Reddit mentions: The best wine & spirits books

Okay, you've caught me; there's beer and wine books, too. Here's what you're looking at:

I run a cocktail bar, and I've been meaning to share my library for some time, but I have a knack for lending my books out to friends and colleagues so I keep waiting for it to be complete. Then I realized my collection keeps growing and will never be complete, so I may as well just share a snapshot of it.

Top row:

Sippin' Safari: In Search of the Great "Lost" Tropical Drink Recipes... and the People Behind Them by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie 100 Rediscovered Recipes and the Stories Behind Them by Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh

The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft by Gary "Gaz" Regan

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

The World Encyclopedia of Beer by Brian Glover

How to Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Beer Right the First Time by John J. Palmer

Jigger, Beaker and Glass: Drinking Around the World by Charles H. Baker, Jr. (aka The Gentleman's Companion Volume II)

Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink by Randy Mosher

Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch by Michael Jackson

The Ultimate Guide to Spirits & Cocktails by Andre Domine

New Classic Cocktails by Mardee Haidin Regan and Gary "Gaz" Regan

The Book of Garnishes by June Budgen

World's Best Cocktails: 500 Signature Drinks from the World's Best Bars and Bartenders by Tom Sandham

The Complete Book of Spirits: A Guide to Their History, Production, and Enjoyment by Anthony Dias Blue

Cocktails & Amuse-Bouches for Her & For Him by Daniel Boulud and Xavier Herit

Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar by David Wondrich

Middle Row:

Hemingway & Bailey's Bartending Guide to Great American Writers

The New and Improved Illustrated Bartenders' Manual; or: How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style by Harry Johnson (Espresso Book Machine Reprint)

Michael Jackson's Bar & Cocktail Companion: The Connoisseur's Handbook by Michael Jackson

The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance by Greg Koch, Steve Wagner & Randy Clemens

The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender's Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy by Jim Meehan

Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas by Brad Thomas Parsons

A Taste for Absinthe: 65 Recipes for Classic and Contemporary Cocktails by R. Winston Guthrie & James F. Thompson

The Bartender's Guide to IBA Official Cocktails by Jenny Reese (Espresso Book Machine Printing)

Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl by David Wondrich

The Home Distiller's Handbook: Make Your Own Whiskey & Bourbon Blends, Infused Spirits and Cordials by Matt Teacher

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

The Decorative Art of Japanese Food Carving: Elegant Garnishes for All Occasions by Hiroshi Nagashima

What to Drink with What You Eat: The Difinitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water - Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers by Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page

The American Cocktail: 50 Recipes that Celebrate the Craft of Mixing Drinks from Coast to Coast by The Editors of Imbibe Magazine

The ABC of Cocktails by Peter Pauper Press

How to Make Your Own Drinks: Create Your Own Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Drinks from Fruit Cordials to After-Dinner Liqueurs by Susy Atkins

How to Make a World of Liqueurs by Heather Kibbey & Cheryl Long

I was like that about a year ago. I was really intimidated and had zero skills, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Anyway, I hear How to Boil Water is a good cookbook for absolute beginners.

Also, there's a couple of terms that are the basic to a lot of recipes, and once you learn those, it makes everything easier.

One of those is sautee. It comes up often with onions at the beginning of recipes.

Here's a primer to cook many different types of vegetables: Put a little bit of oil on the pan (enough to coat the bottom). Any oil will do, but olive oil is better for many things (and healthier). Heat the oil. Add some garlic. Garlic is most flavourfull when the cell walls are broken, so chop it up finely, smash it down with the blunt side of the knife, or use a garlic press. Alternatively you can use garlic power, but it's not as good as fresh. Let the garlic turn golden brown. Now the oil is infused with delicous garlic-y flavour which you can add to whatever other vegetables you have on hand. Throw fresh chopped vegetables in or some pre-chopped frozen ones and add salt and pepper to taste. Every once in a while pick one up and see if it's the consistency you'd like by biting into it. The best thing about cooking vegetables is that if you undercook it, it's just extra crunchy.

Extra tips on specific types of vegetables for this process:
Onions - usually you can put them in with the garlic, and all subsequent vegetables will gain it's delicious flavour too. Usually you cook them until they're kind of translucent, or they're golden brown (for a milder, slightly sweet taste)
Bok choy - cook them till they're kind of mushy and soaked with oil (so good!)
Asparagus - break off the ends because they're tough to chew
Brocolli - It'll turn a brighter shade of green when done

You can also do this to cooked pasta, for when flavourless pasta is becoming old.


Also, chili is a good beginner recipe (and hard to screw up if you make it vegetarian). I recommend you use a recipe for the first couple of times, but after that, you'll know that you can just throw any chili type things you have. Sautee onions (with or without garlic). Throw in a bunch of cans of beans (whatever kind you prefer or a mixture), throw in cans of diced tomatoes (bonus points if you have fresh), any vegetables you want to get rid of, some cumin, some chili powder, some Italian seasoning (it's a mixture of oregano, basil, and rosemary and other herbs that go well with a lot of things), salt, pepper if you feel like it, and whatever spices you feel like. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat so it's simmering for a while. The longer you simmer, the more time the spices have to infuse, some people do it for hours, but sometimes there isn't time for that so you can do it for about half an hour.

Other easy recipes you can look up: eggs (omelets, hard boiled, stirred with rice and leftovers, fried eggs), stir fry, quesidillas, curry, crepes. Frozen salmon (throw it in the oven for however long the package says, with maybe a bit of salt, and it'll flavour itself).

Oh, and rice: I recommend a rice cooker. There's a couple of ways to make rice, and it's dependant on culture/type of rice you want to make. Easiest way: throw in some rice in the rice cooker, add 1 to 2 times the ratio of water, throw in some salt if you feel like it. Plug in the machine and it'll beep and turn itself off when you're done.
For less starchy rice, wash the rice first. (It's not that it's dirty, there's just starch around it). The number of times you throw in some water, swish it around, and throw it out during the cooking process is again, dependent on culture. Do it more for softer, fluffy rice, and more for firmer rice. For brazilian style rice, do the garlic thing in the rice cooker before you add the rice. For Japanese style rice (like sticky rice), buy short grained rice, wash it several times, and add more water (between 1:2 to 1:2.5 rice to water ratio). To make it sushi rice, add sushi vinegar (you can find it in asian grocery stores). With a little soy sauce and some smoked salmon on top, it makes really easy sushi.
(Sorry for such a long rice section. I'm brazilian and japanese. Rice is an institution at my house).

Also, big tip: never serve things until you've tasted it. I think one of the main skills of cooking is tasting what something needs (e.g. more spicy, more salty, more oregano, etc.). It takes some practice, but it means you can make things how you want to taste rather than the person who wrote the recipe likes it to taste.


Cooking websites:
www.supercook.com - tells you a list of possible recipes based on what ingredients you have
www.cookingforengineers.com

1. fame and trends are definitely a driving force, which don't always speak to quality. awards and designated quality level have an influence, but these can be misleading. italy is known for having certain top designations that were gained politically, not because of any outstanding quality that they were trying to preserve. winemaking factors can also affect price and often have more of a hand in quality. if the variety is fickle and difficult to grow, lower quantity means higher prices. manual labor is expensive so if you need to, say, hand-pick frozen grapes for an ice wine, a delicate process, the extra cost contributes to the wine's price. overall, lower yields generally bring higher quality fruit, but again with less product, prices will climb. at least the latter few influences are good indicators of better quality.
   
   
2. your palate will change and adjust over time. flavors and textures might impress you early on that you'll find yourself shying away from a year later. try different wines and don't get so hung up on what's better than what. people get so focused on finding the best wine end up chasing the one style they've deemed great and using it as a measuring stick for all else. a long way of saying: keep an open mind. also, wine is about the place it comes from so read up on what you're drinking or just find it on a map. it's a great way to travel from home.
   
   
3. oak does contribute much of the flavors like toast, smoke, vanilla, cinnamon, baking spices, caramel and on and on. the primary flavors attributed to variety are that grape's personality, which is then influenced by terroir, ripeness, vinification processes like lees stirring, malolactic fermentation or oak usage, so the range of flavors is vast and can be quite subtle.
   
   
4. try drinking wines side by side, even just two wines of similar style or origin can help you begin distinguishing the subtle differences in categories. tasting won't do you any good if you're not paying attention so try talking about it aloud or writing your thoughts down. check out How To Taste if you want some more specific guidance.
   
   
5. wine is completely dynamic. there are so many factors that play into even a single bottle of wine's maturity (storage, cork, temperature) let alone what was put in the bottle. wines built for longer aging have more tannin, acidity or sugar (influenced by variety, style and vintage) and sulfur is pretty much a must to age a wine to its potential. in general, reds can age longer because they have tannin but quality rieslings with high acidity can also age for quite a while. regular wine stores do sell ageworthy wines, but to know when the wine is at its peak is more of a mystery, a frustrating fact for many. some people double up on their wine purchase, and some even buy a case just to watch the wine mature over the years. others, like me, read reviews and follow CellarTracker.
   
   
6. newer barrels impart more flavor in the wine, but that's not necessarily a good or bad thing, it just depends on the style. for instance, new barrel usage could overwhelm the flavors of a delicate wine while giving structure and flavors of a heartier variety. barrels are reused, and with each usage they have less to impart than the previous time. eventually they are considered neutral barrels that have little or nothing to offer in flavor but do help to mature wines (micro-oxygenation and such).
   
   hope that helps, even if i breezed through some of it.
   
   edit: formatting failures to repair

This is going to be the opposite of what you want to hear. But, you asked for it and I respect that. I think that there's no substitute for going about this old school and traditionally. The good news is that you can mostly do this for yourself, by yourself.

If you're disinclined (due to time or for another reason) to enroll in a culinary program get yourself either The Professional Chef or Martha Stewart's Cooking School

I know what you're thinking, "Martha Stewart? What am I? A housewife from Iowa?" Fuck that. I've been fortunate to have met and worked with Martha Stewart she's smart enough to know what she doesn't know and that particular book was actually written by a CIA alum and very closely follows the first year or so that you'd get in a program like that. It starts with knife work and then moves on to stocks and sauces. This particular book has actually been criticized as being too advance for people who have no idea what they're doing so, despite appearances, it may be perfect for you. If you want to feel more pro and go a little deeper, get the CIA text but know that it's more or less the same info and frankly, the pictures in the MSO book are really great. Plus, it looks like Amazon has them used for $6 bucks.

These resources will show you HOW to do what you want and they follow a specific, traditional track for a reason. Each thing that you learn builds on the next. You learn how to use your knife. Then, you practice your knife work while you make stocks. Then, you start to learn sauces in which to use your stocks. Etc. Etc. Etc. Almost like building flavors... It's all part of the discipline and you'll take that attention to detail into the kitchen with you and THAT'S what makes great food.

Then, get either Culinary Artistry or The Flavor Bible (Both by Page and Dornenburg. Also consider Ruhlman's Ratio (a colleague of mine won "Chopped" because she memorized all the dessert ratios in that book) and Segnit's Flavor Thesaurus. These will give you the "where" on building flavors and help you to start to express yourself creatively as you start to get your mechanics and fundamentals down.

Now, I know you want the fancy science stuff so that you can throw around smarty pants things about pH and phase transitions and heat transfer. So...go get Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking THAT is the bible. When the people who run the Ferran Adria class at Harvard have a question, it's not Myhrvold that they call up, it's Harold McGee. While Modernist Cuisine always has a long, exciting complicated solution to a problem I didn't even know I had, when I really want to know what the fuck is going on, I consult McGee and you will too, once you dig in.

Another one to consider which does a great job is the America's Test Kitchen Science of Good Cooking this will give you the fundamental "why's" or what's happening in practical situations and provides useful examples to see it for yourself.

Honestly, if someone came to me and asked if they should get MC or McGee and The Science of Good Cooking and could only pick one and never have the other, I'd recommend the McGee / ATK combo everyday of the week and twice on Tuesdays.

Good luck, dude. Go tear it up!

Ok, a few things that I hope can help:

1. What kind of recipes have you tried in the past? It might help to start with meals that are easy, individual things like: baked chicken, asparagus, and a salad. So, if you mess up the asparagus you still have chicken and a salad to be proud of. Also, they require really minimal skills. There are some really great beginner cookbooks and food blogs. How to Boil Water comes to mind. Also, if you feel comfortable, ask your boyfriend for pointers, or suggest that you cook a few meals a week together so that you can learn in a fun, low-pressure way. Don't get discouraged - everyone has to start somewhere!
   
   
2. Some basic cooking tips that may help: I've found that it really helps to set up a "mise en place" before I start to cook. That's basically a fancy French word for saying prep everything first. Anything that needs to be chopped: chop it. Anything that needs to be peeled: peel it. Measure all your spices out. Read the recipe through once twice before you do ANYTHING so that you can see what each step is and what sort of timing you'll be working with. That way you don't get to the end of the recipe like "Wait, why didn't I use these chopped onions yet? Oh shit, they were supposed to go in FIRST."
   
   
3. A lot of your foods are carb/sugar heavy. I don't believe in cutting out one category of food and I'm not a nutritionist, but you will feel fuller, longer if you focus on getting more protein. Pizza bagels are super yummy but pretty lacking in nutrition. Really focus on eating whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, lean protein, etc. I saw some of your posts that you snack on FiberOne bars and Nature Valley bars. That's totally fine if you're starving and in a jam with not much else to eat. If it's every day though, try and think about what you're aiming for with those snacks. They're both really full of sugar, and personally, the fiber in FiberOne bars gives me a stomach ache. A better option would be something like an apple with almond or real peanut butter (aka a natural brand with ground-up peanuts and salt, not Jiff). That gives you natural fiber, protein from the peanuts, a bit of sugar for your sweet tooth, and is about the same amount of calories. I think it might help to focus on nutrition first, and calorie count once you've got nutrition under control. So, for example, focus on getting a healthy amount of protein (~.8g protein per lb of your body weight), fiber, more vitamins, and less added sugar. Then once you feel like you're eating fairly healthy, shift your focus to getting the proper amount of calories. Just my two cents, but obviously, do what works for you and feels right!
   
   Edit: Whoops, just saw you said protein hurts your stomach. Do the hard boiled eggs and tuna hurt your stomach too? If not, maybe focus on getting protein via eggs and tuna, but increasing the quantity of those two things gradually. There's a great, easy recipe for eggs that's basically "Simmer tomato sauce in a large pan, crack eggs into it, cover pan with a lid, cook for ~8 mins until the eggs are firm." Super yummy and would give you protein.

I've never been to Vons, so I'm no help there. If you're in the Bay area, are you near a K&L? I go there regularly for all my weird wines needs, and often hit their tastings to try new stuff.

If you're into pairing I HIGHLY recommend the book What to Drink with What You Eat.
https://www.amazon.com/What-Drink-You-Eat-Definitive/dp/0821257188/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474904031&sr=8-1&keywords=what+to+drink+with+what+you+eat
It's half basic explanations of why things work together and half reference book. Good overview but great to have on hand to just flip to "Carrots" and find a wine. Fun book.

I think you would like Lloyd Chardonnay, Robert Lloyd was the winemaker for Rombauer. It's usually $40, so pricier. There re tons of big, buttery options, but unfortunately, working for a winery I've fallen out of touch with specific names, since I usually just work with our wines. It's been while since I've had it but Morse Code Shiraz is a fruity, peppery option and a good price. Not really savory if that's what you like though.


Most white wine is meant to be consumed within two years of bottling. To age, a wine needs acid, tannin, fruit flavor, and alcohol/sugar. Most white wines are lacking in the tannic structure to keep them going. However, since you like the oaky stuff, oak adds tannin and there are many oaked whites that can age for decades. Or high acid whites with a little residual sugar like Riesling. But that's not what we're talking about. But if you like the fresh fruit flavor of whites, then drink them within a couple years. Similarly, most red wines you find are meant for immediate consumption, especially from the grocery store or Bevmo or something. A lot of how long people age wine is personal preference. If you like it big and fruity and it makes your jaw clench a little, drink it young. If you like it smooth, without the tannic teeth coating, and with more of an earthy, savory flavor, drink it older. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that. Different wines are intended for different things though. Again, sorry to be unhelpful, but my best recommendation is to go to tastings to try before you before or just experience new things and if you like it at the current age, drink it. And ask, "How will this wine change over time?" It's a a case-by-case thing. Personally, I like to take notes on tastings and you can see patterns emerge in terms of what varietals, regions etc you like, but also when you like to drink them. It's not the worst study process.

andtheodor beat me to the question by question post, but I am up late and can't sleep, so I will take a stab at this as well (BTW, andtheodor is a great resource for wine questions, he/she really knows his/her stuff)

> What are some good online resources?

Wikipedia is a good resource for definitions and wine classification laws by region.

> Is there a simple way to classify wines (beyond red,white, blush)?

Most wines are classified on a menu by red, white, blend, rose. Many good wine lists categorize by region. There isn't a standard way to classify wine. Sometimes it's by varietal, region, or by flavor profile. Depends on what the restaurant or wine shop wants to cater to.

> When I read the words bouquet or spice, does that mean the wine was actually made with these, or just that it gives of that taste/aroma?

Wine is made from grapes (generally speaking, I'm not talking about apple wine and stuff) and most laws don't allow anything to be added to the must (must is un-fermented juice). Bouquet is referring to the nose, or smell. Spice is a aroma/tasting note commonly found in Zinfandel or Syrah. Sometimes it's a baking spice you taste/smell, other times it's pepper.

> What would you call a chianti that uses more than just sangiovese? A blend?

Chianti means it's from that region in Italy. Some Chianti is blended, but has to be a certain percentage of sangiovese to be legally called Chianti. A sangiovese from Tuscany (where Chianti is) that does not adhere to the rules to be called Chianti is sometimes referred to as a "Super Tuscan."

> If it is a blend, does it means that it was mixed after fermentation?

If it is blended before crush while harvesting (then crushed together), this is referred to as a field blend. Most are blended after fermentation, but not always.

> What do you call a wine using only 1 grape?

It is called a single varietal. This is a bit of a misnomer though, as many wines in CA labeled 'Cabernet' for example, only have to be 80% Cab to have it labelled as such. Some wines are 100% varietal, some are blended. It depends on the laws of the region it is from on how it is labelled.

> When pairing with foods, are there any rules of thumb? (besides the old red w/ red, white w/ white).

There are too many pairing rules of thumb to list. Sometimes you contrast a food/wine, sometimes you complement. Depends on the dish & wine. Learn what the parings are for every item on the menu, I'm sure they will train you on this.

> Also, I tried chianti with chicken parmesan and lasagna today. I do not like the wine itself. But after sipping the wine and then taking a bite of food, the food seemed to have a whole new level of flavor. But then going back to the wine after the bite, I didn't like the wine - it almost tasted worse. Should it be a mutual relationship? Or is that just kind of the way it is?

Depends. Italian wines are notorious for being 'food wines' in that they are made to complement a meal. You may just not like the Chianti you were drinking. They range in profile from earthy to sometimes almost fruity. Wine should always be good on it's own, but better with the dish it's served with.

> There seems to be hundreds of different grapes. Are they all suitable for wine?

In general, you are looking for vitis vinifera grapes, those are the species you make into wine (for the most part). Other vitis species are made into wines, but vinifera is what you should concern yourself with. Learn the varietals of Italy, since it sounds like that is what you will need to know.

> Regional wines? I understand that they come from certain regions. But how do they fit into the grand scheme of things? (i know this is a poorly devised question. You have artistic freedom here)

Region is as important as the varietal. A Napa chardonnay is completely different than a white Burgundy (also chardonnay, but from the Burgundy region in France). Sometimes wines are labelled by varietal, sometimes it's by region. Depends on the laws of the country it is from.

> If I know the basics about, say, Chianti, will it pair with food fairly well no matter the brand/blend? For example, If I recommend a Chianti that is 100% sangiovese, will it pretty much pair just as well if I recommend one that used Sangiovese and Canailo grapes?

Not necessarily. You need to know each specific Chianti and what it pairs with, as Chianti can be different in style depending on the producer/bottler . Just because it says Chianti doesn't mean it's a concrete flavor profile. They can span the spectrum in style depending on how they are blended.

> Naming "systems": Pinot grigio is named after a species of grape. Are all single grape wines named by the grape? Also, if they contain more than 1 grape, are they all almost exclusively named by region? How else could/would they be named? I think this kind of goes back to question #2

Varietal labeling is a new world thing (US and Aussie wines) while regional labeling is an old world thing (European wines). France, for example, allows their vin de pays classified wines to label by varietal, while AOC wines must use region (except for Alsace). Italy is crazy because sometimes wines are named for region (Chianti, Valpolicella, Barolo, etc.) while sometimes wines from those regions are named by varietal (sangiovese, pinot grigio, nebiollo, etc.) Just because it is named by region does not mean it is a blend. Red Burgundy from France for example, must be 100% pinot noir by law.

Lots of good questions here, but I agree that you are asking too specific questions. Buy the Wine Bible and read the first parts on intro, viticulture, & wine making, then read the section on Italy. It will take only a few hours to read all that, and you will be in a good position to 'fake' your way through the rest. Good Luck!

No one has mentioned it yet, but I learned a lot from cook books.

These are not just lists or recipes, but instruction about techniques and methods and processes.

Some good ones are:

• How to Cook Everything: The Basics
  
• Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
  
• Cook's Illustrated Cookbook
  
  Having an actual dead tree book can be more convenient in the kitchen than a laptop or mobile device with an ebook.
  
  If you can find episodes of Good Eats by Alton Brown he is really good at explaining things. Videos can be good, but a lot of times but really only when you know what it is you're looking for. With a book it is going to give you topics that you might never have thought of.
  
  But for reals now, you are going to get the best value learning how to cook the basics. Your Instant pot is AWESOME for cooking dry beans. Get pound of dry black beans and 3 pounds of water (obviously you need a good kitchen scale). I just put the inner pot of my Instantpot on the scale, dump in the beans, tare it, then pour water in with a big cup till I have 3 lbs. Put in 1/2-1 teaspoon of salt. I also add granulated garlic and powdered onion and some cumin but you don't have to. Set your instanpot to manual for 45 mins and wait. Let it naturally release, if you manually release the pressure the skin on the beans will break, to me it still tastes the same but you have far fewer whole beans. Now you have a weeks worth of delicious, healthy black beans. No need for overnight soak or anything.
  
  Small white beans (a.k.a navy beans) can be cooked the same and they taste different but just as good. Or you can add the extra ingredients and make pork and beans.
  
  You can cook pinto beans with the same basic recipe, and they taste great too. When you want to take the extra time, then with a slotted spoon dish the cooked beans into a large frying pan with some lard or shortening and make your own refried beans. You smash the beans with the back of the spoon or a spatula, and use the bean broth to add liquid till you like the texture.
  
  If you can't tell I like cooking beans in my Instantpot. I have a rice cooker but you can cook rice in the Instantpot too. Beans and rice is healthy and cheap!!! (cook them separately and mix them after cooking).
  
  

Popey is back again with a bargain bottle to share with you all! Having recently hit shelves again in the UK, Black Bottle is a no-age statement blend recommended in Ian Buxton's "101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die". I snapped it up for a mere £15, an absolute steal to clear one of my bucket list, right?

Colour: Honey, with a reddish coppery tinge. It reminds me a little of Glenfiddich 15 and some Speyside malts. I'll see what I think it's blended from later.

Nose: Iodine, a strong fishy smell hits you immediately, betraying the heavy peatyness coming forth afterwards. Taking a little more time brings out some bread, like a tuna mayo sandwich. There's more. Definitely the smell of rust and copper, like a chemistry set. The furthest I can go is wet concrete. It's... urm... different, I guess.

Mouth: A forceful mouthful of rotten wood and blackberries. I can feel that same damp sugar I get from sherried Speyside malts, but with the greasy peat of an Islay thrown on top for good measure. I like this, but it's very similar to the Lochlan blend you get in Tesco. It's surprisingly pleasant, everything seems to work together perfectly with none of the many indistinct and subtle flavours sticking out awkwardly, as I find with many single malts I don't like. This seems to be the joy of blends, being able to get something hugely drinkable for almost no money.

Finish: almost non-existent. Medicinal and herblike, as if I'd swallowed Jägermeister instead of Scotch. The peat smoke dominates after a short while, but isn't really very inspiring. The mouth is warmed, but not the chest. But I suppose you only get what you pay for.

A damn fine whisky for the price. This is a charming bottle which contains a charming liquid. Reading some more about the history of this blend really brings it to life. This is great value, and I daresay the most fun I've had with peated Scotch since the days of drinking Talisker with my Dad on a school night.

Bought for £15 in J.S. Sainsbury's.

76/100

Starting resource: Bittman's How to Cook Everything: The Basics

Other tips:
Almost anything is great sautéed in olive oil with salt & pepper. You can get fancier from there, but once chopping & sautéing becomes no big deal, cooking gets a lot easier. You just have to level up!

If you are not yet readily chopping veggies into bits, there are lots of pre-packaged bags of salad greens & veggies. I have found veggie trays (carrot & celery sticks w/ ranch) are a quick & easy fix, and more fun to eat as it seems like you're at a party. Other quick finger foods like grapes, nuts, berries, turkey pepperoni or string cheese are handy to have around for a blood sugar boost for meal-making energy.

You can never go wrong with PB & J, grilled cheese, or scrambled eggs.

A slow cooker/rice cooker is your friend. Chili is easy to make and will keep a while. Delicious over brown rice, add cheese.

Good luck!

I would not normally mention this, but because your title could be interpreted as meaning that you are considering distilling whiskey, an expensive licensing and approval process is needed to legally distill it, which would make it cheaper to just buy it at a store.

That being said, if you are interested in information on the specifics of how alcohols can be distilled, there are some excellent books out on the subject. They have detailed plans for different kinds of stills, many specific recipes for whiskeys and other distilled spirits.

Search Amazon with the keywords alcohol distillation, for example.

I got a great book on this for Christmas a few years back called "Moonshine". It's about $8. Here's an Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Moonshine-Drinking-Historical-Knee-Slappers-Recoverin/dp/1579906486/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303878234&sr=1-1

I think it is a great, fun introduction, and I really enjoyed it, but reading it, it sounds like distillation is a lot of trouble, cost, would take up a whole lot of time, will require a decent amount of space set aside to do it in, and has a certain amount of health danger to it as well, so you need to be aware of all those things going into it and be OK with them.

I also want to quote one sentence from it for you. "Without inspection and proper approvals, you are not permitted to make any amount for personal use. Not one drop."

Starting with making beer or wine from scratch might be a good place to start. No licensing required, either.

Edit: I've only read this one book on the subject, so if I've got any of it wrong, please feel free to correct me and elaborate.

Ohh sure thing! I've got a small collection but the one I always rec and lend out isn't a cookbook, but actually this really useful guide called: The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook. For baking, I really like watching Great British Bake off for recipes and have Mary Berry's Baking Bible, it's been a good guide. I also like Ricardo, and made his apple+pecan and raisin cake over the holidays and it was really good. But my true love is actually cheese making (despite my lactose intolerance lol) and so Nick Haddow's Milk Made is my baby, there's a recipe for saffron+honey cheesecake I'm planning on making for my brother when he finishes his midterms. Martha's good, you can actually find her recipes online but nothing off the top of my head I can recommend rn.

Naturally, of course, you could pick up any red from Burgundy, as that's Pinot Noir's homeland. It's actually pretty enlightening to compare the European and American styles of the same type of wine. Still, for true varietal variety, you've got a few choices.

Probably the easiest to find alternatives would be a wine from either a Beaujolais (made from gamay)or a Rioja (made from tempranillo). The former gets a bad rap because of Beaujolais Nouveau being a generally cheap fruit-bomb, but the better quality and more aged wines are a fantastic PN alternative. Look for anything labelled Beaujolais Villages ("Villages" is basically the mid-range rank in the screwy French system). There are also the high level Cru wines, but they drop Beaujolais from their label in exchange for the name of the Cru. Brouilly cru wines seem pretty easy to find, but you can google up the rest; there's less than a dozen.

For a Rioja, you'll want to keep in mind the aging system: crianza, reserva, gran reserva. It measures how long the wine spends in oak before bottling. A crianza might be a bit too sharp to stand in for a PN and a gran reserva maybe a bit too oaky and stout, but a reserva would be a good choice. You could also investigate wines from the next region over, Ribera del Duero, which makes a similar style of wines (though they call their tempranillo "tinto fino" and claim it's different).

For harder to find choices you could stay in Spain and try wines from Bierzo. The wines are made mostly from a grape called mencia, which yields a lot of PN qualities, if a bit more mineral/earthy than your average pinot. There are some truly amazing (if sadly not well known) PN alternatives in Austria.

Several of the key red varietals from Austria (blaufrankisch, st. laurent, and their hybrid, zweigelt) could do a good job replacing pinot noir. The first time I tasted a zweigelt, I actually thought I had stumbled onto some strange and deeply-satisfying blend of pinot and syrah. The downside is that Austrian wine isn't exactly taking the American market by storm. You can sometimes find German blaufrankisches, but they call the grape Lemberger. You could also cheat at subbing out pinot noir by grabbing a blauburgunder or spatburgunder, which are simply the Austrian and German terms for Pinot Noir. Good luck finding them though.

If you want to learn more about European wines, I'd recommend Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible. It is an incredibly comprehensive source for the major wine styles and regions. Technically it covers the entire world of wine, but it has a definite focus on the Big 3 (France, Italy, and Spain).

I am 100% all for the pursuit of knowledge behind the bar. I believe it's a great way to show initiative to get behind a craft bar, elevate your cocktail game, and just to learn something cool. Feel free to message me if you have questions on where to get started, what to do after you've read some of these books, what to expect when you're working your way up, etc. I'd be more than happy to lend some helpful advice!

Here are some of the books I'd recommend:



"The Bar Book" by Jeffrey Morgenthaler

I'd start here if you're interested in and are brand new to craft cocktails. Morgenthaler's Bar Book is threaded with great insight on what and why certain techniques are used behind the bar and is riddled with beautiful photography.

"Imbibe!" by Dave Wondrich

Hands down, the first book you should read if you want to get into the lore behind craft drinks. It opens up with the story of our great forefather, Jeffrey Thomas, and then continues to discuss the various eras of bartending and what they represent, as well as the drinks within those eras.

"Craft Cocktails at Home" by Kevin Liu
If Bar Book is your high school Geometry, Liu's, "Craftcocktails at Home" is your college Linear Algebra class. Provides you with hard science on what exactly going on in the glass if we shake VS stir or the happenings in an egg-based drink. Awesome read.


"How's Your Drink" by Eric Felten

Felten runs through history and entertains with stories behind some of the biggest drinks in cocktails. Did you know the Vesper (a vodka/gin Martini hybrid of sorts) was created in a Jame's Bond book and was named after the sultry villain? That President Theodore Roosevelt loved himself a good mint julep and even had his own mint bed to supply himself plenty when he wanted one? Fun read.

"Drunken Botanist" by Amy Stewart

Alcohol is derived from things. This is the best book that talks about those things. Agave, Juniper, Barley, Cinchona Bark. Understand the drink from a Botanist's point of view.


"Bitters" by Brad Thomas Parsons

Bitters are an incredible way to add both aromatics and flavor into a cocktail. This book will help you not only understand what they are and what they do, but will kickstart your own bitter brewing process if desired. Homemade Orange Bitters kick ass.

Barsmarts

Last but not least, Barsmarts is a great online tool to help rundown the basis of what we with cocktails. It goes through the various spirits, a brief look at cocktail history, and even has a "drink builder". Definitely worth the $30.

Plan 1: Grab a general purpose beginner's book like Ruhlman's 20, How to Cook Everything: the Basics, or The Four Hour Chef and get cracking.

For the record, I would start with Ruhlman since he's the most oriented towards principles, techniques, and general purpose stuff. Bittman's great, but he mostly teaches via recipe which isn't that helpful when you're just barely starting out. Ferris' book is incredible and I would wholeheartedly recommend it, but it's huge and filled with a lot of rabbit trails about learning styles, foreign languages, memorizing playing cards, and shooting 3 points. If you like watching Tim Ferris ADD on neat stuff (and I do) it's a great read, but it definitely isn't only about cooking.

Plan 2: Get this poster. Ideally here. Get the veggie if you need it. Buy the stuff, make the stuff. This won't be quite as much initial layout as buying a book, and it's not nearly as intimidating. But it's not nearly as detailed so you're going to have to do a lot more guess-and-check type stuff and be ready to throw out your mistakes, which is probably going to cost more and be more frustrating in the long run.

tl;dr - Ruhlman

Disclaimer: links are for convenience only. I receive no benefit other than sharing my favorite sources.

That's really intriguing. I'm baffled at how easily many of our lives can be with instant gratification, but others like yourselves need to be more intentional and thorough with your decision making. Makes me appreciate what we have down here in the 48.

Edit: Definitely spend as much time on here as possible. I would also recommend a really good book for you to pickup at your local Barnes and Noble (they'll likely need to order it). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612124380/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0

It's a book I've referenced ad nauseam but genuinely love it. I continually find helpful resources from the author.

check out some documentaries while you're at it. Modern Marvels did 2 episodes about distilling, and also did an episode about whiskey where they visited the Jim Beam distillery, it was very interesting. You might as well watch the one about beer too. Here's a link to the MM episode guide

Also check out Three Sheets on Hulu. it's more of a drinking culture show but Zane visits other countries and explores not only the culture but the national drinks as well. I spent a few weeks watching all the episodes and they are really good. I learned quite a bit from this guy. He's a bit goofy and can be hard to watch at times but i thoroughly enjoyed the show.

If you're interesting in Moonshine at all check out this book: Moonshine! i used it for a project i did for college about moonshine and it was a good read into the history of the drink as well as how to make it and how to make a still. very cool book. There are also some good documentaries that the history channel did about moonshine culture and backwoods brewing as well.

I don't know how seriously you want to take it, but Jancis Robinson wrote an awesome book on wine tasting called How to Taste: A Guide to Enjoying Wine (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416596658/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_B2x9wbQJK15HZ) that really helped me develop a better understanding and vocabulary as to what I was really tasting. Which in turn helped me appreciate and enjoy both wine and beer a lot more.

Also yeah, as mentioned by others, most of it is just finding what you like and developing your taste in that area and kind of branching out from there. So basically: just drink more beer. But that's my solution to most things.

Wine can be intimidating, as there are so many different styles, and even when you find a great wine from a particular winery, it will still vary from year to year.

That said, there a number of ways to get into wine.

1. Take a class. I'm lucky being in California, as we have relatively relaxed liquor laws with regard to wine. There are all kinds of classes that will introduce you into wine and wine tasting.
   
   
2. Wine bars. Most good wine bars offer flights, usually 4 3oz pours of different wines. Find out what you like and what you don't.
   
   
3. Go to a good liquor store that specializes in wine, and ask questions. There are lots of good wines in the $15 to $30 range, and a good store will have someone knowledgeable you can make recommendations. Also, follow the recommendation on how to serve the wine re temperature, glassware, need to decanter, etc.
   
   
4. Stick with a style or region for a month at a time. Cabs for January, Pinot Noir for Feb, Chard for March, etc. Drinking similar wines will help you get a good understanding for each one, as opposed to jumping around from style to style.
   
   
5. Do the opposite and jump around from style to style.
   
   
6. Read a book about wine and follow its advice. The Wine Bible is a good one. https://www.amazon.com/Wine-Bible-Karen-MacNeil/dp/0761180834/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1519175848&sr=8-4&keywords=wine+encyclopedia
   
   And most important, don't give up, as the more wine you drink, the better it tastes.

3 lbs. watermelon centers

1 lb blueberries

2 lb sugar or 2.5 lb light honey

3 3/4ths quarts of water

2 t acid blend

1/2 t tannin

1 t yeast nutrient

1 crushed campden tablet

1/2 t pecti enzyme

1 packet champagne yeast.

wash the berries, cube the watermelon. If you want to, get rid of the seeds by putting the melon through a straighnr or feed mill, but it isnt necessary. Put it all in a nylon straining bag and with very clean hands squish the fruit.

Boil the sugar or honey in the water and skim if necessary. Pour hot syrup over the fruit and cover. When cooled, add the yeast nutrient, acid, tannin, and include a campden tablet. Cover and fit with an air lock. 12 hours later, add pectic enzyme.

24 hours later check the potential alcohol and add the yeast.

Cover the must and stir daily for a week or so til the potential alcohol comes down to 3 or 5 percent. Rack the wine into a secondary fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock. Rack twice in about 6 months til fermented out dry.

If you like use stabilizer, and sweeten it with 2 to 4 ounces of sugar in a syrup. Bottle, and keep it for 6 months at least.

From The Joy of Home Winemaking by Terry Garey, which I recommend buying if you want to get into making wine. It's full of great advice and wonderful recipes.

I'm using the "Joy of Home Winemaking" by Terry Garey. Her website is here, and her book link is here.

She does a lot more of fruit wines as opposed to grape wines, which is what I'd rather do. You can always go and pick up a bottle of grape wine anywhere, but apple-mango...not so much. The process is pretty simple, I think it's a lot easier than making beer, just the aging process is much much longer.

Right now I have a strawberry apple, pineapple-cantaloupe-orange (In honour of Jack Layton) and a spiced mead bulk aging, and 20 L or so of Apfelwein, which I think is what is usually recommended for a first try at wines since it's pretty easy, and tastes delicious after 3 months.

In my opinion I think that as a beginner, looking online for recipes can be so overwhelming and it's hard to find what's good and what's garbage without an established sense of taste/cooking. Sure, you can look at the comments, but it takes a lot of time and without knowing how to cook it's hard to know what you're even looking for.

I would highly recommend trying out a beginner's cookbook (Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: The Basics or How to Cook Everything Vegetarian are great ones). Look through it, read up on techniques/skills, and pick something you think you'll like and cook it.

Also, you can probably check out cookbooks from your library if you want to try them out before investing money on them.

Remember that we all started somewhere. Nobody is born a good cook, it's a learned skill that you have to practice. Same with taste - if you're used to tasting the same types of foods, you're going to have to adjust to trying new foods. I didn't eat any vegetables at all growing up and now I love them! I just realized you need to put salt and cheese on them, lol. But really I also just needed to get used to the taste, which took some time.

For learning to cook, I highly recommend How to Boil Water. It got me going on the basics, has uncomplicated (and delicious) recipes--and now I love cooking. Plus, making my own food made me open up my tastes more, and I eat a lot more foods now than I did prior.

And I echo everyone else saying that along with yoga and biking (which are both great, for flexibility and endurance respectively) you should definitely get advice from your boyfriend on how to start an exercise program. Having someone knowledgable to help you get started is invaluable and will give you the confidence and knowledge base to do it on your own. At the very least, he can teach you bodyweight exercises and weight training lifts (squats, rows, presses, deadlifts) to add muscle and strength, and the proper form with which to do them. Good luck!

This is wonderful, I was thinking about making a post about finding new recipes.

• I will pretty much cook whatever looks good as I browse recipes at work. I mostly cooking Italian and Japanese (but I'm trying to expand my horizons)
  
  
• Watching Gordon Ramsay videos inspired me to improve my cooking. Before I cooked and I was pretty ok but now I'm actively trying to improve with every new dish.
  
  
• Based on frequency of use I would say the Skinnytaste Cookbook, but I recently flipped through Savuer: The New Classics and I found so many recipes I want to try.
  
  
• What I really want to try different regional cuisines. Pinterest can get really same-y and boring when you browse the food & drink section, and even if you search for certain types of cuisines the selection is always more "simple", Americanized, or modified for a slowcooker. While I love cookbooks I can't afford to go out and buy every "traditional [blank] meals" book that looks good.
  
  
• I'm very interested learning more about Mexican, Indian, Irish and French.
  
  
• One of the few things that stops me from certain recipes is getting the materials. Small towns are a bit limited and I'm still on the hunt for a source of lamb chops.
  
  
• The one outlet of food I'm hesitant to explore is seafood. There are some types of fish I'll eat, but it's limited.
  

Drink This - Wine Made Simple - Great book for beginners

The Wine Bible

The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert - Seems like it's a joke, and it sooort of is, but there's some good information there, and the scratch and sniff thing is actually quite useful.

The World Atlas of Wine - Pretty much the ultimate wine book. If you don't want to spend that much on it, consider buying a used copy of the older edition. You can get it for just a few bucks. Obviously it won't be as up to date, but it's still extremely useful.

Pairing Food and Wine for Dummies - John Szabo is legit

Great Wine Made Simple

Up until recently I worked at a book store, these were the books I recommended most frequently to people. If you want ones about specific regions, there are some good ones out there too. These are all more general.

the book is zraly's windows on the world. (this question gets asked too often)

suggesting a nice bottle is like suggesting a nice color; but since you mention strong reds (aus syrah/us zinfandel), you have to start with 2 bottles of cabernet sauvignon (the most fucking ubiquitous strong red grape in the universe) - and learn to distiguish between where it came from's style (bordeaux) vs new world style (napa). so u'd need 2 bottles for your 1st lesson.

to make your life easy: order this little greysac bordeaux bottle and compare it to the little mondavi bottle, and i think that's a fucking good start. report back.

ps1. sherry lehman sells the zraly book as well, and no im not related to them in anyway.
depending on where you live you may get these bottles at a wine store near you, and the book at a library.

ps2.alternatively, since you've tried aus shiraz and us zinfandel you could order the same grapes from where they have been cultivated for longer (and somewhat originally); namely, a good crozes hermitage and a good primitivo respectively. remember to look where all this shit comes from in a map (north rhone and puglia) - because it is essential to understand geography and climate as it reflects in the the level of sugar or alcohol(same thing) vs acidity of the wine.

I'm going to actively try to avoid recipe books here in my links (that said, that means you're missing out on Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails, Death & Co, Potions of the Caribbean, and The Joy of Mixology so.... YMMV)

Liquid Intelligence - IMHO must have guide on the technical aspects of bartending. This book is amazing and is the first thing I share with my coworkers that want to broaden their knowledge

The Drunken Botanist - In depth examination of the plants that go into making our favorite drinks, beers, booze, and sundry

Bitters - Has history of bitters, along with instructional on how to make your own.

Shrubs Kind of recipes but also talks about how to make shrubs and good proportions for them, which isn't super common.

Wine Folly Do you want a good intro-to-wine with good, clear reference sheets about styles and pairings? Here's your book

The Wine Bible Want to know way more than you ever thought you wanted to know about wine? This is what you want to be reading.

The Beer Bible - Same as above, but for beer instead of wine.

Holy Smoke! Its Mezcal Mezcal can be hard to pin down and I've found this one to be decent. Includes a table of things that were available in the US at time of publishing and the author's opinions on quality.

Vermouth - pretty in depth history on vermouth, focusing on its place in American cocktail Culture

Imbibe! In depth history of early cocktail culture, focusing on Jerry Thomas and the Bon Vivant's Companion

...I'm sure I could think of more, given the time. I'm trying to just delve into things currently on my shelf, and not in my wishlist.

> I do decant my wine, but also sometimes use the magic decanter to see the difference in taste. Are the magic decanters frowned upon here?

I had to google this because they are marketed differently here and not called magic decanters. But I have used them when I used to work behind tasting bars. They do a little bit of aerating in my opinion, but I tend to just go with the old fashioned decanter. It's all personal preference.

> If there's any popular books you know of which are easy to read (i.e. more for beginners) then please let me know.

Are you thinking of just tasting books, to help you get in the swing of things? If so, here are a few:

• How To Taste
  
  
• Wine: A Tasting Course
  
  
• Wine Folly - this one is basically a lot of infographics and so it may not be as helpful on its own but in conjunction with one of the others it's good
  
  These are good starter books. Once you get the hang of it, invest in the Oxford Companion or other lovely tomes that may be a bit dense at the moment.

We have a couple great cocktail bars and high-profile bartenders (Jeffrey Morgenthaler and Jacob Grier come to mind), and a lot more underrated ones, but PDT is world-class; Meehan's PDT cocktail book is a best-seller in the genre and highly regarded among cocktail makers.

Notably, Meehan may not even be the highest-profile east-to-west cocktail bartender move this month. John Gertsen of Boston's Drink, which won so many Tales of the Cocktail awards that it got retired out of the awards process, is moving to San Francisco.

I'm curious whether the PDT/east coast-style cocktail bar will work on the west coast, though, and especially in Portland, because there's too much competition from things like beers and ciders and straight spirits (and coffee!) that the east coast doesn't have. Even places like Clyde Common and Teardrop and Metrovino, which all have cocktail programs that would work well on the east coast, do presentation, service, and hospitality a little (and sometimes a lot) differently.

And people here get wonky over other food and drink things here--we have green coffee bean shops and tons of homebrew shops, while the east coast has more dedicated boutiques for home bars and high-end liquor stores with hand-picked selections. The culture isn't there; you don't have as many cocktail snobs in Portland because everyone's put all their snob points in coffee and beer and scotch and hiking boots or whatever.

I understand your situation. I wasn't required to learn wine for my job, but learning has made my job a hell of a lot easier and increased my value as an employee.

Try googling some quick and easy pairing guides that give you information about the wines. Something like this, that explains common characteristics of the wine. These were a big help to me.

If you want to go all out, this is a pretty cool book. It has a great little section on a dozen commonly paired wines. Essentially suggesting a mixed case that has versatile pairings.

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything the Basics is really good for beginner stuff. Thug Kitchen's new book is also a great starting place for learning how to cook cheap and healthy.

My all time favorite cookbook is Mastering the Art of French Cooking which is a great intro to French techniques. The recipes themselves are not always cheap and healthy, but the skills you learn are super super useful for any type of cooking. It is by far the cookbook I have learned the most from.

How to Boil Water I think is perfect for what you're looking for. It covers a lot of basic stuff that really helps when it comes to approaching new recipes and being comfortable.

I'm not a pro by any stretch, but my parents never taught me how to cook growing up (as well as other common household things) I've made an effort to learn well enough to teach my daughters.

Make all my Thanksgiving from scratch on Thursday, wish me luck!

EDIT: Personal tip, stock up on seasonings when you can, they tend to go a long way. And make sure to taste them and smell them individually from time to time. It helps get a feel for what it contributes to what you're cooking, and what flavor you want.

Good on you for deciding to make a healthy change! Definitely check out the /r/EatCheapAndHealthy/ sub. It's a kind and helpful group that routinely gives great tips and recipes.

If you're just starting out, investing in a basic cookbook is an excellent way to learn cooking skills at your own pace. I'd get one that starts with boiling eggs and such basics, then progresses to simple recipes. How to Cook Everything: The Basics and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian are good ones, both by Mark Bittman. Another good resource is BudgetBytes.com.

Also, you might do some reading up on meal planning. IMO, it's just as important as the cooking and eating.

The only cookbook I've used multiple times has been How to Boil Water. It has a lot of basic recipes, but the best part about it is that it also gives you lots of great instructions on how to prepare and store different foods. It's a great book that I refer back to often. :)

There are tons of books and online resources for how to make your own wine. I started with a book called Home Winemaking by Terry Garey (LOLOL), but there are tones of online resources for winemaking if you google it. A coworker of mine let me borrow the book. The key is getting good blackberries. The grocery store tends to sell lower quality berries, so if you can find a local source, that is best. I happen to live in Seattle, where that shit grows everywhere like a weed.

Edit: Here is a good place to start: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/blackbr2.asp
Feel free to experiment with the ingredients as you see fit. For example, instead of using just sugar, I use a bit of honey in the fermentation process. I find it helps create a smoother flavour.

Hey there! Fellow college student here. I’m not sure about your school, but I did some research with my school’s viticulture program, it eventually led me to working on some vineyards and learning the ins and outs. I would definitely recommend getting the Wine Bible or Windows on the World they’re insanely informative and helpful. Also, look around town for a wine bar, they usually do weekly tastings, if you’re in a bigger town, Total Wine does monthly classes and tastings a lot. Trader Joe’s has a lot of decently priced good wines, I would check it out, good luck!

Find your local cheap grocery store...Sav-A-Lot, Aldi, etc. I think it depends on where you are...but...a discount place will help you b/c they usually have smaller packaging, and cheaper ingredients.

Find a basics book like this. You can get books from your library, I also use Overdrive app to borrow ebooks (I use it through my local library, but you can sign up with an email). These kinds of books will explain the steps and process, more than just give you directions on putting ingredients together.

When using a recipe: read through the whole recipe and ingredients first. If you don't recognize everything...look it up, but consider that if you have to look up a bunch of stuff, it might be beyond your scope for the time being and attempt something else.

On supplies: You really don't need a lot, utilize thrift stores, craigslist, FB marketplace - a lot of people give these things away when they get new. For basics:

• Wood spoon, pancake turner, rubber/silicone spatula, whisk, slotted spoon, measuring cups (even dollar store cups are fine), teaspoons. For the pancake turner, I have two - a metal one for my heavy metal pans, and a plastic one for my non-stick stuff...but my non-stick is on it's last legs and I will probably toss them soon and when I do - the plastic turner goes with them. Maybe one or two large bowls (I started with dollar store plastic bowls...they were AWFUL, but they worked and I got them for cheap).
  
  
• Pots/pans: if you're cooking alone, don't worry about getting a bunch of stuff. Maybe one medium pot with a lid (about 2 quarts), one skillet (about 14-16 inches), one 8x8ish dish, one 9x13, and maybe a baking sheet (though in a pinch, if you can't get this/don't want to get this - bake in your 8x8 or 9x13 dishes).
  
  
• Other things...a decent knife (even though I have a knife set, I really just use the one large knife for everything most of the time). Maybe a tiny food processor...you can get these for like $9.99 sometimes, they're really small, but helpful when you don't have all the skills down. Easy to chop, mince, and puree with one small machine. Cutting board.
  
  A lot of this stuff might be sitting in relative's kitchens unused...and they might even give you a few things if you let them know you're looking for some supplies.
  
  In the future, also look into a crock pot. You can use it with minimal effort and make enough to save food for later (large pot of soup - split it up into quart freezer bags and thaw for meals later).
  
  Meal planning for beginners...Find 3 or 4 dishes you can learn how to make and keep making them until you know how to do them without messing up at all. Basic dishes. A rice dish, a pasta dish, a soup, a casserole (like chicken pot pie). Don't worry about trying to make everything from scratch...You can buy minute rice, and pre-made pie crusts, canned and frozen vegetables are cheaper than fresh and don't go bad in the fridge if you can't use them quickly. But frozen tends to be better for most varieties...and you can even buy frozen diced onions...and since many recipes start with cooking onion...using frozen saves you time and effort. You can also buy minced garlic in the jar...which I prefer to powdered, and lasts longer than fresh.

Okay so not really a cookbook but a great thing to keep around when you’re not sure what to pair with what you have on hand. The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook it’s kinda fun to flip through and see all the different flavor pairings. They categorize by flavors. So if one day you’re feeling something earthy, they have a section for it.

that book while amazing and is really cool to have on hand, won't help you with what alot of people are making and drinking today.

I agree with kimuran here. its probably best to get a new book the [PDT Cocktail book] (http://www.amazon.com/The-PDT-Cocktail-Book-Bartenders/dp/1402779232) is a really good book for you to get to know what the current cocktail "style" is like.

I sent you a message separately since I don't want to be spammy and link to my own site here. But I'd like to address your general concerns of where and how to begin.

If you want to make some honey BBQ or apricot chicken, that's great. However, starting at that level may actually be a disservice to you, especially as most recipes are structured to assume some base level of knowledge that you don't have. The result can be frustrating as you try to piece together bits of knowledge from wherever you can scrounge them.

The worst part is not understanding why certain things are happening. The Alton Brown recipe that /u/MercuryCrest shared will be unusually good because he's teaching you why you're doing certain things. That will make recipes repeatable and your skills generalizable.

If you can get access to all of Good Eats, that's typically what people recommend. But I'd also like to recommend just a good book, like Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything The Basics which will walk you through a bunch of beginner recipes.

I personally have not used this cookbook, but I had a friend once that loved it. May be worth a look for your husband - the description (as well as several reviews) state that it does a great job at explaining things in detail

There is also this book by the same author that is apparently more basic and focused on learning proper cooking techniques.

I agree that "How To Cook Everything" is a good reference guide for complete beginners and those with gaps in cooking knowledge.

It might be a bit over your head at this point, but if you truly want to understand cooking and what's happening when you do it try "On Food And Cooking" by Harold McGee.

For Asian you might like...

"Every Grain Of Rice" by Fuchsia Dunlop (or any of her books)

"Japanese Soul Cooking" by Tadashi Ono

"Ivan Ramen..." by Ivan Orkin (Good for ramen and other japanese-ish food.)

"Momofuku" by David Chang (Really good mix of general Asian flavors)

Other books that might interest you:

"Irish Pantry" by Noel McMeel

"The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern" - Matt Lee and Ted Lee

"Real Cajun" by Donald Link

"Authentic Mexican" by Rick Bayless

"Fabio's Italian Kitchen" by Fabio Viviani

For Vegetarian try anything by Alice Waters or David Tanis.

First of all, relax. You CAN learn to cook, it is NOT rocket science. Of all the things on your plate right now, learning how to cook is one of the easier ones. This book takes you by the hand and assumes you know NOTHING. Follow it, and you'll be well on your way to becoming a confident home cook:

https://smile.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Basics-Food-ebook/dp/B00BS03TYU

And good luck!!

If you totally want to nerd out about it, The World Atlas of Wine is a good thing to have around. It's a great coffee table book. It's also large enough that you could use it as a defensive weapon in the case of a home invasion.

But seriously, Google is your friend.

• Red wine varietal basics from Wine Enthusiast
  
  
• Very brief comparison list of red and white varietals
  
  
• Or if an infographic is more your style...
  
  My rule of thumb is to buy something if I've never seen it before and it's a reasonable price. That way, it is either a positive new experience or a cheap lesson.
  
  Wikipedia is very helpful in learning about what you just bought or drank. In truth, Wikipedia is probably one of the best wine resources out there.

I'm not sure there's going to be a concrete answer for this.

Mostly it's just because of a change in drinking tastes in the last five years or so. A lot of cities are seeing a reemergence of the classic American cocktail. As the Millennial generation continues to age (graduate school, settle into work, explore social bar scenes), many are less interested in two ingredient collins drinks and more interested in craft cocktails. Because of this desire for more "artisan" drinks, there has been a growth in craft beers and liquors. We're seeing more and more small batch gins, whiskeys, tequila, vodkas, etc. With this growth comes clubs, and conventions where craftsmen, brewers, distillers, and hobbyists can get together to share knowledge and have a good time.

If you're interested in cocktails there are resources like The Savoy Cocktail Book, [The Bar Book] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145211384X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), and The Drunken Botanist.

Most of my knowledge comes from an interest in cocktails after years of working as a server and more recently as a bartender.

Here's a few sources to get you started:

Midwest Grape Production Guide

http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/fruitpathology/Bulletins/mw_grape_12aug05%20S.pdf

Sunlight Into Wine (this is a classic that nearly every viticulture student reads)

https://www.amazon.com/Sunlight-Handbook-Grape-Canopy-Arrangement/dp/1875130101?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

From Vines to Wines

https://www.amazon.com/Vines-Wines-5th-Complete-Growing/dp/1612124380/ref=pd_sim_14_10?ie=UTF8&dpID=51nfgvc6%2BeL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=FY1P8X9AZ464ADRVAKHA

Grape Disease Management Guide

http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/fruitpathology/organic/PDF/OSU-Organic-Grape-Diseases.pdf


Cover cropping in vineyards is on the rise (as it is across the agricultural world) If you're interested here's an article that covers some basics:

http://www.practicalwinery.com/septoct04/septoct04p22.htm

Practical Winery is a great resource with many good articles. And here is a great book on cover cropping:

https://www.amazon.com/Cover-Cropping-Vineyards-Growers-Handbook/dp/187990635X?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Edit: One more winemaking book that has been very helpful for me. The Winemaker's Answer Book:

https://www.amazon.com/Wine-Makers-Answer-Book-Solutions/dp/1580176569/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464790148&sr=1-1&keywords=winemakers+answer+book

Here are the ones I really like and recommend (in order of importance to me):

Absolute must buy (this is my go-to for most occasions): PDT

Great for groups of cocktail enthusists and people who just want something delicious: Craft Cocktail Party

Foundational book from the man, the myth, the legend (Dale Degroff): Craft of the Cocktail

Great summer drinking with bitter aperitifs as the base: Spirtz

I'm in the same boat as you. I can follow a recipe but I have no actual cooking basics. I just bought this book and it is fantastic. Explains everything from the very beginning (hello boiling water) and then gets more complex as it goes along.

I'm going to start at the beginning and cook my way through. Pretty excited about it.


How to Cook Everything The Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food--With 1,000 Photos https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470528060/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_dSMfvb07D7242
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470528060/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_dSMfvb07D7242

I'd recommend buying this book which has tons of great recipes at a variety of easy levels and it does a great job showing and describing different cooking methods. It's seriously the best.

I second this, and I'll add my 'starter cookbook' to help you out. How to Cook Everything: The Basics by Mark Bittman. My copy is older, I've had it since I was a teenager, so no photos in mine, only diagrams. I still learned a lot from it, and it's still my go-to for a lot of basic recipes.

Cooking at home it's also easier to control your calorie intake, especially if you use recipes that go by weight. A good tip to make it easier for a beginner is to use bowls. Just like on cooking shows, measure out your spices and ingredients into bowls and then they're all ready for you. (Also always chop your veggies before your meat, food safety.) Kitchen timers and a meat thermometer are your friends when you're just starting out, and you're not sure if it's done or not.

> buy 100#s of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes

Actually, yes you can. Many homebrew stores will take pre-orders for grapes when in harvest season (spring for Chilean/Argentinean grapes, August-October west coast US). No you can't just get them on any given tuesday, but that always true of raw fruits for wine. Want to make a good 5 gallon batch? You're going to need at least 20lbs for a table fruit version, and more for grapes.

And to any passerby reading the above, I almost missed the /s. It's possible to make good fruit wine. But most resources online are hit or miss, and if you don't know what to look for it's kinda a minefield.

Winemaking knowledge is massively scattered hodgepodge, and especially online there is a ton of bad/dated info.

Hallmarks of an out-of-date/misinformed recipe: Utilizes raisins citrus peels or other additions, and no mention of yeast nutrients. Using heat to treat fruit. Only ever mentions champagne yeast.

Basic starter guide that's mostly kinda accurate:
https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Home-Wine-Making/dp/0380782278

The textbook-homebrew version of how to make real wine:
https://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Home-Winemaking-Comprehensive-Ch%C3%A2teau-Style/dp/1550652362/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WKPZ83053N0B4XNDGA9H

Finally, when you get a kit, don't cheap out. Amazon sells $40 6 gallon kits. Wine is 100% determined by quality of starting materials. Expect to spend $80 at a minimum for a 6 gal kit.

Two that I haven't seen mentioned:

The Flavor Thesaurus by Niki Segnit: This is a bit more of what I was hoping the Flavor Bible would be. It focuses a bit more on unconventional pairings and the "why" of how they work. While the ingredients involved are limited, it's a book that like SFAH, can be applied everywhere.

The Drunken Botanist by Amy Steward: I really appreciate the breadth of knowledge that this book provides. While it's cocktail oriented, it really gets into the history and process of creating each alcohol. This book really is a delight.

Other than that, I really adored Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and Thug Kitchen (for a more traditional cookbook).

If you're just starting out, How to Boil Water may be a good read. I've recommended it to a lot of college age friends trying to expand beyond easy mac and they've said that a lot of the recipes have been great

This is a fantastic book that I actually got for my boyfriend, but I use it more than he does!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0470528060?pc_redir=1396182476&robot_redir=1

It's all about the basics (from how to cut veggies, to how to cook different meats, etc). And it doesn't judge! We don't all have the benefit of great cook mothers who taught us everything we know :)

As far as basic wine knowledge, pick up Kevin Zraly's Complete Wine Course. It's an awesome introduction into the basics of wine and wine geography. From there, as the top comment says, you should move into the World Atlas of Wine, once you have a basic understanding of the main varietals and styles of each of the main wine producing regions around the world. Zraly's book really helped me grasp the pretty complex concept of wine, and allowed me to start talking about it intelligently when I first started out. It also has little quizzes and tasting guides at the end of each 'course' to really help you integrate what you read into your daily work. You won't be disappointed with it.

The [Skinnytaste cookbook] (http://www.amazon.com/Skinnytaste-Cookbook-Light-Calories-Flavor/dp/0385345623/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418503118&sr=8-1&keywords=skinnytaste) just came out. I don't own it yet but the author is a blogger and all the food from her blog is amazing and healthy -- great for someone trying to lose weight, even if she has other people who share meals with her.

I second Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible as a great place to start. At 900+ pages for the cost of an inexpensive bottle of wine, it's a bargain no aspiring cork dork shoild be without. I'd suggest getting stick-on thumb tabs and labeling each country chapter for fast reference. You don't have to attempt to tackle the whole thing like a novel. Just pick a region that interests you and really concentrate on learning that region by tasting along with reading. That, inevitably will lead to more specialized books and inquiries about specific regions and time periods. Even though it's only a dozen years old, the Wine Bible could already use an update, but IMO, it's still one of the best intro to wine books out there.

If you find yourself hooked on the regions and terrior and want lots more, another one for mapoholics that I'm really keen on is [The World Atlas of Wine]( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1845333012/ref=mp_s_a_1?
pi=SL75&qid=1348009527&sr=8-1). You could think of it as a second year course, or a lifetime reference.

I also love his How to Cook Everything: The Basics. Most of them are super simple, some are stupid simple (scrambled eggs?), but everything I've cooked from here have been absolutely delicious. It's a nice book to have when you want something simple and fast(ish). Plus every recipe has a picture. I only really buy cook books that have pictures since I flip through books and use the pictures to decide what I want to eat.

https://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Thesaurus-Compendium-Pairings-Creative/dp/160819874X

I picked this up cheap somewhere and it's a fun book when you DO feel like straying from the recipe a bit. It lists which flavors go with other flavors. So if you have some great vanilla beans, you can look up vanilla and get some ideas for what direction to take. It can be a lot of fun and often surprising.

For just starting out I really like How to Boil Water by the Food Network. It's not huge, but has lots of good tips and photos for beginners and the recipes are quick and easy to follow. However if they really get into cooking they'll outgrow it pretty quick!

https://www.amazon.ca/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485447936&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+boil+water

If you can't seem to master regular recipes, I'd just stick with the premade baby food. It's not that pricey (of course, it's more expensive than making it yourself) and it's super easy to use. I consider myself a better than average cook/recipe follower, and I had trouble keeping up with making baby food for my 9 month old.

If you're looking to learn how to cook, I'd recommend buying an actual cookbook. Following recipes online is great, but old school cookbooks have a whole section in the front that teach you the basics. I like this one by Better Homes and Gardens, or How to Cook Everything

> I swear he's trying to make me fat!

That might be...accurate. Regardless of the cause, you can tell him that you love special surprises but from now on they can't be food. You might also want to pick out a nice new cookbook together so that you can cook healthier food — this one is very popular.

Surround yourself with people that are as enthusiastic about it as you. It will make it so much easier to study and retain information if you have people around you that you can talk to about it. As far as books go, I use 3.

Exploring Wine for extensive base knowledge of laws and history.

The World Atlas of Wine for maps of every wine producing area in the world.

Wine Lovers Companion for glossary terms and definitions.

If you can afford to, a subscription to Guild Somm will be so incredibly helpful. Wine law is updated as it comes out, news and podcasts about latest trends in the industry, lots of like minded folks to discuss stuff with. It's a fantastic tool.

Lastly, don't get intimidated. It's a big BIG BIG world of wine, larger than most people assume, but it's beautiful once you're immersed in it.

If I were a book, I hope that I'd be a great one.

1. hardcover
   
   
2. e-book
   
   I love books! That fact is becoming painfully apparent because we are moving right now! LOL

I HAVEN'T READ THE ZRALY BOOK THAT WAS RECOMMENDED, BUT I SEE IT RECOMMENDED OFTEN. I HAVE NOT READ "THE WINE BIBLE" IN ITS ENTIRETY, BUT I OWN IT AND IT SEEMS GOOD, AND IT IS ON AMAZON FOR ONLY $14 IN PAPERBACK.

https://www.amazon.com/Wine-Bible-Karen-MacNeil/dp/0761180834

Hey, I am currently trying to do the same thing!! Right now I am using Mark Bittman's book http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-The-Basics/dp/0470528060/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1346980473&sr=8-3&keywords=mark+bittman he's amazing! Everything he has is so simple and its a good start to learn the very basics of everything. New is only 14! He has a bunch of other basics books including vegetarian. Check it out, and PM if you want to know anything else, I have made about 25 of the recipes from this book and have loved everyone.

No doubt it would. Honestly if you're new to cooking there's a book I can't recommend enough. It's pretty healthy (as long as you keep most of what you're eatin in mind) and teaches solid basic techniques and concepts. It's called "how to cook everything the basics" by mark bittman.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-The-Basics/dp/0470528060

It'll talk about how to cook eggs properly and so on. He's good bring out flavor with very simple and mostly healthy ideas (ignoring the butter he likes to use).

When I was learning (in a similar environment that OP described), I had a mentor teach me. I believe that is by far the best way to learn in any industry whether it be in the kitchen, behind the bar, on a construction site, etc.

In lieu of a mentor, there are several books worth picking up to bring up your knowledge, with the combination of internet research:

-Craft of the Cocktail

-Death & Co.

-Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails

-Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique

-Imbibe!

-The Drunken Botanist

-The Curious Bartender

-The Joy of Mixology

Some helpful links:

-Kindred Cocktails

-The Spirits Business

-Good Spirit News

-Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Blog

-Jamie Boudreau's Blog: not updated but still has good info.

Spices are pretty interesting. I know you didn't ask for a reading list, but if you are a reader, and you love food, history and plants, check these out.

Spice: The History of a Temptation.

For a more political look - Full Planets, Empty Plates.

Also a good read...

There’s a funny cookbook my boss got for a coworker called something like “How to Boil Water” with just the basics. Might not be a bad idea to pick that up for him and have him cook 1-2 times/week with your supervision.

And this makes me so glad my DH can cook! He keeps me fed and happy with healthy meals.

ETA here’s the link https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0696226863/ref=cm_cr_othr_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section

Hah, that is fortuitous. That being said, I wouldn't exactly call myself a winemaker yet. I am like you in that regard! I just said wth and planted a bunch of grapes because I like wine and am just hoping that I can get a drinkable product!

The best piece of advice I can give you is to read. I have done a lot of that lately. My favorite three books on the subject are:

https://www.amazon.com/Vines-Wines-5th-Complete-Growing/dp/1612124380/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495465433&sr=8-1&keywords=from+vines+to+wines

https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Backyard-Vineyard-Step-Step/dp/1604692855/ref=pd_bxgy_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1604692855&pd_rd_r=GGTRVNRET3ZF1BVFRGQH&pd_rd_w=mHT9B&pd_rd_wg=NG0Ym&psc=1&refRID=GGTRVNRET3ZF1BVFRGQH

https://www.amazon.com/Homebuilt-Winery-Projects-Winemaking-Equipment/dp/1603429905/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1603429905&pd_rd_r=VJW281V3B49SSHRVTPND&pd_rd_w=5ERKw&pd_rd_wg=makHZ&psc=1&refRID=VJW281V3B49SSHRVTPND

I know that you can source grapes/grape juice from various places on the internet. I cannot speak to their quality. You might even be able to find someone in Texas who is growing and might sell you some. My guess is it is going to be the hot varietals down there! Given your background, I think you should figure it out in no time!

http://tv.winelibrary.com/ is always a good start.

Books that come to mind include From vines to wines and The Wine Bible. Check out Oz ans James' Wine Adventure, too. It's a British TV series following around James May (Captain slow of Top Gear fame) and Oz Clark (super cork dork) ad they taste through France and CA. It is hilarious and introduces some beginner knowledge brilliantly, along with slipping in some serious cork-dorky facts.

Also keep in mind that /r/wine is full of oenophiles and more than a few of us work in the industry and are happy to drop some knowledge.

For anyone looking to up their brewing game, I always recommend Brewing Better Beer. It's all about fine tuning your process and simplifying your recipes to only include what you need. It's a sort of zen approach that seems applicable to abbey ales.

Although it's getting a bit out into the weeds, if you're more interested in the farmhouse/wild side of brewing, you might want to have a look at The Drunken Botanist and Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. It gets into using things that aren't hops in your fermentations. Even though Belgian brewing only grazes herbs and spices, you might find some value there.

I've found the Corpse Reviver #2 to be a fantastic drink to introduce people to the wonderful world of cocktails. Something else to consider is picking up the PDT cocktail book and letting her browse for something that catches her interest. It potentially would open up your own horizons as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Moonshine-Drinking-Historical-Knee-Slappers-Recoverin/dp/1579906486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293586691&sr=8-1
Great book written by a great friend

Buy rotisserie chickens from the grocery store (healthier than breaded and already pre-cooked). You can even make a simple bone broth with the leftover carcasses (freeze until ready).



I was a beginner cook (age 29!) and this book is excellent to help you learn the basics (boil water, scramble eggs, make a salad, etc) : http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0470528060/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1462492744&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=basic+cookbook&dpPl=1&dpID=51ZFp-8FH4L&ref=plSrch



I started following several cooking subreddits to give me motivation to try new dishes . /r/shittyfoodporn helps on those days when i feel like a failure.



But if you keep trying, you'll start to get excited by all the different types of foods there are out there.

Bam!

I want to study the wide world of boozes. Help me to do so, reddit raffle!

Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses! Thanks for an awesome contest, and grats to walking away!

Whisk(e)y. I started a whisk(e)y club about six months back, after a friend gave me an awesome book and said "drink up". Now I can't drink the dram I'd like to at a bar without shelling out serious coin, and that's IF they have anything worth drinking.

I just picked up How to cook everything: the basics
And it's pretty great so far! Would recommend!

A real beginner's primer:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1402771231/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1415524245&sr=8-2#

Guides to specific producers and wines in different wine producing regions:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1909815373/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1415524245&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1845339452/ref=pd_aw_sims_1?pi=SY115&simLd=1

A guide to understanding the different wine producing region themselves:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1845336895/ref=pd_aw_sims_2?pi=SY115&simLd=1

More advanced reading exploring why wine tastes the way it does (among other things):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0520276892/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1415524687&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

This is just scratching the surface really, there are many many more books along these lines. This is a deep rabbit hole.

Jamie Goode's website (http://www.wineanorak.com - free) and Jancis Robinson's website (http://www.jancisrobinson.com - subscription required) are also extremely good resources.

Happy reading!

I've done all natural root beer with sassafras roots, vanilla beans, anise, wintergreen, raisins, brown sugar and carbed in the keg. It turned out fantastic both times I brewed it and is a lot better than the extract kits. I'm considering doing an all natural cola next. I get my recipes from this book.

I can't do fancy links, but have fun. Enjoy having managers put new wines on the menu, and you show up and are just expected to know about them, when they could come from anywhere in the world (and what about a nose and palette for wine, liquor, beer and food, and how to pair them all together) If you don't think what I need to learn is complicated, why should I think what you need to learn is complicated?:
http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Bible-Karen-MacNeil/dp/1563054345/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372030268&sr=1-1&keywords=the+wine+bible

http://www.amazon.com/Wine-Grapes-Complete-Varieties-Including/dp/0062206362/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372030321&sr=1-8&keywords=wine+books

Read about building flavor profiles.

There are a couple of good books on the market: The Flavor Bible and The Flavor Thesauraus. They both have a lot of information on what ingredients go well with each other.

Also, learn by doing. Try things you think may go together well, even if it's not conventional. Even if the things you try don't come together, you can still learn from it. Try to understand WHY it didn't work (cooking method, flavor profile, preparation all have an affect), think about what you can do to correct the mistake, then implement that the next time you try that dish. I don't own a copy of it myself (yet), but Cook's Illustrated Magazine's The Science of Good Cooking would probably help in that regard.

In general, I consider Alton Brown, Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country, America's Test Kitchen, and Julia Child to be very reputable in the information they convey.

Definitely agree with this, no substitute for experience. Maybe join a wine tasting group, or food and wine group (I learnt loads from one of these, I miss it), do your own blind tastings etc. Wine is very experiential. You can read stuff and learn about grapes and techniques and all sorts of things but at the end of the day you need to get out and open a few bottles.

That said, this book by Jancis Robinson is pretty good, why not start there? Or maybe this one by Michael Schuster. Either way you'll only get 'advanced' but actually tasting wines (and probably taking notes as you go).

And a Bottle of Rum is absolutely the book you're wanting.

Smuggler's Cove has several decent sections on rum, including some history and a lot of subdivisions and classifications.

Potions of the Caribbean is another great book more focused on the influence of cocktails in the Caribbean, but has some good insights on rum as well.

Depending on where you are, wine store tastings can be a great way to taste a lot of things without much cost.

Comparative tastings where you have two or three glasses of wine and go back and forth are very helpful because they really key you into the differences between wines.

Windows on the World and the Wine Bible are both great books, but if you are looking for more of a practical tasting primer, I think [Great Wine Made Simple] (https://www.amazon.com/Great-Wine-Made-Simple-Sommelier/dp/0767904788/) is still a good intro even though it's a bit dated now.

When buying wines, one method you can use is to focus on one country or region at a time. That way you learn about the different wines they make there and have a more approachable set of wines to choose from.

If you're looking for basics, it's hard to beat Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything The Basics.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-The-Basics/dp/0470528060

It's exactly what you're looking for. It covers the basics of cooking, with 1,000+ photos.

Another go-to recommendation is Jacque Pepin's New Complete Techniques, a fantastic 2012 update of his epic masterpieces La Technique and La Methode, with 1000 new photos.

http://www.amazon.com/Jacques-P%C3%A9pin-New-Complete-Techniques/dp/1579129110

Both books are great. I prefer Pepin's book since it's based solely on classic French technique, but Bittman's book would be better for an absolute beginner.

32/F, SW/CW/GW: 270/257/150 - here's my profile

I used to be terrible with spices, but then I got this book -> The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook

It's made me try combinations I would have never tried otherwise. And food tastes awesome now!

I'm at work so here is a quick and dirty list.

Compleat Distiller: Your Technical Resource

Excellent Forum

How To Brew: Tips on fermentation

The Joy of Home Distilling: Good Resource in general

Moonshine!: Great beginners Guide with simple recipes

• I love anything related to culinary, cute (this happens to be tea related... I love tea.) things, and really colorful, fun patterns.
  
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 500 Days of Summer, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Game of Thrones, The Sims 3 :D
  
• DONE. You can even have a hug.

There's a great book called Flavour Thesaurus which has lots of interesting and creative pairings.

This book explains it much more succinctly than I ever could. But yes, co-mingle, although vague is exactly what is happening. The flavors play off of and compliment each other the longer they co-mingle.

The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook https://www.amazon.com/dp/160819874X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qEaMDbBKB1QE1

I love Budget Bytes for her affordable, family-sized recipes. Most of her dishes are vegetarian because it's just cheaper than buying meat. Also, investing in a book like The Flavor Bible, Herbs and Spices, The Flavor Thesaurus, or Ratio can really help someone learning.

There's a book from the Food Network called How To Boil water that is supposed to be very good for beginners
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0696226863/

They have a show with the same name (I haven't seen it) that sounds like it might help you.

If you're just starting out there's no shame in using pre-made sauces and stuff to help you get started. There's nothing wring with popping open a jar of spaghetti sauce and using frozen meatballs when you make spaghetti and meatballs for the first time. :) The important thing is that you're doing it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/how-to-boil-water.html

How to Cook Everything the Basics

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0470528060/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1451953027&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=how+to+cook+everything+the+basics&dpPl=1&dpID=514SFQtA8fL&ref=plSrch

This book is great because it tells you how to cook everyday things the right way. Then it gives you many tips and directions on how to make variations. The book also starts with a list of all of the basic tools and ingredients you should have in your kitchen. I've been cooking at home for a while and I recently learned a lot from this book. I hope your club is a blast. Great idea!

Mark Bittman's wonderful How to Cook Everything-- The Basics should help :)

How to Cook Everything The Basics - Awesome book with hundreds of step by step photos.

I have several more recommendations but this one is the best, I think.

Edit: formatting.

Glen & Friends Cooking has explored a few soda recipes. Cola, orange soda, cream soda comes to mind. Quite a nice channel, found it through here. He's called /u/LeGourmetTV . :)

I've also bought the book "Homemade Soda", which contains a bunch of recipes. I haven't tried any of the recipes out yet, though.

The Joy of Home Winemaking by Terry Garrey.

Link. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380782278/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

It's the best.

Cheap fast good is a great book.

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Easy-Cookbook-Beginners-5-Ingredient-ebook/dp/B07FB2Q1RG/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?

​

https://www.amazon.com/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863/ref=sr_1_16?

There is a terrific book called "What to Drink With What You Eat" that breaks things down based on food, on type of wine, or nationality of food. My favorite part? It included pairings for things like Big Macs, Taco Bell and Twinkies.

Buy The Wine Bible

It's a cross between an Encyclopedia and a Novel. It's a great read, and its extremely thorough and informative. After reading cover to cover, you're ready to take your Level One Sommelier exam.

I LOVE How to Cook Everything: The Basics by Mark Bittman. He goes into not only WHAT to cook, but HOW to cook. Definitely worth it, in my opinion.

My favorite general reference cookbook is How to Cook Everything by Mark Bitman, there is also a Basics version.

My favorite blog is Food Lab by written by /u/J_Kenji_Lopez-Alt.

My suggestion is learn some basics like Chicken(Grilled, Roasted, Fried), Fish(Grilled, pan fried, baked), Shrimp(grilled, sauted).

And of course every man needs to learn to make breakfast. [Gordon Ramsay's Scrambled Eggs] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUP7U5vTMM0) will go with toast, pancakes, potatoes, or french toast.

This is a good book for someone just starting out making primarily non-grape fruit and vegetable wines. It's pretty high level and doesn't get bogged down in nitty gritty, but gives you a process to make solid wine and encourages experimentation:

https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Home-Wine-Making/dp/0380782278

https://www.amazon.com/Drunken-Botanist-Amy-Stewart/dp/1616200464/

Assuming you mean that one. I have it, and it's more about the plants that are used to make cocktails. There's a small bit of information I found useful in terms of spices/herbs, but I would definitely recommend other books. I'll update this when I get home and have access to my bookshelf.

The Food Lab for general cooking and techniques.

I found a book of French dishes at a discount shop once called the Food of France and I’ve been enjoying cooking from it for close to a decade. Just plain old French classics.

I stayed in Barcelona for a while and bought the book from the restaurant La Boqueria in NYC to inspire me to cook things from the market. I’ve never been to the restaurant but everything I cook from this book blows my mind.

In addition I have What To Drink With What You Eat in heavy use. Not really a cook book but good for learning about flavours regardless!

I always highly suggest The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil. It's a great book that is fascinating and contains just the right amount of detail for an intermediate book.

I also find myself referencing The PDT Cocktail Book and Bitters often when trying to come up with custom, original cocktails or modified versions.

I've also found trial and error to be a great friend in crafting a new cocktail. Sometimes a specific flavor from a bitters, specific spirit or fruit juice combination can knock a recipe up (or down)

If is just a hobby, get a recipe book like the PDT or The Craft of the Cocktail. They are both pretty easy to read.

Also chech out /r/cocktails. They are a bit tough with the newbies but be patient, if you ask politely they (we) will help you.

This is a pretty great read for an aspiring sommelier.

This cookbook would be really helpful for "them." It's got all the basics easily laid out. After mastering these, other recipes should be much easier to tackle.

Along the same lines as that cookbook, I get a lot of use out of this cook book. It has a lot of information on the basics of cooking, ideas for every meal and each recipe gives ideas on how to change it up. On top of that, I've never made a recipe from it that didn't come out delicious.

Best of luck in your new job

I don't think you will find one cookbook that has a comprehensive list of every ingredient and piece of equipment used in the book - the list would be incredibly long, and since most people won't cook every recipe from a cookbook, there would be a lot of equipment and ingredients that would go to waste.

However, How to Cook Everything: The Basics does include a list at the beginning of all the equipment used in the book. It also gives a solid primer of the techniques you will need to start out cooking, has basic skill lessons, and recipes for just about everything. I think this would be a great place to start. Once you master the basics and have a stocked kitchen, you should be comfortable enough to start trying out any Italian cookbook.

Mark Bittman is a perennial favorite, great for beginners

I really enjoy Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I also just checked out The Flavor Bible from the Library when I was home. I didn't get to spend as much time with it as I would have liked but it is definitely all about how flavors work and will be on my Christmas list.

The list is fairly long...

My suggestions:

Jeff Morgenthaler's ( le_cigare_volant) The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique

Jim Meehan's Meehan's Bartender Manual & The PDT Cocktail Book

David Kaplan's Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails

These will get you going. The rest you'll have to learn on your feet.

For creativity, find some of the classic cocktail guides/books online for free. The Savoy Cocktail Book, The Gentleman's Companion and Harry's ABCs Of Mixing Cocktails are good places to start for historical reference. Remember, just because a recipe is in an old cocktail book doesn't automatically make it a classic. It makes it vintage. The classics are the one's that stand the test of time.

Death & Co has an entire chapter on nothing but "classic cocktails".

​

You will have to look elsewhere for information on the "cocktails" of the 70s & 80s. You won't find a Slippery Nipple or Sex On The Beach in any of the above books. A reasonable reference is Gary Regan's (of bitters fame) The Bartender's Bible: 1001 Mixed Drinks and Everything You Need to Know to Set Up Your Bar

I would defer to the first 4 books for any discrepancies.

​

Good Luck!

​

On the plant selection side of things, I highly recommend The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart, which is very comprehensive.

There is even a company that sells cocktail garden kits based on the book (though you will probably be better off finding a local supplier).

It's a very good place to start. In addition to that book, there is How to Cook Everything: The Basics, which does a fantastic job of covering method. https://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Basics-Food/dp/0470528060 It has a lot of pictures and straightforward instructions.

Mark Bittman's cookbook "How to Cook Everything" is really great to learn the basics, and has tons of easy-to-follow pictures in it. Just making all the recipes in this book taught me how to cook very well.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Basics-Food/dp/0470528060

I'm partial to this one: The Joy of Home Wine Making

It has many simple recipies and is a good book to start with.

go to your library and check out how to cook everything: the basics. this will give you a very good, easy start!

Maybe you're looking for something more exhaustive, but I really appreciated The Wine Bible, by Karen MacNeil. If I recall correctly, she was a travel writer before discovering wine, so her approach to the book was to go region-by-region and describe the place, the people, the food, the local grapes and then the local wine itself. So, she provides a lot of great context.

I actually read the book cover to cover and it made me want to try every varietal and style in the book. Didn't succeed but had a damn good time trying.

Edit: I gave too many damns.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-The-Basics/dp/0470528060/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1408970714&sr=8-1

Gonna quote some excerpts from one of the top reviews:

>How to Cook Everything: The Basics is a "cookbook" designed to teach new cooks the fundamentals to ingredients, cookware, and food preparation.

>Although it is filled with recipes, The Basics is not really a cookbook. It is presented in a very straightforward way that is designed to not only give you starter recipes, but to provide recipes that teach the fundamentals of cooking. For a "basics" cookbook, one thing I look for is whether it truly is targeted to teaching the basics. When I was first learning to cook, I would be thoroughly confused every time a recipe called for "onion," and went to the story only to discover four different types of onions. And what does "salt to taste" mean? Fortunately, Bittman's book takes these things into account and is very good at not making assumptions on the cooking level of the reader.

If you've got $25, check it out.

Not an online resource, but "How to Cook Everything: The Basics" by Mark Bittman would probably be useful to you. It explains "why" in detail. I got a used copy for $10. Money well spent.

Absolutely! I would definitely recommend The Wine Bible and The World Atlas of Wine (7th edition)

I really liked Great Wine Made Simple. It gives a crash course in understanding wine and wine terms with tasting assignments so that you can taste a compare to understand the differences. Obviously whether that is helpful depends on why you don't drink, but it's still well written and describes well enough on its own.

This was the first cookbook I owned and it is how I learned to cook. Now I make much more advanced recipes and I can just whip things up from whatever is around the house.

The very first lesson in cooking is knowing that you need to read the entire recipe before starting.

Also, Sur La Table offers Knife Skills classes. Basic knife skills are an important part of cooking. The New School of Cooking offers basic courses, but they are pretty pricey.

This book is really helpful. A friend of mine can barely cook as well, and this book not only gives recipes, but images showing precisely how the food is supposed to look on certain steps. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470528060/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_ldEpDb8GZ5RYT

Happy birthday! You are only 2 months younger than my middle daughter :)

I like Dog Potty Training Doorbell or Homemade Soda Book!

On the much less expensive side there is IBD Reconstrux Nail Growth or OPI Nail Envy because school has killed my nails.

Two books to recommend.

Death & Company - at the beginning of this book, it gives a really solid explanation of all the different liquors and how they're made and the staple drinks people use them in. The book also talks in detail about cocktails and the bar the book is named after.

The Drunken Botanist - Mainly about all the different natural products that make alcoholic beverages, and how it occurs, etc.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Flavor Bible. When I actually read it, I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in a food book (as you said, it sure ain't a cookbook). Sure, it has lists of ingredients that are "compatible" with other ingredients. Some of their combinations sound just terrible. Others you already know because who hasn't heard of "peanut butter and chocolate" or "sour cream and onion." I love reading food books and cook books, and this was by far the worst IMO.

On the other hand, I have heard great things about The Flavor Thesaurus and I can't wait to read it.

• Basic tools (screwdriver, hammer, pliers, channel lock, adjustable wrench)
  
• LED flashlight
  
• Dinnerware for at least four
  
• A good set of kitchen knives
  
• A pot, at least one saucepan, and at least one frying pan
  
• A cookbook
  
• Wooden spoons
  
• Basic herbs and spices (salt, pepper, parsley, sage, oregano, basil, thyme, paprika, rosemary)
  
• A pair of dress shoes
  
• A pair of sneakers
  
• A pair of comfortable boots
  
• A suit (navy or charcoal gray; black is for servants and undertakers)
  
• A bookshelf filled at least halfway with books, preferably books you've read.
  
• A bed with room for two
  
• A set of cotton sheets
  
• A set of flannel sheets
  
• Blankets
  
• A nightstand
  
• Condoms
  
• Water-based lube
  
• A plunger
  
• A garbage bin in the kitchen and bathroom
  
• First-aid kit
  
• A glass or metal water bottle to fill from the tap and refrigerate (never buy bottled water).
  
• Jumper cables, unless you live in a city where car ownership isn't necessary

A book called the flavour thesaurus - gives you ideas about flavours and ingredients that you would never think would work. Great book.

Amazon links:

UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0747599777?cache=491187175f09a05db83b12da483baf58&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1406286051&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1


US. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/160819874X?cache=04994d44197dcca0cb588b9bb14ac61b&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1406286098&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

The three books I found most helpful that aren't super expensive:

For General Knowledge:

Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine

For Tasting:

How to Taste: A Guide to Enjoying Wine

For More Detailed Knowledge of Regions:

The Wine Bible

You can get those three for $50 total and if you read through them and do some of the things they say, and try some of what is mentioned, you will notice yourself getting really informed really quickly.

After a few months with these books, you can branch out to the more expensive and more specific books of which there are many.

Solid podcast so far.

Hebug, have you read "And a Bottle of Rum" by chance? I'm working through it right now, and it's very enjoyable.

If I were you, I would pick up this book and then read about the different areas and then buy wines you've read about while making tasting notes in a journal.

I think you'll star tot understand which types of wine you like, and why. Grapes grown in different areas of the world develop differently, and their wine makers make the wine differently which has a major influence on taste.

Most guys (I'm assuming you're a guy) tend to skip white wines which I think is a major mistake. Give some quality produced whites a chance, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. There is a major difference between a mass marketed Sutter Home Chardonnay and a premier cru meursault.

This book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Flavor-Thesaurus-Compendium-Pairings/dp/160819874X
Is pretty much a 250 page list of good ingredient mixes, with about paragraph describing each. It's a book I use heavily.

Ahhhh, my condolences, how tragic!

I'm something of a cookbook minimalist, and keep my personal collection pretty concise; I'm quick to give away books if they've been on my shelf too long without much use. I used to be a cookbook hoarder, but I don't have the space for it anymore, lol.

The cookbooks I have on the shelf rn are Season, The Palestinian Table, Arabesque, Afro-Vegan, Donabe, and several Japanese-language cookbooks.

For dessert-related things, I have Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft, Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique, SUQAR, and the Flavor Thesaurus.

Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk from a Master Sommelier https://www.amazon.com/dp/0767904788/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Jv0Gub0YY6P21

I bought Great Wine Made Simple by Andrea Immer Robinson a few weeks ago. I found it easy to read and understand.

I am now reading Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France by Kermit Lynch. It is very interesting.

It’s a different science, but I thoroughly enjoyed “The drunken botanist ” by Amy Stewart

Hey, right now I'm debating on the type of garden I get to have with my "Crazy Auntie" House; I love the idea of a poison garden, but a drunk's garden is just as interesting to me; just need to get a yard big enough for both!

How to boil water has a lot of good tips and the basics, along with some staples. I liked it.

Thanks for the cocktail list pic.

Is that the Pennsylvania Dutch/Getaway?

If you liked the cocktails, pick up the PDT book by the menu’s creator, Jim Meehan.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402779232/

For your next gift holiday (birthday or xmas) ask for Johnson and Robinson's World Atlas of Wine and a rechargeable flashlight so you can read it under the covers when you should be sleeping.

https://www.amazon.com/World-Atlas-Wine-7th/dp/1845336895/

You may like The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart. It's a listing of dozens of the plants that make up the booze we love, whether they are distilled, infused, or simply used to add flavor. It's a highly useful but concise resource.

For lots of simple tips, techniques and recipes, I highly recommend Bittman's book, How To Cook Everything: The Basics.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-The-Basics/dp/0470528060

not sure whether there's a translation, but there's a ton of photos so that might be helpful anyway.

It's not specific to whiskey, but the Drunken Botanist is an incredibly good book that discusses all of the plants that are used to make or flavor alcohol.

To help put a perspective on wine and it's place in the human experience I'd recommend Tom Standage's "History of the World in 6 Glasses". Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson's "The World Atlas of Wine"

Edit: Correction to add Hugh Johnson as Author

One of the best books I've ever ran across for beginners. https://www.amazon.com/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863

How to Cook Everything The Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food--With 1,000 Photos
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470528060/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WkBQDb19H77Y0

Also Binging with Babish on YouTube has a playlist of basics.

Yup. I keep this book on top of my wine storage, it is frequently referenced and appreciated.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0821257188

This book is amazing. I've used multiple recipes from it, including a cream soda and it's just delicious!

• The Skinnytaste Cookbook
  
• A new laptop charger because mine is falling apart
  
• A foam roller
  
• Gift cards (American Eagle, Target, Amazon, Express)
  
• Quest Bars

This book has gotten me through many a tough situations after teaching 8th graders. It has a lot of good information and practical methods. Plus, it has tons of resources in case you don't know what you'd like to prep.

Link to the book on Amazon for convenience.

Thanks for the suggestion!

I recommend Bitters and The Drunken Botanist as well!

'Grog' originated after the nickname of British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon who was known to wear grogram cloth.

For more on the history of rum, I recommend the And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/

The Joy of Home Winemaking

My suggestion is The Joy of Home Wine Making

It looks like Amazon has two main options for that book. How to Cook Everything revised 10th anniversary addition and How to Cook Everything basics.

Would you pick a specific one over the other?

For context, the extent of my cooking skill is putting spaghetti in a pot and adding sauce from a jar.

I would really suggest you check out How to Cook Everything: The Basics, by Mark Bittman. It will teach you techniques and how to use them (with recipes) so that you learn how to cook, instead of just learning a few recipes.

It's not a complicated or fancy approach to cooking or anything - it's just an excellent guide to learning what you should about cooking.

From vines to wines especially if he has any interest in growing his own grapes.

Two recs:

• This book.
  
  
• Are there any bottle shops or wine bars near you? If so, check out their social media. They frequently have free (or at least affordable) tastings on a regular basis where you can try a wide variety of wines and chat with someone who knows their stuff without committing tons of money.

For an off-kilter non-fiction read, I really enjoyed "And A Bottle Of Rum: The History Of The New World In 12 Cocktails" amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Savoy-Cocktail-Book-Harry-Craddock/dp/1862057729/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413281098&sr=8-1&keywords=savoy+cocktail+book

http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Spirits-and-Forgotten-Cocktails/dp/B00BBFZCYM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1413281148&sr=8-3&keywords=vintage+cocktails+and+forgotten+spirits

http://www.amazon.com/Jerry-Thomas-Bartenders-Guide-Companion/dp/1440453268/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413281264&sr=8-1&keywords=jerry+thomas'+bartenders+guide+how+to+mix+drinks+1862+reprint+a+bon+vivant's+companion

http://www.amazon.com/Imbibe-Absinthe-Cocktail-Professor-American/dp/0399172610/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413281403&sr=8-2&keywords=imbibe+david+wondrich

http://amazon.com/The-PDT-Cocktail-Book-Bartenders/dp/1402779232/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413281591&sr=8-1&keywords=pdt+cocktail+book

Also Bar Smarts offers an online course for $29. https://barsmarts.com/