Just in time for Christmas, Nigella Lawson has brought us a wonderful Christmas gift in her new cookbook Nigella Christmas. First I have to say this is a beautiful book. The photography is absolutely amazing. To tell you the truth I could just look at the pictures over and over again and be happy. They are bright and vibrant and there are so many of them and of all kinds of things, not only food. She has pictures of her table, of gifts, of herself and her kids and a lot of other little things. There is also a green ribbon marker to bookmark your place which I think is another really special touch.
Nigella is another favorite of mine. I find her to have a ‘real’ personality when I watch her on tv. In other words, I don’t feel she is acting her way through. I love how easy she seems in the kitchen and how un-fussy she is about things. I get a huge kick out of her night time visits to the fridge for a snack.
This cookbook certainly hasn’t disappointed me. As I said the pictures alone are amazing but the recipes are great too. Granted, most of this food is very holiday’ish and if you are anything like me and ate this rich food everyday, the hips would be continuing their outward journey. Really though, the majority of these recipes can be made at any time of the year, not just Christmas and any recipe can be altered with lower fat ingredients if you wish. This, however, is a Christmas cookbook and the season itself calls for indulgences. In the middle of the book she has a huge Main Event section that deals only with the Christmas meal. There is even a schedule on how she handles Christmas Eve and Day and also alternatives to the traditional turkey if you’re looking for that.
This cookbook reads like a novel. She has a great intro where she tells us of her own thoughts on the Christmas season and each recipe has a short section telling us about it which is really interesting. The book is in sections such as cocktails & canapes, stress free suppers (to help before the Main Event hits), baking, and one of my favorites-edible gifts. It’s always nice to receive a nice jar of vanilla sugar or a chutney wrapped up beautifully as a gift. All the recipes have make ahead tips and others with tips for freezing so if you were really organized you could really get yourself prepared early for Christmas and really be stress free which is Nigella’s goal throughout this book
I really love this cookbook and it would make such a great Christmas gift for the cook or aspiring cook on your list. It’s a beautiful book, full of great recipes to really get you into the Christmas spirit this year and every year. This book was released by Random House on November 11. You can also visit Nigella’s website here.
dar-
i was just online looking for christmas gifts..checking my blog and saw this post. my mom REALLY loves to cook. her favorite is giada delaurentiis, but she likes nigella, too. i think ill get this for her for christmas, i did not even know she had a new book out. im glad i stopped by your blog and found out!
-bandit
(hi to buddy, lol)
Great review, Dar. I always stop and watch Nigella if I see her on television!
1. Yum!
2. Missed you bunches! I thought I’d never make to through all those posts…lol! I still haven’t caught up completely, but will be tomorrow.
Dar–how are you getting all of these fabulous cookbooks!?! I’m not as familiar with Nigella, but I’ve seen her a few times on the food network.
Sounds good. I love cookbooks and themed cookbooks are the best!
OOOO Yummy!
Looks like a great cookbook! I’ll have to look for this one.
I love cookbooks and this one looks great. Of course, if I pick it up, I’ll actually have to do Christmas at my house.
This sounds like a great one to add to my collection. I love Nigella’s show. My favorite was when she got up for a late night snack of this rich french toast. Mmmm…
–Anna
Diary of an Eccentric
Bandit, glad you stopped by. This is such a beautiful cookbook. It’s a bit pricey but would make such a nice gift. Hi back at sweet little Bandit.
Mary, I love her show. We only get it on Saturdays or maybe its Sundays-I can never remember but I don’t miss it. I wish they’d get rid of some of the others they have on there and put her on more often.
J.Kaye, I’ve missed you too. It’s not the same when you’re not stopping by.
Trish, that’s the last of my cookbooks. They make me so hungry. I was looking through this one again last night and thinking about what I could eat. lol.
bermuda, I know you love cookbooks. I do like the themed ones too. I’m leaving this one out on the coffeetable for the rest of the season.
Wendy, I haven’t tried any of the recipes yet(too busy at this time of the year) but a few are bookmarked and there’s a couple I may even add to Christmas dinner this year.
Carol-lol. You sound like me with Christmas this year. Can a woman ever have enough cookbooks? I think not.
Anna, I always wait for the end of the show when she heads for the fridge. I can totally see her actually doing that too.
Do you do a lot of cooking? I really love to cook, but I am finding more and more that the quicker the meal, the better. We’ve recently “discovered” salmon (can you believe that I had never cooked it until a few weeks ago!!), and I love that I can marinade it for a while and then broil it for under 10 minutes.
Trish, I love to cook, just not bake. I’ve always had a knack for putting together meals out of whatever I have. I can’t believe you’ve only just discovered salmon. It’s one of my favorites. You should check out recipes for dill sauce for salmon-it’s fast and easy and a really yummy pairing to salmon. Salmon burgers are another fast and easy thing to whip up with either fresh or canned salmon. Ooooooooh, all this salmon talk is making me hungry.
It sounds like Nigella really outdid herself for this one. I love great pictures to go with the recipes too.
Thanks for the heads-up. I love Nigella and didn’t know she had a new book out! I agree, she seems like she’s just puttering around in her kitchen, chatting to a friend, rather than making “instructional” TV. 🙂
I love cookbooks that have a lot of extra commentary about the writer’s life and food and cooking and entertaining in general.
I really like (and need!) do-ahead instructions for recipes, so it’s great this book has that!
Shana
Literarily
I’ve never seen her show but now I’m off to find some clips online!
I love any book with a built-in ribbon bookmark, it’s such a nice touch!
After the new year I’m going to weed out some of my old cookbooks and make room for some new ones I’ve discovered thru reviews!
sounds like a great cookbook!
great review 😉
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
This book sounds like a perfect gift for my niece. With no formal training, she’s been working for a small cafe for two years and loves, loves, loves to cook! I’ve already got her a cookbook for this Christmas but I’ll keep my eye out for this one for next year. Thanks for the review, Dar. 🙂
OHhhhhh! I love Nigella! I would love to get my hands on this book 🙂 Thanks for the review for sure.
Yummmmmy!
Dar, This looks great!! I am so behind in my google reader…sorry I haven’t been by to comment!
Dar, I thought of you this morning. I was at my club on the treadmill when Nigella came on (yes, I watch the Food Network when I work out, lol). They had back-to-back Nigella Christmas shows from recent years – at least from 7-8:00. I was craving ribs by the time I hopped off the tm. The final shot of the first show had her selecting a book from a shelf – Dickens I think. She opens the book and there’s a cut-out about 2 inches deep where she pulls out a chocolate. She must have made them before I started watching the show. Too funny : )
All cook books have really good looking women gracing their covers innit?! 🙂
sounds good:)
Janel, that was the favorite part of this cookbook for me-the pictures are beautiful.
bookoholic-exactly-she just seems so natural and she doesn’t try to be perfect-she’s just puttering in the kitchen.
Shana, I like the do ahead stuff too. Now if I could only train myself to actually do that and have the stuff in the freezer ready to go. lol.
Tink, did you find any clips of Nigella? If you did, what did you think of her?
Dawn, I agree. The ribbon just made it a bit more special I think. I too need to go through my old cookbooks and donate them to the library to make room for the new ones.
Naida, thanks:)
Wanda, that’s great about your neice. I love to cook. Had I started earlier I would have liked to maybe work in that field. Cookbooks make such a great gift for that cook in the family, don’t they.
Bethany, you too hey. She’s great. I just wish she was on tv more often.
Bonnie, I just got caught up more or less today, now I have to catch up on email.
Mary, lol. I saw that show you’re talking about yesterday. Those ribs looked sooooooooooooo good. I loved when she opened the book and took out the chocolate-that was too funny.
Veens, yes they do usually look pretty good, don’t they. Of course they have the benefit of having someone make them look that good too.