Farmhouse Christmas is certainly a beautiful book. It is festive from endpaper to
endpaper, filled with the cozy, homespun aesthetic you would expect from its
title. The photography is lovely, and there are plenty of recipes that made me
want to head straight into the kitchen. But I have to admit that the book
wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and that left me a little disappointed. 
The publisher describes the book as containing more than 70
recipes along with 12 holiday crafts and gifts, and that balance is important
to know going in. I had expected something closer to an equal partnership
between recipes and crafts. Instead, this is overwhelmingly a cookbook, with
the crafts functioning more as a small bonus. If you’re picking this up
primarily for Christmas crafting and decorating inspiration, you may find
yourself wishing there were considerably more of it.
My other disappointment was the crafts themselves. I didn’t find
much that felt particularly fresh or inventive. There are some perfectly
pleasant ideas here, but after looking at Christmas crafts for as many years as
I have, I was hoping for a few of those Why didn't I think of that? moments. I never quite got them. Fortunately, the recipes go a long way toward redeeming that
part of the book. 
There are recipes here to take you from breakfast through
dinner, cocktail hour and dessert, and the photographs make everything look
especially inviting. Some of the recipes are familiar territory, but I was
pleasantly surprised by how many were new to me. And considering how many
cookbooks I review and how many recipes I encounter, coming across something I
haven’t seen before is no small accomplishment. Kudos for that. 
Best of all, most of the recipes look wonderfully approachable.
You don’t need to be an accomplished cook to tackle them, which makes this a
particularly accessible holiday cookbook.Several recipes have already made their way onto my must-try list. I’m especially intrigued by the Chewy Chocolate Meringues, Sugared Gingerbread Muffins, and Kale Salad with Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette. Yes, I have apparently reached the stage of life where I voluntarily put kale on my Christmas menu. Stranger things have happened.
The section devoted to appetizers and party food for New Year’s
Eve is another highlight for me. I like being able to open a cookbook to a
particular holiday and find a collection of recipes that works for that
occasion rather than having to hunt through the entire book. The Baked Cheese and Sweet Onion Dip and
Cranberry Salsa with Cream Cheese are both calling my name.I’ve also recently become a convert to sun-dried tomatoes, so the Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Cheese Spread caught my attention. And then there’s the Spanish Meatballs with Tomato Sauce. I thought I had encountered pretty much every meatball variation known to mankind, but this one was new to me, and I’m eager to give it a try.
And the drinks! The Caramel Apple Cider sounds like exactly what I want on a cold winter afternoon. I can already see myself making a batch, and perhaps adding a shot of applejack to my glass. For medicinal purposes, naturally.
So, where does that leave me?
I like Farmhouse Christmas. I just don’t love it as much as I expected to.Perhaps that is partly because I had built the book up in my mind during those months of waiting. I was expecting a generous dose of Christmas crafting, along with recipes, decorating ideas and the sort of fresh inspiration that makes you want to drag out the glue gun and immediately start making something. Instead, I found a very pretty, very approachable holiday cookbook with a small collection of crafts tucked inside.
There is another consideration for longtime
followers of Melissa Bahen, who is the creator of the Lulu the Baker
website. Many of the recipes and projects in Farmhouse Christmas have
appeared on her website, so readers already familiar with her work may find
less that feels entirely new. That doesn’t make this a bad book. It simply makes it a
different book from the one I thought I was getting.If you’re looking for an attractive, approachable Christmas cookbook filled with festive recipes, Farmhouse Christmas has plenty to offer. If you’re buying it primarily because you’re hoping for a craft-filled Christmas extravaganza, I’d temper those expectations. For me, it’s a good book that I expected to be a great one. And perhaps that’s the most disappointing part of all.
My Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 stars)
Those interested can order a copy here.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment