my eyes and think of the ones I come back to the most often, these pop up. Even though I went to culinary school, I self taught myself a lot of the basic techniques from these books when I was growing up. Alice Waters holds a special spot in my heart because her cookbook for children, Fanny at Chez Panisse, was my first ever cookbook and the one that sparked my passion for the kitchen at an early age. I still have my worn copy sitting on my bookshelf to this day.