Solving Holiday Cooking Conundrums One Cookbook At A Time

We are in the middle of what is known as the Holiday Season, and that can only mean one thing: food. So many memories are formed around the dinner table, and nothing gets a large number of people to a dinner table like a holiday! So if you have an upcoming get-together planned, there’s a good chance that food is a concern. And of course, no two get togethers are the same, so I’m sure your needs food-wise are different than “generic holiday spread.” Not to worry! We’ve got cookbooks that cater to a wide variety of holiday situations and needs. Let's take a look at some Holiday Cooking Scenarios and see what cookbooks we have to help!

What if I don’t have a holiday to celebrate?

Let’s say that you’re getting into the holiday spirit but then you realize you have a real problem: you don’t have a holiday to celebrate! None of the common ones are ones you care about! But you’ve got to throw some kind of party, or it’s not the holiday season! What do you do?

May I suggest Food Fest 365, a book that has a holiday for every day of the year with an associated food or recipe to go with it. Not only will this cookbook help you pick a new holiday to celebrate every year, but it also comes equipped with the food you need to make that new holiday party a success! For example, apparently December 17th is Maple Syrup Day. Now there’s a holiday worth celebrating! And it comes with a delicious-sounding recipe for maple-glazed chicken wings. And that’s just one day! There’s like 364 more!

What if my holiday party is a potluck that I have to travel to?

Maybe you’re not the one planning this holiday get together, but someone you care about has. They simply say “hey, bring a side.” But what side do you bring? What even is a bringable side? And how are you going to make something delicious that you can bring along to a party that is, let’s say, 536 miles away? Or 1 mile away?

May I suggest What Can I Bring?, a cookbook all about dishes that travel well and will be welcome at almost any get together. If you need something that you know isn’t going to be ruined sitting in the car for a bit as you travel, this cookbook is for you. I’m personally drawn to the Spinach and Feta Pie, a great side that brings all the wonderfulness of a Spanakopita in an easily transportable package with way less fighting with dough! And hey, even if you’re the one hosting, the book even recommends bringable sides to suggest to people who want to know what they can make. You can’t go wrong!

What if the only time you have for cooking for your holiday get together is 6 to 8 hours before the party begins?

Holidays are great, but holidays also tend to be busy. There’s so much to do, and you’re still expected to do things like work and chores and who knows what else in the meantime! Maybe you find yourself looking at your schedule and realizing that the only time you have available to schedule cooking is many hours before the food needs to be on the table. How are you going to manage this?

Well, nothing fixes this problem (and feeds a lot of people!) quite like a slow cooker, and thankfully we have the perfect cookbook for this situation. May I suggest Fix It and Forget It Christmas, a collection of holiday recipes that are designed to be thrown in a slow cooker and forgotten about until it’s time to eat. There’s a recipe in here for Turkey Thighs, Acorn Squash, and Apples all in one slow cooker that seems like it would cover the entire holiday feast in one go!

What if you’ve turned your Meatless Mondays into a Vegan Vocation and have to figure out how to put together a holiday spread?

There’s a million and one reasons to go vegan, and maybe you or a loved one have taken that plunge sometime this year, or maybe you’ve met a new special someone on that diet. With a holiday party coming up, you quickly realize that so many of your holiday staples you’ve made for years aren’t vegan! How are you going to make an impressive feast that everyone can eat?

May I suggest Vegan for the Holidays, a cookbook that is filled with vegan crowd-pleasers and classic holiday tastes. You’ll be able to replace your entire holiday spread with vegan delights with this cookbook! I don’t know about you, but the potato latkes with a tofu-based sour “cream” sounds delightful to me, and like just the sort of thing I want to put on my holiday table.

What if you’ve literally never stepped into a kitchen before in your entire life and assume that if you were to turn on an oven the entire building would immediately catch fire?

Perhaps you’ve moved, perhaps someone who usually handles these things isn't available, or perhaps you just want to try something new, but this holiday season, you’ve decided to cook. For the first time. Ever. Forget creating a huge holiday spread, you’re not even sure if you can make a grilled cheese! How are you going to approach this?

May I suggest Your Time To Bake, a perfect introduction to a difficult art. Baking can feel like a very exact and very scary science, but this book is written for the complete beginner, starting with going over basic baking ideas, ingredients, and techniques, and making sure you have an idea of what the recipes are asking you before you even set foot in that kitchen. Then, of course, you move on to actually baking those treats you’re wanting to showcase at your holiday get-together! The Gingerbread Dudes n’ Gals this book will teach you to bake will surely delight, I’d say!

Are you in some holiday-related scenario I didn’t go over here? No worries! We’ve got plenty of other cookbook options for you as well. I’ll even list a bunch of them here at the end for you! Whatever you end up going with, though, and whatever holiday you end up celebrating, be sure to eat well! Food is one of life’s many delights, after all.