One of my favorite discoveries over the past few years is Food52, the entertaining and extremely useful community cooking website run by Brooklynites Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs. When I’m not adding new recipes like this kickass spicy turkey meatloaf to my repertoire, I love reading their blog posts and features like the annual Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks, a bracket-style contest to determine the best of 16 notable cookbooks published each year. This year, judges like Wylie Dufresne, Bryant Gumbel, Danny Myer and Stanley Tucci evaluated some pretty impressive competitors like April Bloomfield’s A Girl and Her Pig, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and The Bouchon Bakery Cookbook. The winner will be posted on the site on Tuesday, but the unofficial announcement happens Monday night at the 2013 Piglet Party at the Highline Loft. Guests will get to taste dishes from the two finalists prepared by Terrain Café and sample snacks from foodie favorites like Porchetta, Liddabit Sweets and the Redhead and sip Strongbow cider and cocktails by Cup & Compass. Buy a ticket here and automatically be entered to win prizes from the event’s sponsors. A portion the $15 or $20 price will go to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City’s Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. –K.H.
