A glorious way to celebrate Christmas. –New York Times

Throughout her distinguished career, Elizabeth David wrote and collected many articles about Christmas food. She put together a file of these articles, recipes, and notes, and even wrote an introduction, intending to publish them as a book. It never appeared, and after her death in 1992, her literary executor Jill Norman found the box with all this material. She put the pieces together as Elizabeth intended, and we now have her Christmas edited for the American reader, ready to guide us through this daunting festive season with good food and high spirits–and our humor intact.

Beautifully written, this edition contains around 150 recipes together with other writings that over the years Ms. David found interesting and helpful. Feeding friends and family for Christmas can be stressful, and this book is intended to help busy cooks plan ahead and enjoy Christmas as much as their guests. The classics are all here: turkey (of course), but also goose; stuffings; sauces; mince pies; and Christmas puddings. For the armchair cook, the text also provides information as well as diversion: here are the actual traditions of Christmases past, as well as descriptions of the yuletide in other countries. In other words, a feast for mind, chef, and table.