As part of our holiday cleaning and organizing, we installed these new shelves in the kitchen from the Container Store. It is so wonderful to have all my cookbooks in one place, room to hang my pans, and display some of our pretty ceramics.

The shelves freed up counter space for some new (used) kitchen toys.

I also gave away a number of cookbooks that no longer fit my lifestyle, and now have a small vegan section. For those of you who have asked about vegan and vegetarian cookbook recommendations:

Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet was sweetly encouraging as I was making the switch over from mostly vegetarian to nearly vegan.

Veganomicon is like the Joy of Cooking for vegans… everything from faux cheese sauce to lasagne can be referenced here.

The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook: Delicious Dairy-Free Cheeses and Classic “Uncheese” Dishes I can make a quick mac and cheese that’s vegan and gluten-free with one of her great sauces.

BabyCakes satisfies all my cupcake and baking desires.

The Artful Vegan is my go-to handbook when I want to do something more elegant or swanky.

And for incredible raw recipes, I turn to I Am Grateful from the folks at Cafe Gratitude in the San Francisco Bay Area.