Thoughtful Gourmet Blog

For my 2024 gift guide for food lovers and all things food, I sourced foods and food gift boxes from the West Coast, with one exception.

Each of these 19 cookbooks, released in 2024, is a journey, a trip to tantalize your taste buds. My list is personal – I choose to focus on chefs based in the American West where I live, in New Jersey where I grew up, and others around the world whose cooking inspires me.

The 1986 classic, updated and republished in 2024 with recipes from the doyenne of Italian cooking in the United States by Hazan’s husband, Victor, looks and feels much like the original.

The first time I visited San Francisco’s Californios in 2015, I left awed by chef Val Cantú’s flavors. After a recent visit, I left disappointed. What went wrong?

Fear not – you can drink red wine with fish and seafood. The owners of Oakland’s Bay Grape wine shop tell you how.

Everyday staples transform into flavorful vegetarian meals loaded with character in Erin Alderon’s new cookbook, “The Yearlong Pantry.”

‘Sebze’, which translates to “vegetables” in English, is a vegetarian cookbook, focused on the cuisine of Warren’s Turkish homeland. Its 85 recipes dive into regional specialties that embrace the heart of Turkish cooking: simple ingredients prepared with your hands.

Are you a fan of crispy, crunchy snacks? Do you like cheese? Sonoma Creamery’s Pizza Crisps are bite-sized, seasoned mozzarella crisps. Pepperoni flavor won us over.