For year-end gifts, I received some cookbooks. I am easy to buy for. Cookbooks are my ties or socks. Two volumes, however, were very special gifts; their recipes date back to the Middle Ages. The friends who gave me the books know of my affection for ancient cookery. Not only do I enjoy teaching about and cooking from eras long past, I also learn how to cook better now because of those exercises. For example, during the wintertime, I relish preparing cassoulet.