Top Ten Tuesday: Cookbooks for Winter Holiday Feasts

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Gingerbread people lying on a table. My Brain: Okay, it’s time to write this week’s Top Ten Tuesday entry now. What should we talk about in our freebie post?

My Stomach: Food!

Brain: Well, it’s supposed to be a bookish topic and, ideally, at least tangentially related to winter or the holiday season in general.

Stomach: We will be surrounded by more delicious food than usual until at least the first week of January. It’s the only thing I want to talk about, so there must be a way to blog about it while still technically following Jana’s rules.

Brain: What if we decide to use this prompt to discuss cookbooks? Will that work for you?

Stomach: Yes, I’ll agree to that deal.

Now that you all know how I came up with today’s topic, let’s talk about cookbooks. All of the winter holidays I’m aware of share one delicious and important thing in common: special dishes and meals. Every culture has them, and this is a very common time of the year for people from all walks of life to start making that famous family recipe that everyone expects during the holidays.

If my apartment were large enough for me to host holiday get-togethers, I’d want to browse through these books to plan the perfect meals for all of my guests.

Book cover for Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul by Diana Henry.

1. Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul by Diana Henry

Book cover for Husbands That Cook: More Than 120 Irresistible Vegetarian Recipes and Tales from Our Tiny Kitchen by Ryan Alvarez

2. Husbands That Cook: More Than 120 Irresistible Vegetarian Recipes and Tales from Our Tiny Kitchen by Ryan Alvarez

Book cover for Nadiya's Kitchen by Nadiya Hussain

3. Nadiya’s Kitchen by Nadiya Hussain

Book cover for Bread (River Cottage Handbook) by Daniel Stevens

4. Bread (River Cottage Handbook) by Daniel Stevens

Book cover for The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and 100 Essential Recipes for Midwinter by Nigel Slater

5. The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and 100 Essential Recipes for Midwinter by Nigel Slater

Book cover for The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite by Celine Steen

6. The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite by Celine Steen

Book cover for How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson

7. How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson

Book cover for Diabetic Living The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook by Diabetic Living Editors

8. Diabetic Living The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook by Diabetic Living Editors

And for dessert…

Book cover for Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home by Tammy Donroe Inman

9. Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home by Tammy Donroe Inman

Book cover for The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

10. The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Which cookbooks do you love? What are a few of your favourite things to eat during the winter holidays?

82 Comments

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82 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Cookbooks for Winter Holiday Feasts

  1. Great list! I love Nadiya Hussain and yet I’ve never tried any of her cookbooks – I should give one a try. (Although my biggest issue is that I hate cooking!)

  2. Great topic for today’s freebie, Lydia! This post has me wanting to cook something up and eat because I’m now hungry again 🤣 Especially for something sweet!

    My TTT post

  3. Great idea for a prompt. I would love to spend a few days browsing in the 641s.

  4. Man, the Wintersweet book is making me hungry just looking at it. Our house is in a historical area (on the edges) and is 119 years old. Our kitchen is rather small so when I bake a lot during the holidays I feel like I’m playing a giant game of Twister.

    • I used to live in a house that was built around that same time. Yes, they often have very tiny kitchens. (Although I love the architecture from the turn of the 20th century in general).

      I hope you enjoy the Wintersweet cookbook if you decide to check it out. And now I’m off to check out your post.

  5. RS

    Your intro made me laugh! I love this post and it’s terrible, because now I want to swoop off to the library and nab ALL the cookbooks. Which I will then never cook from because time. But the first one looks fantastic, and aw, I didn’t know Nadiya had a book deal — that looks great too.

    I need to add a “reference” shelf to Goodreads so I can keep track of the cookbooks I like. I seem to forget instantly once I’ve returned them. Off the top of my head, I know I’ve enjoyed browsing through Andie Mitchell’s Eating in the Middle.

  6. This is SUCH a great idea I love the Diana Henry cover and this has reminded me how much I need to add Nigel slater to our collection.
    We tend to pull out the classic Nigella, Hairy Bikers (the best nut loaf ever!) and Gizzi Erskine!

  7. Ok The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite by Celine Steen (yes I totally copy/paste that) is a very helpful book, I looove it and really recommend it guys !

  8. Well, I can’t cook so I can’t say I would enjoy these books but they certainly sound delicious. I really like the title of book #2 – if I have a husband, I would give him that book for christmas and hope he gets the hint.

    Thank you for visiting to my blog. Have a lovely day.

  9. I’d definitely try out the vegetarian recipes if I could cook well haha. Great idea of bringing in food!

  10. Oo! Good choice of subject! The book on how to cook without a cookbook looks…intriguing. And strangely meta.
    Or is it really “the last cookbook you’ll ever need”? 😉

  11. Ha-ha. How to Cook Without a Book, in book form. That cracks me up. We have a Christmas cookie book I got when my girls were young and we pull it out every year at this time. Now that they have both moved away they ask me to take photos of their favorite recipes from that book. Hmm. That is an idea. See if I can find a copy for each of them. Thanks for visiting my blog.

  12. This is the best use of this week’s freebie I’ve seen. I love cook books! Awesome list.

  13. Nice list! I love your unique topic. I rarely buy cookbooks anymore since the Internet is such a great, free source for recipes, but I do love looking through cookbooks. All those scrumptious photos! Enjoy.

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

  14. The figs on that cover look so tempting!

  15. Oh wow, these look amazing! I don’t tend to use any cookbooks for holiday cooking (all of our holiday favorites have long since been transferred to recipe cards) but I’ll have to check some of these out for regular cooking.

    • Thanks. 🙂 Yeah, there’s definitely something to be said for using all sorts of cookbooks for regular cooking, too, even if some of them were meant for specific times of the year.

  16. Great idea for a post! I’m always looking for more recipes.

  17. I think this is the first Top Ten Tuesday cookbook post I’ve seen! Cookbooks are still books though, right? They count! Hope you get to find lots of time for cooking this season.

  18. What s fun post of amazing cookbooks!

  19. YUM. I am now in the mood to go and cook all of the holiday themed things! Great list!

  20. Great idea! Now I’m so hungry. 😉

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT

  21. All of these titles are making me hungry!

    My TTT.

  22. Melissa

    Number 9 looks so yummy! I might have to check that one out.

  23. Ooh nice topic choice! I admit, I haven’t used an actual cookbook in ages. Normally my recipe hunting comes from online searches and the like websites. When I find a good one, I save it in a binder that’s been organized by dish type…so in a way…it’s like a giant cookbook! Lol!

    Thanks for visiting my TTT post!

  24. FOOD! My stomach agrees with your stomach. A lot of these sound really good. I particularly like the sound of How to Cook Without a Book. Goodness knows I could use all the tips and advice!

  25. A great topic Lydia. I have the diabetic cookbook, I bought it when I was diagnosed Type II diabetic. I have used a few recipes from it and they were good. The bread one looks good, but hmmm, diabetic, carbs probably shouldn’t.

  26. I’m not a cook or baker at all, but I do love looking at these gorgeous covers! I wouldn’t mind eating some of the food here, for sure! Nice list and topic.

  27. Ooh I think I need some of these! Especially that vegetarian one and the bread one. Food and Christmas go so well together haha!

  28. That is a perfectly legit way to decide what to write for your TTT this week, or any week lol

  29. Sarah

    Cookbooks! What a great idea for a holiday TTT. I love the title “roast figs sugar snow”.

  30. It’s Nadiya! I loved her in the Great British Bake Off. I love baking during this time of year. I’m actually planning to bake something later this week.

  31. OOh love your twist on the theme. I’ll be looking up a few of these!

  32. Great idea for a post. That seasonal desserts book caught my eye right away.

  33. Great list! We actually use cookbooks a lot in my house so I’ll have to look these up. 🙂

  34. Food and cookbooks is a great choice of topic for this time of year! I haven’t tried any of these cookbooks, but I have enjoyed watching cooking shows with Nigel Slater and Nadiya Hussain in.

  35. This a great list and a creative idea! And now I’m hungry, lol.

  36. This is an AMAZING post!! Although… now I’m hungry 🙁
    Whenever I use a cookbook it’s almost always for desserts or baked goods?? Like, never meals?? Only different types of cake??
    I’m not complaining, but there’s so much more out there for me to learn!
    When I think of winter treats, I always think of gingerbread men. Now I really want gingerbread men… oh no.

    • Aww, thanks. Gingerbread men are delicious. And, yeah, I mostly use cookbooks for desserts as well. It’s much easier to wing a soup or stirfry than it is something like a cake or soufflé’. 🙂

  37. Husbands That Cook – sounds like my house!

  38. Christine

    Great theme – food is one of the best parts of Christmas!

  39. Reading this post whilst hungry was definitely not the best idea! Great selection of cookbooks, some of which I’ll definitely have to check out for a bit of festive baking 🙂

  40. Fun topic! Love the look of the Wintersweet cookbook.

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