By AMANDA GOLD, San Francisco Chronicle

Books for the foodie on your holiday shopping list:

-- "Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food: A Grocer's Guide to Shopping, Cooking & Creating Community Through Food," by Sam Mogannam and Dabney Gough (Ten Speed; 298 pages; $32.50). One of the most comprehensive guides to grocery shopping and choosing ingredients.

I've never been one to drink my dinner.

A nice glass or two of wine to accompany a steak or fillet of salmon? Absolutely. But a stiff gin and tonic could never replace a meal.

For every gooey slice of chocolate cake, crisp butter cookie and sugary doughnut on the market these days, there seems to be a gluten-free counterpart. Sure, it's not quite the same thing -- but sample these products side by side, and some are pretty darn close.

There are cooks and there are bakers, and my grandmother was the latter.

She could churn out flawless sugar cookies, lofty chiffon cakes and sticky toffee bars -- her dessert recipes form the backbone of our family's collection.

Many of my childhood mornings were marked by syrup-stained clothing and sticky elbows -- the evidence of pancake breakfasts. Ours were born from a box of Bisquick, but no matter -- pancake mornings were special occasions, at least more so than those kicked off with cereal or scrambled eggs.

If author Alice Medrich's latest book is any indication, it's time for a cookie revolution. Released just in time for holiday gifting, "Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies" (Artisan; 2010; 384 pages; $25.95) tackles the handheld dessert in every form.

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, the last thing most people want to do is cook. The thought of messing up the kitchen when you know the "big game" lies ahead is excruciating. It's kind of the way I feel before leaving on vacation -- I'll avoid wearing any of my good trip clothes so I don't have to do laundry at the last minute when I should be packing.

My first Passover in San Francisco resembled more of an all-night Vegas buffet than a traditional seder meal.

About 30 people gathered in the rec room of a friend's apartment complex. We each had brought a dish to display on a table that ran the length of the room. There were several varieties of brisket, enough salads to feed an army and side dishes both Passover-friendly and not.

About twice a year, I tend to switch around my workout routine or take up a new sport. I've dabbled in tennis, softball and hiking, but these days I'm all about the swimming pool.

There's just one thing that holds me back: hunger pangs. By the time I head to the gym at the end of the day, I'd often rather shed my goggles for a slice of pizza.

Cookbook authors will tell you these days it's more difficult than ever to get a book published. Between market saturation and the recession, it seems that only the strong survive. That makes our job of reviewing them even harder, because several of this year's crop have something good to offer.