Holidays Books - Page 12

Old-Fashioned Country Christmas (Gooseberry Patch)

Gooseberry Patch

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A one of a kind book 5 out of 5 stars.
23 of 25 people found this review helpful.

This book was definitely not a waste of money. It gives ideas for family traditions, homemade gifts, and lots of good recipes. This Gooseberry book would make a good holiday gift for any family member or friend who enjoys homemade items or craft activities.

Creative food presented in a graphic style I love ---Buy it! 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 23 people found this review helpful.

Every one of this series is read and enjoyed both for the tasty, homemade, loving recipes but equally for the hand drawn country illustraions. the spiral binding is handy in the kitchen and the cover makes it a cute addition to a shelf or table set up for the holidays.. No I don't work for the company I'm just a long time fan! Great for gifts, too. They are WELL received !

Editorial Review:

In 1992, our first cookbook, Old-Fashioned Country Christmas Cookbook, was published. Thanks to the letters and recipes you'd shared with us over the years, we got the idea of bringing it all together into one special Christmas cookbook, full of memories, tips and of course, tried & true recipes. It's the book Vickie goes back to every time she needs a little inspiration or that recipe for chicken casserole supreme! It just goes to show, while a little change is good, it's the memories and lasting traditions that always bring us back home to the country.

Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book 5: Holiday Recipes, Cheery Gifts, and Ideas For Flurries of Fun!

Leisure Arts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Not One of Their Best 3 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

I love the first four of these books and have them all, given them for gifts, etc. But, this one for some reason just looks like it was thrown together at the last minute without any thought whatsoever to the designs, crafts, or the recipes. Some of the recipes are repeats from older Christmas cookbooks which I already have and the crafts, well, they're just boring and very basic. The recipes are not that good and normally, they're just incredible. I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed in this book and wish that I had bought the paperback for this one. Even the design layout of the book in general is just boring. There isn't much in the way of color in this one and it is just lacking all the way around. I know that really isn't that important, but when you're trying to do crafts and recipes, I think photos are pretty important. Better try again Gooseberry!

Editorial Review:

Whether you live in the city, suburbs, or rural America, you'll find yourself going 'over the river and through the woods' to a real country holiday with the 5th in this Christmas series from the heartland's Gooseberry Patch-®. Homespun charm shines on every page of this Christmas classic, with over 125 excellent photos and illustrations. From recipes that tempt the palate with old-fashioned goodies like dark chocolate caramels and buttery toffee to the functional charm of a chenille snowman draft-stopper, this is the sort of book that promises and delivers a Christmas to remember. When the goal is the look and feel of a warm country holiday celebration, Gooseberry Patch Christmas-®, Book 5 is the perfect departure point.

Steaks, Chops, Roasts & Ribs

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

If You Like Meat, Buy This Book 3 out of 5 stars.
78 of 87 people found this review helpful.

In general, this book is reliable, complete, and extremely useful to anyone who eats meat more than once in a while. It is good addition to your bookshelf and recommended highly. The primary value of this book is completeness. No matter what type of meat or cut you have, there is a relevant chapter and recipes for it; this book covers it all. Systematically developing recipes for all types of meat must have been a daunting task. Although this book is seriously flawed, if you cook based on the wonderful piece of meat you got at the supermarket or butcher rather than cooking from a cookbook from a famous celebrity chef, this book is pretty much the only game in town and rather indispensable. My main warning about this book: the recipes are focused on the proper procedure and technique, not on what is easy or convenient; some of the fussiest recipes I have ever seen come from this meat cookbook (I will refrain from complaining about the futility of Yankees trying to cook oriental food, chili, or barbecue).

The authors have focused on those wonky little details that are usually glossed over and can make or break a good meat dish: correct breading technique, meat thickness, internal temperature, proper resting method, etc. The first part of the book has a valuable catalog of meat cuts. Each cut has alternate names, a drawing, and ratings for flavor and cost. Only professional references available to butchers are more comprehensive. The chapter organization based on cut (ground, steak, etc.) rather than the usual type of meat (lamb, beef, pork, veal) is a good educational tool: it emphasizes proper preparation technique rather than animal type. Some recipes have been successfully re-engineered (mock Cassoulet; Beef Wellington, halleluiah), while others (osso buco, pot au feu) are no better than the ones I got from Joy of Cooking.

Although this book is indispensable to everyone but vegetarians, there is plenty to criticize and much room for improvement.
1) The authors have bland, Yankee taste buds (Cook's Illustrated facilities are located in New England). Many of the dishes are boring and insipid, and their renovations amount to little more than cutting back on spices and flavors (steak au poivre and pan-based wine reduction sauces to name just two disappointments).
2) The procedures seem to be rather fussy; I doubt that their version of blanquette de veau is any better than the one I have prepared successfully several times in a number of different circumstances (Professional Cooking, Gisslen).
3) The book suffers from side-bar mania: putting important information in little asides in random places in the text where you will never find them if you try to look them up.
4) There is the problem with names: they vary greatly depending on which part of the country you are in, and this issue is never addressed (ask a butcher in California for a spencer steak or shell steak and you will get a blank stare unless he is an old-timer).
5) The chapter organization by type of cut and preparation method (e.g. stew, chops outdoors, skewers, etc.) is intellectually more satisfying than a traditional one based on meat type (beef, veal, pork, lamb), but is more difficult to use. If you come home from the supermarket with some meat you got on sale, you will have to thumb through several different chapters to find relevant recipes.
6) The catalog of meat types would have been more useful if it also included tenderness, preferred preparation method, and recommended best recipes.
7) There are a few cases of sloppy editing (dried fig ingredient in a lamb dish disappeared halfway through the recipe; title confusion of Au Jus versus Yorkshire Pudding; skillets that magically become roasting pans ; not telling whether accumulated oil should be drained or used in the next step; the page reference on p. 347 should be "350", not "35"; p. 384 has "see page 000").
8) The home made tonkatsu sauce (Japanese pork cutlet) is a terrible, grade school imitation of the real stuff.
9) One sidebar suggests a dangerous procedure: picking up an electric wok by the handle with one hand and scraping out ingredients with the other hand (woks, electric or otherwise, should never be picked up with one hand, even those with western style stick handles). To remove ingredients from a wok, use one of those funny, shovel shaped wok spatulas.
10) The recipes tend to be long and fussy. Working your way through multiple steps can be frustrating.
11) A "time to execute" for each recipe would have been useful for beginners, as some recipes take many hours (or even days) to execute from beginning to end.
12) Some of the recipes are diffcult and for seasoned carnivores only. A difficulty rating would have been useful.
13) Even though a plurality of recipes require a grill, the authors never cover which one to get (also for gas grill recipes). It is clear that the recipe procedures assume that you have a Weber kettle grill; the recipes make no sense for some other commonly available grills.

It has chapers on: steak (grilled and indoors), kabobs, chops (grilled and indoors), cutlets, stir fry, stew, pot roast, roast (grilled and indoors), chili, barbecue, burgers, cured pork, and sauces.

Editorial Review:

All you really need to know about meat, from how to buy it, the different types within different categories and different methods of cooking...all from the perspective of a home cook, not your local butcher. A meat book with an attitude - 300 recipes, 32 pages of 4-color photographs and 300+ illustrations.

Celebrations Cookbook

Taste of Home Editors

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

So Detailed! 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Everything you have been looking for in a cookbook. This cookbook has terrific recipes, directions you can understand, print that is easy on the eyes, tons of pictures, extra cooking hints, spiral binding makes it easy to see each recipe and remove/replace in the book. This cookbook is a must have!

Hallelujah Holiday Recipes from God's Garden: A Collection of 300 Recipes

Rhonda Malkmus

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

raw foods book 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a good book if you don't mind "detail" cooking-making everything from start to finish. You soak your seeds, dehydrate and grind for things like crusts and flour for bread. It is unique, and has very fresh ingrediants. The salad dressings are fresh and easy. It is truely a gardeners, or farm market shoppers eating book. Most items are not cooked. It could be considered almost a diet book, because the foods are all healthy.

Recipes good for all year- Not Just The Holidays 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Love this recipe book. The recipes are great and are good for all seasons and not just the holidays. These are not all 5-10 minute recipes. There are numerous recipes that take time and planning, but once your done are great tasting, nutritional and healthy for you. These are holiday recipes you will not get sick from nor gain all that holiday weight as you did under the SAD diet. Thank you Rhonda for this book. I look forward to the Holidays with some great recipes to make and if I cannot wait, I will make them now. You got to try the Apple-Pumkin pie on page 203. HMMMMMMM. TANX God's diet is great tasting.

Editorial Review:

Hallelujah Holiday Recipes.From God's Garden Softcover, spiral-bound with 271 full color pages including family album photographs of Rhonda and George Malkmus

Gooseberry Patch Christmas Cookbook: Filled to the Brim with 191 Holiday REcipes, Menus & Easy-to-Make Treats for Sharing!

Nancy Fitzpatrick Wyatt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Gooseberry Cookbook --Fabulous Recipes! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Another good Gooseberry Book! These books are so much fun! This book is full of home style recipes that will definitely be a hit with everyone back together for the holidays!

Holiday Inspirations (Better Homes & Gardens)

Better Homes and Gardens

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Editorial Review:

The ultimate holiday book with chapters devoted to decorating the home, cooking fabulous holiday goodies and meals, and creating make-it-yourself gifts for kids and adults.

Southern Living Our Best Christmas Recipes (Our Best)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

An Absolute Necessity for Entertaining! 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

This is the one cookbook in my collection (of at least 50 others) that gets the most usage! I loved it so much that I gave this cookbook as a gift to my sister (a caterer) and aunt (who entertains quite a bit)! This is by far my FAVORITE cookbook(and theirs)! The recipes are easy to follow and well laid out. They offer many different meal plan suggestions and the ingredients are easy to find. The Chocolate Mousse Au Grand Marnier is sinfully delicious! Everything that the three of us have made from this cookbook receives RAVE reviews! (i.e. Chicken Alouette, Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes, Holiday Banana Bread, Streusel-Topped Sweet Pototo Casserole, Mushroom Roll-ups, etc.)

Editorial Review:

For the first time ever, the best of holiday food and entertaining ideas from Southern Living, Home for the Holidays and Christmas with Southern Living come together in one volume. Included are approximately 350 recipes and 15 menus offering a variety of holiday food, over 70 color photos, plus helpful tips to make cooking easier than ever.

Chocolate Holidays: Unforgettable Desserts for Every Season

Alice Medrich

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Dramatic, seductive, playful, infinite in its variety, otherworldly in its taste: It's chocolate, and here's all the impetus you need to indulge your passion for it every day of the year. The beloved Alice Medrich, renowned for impeccable recipes that produce stellar results, has written Chocolate Holidays especially for people who love to bake but don't have enough hours in the day. Without compromising on flavor, texture, or ingredients, she pares down the preparation steps, teaches us resraint, and comes up with fifty amazing recipes, each a little jewel of elegance and simplicty.

An ideal year in chocolate might start with a New Year's brunch starring Chocolate Blini with Berry Caviar. Then there are Valentine's Day chocolate scones and St. Patrick's Day Irish Coffee Chocolate Mousse. And of course any "holiday" your imagination can conjure up is a perfect reason to indulge: perhaps a decadently rich hot chocolate served in demitasse portions to exorcise those end-of-February blues.

Spring might whisper chocolate Giant Krispy Easter Treats or a Passover Chocolate Nut Sponge Torte, or white chocolate-glazed Apricot Orange Cupcakes for a wedding shower. Summer suggests fruit and ice cream desserts such as the Independence Day red, white, and blue sundaes, followed by autumn's pies and tarts laden with chocolate and nuts. And no matter what you've been putting on the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays past, it will be out-chocolated by Alice's Chocolate Cranberry Pudding and her Chocolate Hazelnut Roulade—both unequivocally year-end musts.

In Chocolate Holidays, Medrich unlocks the secrets of our favorite sweet, offering chocolate desserts for every season, for every reason.

First published in hardcover as A Year in Chocolate (Warner Books, 2001)

Christmas Cookies (Better Homes & Gardens)

Better Homes and Gardens Books

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Christmas Cookies (Better Homes & Gardens)-paperback 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of good and different
recipes in this book. I was interested in adding some new cookies to my Christmas baking. Actually I thought I had most likely seen about all the recipes on cookies, but thought I'd check this book out. Am so glad I did! I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in purchasing this book.

Editorial Review:

Baking truly has a season and Christmastime is it—especially for cookies. This collection of recipes offers old-world favorites and American classics, but it also will excite bakers with several new cookies, flavor twists, and decorating ideas.

More than 130 kitchen-tested recipes for a wide variety of cookies, including favorites, new cookie ideas, and shortcut cookies.

Every full-page photo shows a gift-giving idea with directions.

Cookie Basics chapter, plus tips throughout the book, including cookie-baking techniques.

Decorating with Cookies chapter includes gingerbread houses and ornaments.

Preparation and bake times listed for each recipe.