Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy #AbramsDinnerParty

Yes, I'll admit it. I watch some of the competition shows on Food Network.

Damaris Phillips was one of the cooks I enjoyed on her season of ... whatever show she was on. She was warm and charming and I thought she'd be fun to hang out with. And her recipes looked like I'd enjoy them. They were homey and not overwrought.

So, when her new cookbook, Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy dropped onto my doorstep, I was pretty curious about it.

This book is yet another one that's part of the Abrams Dinner Party - they're sending me their complete library of new cookbooks for this season.

Let's get it out there, shall we? I'm not at all a vegetarian. Nope. I have pointy teeth and enjoy a good burger or a rack of ribs.

On the other hand, I've been eating a lot of meatless meals lately. It seems like it's a lot easier to cook a small meatless meal than it is to cook a meat-centric meal. Even a single steak or chicken breast is two meals for me - if not more - and meatloaf or pretty much any roast piece of meat is a commitment. It's hard to cook a small amount of stew or chili or ... a whole lot of other meaty meals.

On the other hand, a vegetable-centric main dish can easily be a side dish the next day.

So. The cookbook. That's where we were before I went rambling.

The book is an interesting mix. There are some recipes designed for vegetarians, using something like tempeh as the protein, and then there is an option to substitute meat for the tempeh. Some recipes are naturally vegetarian, like fried green tomatoes, cole slaw, or grits & greens.

Some recipes are those where you might expect meat, but it's not totally necessary, like baked beans. The version in this book includes blackberries, which I thought was really intriguing, and not just baked beans with the pork ripped out.

Since this is aimed at vegetarians rather than vegans, there are plenty of recipes featuring cheese or eggs like the beer mac and cheese or the deviled eggs. Those will make everyone happy.

And then sometimes there are recipes where the whole shebang has two different recipes. For example, the bourbon spaghetti and meatballs has one recipe that uses meat for the meatballs, while the other recipe has pecan meatballs.

And then there are the desserts, because it's a comprehensive cookbook.

I've got to say that if you're a meat eater cooking for a vegetarian family member, this book would certainly make it easier. For me, while I'm not likely to cook seitan "chicken" any time soon, there are plenty of recipes here that look appealing, possibly starting with the grilled succotash pasta salad. Because I'm a sucker for pasta salad.

The Artful Baker #AbramsDinnerParty

If you're looking for a large baking book that will have you in awe of the stunning food photography, The Artful Bakerby Cenk Sönmezsoy is a treat for the eyes, with recipes you'll want to make.

By the way, I got this book for participating in the Abrams Dinner Party - they're sending me their complete library of new cookbooks for this season.

From the symmetrical fig, thyme and bleu cheese galette, to the chocolate and salted caramel tart on a very whimsical plate, to the messily attractive raspberry jewel pluot galette, to the blanche that looks like a painting, every photo is a gem.

A lot of cookbooks that have pretty pictures are filled with recipes that require difficult ingredients, but this one keeps the list reasonable. Or you'll be able to find substitutes. Like those raspberry jewel pluots. If you can't find exactly that variety, it's a good bet you'll be able to find another variety that will work just as well.

After wandering back and forth through this book several times, I think the most difficult ingredient would be the fresh chestnuts, but most recipes use ingredients that I could easily pick up at the local grocery store. Well, easily as long as the fruits are in season.

But hey, chocolate is always in season, so if you can't find the right apples or the perfect berries, you can just wander back to the chocolate chapter and swoon there for a while.

Recipes range from classic brownies and pound cake to more fancy creations like pistachio, quince, and kaymak macarons. If that kaymak sounds foreign, it is. It's a Turkish clotted cream, but the recipe notes that you can substitute mascarpone. See how easy that is?

This book isn't all desserts, by the way. There are breads as well.

And there are desserts that aren't baked, like the ice creams and other frozen treats. And there are drinks, candies, jams, and jellies as well.

This is a big book, with a lot to look at, a lot to ogle, and a lot to make. It would be a lovely gift for anyone you know who likes to bake, or a great addition to your own wish list. This one is definitely a keeper. Yup.

Three New Cookbooks: Cook Beautiful, The Dinner Plan, and Simple Fare

With the holidays approaching ... first comes the spooky candy holiday, followed by the overstuffed bird holiday, and finally the gift-giving holidays ... it's time to start a wishlist. Or maybe a gift list. These three books have come to me through the Abrams Dinner Party - they're sending me their complete library of new cookbooks for this season. Lots of books. So many recipes.

There are so many new cookbooks to choose from, which is great, because there's something for everyone. On the other hand ... since there are so many cookbooks, it can make it hard to decide just which book is the perfect present for each of your cooking cousins.

Cook Beautiful by Athena Calderone is filled with pretty photos, but they aren't over-styled to the point where you'll decide the recipes are impossible to achieve.

One of my favorite photos is of Yogurt Panna Cotta with Strawberries and Saba. It sounds fancy, but there are only seven ingredients, plus saba or syrupy balsamic vinegar for drizzling. This would be an elegant dessert for any occasion, but easy enough for everyone.

Other photos show plating that's pretty, yet rustic. Not overwrought restaurant dishes, but food that belongs on the family table. It's something to aspire to ... be still very possible.

The book is arranged by season, which is great for those who prefer local, fresh, seasonal foods, but some of them can easily transcend seasons. Zucchini and Feta Fritters with Avocado Cream, for example, could be made just about any time of the year, since zucchini is always available. The scallions might be a little harder to find in some markets, but could easily be replaced by some onion and chives.

This would be the ideal gift for someone who loves to browse through books, who enjoys lovely photos, and who wants to cook dishes that aren't super-complicated.

The Dinner Plan by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion (the authors also wrote Keepers) is both a cookbook and a planning guide to make weeknight dinners a little easier. Of course it is, because the tagline on this one is Simple weeknight recipes and strategies for every schedule.

Each recipe is tagged, to let you know if you can make it ahead or whether it's something you can whip together from pantry ingredients. Maybe it's extra-fast, or a one-dish meal or something that you can cook in stages.

All these helpful hints let you plan better for those days when you'll be getting home from work late or for that day when you meant to go to the grocery store, but now you've got to shop from the pantry.

While the planning feature is great for cooks who need that help, this book stands on its own, even if you don't need to plan. Recipes like BaLT salad, with bacon, avocado, lettuce, and tomato, would be great for lunch (with less bacon) or for dinner with a tad more bacon. Pasta e Fagioli is a hearty dish that can be made ahead from pantry ingredients. Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Mustard and Herbs is easy enough for a family dinner, but lovely for a celebration, too.

The table of recipes by category is handy, so if you happen to come home from the store with chicken that was on sale, you have your choice of recipes, or if you're in the mood for soup or pasta, you can look for those instead.

This would be a wonderful gift for new cooks who might be having trouble getting dinner on the table, or for anyone who's a little disorganized. But it's also a great book for people who are looking for interesting new recipes to try.

Simple Fare Fall/Winter by Karen Mordechai is part of a series, but this is the first of these books I've seen. The format of the book is a bit unusual - it's a large paperback book. And by large, I mean height and width, rather than thickness.

The choice of text sizes is different, too, with some sections in very large type and others in more normal sizes. There's a lot of white space (great for people who like to take notes in their books) and the beginning of each chapter is blank, except for the chapter name. It's decidedly quirky.

Recipes range from light and simple, like toasts, to hearty and more complex, like braised brisket.

For people who like recipe variations, you'll find those, too. The Everyday Fish recipe calls for salmon with parsley, cilantro, mint, and lime, but variations are suggest for halibut with thyme, basil, lemon verbena, and meyer lemon, or sea bass with oregano, tarragon, purple basil, and lemon.

Because of the many variations suggested, this book is great for people who want to learn how to experiment with recipes, but who might not be ready to venture out on their own. Those variations also make the recipes easier for those who don't have easy access to a lot of ingredients or who are particularly choosy about flavors and combinations. If you don't like quinoa in your risotto, you can opt for the white or brown rice versions with a simple swap.