This definitive volume profiles the wines, the people who make them, and the wine countries of Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Idaho. The journey begins with the region’s climates and geology, which create a fascinating tapestry of winegrowing areas. Next, the book focuses on the unique qualities of each wine region, with profiles of more than 160 representative wineries to visit. Included are legacy wineries that helped to build the region’s reputation, prestige wineries with a national presence, under-the-radar artisan wineries that embody the pioneering spirit of the Northwest, and promising new wineries. Each profile lists the winery’s signature, premium, value, and estate wines.


(Buy Now on Amazon)

Using only their first names, every page of the book has a short story excerpt about famous and ordinary people with interesting photos of their hands.Very inspirational.
(Buy Now on Amazon)

Five million visitors a year travel to California's Napa Valley to experience the good life: to taste fine wines, eat fine food, and immerse themselves in other sophisticated pleasures while surrounded by bucolic beauty. Tourism is the world's largest employer, and tourists today want to experience the world through all five senses. Tasting the Good Life tells the story of Napa tourism through the words of the tourists who visit and the men and women who provide the products and services they rely on. The stories of 17 people -- from winemaker to vineyard manager, from celebrity chef to wait staff, from hot air balloonist to masseuse -- provide extraordinary insight into this new form of tourism and its impact on an iconic American place.

Some stories suggest that mead was originally discovered when one of our not-yet-upright forebears stuck their hand in a fermenting bee hive and came away with a honeycomb containing a little more than they bargained for. Whatever the truth, brewers have brought this beverage into the twenty-first century, and you can rest assured that The Complete Guide to Making Mead is a thoroughly up-to-date, modern, and authoritative guide to homemade mead.

Whether you’re spending a semester in Paris, vacationing in the Riviera, dining at a local bistro or mastering the French culinary art in your own kitchen, The Farm to Table French Phrasebook opens a bountiful world of food that you won’t find in any textbook or classroom:
 

Preservation Society is a very personal, very particular preserves company. Its founder, Camilla Wynne, creates recipes filled with imagination and heart.

Her mandate at Preservation Society is to use as much local produce as possible. Her recipes are amusing, creative and simply mouth-watering. Her experience working with top chefs and pastry chefs is reflected in each recipe.  With gorgeous, full color throughout the book, each recipe is unique, such as the one inspired by the French Revolution (French Revolution 1779). Others are Strawberry Margarita Jam, Banana's Foster Jam, Sour Cherry and Vanilla Jelly and Malt Pickled Cauliflower. The 100 recipes use simple techniques and easy-to-find ingredients. Camilla Wynne cleverly mixes the classics with modern creations, sometimes inspired by cocktails.  Besides the sumptuous jam, jelly and marmalade recipes, there are recipes for syrups, marinades, chutneys, conserves, as well as a dozen recipes that use the original preserve recipe.  A beginner or a seasoned pro will be comfortable making these recipes that feature reliable, easy-to-follow, up-to-date preserving instructions and information.

Pastry baking is one half creativity, one half science, and one half old-fashioned know-how. If that seems confusing, don’t worry: Making Dough makes perfect sense out of the often-intimidating task of preparing homemade pastry dough. With helpful diagrams, easy-to-follow recipes, and step-by-step instructions for home cooks, every type of dough from puff pastry to short crust is demystified, deconstructed, and delicious. Plus, you’ll get a heaping helping of variations, substitutions, and tips, so you can put your own tasty spin on recipes like Apple Chipotle Hand Pies, Cinnamon Custard Eclairs, and more!

(Buy Now on Amazon)

These easy-to-follow recipes come from two of the leading experts in North America, who explain everything there is to know about sushi and knives. Sushi isn't tricky to make so long as you have the right utensils and instructions, and have the patience to get acquainted with the various techniques. All it takes is some practice and in no time at all, you'll be making sumptuous sushi that will wow family and friends. This incredible book provides all the information needed to get started--from ingredients and knives, to equipment, fish butchery, and plating techniques, making perfect rice and so much more.

Though the combination of science and cooking may seem fashionably modern, in fact the pairing of these disciplines goes way back. This book gives readers a better understanding of the terminology that describes the nature of ingredients and why these ingredients produce certain reactions. It helps them discover the potential of a wide range of products that can be used in a diversity of preparations. They can quickly and easily look up and find, in plain language, everything they need to know about the science of cooking. As the name suggests, the book has a lexical format, with all the entries in alphabetical order.
(Buy Now on Amazon)

If you weren't one of the lucky few to get in this year (2008 reservations were booked a year in advance), you can now experience the restaurant like never before. This generously-illustrated 600-page ''day in the life'' features over 800 photographs, menus, recipes and diagrams, and presents a guided tour through a full working day at elBulli. The book documents the activities of each hour of the day, from dawn at 6.15 am to switching off the lights at 2.00 am.

(Buy Now on Amazon)

Michel Roux Jr. is one of London’s most respected restaurateurs—and some of the world’s greatest chefs (including Gordon Ramsay of the hit television show Hell’s Kitchen) have trained in his family’s various restaurants: Le Gavroche, Waterside Inn, and Brasserie Roux. Here, Michel shares the story of how the Roux family brought French high cuisine to Britain and became the city’s most influential family in food. In addition, he imparts his knowledge of everyday ingredients and how to get the best from your cooking. With 120 recipes offering a light, modern twist on classic French fare, this is a gastronomic tour no home cook will want to miss.

You are what you eat — and everyone wants to be healthy and look his or her best. A fit chef, marathon runner, and high-energy television presenter, Gordon Ramsay is a walking advertisement for eating well and staying in the peak of good health. In this new book, which includes recipes from The F Word, he has put together over 100 dishes that reflect the way we want to eat today. Geared around our daily lives, the book offers sensible, fun ideas and recipes for healthy breakfasts, lunches, barbecues, suppers, desserts, food for kids, and entertaining, and demonstrates how to cook for both health and flavor.
(Buy Now on Amazon)

Discover how pleasurable the simple, creative act of cooking can be, as Raymond Blanc reveals the basic techniques needed to create 40 classic French dishes. From quick and easy Roquefort, Walnut, and Endive Salad to a more elaborate Duck Leg Confit with Flageolet Beans, every delectable recipe is illustrated with step-by-step color photos as well as foolproof instructions. Acknowledged as one of the world’s finest chefs, Raymond Blanc is the owner of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons.

How do you update a classic? For his bestselling, award-winning How to Cook Everything—the modern bible of home cooking—Mark Bittman started from scratch, going page by page, recipe by recipe, carefully blending the best of the beloved original with appealing new recipes and fresh, current information. The result is an even more useful and authoritative cookbook, ready to inform, inspire, and guide new and accomplished cooks alike—the single book to turn to for every kitchen endeavor.

In his previous books, Rick Bayless transformed America's understanding of Mexican cuisine, introducing authentic dishes and cooking methods as he walked readers through Mexican markets and street stalls. As much as Rick loves the bold flavors of Mexican foods, he understands that preparing many Mexican specialties requires more time than most of us have. Mexican Everyday is written with the time sensitivities of modern life in mind. It is a collection of 90 full-flavored recipes—like Green Chile Chicken Tacos, Shrimp Ceviche Salad, Chipotle Steak with Black Beans—that meet three criteria for "everyday" food: 1) most need less than 30 minutes' involvement; 2) they have the fresh, clean taste of simple, authentic preparations; and 3) they are nutritionally balanced, full-featured meals—no elaborate side dishes required. Companion to a thirteen-part public television series, this book provides dishes you can eat with family and friends, day in and day out.
(Buy Now on Amazon)

In no other period of our country's history has the food scene changed so rapidly. Exciting new ingredients are available everywhere, expanding our culinary horizons. Even casual meals have globe-trotting flavors. We want memorable dishes, and we want them to be healthy for our families and our planet. And with our busy schedules, we want them on the table faster than ever. A new culinary world calls for a new cookbook. Gourmet Today responds to our changing foodscape with more vegetarian recipes, more recipes for popular dishes from every corner of the world, more recipes for stunning meals ready in 30 minutes or less, more simple ways to prepare all the vegetables in the farmers' market, advice on choosing sustainable fish, chicken, and beef, tips on throwing an easy cocktail party, more recipes for flavorful techniques like grilling, and more recipes for the new ingredients flooding our market.
(Buy Now on Amazon)

Nothing satisfies quite like the cooking and eating of a perfectly roasted chicken. The rewards for nominal effort are many - a home filled with heady cooking aromas; tender, pull-apart meat and crisp golden skin; plus the exciting prospect of being able to make any number of delicious meals from the leftovers. A BIRD IN THE OVEN AND THEN SOME takes this time-honored classic and reinvigorates it by showing just how much variety and enjoyment you can spin from a simple roast. Mindy Fox presents 20 new ways to roast a chicken, as well as 80 delicious ideas for sides and dishes to make with the surplus.
(Buy Now on Amazon)

In this extraordinary new book, Emeril Lagasse continues his lifelong commitment to using fresh, local ingredients in his restaurants and home kitchen. He has spent the past thirty years building close relationships with farmers, fishermen, and ranchers. Farm to Fork is his guide to help you explore the great local bounty through fifteen flavorful chapters—sweet summer in "The Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash," juicy "Berries, Figs, and Melons," sublime naturally raised meats in "Out on the Range," fresh catch in "Fresh Off the Dock," and home canning tips from "Home Economics: Preserving the Harvest."

Italians love to talk about food. The aroma of a simmering ragú, the bouquet of a local wine, the remembrance of a past meal: Italians discuss these details as naturally as we talk about politics or sports, and often with the same flared tempers. In Why Italians Love to Talk About Food, Elena Kostioukovitch explores the phenomenon that first struck her as a newcomer to Italy: the Italian “culinary code,” or way of talking about food. Along the way, she captures the fierce local pride that gives Italian cuisine its remarkable diversity. To come to know Italian food is to discover the differences of taste, language, and attitude that separate a Sicilian from a Piedmontese or a Venetian from a Sardinian.
(Buy Now on Amazon)

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the first cookbook from Stephanie O'Dea, the extremely popular slow cooking blogger: affordable, delicious, nutritious, and gluten-free recipes to delight the entire family.  In December 2007, Stephanie O'Dea made a New Year's resolution: she'd use her slow cooker every single day for an entire year, and write about it on her very popular blog. The result: more than three million visitors, and more than 300 fabulous, easy-to-make, family-pleasing recipes.

The step-by-step instructions in Put ‘em Up will have the most timid beginners filling their pantries and freezers with the preserved goodness of summer in no time. An extensive Techniques section includes complete how-to for every kind of preserving: refrigerating and freezing, air- and oven-drying, cold- and hot-pack canning, and pickling. And with recipe yields as small as a few pints or as large as several gallons, readers can easily choose recipes that work for the amount of produce and time at hand.
(Buy Now on Amazon)

Paula Wolfert is legendary for her expertise on and explorations of Mediterranean cooking. Now, Wolfert shares her inimitable passion for detail and insatiable curiosity about cultural traditions and innovations, with Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking.  Here, the self-confessed clay pot "junkie"-having collected in her travels ceramic pots of all sorts: cazuelas, tagines, baking dishes, bean pots, Romertopf baking dishes, French diablos, ordinary casseroles, even Crockpots, which have a ceramic liner-shares recipes as vibrant as the Mediterranean itself along with the delightful stories behind the earthy pots, irresistible dishes, and outstanding cooks she has met along the way.

“Seasonality is the cornerstone to our menu-planning success,” says Chef Chris Hastings. The Hot and Hot Fish Club Restaurant is one of the best in the South because it only uses the finest and freshest ingredients in their recipes. From the fresh-caught Pacific seafood flown in from Osprey Seafood in San Francisco to the blackberries and Vidalia onions from local Garfrerick Farms of Alpine, Alabama, Hot and Hot goes to great lengths to make sure that what goes into every dish is always fresh and in season.
(Buy Now on Amazon)