My mother always served her Brussels Sprouts with a lot of buttered chestnuts (and cooked and peeled her own). Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality. There is also a green ribbon marker to bookmark your place which I think is another really special touch.

Absoluut hoogtepunt: het Engelse kerstdiner dat ik afgelopen jaar (2011) maakte voor mijn familie op 1e Kerstdag met de gevulde varkensrollade met robijnjus, de Italiaans gebakken aardappelen met knoflook en tijm, de kerstspruitjes, de kerst-coleslaw en de panettone-pudding. In true Nigella style, Kitchen is about the food we eat now, the way we eat and live today; feel-good food from the most important room in the house.This is an exquisite book, which manages to combine the most outrageous frivolity (it’s kind of like the Manolo Blahnik of cookbooks with its green ribbon, sumptuous pictures, and the big hardcover red and greenness of it) with absolute practicality in terms of the useability of its recipes, the practicality of its suggestions, and the tempting nature of the items chosen. Informative and engaging, Kitchen offers food for both cooks and eaters that is comforting but always seductive, nostalgic but with a modern twist, from “express” style recipes for the time-strapped, hectic week or leisurely slow-cook dishes for weekends and special occasions. Lawson does a good job of suggesting ways to mitigate the stress of entertaining at Christmas–a holiday that seems to come with heightened expectations and traditions that cannot be forfeited. This is an essential purchase for all cookery collections in communities where Christmas is celebrated. I made this a few weeks ago now and its tucked in the freezer waiting to be united with some Norfolk turkey.

The chapter on desserts (titled “Joy to the World”–if I wasn’t hooked already, this would have done it) includes recipes for a yule log, fruitcakes, and mini minced pies. Andere absolute aanraders zijn: de chocochipchili, de tajine met lamsvlees en dadels, de potjes met kastanje en chocola, de christmas rocky road en de opgedofte vanille cake. Her Furby recipe is to die for, but her attempt to BBQ the cast of Friends leads to multiple lawsuits.

For instance, she makes a pitch for inviting new friends to Christmas dinner because of “the stabilizing effect of the stranger factor: someone with whom your family doesn’t quite feel at home enough to behave badly. Just in time for Christmas, Nigella Lawson has brought us a wonderful Christmas gift in her new cookbook Nigella Christmas.