Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities

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But, let's face it, when the pressure to feed and entertain builds up, the festive season can begin to lose its sparkle… That's where Nigella comes in. Lovely recipes,easy to follow very tasty, amazing choc fruit cake, easy and quick parsnip and potato gratin fab for boxing day, and lovely mince pies!

Illustrated with 150 fabulous full-colour photographs by Lis Parsons (photographer of the bestselling NIGELLA EXPRESS), including method photos and lavish double-page 'spreads', Nigella Christmas is in a new, irresistible format. Make something extra tasty with your Christmas leftovers this year with this fabulous Boxing Day menu from Nigella Lawson. Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH).

This book is really a complete compendium on how to enjoy Christmas, and for those who tend to get jaded, like me, it should be brought out in mid November each year to set the tone for the season and get you in the mood. Veggie diners are not left out, either, as I have a splendiferous Roast Stuffed Pumpkin with Gingery Tomato Sauce. It answers everyday cooking quandaries – from how to rustle up a meal for friends in moments to what to do about those black bananas – and since real cooking is so often about leftovers, Nigella makes “leftovers right”, by showing us how to morph one recipe into another, from ham hocks to peas soups and pastries, braised chicken to Chinatown salad. Helena Garcia’s Book of Gingerbread also features here, and is smile-inducingly represented by her Gingerbread Present Brownies and Gingerbread Eggnog Cocktail.

All used books might have various degrees of writing, highliting and wear and tear and possibly be an ex-library with the usual stickers and stamps. For instance, she makes a pitch for inviting new friends to Christmas dinner because of “the stabilizing effect of the stranger factor: someone with whom your family doesn’t quite feel at home enough to behave badly. Lawson wrote a restaurant column for the Spectator and a comment column for The Observer and became deputy literary editor of the Sunday Times in 1986.No, just about every last recipe in this book requires adding some sort of alcohol, so if you're one of those people who won't even cook with liquor, you're SOL (I know, there are substitutions, but what a pain in the ass, especially since Lawson doesn't provide alternatives - you have to be one of those people who already knows what to swap out for vodka or vermouth). This is an exquisite book, which manages to combine the most outrageous frivolity (it’s kind of like the Manolo Blahnik of cookbooks with its green ribbon, sumptuous pictures, and the big hardcover red and greenness of it) with absolute practicality in terms of the useability of its recipes, the practicality of its suggestions, and the tempting nature of the items chosen. Perhaps it’s because she is realistic about what a home cook can be expected to do, and perhaps it’s because there are a range of secret tips that actually make it sound like you can succeed, even with complicated things like a “spiced and superjuicy turkey with allspice gravy” (she’s convinced me – I’m definitely doing this one for the dinner this year – even my vegetarian in-laws are going to be tempted), or “chocolate fruit cake” (might be the word “incredibly easy” in the title that tempts me). We have reduced the time from the 10 minutes in the book, because we felt it would be better for people to choose to add more minutes; it being impossible to take away at the end! Having said that, I’m inclined to do things like make my own pickles and sourdough bread, and love the idea of decorating a tree with home made decorations, together with my three generous singing children (same ones as above).

This was a simple, easy to prepare dessert to bring to a friends' house over the holidays and it went down a treat.

And, of course, exciting and inspiring variations for the Main Event itself from traditional turkey, festive ginger-baked ham and special trimmings to a Swedish Christmas a la Nigella, or a vegetarian Christmas feast. Maar dankzij vriendin Marleen keek ik elke avond in de week voor kerst naar het geweldige kerst-kookprogramma van Nigella waarin de recepten uit dit boek aan de orde kwamen.

With treats like Sticky Gingerbread, Panettone Pudding, and Christmas Chocolate Cookies, you may be tempted to dive right into the sweets and ignore the other side of Christmas dinner. Used books have different signs of use and might not include supplemental materials such as CDs, Dvds, Access Codes, charts or any other extra material. After a pomegranate, the lychee feels the most seasonally celebratory of fruits, and it didn’t seem fair to leave it out of the Christmas canon, just because of its unfestive pallor.CookbookCorner, as you know, usually features just one book and one recipe, but — to celebrate seasonal abundance — I bring you a special Christmas CookbookCorner, with a pick of 6 books and 11 recipes!