Beyond the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook

This is the closest thing to a Southern Living Christmas cookbook in this week’s pool, and for a lot of kitchens it’s the more useful buy because it covers the whole year. The magazine runs a holiday issue every year, so the Annual Recipes line tends to carry a good share of Christmas cooking alongside everything else. It sits at #674 in books and a third-party seller holds the listing, so look at the seller on the card before you check out.

Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia in one cookbook title is something I don’t see often, and that’s why it made this list. The recipes are pulled from favorite cookbooks across those states, which is about as close to a church potluck table as a book gets. If you liked our roundup of West Virginia cookbooks for Appalachian home cooking, start with this one.

Blackberry Farm is a Tennessee property in the Smoky Mountain foothills, and the subtitle promises four seasons of food, so the winter chapter is where holiday cooks will spend their time. This is the priciest book in the roundup even after the markdown. I’d treat it as a gift book for the cook who already owns the basics.

Southern holiday cooking owes a great deal to African American cooks, and Jubilee covers two centuries of that history in recipe form. It had the shallowest discount of my selections. It’s also sold directly by the store with Prime shipping, so the listing is about as clean as they come.

This expanded edition from Simon & Schuster took the deepest markdown in the whole pool this week. A bestseller rank of #2,151 tells me it’s a niche title, not a crowd favorite, and a third-party seller holds the Buy Box. If it’s been on your wish list, it’s cheap enough now to stop waiting.

Anyone who reads the Hannah Swensen mysteries will know The Cookie Jar, and this book collects the recipes from it. A #77 rank says plenty of readers are buying it. I’d put it in a stocking for the cozy mystery reader who also runs the family cookie tin.

The Barefoot Contessa books are built around cooking for people you love, and this one has the title to prove it. At #56 in its category, it’s one of the stronger sellers in the pool. It’s a good fit if you’re the one hosting Christmas dinner and want recipes that look like effort without taking all day.

DK is one of the two trusted publishers in this week’s pull, and this book is about cooking from a traditional foods kitchen. It ranks #163 and is sold directly by the store. If someone on your list is already reading homestead skills books, this is the kitchen side of that shelf.

This book holds the #1 bestseller rank in its category, and 1,400 slow cooker recipes is a lot of Christmas Eve dinners. It won’t win any beauty contests, but a slow cooker on the counter frees up the oven for the ham. For wood stove nights after the holidays, our list of cozy cabin cookbooks pairs well with it.

Franklin Barbecue is a meat-smoking manifesto from Ten Speed Press, and it’s sitting at #14 with a Prime Big Deal tag. It’s the book for the family member who wants to smoke a brisket for Christmas instead of baking a ham. Expect technique more than quick weeknight recipes.

With bow season open and the buck firearm season coming up in late November, MeatEater is the most West Virginia book on this list after the Mid-South collection. It covers recipes and techniques for both hunters and anglers, and it ranks #5. If venison is going on the holiday table, our hunting camp cookbook guide has more options.