3/26/22

Celebrate and explore the traditions of Christmas with this delightful book filled with woodcut designs, commentary, color illustrations, and recipes with the Frugal Gourmet as your guide. Here readers will find the traditions, the lore, the theology, and the myth of Christmas. Read the stories behind beloved Christmas traditions and share in family memories of the holiday. And then cook . . . .

Recipes include Lentils and Rice with Onions and Sesame Oil, A Flower Salad for Mary, Milk and Honey for Jesus, A Birthday Cake for Jesus, Unleavened Brown Bread for Joseph, Angel Hair Pasta with Whipped Cream and Porcini, Honey Cake with Rose Water for the Angels, Bread in Wine for the Shepherd Boy, Green Olive Soup for the Shepherd Boy, Baked Barley Casserole for the Cattle, Straw and Hay [for the Donkey], Barley Soup for the Innkeeper, Pan Roasted Lamb Chops for the Tax Collector, Onions Sautéed with Yogurt and Sesame Oil [for the Tax Collector], Grains with Vegetables for the Roman Troops, Gravy for Dipping and Sopping [for the Beggar], Rose Wine [for the Magi], Lamb Meatballs, Persian Style [for the Magi], and Currant Cake with Rose Water [for the Magi].

Christmas Traditions include Santa Claus, The Christmas Tree, Christmas Carols, Gift Giving, and Christmas Bells.

A section for Christmas Puddings and Cakes offers recipes for Figgy Pudding, Plum Pudding, Steamed Date Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, Christmas Fruitcake, Bourbon Fruitcake, and Gram’s Lighter Applesauce Fruitcake. Then it’s time for Christmas Cookies with recipes for Gingerbread Cookies, Babes Wrapped in Swaddling Clothes, Sesame Cookies, Lemon Cream Cookies, Oatmeal Crispies, Rosettes, Cookie Ornaments for the Tree, and Peppermint Candy Cookies. If pies are part of your tradition, here are recipes for Mincemeat Pie, Mincemeat, and Basic Easy Crust.

Focusing on The Festival of Lights and Chanukah, there are recipes for Chanukah Dinner, including Latkes and Tzimmes.

Next up is the author’s Family Christmas, complete with pictures and commentary.

Rounding out the cookbook are several menus [and complete recipes] for Christmas Dinner:
Roast Prime Rib of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, Creamed Onions, Wine Sauce for the Beef, Horseradish Sauce, and Gravy for the Yorkshire Pudding.
Perhaps you’d prefer a Roast Goose Dinner with Roast Goose, Stuffing for the Goose, Gravy for the Goose, Red Cabbage, Baked Onions, and Oven-Roasted Potatoes.
Or maybe you would prefer a Crown Roast of Pork Dinner with Crown Roast of Pork, Stuffing for the Crown Roast of Pork, Gravy, Cold Asparagus, and Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar.
Or you may decide to try the Rack of Lamb Dinner with Rack of Lamb, Sautéed Red and Green Bell Peppers, Bulgur Pesto Timbales, Mushroom Shallot Sauce for the Lamb, and Nellie’s Lemon Tart.

A section devoted to Christmas in Other Cultures offers a Swedish Winter Feast with Swedish Corned Pork Roast, Swedish Sauerkraut, Swedish Green Split Peas with Bacon, Mashed Rutabaga, Turnip, and Potato, Sweet and Hot Mustard, and Rye Bread.
Perhaps you’d enjoy French Oysters for Christmas Eve with Shallot Sauce for the Oysters.
Or might you choose an Italian Christmas Eve meal of Pasta with Seafood, Salad, and Panettone?

Along with your Christmas Eve tree-trimming, try Christmas Eve Pasta. And, as you prepare for the holiday, perhaps you’ll make a few basic things like Candied Orange or Lemon Peel, Hot Buttered Rum Mix, Beef Stock, and Chicken Stock.

Celebrate Christmas in a new and meaningful way; perhaps you will even find a tradition or two that suits your family or a special recipe that can become part of your own holiday tradition.

Highly recommended. ( )