Holiday Cooking & Crafting: 20 Titles To Start the Season
By Katie Dunneback, Bettendorf P.L., IA Sep 15, 2011Although you may not yet be thinking about Thanksgiving, a slew of Christmas and other holiday books are coming. This year's select titles run the gamut from down-home to sophisticated, narrow to broad, and sentimental to downright snarky. Crafters and cooks often determine whether to buy a particular title based on the number of projects or recipes in it they think they'll use. And many rely on their library to have a book (or be able to get it through interlibrary loan) so they can preview it. Here are 20 titles to consider for the upcoming holiday season. While I had particular problems with some of them, I was able to find favorites in each.
The Big Book of Holiday Paper Crafts. Leisure Arts. 2011. 288p. illus. index. ISBN 9781609002466. pap. $19.95. CRAFTS
While this book covers holidays throughout the year, the bulk of it is dedicated to the fall and winter holidays, specifically Halloween and Christmas. The majority of the projects are cards, but there are also scrapbook pages, gift bags and tags, place markers, and decorative containers. The directions at times assume knowledge of paper crafting, so beginners will only be able to use it as an idea book for when their skills progress. Designer tips add instructional value, and templates and well-photographed end products are big pluses. Each project includes a supply list, but, as noted in the introduction, some supplies may have been discontinued. Perfect for libraries looking to update their paper-crafting collection with idea books filled with contemporary designs and materials.
Personal Favorites: The Bewitched Hat Card uses a variety of techniques to create a texturally interesting card that is elegant in its deceptive simplicity. The Rustic Thanksgiving Place Card is another texture winner, making use of the surrounding environment for a pleasing end product.
Bragdon, Allen D. The Gingerbread Book. Skyhorse, dist. by Norton. Oct. 2011. c.172p. illus. ISBN 9781616084905. $19.95. COOKING
Gingerbread and craft construction would seem to be timeless topics, but photographs of the results become dated. This new edition of a 1984 title is a useful volume to have for its descriptions of construction techniques, process photographs, and historical recipes for gingerbread and corollary items such as sauces and drinks; however, the end-result photographs detract. Design details and tastes, if you'll forgive the pun, change. Reprints over 25 years old, especially photo-heavy craft titles, should feature new images. Recommended only for those seeking a book with a lot of gingerbread-centric recipes.
Personal Favorites: The Nuremberg Gingerbread recipe produces my ideal type of gingerbread and is one of the easiest in the book for a beginner baker to follow. Gift-Wrapped Goodies is a great project for a child to learn the basics of gingerbread construction and adds more fun to gift giving.
Daigneault, Mary Jean. Holiday Boutique Knitting: Inspired Holiday Décor and Gifts To Knit. Praxis. 2011. 124p. illus. ISBN 9780615478753. pap. $24.95. FIBER CRAFTS
The concept of this book intrigues, but it ultimately falls flat. Patterns are written assuming a certain level of expertise in reading shorthand knitting terms. The designs themselves are generally retreads of concepts typically found in Christmas-themed knitting books, but a few add enticing decorative twists. The photography is fuzzy, making it hard to discern tiny details. Companion sections provide interior design and decorating tips and explanations on theory, including the topics of balance, composition, texture, and symmetry. The title, cover image, and book design imply a modern take on Christmas decorations, but the majority of patterns for decorative elements have an underlying kitsch factor. Still, this collection of knitted decor for the holidays fills a niche.
Personal Favorites: The contrasting greens used for the Squiggle Wreath create a visually interesting wreath, and the Modern Dot Pillow is one of the more excellent uses of fun fur to produce an elegantly simple piece that provides a pop of color and texture to any decorating scheme.
Macomber, Debbie. Debbie Macomber's Christmas Cookbook: Favorite Recipes and Holiday Traditions from My Home to Yours. Harlequin. Oct. 2011. c.240p. photogs. index. ISBN 9780373892396. $29.95. COOKING
Filled with family traditions and scrumptious recipes, this book is sure to be a hit among Christmas lovers and fans of best-selling author Macomber ("Blossom Street" and "Cedar Cover" series). The wide-ranging recipes are easy to follow and include helpful tips on preparation and presentation, accompanied by mouthwatering photographs. Macomber starts each section with a family memory or tradition, which will hit the sweet spot for her loyal followers as well of fans of Jan Karon and the like. As to be expected in a cookbook like this, blank recipe pages are included after the index for readers to record their own family recipes and traditions. Also featured are decorating and gift ideas. Perfect for those who enjoy family Christmas traditions, gentle romance, and cookbooks featuring personal stories.
Personal Favorites: I am obsessed with Nutella lately, and the Banana Nutella Crepe Cake reminds me of the time I spent in Paris. The Triple Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies are contenders to be added to my rotation of Christmas cookies.
Martha Stewart Living Eds. Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts: 225 Inspired Projects for Year-Round Celebrations. Potter Craft: Crown Pub. Group. Sept. 2011. c.368p. illus. index. ISBN 9780307586902. $24.99. CRAFTS
The Queen of Crafts is back once again with a comprehensive title on crafting for all sorts of holidays. Virtually every type of crafting is represented, including paper crafting, flower arrangements, candle making, knitting, quilting, and much more. The book is well organized to follow the calendar year, so readers can quickly jump to the holiday they are most interested in. The instructions are generally simple and easy to follow. An encyclopedic book on holiday crafts. (Final images not seen.)
Personal Favorites: The Embellished Evergreen Wreath strikes a happy medium between homemade and premade, so you can make a wreath your own, without the time, stickiness, and potential pain involved in manipulating pine boughs to make the base.
Miller, Brian & Others. Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book: The Definitive Guide to Getting Your Ugly On. Abrams Image. Nov. 2011. 152p. illus. ISBN 9780810997523. $16.95. HOME ECON
Part party primer, part not-so-tongue-in-cheek appraisal of holiday sweater fashion, this title delivers on both aspects. In the first quarter of the book, UglyChristmasSweaterParty.com founders Miller, Adam Paulson, and Kevin Wool cover how to plan and execute an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. They walk readers through how best to design an invitation to garner a positive response, the pros and cons of each type of invitation delivery method (watch out for carrier pigeons), activities for the party, food and drinks to serve, how to make your own ugly Christmas sweater, and the type of guests to expect. The remaining three-quarters of the book is dedicated to photographs of ugly Christmas sweaters and explanations of what makes them ugly. Perfect for anyone looking for party-throwing advice from men or for holiday-themed humor.
Personal Favorites: Everyone Gets Blitzened, a drink recipe featuring seven kinds of alcohol, because sometimes you need a dose of courage to get through a party wearing an ugly Christmas sweater, especially the Christmas Buffet—a pinnacle of mass-produced ugly.
Nerjordet, Arne & Carlos Zachrison. 55 Christmas Balls To Knit. Trafalgar Square. 2011. 140p. tr. from Norwegian by Carol Huebscher Rhoades. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 9781570764875. $24.95. FIBER CRAFTS
Norwegian knitwear designers Arne & Carlos have adapted a popular sideline of their business into patterns for hand knits. Their book includes short stories and images to provide snippets of Christmas and winter in Scandinavian countries, in addition to a charted dictionary of knitting motifs. There is basically one knitting pattern, the basic ball, and then variations on the designs. A mix of Fair Isle and duplicate stitch techniques, the motifs run the gamut of scenes of everyday life, abstracts, nature, and Christmas-specific. The charted patterns for the motifs could easily be adapted to other projects such as mittens. Recommended for advanced beginners comfortable with Fair Isle up to expert knitters, especially those curious about holiday traditions in other countries.
Personal Favorites: Secret Rose is perfect for the knitter who's gotten a good feel for the Fair Isle technique and is interested in moving on to a pattern with an advanced beginner level of intricacy. Being mostly Irish, I also love the Three Leaf Clover pattern.
Ogden, Bradley with Lydia Scott. Holiday Dinners with Bradley Ogden: 150 Festive Recipes To Bring Family & Friends Together. Running Pr. Sept. 2011. c.280p. photogs. index. ISBN 9780762439157. $30. COOKING
In his introduction, Ogden (Bradley Ogden's Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) addresses why he has added to the abundance of holiday-themed cookbooks. His reasoning is sound in that he clearly expresses an appreciation for "farm fresh" produce and offers up sophisticated recipes for the adventurous home cook. Broken up into sections on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, the recipes take center stage and are followed by suggested menus and preparation schedules. The especially helpful "Special Note" sections offer tips on identifying fruits and vegetables, and one even tackles hangover remedies. The book is finished off with a coda on warm-weather holiday meals. Home cooks looking to take their dinners and parties to the next level will appreciate this collection.
Personal Favorites: Chive-Onion Popovers with Toasted Cardamom requires a certain mastery of technique, but the dish is simple and delicious. And the Grilled Marinated Flank Steak with Spiced Plum Barbecue Sauce is a sure-fire year-round favorite, with a sauce that is just outside of the ordinary.
Pierce, Val. Mini Christmas Crochet. Search, dist. by IPG. (Twenty To Make). Sept. 2011. 48p. photogs. ISBN 9781844487400. pap. $9.95. FIBER CRAFTS
Pierce (Crocheted Bears) shares patterns ranging from items that have appealed for decades (e.g., ornamental angels) to a cute amigurumi penguin. They definitely straddle the line separating intended kitsch and modern design sensibility. This wide range makes the book likely to appeal to a broad group of crafters. The patterns are written with an expectation that readers have a familiarity with pattern shorthand, though there is a stitch glossary and UK terms are included in parentheses. A good holiday supplement for crochet pattern books for advanced beginners and intermediate crocheters.
Personal Favorites: The Baby Penguin makes a cute gift for a young child or even an adult into amigurumi figures. The resulting texture from the yarn used makes the Pine Cones ornament will be a pleaser on any Christmas tree, and the project can also be used in decor assemblies.
Quick & Easy Christmas. Gooseberry Patch. 2011. c.224p. illus. index. ISBN 9781936283781. pap. $16.95. COOKING
This latest in the popular series of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks focuses on, as the title says, quick and easy dishes. The recipes are smartly organized into "Breakfast & Brunch," "Snacks & Appetizers," "Soups, Sides & Salads," "Mains," "Desserts," and "Slow Cooker," and this allows the home cook to quickly identify the type of recipe needed. All the Gooseberry Patch recipes are submitted by readers with their own creations or recipes handed down through the family. Stories of where the dishes originated or their meaning to the family add to the appeal. Tips on family activities, food-based gifts, holiday decorations, and more are peppered throughout. For readers looking for home-style cooking or easy-to-prepare holiday dishes.
Personal Favorites: As the name suggests, Comfort Corn Pudding is a comfort dish of the highest order. An easy candy to make, Royal Coconut Crème is one I'd alter a bit with the additional step of dipping it into chocolate when cooled to create a homemade version of my favorite candy, the Bounty Bar (from the UK).
Southern Living Cooking for Christmas: Favorite Holiday Recipes To Share with Family and Friends. Oxmoor House, dist. by Hachette. Sept. 2011. 288p. illus. index. ISBN 9780848735821. pap. $24.95. COOKING
True to this cookbook's affiliation with lifestyle magazine Southern Living, the first two of its three sections feature decorating ideas and themed menus—which helpfully lay out how many people the menu serves, the planning schedule, and then the recipes for each dish. The true gems are the test-kitchen secrets, step-by-step photographs, make-ahead tips, and party pointers sprinkled throughout the book. Luscious photographs of the food add to the appeal. Perfect for all cookbook collections.
Personal Favorites: Potato dishes are hugely popular with my Irish German family, so Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust is almost a no-brainer. The technique for the herbed crust is something I've not done before, but the step-by-step photographs make it a dead simple addition to the Thanksgiving table. I love the idea of giving homemade mixes as gift items, and Minted-Hot Chocolate Mix showcases one of my favorite taste combinations.
Strand, Jessica. Holiday Crafting & Baking with Kids: Gifts, Sweets, and Treats for the Whole Family! Chronicle. Oct. 2011. 128p. illus. index. ISBN 9781452101095. pap. $19.95. CRAFTS
When it comes to kids and holidays, suggested offerings of activities can be overly twee, but this book offers creative and straightforward craft projects and baking recipes to celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa and the fall/winter seasons. Most of the activities are more appropriate for advanced age four and up and always with parental supervision (as noted in the introduction). The crafts are simple enough that, with appropriate setup, they should take little time to accomplish. The photography, designed to appeal to kids, makes it easy for them to pick out projects they want to do. A fun book for families; many of the crafts included would also be appropriate for library-sponsored crafting programs.
Personal Favorites: Holiday of Light: The Beeswax Candles are an easy-to-do craft with kids, and Wrap It Up: Hand-Printed Gift Wrap can help imbue gift-giving with deeper meaning.
Stratford, Sue. Mini Christmas Knits. Search, dist. by IPG. (Twenty To Make). Sept. 2011. 48p. illus. ISBN 9781844487226. pap. $9.95. FIBER CRAFTS
Like its companion volume, Mini Christmas Crochet, this book has a wide range of patterns to appeal to many design sensibilities. Stratford, who owns a knitting store in London, writes for the advanced beginner to intermediate knitter, but the techniques section is clear and helpful to all levels of knitters. One drawback: the book is oriented to the British market, and there is no explanation, e.g., of "4 ply" (which U.S. knitters know as fingering-/sport-weight or sock yarn). The patterns are all appropriate to turn into ornaments, though few have that designation. Recommended with Mini Christmas Crochet for those seeking Christmas-specific projects.
Personal Favorites: The Christmas Pud, a knit English Christmas pudding, is so cute and gives knitters a chance to experiment with color-work techniques. Likewise, the Tiny Sweater allows for exploring construction; it makes a cute ornament and will give knitters an idea of whether they want to attempt a much larger version.
Waggoner, Susan. Have Yourself a Very Vintage Christmas: Crafts, Decorating Tips, and Recipes, 1920s-1960s. Stewart, Tabori & Chang. Nov. 2011. c.144p. illus. ISBN 9781584799238. $19.95. CRAFTS
If you're looking for nostalgia or a retro style, this is the perfect book to help you plan your Christmas decorations. Separated by decade, the designs and crafts quickly call to mind bygone days of Yuletide joy. Each chapter includes a "Style File" explaining the top trends seen in the decorations from each decade, how to decorate a tree in the style of the decade, and how to get the overall look of the era. The final chapter presents recipes for Christmas candy popular during the featured decades. Of special note is the art in the back; Waggoner encourages, "Scan or photocopy them, resize them or embellish them, and use them in your own cards, place cards, stickers, gift tags, ornaments, and accessories." This is a well-thought-out themed book for any craft collection.
Personal Favorites: The Glitter Garland is a fairly simple craft that can create a huge effect. I loved the Sequined Balls, too, which remind me of the Christmas ornaments we had when I was a kid.
Yates, Jen. Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets "Festive". Andrews McMeel. Oct. 2011. c.232p. photogs. ISBN 9781449407759. $14.99. COOKING
Yates, author of the 2009 New York Times best seller Cake Wrecks and founder of the blog of the same name, once again brings confectionary hilarity and horror. All photos are of commercially available cakes and decorated baked goods, and many make you worry about the quality of your local bakery. Commentary is light and suggestive rather than explicit, though the accompanying photographs often speak louder than words. Light reading for the hectic holiday season.
Personal Favorites: Besides a Ghostbusters shout-out, my family would appreciate the humor of the Demonic Turkey cake if I were to bring it home for my dad's all-time favorite holiday.
Briefly Noted
Drew, Diana with Robert Grayson. Jewish Threads: A Hands-On Guide to Stitching Spiritual Intention into Jewish Fabric Crafts. Jewish Lights. Nov. 2011. c.225p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9781580234429. pap. $19.99. FIBER CRAFTS
Goble, Fiona. 'Twas the Knits Before Christmas. Barron's. Oct. 2011. 64p. illus. index. ISBN 9780764164590. $16.99. FIBER CRAFTS
Katzinger, Jennifer. Gluten-Free and Vegan Holidays: Celebrating the Year with Simple, Satisfying Recipes and Menus. Sasquatch. Oct. 2011. 192p. photogs. index. ISBN 9781570616969. pap. $24.95. COOKING
Rigg, Annie (text) & Kate Whitaker (photogs.). Holiday Cupcakes. Ryland Peters & Small. Sept. 2011. c.64p. photogs. index. ISBN 9781849750271. $15.95. COOKING
Youngs, Clare. Christmas Crafting in No Time: 50 Step-by-Step Projects and Inspirational Ideas. CICO: Ryland Peters & Small. 2011. 176p. illus. index. ISBN 9781907563782. pap. $24.95. CRAFTS
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