Need to find holiday food fare for all generations? Here are some
of season's best
By ALIAH D. WRIGHT | Gannett News Service
When families get together, Pillsbury's doughboy got it right: "Nothin' says lovin' like something from the oven."
Plenty of new cookbooks for 2003 are ripe with culinary ideas for all age groups. Here are some of them:
“Christmas
Cookies: A Cookbook with Cookie Cutters,” by Susan Devins and Barbara
Lehman (Candlewick Press, $12.99) is a delightful, kid-friendly
illustrated book with just 39 laminated pages (perfect to keep spills
at bay) in a white-ringed binder. Each of the 18 recipes offer measurements
in cups and milliliters and while youngsters are waiting for their
little masterpieces to rise, they can learn about the first Christmas
card or who created "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer." They also can
discover how to make Christmas cookie ornaments and gift tags and
how to package their cookies as gifts. But best of all, in addition
to recipes for Gingerbread People, Jelly Thumbprints, and Christmas
Wreath cookies are the three plastic cookie cutters that come with
the book. Shaped like a gingerbread person, a Christmas tree and a
star, these multicolored plastic shapes will help kids avoid misshapen
mishaps.
Ah, macaroni and
cheese. That wonderfully delicious staple of comfort food is turned
inside out with Deanna Keahey and Steve Kilner’s book “More,
Please! Macaroni & Cheese” (Plexcentric, $15.95). There are
recipes for macaroni and cheese sandwiches (no that’s not a misprint),
macaroni and cheese casseroles that contain just cabbage, or spinach,
or corn, or hamburger or chicken, and even raisins (which I have had
by the way and was not as tasty as the book claims). There is fried
macaroni and cheese, pepper steak slathered on macaroni and cheese
and mac-and-cheese paella. There’s even a recipe for mac-and-cheese
jam tarts and macaroni apple crisp (with cheese, of course). Most
of these recipes call for varying boxed macaroni and cheese, but there
are 11 different homemade recipes in this book that claims “111 fun
and delicious dishes to keep you and your family smiling” (or grimacing).
New York Daily
News food editor Rosemary Black offers 150 dessert recipes in “The
Kids’ Holiday Baking Book,” (St. Martin’s Griffin, $15.95).
A mother of six, Black’s recipes come from around the world. This
multicultural cookbook for kids offers recipes under such headings
as Purim, Cinco de Mayo, Chinese New Year, Halloween, Diwali, Thanksgiving,
Kwanzaa, Ramadan, as well as Easter, Passover, Epiphany and others.
In addition to recipes for cookies, brownies, rice pudding, and cakes
there are also recipes for coquito (Puerto Rican eggnog), Mexican
Pan de Muerto (“bread of the dead”), Shrikhand (sweet yogurt with
saffron) and lekakh (honey cake), which is quite popular during Rosh
Hashanah. Kids should welcome exploring recipes from other lands as
well as reading about how other cultures celebrate their own intrinsic
holidays.
There are more
than 400 recipes in Phoebe Bailey’s book “An African American
Cookbook” (Good Books, $15.95). There are lots of traditional
recipes for such Southern staples as ribs, cornbread, sweet potato
pudding and smoked turkey and black-eyed peas, but also for yogurt
and chives biscuits, braided Easter bread, Primavera pizza, shrimp
bake and minestrone with tortellini. Interspersed with the recipes
are rich historical anecdotes and colloquialisms drawn from the author’s
association with people whose ancestors participated in the Underground
Railroad or lived nearby places where it was active. For example,
if heard singing the spiritual “We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder,” a
conductor on the Underground Railroad knew an enslaved African was
on the run and wanted to go as far north as possible. Bailey’s bio
says she left the corporate world to work with her minister brother
and their congregation of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
in Lancaster, Pa. In addition to cooking, she’s also the executive
director of “Living The Experience,” a group of Underground Railroad
Re-enactors.
“Come for
Dinner, Memorable Meals to Share with Friends,” by Leslie Revsin (Wiley,
$29.95) covers the gamut of meals from appetizers, salads,
main courses, side dishes, and desserts. The author has impressive
credentials — she was the first woman chef at New York’s famed Waldorf-Astoria
hotel. The photos are impressive: there is a mouthwatering shot of
lamb shanks with red wine and green olives and poached pears with
vanilla bean and lemon zest. Revsin says she prefers small get-togethers
and likes to stay part of the party by cooking ahead, preparing menus
so dishes can be done or partially done before guests arrives. With
that in mind, each complex recipe comes with a "do-ahead" option to
help chefs plan ahead. Before getting into the meat and potatoes of
the book, Revsin offers whole menus for different occasions. For that
homey meal, she suggests hearts of romaine with sherry-basil dressing
to start, mini meat loaves as the main course, roasted carrots with
orange, cheese mashed potatoes and lemon sorbet or fresh fruit or
a hot fudge sundae instead.
“Swell Holiday,” by Cynthia Rowley & Ilene Rosenzweig (Atria Books, $16) is a girl’s guide to making the holiday season more stylish than ever. From the duo that brought you “Swell: A Girl’s Guide to the Good Life” comes ways to simplify and add some sparkle to the holiday madness. Full of colorful illustrations, "Holiday" is packed from candy cane striped cover to cover with fun tips and recipes. For example, bring an ice bucket stocked with a bottle of champagne and a box of Mr. Bubble to that next party and be the guest that the hostess remembers. With ideas for everything from throwing a memorable holiday party to “thoughtful” gift giving for everyone on your list (naughty or nice), this book shows you how to tie a great big bow around this frantic time of year. So learn how to mix up a mean green punch, redecorate the gingerbread house and make a memorable toast to a very merry season. — Reviewed by Cindy Clark, Gannett News Service
“Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates Festive Meals for Holidays and Special Occasions,” by the Moosewood Collective. (Clarkson Potter, $25.95). Food is the perfect way to bring people together. No matter what the occasion or non-occasion, this cookbook has a menu to please anyone’s palate. A multicultural cookbook, it features recipes for a variety of holidays. Just a few of these include Ramadan, Kwanzaa and Christmas. The book even offers delicious recipes for foods you can make to give as holiday gifts. It features menu ideas for anything from Mother’s Day Tea to a Birthday Breakfast in Bed. The only things missing in this cookbook are photographs of the recipes. — Reviewed by Heather Martin Morrissey, Gannett News Service.