A mishmash of merriments

Books to read, recipes to make and movies and podcasts and newsletters to help you celebrate (and/or escape from) the holidays

Hello! Hello!

This may sound I know this ridiculous, but the holidays kind of snuck up on me. I know, I know — it seems impossible, given the early Black Friday blasts, the gift guides from everyone everywhere and all the “best of” lists. I love “best of” lists! My Instagram feed is filled with holiday cheer and the lovely (warm, generous, helpful, smart, talented) members of Bake and Tell (open to everyone) have been swapping recipes, baking their hearts out and helping one another to sort the sweet part of the hols for weeks now. Maybe the surprise is not the holidays, but the fact that we’re less than two weeks away from the end of 2023. I bought a new notebook for 2024, but I don’t feel as though I’ve given — or gotten — my all from 2023. More time! Can’t I have some more time? Please! Do I always feel this way when December is on the wane? Is there always a mix of nostalgia, maybe even a touch of melancholy, as well as gleeful anticipation? Of frustration for what might have been (or what I might have done) and excitement for what’s coming? For now — and for 2024 — I’m choosing glee and excitement!

Merriment, too.

So, in the spirit of merriment, I’m running down a few end-of-year faves. As always, there are more good things than I can mention, so I’m hoping — as usual — that you’ll add to the lists. I always love hearing from you.

And I’m always glad that we’re together, that we get to share stories and adventures, triumphs and flops — can there ever be a triumph if there hasn’t been a flop along the way? — moments at home and moments on the road.

Thank you for being here. Here’s to a sweet new year. Ready or not. Here’s to friendship. Here’s to joy. And here’s to kindness. I’ll see you on the other side of December.

» Some Best of the Best-Ofs

Take a look at this list of best cookbooks of 2023 put together by the team at New York Times Cooking and the Food Desk — I’ve unlocked the paywall for you. I had mentioned some of these books in August, before I left for Paris, and some last month, so I know that, like me, many of you already know and love these books. (We’re all in love with Samantha Seneviratne’s Bake Smart, Kevin and Jeffrey Pang’s A Very Chinese Cookbook, and Hetty McKinnon’s Tenderheart, right?) But there are some titles that might be new to you.

The Best Cookbooks of 2023 via The New York Times

Epicurious’s 2023 round-up of cookbooks is big, generous and juicy. And it’s got a separate section on baking cookbooks (hello, Sarah Keifer’s 100 Morning Treats and Yossy Arefi’s Snacking Bakes). I was delighted to see friends’ books on the lists and appreciation for Grossy Pelosi’s (Dan Pelosi’s) Let’s Eat, James Parks’ Chili Crisp and Andrea Nguyen’s Ever-Green Vietnamese. What’s really nice about this list and the one from the Times is that before a book got to the list, the reviewers cooked from it.

The Best Cookbooks of 2023 by Maggie Hoffman and the editors of Epicurious

Zoë Francois rounded up her favorite cookbooks of the year in her newsletter and on her website and it’s a great list. Take a look at her picks and, while you’re there, wander around her site — her work is inspiring and her recipes are terrific.

Best Cookbooks of 2023

Even though The Readable Feast concentrates on New England, the cookbooks they’ve chosen to honor this year are lovable no matter where we come from and where we’re cooking. Take a look at their picks. It’s not a surprise that Gesine Bullock-Prado’s My Vermont Table is on the list — remember her beautiful Maple Syrup Bundt (here’s the recipe)?  The books were honored on December 6 and so was I — I was given a Lifetime Achievement Award! I didn’t know what to say about that then and I’m still speechless now. Does anybody ever think they’re worthy of such an honor? I’m not there yet. But I’m deeply grateful.

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» There’s Still Time for Cookies / There’s Always Time for Cookies

King Arthur Baking has one of my favorite websites (also love their newsletter) — click on the tab for their blog and be prepared to be wowed. They’ve got the answers to just about everything you want to know about baking and they’ve got a stash of recipes that’s astounding. Just for starters, take a look at their "43 classic holiday and Christmas cookies to bake."

43 classic holiday and Christmas cookies to bake via kingarthurbaking.com

NYT Cooking presented their annual cookie recipes for the holidays and it was a festive batch. Here’s the link (I’ve removed the paywall) to their main "7 Brilliant Cookies to Keep Your Holidays Bright" article. When they say “bright” they mean it — take a look at Samantha Seneviratne’s Technicolor Cookies! (subscription) There are videos too. (NYT Cooking cooking has a 50% off holiday sale for new subscribers. Details here.)

"7 Brilliant Cookies to Keep Your Holidays Bright" // Photo: Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist:Samantha Seneviratne.

Because cookies don’t always have to be sweet, I think you might want to revisit one of my favorites: Rosemary-Parm Cocktail Cookies. An easy slice-and-bake cookie (make a bunch of rolls and store them in the freezer) that’s buttery, tender and packed with flavor. I love this cookie! And I love it with champagne.

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» A Trio of Holiday Happiness-Makers

Have you seen Maestro, Bradley Cooper’s film about the marriage of conductor Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre? I think you must. It’s a tour de force in ways small and grand. I sat through the film in quiet awe of the performances, of the writing, of the story itself, and then, toward the end of the film, I wept when Cooper conducted Mahler’s Resurrection.

If you can see it in a theater with a great sound system, do. If not, it’s streaming on Netflix, the studio that finally gave Cooper the greenlight after he’d been rejected by many others. You can hear the backstory in a terrific interview by David Remnick on The New Yorker Radio Hour. And you can hear Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie, talk about her father and the film with Alison Stewart, host of WNYC’s All of It. Next up for me, reading Jamie Bernstein’s book, Famous Father Girl.

And are you watching Season 2 of Julia on MAX? I am. And, once again, I’m loving listening to Dishing on Julia, the official podcast accompanying the series. The pod, hosted by Kerry Diamond, the founder of Cherry Bombe and Cherry Bombe Radio, is always super-good. Kerry interviews creatives from the series — directors, producers, actors, writers and people like the talented Christine Tobin, the series’ food stylist —and people who have a connection to Julia (I just listened to episode 5 with Grace Young — a treat), and yes, there are spoilers.

I’m always happy when Peter Som’s newsletter arrives. It’s a puff of cheer. Always. Also a source of great recipes. I love his style and his joie de vivre. I fell in love with Peter when we had a sweet meet-up for InStyle magazine and I’ve been a fan ever since. Here’s a little backstory to the story — and here’s a bit of back-fun: We had a star crew for the shoot — Vincenzo Dimino shot the story and Romily Newman was the food stylist. What a morning!

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A friendship born in the kitchen: baking with fashion designer Peter Som

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» Food Books That Aren’t Cookbooks

One of my favorite books in any category is As Always Julia, the letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. The letters were written when Avis was in Cambridge and Julia was in Provence working with Simone “Simca” Beck on Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1. They’re a lesson in hard work, overcoming frustration, rejection and doubt. They’re a lesson in friendship, a peek into the world of publishing and a dip into the joy of good writing. If you haven’t read it, it would make me so happy to know that I’d tipped it to you.

Dwight Garner is a critic for The New York Times Book Review, a very smart writer and a delightful literary companion — his writing is so good that The Upstairs Delicatessen got me to do something I rarely do: smile on the NYC subway. The book is a memoir, but not in an any usual genre — it is jam-packed with quotes from dozens of other writers and books. The connections are so beguiling that you finish the book with a list of books he’s read that you want to read, too.

Ali Rosen, whom you might know from her cookbooks — I love Bring It and Modern Freezer Meals — has written a novel: Recipe for Second Chances. And of course there’s food. And there’s Italy. If you follow Ali, then you know that she adores Italy almost as much as she loves the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City. It’s her debut novel and she’s already at work on her next, so now’s the time to join her adventure.

» A Trio of Très French Books to Look Forward To

Three friends of mine from France have written books that will be out in 2024 — refer back to the excitement of anticipation — and you can pre-order them now (I did) or put them on your wish list.

• The French Ingredient: Making a Life in Paris One Lesson at a Time; A Memoir by Jane Bertch of La Cuisine Paris, the cooking school we all adore

• Niçoise: Market-Inspired Cooking from France's Sunniest City by the gifted cooking teacher Rosa Jackson of Les Petits Farcis in Nice

• Le Sud: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur by recipe creator and food stylist, Rebekah Peppler

📚 You can find more recipes in my latest book, BAKING WITH DORIE.

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