{Holiday Gift Guide #1} For Foodies Who Love to Read

Happy holidays! Although I've been watching Elf and playing Christmas tunes since early November, it's finally time (for normal, non-Christmas-obsessed people) to deck the halls and laze around near the Christmas tree. I can't quite enjoy it all yet, since I'm approximately a week away from defending my masters thesis. But, as I often do in the middle of stressful weeks, I'm constantly dreaming of what vacation will be like. At the top of my list? Reading food publications, novels and cookbooks. While sipping hot cocoa. And listening to Christmas music. It is going to be great. 


If you've got a foodie friend (who is also a bookworm) like me, this gift guide will help you find the perfect reading material for them to unwrap on Christmas day.

Food Writing Publications
#1 Lucky Peach {Cost: $28 for the rest of the subscription, starting with issue 3}
From David Chang and Peter Meehan, a collection of food essays and recipes with personality. This is the hottest thing for foodies this year, for good reason.


#2 Food & Wine subscription {Cost: $20, annually}
A well-regarded food magazine that includes food trends, recipes and articles. Sure you can go online for the same content, but to some people (including me) nothing beats turning the pages of a magazine, and keeping the laptop closed.


Cookbooks
#3 Milk Cookbook {Cost: under $20}
Milk bar, Momofuku's creative dessert place in NYC, now has a cookbook. It's delightful, and combines recipes for crack pie and crazy cakes with quirky stories from pastry chef Christina Tosi.


#4 I'm Just Here For The Food, {Cost: under $25}
Alton Brown, per usual, provides a wealth of straightforward and incredibly useful information that results in better, more consistent cooking.


Novels
#5 Ruth Reichl Novels {Cost: approximately $10-$15/book}
Ruth Reichl is a mega-celebrity in the food world. Her novels give more detail on snippets of her incredible food-focused life, and include recipes at the end of each chapter. My favorites are: Comfort Me With Apples, Tender At The Bone, and Garlic and Sapphires.


#6 A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle  {Cost: $10}
This is a classic novel for foodies--the story of a man and his wife who move to Provence and enjoy the good life. It seems like they eat most of the time, but they also leave the house to buy food and get to know the community. It is full of beautiful writing about a beautiful lifestyle.