An Old Fashioned Christmas Sweet Traditions For Hearth And Home

Celebrate the beauty and charm of the holidays with recipes for traditional food and drink, decorating ideas, and heartwarming stories With its trademark snow, piney forests, sleigh rides and woodsmoke curling out of village chimneys, New England was practically invented for the Christmas postcard. It’s got your Christmas goose and the maple syrup with which to glaze it. It’s most of the reason author Ellen Stimson made Vermont her home. Here she shares recipes that have been in her family for generations, mixes up a cocktail or two, and invites readers to make their own traditions.

Living the dream of the endless vacation “Anyone who has ever dreamed of leaving the city and taking their lives back to nature (and who hasn't?) will find much to contemplate in this warm and hilarious tale of rural misadventure and small town quirk, even if they have never chased a goat in a bathing suit or called 911 because there were cows in the road. Stimson's voice is endearing: both in its self-deprecation and its rapture, as she sings an only slightly conflicted love song to Vermont.” —Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted “Taking a plunge that wimpier sorts (i.e. most of us) only fantasize about, Ellen Stimson and her family packed up their house in St. Louis and threw themselves into a wildly different life in small-town Vermont. Armed with the passion-and haplessness-of wide-eyed newcomers they rescue goats and adopt chickens, do battle with skunks and bats and falling ice, and, most disastrously, buy a black hole of a general store. Through it all they manage to retain their love for their adopted home as well as one another. This is a tale to which all the cliché words absolutely apply: hilarious, heartwarming, rollicking, and, most of all, rich in the real stuff of life.” —Julia Reed, author of But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!

Describes Christmas celebrations from 1607 in Virginia through the Victorian era with descriptions of decorations, meals with many recipes, music, and other traditions from around the United States.

Originally published: Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press, 2013.

Home for Christmas -- Christmas almanac -- Collector's Christmas -- Festive feasting -- Holiday folk art -- Christmas traveler.

Some of our most cherished memories are of visits to Grandma's house...and the wonderful meals she cooked for us. When she called us down for breakfast, we knew there would be homemade caramel rolls and hot cocoa waiting, just for us. In chilly weather, there was always a hearty kettle of vegetable soup or chili simmering on her stove. At dinnertime, the table overflowed with tender chicken and noodles or slow-baked pot roast, buttery mashed potatoes, brown sugar carrots (because she knew we wouldn't eat them, otherwise!) and salads, fresh-picked from her garden. Her cookie jar was filled with our favorite snickerdoodles or chocolate chip cookies, and there was always a frosted layer cake in the cake stand. So many delicious memories! From Grandma's Recipe Box is chock-full of all these recipes and more, shared by cooks like you, handed down through generations and still enjoyed today. We've included easy tips for adding down-home flavor to meals, and for making get-togethers with family & friends special. If you enjoy old-fashioned comfort food, you'll love the recipes in this cookbook! 225 Recipes

Bring country magic to your home this holiday! Packed with easy-to-follow suggestions for furnishings, decorations, gifts, and cards, this tribute to an old-fashioned rural Noel sets a beautiful mood with four distinctive themes. Fire and Frost features the festive elegance of sparkling silver and gold. Comfort and Joy showcases bold and joyful Victoriana--including keepsake albums. Modern-day warmth suffuses Calm & Bright, with all the trimmings for a 21st-century Christmas. And, The Holly & the Ivy celebrates the season's natural pleasures. Plus: a directory with classic motifs!

"Aliki makes manners accessible to children through colorful cartoon-style illustrations designed to teach some of the basics....Her lively primer sparkles with examples....There's plenty to learn, plenty to look at, and plenty to share in a cleverbook that demonstrates the importance of manners while it makes learning them fun."--Booklist.