Christmas cookie books I love

This is the month for baking cookies.  Even if you rarely eat sweets, chances are that you make cookies some time in December.  I own a shocking number of baking books and a lot of them are specifically cookie cookbooks.  But I have a couple "go to" books for Christmas baking.

I have been a big fan of Rose Levy Beranbaum since The Cake Bible came out (that was my very first baking book) and so Rose's Christmas Cookies was my first cookie specific cookbook.  It has only 60 recipes so it is not an all-purpose cookie book.  But there are good reasons to like this book.  First, she gives measurements by weight (ounces and grams) in addition to volume -- measuring by weight will give you better results.  Second, there is a color picture for every recipe and detailed illustrations for some of the more technical creations (like the gingerbread Cathedral of Notre Dame).  And last but not least, it has some great classic Christmas cookie recipes that I love.  I haven't yet baked my way through all the recipes but have made quite a few.  I made the Mexican Wedding Cakes (aka Russian Tea Cakes) for my friend's cookie exchange a couple weeks ago.  And I use her Peanut Butter and Jelly Jewels recipe to make Peanut Butter Blossoms because her recipe is so much better than the usual one.  There is even a recipe for Bone a Fidos -- dog cookies that my Mom's dog loved.  This is a cookie book that belongs on every baker's shelf.

My church has a cookie sale every November to raise money for some ministry projects and it is my excuse to go a little crazy with baking cookies.  Most years I make between 50 and 150 dozen cookies for the sale.  At those numbers you can't get too fancy and I don't want the ingredients to cost more than they charge for a dozen cookies so I need some more basic recipes.  Icebox cookies -- where you make and chill cylinders of dough, then slice and bake -- are an efficient way to make a lot of cookies.  I can make the dough ahead of time then have a marathon baking session in the church's commercial kitchen.  So for my cookie sale baking, I rely on Taste of Home Cookies which has 620 recipes.  These are the kind of recipes your mother or neighbor would make and most have been submitted by readers of the Taste of Home magazine.  Unlike the lengthy and detailed recipes that Ms. Beranbaum writes, these are short and simple and measurements are given only by volume.  It gives me a lot of varieties of cookies to make for the sale and I usually work my way through the "slice & bake" section.  The recipe for Double Delights is a perpetual favorite.  You make a vanilla dough with chocolate chips and nuts and a chocolate dough with white chocolate chips and nuts then slice each cylinder in half lengthwise and put one half of each flavor together.  Yum!

OAT-RAGEOUS OATMEALS: Delicious & Surprising Plant-Based Dishes From This Humble, Heart-Healthy Grain

Who Knew Oatmeal Was So Versatile!

I love this book.  Kathy Hester takes a very practical approach and for every recipe she provides the reader with alternatives. If it calls for Pastry Flour, for example, you are given the alternative of a gluten free mix. And if you don't have a squash, she suggests looking in your pantry for that can of pumpkin you've got hanging around.

The first recipe that caught my eye was the one for making your own instant oatmeal. Ahhh. I'm so happy. My kids love instant oatmeal. Probably because it's so sweet. But here was a recipe I can totally get behind. One where I can use organic oats and only natural ingredients. Better yet, this recipe is so easy that my teen daughter makes it. Pulling together what she wants. I mean, Oats, Sugar, Stevia and a dash of salt. How easy.

The recipes are organized in a way that works for me. The first section is for DIY staples like the instant oatmeal I mentioned. What amazed me was how many ways oatmeal could be used that I hadn't considered; like biscuits, roti, gravy and even pepperoni crumbles that you can use on pizza. I thought these recipes were very clever.

The next set of recipes build on ones you might be familiar with. Pancakes, waffles, scones, and variations of breakfast and snack oatmeal like Lemon Raspberry 'Cheesecake' Oatmeal.

These warm weather oatmeals are followed by cool weather recipes, like smoothies and shakes.

The next section covers granolas and bars, the one after that soups and savory stews. After that you'll find recipes that cover lunch and dinner and even desserts and beverages. Who knew? There's Bourbon Oated Shortbread for example. Yum.

The final section delighted my daughter. She loves to make her own makeup and scrubs and this book had a number of recipes which she is trying.

And I should note finally that there is even one recipe for Fido and one for kitty: Peppermint Puppy Cookies and Catnip Kitty Treats.

There are things I look for in cookbooks. The first has to do with appearance. Because I'm old I need a font that is easy to read, and I also really like photos. OATRAGEOUS delivers. The pages are well laid out and nearly every recipe has a drool worthy color photo.

The other things I like are recipes that are versatile. Kathy Hester delivers there too. The basic idea behind these recipes are to use natural vegan ingredients, but she is constantly pointing out alternatives you can use. Enough so that I feel pretty confident in making my own switches.

Most of the ingredients in these recipes are ones you are probably not going to have a problem getting at the grocery store. The one item I know we don't have locally are Meyer Lemons. In fact, I've never heard of this variety. But in general we are talking regular spices and items like non-dairy milk, coconut oil, stevia, agave nectar and the like.

Martha Stewart Meets the Zpoc!

Latest on the Zombie Train is The Art of Eating Through the Zombie Apocalypse.

Imagine that the zombie apocalypse is upon us.  Brain eaters are decimating your neighborhood.  Food is getting scarce. Help isn't coming.  You've got to run.  In fact, your significant other has just turned and is coming right at you.

Before you light out the door, you grab the things you need to survive:  A strong knife.  Prescription meds.  A gun.  Some ammo.  Matches.  Mixing bowls.  A wire whisk.  Parchment paper.

That's right, parchment paper, mixing bowls and a wire whisk.  After all, while you're on the run from gnashing teeth, you just may need to prepare an intimate dinner party for six.

Aside from some missteps, this is actually a pretty good survival manual.  The authors teach you how to cook in the wild, with illustrations showing ways to make ovens.  You learn how to judge the heat of your oven when cooking.  How to survive on everything from Kelp to crickets.  And it's done with some humor and snark.

However, some of the recipes really won't work in the wild, unless you are that Martha Stewart type.  The instructions call for mixing bowls, parchment paper, baking sheets, etc. And I don't know about you, but in any sort of apoc situation, I'm using my booze for things other than French Toast - although the French Toast recipe is lovely.

Because of those missteps, the book misses its mark just a bit.  Is it a humorous look at post apoc survival?  A survival cooking manual?  Or a regular cookbook disguised as both?

It's hard to tell.

*ARC provided by Netgalley for review purposes.