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Books for All

• Chicago Sun-Times staffers share their favorite cookbooks.


• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has cookbook gift suggestions.


• The Chicago Tribune's cookbook gift guide includes several sample recipes, including Lemon-Orange Cream Chiffon Cake from BakeWise by Shirley O. Corrihe, and Jalepeno Salmon Burgers from Fish Without a Doubt by Rick Moonen and Roy Finemore.

Recipes Savory and Sweet

• The Kansas City Star looks back on the "year of the potato," and mashes them up with celery root.


• The Post-Dispatch features a creamy polenta appetizer recipe from Lorenzo's Trattoria on the Hill and Queso Manchego en Adobo from Modesto Tapas Bar and Restaurant.


• The Tribune celebrates "winter whites" – cauliflower, celeriac, onions, parsnips and white beans – and turns them into a Winter White Soup.


• Chicago pastry chef and cafe owner Laura Cid Perea, in the Sun-Times, shares the recipe for her grandmother's bunuelos, "golden, crispy-sweet, tortillalike fritters were sprinkled with Mexican cinnamon and sugar." We're also intrigued by her description of her aunt's homemade ravioli stuffed with refried black beans and served with a creamy tomato/chipotle sauce. Wow.

Related: Midwest Food Roundup: Holiday Parties

(Images: Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star, Emily Rasinski/St. Louis Post-Dispatch)