Why not give her your favorite, but marked up with the corrections and tips and explaining why. That would be a really personal and appreciated gift, IMO.

Fun2BHere, I totally get what you meant, and it's a good idea as ideas go, but that's easier said then done because of the format of the book, and I don't think my friend would actually like it. I do thank-you for the notion!

Sorry I could offer you a better solution.

Thanks, Annie. I looked it up. That's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, and your liking it gives me confidence. The last two are the kind of boks I have, along with Secrets of a Jewish Bakery, and other niche stuff. I'll have to look inside Beard, but it looks like it could be perfect. Thanks so much!

Ooh, I'm interested in that "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" book -- I might treat myself to that.

Beard on Bread is my bread bible 🙂

My old paperback copy is literally falling apart.

Others I use for classics like cornbread and dinner rolls, are Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook and Fannie Farmer

porkchop, that book was a gift and I actually use it more than I thought I would. It's easy and the bread is pretty good, so I also use it to "help" the grandkids make bread, they love it.

Annie

Chloebud, thanks for the endorsement.

I went on an exploration just now. I think most of my bread books came during the twice delayed mid-remodel of my kitchen, 15 years ago. Some gifts, some me wanting to at least read about it since I couldn't bake. I've found most of them I think, but not the two I used the most, Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice and Daniel Leader's Local Breads (it of the never-ending errata). One of the rest, a Jewish one, was with some favorite to browse cookbooks on the coffee table, and another couple in the corner shelves with cookbook overflow. Turns out I have a Jewish Baker book and a Jewish Bakery book, one of which is in the kitchen. There, I found proportionally more bread books than cook books, but I need to rearrange them, because I don't often use the bread books. They were handy when I was making 100% whole wheat (it turned out to be unhealthy for us!). They include Crust & Crumb, Laurel, Rose, etc. The old classics. And a few modern ones.

I have to admit, my new daily bread go to, which is a wander off of my own recipe for spicy pickle bread, is very accommodating, and obviates the need to go looking for something else.. Sometime, I might want to try making specific breads again, but for now, I like the minimal effort daily bread. It's a 100g each water and flour and a tsp. yeast preferment, with a few dollops of discard, optionally. Bulk starts with 350g-ish of strong flour (14% protein) which could be bread, pizza or pasta flour. Different flavors and textures, but whatever wants using at the time, or a mix. Whatever discard wants using (mixed flours inc. ww). Seasoning (salt, natch, but turns out that pepper is delicious in bread too!, plus any herbs and spices that might go well). Produce mix-ins in lieu of water, about a cup and a half, tops. Water and/or flour to adjust while kneading until it's the "well stretched glutinous lump" my mother taught me and pulls away just so, as she taught me. Bake in a covered vessel, cold start (or 200°F start), 425°F on convection bake, for about an hour, test with Thermapen One before removing from vessel. Limited washing up water used. Infinitely changeable flavor and texture. My answer to the 5 minutes a day bucket of dough taking up so much space in the fridge, not tiring using the machine to knead rather than the kneads and stretch and folds by the timer for my go-to sourdough. So I haven't cracked a book in forever... I do have good recipes already for pita, hamburger buns, pupusas, shortcake, waffles, biscuits, etc.

I've only had a chance to thumb through them, but I got my friend (and myself!) Beard on Bread, as suggested, and Mastering Bread: The Art and Practice of Handmade Sourdough, Yeast Bread, and Pastry by Marc Vetri, Claire Kopp McWilliams, and David Joachim. The latter was suggested by the A** algorithm. BonB is great because it's obviously for people who know how to bake and the recipes look straightforward (and have Annie's and Chloebud's recommendations for being good). MB is a large hardback with pictures, including illustration stages in process, with techniques and commentary, as well as modern style recipes given in different measures, and at least some baking percentages. It's focused on whole grain and fresh flour (where I used to be). I'll have to look closer to evaluated it but it has good reviews I thought they'd be nice together.

Thanks again!