To paraphrase Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that the best cranberry sauce comes in a can. But maybe you don’t agree, and you want to go that extra step to bring something unique and homemade to your Thanksgiving meal. Although the Internet is positively laden with recipes these days, here at the library we still believe in books! Here are five new cookbooks that will shake things up at your holiday gatherings in the best possible way. You can find them in the New Nonfiction Alcove to the right of the Circulation Desk, or place a hold for them using the links to the titles below. As an added bonus, you’ll check off Mass Center for the Book’s 2025 Reading Challenge prompt for November (it’s “a cookbook or book about food”).
What do you know about a galette? Apparently, it’s a rustic cousin to pie, and although it isn’t complicated to make, I can already hear your guests murmuring excitedly as you place your perfectly caramelized disc of glory on the Thanksgiving table. Speaking of cranberry sauce, Rebecca’s gingery cranberry sauce galette would be absolutely perfect for the season, and her savory mixed sweet potato and harissa version would make an incredible vegetarian entree for those who don’t eat turkey.
Breaking the Rules: a Fresh Take on Italian Classics – Joe Sasto
Joe’s new cookbook approaches classic Italian flavors from a new angle, resulting in some surprising appetizer options to snack on before a festive meal. His fried Castelvetrano olives look like bite-size explosions of texture and flavor, and I can’t imagine turning down a homemade cacio e pepe rice paper chip. I also love the concept of his carrots with spicy yogurt and carrot top pesto, a side that avoids food waste by utilizing an oft-discarded part of the vegetable.
Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By – Al Roker
While you’re watching the Macy’s Parade and letting Al Roker’s soothing baritone wash over you, why not crack open his new cookbook and make some spiced delicata squash or collard greens with bacon and brown sugar? Al’s brilliant recipe for apple cider doughnut bread pudding has me wondering why I’ve never thought of using fall’s favorite treat in this application before, although the requirement of letting the doughnuts go stale for two days may prove an insurmountable barrier.
Food insecurity is a reality for many, and budgeting for holiday meals adds an extra layer of difficulty. That’s why I love this cookbook’s mission to provide delicious, satisfying meals that use affordable staple ingredients. Her sticky sweet potatoes, tahini and pickled red chile offers a different way to serve the classic Thanksgiving root vegetable, and her roasted squash with browned butter, crispy sage, hazelnuts & wilted lacinato kale sounds like the very soul of abundance. And no matter how full you are, I doubt you’d miss an opportunity to dunk one of Rosie’s halva, dark chocolate and sesame cookies into a post-feast coffee.
Sama Sama: Comfort Food From My Mixed Malaysian Kitchen – Julie Lin
Julie’s recipe for perkedel, an Indonesian potato fritter made aromatic with ingredients like shallots and cilantro, would be a great way to use up leftover cooked potatoes in the days following a Thanksgiving feast. The spiced leg of lamb with potatoes would be a deliciously flavorful entree for anyone adventurous enough to break the conventional meat rules of the holiday, and her mushroom and potato pot stickers would be an impressive holiday appetizer (with options to use store-bought or homemade dumpling wrappers).
By the way, if your holiday season is busy and you can’t make it to the library in person, did you know that Libby has cookbooks? Don’t forget to add other Massachusetts library networks to your account so you can search their holdings as well as ours.
