The Entertaining Book

This isn't a cookbook at all in the usual sense--it's a series of comments and suggestions, with recipes thrown in. It goes month-by-month through the year, with Teresa Waugh offering seasonal observations, ideas, hints, and meal plans, and Auberon Waugh critiquing these, and also suggesting appropriate (and/or interesting) wines. It's great fun to read, and a really different gift for someone who already has quite a few collections of recipes. There are no complete step-by-step menus here, and the focus is mostly English (the rest French), but if you already know your way around the kitchen, this book is a great source of ideas, inventive and (I can vouch for them) sound, and the wine advice is superb. I love my copy and use it often; you can even read it just for pleasure.