The Christmas Companion: Recipes, Crafts and Inspiration for a Magical Festive Season

by Skye McAlpine

'Divine. Such good writing, and such delicious recipes – but also so genuinely useful. This book is the dream' – India Knight

The Christmas Companion is your indispensable guide to a cosy, relaxed and memorable Christmas. Whether it's just you, a few nearest and dearest, or the whole extended friends and family, you'll find countless recipes, crafts, tips and tricks to see you through the festive season.

From holiday parties, to bake sales, to Christmas lunch, fabulous recipes
· Cocktails and nibbles including Chestnut Martinis and Pistachio & Parmesan Cantucci
· Centrepiece mains like Pomegranate Glazed Turkey and Ginger & Apricot Ham
· Vegetarian showstoppers such as Beetroot & Horseradish Galette, Camembert & Cranberry Pithivier and an array of seasonal salads and sides
· Indulgent treats and puddings including Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake, Salted Caramel Pecan Pie, Gingery Christmas Cake and Candy Cane Hearts

With pages of inspiration for decorating your home, recipes for edible gifts, menu ideas, effortless hosting tips, and instructions on everything from making an advent calendar to crafting your own crackers, this will be your trusted companion for bringing the magic, warmth and sparkle of Christmas for years to come.

'Skye is a maker of magic in the kitchen, and every glorious photograph inside makes me want to don my apron and press play on the carols' – Luke Edward Hall

Genres: Cookbooks, Christmas, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

Published October 28, 2025

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Christmas Companion is your indispensable guide to a cozy, relaxed and memorable Christmas. Whether it's just you, a few nearest and dearest, or the whole extended friends and family, you'll find countless recipes, crafts, tips and tricks to see you through the festive season."

This is a lovely book (although why is everything so dark??) with gorgeous photographs detailing all the decorations, recipes, and ideas the author presents. There's crafts, recipes for meals, cookies, wrapping techniques, and planning tools in order to make everything run smoothly.

This book would definitely be a perfect gift for the Christmas-lover in your life (and you know at LEAST one, don't you?), and make sure you get one for yourself too!

I received a free ebook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

[Kelley Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nicely laid out inspirational holiday companion cookbook. I enjoyed reading each section and the little blurbs at the top of each recipe. There are holiday hints that one might find helpful in inspiring a festive table scape and menus to get you started on holiday entertaining. I found the recipes to be a bit complex and heavy on the ingredients. The enjoyable layout had me hooked and I did read it cover to cover. This imo is definitely on the entertaining side than cookbook side. Ty Bloomsbury for the ARC all opinions are my own.

[Elspeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very pretty stylised festive cookbook. Worked my way through this advent and got some tips and made some good recipes- bundt cake and marmite greens are winners. Sometimes the text is a bit too self-deprecating / qualifying and lots of the recipes take shortcuts but I appreciate a lot of people would want that.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I currently have a crazy schedule and honestly flipping through this Christmas Companion really helped keep me in the Christmas spirit! Plenty of ideas for me to implement next Christmas! Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy, as always, my opinion is my own.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25. Pretty book but I thought there would be a lot more ideas and tips. I saw very few recipes that I’d attempt to make.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a library copy and made several recipes. I also enjoyed her anecdotes about the holidays in her family. This is a book I would like to own, I think.