These books will help you get through Christmas

Putting a Christmas menu on the table can come with a lot of stress. Grocery shopping, taking your guests’ allergies into account, and you haven’t even started cooking yet. These books will help you get started on cooking a festive feast.

Home Sweet Home Xmas – Yvette van Boven
Yvette shows you how to put Christmas on the table with an Irish twist. From classic little mince pies to stuffed porchetta and a pavlova trifle with poached pears. She also takes you through the process, from making lists to setting the table, and explains what you can do a few days in advance. A foolproof Christmas celebration lies in your future if you buy this book.

Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook
All the classics are in this book. A whole turkey, for example, as well as the turkey risotto you make the next day with the leftovers. But if you want to venture off the beaten Christmas track, it also includes a fantastic rice salad with pork and vegan gravy. Or a pavlova with poached pears, chocolate, mulled wine and cream for dessert. Yum.

Feasts – Sabrina Ghayour
You may know Sabrina from her earlier bestselling books Persiana and Sirocco. Her latest book is packed with festive meals with a Middle Eastern twist. From jumbo prawns with tomato, dill and fenugreek to beer-roasted pork shoulder with crispy crackling. For dessert, make blondies with cardamom and macadamias.

Food for Friends – Eva Posthuma de Boer
How do you put together a good menu, which flavours go well together, how do you keep the whole thing from becoming too heavy, and above all: how do you plan it all so that you aren’t left sweating over the stove all evening? Food for Friends gives you thirteen three-course menus and all the tips you need to get through the evening without even a hint of stress.

Always a Celebration – Janneke Vreugdenhil
According to Janneke Vreugdenhil, it’s always a celebration, which is why this book is filled not only with Christmas recipes, but also recipes for Easter, an autumnal mussel feast, and even Skirt Day and Animal Day. You’ll immediately feel like cooking your way through it.

Not in the mood to cook yourself at all? These restaurants are open this year at Christmas.