For those learning to cook, or for those who already love to cook, cookbooks are the perfect gift to give for Mother’s Day. Let’s take a look at 10 great ones to consider purchasing as gifts!
Cookbooks offer simple and endless inspiration for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, and snacks galore! You name it! Whether you’re just getting started or into the habit of cooking, or even if you’re a seasoned home chef/pro, cookbooks are surely a welcome gift and something for all to love and enjoy alike!
Cookbooks are open invitations for families to cook together, and Mom’s will surely want to teach and cook with their kids as a gift to themselves as well!
This Mother’s Day, Food & Wine Magazine asked their editing team to come up with recommendations of cookbooks that they would like to give, or that they would like to receive as gifts as well. All of them sound great and are different in many ways, and yet some are similar as well! The spread is quite well-renowned and all sound super delicious.
Here are the ten cookbooks that Food & Wine Magazine suggest make the most perfect of Mother’s Day gifts this (and any other) year as well!
1. Huckleberry by Zoe Nathan
First of all, the cover of this book alone makes me want to buy it and make whatever it is that graces the front page. It looks like some sort of bread made with berries all swirled and laced inside of it (maybe they’re even Huckleberries, per say). The person from Food & Wine Magazine, who suggested this, said the following:
"Zoe Nathan’s cookbook, Huckleberry, is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks because breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and her book is chock full of everything I want to start my day with."
That being said, this looks like it would be the perfect cookbook for breakfast that kids and adults can enjoy recipes from alike (as she said, she’s the breakfast chef mom of her own house). She knows that everything she makes from this cookbook of all will surely be a hit with her kids and everyone else who eats her meals, breakfast wise. About what her husband thinks, here’s what she also had to say:
"Having this book on heavy rotation is also a hint to my husband when he’s cooking; when he asks what I want for breakfast, the answer is always blueberry bran muffins, end of story."
Now, she’s got her husband cooking from this cookbook as well (which is the goal, to make everyone love to cook, no matter when and what meal of the day that it may or may not be during the day, or at night.
This is the perfect cookbook to get for your Mom and have her just simply dreaming of a nice self-serving Breakfast-In-Bed type of meal this (and any other) Mother’s Day as well!
Huckleberry: Stories, Secrets, and Recipes From Our Kitchen by Zoe Nathan with Josh Loeb and Laurel Almerinda, $35 at Barnes & Noble. Or for a Nook Book it’s just $15.95
2. Perfectly Golden by Angela Garbacz
This cookbook, in particular, is based on Angela’s Goldenrod Pastries shops in Lincoln, NE, which is filled with, as the person from Food & Wine Magazine, who suggested it, said:
"are filled with fluffernutter buns, confetti cookies, and frosted fudgy brownies that all happen to be gluten- and dairy-free"
Her cookbook offers the same sort of recipes, or versions of the same ones she already sells, but also allows variations of even more restrictions, such as flour, milk, eggs, nuts and seeds, and so on, that one may or may not have. This book also gives you alternatives, even if allergies aren’t a thing in your house, that way it’s convenient to make, no matter what you have stocked in your pantry at the time of you wishing to pull out this book and make a recipe from it!
So, whether you have allergies to these restrictions or not, it seems that this cookbook will work for you regardless. The person who suggested this is actually gifting a physical copy of this for her own Mother this year as a great and most perfect of Mother’s Day gifts!
This sounds like a great cookbook and something Mom (and all who eat her treats) will love alike!
Perfectly Golden: Adaptable Recipes for Sweet and Simple Treats by Angela Garbacz, $28.49 at Target, and $29.95 at Barnes & Noble.
3. Season by Nick Sharma or A Brown Table
The slogan on the front cover of this cookbook in particular really shows what kind of cookbook this will be, a little bit of everything with:
"BIG FLAVORS, BEAUTIFUL FOOD."
Quite simple and straight to the point there (just how I like it). The person who recommended this said that they had actually already ordered themselves a copy for Mother’s Day this year. This person also noted that the author of this cookbook, Nick Sharma, has a blog on social media that started his interest for this cookbook, as well as countless recommendations by their colleagues (word spreads fast).
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As for a little bit about this cookbook, Season begins with the author telling us a little bit about himself, his background beginning in India, his journey with spices and seasonings, and how he got to this point in his journey to write Season and A Brown Table as well (how cool, yes I read it online through Barnes & Noble for research and curiosity purposes here).
Something that I discovered this cookbook has is what Sharma calls a ‘Flavor Glossary’ that has things pictured to the left, and a little bit about their spice and seasonings levels to the right. Super cool!
You can learn a little something about what you’re cooking when you’re cooking it (how fun as well)! He also gives Umami as one of his categories, which is how to enhance flavors, one of which, for example, he talks about Coffee Beans; Sharma states that coffee beans can be used to enhance the flavor of cocoa in certain desserts, as well as give even more unique umami notes on its own as well.
This cookbook sounds like a lot of fun and is available for $21.50 at Target and for $35.00 at Barnes & Noble (or $13.49 for a Nook version of it).
4. Cake by Maira Kalman and Barbara Scott-Goodman
This is a cookbook that may hit home and relate to many of its users, bakers, and readers alike. As the person who suggest it stated, it has things that are simply and singlehandedly
"woven in with handwritten narratives of the families memories those cakes conjure."
This cookbook sounds like a true family cookbook, mixed with some delicious-looking illustration cartoons of cake, coffee cake, cupcakes, and just about any and all other baked goods that you could possibly think of. The person who suggested this also said that since she cannot be with her own mother on Mother’s Day, that this is and will be
"more than just recipes…..warm hug I’d like to give her in person"
What sounds better than a warm hug mixed with baked goods? Absolutely nothing. Anything from our Mama is special, so that’s why this person probably chose such a family oriented based cookbook to gift her own mother this year.
As for what’s quite inside this cookbook, Cake offers an insight into the author’s own love for cake, why she loves it, and some great memories behind each recipe that will surely relate to her readers (all of them). There are only seventeen recipes included in here, and the book itself is about roughly less than 100 pages, but do you need more than that?
Telling simple family stories that remind you of recipes and vice versa, are simply all that you need to bring people together in the kitchen, am I right?! Being in the kitchen with your family can be loud, frustrating, crowded, and fun all in one, but we wouldn’t have it any other way now would we?
You can buy this wonderful family-based cookbook for $17 at Target and for $25 at Barnes & Noble (or $16 for a Paperback version, or $9.99 for the Nook version as well (tons of options here for Mom!).
5. The Silver Spoon New Edition by The Silver Spoon Kitchen
The person who suggested this said that this cookbook can be called the “Bible of Italian cooking”. Hmm. Being Italian myself, I can tell you this: No matter how good this cookbook may be, it’s definitely NOT the Bible of Italian cooking. That would be Nonna (and if you’re Italian, you know what I mean, if you don’t, you don’t).
Anyway, getting back to The Silver Spoon New Edition, it seems and is said to be packed with every single recipes that true Italians may cook in their own households and kitchens alike, from simple pastas, to more elaborate stuffed pasta dishes and beyond!
Upon looking at a few pictures from the inside of the cookbook, it reminds me of some of the dishes that I grew up learning how to make, and of course eating and sampling along the way, because if you don’t do that, then you don’t know how to cook, am I right? This cookbook is quite the Italian feast, and if I used it, I’d definitely put my own spin on some of the recipes, but as a true Italian home cook, I wouldn’t measure a darn thing (just a little of this, a lot of that, a pinch of the other doo-hickey, and so on). That’s true love cooking if you ask me.
Gift this to your Mom if she wants to learn one of the most easy cuisines to learn how to cook. Sure, not all recipes are going to be easy, especially your first time in the kitchen, but Italian recipes are so forgiving and make the perfect place to start if you’re a new cook, or make the perfect place to just pick up whenever and cook your favorite dish as well!
The person who suggested this cookbook itself said the following in their recommendation letter:
"This is the greatest gift you could give your Mom, or anyone."
Try it for your family or yourself and let us know what you think and how it all goes and compares to some of these deliciously claiming statements here!
You can get this cookbook for $46 at Barnes & Noble, where it was originally $50. This cookbook is only available in physical copies, no Nook versions can be found (yet), just as a quick thing to note here.
6. Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (17th ed.) by BH&G
This cookbook is reminding me of Season that you previously read about, as it seems to be teaching its users and readers things along the way to help them with their cooking and baking skills as well. Upon looking in its Table of Contents, it has a huge section on the normal kitchen basics that we all may know and maybe not know about. Here are some of the categories that you will find in their kitchen basics ‘lessons’ pre-recipes sections:
- ID-ing and spicing out chili peppers
- Tools, terms, and techniques
- Cutting fruits vs. veggies, techniques, and proper tools to use as well
- Garlic and spices, usage and naming them
- Go-to basic recipes, such as burgers, chicken, eggs, etc.
- Grilling techniques, tips, and terminology
- Herd identification and proper uses of each one together and individually
- Key ingredients, such as bread crumbs, cream cheese, milk, oats, peanut butter, etc.
- Marinades and rubs – perfect and right uses for all listed and provided
- Measuring kitchen math skills and how-to’s
- Sauces, such as basil pesto (one of my own personal faves to eat and cook with alike)
- Spice blends, such as a chai blend
- Storage and safety, including food safety/precautions
As the recommender stated herself,
"the 2018 edition keeps the flame alive!"
In addition, this cookbook also provides cooking charts, and a Q & A section answering all of your kitchen and cooking-related questions! Then, finally…..the recipes! So enjoy from here on out!
This fun learning, reading, and recipe-filled cookbook can be found for $27 at Barnes & Noble, where it was originally $30.
7. Half Baked Harvest Super Simple by Tieghan Gerard
This cookbook, as the person who recommended it, said that it has:
"simple but comforting meals that will be a great companion to have."
This is the kind of cookbook that people in today’s times need: something simple and easy to follow that will simply comply with how the world is trying to limit their trips to the store and only going for necessities. So, get this cookbook to make your own life easier and to find recipes that you can use and simplify and substitute for whatever you’ve got in your kitchen as well!
This latest edition has plenty of one-skillet meal ideas that
"fits the bill with one-skillet dinners and make-ahead options so there’s less stress over what to make and how much to buy each week. Plus, ice cream banana bread sounds simply delightful."
This cookbook just seems like one of the more perfect ones on this list that can relate to literally everyone right now. Grab your Mom a copy of this one this Mother’s Day, cook her something from it, and prove just how easy it is to cook with what you have, and that some of the most delicious meals take a minimal effort with tons of flavor to go with it!
Half Baked Harvest Super Simple: More Than 125 Recipes for Instant, Overnight, Meal-Prepped, and Easy Comfort Foods by Tieghan Gerard, $30 at Williams-Sonoma and at Anthropologie (same prices at both stores here).
8. Dinner in an Instant by Melissa Clark
Instant Pots are surely on the up-trend these days, with is being convenient and easy for just about anyone to use. Set it and forget it. This is perfect for those who may have kids and need easier meals to whip up, or also for those who just like easy and tasty cooking that doesn’t take long or much effort at all (but still delicious and fun nonetheless).
The front cover of the book states the following that really says what the cookbook is truly about with plenty of ideas within it in a nutshell:
"75 MODERN RECIPES FOR YOUR PRESSURE COOKER, MULTICOOKER, AND INSTANT POT."
For some people, their instant pots have been true game-changers and life-savers alike, really saving the dinner game and coming to the rescue a multitude of times!
In the next slide, you’ll the yet another cookbook that was recommended by the same person here who can’t get enough of the ease it takes to use and make recipes from both of the ones they said to gift this year.
Dinner in an Instant: 75 Modern Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot by Melissa Clark, $13.99 at Target, and also for $19.99 at Barnes & Noble (also for $4.99 for the Nook version of the same cookbook).
9. Madhur Jeffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook by Madhur Jeffrey
This is yet another instant-pot-based recipe-filled cookbook; however, the basic main difference here, is that this cookbook in particular, is all Indian cuisine-based recipes that, while they may sound and look complex, they really are just as simple as putting or throwing everything together and into your instant pot alike!
This person who recommended this particular cookbook is gifting this to her Mom who loves to travel and is always looking to add some global cuisines to their table (to change it up a bit). Some people, much like myself, may tend to shy away from Indian cuisine as they are a bit unsure of it, but maybe this will change those and get some people out of their true kitchen and cooking-based comfort zones (maybe for me one day too, who knows!?).
Jeffrey has a whole list of additional cookbooks to his repertoire, such as the following, which do not include all of them:
"An Invitation to Indian Cooking, A Taste of India, A Taste of the Far East, Step-by-Step Cooking, and so on and so forth."
If you’re looking to expand your global table cuisines, definitely check this cookbook out and hop right out of your typical American or Italian (or whatever cuisine is your go-to to cook)!!
Madhur Jaffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook: Modern and Classic Recipes for the Instant Pot by Madhur Jaffrey, $14.49 at Target, and for $20 at Barnes & Noble (and also for $13.99 for the Nook version of this too).
10. Cook Like a Pro by Ina Garten
For the tenth and final cookbook here, and yeah I know it’s been a lot and thank you for bearing with me here, we’ll go with a recommendation from a very well-known chef’s cookbook. The mother of the person who recommended this:
"just loves her recipes and finds them almost fool-proof."
To me, that’s what cooking should be like – foolproof. If one can do it, then anyone can. Cooking shouldn’t be hard and shouldn’t frustrate people. It should be easy and soothing and make people enjoy it. Well, that’s where Ina herself and her recipes come into play here.
Some of her recipes included in this particular cookbook (of many of hers), may include:
"Homemade ricotta, baked pasta with tomatoes & eggplant, butternut squash gratin—not to mention, a Campari and orange granita, which just so happens to include our favorite apéritif."
If you’re looking for something easy by a celebrity chef, and recipes that are tailored so the whole family will love them, then look no further and purchase Ina Garten’s cookbook here!
Cook Like a Pro: Recipes and Tips for Home Cooks: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten, $35 at Williams-Sonoma.
As you can see from this enormous list above, there are so many cookbooks that, if you can’t get in time for Mother’s Day this year due to the situations in the world currently, will make great gifts of appreciation for all of our Mamas any time of the year and she will love them just the same.
Whether you’re looking for something with complex recipes, desserts, or easy recipes to set and forget, there’s surely something on this list that will tailor to your needs cuisines, and restrictions alike. Make sure to check all of these (or just some if you so choose to do) and decide which would not only be best for you, but for your Moms as well!
All in all, cooking doesn’t have to be hard, but it’s also not all easy. Look for a cookbook, if you’re just starting out, that will not only teach you how to cook, but how to look for things in a recipe that can be switched up, substituted and for those recipes and cookbooks that teach you other things as well, much like a few of the others listed in the preceding slides above!
See the full list and more explanations on each given cookbook in the link in the above paragraph!!
Let us know down in the comments which cookbooks you’re thinking of getting. Also, let us know your favorite chef out there and how they’re cookbooks compare to ones on this list. We’d love to know.