No holiday would be complete without the wonderful baked goods that make every occasion special. Now Beatrice Ojakangas, one of America's best-loved bakers, presents more than 250 recipes in this comprehensive soon-to-be classic. Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book takes you from spring to winter with 21 cherished holidays and the favorite baked treats that make them memorable. For Valentine's Day, say "I love you" with a heart-shaped coffee cake and a plate of Lemon Hearts. Celebrate the Fourth of July with all-American Blueberry Bars and seasonal Peach Cream Pie. For Halloween, treat your friends to Peanut Butter Monsters. Thanksgiving offerings include such autumn favorites as Cinnamon -- Wild Rice Pudding, Raisin -- Sweet Potato Bread, and Pumpkin-Pecan Pie. For Christmas, the biggest baking season of the year, Beatrice Ojakangas pulls out all the stops, including recipes for 38 classic and fancy cookies, 18 yeast breads, 13 quick breads, 9 cakes (with wonderful fruitcakes), 10 bar cookies and brownies, and more. In addition to simple recipes, Beatrice Ojaleangas' Great Holiday Baking Book is chockfull of boxes with helpful tips and explanations of the various cultural holidays. Beatrice Ojakangas provides information on throwing a cookie-swap party, organizing your bustling holiday kitchen, involving the kids in baking fun, and more. With breads, cookies, cakes, pastries, and other festive specialties for almost every occasion, Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book is destined to become one-of those beloved flour-speckled volumes that will find its way off the bookshelf and into the kitchen over and over again.
I reviewed the hardcover edition of this book, and my comments hold true for the paperback version, as well: Cons: I'm giving it 4 stars because there is not one single photo, or an illustration, in the entire book! Pictures or drawings would be tremendously helpful when it comes to shaping some of the breads in the book. Pros: This book contains delicious, including some hard-to-find recipes for every holiday throughout the year, including some I'd never heard of. There is a comprehensive Advent and Christmas section, with heavy emphasis on Scandinavian baked goods (for example, Norwegian Kransekake). Some of the holidays in the book are Hannukah, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, Valentine's Day, etc. The recipes include cookies, savory baked goods, breads, tarts, cakes, etc. The measurements are given in cups and teaspoons, not grams and mL, and the recipes are geared towards a home cook. The author includes several fruitcake recipes that were so delicious, my fruitcake-hating family insisted that I put them on the repeat list. A wonderful resource, and I'm glad I have it, despite the lack of photos or drawings.
Informative book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
Cons: I'm giving it 4 stars because there is not one single photo, or an illustration, in the entire book! Pictures or drawings would be tremendously helpful when it comes to shaping some of the breads in the book. Pros: This book contains delicious, including some hard-to-find recipes for every holiday throughout the year, including some I'd never heard of. There is a comprehensive Advent and Christmas section, with heavy emphasis on Scandinavian baked goods (for example, Norwegian Kransekake). The recipes include cookies, savory goods, breads, tarts, cakes, etc. The author includes several fruitcake recipes that were so delicious, my fruitcake-hating family insisted that I put them on the repeat list. A wonderful resource, and I'm glad I have it, despite the lack of photos or drawings.
Fantastic as always:)
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This book was a great reference for holiday baking, everything is covered, even April Fool's Day:) Beatrice Ojakangas is indeed one of the best cookbook writers today and it's the little touches that she puts into her books like the personal anecdotes and the invaluable tips that make her so. I highly recommend this book:)
Ojakangas is the Queen of Baking!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
This book is full of recipes themed by holiday. It is worth buying for the Chocolate Beer Cake alone! Ojakangas is the Queen of Baking, I have enjoyed all of her books, and this one is no different. I would love to spend a year baking each of the recipes in this book on the appropriate holiday. Please, bring this book back in print, my library has it on a 7-day checkout because it is a holiday book!
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