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From December 1 through the New Year, Jane Hopping’s anecdotes of rural life and wonderful recipes evoke the feasts and celebrations that enliven the most joyful time of the year. Includes complete menus, baked goods and desserts. Photos and line drawings.

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Review

A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts is a heartfelt book of inspirational stories, fun family traditions, yummy recipes and so much more! This book is the perfect holiday gift for that very special someone on your list, a gift they will treasure for a lifetime. –Dahlynn McKowen, Co-author Chicken Soup for the Soul series

Christmas traditions are a joy for most families. You’ll find that A Scrapbook of Christmas First will become a blessing for your home as you share its treasures year after year. –Gary Foreman, The Dollar Stretcher Web site and newsletter

The Word Quilters behind A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts understand that we can’t create Christmas. However, we can create space for Christ to share Himself with us as we celebrate His birth. The stories, recipes and various activities are invitations to experience the love, joy and wonder of the season with family, friends, strangers and most of all, Jesus. Don’t wait for someone you love to put this book on their Christmas list. Give them a copy before Advent begins. And while you’re at it, buy yourself a copy too! –Lynne Ford Christian Radio Talk Show Host/Producer

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Is your December cluttered? Does Christmas leave you fretting instead of singing quot;Joy to the Worldquot;? In A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, discover how to bring harmony to this busy month. Tips for family traditions, connecting generations, children, gift giving, how to grow myrrh and much more. Try the scrumptious quot;Cookie Canisterquot; recipes. Read about families who experienced Christmas firsts. This is a book to help you un-complicate Christmas, rediscover the real source of joy and usher in the celebration of faith, family and a Savior. This book is written by six well-known authors: Cathy Messecar, Trish Berg, Terra Hangen, Brenda Nixon, Karen Robbins and Leslie Wilson. Trish Berg is a national speaker and author. She has been a featured speaker for MOPS International and Hearts at Home and interviewed on ABC, Focus on the Family and Midday Connection. Trish lives in Ohio with her husband, Mike and their four children. Terra Hangen’s articles appear in dozens of magazines on subjects including Bible gardening, penguins, flowers and herbs, bicycle soldiers and prayer. A contributing author to Rainy Day Book and the garden columnist for Positively-Feminine.org, she and her husband live in coastal California, where she enjoys gardening while her cats nap in the sun. Cathy Messecar is a newspaper columnist, author of The Stained Glass Pickup and speaker. She lives on Leaning Tree Acres Farm with her husband, David, in Montgomery, Texas. Brenda Nixon, M.A.as the former parenting expert for Kansas City’s Fox4 Noon News, she speaks to issues affecting today’s families, helping parents and professionals understand child development and parenting issues. She is the author of The Birth to Five Book: Confident Childrearing Right from the Start, a speaker, media personality and educator. Karen Robbins, freelance writer and speaker, is also a world traveler, SCUBA diver, Mother of five and the grandmother of six. She writes regularly for Positively Feminine.org and Lake Erie Living Magazine and has contributed to several compilation books. Karen lives with her husband, Bob, in Independence, Ohio. Leslie Wilson pens a weekly humor column, Reality Motherhood and makes thousands laugh each year through Hearts at Home, MOPS and Early Childhood PTAs. She’s a contributing author to the Groovy Chicks Road Trip series, Chicken Soup for the Mother of Preschoolers Soul and dozens of parenting magazines.

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Over 100 brand-new recipes offer options galore for casual gatherings with menus for a Holiday Open House, a Family Celebration, an Elf Party for the kids, and a Cozy Christmas Eve Dinner for two. Top Chicken & Turkey recipes provide new choices for the classic holiday entrée; Choosing Sides rounds out the meal with veggie dishes that feature a fresh twist on traditional fare. Cake Mix Magic shares the secret to preparing easy desserts with eight designed-to-impress cakes that start with a mix.

Big Fat Cookies will wow friends, family, and everyone on the gift list with 10 filled, frosted, and seriously oversized treats that bring out the child in everyone. Add to that 15 more recipes for sweet gifts from the kitchen and six pages of do-it-yourself gifts, and suddenly gift shopping becomes fun, not frantic.

Big, colorful photos inspire charming Christmas accents for every room in the house. Whether it’s a garden-themed front porch setting or a simple sideboard arrangement, this book’s updated decorating approach is easy, inexpensive, and fun. From a make-it-in-minutes table runner to centerpiece containers made from tin cans, the results are amazingly appealing.



About the Author
For over 40 years, Southern Living magazine has delivered definitive Southern cuisine to its readers, making it one of the most trusted recipe sources in the country that reaches over 16 million readers monthly. With the magazine’s “Home for the Holidays” special section each November, the “Christmas All through the House” bonus section each December, and heavy holiday emphasis throughout the main magazine, Southern Living has come to be known as a Christmas expert.

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Come and spend some time with us, making memories! In Homespun Christmas, we bring you some of our very best recipes…cranberry chicken, sweet potato bake, eggnog bread, merry berry sour cream cake, chocolate snowball truffles and apple-pecan upside-down pie. Filled with memories, heartfelt gifts to give and beautiful line illustrations. (9-1/4″ x 6-1/2″)

About the Author

Gooseberry Patch was created by Jo Ann Martin & Vickie Hutchins 15 years ago. “A Country Store in your Mailbox” is a mail-order catalog of over 400 items including Santas, cookie cutters, memory candles, nostalgic holiday decorations and original cookbooks filled with treasured recipes, decorating ideas and simple how-to’s.

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Who doesn’t dream of a more relaxed, less frantic Christmas season? Everyone wants to avoid last-minute preparations, a sense of rush and flurried planning. For all of the holiday-challenged, there is a better way. Good Housekeeping Christmas Joys offers not only delicious recipes and beautiful decorating and craft ideas but also strategies for a relaxing holiday — with time to enjoy the season. There are presentation ideas to make a home especially inviting: a spice tree, an acorn wreath, cinnamon candles, hand-painted angels. And the recipes are mouthwatering: smoked salmon boats, Christmas quesadillas, the perfect roast turkey, and, of course, lots of Christmas cookie recipes.

Along with great recipes and decorations that will make any home look great for the holidays, Good Housekeeping Christmas Joys includes practical tips for holiday safety — caring for the Christmas tree, safe ways to use candles in the home, and how to check electrical outlets.

Christmas should be a joy — and with this book, it will be!

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Review

‘If you would like to set about making your own (untroubled) Christmas memories, the eminently collectible Christmas Sweets is a good place to start. This delectable keepsake from Chronicle Books contains recipes, decorations, and gift ideas concocted by Georgeanne Brennan, photographed by Richard G. Jung, and artfully brought together by Jennifer Barry. Ms. Brennan’s recipes inject reality into the fantasy of the season.’The New York Times, Dec. 16, 2007

‘Ms. Brennan’s recipes inject reality into the fantasy of the season. ‘Many people do not like the bright red, green and yellow candied or glaceed fruits found in fruitcake,’ she wrote. Her updated recipe for Bite-Sized Dark Rum Fruitcakes replaces the citron with dried apricots, dates, currants and raisins: problem solved.’&mdashThe New York Times, December 16, 2008

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Christmas Sweets transforms the holiday table into a winter wonderland! From boxes of homemade candy brimming with Chocolate Fudge or Almond-Butter Toffee to cookie jars filled with Pecan Lace Cookies or Apricot-Pistachio Bars, this collection of recipes and decorations will make gift-giving extra sweet this year. Beautifully illustrated with gorgeous color photography, each festive project celebrates the season and offers inspiring craft ideas using sweets both homemade and store bought. Holiday guests will delight in stealing a treat from a Candy Wreath and getting caught under the Candy Acorn Kissing Ball. With homemade gingerbread confections presented in a spectacular, wintry Gingerbread Cookie Box, Santa will never settle for cookies again.

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Quack Up Your Holidays!

Are you longing for the festive twinkling of holiday lights but yours are tangled and on the blink? Ready to wrap your Christmas gifts but can’t remember where you hid them? Would you like to get your friends together for a holiday open house but don’t know when you’d find the time or what you’d serve them? Relax. Or, as Jeanne Bice, founder of The Quacker Factory says, “Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle!”

Jeanne Bice, known to millions of fans as “the Head Quack” of the clothing line, The Quacker Factory, and designer-crafter extraordinaire, is here to show you how to make your home fittingly festive without the fuss. With the home-spun charm that has made her one of QVC’s most popular on-air guests, she will help you add sparkle to your season, whether you’ve been hosting holidays for years or don’t know which end of the turkey is up.

If you’re looking for appetizers that break the ice without breaking your back, are stuck on what to make for the holiday bake sale (again!), searching for the perfect gift while avoiding the mad rush at the mall, or just wanting to add more joy to your season, Jeanne has the advice and inspiration.

In addition to over a hundred family-favorite recipes, she shares simple Quacker-style decorating ideas along with complete menus for hosting themed parties, including a Crock-Pot Caroling Party, a Trim-a-Tree Party, a Cookie Exchange, and a Christmas Dinner Extraordinaire. From her never-fail no-lumps gravy and outrageous stuffing to original twists on old stand-bys like sweet potato casserole and corn cheese bake, you’ll be ready to entertain with poise and pizzazz.

With charming artwork and stunning photography, this all-in-one guide gives you everything you need to create fabulous holiday gatherings and the magical memories that go with them.

About the Author

Jeanne Bice is the funny, warm and vivacious self-made success of the Quacker Factory. When she began selling her clothes on QVC in 1996, she barely had two pennies to rub together. When she made her TV debut, she sold out her entire inventory in minutes and has since become one of QVC’s most popular guests. She has appeared on Good Morning America and ABC News, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and others. Having relocated from Wisconsin to south Florida, she is a living example that you truly can create a traditional white Christmas even if you’re surrounded by palm trees and 80 degree weather.

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Revised & Expanded
Includes Scandinavian, Czech, Polish, German, Italian, Scottish, & Moravian Christmas traditions. In this Christmas smorgasbord, two dozen Midwest writers, natives or residents tell what Christmas has meant to them from pioneer days to the present.
Perfect bound, 9×6″

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Stories to inspire, crafts to decorate the home, gingerbread houses of all sorts to bake, and drinks to bring cheer to all who come by: these are just some of the ways to make Christmas very, very merry, and more than 500 of them are beautifully collected right here. How will you celebrate? Perhaps the traditional American style seems most appealing: then make a Tole Painted Nativity, whip up some delicious Hot Buttered Rum, and read “The Night Before Christmas” aloud. For a classic Victorian holiday, sing “Deck the Halls,” place a charming Violin and Cherub wreath on the door, and sip some mulled wine. Or choose the Country, Southwestern (a little salsa verde, anyone?), International, or fun-filled Not-Quite-Grown-Up style.

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“Tis the season for holiday cooking and festive foods. In Treasury of Christmas, you’ll find over 750 recipes dedicated to fine feasting and Christmas cheer, all from your favorite brand name companies.