A Supreme Holiday Cookbook

The title is not completely visible in this photo, but this cookbook is from Time-Life books.  If you ever see any cookbook from the Time-Life series, grab it and run to the kitchen.  The Holiday Cookbook is the offspring of Time-Life Books' magnificent "Foods of the World" series, which was a 27-volume library of decadent culinary pleasures.  In this 320-page volume, you will find the delicious possibilities of just about every holiday imaginable with everything from Derby Day to Christmas and New Year's; but since this is the Christmas season, it was the reason I decided to write about it today. 

For those of us who love the holiday season, with all the baking, parties, shopping, and family time, it seems our ovens are always ready to be filled with the next great cookie or bread.  It's like a month-long celebration of food and family.  I love hearing about everyone's Christmas cooking traditions.  There seems to be something in every family that has to be made or it just isn't Christmas.  With my family, it's our maple coffee cake on Christmas morning:

Even though we have our traditions such as the coffee cake, I am always on the lookout for new holiday recipes.  The 60 Christmas recipes in the cookbook include traditions from around the world, such as Southern fruit cake, Buche de Noel, Swedish glogg, eggnog, Danish roast goose with apple and prunes, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, Polish poppy seed roll, Czech sweet bread, German stollen, and flaming plum pudding, below. 

I wish I could show you all the beautiful photos.  Doesn't this make you want to start some baking?  And when Christmas is over, the New Year's recipes will be waiting - cassoulet for a crowd, a galaxy of Viennese tortes, punches and drinks, midnight onion soup, Chinese appetizers that bring good fortune, and a fish dish that promises prosperity.  What more could you ask for?  How about this book under your Christmas tree?