Eye-catching Cookbooks and Pattern Books

This post is just a list of my favourite cookbooks and knitting pattern books, as well as those I am wishing for Santa to bring me this holiday season. No frills, no details, just links. Because these books are so good they speak for themselves. There may be a few books from other similar genres (design, craft, children’s…) tossed in the mix as well just because. So away we go!

COOKBOOKS & CUISINE/BEVERAGE RELATED

Bake Knit Sew: A Recipe and Craft Project Annual by Evin Bail O’Keeffe (that’s my book) (also available as a Ravelry eBook)

Slainte: The Complete Guide to Irish Craft Beer and Cider by Caroline Hennessy and Kristin Jensen

Make, Bake, Love by Lilly Higgins (Gill & Macmillan, 2011)

Food from an Irish Garden: The Good Life at Hunters Lodge by Fiona Dillon

Calso Cooks: Real Food Made Easy by Paul Callaghan

Wholesome by Catriona Redmond

Chapter One by Ross Lewis

Master it: How to cook today by Rory O’Connell

Entertaining with Andrew Rudd: Mouthwatering Recipes and Inspiring Party Ideas

Gimme the Recipe by Sheila Kiely

Apron Strings: Recipes from a Family Kitchen by Nessa Robbins

First Prize Pies: Shoo-Fly, Candy Apple, and Other Deliciously Inventive Pies for Every Week of the Year (and More)

Sweet Paul Eat and Make: Charming Recipes and Kitchen Crafts You Will Love

Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking

And these three are ESSENTIAL if you have a crockpot or slow cooker. My mom and I have been using Stephanie O’Dea‘s recipes since she made her slow cooker new year’s resolution for 2008. I remember my mom sent me the link and each time one of O’Dea’s cookbooks was released, I got a copy from mom. They are classic go-to recipes that make cooking a healthy meal every day simpler with a slow cooker. It is one-pot cooking at its easiest and some of these are such favourites we make them A LOT. Like the French Dip and French Onion Soup, among others. I’m a fan since it is especially hard to sear, braise, or grill things with a little kid running around trying to help. But slow cookers can just be set back from the edge of the counter, turned on, and ignored in favour of playing or napping together.

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking by Stephanie O’Dea

More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: 200 Brand-New, Budget-Friendly, Slow-Cooker Recipes by Stephanie O’Dea

365 Slow Cooker Suppers by Stephanie O’Dea

And for a specifically Irish list, check out Edible Ireland’s annual list. Spoiler alert: Bake Knit Sew made the list this year!

KNITTING & CRAFT BOOKS

Knit Nordic: 20 Contemporary Accessories Inspired by 4 Traditional Sweater Patterns: 20 Contemporary Projects Based on Traditional Patterns by Eline Oftedal

Bake Knit Sew: A Recipe and Craft Project Annual by Evin Bail O’Keeffe (me!) Seasonal approach to crafts. Includes 13 baking recipes, 7 original knitting patterns, 5 sewing projects, 3 tutorials, and over 80 pages of detailed instructions and full-color photographs. It is also available from Ravelry digitally so you can give a last-minute gift.

Among Stones by Carol Feller

Journey by Jane Richmond and Shannon Cook and on Amazon.com

3 Skeins or Less – Fresh Knitted Accessories by Tanis Gray

Island by Jane Richmond

The Knitter’s Bible Stitch Library by Claire Crompton

Knit with Love: Stories to Warm a Knitter’s Heart by Lisa Bogart

Knitted Dinosaurs

Meet Me at Mike’s: 26 Fun and Crafty Projects

Irish Countrywoman’s Association Book of Crafts (2014, Mercier Press)

OTHER DELECTABLE TITLES

Bright Bazaar: Embracing Colour For Make-You-Smile Style by Will Taylor

Pride and Prejudice (Clothbound Classics)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next Series) by Jasper Fforde

How to Ask Survey Questions by Arlene G. Fink

I Can Read You Like a Book: How to Spot the Messages and Emotions People Are Really Sending With Their Body Language by Hartley and Karinch

Entre Nous: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier (available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk)

CHILDREN’S & YOUNG ADULT BOOKS

Sully P. Snooferpoot’s Amazing New Shadow by Aaron Loyel Shaw PhD.

The Clue in the Diary (Nancy Drew, Book 7) by Carolyn Keene

Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards

Little Miss Austen: Pride & Prejudice: A BabyLit Counting Primer (BabyLit Books)

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

The Secret of the Mansion (Trixie Belden #1) by Julie Campbell

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

The World of Peter Rabbit (The Original Peter Rabbit books 1-23) by Beatrix Potter

Goodnight Moon, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

How to Catch a Cold, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Dragons Love Tacos, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Violet the Pilot, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Alexander & the No Good Very Bad Day, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

No Bath Tonight, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk