Organized and accessible with recipe lists and pantry advice, the book will appeal to folks who love to cook and want to feel healthy (and virtuous) while doing it. The plant-heavy recipes focus on fast, easy dishes such as vegetable-rich green gumbo and chickpea salad with cashew chutney, as well as more involved undertakings such as Mexican-style fruit salad with grilled fish and chili-rubbed pork with warm pickled vegetables.

As a practical follow to his best-selling appeal to eat for the health of ourselves and the planet, New York Times columnist Mark Bittman offers “The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living” (Simon and Schuster, 2010).

Dense, serious and heavy enough to double as a weapon, the book covers everything from Claiborne’s cheese fondue and vichyssoise a la Ritz to watermelon gazpacho and the pork belly tea sandwiches at a hip New York restaurant.

Amanda Hesser insists her “The Essential New York Times Cookbook” (Norton, 2010) is not an update of the Craig Claiborne classic, but rather a new chronicle of the best New York Times recipes dating back to 1850.

Original drawings by Ernest Shepard and memorable Pooh quotes make this reissue of Virginia Ellison’s 1969 classic a must-have for fans of the bear.

For kids who like to make themselves a little something, “The Winnie-the-Pooh Cookbook” (Dutton, 2010) offers easy-to-follow recipes for smackerels like Poohandpiglet pancakes and honey toffee apples.Idyllic and cozy with colorful, textured illustrations, the book also offers a perfect recipe for tiny hands. On a blustery day, a little girl helps her mom select and chop vegetables for a warming winter soup. For a book heavier on story than on cooking, check out “Soup Day” (Henry Holt, 2010).Here are a few standouts to jump-start your gift-giving: From DIY fanatics to busy families, even science geeks, this year’s crop of cookbooks offers something for everyone. What about a working mom hoping to please picky palates during the daily dinner deadline? We’ve got her covered, too. Got an uncle who insists on hunting wild mushrooms or butchering his own steak? There’s a cookbook for that.

One Big Table by Molly O'Neill