I love the aesthetic of this book! The recipes are mouthwatering, the pictures are stunning, and I love the feeling of warmness it exudes.

It had some beautiful pictures that were perfectly staged though in my opinion it gave it a less of a home made feel. Some of the recipes required some skill and were clearly for regular entertainers. I was hoping for more tips on hosting a holiday party and some easier recipes. Truthfully I can't see myself making a recipe from this book. This book caters more to a European audience or a professional chef. It didn't feel like a holiday cookbook to me and was missing those warm touches that bring Christmas to my mind.

Beautifully photographed, though some of the recipes are a little fussy for me, but they look and sound delicious. I love the addition of the scenic photos. Simply stunning.

Home Made Christmas by Yvette Van Boven is a lushly illustrated book filled with plenty of vintage graphics making her book a wonderful Christmas gift for someone special. You will find plenty of recipes, planning and party ideas. The only drawback of her book is the mention of sloe berries (with no explanation of what a sloe berry is which could be confusing to some cooks like me) and the use of presumed fresh holly leaves to decorate foodstuffs. Holly leaves are toxic, according to Wikipedia. This is the reason why I am giving her book a four star rating. Some of the recipes you'll find in her cookbook include:

Sloe Gin (uses the aforementioned sloe berries)
Pine Syrup (gives brief information on how to select pine branches versuses yew branches)
Spicy-Sweet Cinnamon Nuts
Smoked Chicken Salad with Grapes & Parmesan-Tarragon Dressing
Pork Rib Roast with Prune & Pear Sauce
Broccoli Pot Pies
Pavlova Trifle with Poached Pears
Blood Orange-Meringue Tartlets
Chocolate-Caramel Pie

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

Beautifully put together and full of useful tips and great, original recipes. This book will really help you plan for a holiday with visitors, or a small family celebration. Holiday stress relief tips, a schedule to help plan ahead and set menus are included.

The photos in this book are beautiful and so perfect and really set the tone nicely for the book. There are meat recipes in here and I don't eat meat, but there are A LOT of vegetarian soup and salad recipes that look delicious like a Warm Bean Salad with Cashew and Kale Pesto and Oven Roasted Beets Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Dates and Celery.  And, of course, the dessert recipes were all vegetarian.  I didn't see any unfamiliar or exotic ingredients - I get turned off by ingredients that I have never heard of or are hard to find or you can only get online and shipping is ridiculous and you have never heard of this ingredient so should you even bother?  This cookbook had interesting recipes that used ingredients found in most grocery stores.

This book is just up my alley. I love making homemade gifts for family and friends for the holidays. I am always looking for new ideas of things to make. This book includes several handy list of tips to make the holidays stress free and also a timeline of a party. Recipes have pictures included and use a wide variety of ingredients. Recipes for making some kitchen staples like beef and chicken stocks. List of special menu options as well.

A wonderful, festive addition to this series :c)

My review has been posted to my blog & Goodreads.

Review has also been tweeted as usual.

Thank you! :c)

This charming cookbook capitalizes of van Boven's dual Dutch & British background with recipes for every part of Christmas from breakfast to dessert.

Profusely illustrated there are pictures of every recipe and charming two-page hand-drawn illustrations starting each chapter. Throughout the book there are full-page photos of wintry scenes, dogs, and the author adding to the holiday feel.

The recipes look delicious and are thoughtfully presented. Every one includes both English and metric measurements for all ingredients so cooks everywhere will be able to use them. While holiday cooking is the theme and there are plenty of complex and show-stopping recipes, many will make fine winter family meals.

i also really liked that vegetarians were not either ignored or singled out in the book. Many, many of the recipes in the side dishes chapter are substantial enough to be main dishes while still making festive side dishes for a feast.

it's clearly a winning cookbook.

This is the first time I have heard this of Yvette van Boven. I love cookery books and especially Christmas cookery books and books about all the preparation needed for Christmas. This book is beautifully laid out. I loved pouring over it again and again. I will definitely be buying this book. I know a few of friends will really appreciate this book as a Christmas present. I have a few recipes already earmarked to try. The parsnip apple soup with curry and the pork rib roast with pear and prune sauce will definitely be tried. I really like the idea of making my own cranberry compote as well. This is a beautiful treasure of a book. It has felt like a privilege to receive a copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.