From: Southern Grit

I feel like cooking...

Cookbooks for Perfect Party Food & Drinks

As our thoughts turn from Christmas trees, to seeing in the New Year, party food and drink is the order of the day. From canapés to cocktails, we have got you covered. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year all!

Finger Food

Finger Food

Le Cordon Bleu

Le Cordon Bleu Master Chefs have created this wonderful collection of miniature finger foods, both mouth-watering and visually stunning but surprisingly easy to make. For a grand affair or just a casual gathering, tiny spinach and feta parcels, quick crostini and smoked salmon pancake rolls represent a new standard for elegant, stylish but unfussy party fare.
Crackers & Dips

Crackers & Dips

Ivy Manning

This is the DIY guide to making homemade crackers, with fifty-two formulas for crisp snacks and the luscious dips to eat them with, all celebrated with twenty-five playful photographs. Portland, Oregon-based food writer and baker Ivy Manning capitalizes on the pure flavors of whole grains, real butter, cheese, fresh spices, and no preservatives in her formulas for crunchy, sweet, and savory treats, all made to pair with a chapter’s worth of creamy, gooey dips, and schmears.
Gourmet Game Night

Gourmet Game Night

Cynthia Nims

Have you ever accompanied an evening of game-playing with a bowl of salty chips or slabs of pizza? If so, you know that greasy fingers can be a distraction, with players interrupting the game to grab napkins or even lick their fingers immediately before grabbing the communal spinner. "Gourmet Game Night" has the solution: instead of relying on conventional convenience snacks and standbys, you ve got imaginative, homemade options; instead of greasy hands and game pieces, you ve got mess-free, bite-sized snacks.
The Official Downton Abbey Cocktail Book

The Official Downton Abbey Cocktail Book

Downton Abbey

Annie Gray points out that cocktails, “an essentially American import,” only came to Britain after the Second World War, and made their way into series 2 and 3 of Downton Abbey. The sophisticated drinks recipes, some classic, some created specifically for the series, all have a healthy shot of erudition mixed in with the whisky and gin.

Recently added cookbooks

Recipe of the Day

Recipe of the Day

Christmas Cake Ice Cream

Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom

Prue Leith

(1)

"Few children like Christmas pudding, but I’ve never met one who didn’t like ice cream. About forty years ago, I started using the leftover Christmas cake or lump of Christmas pudding in a Christmas dessert made mostly of vanilla ice cream. Now everyone expects this version of Christmas “pud”. Some years the ice cream is flavoured with leftovers, sometimes I just buy a jar of mincemeat and use that. Sometimes it’s crumbled mince pies. But the essential thing is to get enough of that Christmas flavour – so taste as you mix, and add a bit of powdered cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and/or ginger, if you need to." Prue Leith

Author spotlight

Anna Stanford

Anna Stanford

Cookbook author Anna Stanford is a home cook and mother of three, on a mission to share her experience of cooking for a family, and create recipes that are approachable and appealing to all. Her book, Anna's Family Kitchen, is packed with tips and guidance for the busy family cook.

Jesse Valenciana

Jesse Valenciana

Food journalist Jesse Valenciana is a reporter and columist for The Takeout, and appears on local and national television in the US. He is a champion of Mexican food, and other Hispanic foods of the Americas. His book Birrias: 65 Recipes from Traditional to Modern focuses on Mexican home cooking, and the classic birrias stews at the heart of it.

Judi Rose

Judi Rose

Judi Rose is a food writer, author, and culinary educator based in London and New York, and daughter of legendary chronicler of Jewish food Evelyn Rose. Her books include two written with her mother, with whom she cooked for decades, and her 2020 book To Life!: Healthy Jewish Food, written with her cousin Jackie Rose.

Features & Stories

Newsletter: All the Christmas recipes and food lover gifts you could possibly need 🎁🎄

Newsletter: All the Christmas recipes and food lover gifts you could possibly need 🎁🎄

Christmas pudding is that once a year treat, rich in sweet fruits, seasoned with spice and more than its fair share of brandy, and everyone looks forward to it. Unless, of course, you don’t. It you are one of the naysayers, never fear, we’ve got a recipe for that. Your Christmas table will nonetheless be graced with a pudding to thrill them all, fitting of the annual feast.

Newsletter: 🕎 A Happy Hanukkah, with help from Evelyn and Judi Rose + alternatives to turkey for Christmas 🦃

Newsletter: 🕎 A Happy Hanukkah, with help from Evelyn and Judi Rose + alternatives to turkey for Christmas 🦃

Jewish food is as rich and varied as the many communities worldwide who have developed their own traditions, and evolve them today. As we publish Judi Rose’s feature on Hanukkah, we are delighted also to highlight the addition of her latest book to ckbk. In To Life!: Healthy Jewish Food, written together with her cousin Dr Jackie Rose, Judi combines aspects of a nutritious Mediterranean diet with Jewish culinary traditions, taking inspiration from her mother's recipes.

Recipes to celebrate Hanukkah

Recipes to celebrate Hanukkah

To mark the recent arrival on ckbk of To Life!  by Judi Rose, daughter of legendary Jewish food writer Evelyn Rose MBE, we asked Judi to share some of her favourite family memories, recipes and traditions for this month’s Jewish festival of Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights. Don’t miss her family potato latke recipe!

Get ready for Christmas with these essential Elizabeth David recipes

Get ready for Christmas with these essential Elizabeth David recipes

Elizabeth David is regarded as the most influential British food writer of recent times. She transformed the culinary landscape of post-war Britain with an approach to cooking that drew inspiration from her Mediterranean travels—her many books have inspired generations of chefs and food writers. We mark the festive season with this new collection of Elizabeth David’s Christmas recipes, selected exclusively for ckbk by her nephew, kitchen designer Johnny Grey.