"visions of sugarplums: a collection of christmas cookery" review

i don't know what christmas traditions you have at your house, but it seems like a lot of our traditions around here get tied in with food.  we have to have hot chocolate when we watch rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer and when we decorate the tree.  we have to make cookies with frosting every year, whether they are sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies.  we have to make gift boxes with a variety of our favorite christmas treats.  we can't wait to sample mimi's cranberry-apple crumble at our tennessee christmas and grandma's egg casserole in michigan.

if food is an integral part of your christmas celebration, you might enjoy the christmas recipes found in the e-book, visions of sugarplums: a collection of christmas cookery.  i don't have much confidence in my cooking abilities but i am always happy to explore new recipes and try to find something that is not only simple to make but also has enough "wow" factor to be taken to the various parties and get-togethers that seem to go along with christmas.

if you download visions of sugarplums: a collection of christmas cookery from a dusty frame ($7), you will receive 64 pages of recipes that are both old and beloved ("puppy chow" is called "donkey chow" in this book) and new and tempting (there is a cranberry dip that has mustard in it that has me very, very curious!).my kids are very excited to sample the gingerbread waffles and i would like to add mediterranean meatballs to our meal rotation.  many of the recipes are ones that we have made in the past but it is nice now to have all our christmas favorites collected in one place, instead of trying to flip through all my various cookbooks trying to find which cookbook has the right recipe.

a few things i appreciate about this cookbook is that, for the most part, the recipes call for ingredients that i already have on hand or are not hard to find in grocery stores.  a big turn-off for me when i look at a cookbook is when i know i will have to search high and low throughout the grocery store for a particular ingredient and even then may come up empty-handed.  this is definitely not the case with the majority of the recipes in this cookbook.

another positive factor is the christmas quotes and activity ideas that lizzie has included throughout the pages of recipes and in a special section at the end of the book.  reading the quotes and thinking about ways to integrate traditions from around the world with my kids does as much to put me in a christmas frame of mind as mentally tasting the food in the recipes.

one caveat is that i think $7 is more money than i would like to spend for an e-book.  i am much more in favor of a book that i can carry right into the kitchen with me and keep on my cookbook shelf.  of course, the nice thing about an e-book is that if the kids spill vanilla all over my printed pages, i can very easily go print another copy!

if you are looking for something to add to your family's christmas celebration and some new traditions to introduce to your kids, visions of sugarplums: a collection of christmas cookery might be something for you to explore this holiday season.

this is a mamabuzz review.  i received a free copy of this e-book to download from a dusty frame.  i have in no other way been compensated for this review and the opinions expressed here are entirely my own.