Weekend Cooking: Gift Guide for Food-Loving Readers

As we finish up Hanukkah and head into Christmas (the perils of the dual-religion family), I find myself relying heavily on tried-and-true dinners and less on experimentation.

For example, this last week we had beans and rice, chicken parm, quinoa Buddha bowls, and grilled salmon. All tasty and all family favorites, but not necessarily good fodder for blogging or for sharing on Weekend Cooking.

I suspect that you too are saving your culinary energy for holiday meals and Christmas cookies, so today, instead of a cookbook or a recipe, I want to tell you about three good food-related books that crossed my desk this fall. I liked them all but never got around to writing full, formal reviews. My procrastination paid off, though, because these niche books are perfect for gift giving.

How to Drink Like a Mobster by Albert W. A. Schmid (Red Lightning Books, September 1). This cocktail book, written by a mixologist and Gourmand Award winner, is as fun as the subtitle suggests: "Cocktails Guaranteed to Bring Out Your Inner Gangster." The first part of the book includes a mobster glossary, just in case you're not a Button (official member of the Mafia), along with equipment, speakeasy rules, ingredients, techniques, and some base recipes. The second part is a series of short biographies of famous gangsters and descriptions of important events, laws, and places related to the mob. The cocktail recipes are in the final section, arranged by main spirit (vodka, rum, and so on). The drinks range from classics, like the Gibson, to more unusual drinks, like the Gunfire (a coffee drink). Schmid ties each cocktail into the mob world by explaining the origin of the drink's name or by providing a short history of the cocktail itself. This is a delight to read and would make a great gift for the cocktail-loving Mafia fans in your life.

What Makes a Wine Worth Drinking by Terry Teise (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, November 6). This collection of linked essays is written by a wine importer and writer who has won multiple awards, including the James Beard Foundation's Award for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional. The book is not a how-to guide to buying wines but is a contemplation on the interconnections among the wine growers, their land, their wine, and those of us who enjoy the results. Teise compares our connection to small wine producers to our relationship with the vendors we get to know at our local farmer's market. He also writes about contemporary issues in the wine world, his own wine journey, and how very personal wine drinking can be. His approach is based on his experiences as both a wine drinker and a professional, and he prefers wines that enhance his life rather than those that have a muting effect or take over the moment. To Teise, a wine should be "honest and authentic. That and nothing more." From casual sipper to avid collector, the wine lover on your gift list will find a lot to think about.

The Bread and the Knife: A Life in 26 Bites by Dawn Drzal (Arcade, September 11). Written by a former cookbook editor and well-known food writer, this collection of twenty-six personal essays highlight the strong link between food and memory. The pieces are arranged alphabetically from "Al Dente" to "Zucchini Blossoms," and each ingredient, technique, or cooking term prompts Drzal's thoughts on family, childhood, travel, friends, work, and relationships. She tells us about her grandparents, summer camp, dinner parties from her early years in New York City, M. F. K. Fisher, and the year she learned about dieting. You'll also find a few recipes (such as her stepfather's stromboli stuffing) intertwined with Drzal's descriptions of memorable meals (including a thank-you dinner at La Colombe d'Or), thoughts on quasi-vegetarianism, and stories about her marriages. I read this one slowly, one yummy bite at a time. This is the perfect book for the foodies on your gift list, and you'll want a copy to put by your own bedside as well.

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
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