Christmas magazines of note

Recently, I thinned out the stacks of magazines which had taken over my craft room. Coming across so many old Christmas magazines certainly helped put the brakes on my desire to add any new ones this year and, after all, how many trifle recipes does a girl really need? So I have developed quite a bit of restraint in the magazine acquisition department this year, but I did acquire two new food magazines, and only two, which I find worthy of a mention here. First is a British magazine I found at Barnes and Noble, the Best-ever Christmas Cookbook from the U.K. version of Good Housekeeping. From soups and salads to food gifts and cakes galore, this magazine is brimming with entire meals I'd love to make. The magazine is beautifully organized, even pulling together menus ranging from Tasty Treats for Carol Singers to a Vegetarian Christmas Lunch, a New Year's Eve Supper and an Anytime Tea.

The Tea Time feature, of course, is what closed the deal for me! It includes gorgeous treats such as Traditional Christmas Stollen, Creole Christmas Cake and a tower of Mini Meringues that will have you drooling.

One fun tip I learned: Use bay leaves and frozen cranberries to represent holly and berries on a white cake. Now why didn't I think of that?

The photography in this magazine is exceptionally nice, and those of us bloggers who aim to better style our food photos will find much to admire, like this great photo of Turkish Delight.

The other Christmas food magazine I like this year is the December issue of Food Network magazine. I especially enjoy the small inserted booklets they feature. This issue, the booklet is titled "50 Muffins," and I found it a good sign when #2 on the list is an Earl Grey muffin! There's also a nice piece on "Mix & Match Truffles" which I may try when whipping up my Christmas food gifts this year.

Have you purchased any good Christmas magazines this year? I'd love to know what you're reading!