Hostess Gifts: Books for Cooks

'Tis the season to party, and all that party attending leads to the question of giving an appropriate host/hostess gift. The easiest gift is always a nice bottle of wine or bubbly, but how about a great cook book for the chef? Here are a few suggestions:


If you're not sure what books they already have, you can't go too wrong with the 75th anniversary edition of The Joy of Cooking. Available at Amazon.com for $18.


For those who refuse to be a slave to the recipe, The Improvisational Cook gives ingredient-driven recipes and teaches you how to improvise based on what you have on-hand in your kitchen. $23.07 at Amazon.com.


For the adventurous chef, one of my personal favorites, The Sultan's Kitchen. Of the Turkish cookbooks I have, which are many, this is the most beautiful. The recipes are a little complicated and labor intensive, but well worth the work. $13.57 at Amazon.com.