I am pulling a little white lie here by calling Michael Natkin's book new — it's actually been out for several months, and I am only just now getting around to talking about it. But let me tell you: this is very good timing. The holidays are a time of feasting and celebration, and Michael's book is, perhaps more than any other cookbook I have ever found, to be a book of deeply delicious, memorable, and special vegetarian meals. These are luxurious meals to share with everyone. More

Raise your hand if you're resolving to keep your fridge stocked with fresh ingredients and cook more meals at home this coming year. You're not alone! However, if you're feeling slightly intimidated by your resolution, Joanne Weir is here to help. Her latest cookbook is Cooking Confidence, and it will coach you through everything you need to put a fabulous dinner on the table. More

This is a cookbook about real farm-to-table Japanese cooking, but it's also about something more ephemeral. The way ingredients look, smell, and feel before you even get them into the kitchen. Trusting your instincts. Using what you have right this instant rather than making lists and grand plans. With simple, nourishing dishes and richly detailed stories of Japanese farm life, Nancy Sington Hachisu creates a whole world between the fabric-bound covers of this book. Once you step inside, it's very tempting to stay. More

What a great year for cookbooks. Despite the almost daily release of a new culinary app, and despite the thousands of incredible online cooking resources [wink, wink] and the continuing explosion of cooking shows, people are still enamored of good old-fashioned cookbooks. In the end, most of us still want to spread a cookbook out on the kitchen counter, a rolling pin holding the binding open, grease splattering across recipes, and we also still want to curl up in bed, turning the pages and feeling the paperstock of a good cookbook. They line our bookshelves and top our refrigerators like art.

While I can name at least fifty outstanding cookbooks published this year, I don't want to overwhelm you. So here are just fifteen that really stood out to me; books that reminded me of why I love to cook. More

It's the time again, when we look back at the year and share our favorite finds. But first, we want to know: what do you think were the best cookbooks of 2012? More

If you've been wondering what to get your sassy best friend who cracks the raunchiest jokes at the party and cooks fabulous meals in her spare time, look no further. Fifty Shades of Chicken is a spoof on the best-selling novel Fifty Shades of Gray that replaces heroine Anastasia Steele with a big-breasted chicken and Christian Grey with the strong and competent hands of a very handsome chef. Yup, this cookbook definitely takes "hot and sultry" to a whole new level. More

A lot of cookbooks pass through my kitchen, each with their own specialness and things that make them lovable. But every so often, there is one cookbook that stops me in my tracks. That's what Home Baked did to me. This book of Nordic breads is something completely different and totally intriguing. Heavy rye breads crusted with seeds, ring-shaped loaves bursting with dried fruits, crispy coarse-grained flatbreads for piling with cured fish and herbs — can you blame me for carrying this book from kitchen to couch to bedside table like a new favorite toy? More

Deborah Madison is one of the most gifted and inspired cooks I know. And generous, too. From The Green's Cookbook to Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone to Local Flavors and beyond, Deborah has shared thousands of recipes and her honest, deeply-flavored, vegetable-centric style with millions of readers. Today we're going to keep it focused with just five of her simple yet astute recommendations and a few words about her forthcoming book, Vegetable Literacy.
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Wow. This cookbook... Wow. Let's just say that if you love pasta above all else, if you strive for risotto perfection, if you have spent time pondering the merits prosciutto from Parma verses San Daniele in your insalata, then this is most definitely the cookbook for you. Starting with an introduction to antipasti and ending with a guide to working with frozen desserts, The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Italian Cuisine contains an entire graduate course in Italian cooking. More

Who knew seitan could sound so sexy? Terry Hope Romero manages to do just that and so very much more. In her latest vegan cookbook, Vegan Eats World, she dips into the dishes and flavors of Morocco, Thailand, India, Poland, Jamaica, and many more food-loving cuisines from around the world, vegan-style. Vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians, however you identify yourself, we've hit the jackpot with this one. More