Here we are: our third annual recommendations for what to buy your favorite cook for the holidays; while I review a bit of everything, I seem to end up reviewing the widest variety in cookbooks, making it a great topic for this sort of post. Not all of these will be things we’ve reviewed over this last year; sometimes we delve into times past for old favorites, or even give you a sneak peek at things we’re just about to review but haven’t yet. I didn’t review much cookware this year, so most of the recommendations will be for cookbooks.

Chocolate-related books, of course, make wonderful gifts. Nearly everyone associates chocolate with special occasions, and almost everyone loves it. Along these lines, I simply must suggest the following:

• The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook—a delightful, perfectly gift-sized, delicious morsel of a cookbook bound to please your favorite chocolate lover.
• Michael Turback’s Mocha—an extravagant, adventurous collection of chocolate-and-coffee drinks and desserts.
• Michael Turback’s Hot Chocolate—the most incredible exploration of this delightful drink I can imagine.

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