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Glad and Golden Hours: A Companion for Advent and Christmastide
Tangible acts of feasting and celebrating have suffused Lanier Ivester's home all her life. But alongside her love of festivity, she's wrestled with profound losses that have reshaped the landscape--both around her and within her.
These coexisting forces of great grief and great joy come together in a place called the Ruff House, where Ivester's story (lavishly illustrated by Jennifer Trafton) not only reminds us of the inescapable presence of sorrow, but shows us how to celebrate and anticipate the return of glad and golden hours in the midst of it.
Like Robert Farrar Capon's Supper of the Lamb, this is a book that defies the trappings of a mere cookbook or a collection of craft projects. It's an embodiment of a rich theology of Creation, of what it means to be human when everything is both falling apart and coming back together.
At its heart, Glad & Golden Hours is a companion that will lead you through the seasons of Advent and Christmastide, illuminating the deep reality of the Kingship of Christ and our invitation into the richness of the Feast to come.
Glad and Golden Hours
- Over 70 recipes and crafts
- Over 200 illustrations by Jennifer Trafton
These coexisting forces of great grief and great joy come together in a place called the Ruff House, where Ivester's story (lavishly illustrated by Jennifer Trafton) not only reminds us of the inescapable presence of sorrow, but shows us how to celebrate and anticipate the return of glad and golden hours in the midst of it.
Like Robert Farrar Capon's Supper of the Lamb, this is a book that defies the trappings of a mere cookbook or a collection of craft projects. It's an embodiment of a rich theology of Creation, of what it means to be human when everything is both falling apart and coming back together.
At its heart, Glad & Golden Hours is a companion that will lead you through the seasons of Advent and Christmastide, illuminating the deep reality of the Kingship of Christ and our invitation into the richness of the Feast to come.
Glad and Golden Hours
- Over 70 recipes and crafts
- Over 200 illustrations by Jennifer Trafton
424 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2024
56 people are currently reading
200 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
December 29, 2025
2025: This is the type of book that ages well. I loved it even more upon my second reading. As before. I could mostly care less about how to make a wreath or bring in the greens, but all of Lanier’s truth-telling about the passing of time (that brunch chapter!) gets me every time.
2024: I just finished a treasure of a book. A now tear-stained, dog-eared, toddler-chewed book I will savor each Christmas season. I was unprepared for the blessing it was (is! will be again next year and the decade after that!).
Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, and I’ve found a kindred spirit in Lanier. When I first cracked open Glad and Golden Hours, I knew this would be a book I return to season after season. This delightful companion for Christmas time immediately enchanted my daughter and I as we exclaimed over the beautiful poetry, recipes, and illustrations within the pages.
My favorite part has to be Lanier’s memories of Christmases past and how she recreates the magic and meaning each season for her friends and family. Every homemaker and aspiring hostess will take delight in her detailed encouragement on how to make Christmas special (down to the instructions for freezing cookie dough and casseroles ahead of time!) without bowing to perfectionism or neglecting the Savior we celebrate this time of year.
I found myself marking the pages with tears as Lanier recounted--with the dazzling defiance of chronology that makes this more memory book than memoir--of Christmases of her childhood, those first young bridal years, to the year they spent Christmas in a camper because of the house fire, her struggle with infertility, and missing parents who have passed way.
I’m inspired anew to approach this sacred time of year (and the Twelve Days of Christmas! And Epiphany!) with a fresh appreciation for the significance of the season.
2024: I just finished a treasure of a book. A now tear-stained, dog-eared, toddler-chewed book I will savor each Christmas season. I was unprepared for the blessing it was (is! will be again next year and the decade after that!).
Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, and I’ve found a kindred spirit in Lanier. When I first cracked open Glad and Golden Hours, I knew this would be a book I return to season after season. This delightful companion for Christmas time immediately enchanted my daughter and I as we exclaimed over the beautiful poetry, recipes, and illustrations within the pages.
My favorite part has to be Lanier’s memories of Christmases past and how she recreates the magic and meaning each season for her friends and family. Every homemaker and aspiring hostess will take delight in her detailed encouragement on how to make Christmas special (down to the instructions for freezing cookie dough and casseroles ahead of time!) without bowing to perfectionism or neglecting the Savior we celebrate this time of year.
I found myself marking the pages with tears as Lanier recounted--with the dazzling defiance of chronology that makes this more memory book than memoir--of Christmases of her childhood, those first young bridal years, to the year they spent Christmas in a camper because of the house fire, her struggle with infertility, and missing parents who have passed way.
I’m inspired anew to approach this sacred time of year (and the Twelve Days of Christmas! And Epiphany!) with a fresh appreciation for the significance of the season.
November 22, 2025
Admittedly, I skimmed this. I was a little wearied by the flowery writing and sentimentally. That was a bit much for me. But I appreciated the message and the ideas!
2025 updated review:
I still maintain my annoyance with the author’s flowery writing and off-the-charts sentimentality. But this time through it, I had much more time to soak in the beauty of what is written here. Many poignant gospel reminders for celebrating Christmas, suggestions and ideas for making this season special for everyone without becoming a slave to the preparations. Having read it in plenty of time, I am not overwhelmed by all the great ideas like I was last year (reading it DURING the Christmas season). Take my advice and read this whole thing before the Christmas season. Don’t trudge through it as an advent devotional - otherwise you will find yourself saying things like “I wish I could have done this idea this year! But alas, maybe next year!”
And now, I’m off to prepare home for a festive thanksgiving feast.
2025 updated review:
I still maintain my annoyance with the author’s flowery writing and off-the-charts sentimentality. But this time through it, I had much more time to soak in the beauty of what is written here. Many poignant gospel reminders for celebrating Christmas, suggestions and ideas for making this season special for everyone without becoming a slave to the preparations. Having read it in plenty of time, I am not overwhelmed by all the great ideas like I was last year (reading it DURING the Christmas season). Take my advice and read this whole thing before the Christmas season. Don’t trudge through it as an advent devotional - otherwise you will find yourself saying things like “I wish I could have done this idea this year! But alas, maybe next year!”
And now, I’m off to prepare home for a festive thanksgiving feast.
November 18, 2024
4.5. A charming Advent book, full of essays and recipes and thoughts on celebration. This book echoes the wonder and intentionality I want in my own advent celebration. There are also some good, practical ideas and suggestions for the season. Overall, a beautiful book that spoke to the heart through joy and grief, and made me want to research the liturgical calendar more.
December 26, 2025
This book is an absolute treasure of beauty and goodnesss and tradition and family.
But also a balm for grief and heartbreak and loss and unmet desires.
Reading it is an experience through which runs a strong thread of hope and joy and comfort.
Lanier writes with a voice of tenderness and graciousness and authenticity as someone who’s walked dark paths but made it her mission to seek and embellish the light.
Her prose is strong and vivid and enriching, bringing you into her heart and home with each essay, many of which are narrative driven.
The loveliness of this book is it displays what could be, without any exhausting pressure of what must be.
There’s no demand to make the Pinterest perfect holiday, but through her stories and essays, Lanier shows why and how those things became so meaningful to her, and the rich value of adding reminders of truth, goodness, and beauty to our yearly patterns.
The illustrations are also marvelous, with almost every page adding beauty to the content. It’s worth it for the artwork alone.
The book serves as an advent devotional, a memoir of sorts, a Christmas recipe book, a guide for classic decorating, and top it all of with fun recommendations for reads, listens, and even games — all to add more vitality and depth to our celebrations.
As someone who wasn’t raised with much tradition or reverence around the holidays, this book comes very much as an inspiration and an outright guide. I doubt I’ll ever near the extent of decorating and feasting that Lanier patterns, but it’s refreshing to see what’s possible and to borrow a piece or two at a time as fits our family, or adapt accordingly.
I read this over the span of two years, as an advent devotional of sorts, and definitely see it as a staple guide to return to again and again, both for the reference materials (recipes, etc.) but also the meditative reflections on the meaning of Christmas.
“It matters to bring as much beauty and presence as we can to our lives, because it enfleshes what we believe about the character of God, the value of life, and the sacred potential of the ordinary.”
“Because it's all sacred time, my friends. Every moment that we are alive on this beautiful old earth of God's begetting is crammed with heaven, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning has said.”
But also a balm for grief and heartbreak and loss and unmet desires.
Reading it is an experience through which runs a strong thread of hope and joy and comfort.
Lanier writes with a voice of tenderness and graciousness and authenticity as someone who’s walked dark paths but made it her mission to seek and embellish the light.
Her prose is strong and vivid and enriching, bringing you into her heart and home with each essay, many of which are narrative driven.
The loveliness of this book is it displays what could be, without any exhausting pressure of what must be.
There’s no demand to make the Pinterest perfect holiday, but through her stories and essays, Lanier shows why and how those things became so meaningful to her, and the rich value of adding reminders of truth, goodness, and beauty to our yearly patterns.
The illustrations are also marvelous, with almost every page adding beauty to the content. It’s worth it for the artwork alone.
The book serves as an advent devotional, a memoir of sorts, a Christmas recipe book, a guide for classic decorating, and top it all of with fun recommendations for reads, listens, and even games — all to add more vitality and depth to our celebrations.
As someone who wasn’t raised with much tradition or reverence around the holidays, this book comes very much as an inspiration and an outright guide. I doubt I’ll ever near the extent of decorating and feasting that Lanier patterns, but it’s refreshing to see what’s possible and to borrow a piece or two at a time as fits our family, or adapt accordingly.
I read this over the span of two years, as an advent devotional of sorts, and definitely see it as a staple guide to return to again and again, both for the reference materials (recipes, etc.) but also the meditative reflections on the meaning of Christmas.
“It matters to bring as much beauty and presence as we can to our lives, because it enfleshes what we believe about the character of God, the value of life, and the sacred potential of the ordinary.”
“Because it's all sacred time, my friends. Every moment that we are alive on this beautiful old earth of God's begetting is crammed with heaven, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning has said.”
January 4, 2025
When I started this book on the first Sunday of Advent, I thought it was going to be nothing more than recipes and pretty drawings. I was so wrong. It is much, much more.
Lanier’s writing is delectable. (She does love the word tender, and uses it an awful lot, but mixed in with her other words, she touched on so many subjects and it reads like poetry.)
Her words touched me and met me in so many places. I just loved it. Instead of going into the Christmas media box, I’m leaving it out so that I have it at my fingertips early in the season next year, before Advent starts.
Lanier’s writing is delectable. (She does love the word tender, and uses it an awful lot, but mixed in with her other words, she touched on so many subjects and it reads like poetry.)
Her words touched me and met me in so many places. I just loved it. Instead of going into the Christmas media box, I’m leaving it out so that I have it at my fingertips early in the season next year, before Advent starts.
January 9, 2025
What a lovely book! I've long loved Lanier's writing, so my favorite parts were definitely the essays and vignettes, and I so appreciated her openness and vulnerability in sharing her different griefs and struggles in a season where it's culturally assumed that you should just be happy. The entire book was a great blend of the inspiring and practical, and the delightful illustrations just added to its charm.
December 30, 2024
Just as Scrooge said at the end of A Christmas Carol, “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”, this book inspires us to keep Christmas well.
Full of recipes, hospitality ideas, and stories, this book was a delight to me. I especially loved all the lists of music, movies, and books to enjoy throughout Advent and Christmastide.
Truly lovely. I’ll enjoy this one on repeat.
Full of recipes, hospitality ideas, and stories, this book was a delight to me. I especially loved all the lists of music, movies, and books to enjoy throughout Advent and Christmastide.
Truly lovely. I’ll enjoy this one on repeat.
paused
December 24, 2025I read (and absolutely fell in love with) as much of this book as I could in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but I bit off more than I can chew, and I'd rather save this for next year than try to cram in all the loveliness. From just the first few chapters, though, I highly recommend this book! It would make a great wedding gift for a new homemaker.
December 30, 2025
UGH! My family loves me!! Estelle gave me this book for my birthday 😭 and it was BEAUTIFUL! highly highly recommend for anyone looking for an advent/christmastide companion for next year. wow. I feel uplifted and inspired & so so excited to be a caretaker of my home and family traditions and a keeper of our time.
December 12, 2024
A book that puts language to all the “joy’s and fears” of being human and how Advent is an expression and fulfillment of those realities. Poetic and practical. I’ve followed Lanier’s writing for years - she is such a kindred spirit 💗
December 31, 2024
I love this book for its extravagant love of Christmas, coziness, community, and all good things. And I love it even more for its bright sadness, as Lanier says. As she openly shares her own sadness, she makes space for all sadness to be enfolded into the wonder and beauty and welcoming joy.
December 9, 2025
I didn’t read all the way through. I skimmed it and noted the recipes and tips that caught my eye. It’s a kind of antidote, or rather it points to the true antidote of the Christmas season. I will reexamine this book next season and more thoroughly.
December 29, 2025
“It matters to bring as much beauty and presence as we can to our lives, because it enfleshes what we believe about the character of God, the value of life, and the sacred potential of the ordinary.” 📖
I will be re-reading chapters and passages from this book for many Christmases to come.
I will be re-reading chapters and passages from this book for many Christmases to come.
December 22, 2025
An absolutely beautiful volume! I’ll return to this year after year for holiday charm and inspiration.
November 13, 2024
I've loved Lanier's writing a long time, so it was a real delight to spend the last week or so with this book. While it is meant to be a joyful celebration of all things Advent, Christmas, and Christmastide, I mostly enjoyed the way it read like really good food blog from back in the early days. So much joy. Lots of fun recipes. Occasional craft ideas or decorating tips. Also, threading through, some deep and honest explorations of grief and perfectionism, both of which argue with our attempts to make beauty or cultivate community or celebrate with the ones with love. Bonus is I fully intend to run simmer pots and make homemade wreaths this season. Recommend!
December 14, 2024
This is a treasure of a book! I will reread this every Christmas. It has changed so many of my thoughts about preparing for Christmas. One of my favorite quotes, “It matters to bring as much beauty and presence as we can to our lives, because it enfleshes what we believe about the character of God, the value of life, and the sacred potential of the ordinary.”
January 4, 2025
“Glad & Golden Hours” is like a treasure chest, bursting with all the loveliness that makes up the Advent and Christmas season. As one who did not grow up celebrating Christmas, I’m feeling a little wistful reading about Lanier’s bountiful family traditions - and I’m inspired to put more effort into cultivating meaningful memories for my own children (and with so many recipes and craft ideas, this book is the perfect manual for such!).
I appreciate that the author holds space for the hard seasons of life as well as the joyous, and emphasizes that a simple and restful holiday can often be the better choice. She is honest about the many more difficult Christmases she has experienced, and shares how her faith and these traditions have steadied her in those times.
Of course I also savored the beauty that fills every page, with full color illustrations and gorgeous lettering throughout. It was lovely to read it by the light of twinkling lights throughout the Christmas season, and I’m sure I will pull it out again in future years.
I appreciate that the author holds space for the hard seasons of life as well as the joyous, and emphasizes that a simple and restful holiday can often be the better choice. She is honest about the many more difficult Christmases she has experienced, and shares how her faith and these traditions have steadied her in those times.
Of course I also savored the beauty that fills every page, with full color illustrations and gorgeous lettering throughout. It was lovely to read it by the light of twinkling lights throughout the Christmas season, and I’m sure I will pull it out again in future years.
December 29, 2025
After trying a variety of advent books over the last several years, this is the first one that I've finished. What a beautiful and thorough collection has been compiled in this treasure! Thoughtful reflections, recipes, music lists, book lists, hosting ideas...etc. I love that it covers Advent into Epiphany. I was able to incorporate one of the recipes into our celebrations this year (one that will become a yearly tradition I anticipate!) and there are more I am hoping to try soon! She doesn't shy away from grief during the holidays and shares much on her own longings and grief as she writes of experiences in a variety of seasons in her life. I think she sums it all up well with this section near the end of the book:
" It matters to bring as much beauty and presence as we can to our lives, because it enfleshes what we believe about the character of God, the value of life, and the sacred potential of the ordinary. Holidays, and Christmas in particular, are rife with opportunities to incarnate truths thrumming under the surface of life."
" It matters to bring as much beauty and presence as we can to our lives, because it enfleshes what we believe about the character of God, the value of life, and the sacred potential of the ordinary. Holidays, and Christmas in particular, are rife with opportunities to incarnate truths thrumming under the surface of life."
December 29, 2024
A beautiful book worthy of coffee table status but with the meaty richness of non-illustrated volumes. This was truly a companion throughout Advent for me, I looked forward to the lovely illustrations, engaging stories and delightful recipes each morning over countless cups of coffee. Made the season so much more enjoyable. It was a call to find Christmas and lavish hospitality underneath all of the commercialism and stress and pressure of what it has been made into today. I did treat the ideas and menus as a buffet to take and leave what I wanted and what worked for us for this year. I did enjoy trying caramels for the first time under the gentle nudging of these pages. I would highly recommend to anyone wishing to savor the season a bit more.
January 11, 2025
I bought this from Hearts and Minds Bookstore after hearing about it through The Rabbit Room and listening to an interview with the author on The Habit podcast. What a beautiful book! The author clearly loves the Christmas season and the book walks through the weeks leading up to and through Christmas with stories, reflections, recipes, traditions and much more. There were so many little nuggets of wisdom and insight throughout that I found myself pausing to reflect often. The illustrations are beautiful and make it the kind of book you want to leave out on the coffee table. I think I’ll read this book again over the month of December. It will help me slow down a little and savor this special time.
December 31, 2024
I absolutely loved this book. I really needed something like this for the season, both with the beauty it brought me and the meditations it led me to have. Lanier has created something both practical in its advice and reflective in its intention. She is brutally honest about the sorrows that December can bring, sharing the hardest years she’s lived, while also remembering the most cherished moments and what all the preparations and planning is for. It would be easy to dismiss what looks like lofty ideals as something for the Pinterest board or Instagram grid, but reading it, that’s not what I got at all. She gives each of us permission to bring what we have to the table and nothing more. I especially love how she models in her own life how it’s not just “for the kid,” but being just her and her husband, she has a childlike joy about the season all for herself, and that has brought her light in the darkest seasons of her life. This will be a book I revisit every year.
December 30, 2024
4.5 Stars. This was such a beautiful companion for Advent and Christmastide that gave me many new traditions I’d like to incorporate. The stories are full of honesty, and hold up a fine example of how to imbue the holidays with sacredness and fine hospitality.
The recipes, crafts, and hosting guides in here made me refer to this jokingly as “the trad-wife Christmas time guide”. I think that’s kinda a good description 😂 But honestly, it’s also more. There’s so much good to be found in traditions and time spent with family and friends.
The recipes, crafts, and hosting guides in here made me refer to this jokingly as “the trad-wife Christmas time guide”. I think that’s kinda a good description 😂 But honestly, it’s also more. There’s so much good to be found in traditions and time spent with family and friends.
January 6, 2025
Wow.
This book was an impulse buy simply because it had Advent and Christmastide written on a beautiful cover. Yet God had a true purpose in drawing my eye to it. It is aptly named, for it was indeed a “companion” to me this Christmas season. The prose is gorgeous. Ivester’s stories — but mostly her beautiful storytelling — brought me to tears more than once.
If you wish to be overwhelmed by beauty, to enjoy quiet moments losing yourself in a masterful work, all while being pointed heavenward, this book is for you. Jesus used it to meet me.
This book was an impulse buy simply because it had Advent and Christmastide written on a beautiful cover. Yet God had a true purpose in drawing my eye to it. It is aptly named, for it was indeed a “companion” to me this Christmas season. The prose is gorgeous. Ivester’s stories — but mostly her beautiful storytelling — brought me to tears more than once.
If you wish to be overwhelmed by beauty, to enjoy quiet moments losing yourself in a masterful work, all while being pointed heavenward, this book is for you. Jesus used it to meet me.
December 12, 2025
Beautiful stories, lots of craft and decorating ideas, and of course recipes - whole menus for planning out feasting occasions. Also, the illustrations and word art...so incredible I found myself tearing up several times as I read the lyrics to my favorite Advent hymn People Look East. Most importantly, Lanier made sure that the true messages of the season were emphasized; waiting, longing, hoping, followed by rejoicing and feasting. I'll keep this one out until Epiphany begins and look forward to opening it back up next Advent!
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January 1, 2026I did not read this all the way through. With books like this I’m tempted to feel pressured to do all the author does or to feel like I’m not doing enough… at the start I told myself “I am not doing any of her activities - I am under no obligation” and this helped my heart immensely just to enjoy the parts I did read. The illustrations are lovely and the author’s heart & stories are lovely. I look forward to beginning this book again in November 2026. I do feel like it could be helpful to read this before the Advent season in case one wanted to incorporate some of her crafts/recipes, etc.
January 7, 2025
Truly beautiful and inspiring! This book is a delight to look at and to read. Lanier writes from her heart and I am encouraged by it! She does an excellent job illustrating the value of homemaking, of creating and keeping traditions, of sharing and enjoying life with those that God has placed around us, and also why beauty matters. I believe these are important messages. I also appreciate her honesty, always shared with Hope, always pointing us to what is True.
January 28, 2025
As with almost all Advent companion books, I did not quite get all the way through these chapters this year, and yet I have absolutely no qualms already giving it the highest of ratings. "Glad and Golden Hours" felt like home to me and was the most providentially timed book in the midst of a new home, home repair fiascos, and my usual first trimester emotional slump.
So thankful for this book and so looking forward to finishing it next year.
So thankful for this book and so looking forward to finishing it next year.
December 30, 2025
This was such a delight! Given to me by my dear friend, Abigail, for my birthday! She knew I would love it! Filled to the brim with inspiration for blessing our families and showing them what the Incarnation means - in the way we decorate our homes, the cookies we bake, and the traditions we keep. It all matters in Christ. I also love the gentle reminders that there is a "thin margin between happy bustle, and huffing about", and to treasure Christ first and foremost!
January 6, 2025
“What it means to be human when everything is falling apart, yet coming back together.”
What a beautiful, well written book for the Holiday season of Advent.
This is worth purchasing in hardbound. Not for listening.
Recipes, pictures, and beautiful poetry!
Will read this year after year and enjoy it more when Grand-babies arrive ❤️
What a beautiful, well written book for the Holiday season of Advent.
This is worth purchasing in hardbound. Not for listening.
Recipes, pictures, and beautiful poetry!
Will read this year after year and enjoy it more when Grand-babies arrive ❤️
November 17, 2025
This is a lovely book, structured around the four weeks of Advent and approximately two weeks of Christmastide. Each section is filled with heartfelt devotional type essays, along with recipes, and a few craft and home decor projects. There are even some book and music recommendations scattered throughout. The author's love for Christmas is inspiring and contagious.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews