For hard-to-buy-for people, a book in an area of their interest is something we fall back upon. Sometimes it’s a combination gift: a book about Champagne, for example, along with a bottle of it, a book on Cognac with a set of snifters, and so on.

Here we highlight books that would be welcome to people with specific food passions.

CHEESE

A Year In Cheese, A Seasonal Cheese Cookbook applies the seasonal eating approach to cheese. It was written by Alex and Léo Guarneri, the team behind the renowned Parisian artisan cheese shop and cheese restaurant, Androuet (established in Paris in 1909 and now in the Old Spitalfields Market in London).

What’s seasonal depends on the grazing cycle of the animal and what they graze on at which time of year. The recipes from chef Alessandro Grano are tantalizing.

 
CHOCOLATE

Tracy Zabar celebrates the chocolate chip cookie in Chocolate Chip Sweets: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes. Chefs such as Dominique Ansel, Lidia Bastianich, Florian Bellanger, Daniel Boulud, Maida Heatter, Thomas Keller, Pichet Ong, Jacques Torres, Sherry Yard and other top chefs share their favorite recipes. Brownies, cakes, doughnuts, ice cream sandwiches, marshmallows, pies, puddings, waffles and more get the chocolate chip treatment.

Who could resist this book?

For people who appreciate fine chocolate, cookbooks from chocolatiers are always very interesting. No one knows chocolate more intimately, or can envision new ways to use it. This year’s chocolatier-authored cookbook is Theo Chocolate Recipes and Sweet Secrets From Seattle’s Favorite Chocolate Maker.

The authors, Debra Music and Joe Whinney, principals of Theo, worked with leading chefs to develop the more than 75 recipes in this book. They encompass chocolate for breakfast, cookies, cakes, confections, drinking chocolate, frozen desserts and dessert sauces, savory dishes, pies, puddings and tarts. Where to begin? We started with the Chocolate Bread Pudding.

 
SPECIAL INGREDIENTS

The next book is for cooks who seek out different ingredients. For anyone who’s bought a bottle of fish sauce for a particular Asian recipe, the challenge is what else to do with it. Open condiments decline over time, so you don’t want to tuck it out of sight. There are also plenty of home cooks who have decided not to buy a bottle for the same reasons.

Among those others is colatura di alici, a modern representation of garum, the fish sauce favored by the ancient Romans. Worcestershire sauce is is made with anchovy, a recipe brought back to England by a ship’s captain Captain and first sold commercially in 1837.

GENERAL COOKING

For the aspirational home cook, Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors will be a welcome addition to the cookbook shelf.

Taking a different approach from classic French and other sauce cookbooks, Susan Volland demonstrates how great cooks all over the world make sauces with impromptu drizzling and splashing. She provides the fundamental principles of great sauces: maximize flavor, manipulate texture and season confidently. Thus armed, you can add your own flair to any sauce.

There are more than 150 recipes that focus on seasonal produce, international ingredients and alternative dietary choices. She goes over the how’s and why’s of making great sauces. And at the end of it all, she provides a list of remedies for those attempts that don’t come out to your expectations.
Then there’s The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. Kenji Lopez-Alt focuses on the science behind popular American dishes, providing easy-to-understand explanations of the interactions between heat, energy, and molecules that create great food. He shows that often, conventional methods don’t work that well, and home cooks can achieve far better results using simple new techniques.

But it’s also a cookbook, with hundreds of easy-to-make recipes and 1,000 full-color images. you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes, how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes, how to make the crispiest, creamiest potato casserole ever conceived, and much more.

For people who love really good French Fries, Anne de la Forest’s handsome if slender volume, Frites, spans traditional, trendy, creative and yes, sweet fries recipes. The more than 30 recipes are half potato recipes, and half “other.” The other includes fries made from asparagus, beet, black radish, butternut squash, carrot, celeriac, Comté cheese, eggplant, feta, kohlrabi, panisse (chickpea paste), parsnip, polenta, pumpkin, salsify, sweet potato, turnip, and zucchini.

The sweet fries include apple, banana, pain perdu (French toast), pear and sweet potato. Savory or sweet, there are recommendations for dipping sauces and recipes for them, too. For those with reaching palates, this book is an inspiration.
 
PIZZA

Award-winning Executive Chef & Pizza Connoisseur, Craig Priebe, brings us The United States of Pizza: America’s Favorite Pizzas, from Thin Crust to Deep Dish, Sourdough to Gluten-Free. Chef Craig Priebe has scoured the country to present recipes forthe tastiest pies, from classics to semi-modern (smoked ham and cheddar) to of-the-moment (roasted cauliflower and salsa verde).

With beautiful photography, it gives the pizza lover a perspective on what’s happening nationwide, and the recipes to make those pies!

For people who love pizza and have a barbecue grill, there’s Grilled Pizza The Right Way: The Best Technique for Cooking Incredible Tasting Pizza & Flatbread on Your Barbecue Perfectly Chewy & Crispy Every Time. It was written by John Delpha, a 10-time award winner of the Jack Daniel’s BBQ Championship Grilling and BBQing Awards. He’s been grilling pizzas for 20 years.

Although a paperback, all the recipient will notice are the beautiful photos of grilled pizza. Each recipe includes the technique required to master it. Every type of pizza is represented: brunch, classic, cross-border, dessert, fish and seafood, flatbreads, meat, veggie and “the masqueraders,” favorite sandwiches converted to pizza.

We want to eat every one of them.
 
SUSHI & SASHIMI

We’ve eaten sushi and sashimi all of our life, at least twice a week. We’ve taken classes, hoping to make our own at home. If only we’d had The Complete Guide To Sushi & Sashimi, a compendium with step-by-step color photographs. It imparts hundreds of tips and techniques, that, in all of our sushi years, is still new information (and now we can finally cut squid properly!!).

 
BUT THAT’S NOT THE END

There are more, of course. So many food books, so little time to try recipes from each!

We just may get around to writing Food Books, Part 2.
  

December 15th is National Cupcake Day (there are 8 more cupcake holidays).

When a holiday like this falls right before Christmas, there’s only one way to go: Christmas eat cupcakes.

We have great ideas for you, but first, for your consideration:

> The history of cupcakes is below.

> The history of cake.

> The different types of cake: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 55 cake holidays.
 
 
CHRISTMAS CUPCAKE IDEAS

You can turn thi food holiday into a seasonal holiday party, with a DYO (decorate your own) cupcake party, with holiday flavors and garnishes.

Whether you bake them from scratch or buy plain cupcakes to decorate, here are 10 easy approaches:

[2] Snowman cupcakes © CreatedByDiane.com.

[3] Rudolph cupcake at Trophy Cupcakes. The kids can help make this design!

Before the advent of muffin tins, cupcakes were baked in individual tea cups (hence “cup” cakes) or ramekins. The first reference to these miniature cakes dates to 1796 when a recipe for “cake to be baked in small cups” appeared in the cookbook, “American Cookery.” The earliest documentation of the term “cupcake” was in Eliza Leslie’s Receipts cookbook in 1828 (receipt is an earlier term for recipe). [Source]

Back then, cupcakes were easier to make than cakes because they cooked much faster. It took a long time to bake a cake in a hearth oven; cupcakes were ready in a fraction of the time. [Source]
The cupcake was once known as the 1-2-3-4 cake because the recipe called for 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and 4 eggs—plus 1 cup of milk and 1 spoonful of baking soda.

Muffin tins (doing double duty as cupcake tins) became widely available around the turn of the 20th century and offered a new convenience to bakers of muffins and cupcakes. But the next convenience took a while longer: For easier removal of cupcakes from the pan, paper and foil cupcake pan liners were created after World War II.

An artillery manufacturer, the James River Corporation, began to manufacture cupcake liners when its military markets diminished. By 1969, they left artillery manufacturing behind and became a paper manufacturer. During the 1950s, the new paper baking cup gained popularity with U.S. housewives. Its popularity grew, even more, when bakers realized that they could bake muffins as well as cupcakes in the baking cups [source].

Cupcakes evolved into children’s party fare, but in the last decade, they have taken a more sophisticated turn. First, some younger couples began to choose “cupcake trees” instead of conventional wedding cakes. This prompted a flurry of cupcake articles and recipes, and ultimately the opening of boutique cupcake bakeries nationwide, offering what has become an everyday treat.

 
________________

*Both receipt and recipe derive from the Latin recipere, to receive or take. Receipt was originally used in medieval English to designate a formula or prescription for a medicinal preparation, and the symbol Rx emerged in medieval times. The sense of receipt as a written statement that money or goods have been received emerged later, at the beginning of the 17th century. In terms of cooking instructions, recipe became an alternative to receipt in the 18th century, gradually replacing it over time. Here’s more.

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

A fun mocktail is a treat for non-drinkers. Top photo courtesy Ocean Spray. Bottom photo courtesy ASweetPeaChef.com.

Most hosts address the need with soft drinks and mineral water. But special occasions merit an extra step: a holiday mocktail.

It’s easy to make it look and taste interesting, and those who can’t drink will feel special.

For your Christmas mocktail, we suggest something red and green: a red- or rosy-hued drink with a green garnish.

 
CHRISTMAS MOCKTAIL #1: CRANBERRY GINGER

Ingredients

 
CHRISTMAS MOCKTAIL #2: CRANBERRY ORANGE

Ingredients

†The best maraschino cherries by far are the all-natural (and kosher-certified) Tillen Farms Merry Maraschino Cherries. They are “maraschino red” in color but taste great—nothing like the traditional varieties. The company also makes Bada Bing Cherries, with the deep burgundy hue of bing cherries. If you buy multiple packs online, use the extras as stocking stuffers.

‡San Pellegrino Aranciata (orange) and Aranciata Rossa (blood orange), and Boylan’s Orange, are the only ones we’ve found that use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. San Pellegrino is less sweet and more elegant; Boylan’s is conventionally sweet.
  

You don’t need to buy mistletoe to encourage people at holiday get-togethers to kiss. Instead, substitute this “holiday kissing ball” from Ocean Spray.

First head to the crafts store, then pick up fresh whole cranberries. You can pick up an extra bag or two for a Valentine Kissing Ball (and if you prefer, a foam heart instead of a ball).

DIY CRANBERRY KISSING BALL

Ingredients

 
Preparation

A kissing ball, mistletoe optional. Photo courtesy Ocean Spray.

2. CUT an 18″ piece of wire and fold it in half. Push the folded wire all the way through the center of the ball, leaving a 1″ wire loop extending at bottom of ball and 3″ of wire extending at top.

3. ATTACH the cranberries to ball with a hot glue gun or toothpicks, covering the ball completely. Spray with shellac for longevity (otherwise, the berries soften after 5 days or so, and the appearance will diminish). NOTE: The glue gun is a better choice. If you don’t have one, you can pick one up when you buy the foam ball at the crafts store.

4. TWIST the two wires at top of ball into a simple hook for hanging. Use ribbon to tie the desired holiday trim to wire above and below ball, and hang with a hook.

5. FIND someone to kiss and guide him/her underneath the ball.
  

TOP PHOTO: Homemade cheese straws, made in advance, frozen and heated in the oven. Photo courtesy Cabot Cheese. BOTTOM PHOTO: Stuffed mushrooms. Photo courtesy GoodCook.com.

Make fancy appetizers in advance, freeze them and simply heat them when guests arrive.

Just about every hot hors d’oeuvre can be made up to six weeks in advance and popped into the freezer. Then when the first guests arrive, just pop a baking sheet in the oven.

What can you make? For starters, these 10 crowd favorites:

 
Another time saver: These frozen bites can generally be heated at the same oven temperature for about the same amount of time, so you don’t have to babysit the oven.
 
HOW TO FREEZE YOUR HORS D’OEUVRE

As with anything you stick in the freezer, use airtight containers or heavy-duty resealable plastic bags.

 
WHAT DOES “HORS D’OEUVRE” MEAN?

Hors d’oeuvre (pronounced or-DERV and spelled without an “s” at the end in French, whether singular or plural) are one- or two-bite tidbits served with cocktails. They can be placed on a table for self-service, or passed on trays by the host or a server.

Hors d’oeuvre is French for “outside the [main] work,” referring to foods served outside of the main meal. From the late 17th century through the mid-19th century, popular hors d’oeuvre for the affluent French included clams and oysters on the half shell, stuffed eggs, slices of beef tongue and quail tidbits. [Source]

Talk about excess: In the 19th century, extending into the 20th century, salted nuts, olives, and crudités—the “relish tray” of raw carrots, celery, radishes and the like–would be on the table throughout the meal so people could fill in between courses.

Technically, the term hors d’oeuvre refers to small, individual food items that have been prepared by a cook. Thus, a cheese plate is not an hors d’oeuvre, nor is a crudité tray with dip, even though someone has cut the vegetables and made the dip.

Canapés—small crustless pieces of bread† or pastry with a savory topping—arose in France in the 18th century, with Britain adopting the practice in the 19th century.

Canapés have been joined in modern times by hot options such as baby lamb chops, brochettes (skewers), cheese puffs, crab cakes, mini quiches and many other options. A more modern approach is the mixed appetizer plate, several pieces plated and served as an appetizer (first course). [Source]

Classic French canapé trays. TOP PHOTO: Caviar Russe serves them on a silver tray. BOTTOM PHOTO: Payard sells canapeés that you serve on your own fancy tray.

*A 17th century English idiom, “groaning board” refers to a dining table laden or buffet with a large amount of food. In old literature, we see it referred to regularly by characters staying or supping at a tavern. The “groan” refers to the purported creaking and groaning noises produced by the wood of the table under the weight of the food. At the time, “board” was another word for “table” (and is the genesis of “room and board” and “boarding house”). At major feasts, the large table required was often a long board held up by trestles—think sawhorse held up by wooden legs.

†Stale bread was often used as a base for the toppings, as it had hardened into the consistency of toast. The crusts were always removed to make them more elegant.