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Christmas 101: Celebrate the Holiday Season - From Christmas to New Year's
100 easy, fun recipes--with menus and timetables for stress-free entertaining--to put you in the holiday spirit!
Your tree is up and decorated, the carolers are singing, and there's just one thought on your mind: How am I going to get Christmas dinner on the table and still have enough energy to plan that New Year's bash?
Rick Rodgers, cooking teacher and author of the bestselling Thanksgiving 101, once again takes you by the hand to help you entertain (and still be entertaining) during this hectic season. Christmas 101 features 100 of Rick's never-fail recipes, from holiday classics such as egg nog, glazed ham, and gingerbread cookies, to contemporary ideas such as Shrimp Bisque with Confetti Vegetables, Prime Ribs, and Apple Shortcakes with Brandied Cream. And since the holiday season keeps going long after the last Christmas present is opened, there are plenty of New Year's ideas, from an intimate dinner for four to an open house buffet for the entire neighborhood.
Whether you're a novice preparing your first holiday dinner or an experienced cook seeking new ideas, Christmas 101 is all you'll need.
Learn everything you need to know about Christmas cookie making, with detailed instructions on baking, storing, and mailing
Create the flavors of the season, from spirited drinks like hot buttered rum and spiced punch to holiday goodies like special breads and homemade candies
Save time with soup-to-nuts menus and detailed timetables for holiday parties, from an all-dessert "Nutcracker Sweets" party to a tree trimming buffet
Christmas 101 has holiday entertaining all wrapped up, with enough festive recipes to keep you celebrating all year long.
Your tree is up and decorated, the carolers are singing, and there's just one thought on your mind: How am I going to get Christmas dinner on the table and still have enough energy to plan that New Year's bash?
Rick Rodgers, cooking teacher and author of the bestselling Thanksgiving 101, once again takes you by the hand to help you entertain (and still be entertaining) during this hectic season. Christmas 101 features 100 of Rick's never-fail recipes, from holiday classics such as egg nog, glazed ham, and gingerbread cookies, to contemporary ideas such as Shrimp Bisque with Confetti Vegetables, Prime Ribs, and Apple Shortcakes with Brandied Cream. And since the holiday season keeps going long after the last Christmas present is opened, there are plenty of New Year's ideas, from an intimate dinner for four to an open house buffet for the entire neighborhood.
Whether you're a novice preparing your first holiday dinner or an experienced cook seeking new ideas, Christmas 101 is all you'll need.
Learn everything you need to know about Christmas cookie making, with detailed instructions on baking, storing, and mailing
Create the flavors of the season, from spirited drinks like hot buttered rum and spiced punch to holiday goodies like special breads and homemade candies
Save time with soup-to-nuts menus and detailed timetables for holiday parties, from an all-dessert "Nutcracker Sweets" party to a tree trimming buffet
Christmas 101 has holiday entertaining all wrapped up, with enough festive recipes to keep you celebrating all year long.
192 pages, ebook
First published October 12, 1999
38 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 1, 2013
I saw this book available on my local library's catalog for ebooks, so I thought I would check it out. If anyone could use a basic Christmas cookbook,it is me. I am competent at making classic Christmas dishes, but I could use some simple tips and ideas for something new and yummy. That is what I was hoping for, but not what I got.
This is an overly didactic and preachy Christmas cookbook that gives the author an opportunity to preen about the good choices he makes and the perfect parties he throws each year, while the rest of us schmucks fail miserably in comparison.
What? You say that I'm merely transferring my lack of hostessing and decorating skills into a frustrated and angry review of a good cookbook? Nyet. After scrolling through the recipes and reading his witty banter about the various topics, I am completely convinced that the author is as full of himself as you can get.
If you follow his perfect plan - making lists, procuring the finest ingredients, and hiring a caterer, maid, bartender, and parking attendant and coat checker, then you, too, can have a successful Christmas party. Oh, and you will probably need to get a bigger house with plenty of parking, too. Don't forget to send the invitations at least three weeks in advance and start writing your Christmas cards in October while you are winging your way cross-country for some glamorous event or another. Sheesh.
If only the recipes were easy, simple or appealing, then I could potentially forgive his self-satisfied excesses (although I doubt it.) Instead, they are complicated, fancy and way more sophisticated than I was looking for. Don't get me wrong -I love a nice hors d'oeuvre as much as anyone and I have nothing against fancy food, but I just don't cook that way.
If you are already a seasoned cook and baker and love to throw fancy parties, with extensive menus, then perhaps this book is for you. I think in that case it should be titled Christmas 501, since it certainly isn't an introductory cookbook - more like graduate level.
interesting quote:
"In fact, until the last 150 years or so, the Christmas season was abhorred by religious leaders because it was marked by heavy drinking and general misbehavior." (p. 49)
This is an overly didactic and preachy Christmas cookbook that gives the author an opportunity to preen about the good choices he makes and the perfect parties he throws each year, while the rest of us schmucks fail miserably in comparison.
What? You say that I'm merely transferring my lack of hostessing and decorating skills into a frustrated and angry review of a good cookbook? Nyet. After scrolling through the recipes and reading his witty banter about the various topics, I am completely convinced that the author is as full of himself as you can get.
If you follow his perfect plan - making lists, procuring the finest ingredients, and hiring a caterer, maid, bartender, and parking attendant and coat checker, then you, too, can have a successful Christmas party. Oh, and you will probably need to get a bigger house with plenty of parking, too. Don't forget to send the invitations at least three weeks in advance and start writing your Christmas cards in October while you are winging your way cross-country for some glamorous event or another. Sheesh.
If only the recipes were easy, simple or appealing, then I could potentially forgive his self-satisfied excesses (although I doubt it.) Instead, they are complicated, fancy and way more sophisticated than I was looking for. Don't get me wrong -I love a nice hors d'oeuvre as much as anyone and I have nothing against fancy food, but I just don't cook that way.
If you are already a seasoned cook and baker and love to throw fancy parties, with extensive menus, then perhaps this book is for you. I think in that case it should be titled Christmas 501, since it certainly isn't an introductory cookbook - more like graduate level.
interesting quote:
"In fact, until the last 150 years or so, the Christmas season was abhorred by religious leaders because it was marked by heavy drinking and general misbehavior." (p. 49)
December 5, 2012
Christmas 101: Celebrate the Holiday Season by Rick Rodgers is filled with full menu recipes for the holidays. Various main courses like turkey and roast beef, side dishes gallore, appies, and more. Nothing fabulous for me, but still decent.
January 24, 2013
Some good tips from a professional caterer and entertainer... I found a few stellar recipes, too - like the appetizer bread.
But a lot of the info is either well-known or readily available.
Still, it was a free ebook, so I'm not complaining!
But a lot of the info is either well-known or readily available.
Still, it was a free ebook, so I'm not complaining!
November 7, 2015
Great planner
The advice and guidance for decision making, planning, and running your holiday festivities is thorough and well-written. Not much new in the recipes, but they are solid also.
The advice and guidance for decision making, planning, and running your holiday festivities is thorough and well-written. Not much new in the recipes, but they are solid also.
September 28, 2012
Old-fashioned and not in a good way. Incredibly fussy recipes that feel like they came straight from the New York Tines circa 1978.
December 26, 2013
This was a good book for anyone who wants to host a party. The suggestions were practical and useful and there was a variety of recipes.
December 8, 2014
Only found a few recipes
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews