Christmas cookbook

[WalkingWolf]

Can I have your christmas cook book recommendations please?

Preferably some thing that has a christmas dinner guide with freezable recipes.

Thanks!

I use the Delia Smith one. It's very good, especially the timings etc for dinner. I also use her Xmas pudding, cranberry sauce and rum sauce recipes.

Nigella's Christmas is my favourite cookbook of all time. She writes beautifully about it all. I get it down in September and it stays with me on the sofa till Christmas. As much for the lovely pictures and her anecdotes as for the recipes.

Delia's Christmas for the no nonsense approach. (I get her down in September as well, but keep them apart because I don't think they would approve of each other....)

Do NOT make Nigella's date and chocolate Christmas cake. It's minging.

Delia's however (classic Christmas cake) is the only one I will ever make again.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look them both up.

Drank, I can't stand christmas cake so I doubt I'd ever make one.

At the thought of you keeping delia and nigella separated

I got both Nigella and Delia last year and love them both. Delia is very classic and has lots of lovely tips on freezing and getting ahead. Its a really beautiful book.

But Nigella is amazing. Agree 100% with Sangria, its my favorite cookbook of all time. She has loads of recipes and has a christmas dinner timing schedule which i based my timings on last year, it was fantastic. She also has heaps of things that can br frozen up to 3 months in advance!

If I had to pick one, I would go with Nigella, purely on her practicalities and the fact that everyone in my family will eat those dishes, but Delia is so festive and wonderful too.

Nigella, definitely.

I like Delia, Nigella and the Mary Berry one all for different things.

I'll be a lone voice on here, but the stuffings in the Nigella book are vile. The white chocolate and cranberry cookies, and the gingerbread cake are divine.

Mary Berry's mincemeat tart armandine is delicious, and I like her pheasant breast recipe.

Delia is very trustworthy and actually when I was going through the books the other week most things I'm planning for this year are from there.

Okay I think I'll get both delia and nigella.

Which versions of delias do you all have? Is the newer version worth getting? Or just the original?

I have both of Delia's Christmas books .

To be honest, I never use the new one Delia's Happy Christmas. All the useful-to-me stuff in it is duplicated from Delia Smith's Christmas / Delia's Christmas Companion. But then, I do a very traditional Christmas dinner; if you wanted to be more adventurous there are more recipes in the newer book.

Thinking about it, I probably use the 30-page Companion more than the book itself - you can pick them up very cheaply second-hand on Amazon.

I agree, the actual Christmas stuff is basically duplicated.

For the rest, she has just modernized herself a bit. Got rid of the tripe and potted meat sort of stuff. (I may be exaggerating slightly )

(got to love Delia, and I do, her webchat on here was one of the best ever, but she does think we are all muppets. "take a cherry tomato in one hand, and a small sharp knife in the other, holding the tomato on the chopping board, slice it carefully into 3 equal pieces" Nigella would just lob a few whole ones from a great distance and if they landed straight in your mouth rather than on the quiche, she'd just shrug)

What is the title of the Nigella one please?

I have Delia, Nigella and Rose Elliot and I am always on the look out for more!

The Nigella one is just called Nigella Christmas. I love it too, and I disagree about the stuffings; DH and DSis would stage a mutiny if I didn't produce Nigella's gingerbread stuffing. I can definitely understand how people could hate it, but it's popular here. The best thing I've gotten from it is actually the idea of making as much as possible in advance and just defrosting it on Christmas eve - I do that every year now and it's great.

I don't actually use the rest of my Christmas cookbooks any more; between Nigella and the internet I don't need them. I don't even remember what I have.

I do insist on getting the BBC Good Food December edition every year, to officially start my dinner planning.

builder I get good food all year, but the Christmas knew is the best. On sale on 31st Oct this year I think!

Might buy myself the Mary berry one this year!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Can't wait for BBC good food christmas mag this year.

The Hairy Bikers one. Can't recommend it enough!

I love the hairy bikers. I didn't even know they did a christmas book.

I didn't know that either. Must look out for it.

I love the Nigella one as it all looks so beautiful. I also have th Delia and Mary berry. Do bits from both. Also have Sarah Raven but not so keen on that.

I love getting the Xmas editions of lots of magazines! Delicious and Good Food and all the interiors ones.

Oops. Just ordered the Hairy Bikers one! I'm blaming you lot.

I love the Nigella one that has already been mentioned and that's the one I use most. I also have the Delia one with the red & white cover. My other favourite is Sarah Raven's Christmas one with the silver cover - just a lovely festive book.

Which is the delia one for the christmas cake?

I want to make my own this year :O

I have the Nigella one (Nigella's Christmas I think), and the Hairy Biker's 12 Days of Christmas.

JerseySpud - the Delia Xmas cake recipe is on her website too.

Ooooo saves me money! Thank you :D

Agree with everyone else. Nigella Christmas. It immediately makes me feel Christmassy and festive and excited for the whole thing (even if it is September)

The chocolate biscuits with the festive sprinkles on are delicious.

And the roast potatoes and maple parsnips are perfect and regularly accompany our Sunday lunch throughout the year.

Most of the recipes come with a handy guide in the corner of the page about freezing or keeping in the fridge.

I wasn't impressed with the Christmas Morning Muffins. And DP told me to never make the Edible Christmas Decorations ever, ever again. They have quite a kick to them and DP's spice threshold is somewhere between plain yogurt and korma curry. So his reaction was like being fed chillies. They have ground cloves in which gives them a kick. I liked them!

My Hairy Bikers Xmas book is being delivered between 11.52 and 12.52 today!

Going to try to get all my jobs done and sit down for an hour this afternoon with it and a large cuppa!