Cookbooks come in all sizes and shapes with an assortment of delicious recipes. Christmas is one of biggest holidays of the year and creating that special menu can be a challenge.
From past experience, we learn that a really good cookbook covers the food we are excited to eat. However, the truly great cookbook is usually stained and dog-eared with favourite family recipes.
Below are four 2016 holiday cookbooks that not only tempt the palette and the eyes, but would also make a lovely gift.
The 12 Days of Christmas Cookbook 2016
By Rebecca Currington and Barbour Staff
Barbour Publishing
Hardcover 192 Pages
$15.99
There are plenty of Christmas and special holiday cookbooks floating around, however The 12 Days of Christmas Cookbook 2016 Edition is a seasonal workhorse.
In its 192 pages, it offers pretty much every traditional North American Christmas recipe concocted and a few more in the contemporary vein.
The hardcover cookbook's contents are divided into 12 whimsical sections with plenty of stunning colour photography that assist in visualizing the finished product.
This book is an old-fashioned celebration of the season. You just have to pick what tugs at the heartstring.
What is your weakness? Appetizers? Candies? Cookies? Desserts? If you're tired of serving turkey, the section of mains presents many alternates from mouth-watering Candied Ham and Cornish Game Hens to Teriyaki Duck and Herb-Rubbed Lamb Chops.
Even the salads deliver a knockout palette-pleasing punch.
A community of collaborators concocted 12 Days of Christmas and the diversity is quite stimulating and inspiring. Just trust your instincts and go to it.
Best Holiday Sweets & Treats
By Daniella Malfitano
The Countryman Press
Soft cover 128 Pages
$19.95
In the introduction to Best Holiday Sweets & Treats, author Daniella Malfitano speaks of how "year-after-year, dessert-after-dessert" she came to appreciate the joys of holiday traditions and the food that comes with it.
This softcover cookbook has 50 personal recipes that give the baking author an appreciation of holiday traditions and the festive charm of sweets.
Divided into chapters, the book sticks to four grouping: festive cookies, Santa's favourite squares and bars, edible gifts and candies, as well as sweet holiday classics.
A bright photo and playful headnotes at the top offer tips and suggestions. But don't be fooled by the whimsy. This book is serious business.
The big challenge is just picking one or two of the scrumptious recipes that vary from Vanilla Crescents and Cinnamon Starts to Eggnog Cookies and Rocky Road Christmas Crunch Bars.
All the confections are easy to make and ingredients are available at any store. In every capacity this is ideal for people who want fun in the kitchen minus the stress.
Holiday Collection
By ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen Staff
ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen
Soft cover 114 Pages
$20
Holiday Collection, compiled by ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen staff, is one of the friendliest, most accessible cookbooks on the market. In fact, a salesman at Chapters recently told me the cookbooks tend to fly off the shelf.
Not only is the price point practical for our present economic climate, but also it is quite reflective of Alberta's burgeoning multi-cultural society and the cuisine it has developed.
Not every culture celebrates with a ham or turkey. Certainly there is a recipe for a Peppercorn Crusted Rib-Eye Roast and a Bacon-Wrapped Whole Roasted Turkey.
But the 114-page cookbook is also peppered with mouthwatering international flavours: Thai Curry Salmon, Smokey Chicken and Chorizo Gumbo, Warm German Potato Salad and Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Mint and Feta Dip.
And the desserts range from the Maple Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies to the more elegant Warm Pears and Figs with Hazelnut Zabaglione that hit the mark.
What I like is that all the recipes are kitchen tested several times before they go to print. They are tweaked for inconsistencies making your success rate in the kitchen higher.
Another advantage is that each recipe provides a nutritional analysis, a real benefit for cooks preparing a diet-restricted dinner.
Each photograph certainly knows how to highlight a dish's appeal. I just wish there were more recipes.
Canadian Living: The Special Occasions Cookbook
By the Canadian Living Test Kitchen
Simon & Schuster Canada
Hardcover 302 Pages
$34.95
At first glance Canadian Living: The Special Occasions Cookbook has an elegant, formal feel. But I was pleasantly surprised.
After an in-depth examination, it became obvious the 302-page cookbook has an amazing amount of diversity, both in selection of recipes and the range of difficulty. Some are super easy. Others more complicated.
One of the most organized cookbooks on the market, the recipes are divided first into the four seasons with multiple holiday subsections.
For instance under the winter section, there is a menu listing and recipes for a casual tree-trimming party, an Israeli inspired menu for a Hanukkah get-together, a menu for an organized make-ahead Christmas dinner and another listing for a large family Christmas buffet.
Since this cookbook highlights every major holiday and special marker, it includes everything from a St. Patrick's Day Feast and Passover to a Father's Day cookout and a harvest table.
The huge mixed bag of recipes, using both oven and grill, create an opportunity to produce a fabulous Christmas feast rich in flavour and colour.
Nutritional information is also provided with each recipe and a 10-page index allows you to select an ingredient and easily look up recipes.
Don't allow The Special Occasions Cookbook to intimidate you. There's a lot of great cuisine inside and it's so well organized, it's bound to save you planning time.
