Best Winter Cookbooks

This morning greeted us with cold winds and a landscape of snowy grounds, barren trees and wind whipping all around - typical for January in Montana. I rushed to bring in wood and gave up shoveling the walks after my efforts were mocked by the continuous snowfall. It was a day which brought to mind many pleasant memories of snow days keeping me from going to school and cozy afternoons spent in front the crackling fire sipping hot chocolate. 

The morning also had me thinking on all of the wonderful soups and stews and hearty winter meals that become especially delicious when sequestered inside for a day. This is my list of some favorite wintertime cookbooks.

Rising Wolf's Favorite Winter Cookbooks

The Ski House Cookbook
Rustic Fruit Desserts
The Irish Pub Cookbook
Soups, Stews, and Quickbreads
New England Soup Factory Cookbook
Around My French Table
Cooking Light's Slow Cooker Cookbook
Best of Irish Soups
Recipes of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland
Autumn Nights, Winter Mornings

Faintest Whisp of Autumn and Pumpkins

Up in the cooler northwest corner of Montana, where I happen to call home, gourds and squash are beginning to overflow the bins at markets and the anticipation of butternut squash soup and mini pumpkin cakes increases my desire for the autumn season to fully descend. When so many up here in this cold climate grasp onto every last bit of sunshine they can, I'm relishing in the stormy weather and hoping it doesn't end.

This is the time of year I'm faithfully buying up all of the delicious fresh berries I can and storing away what I don't use in the freezer to tide me over during the long winter. Huckleberry season is a blink in time up here in the mountains and buying in excess and freezing is the only way to ensure you'll have plenty long after the growing season ends.

I may on occasion wish for something out of season but I prefer using what each season offers in abundance which brings me to pumpkins. Not only are these hearty and versatile squash prevalent during my favorite holiday, the culinary possibilities are nearly endless. 

When I first saw The Great Little Pumpkin Cookbook, I was thinking it more for children, which is great. I then took a peek at the pages and discovered that where children could certainly help in the making of the delicious recipes, it wasn't written for them. The White Bean Soup with Pumpkin and Chipolte Chilies sounded especially interesting. Whether you follow the recipes or garner a few ideas of your own, this is a great little cookbook to add to your collection.

"Young Chefs" by Christina Dymock

Young Chefs

Hey kids! It's time to take charge in the kitchen. Become a young chef as you make your favorite foods and explore new recipes with everything from Game Day Hot Dogs to Lemon Shark Bars. Each recipe tells your parents when help is needed and also includes stories, jokes, and history about the recipes. You'll be whipping up masterpieces in no time. Let's get cookin'!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A Reader's Opinion

This is a great book for those young chefs who like to join you in the kitchen, play in the flour, and who watch in amazement as a few ingredients become something yummy. As a child, I learned by doing and looking at my mom's cookbooks, but it would have been fun to have something like this. The glossary and instructions are easy to understand, and the recipes are simple. I like the intro pages that explain safety, sanitation, and a few how-to sections. The idea isn't gourmet--it's to get kids used to working in a kitchen. The recipes are easy, so a child won't be bored, and the little toolbox feature for each recipe tells them what they need. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this for the young chef in the family. It's also kid-approved by my niece and nephew.

Meet the Author

Christina Dymock was once at a dinner party where her husband was teasing her about the frosting-to-cupcake ratio on her dessert. The woman sitting across from them sniffed her delicate nose and said, "If my husband gave me a hard time about my frosting I'd quit baking. That'd show him." To which Christina's husband replied while pointing at his speechless wife, "Try to stop her!"

Christina divides her time between the kitchen and her computer and books and her family of six. (Naturally, the family gets the biggest share.) Because she reads everything, she also feels compelled to write in several genres. 

http://christinadymock.com

 http://teachingyoungchefs.blogspot.com

Book Review: Nick Malgieri's Perfect Pastry

It works! The recipes, the techniques - they work. Nick Malgieri is a wonderfully talented pastry chef and teacher (everything he does is easy to follow). I've enjoyed making minor changes to some of his recipes, just to make them more my own. Others are so good there's nothing that could improve them. He has a collection of cookbooks, including How to Bake, and each are worth paging through. Of all his books, this one is my favorite. 

Nick Malgieri is a pastry chef, author, teacher, and online baking instructor (and a talented one at that). His works also include: 

• How to Bake
• Chocolate
• The Modern Baker
• Perfect Cakes
• Cookies Unlimited
• Perfect Light Desserts
• A Baker's Tour
• Great Italian Desserts

Cookbook Review: Cooking Light's Cooking through the Seasons

I have a lot of cookbooks, and I say a lot because I haven't actually counted. Many obscure, many foreign and well, just many. Books and cookbooks alike are an addiction, but this is the first Cooking Light book I've been willing to purchase. Why did I cave? Because Cooking Light makes good food healthy.

First, it's beautiful. The photography isn't overdone and yet so appealing. For the past few months I've been experimenting with Cooking Light recipes, often altering them to make them my own, or using ingredients I have on hand. Even if I don't use the recipe, the ideas are worth buying the magazine - I didn't always feel that way.

Cooking Light has only recently been on my list of favorites, and whatever they are doing is obviously working. I'm looking forward to trying recipes from this book throughout the next month and getting ideas for my own recipes. I will share my discoveries from this book, and look forward to hearing what others have to say after trying it out.

Cooking through the Seasons is quite literally that - a cookbook with fresh and seasonal recipes. They've gone a step further though because this food isn't boring, and to be quite honest, it's one of the best cookbooks I've seen in awhile that focuses on healthy balanced eating. It's not just for vegetarians or for omnivores-it's for the masses, and the team of chefs and staff at Cooking Light have impressed this author, and it's my hope they continue.

Cookbook Review: Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

I first came across this cookbook while in Vermont. As I thumbed through it, my first thought was, 'Where are all the pretty pictures', but then as I looked more closely at the recipes, I realized that many were dishes I would happily create in my own home.

Based out of Ithaca, NY, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites offers a vast variety of healthy meals that don't taste like health food. For instance, their Mushroom Wheatberry Pilaf may sound too healthy, but with the hints of fresh herbs, cloves and onion, you're in for a tasty dish. Their Mediterranean Stew with bell peppers, asparagus, red wine, squash, cannellini, clams and fresh herbs is sure to satisfy your appetite.

With more than 400 pages of good-for-you and tasty recipes (desserts included) everyone is sure to find a new favorite. I don't want to reprint the exact recipe here since I wouldn't modify a thing about it, but I recommend trying their Applesauce Spice Cake for a lighter holiday treat.