Tidbits About the Riddicks - Our Favorite [Fall] Cookbooks

Happy Tuesday!! And October 11th to all my Parent Trap loving friends!! ☺️ For today's Tidbits, I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite cookbooks, for fall and really everyday. 

It’s safe to say everyone here knows Pierce is an amazing chef and really loves to cook. I love to make dishes that I know I can do and that I *know* taste and come out ok, but Pierce - he loves to experiment and change and create and be creative with his meals. And they always turn out amazing...it's a skill I'm learning, but that comes naturally to him.

So, a lot of the meals he makes have come from one of these and then he’s adapted to make his own. And most have become some of our absolute favorites. 

I’m serious when I say sooner or later, I’m going to start sharing them (maybe a series called From the Riddick Kitchen?!) But until then, here is where some of his/our inspiration has come from!!

We hope these might inspire you a little if you’re looking for a new cookbook for some creativity this fall!! 

First, let's just start with our favorite. This cookbook has been with us since the beginning and is by far our most used, favorite and loved cookbook we have. I think over half of the pages are tabbed, and we've probably tried a pretty good portion of all that is in here. 

When we were first married, I found The Defined Dish through this meal right here, her Beef Enchilada Skillet. It used cauliflower rice, was one pot and pretty simple, and I'm not kidding when I say, we wore. this. recipe. out. 😂 

Pierce was in class four nights a week, and I got to where I could throw this thing together in record time and we could be out the door, having eaten, in 30 minutes or less... I made this sooo much our first year of marriage...and to this day, we still laugh about how many times we ate this meal and needlesstosay, it's not on our menu quite as much these days… But when her cookbook came out, I couldn't wait to try it. 

If you like pretty simple, and mainly clean/fresh meals, I think you would love it. I hesitate even sharing favorite recipes from here because there are so many, and I'm sure your family would find the ones you love, but from her Chicken Pot Pie Pasta, to Beef Enchiladas, to Asain cuisine, to amazing simple oven chicken (that we use at least once or twice a week - Pierce has tweaked it to what we call "Yummy Chicken." ...a classic go-to around here 😂), you seriously can't go wrong. Alex Snodgrass, you're a Riddick Favorite for sure!! She has a second cookbook out now, and we can't wait to get our hands on it soon!! 

This one is another favorite, and although similar to the Defined Dish, this one has a little bit more variety and not all are "Whole30," per se. We've discovered a dessert or two that haven't been our favorites, but we just LOVE her Banana Nut Muffins and Banana Chocolate Ponderosa Cake... 

Most use almond or oat flour, and we just love them. I love her style, and I always love trying new things out of this one!!! 

Now, this one was a gift from a student at Christmas last year, and it is truly BEAUTIFUL. The cover is canvas and it's from a French-inspired cafe in New York that is famous for their chocolate chip cookies. 

When I got this, I thought it was beautiful and couldn't wait to display it, but the recipes were all so intimidating to me - they were mainly French-inspired and literally looked like something I would order at a restaurant, but couldn't imagine actually making in my kitchen. But when I brought it home, Pierce was truly so excited. 

As you can see, those tabs in there are mainly all his because he didn't think any of the recipes looked quite as intimidating as they made me feel. And let me tell you, the ones he has tried have been AMAZING. Like, the very best and some of our favorite recipes to date. So, if you like being creative and experimenting in the kitchen, or love French-inspired food, or love a creative recipe, this is for you or makes for an incredible gift for a friend who does!! The pictures are beautiful, the recipes are amazing, and it makes us excited to visit their little cafe in NY one day! 

Pierce has taken her ratatouille recipe and made it one of our VERY favorites around here. That will definitely be top of the list to share if your family loves a good clean meal with some vegetables. ☺️

And Joanna Gaines... This one is just simply beautiful and was also a gift. I love looking at it, and I love looking through it. When 2020 happened, I set out to learn how to make her beloved biscuit recipe, and it has become a staple around here for fun Saturday mornings or when friends and family visit, especially for these cozy fall days. If I can do it, you know it's simple enough for anyone to try!! 

(I also watched her make them one time, and learned that if you grate the butter with a cheese grater, it was so much easier to mix in the dough - I always do that now!!)

This is a fun one and also makes for a great gift for anyone that loves Magnolia/all things Waco. 

Now, these next three are just special ones to us that I thought I'd share as well!! This one is my best friend from Texas' cookbook, and we still can't believe she wrote it!! Anne Maya is truly a world traveler, and she took all of her travels and made recipes that were inspired on each trip she went on. Each recipe comes with a little story of her travels to that country, and this is a hit for my whole family. 

My mom LOVES her "Galette De Tomate," or Hearty Tomato Pie, inspired by her travels to France. If you're looking for a cookbook with so much culture, heartfelt stories, and amazing recipes, it would be the perfect one!! I feel like I'm taking a trip around the world when I look through it. 

Now, this one is a special one because Pierce's mom made this for all of the kids and gave it to us for Christmas a few years ago with a lot of their family recipes in it. It's so sweet and so special and filled with family pictures from their growing up years. 

Her famous cheesecake is probably the one we go to the most, along with their family's tried and true, Chicken Divan. This is also just such a sweet gift idea if you're looking to share and pass down recipes too!! (She's a scrapbooker, and I'm pretty sure used Heritage Makers to make this one!)

And THIS one, I'll talk about more soon for Christmas gifts, but one Thanksgiving, I sat in my mom's kitchen and watched every move she made all day long and wrote down every AMAZING recipe that makes up her Thanksgiving meal. It's truly one of my favorites all year, and I knew we had to have it written down somewhere. (She's a lot like Pierce, and her creativity just shines in the kitchen!!) 

And then just used simple Pages on my Macbook and my spiral binder at school and turned her recipes into a Christmas gift that I know we'll always treasure. My only regret is I should have made MULTIPLE because I obviously need one, and so does basically everyone who has ever eaten her Thanksgiving meal 😂 

So, really, there you have it. Just a few of the cookbooks that inspire us over here at the Riddick household... What are your favorites?! What should be our next cookbook? We're always looking for fun, fresh new ideas, so I'd love to hear!!! 

Thanks for following along in this journey!! 
I'll see you back here tomorrow!!!

❤️Tab

(PS - You can find other Tidbit posts here - We've talked about Random Tidbits, Our Hobbies, Our Go-To Coffee Shop Order, and Our Favorite Fall Traditions)