Look no further for tips and recipes for whipping up a dazzling array of delicious holiday meals — without stress! Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year -- and Americans traditionally love to celebrate the season with food, food, and more food. This easy guide shows cooks of every generation how to plan and prepare scrumptious seasonal treats. It includes: 100 delicious recipes for hassle-free holiday meals, including Warm White Bean Dip, Four-Cheese Spinach Lasagne, and Chocolate Truffle Tart Tips, checklists, and charts, plus step-by-step guides and shopping lists for special holiday meals, including a Christmas Tree-Trimming Party A special section on Christmas decorating and food gifts from the kitchen 16 pages of color photos featuring holiday meal recipes and kitchen-made gifts and decorations
Let Taste of Home help you plan your holiday parties and menus with this idea-packed cookbook. There are wonderful appetizers and beverages, company-worthy entrees, delectable breads, an array of sides and best of all dazzling, divine sweets—cookies, candies, cakes, pies and more. Included is classic fare, as well as updated twists on old-time favorites. CHAPTERS Intro Festive Appetizers & Beverages Holiday Parties Joyful Brunches Christmas Dinner Menus Merry Entrees Jolly Sides Glorious Breads Yuletide Cookies Heavenly Desserts Candy Sampler Special Gifts of Food Thanksgiving Gathering Indexes Recipes Caramel Cashew Clusters Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles Apple Cider-Glazed Ham Cheese-Topped Roasted Vegetables Colorful Gazpacho Salad Herb-Crusted Prime Rib Old English Trifle Raspberry Lemon Cake Yorkshire Pudding with Bacon and Sage Asiago Chicken Spread Calzone Pinwheels Cherry-Brandy Baked Brie Hot Spiced Wine Shrimp Wrapped in Bacon Warm Pomegranate Punch Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix Orange Pear Jam Cracked Pepper Cheddar Muffins Rustic Pumpkin Bread Almond Pistachio Baklava Caramel Apple Cheesecake Frozen Peppermint Delight Holiday Walnut Torte Au Gratin Potatoes ’n’ Leeks Carrot Cake Doughnuts Overnight Raisin French Toast Golden Roasted Turkey Maple-Oat Dinner Rolls Sausage Raisin Dressing Brown Sugar Cutouts Cherry Kisses Cranberry Shortbread Bars Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Brownies Raspberry Sandwich Spritz 7 WINTER PARTIES The seven winter parties will be organized into 7 themes, with menus and holiday entertaining ideas (e.g. A snowflake invitation) for each. Festive Open House During the busy holiday season, it can be challenging to pick a time and date to get-together with all you friends. An open house allows people to stop by during the day when it’s convenient for them. Let your open house go for 4 to 6 hours and you're sure to enjoy a casual time. Recipes include Roast Beef and Pear Crostini, Apricot Chicken Wings, Grape Juice Sparkler, and Warm Spiced Nuts. Cocktail Party Bring on the bubbly! A spirited evening of festive cocktails and bite-size appetizers awaits. Set up the bar with cranberry mixers and deck the buffet with shrimp and crostini, it’s time to mingle and be jolly with old friends and new. Recipes include Fast Coconut Shrimp, Goat Cheese-Pesto Crostini, Bubbly Cranberry Mixer, and Orange Razzletini. After-Caroling Warm-Up Welcome friends and family inside for a post-caroling meal. This make-ahead feast will be ready to greet you from the cold. Recipes include slow-cooked Round-Up Chili, slow-cooked Tuscan Pork Stew, Rosemary Garlic Focaccia, and Truffle Hot Chocolate Holiday Movie Night Coming to a living room near you, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, and more. Gather the gang, pass the pizza and cuddle up with a batch of chocolaty fudge cups for screenings of your favorite holiday classics. Recipes include: Pizza Rusticana, Tijuana Tidbits, and Coconut-Almond Fudge Cups. Tea Party No matter how cold it is outside, a hot cup of Chai or a tangy cranberry tea makes it easy to enjoy the warmth of the season. Guests will be served platters of tea sandwiches and petite pastries, as well as poppy seed scones and Vienna Triangles to add a traditional touch to a memorable and merry tea party. Recipes include Vanilla Chai Tea, Petite Apricot Pastries, and Turkey, Gouda & Apple Tea Sandwiches. Let It Snow Celebration If the flurry of holiday duties has you flustered, and the snow’s a fallin’, call up some friends for an afternoon of skiing, sledding, snowshoeing and ice skating. Afterwards, warm your bellies with some hearty fare. Recipes include Shredded Pork Sandwiches, Slow-Cooked Applesauce, and Snowmen Cookies. Lunch with Friends Let’s do lunch! Because there's no better time to show your appreciation for your closet chums than during the holiday season. You can offer a delicious soup, salad and sandwich with a sophisticated holiday twist. Recipes include: Roasted Red Pepper Bisque, Spinach Festival Salad, and Grilled Cheese Supreme.
Over the past decade, home cooks have had access to products that they had never dreamed of: truffles, flavored vinegar, exotic seafood, frozen stocks, produce and condiments from different cultures, and countless types of olive oil, to name just a few. At the same time, the technology of cooking equipment has narrowed the gap between home and professional kitchens. Whether you fancy yourself a hotshot home cook or someone who wouldn’t know a balloon whisk from a balloon animal, Cooking For Dummies, 2nd Edition, can help you. For the novice, our technique-oriented approach shows you the “whys” of cooking and not just the “whats” found in traditional recipe books. That way, you eventually can create dishes all on your own. For the more experienced cook, you can hone your skills and expand your culinary repertoire. This book is for you if you want to Set up a kitchen for the first time Make some "Mom food" without calling mom Entertain economically Plan meals for special occasions Save time in the kitchen Develop your talent by knowing how to set up your cooking space, using the right tools, and buying quality ingredients. Cooking For Dummies, 2nd Edition, also covers the following topics and more: Main dishes (meaty and meatless) One-pot meals Outdoor grilling Recipes galore for a full menu, from easy appetizers to classic desserts Pasta, seafood, and vegetables Cooking techniques: Poaching, sautéing, stewing, and roasting Cookware, from pots and pans to knives and mixers Quick fixes for cooking blunders Ingredient substitutions and equivalents Kitchen safety Cooking For Dummies, 2nd Edition, is full of illustrations that help you understand cooking concepts, color photographs of completed recipes, tips and tricks to help you master your meals, and more. The kitchen is often described as being the heart of the home, and cooking keeps that heart beating.
Represents more than a decade's worth of original recipes that celebrate the Christmas season, and a selection of favorite holiday menus, from relaxed breakfasts to formal dinners.
Nigella Christmas comprises reliable, practical, easy-to-follow recipes and inspiring and reassuring advice, presented in a gorgeous package that will make this the ultimate gift to yourself, your family and friends. Nigella Christmas will surely become an all-time perennial favourite, the book we will all reach for – for minimum stress and maximum enjoyment – at holiday season. Recipes include everything from Christmas cakes and puddings to quick homemade presents (cookies and chutneys); food to cook and freeze ahead; oven slow-cooking; “hero” ingredients; as well as party food and drinks. And, of course, exciting and inspiring variations for the Main Event – from traditional turkey, festive ham and special trimmings; to a Swedish or Polish Christmas à la Nigella; to a vegetarian Christmas feast.
Make ahead and make merry with over 100 holiday recipes for family and guests! Author of the Home Made series of cookbooks Yvette van Boven loves the holidays—and she’s never short of ideas for celebrations. In Home Made Christmas, she shows you how to make the season less stressful with her “make ahead” recipes, giving you time to enjoy your company when they arrive. Home Made Christmas includes more than 100 recipes (organized by Prepare Ahead and To Finish It Off) that are all easy to make and delicious. With her step-by-step directions, you’ll know exactly what to do and when—she even provides menu ideas to make all your planning easier. Whether you’re celebrating your first Christmas with the love of your life or cooking for your entire family, this cookbook makes sure you’re fully prepared to entertain your holiday guests with a delicious, satisfying meal.
Home cooking during the holidays: recipes and advice from a Belgian mother in a California kitchen. When I cook for my family I try to be mindful of everyone's different taste while making sure to provide the opportunity of getting out of their comfort zone. Trying to teach my kids to be adventurous and open to new cuisine and flavor variety is a driving force for me. A few years ago, we moved from Belgium to Los Angeles. With Whole Foods, farmer markets and fresh organic produce everywhere we turn, the local resources in this city are truly inspiring. I have always loved to cook ingredients as they are, to leave them true to their character and try not to cover them with too much spices or sauces. Moving to California has pushed me even more in that direction. The winter flavors and Holiday dishes are my favorite. They take me back to my childhood and I am flooded with memories of family gatherings when I was a little girl. We had a routine: we would all share a house by the seaside for Christmas and New Year. My grandma would be cooking with my mom and my aunts. My cousins, brother and I would be running all over the place having a blast. We would have a delicious dinner for Christmas Eve and then go to midnight mass. The next day, when we woke up to all the presents Santa had brought us, there would be crepes and hot chocolate with whipped cream for breakfast with Christmas carols in the background. The joy was always amplified by the food. I keep these memories in mind when I prepare Holiday meals today. What are the new traditions of the Holidays now that we live in California? How can I merge them with my old memories to provide them with the same sensations I once had as a child? Cooking can be scary and some people find it inaccessible. Especially during the Holidays where cooking is a part of the traditions, where you are serving more people than usual, and you're not making your ordinary dinners! Through this book, I try to demystify Holiday cooking while showing you that delicious food can be prepared without a culinary degree or professional background. Sharing what I cook makes me as happy as showing how simple, enjoyable, and quick it can be. The more festive your table is, the easier it is to feel that sensation of Holiday joy.
The first step on the road to change is to imagine possibility. Imagine A Country offers visions of a new future from an astonishing array of Scottish voices, from comedians to economists, writers to musicians. Edited, curated and introduced by bestselling author Val McDermid and geographer Jo Sharp, it is a collection of ideas, dreams and ambitions, aiming to inspire change, hope and imagination. Featuring: Ali Smith, Phill Jupitus, A.L. Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Kerry Hudson, Greg Hemphill, Carol Ann Duffy, Chris Brookmyre, Alison Watt, Alasdair Gray, Leila Aboulela, Ian Rankin, Selina Hales, Sanjeev Kohli, Jackie Kay, Damian Barr, Elaine C. Smith, Abir Mukherjee, Anne Glover, Alan Bissett, Louise Welsh, Jo Clifford, Ricky Ross, Trishna Singh, Cameron McNeish, Alexander McCall Smith, Carla Jenkins, Don Paterson, and many more . . .
Each Christmas is a performance, which everyone in the family will compare with every other Christmas and if you are the cook, you are the person most responsible for its success. In order not to disintegrate completely under the pressure, here is a book that will give you all the confidence you need to manage not just Christmas Day, but Boxing Day and the duration of the festive holiday too. Rather than a prescriptive 'day by day countdown' the author sensibly suggests you sit down with a pad and pencil, and plan each meal 'down to the last Brussels sprout'. It may be an effort, but it will be the only way to relax, enjoy and survive the coming onslaught. Over 50 mouth-watering recipes are given, including classics that the author's following still makes today: feather-light cheese biscuits, red velvet casserole of beef, and turkey au gratin with almonds. The turkey stuffings here are superlatively good - particularly the veal, lemon and parsley - and the orange pastry for mince pies is the best and crumbliest you will ever make. Ideas for leftovers, cold cuts, salads and what wine to drink with what are also included.
