Off the Shelf: Check Out Our Cookbooks
By Angela Spatafore on November 26, 2025 from Off the Shelf
It’s the holiday season, and food has been on my mind. My family is not big on gifts, but we are definitely big on food. Besides our traditional dishes from recipes that have been in our family for decades, we also love to experiment with new dishes. Anyone who looks for recipes online knows the struggle of scrolling through long blog posts and ducking advertisements to get to the recipe, so why not try a cookbook instead? The library has you covered.
We have over 1,000 cookbooks just in our physical collection—that number doesn’t even cover all the e-book versions of cookbooks we have available. All for free with a library card! Cookbooks are great because they are curated and often themed to things like culinary heritage, cooking methods, food groups, and more. As a person with dietary restrictions, there are even whole cookbooks dedicated to specific dietary needs. Here are just a few of our newest additions: First up is the West Virginia Hometown Cookbook by Sheila Simmons and Kent Whitaker. Chapters in the cookbook include your standard faire of foods—appetizers & beverages, soups & salad, chicken, cakes, and more, but there is a special chapter dedicated to West Virginia Festivals, which includes a timeline of annual festivals and their locations across the state.
Very handy for those who like to travel! Recipes include Pawpaw Chiffon Pie, Campfire Trout, West Virginia Hot Dog Sauce, and of course— Pepperoni Rolls! One that particularly caught my eye is Mother Sauce: Italian American Family Recipes and the Story of the Women Who Created Them by Lucinda Scala Quinn. For those of you who enjoy reading those online blog posts that come before recipes, you are in luck! This book is a treat for you and anyone who has an interest in Italian American history and cooking. Recipes from this book include classics like Italian Wedding Soup, Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken, and Baked Ziti among other tasty dishes like Seven Fishes Seafood Stew, Sauteed Escarole, and Nana’s Pizzelles.
The next cookbook reads like a science book. The Fermentation Kitchen: Recipes and Techniques for Kimchi, Kombucha, Koji, and More by Sam Cooper not only includes detailed recipes for fermented food but also the science and benefits of fermenting food. Because fermentation can be tricky, the book also points out what happens when something goes wrong during the fermentation process. Pick up this book if you want to learn how to make your own miso paste, sauerkraut, vinegar, or mirin. For the bakers, the last cookbook I would like to cover is Amish Pies: Traditional Fruit, Nut, Cream, Chocolate, and Custard Pies by Laura Anne Lapp. This book is perfect for those with a sweet tooth, and the photography is especially mouth-watering. The book opens with a chapter on pie dough and crusts followed by several chapters of sweet pies and one brief chapter of savory pies. Recipes include apple crumb pie, four variations of pumpkin pie, three variations of pecan pie, cappuccino ice cream pie, and tomato pie. These cookbooks and more are available to browse on our website (bplwv.org). You can place holds directly through our website, on our mobile app, or by calling us at 304 842-8248 ext. 1. Happy holidays!
