2013 Gift Guide: Day Seventeen

A Different Kind of Cookbook

It's not just that these sweet little books each tackle a different ingredient.  And it's not just that each was written by a really good cook - and that the recipes are wonderful. Or that they're beautifully printed and hand bound. It's also that Shortstack Editions represents an entirely new idea in publishing. 

Funded by a Kickstarter campaign, they've got an ambitious publishing schedule; the first six volumes were published this year, with plans for another six next year. The writers invest by creating the books, and are paid each time a volume is sold.

Falling somewhere between a book, a pamphlet and a magazine, the $12 Short Stack editions make very nice stocking-stuffers.  Especially if you know someone who's obsessed with one of the ingredients. But a subscription to next year's as yet unpublished editions would make an impressive present for a committed cook: all six volumes for $75. It's like those old-fashioned surprise balls: you don't know what you'll get, but you do know that it will be good.