Books are always a thoughtful, affordable holiday gift, especially if there's a bit of Utah flavor inside. We recently discovered three new Utah-based publications that should please the meatlover, the baker or the chocoholic on your Christmas list.

For the meat-lover

Tom Seichrist, a chef and author living in Atlanta, Ga., spent nearly a year searching the U.S. for artisan salami that compared to the offerings he enjoyed while living in Europe. He had just about given up when a box from Utah's Creminelli Fine Meats arrived.

"Immediately, this guy stood out," said Seichrist during a recent telephone interview. "His salami was flawless and transported me back to Italy." Even more surprising, he said: "I got if from Salt Lake City. Holy Cow!"

Since then, Seichrist visited Utah three times and traveled to Cristiano Creminelli's home town of Biella, Italy, where the Creminelli family has been making salami for several generations. The result is the paperback food book titled Meat. Salt. Time. Salumi Master Cristiano Creminelli. It's the first in a series of educational books that will showcase producers of artisanal food products.

The book is part Creminelli-family history and part salami-making how-to. Seichrist covers everything from butchering the pig to seasoning and stuffing and fermenting. There also are handful of recipes — see the Ribolita soup recipe that accompanies this story — for those that want to cook with the salami.

While the unassuming Cristiano Creminelli was surprised that anyone would want to write a book about him and his craft, he is an American success story, said Seichrist. When he started his company two years ago, he was making about 150 pounds of salami a week in the basement of Caputo's Market and Deli. Earlier this year, he moved the operation to a 47,000-square-foot warehouse near the Salt Lake City International Airport and is making 1,000 pounds and shipping the salami all over the country.

Meat. Salt. Time. $24.95 and is available at Tony Caputo's Market; Caputo's at 15th; Liberty Heights Fresh and all Harmon's locations.

For the baker

The revised paperback version of Chocolate Snowball: And Other Fabulous Pastries from Deer Valley Bakery has arrived just in time for holiday baking and gift giving. Written by Deer Valley pastry chef Letty Flatt, the cookbook costs $19.99, and includes recipes for breads, cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream and other puddings and desserts, along with tips for baking at high altitudes. The hardback version was originally published in 1999. When Lyons Press called Flatt earlier this year wanting a revision, she jumped at the chance.

"I used the opportunity to pore over every word and change whatever I wanted," she said. "I put in eight new recipes, along with new details about Deer Valley and notes from reader's feedback from the first edition."

The new recipes include the Mariposa's Struan harvest bread; ciabatta; jumbo snickerdoodle cookies; royal lemon bars; and cinnamon pound cake, which the resort cubes for fondue; espresso creme brulee; citrus-flavored sunshine panna cotta with a vanilla citrus sauce; and chocolate truffle cake.

Flatt will sign copies of her book this week at the following locations:

Thursday, Dec. 16 • 3 to 5 p.m. at the Deer Valley Signature Store, 2250 Deer Valley Drive S, Park City.

Saturday, Dec. 18 • 4 to 6 p.m., Deer Valley Signature Store, 625 Main St. in Park City.

Tuesday, Dec. 21 • 6:30 to 8 p.m., Dolly's Bookstore, 510 Main St., Park City. She will be signing along with six other authors.

For the chocoholic

Annette Lyon has chocolate in her blood. Her European mother taught her how to work with chocolate at a young age. Later, she and her two sisters started the Utah Chocolate Show. Now the Utah native has published Chocolate Never Faileth: More than 125 Heavenly Creations. The book costs $21.99, and includes recipes for cakes, cookies, truffles, pastries and more that are all simple.

"Chocolate tends to scare people off," said Lyon, who earned a bachelor's degree in English and has published seven other non-food related novels. "They think they need a culinary degree to work with it." The book features many color photographs, as well as chocolate trivia, quotes and non-edible recipes, such as chocolate lip gloss and chocolate orange body scrub.

Lyon will sign copies of her book this week at the following locations:

Friday, Dec. 17 • 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Seagull Books, 1531 District Drive, South Jordan, 801-878-8941 .

Monday, Dec. 20 • 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Seagull Books, 1052 N. Main St., Spanish Fork, 801-798-0401.

Thursday, Dec. 23 • 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Deseret Book, 989 S. University Ave., Provo —

Ribolita

Soup

3 red onions

2 leeks

8 stalks celery

2 large carrots

9 cloves garlic

Parsley, to taste

8 Creminelli salami end pieces or half a whole salami, sliced thing and minced

Olive oil

1 can tomatoes (San Marzano brand recommended)

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

2 quarts chicken stock

Bouquet garni*

Rind of Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 1/2 quarts cooked white beans

Croutons

1 day-old baguette, cubed

Olive oil, to taste

Thyme, to taste

Garlic, to taste

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved

Fresh basil leaves torn, for garnish

Place a large pot over low heat. While it heats, dice the onions, leeks, celery, carrots, garlic, parsley and salami into small pieces. Place in a large bowl. The pan should be quite hot by the time you finish chopping. Drizzle pan with a generous amount of olive oil and transfer vegetables and salami to the pot. Cook the mixture until tender. Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and cook for five minutes. Add chicken stock, bouquet garni and the rind of Parmesano-Reggiano. Cook soup for one hour on low heat.

Take two cups white beans and puree with two ladles of the soup. Add pureed beans and remaining whole beans to the soup. Cook another 25 minutes. Remove bouquet garni and cheese rind. Taste and adjusting seasonings.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 to 400 degrees. Toss the bread cubes with desired amount of oil, thyme, garlic and shaved Parmigiano. Toast in the oven until golden brown.

To serve, ladle soup into warm bowls and garnish with torn basil, shaved Parmigano and toasted bread cubes

Servings • 6

Source: Meat.Salt.Time —

Royal Lemon bars

12/3 cups plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

7 tablespoons plus 2 cups sugar*

Pinch of salt

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

Confectioners' sugar, as needed to dust the top

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Put 1 2/3 cups flour, 7 tablespoons sugar, salt and butter in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse just until the mixture resembles wet sand. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingers. Be careful. If the dough is mixed too much, it will come together like a batter and be difficult to use.

With your fingers, press dough evenly and firmly onto the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and one inch up the sides. The crust on the sides will shrink while baking — but there needs to be ample side crust to prevent filling from leaking under the bottom crust. Bake 20 minutes until crust loses its shine and barely begins to get a hint of golden color. Cool.

Sift remaining 1/4 cup flour, remaining 2 cups sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk in lemon zest and lemon juice. Whisk in eggs, stirring until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until filling has set and the edges are light golden color. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

*For high altitudes, reduce sugar in filling to 1 3/4 cups.

Servings • 24

Source: Chocolate Snowball: And Other Fabulous Pastries from Deer Valley Bakery by Letty Halloran Flatt —

Chocolate waffles

2 eggs

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa*

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. In a smaller bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until blended. Beat about one minute to give eggs a little lift. Pour the correct amount of batter into your waffle maker and cook until the iron stops steaming.

*For a less intense chocolate flavor — more milk chocolate than semi-sweet — decrease cocoa to 1/4 cup and increase sugar to 3 tablespoons.

Servings • 8

Source: Chocolate Never Faileth: More than 125 Heavenly Creations, by Annette Lyon