Sharpen your knives and prepare to make 2013 a delicious year

"THE BEST OF AMERICAN's TEST KITCHEN 2013," America's Test Kitchen, $35, 336 pages (nf)

Each year, the folks at America's Test Kitchen work up hundreds of recipes. Some turn out good, and some not so good, but only the remarkable make it in to their annual collection of "the best".

The clear instructions, informative pictures, and tales of what not to do make it possible for most home cooks to make all of the recipes in the book. For those recipes where you may not have the proper tools, there are notes throughout the book and a resource section in the back which will guide you to the best-in-class of high quality, affordable tools.

America's Test Kitchen takes the time that most of us don't have to perfect the recipes and test the tools so we can look forward to our next adventure in the kitchen.

H Hatfield is a programmer for Deseret Digital Media, has attended culinary school, and sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.