cookbooks

Looking to expand your culinary repertoire in 2013? Once you've mastered the basics, you're bound to be craving more. For the next step, curl up with one of our favorite cookbooks that will guide you through subjects ranging from bread baking to stir-frying (and everything in between) and get cooking! Culinary resolution accomplished.

In order to learn home cooking basics, you've got to get your hands dirty making (and possibly washing) more than a few dishes. To whet your appetite for the stove, we've rounded up our essential cookbooks for every kitchen. Many of these have had a profound impact on home cooking for decades, and others are the classic cookbooks of tomorrow. Read on to check out our picks.

Last year was a banner year for cookbook publishing, making the task of narrowing down our top picks of 2012 an arduous task indeed. While plenty others could have made the cut, here are our favorite 15, bound to inspire culinary creations whether you're trying to get more vegetables on your plate, try out foreign cuisines, or dive into comfort classics (or something in between).

Still hunting high and low for that perfect gift? Try a cookbook tailor-made to your special someone's personality type, proclivities, and lifestyle. The minutes may be ticking away till Christmas morning, but many of these inspiring reads can be found at a local bookshop and can also be delivered to the recipient's door via Amazon, provided you shell out for its reasonably priced one-day shipping by 3 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21).

An easy way to inspire someone in the kitchen is to give them a cookbook they'll love. If you're a geek, that means cooking up the kinds of things you'd find in sci-fi, comic books, and fantasy novels. Since the holidays are great time to give cookbooks and try new recipes, how about taking one of these geek finds for a test?

Pull out those ornament and star-shaped cookie cutters! The holiday season has arrived, and it's time to get your bake on! From cake pops to cutout cookies, these 10 cookbooks will help you create festive confections that you can serve at parties or gift to friends and neighbors. Even if you're a pro at piping intricate icing decorations, there's always a new pastry to learn that shows off some serious holiday spirit. Take a look at our sweet offerings.

Part of the joy of Thanksgiving is cooking family recipes, but there's always room on the table for new dishes, revamped classics, and even a few (gasp) healthy items to nourish your vegan cousin. Whatever you're looking to bring to the table this Thanksgiving — tips from the latest cookbook release, a go-to source for classic dishes, or even help planning the menu — here are five cookbooks to fit your needs this season.

We've got Southern cuisine on the mind as of late, which luckily coincides with a glut of newly released cookbooks on the subject this Fall. While all of them include their own takes on the requisite fried chicken, grits, and biscuits, we were excited to find a wide variety of other intriguing bites between their covers. Whether you're searching for a classic Southern recipe or something more newfangled (French-Southern fusion, anyone?), we've got you covered. Keep reading for our picks and the recipes that have our hearts aflutter.