Member Reviews
This is a wonderful cookbook! There are recipes from my favorite holiday movies and was great to go through each page to see what movie went with what recipe. I will give more of these as gifts. It’s perfect for the whimsical cook!
Almost everyone has a favorite Christmas movie; and in most Christmas movies, there is plenty of food and drink. Anyone who wants to make their Christmas more festive while watching Christmas movies, will want to pick up The Christmas Movie Cookbook: Recipes from Your Favorite Holiday Films
Besides fun and enticing recipes from favorite Christmas movies, Rutland has included entertaining tips as well as menu suggestions. Most of the recipes are fairly quick and easy, and are written in the traditional manner – ingredients listed first with step-by-step instructions following - making them easy-to-follow for everyone, whether beginning or advanced cooks. There are beautiful photographs of most of the dishes, which helps cooks decide what to cook next.
The ingredients are available at any mainstream grocery store – nothing fancy or hard to find - and most of the recipes call for ingredients that we have on our pantry shelves or freezers now, so we can avoid a trip to the store. There are also several suggested holiday menus that will bring the dishes together for get-togethers and parties that can be enjoyed by families and friends.
While this isn’t an all-purpose cookbook, it’s a good holiday cookbook and would make a good gift for someone who cooks or someone who watches and enjoys a lot of Christmas movies. It’s a good addition for any cookbook collection.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.
"The Christmas Movie Cookbook" by Julia Rutland is a must-have for all holiday movie enthusiasts. With 65 mouthwatering recipes inspired by classic Christmas films, this book is the perfect addition to any holiday gathering. From Old Fashioned Meatloaf inspired by A Christmas Story to Really Rich Hot Chocolate from Polar Express, this cookbook offers a diverse range of dishes to choose from.
Not only does the cookbook provide recipe inspiration, but it also includes tips on entertaining and menu ideas for your holiday gatherings. The book is organized in a way that makes it easy to find the perfect dish for any occasion, whether you're hosting a family dinner or a holiday movie night. The recipes are easy to follow, making it simple for even novice cooks to impress their guests.
"The Christmas Movie Cookbook" is a delightful and fun way to bring the magic of holiday films to life through food. Whether you're a die-hard fan of Elf, A Christmas Carol, or How the Grinch Stole Christmas, this book is sure to add an extra touch of joy to your holiday season. So, gather your friends, family, and ingredients, and let the festive feast begin!
Thank you to Julia Rutland, Simon Element, S&S/Simon Element, and Netgalley for this Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of The Christmas Movie Cookbook for an honest review.
I love this time of the year and getting to share some upbeat, out-of-left-field holiday sparks with my kids, and that's definitely this! There are recipes from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Christmas Carol, Polar Express, It’s a Wonderful Life, Die Hard, Home Alone, A Bad Moms Christmas, Last Christmas, Serendipity, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, (one of my go-to favorite annual watch's) The Family Stone, and so so so so many more.
If you love going all out in the kitchen and are up for making tribute dishes to all your favorite dishes, this is absolutely for you. There are morning dishes and main course meals, drinks, and desserts of all assort.
This is such a fun cookbook concept! I didn’t realize how much food was in Christmas movie until now.
All your favorites are here: Polar Express hot chocolate, Shrek pigs in a blanket, the Grinch’s roast beast, and Buddy the Elf’s spaghetti!
The recipes are very good, and there are pictures for most of them.. 5 stars.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.
I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through this title where recipes are paired with familiar (and sometimes less familiar) Christmas movies. Beyond each dish having a link to a Christmas movie, the author provides entire menu pairings that can make your next family night or gathering a hit.
I am eagerly anticipating making a few of the dishes.
I'd usually approach a cookbook with a holiday theme, especially a Christmas theme, with some trepidation. It's too easy to pay lip service to the holiday and either wholesale recipes from other cookbooks or give recipes that give the holiday cook some severe pause. Happily, The Christmas Movie Cookbook avoids both pitfalls and provides recipes that are both delicious and reminiscent of each movie.
I love the Christmas Movie Cookbook and will be buying it as gifts this holiday season. Great recipes for the holidays accompanied by holiday movie synopses. The hot chocolate recipe is decadent and I will be trying the Rosemary Bees Knees cocktail next. Very enjoyable cookbook.
I absolutely adore this tribute to Christmas movies in cookbook form! The author's inclusion of nontraditional films like "Anna and the Apocalypse," "Little Women," "Krampus," and "Lethal Weapon" makes it even more fun - and hello, "Holiday in the Wild!" There's literally something here for everyone. Each recipe has a sidebar blurb about the the film that inspired it, and the food photography is festive and plentiful. I especially liked the addition of sample holiday menus and entertaining tips, and with the exception of a few holiday-specific dishes Buche de Noel, these recipes are evergreen (pardon the pun) and able to be enjoyed year-round. A must-have for Christmas culinarians, holiday film fans, theme nights, and anyone who's hosting family or friends during the season. It would make a great host/hostess gift as well! Pro tip: whip up one of the yummy beverages, like Spiked Spiced Cider or Mocha Martini, to enjoy while cooking or baking.
I received a digital galley of this book in exchange for an honest review, and loved this one so much that I plan to purchase a hardcover for my permanent collection.
The Christmas Movie Cookbook by Julia Rutland
If you know me you know that Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday so I was beyond excited to have the opportunity to review this book! I loved the recipes and I loved the party menu ideas in the beginning of the book! I can't wait for it to get closer to Christmas so I can try out the menus at a Christmas movie watching party. I also appreciated that it had recipes from Christmas movies that I haven't heard of so I was able to add more movies to my Christmas movie list. My favorite recipes that I tried making were the Hot Chocolate from the Polar Express and the Chicken Pot Pie from Joyeux Noel. The Pigs in a Blanket from Shrek the Halls were also a favorite at my house and I'm looking forward to making them for Super Bowl Sunday.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon Element for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
A fun cookbook that identifies Christmas movies and a recipe to go with the movie. It's interesting to see how many of the movies I've actually seen. It tempting to throw a movie theme party with a recipe to complement
I'm a lover of movies as sell cookies so this cookbook was truly a delight for me. Every year at the beginning if December I pull out all my Christmas movies and watch them throughout the month ending with A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve. I've never thought about having a party by choosing a movie for the theme and taking it from there but after reading this cookbook I look forward to just that. In the beginning you get a set of tips that range from choosing a menu, the diets of your guest, to picking a theme. It's a fantastic check list that will help anyone planning such a party be able to make arrangements from start to finish. I can't read a new cookbook without at least trying a few recipes so I picked out a few that interested me. The first recipe I tried was the Guacamole-Stuffed Eggs from Rise of the Guardians. I make Deviled Eggs often so I like to try new versions all the time. It was easy to make and if you enjoy guacamole this is a recipe for you. Next I made Marinara Sauce from Elf for my spaghetti. I love the movie and the sauce turned out well so I'll definitely be making it again. Being from the south I love ham so I made the Hickory Honey Ham from Christmas with the Kranks. This was a keeper recipe, the ham was quite tasty. I look forward to trying more recipes from other movies I love and to watching some movies I haven't seen.and then making those recipes!
This cookbook is AMAZING!! All the recipes have beautiful pictures that are Christmas themed, it's just gorgeous! Recipes are approachable with ingredients you'll find anywhere. As someone who loves Christmas and cookbooks this is a beautiful pairing. I really enjoy that the recipes come from all kinds of Christmas movies not just the "big names"- it makes the book much more fun. It includes some recipes from things like Shrek the halls and Nightmare before Christmas which gives some fun recipes that you can cook with your kids during the holiday season!
This has been one of the funnest and most entertaining cookbooks I have read up until now. Not only does it give you tasty recipes for your holiday season but also provides a holiday movie to read about for each one. A lot of them I had heard of and was taken down a memory lane trip but was interesting to find some I had never heard of and look forward to finding this coming seasons holidays and trying out the recipe to go along with them.
It also provides you with tips for throwing the best holiday get togethers you can like setting up your music list or how to arrange seating for any kind of party and lots more great tidbits you can mark off your checklist as you go.
Some of my favorites were... The Salted Caramel & Fudge Milkshake, The Orange Cinnamon Rolls, and The Burgermeister's Perfect Burger.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy for my honest review.
Festive and charming.
A handy cookbook that pairs movies with yummy recipes, drinks and perfectly sets the mood.
This book sets the mood for both movies and food and is well laid out with tidbits of the movies and puts a plan into place. From music, to mood, to food, I liked the combining of celbration with food and entertainment.
Recommend. Now let me go make some Yorkshire Pudding (from Love Actually).
LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. It is a perfect pairing of food and movies. The recipes are amazing. I plan on having some friends over and making something and watching the movie while eating. I love the layout of the book and how it lists a movie and gives a brief description and then a recipe. The pictures of the food made me drool, they looked absolutely amazing! Highly recommend this to anyone who is a foodie and a Christmas movie lover.
What impressed me most was the wide and varied range of Christmas movies cited! Some of the recipes had only the most tangential connection to the movie they were listed with (a character attended a meal that included mashed potatoes, for example) but it was still a fun read. There were attractive pictures for most of the recipes and the ingredient lists and instructions were clear and easy to follow.
This would be a nice gift for movie buffs and people who really get into Christmas. It also makes a very useful and appealing "general" gift for when you need to find something for your uncle's new girlfriend, the office gift swap, etc. Almost anyone can connect to this and find it enjoyable.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
The Christmas Movie Cookbook is a festive premise as watching Christmas movies and baking for the holiday get-togethers are almost an obsession. Why not combine the two?
Some movies are matched with foods where the connection makes sense. However, where that connection wasn't always obvious, the author used a recipe that was common to the movie setting or could be associated with a character.
Parents are asked to use their best judgement as not all movies noted are for the family.
I'm going to attribute the fact that some movie descriptions appear in the middle of the corresponding recipe to the ARC format. It's a technical glitch easily fixed for the final e-version. I also noted one case of odd spacing within the recipe (21/4 cups as opposed to 2 1/4 cups). Common sense will handle this if not caught in the final edit.
The format wasn't uniform - a recipe first, then the movie connection....then perhaps a movie followed by the recipe. This is no problem in the print version, but trying to connect which recipe to the movie in this e-version made me pause. I'm still wondering about the cream cheese pastry which makes TK. Again, I think this will be fixed in the final version. ....But does this recipe have a movie connection? Was the entire recipe included?
The author includes tips for entertaining, holiday menu ideas (with handy page numbers) and recipes that look scrumptious.
Julia Rutland did a nice job with her movie selection and matching recipes.
Thanks to the publisher Simon Element, NetGalley and author Julia Rutland for the ARC.
I didn't know anybody was as big of a Christmas movie buff as I am, but Julia Rutland has me beat! And she's also found a celebratory drink, savory food item, or sweet treat to pair with every last one of them. If you devour Christmas movies 365 days a year like my crew does… and you like to cook, Julia Rutland’s Christmas Movie Cookbook will be a welcome addition to your bookshelves.
Whether you're looking for recipes for a fun themed party, a cozy family night, or just want to have something to nibble on while decorating or wrapping gifts, The Christmas Movie Cookbook has something to inspire you!
In addition to the festive pictures which accompany the recipes, there is a beautifully written paragraph about each film. Just watch out, because if your holiday to-do list isn’t long enough already, Ms. Rutland’s clever wording will inspire you to check out any of these favorites you might have missed. Plus there’s a handy index complete with movie titles, actors' names, and ingredients for easy reference.
For recipes I’m planning to try, the cinnamon-orange breakfast rolls inspired by Arthur Christmas are at the top of my list. What a perfect thing to put together the evening before any special event.
As for the main course? Does braised brisket sound yummy? It’s inspired by The Holiday , which is my favorite Christmas romance. Or maybe a mouthwatering meatloaf, with sauteed vegetables hidden inside.
And if you're hungry for dessert how about some Krampus gingerbread men, complete with silly googly eyes and a menacing grimace? Or maybe chocolate frosted mint brownies are more to your taste? Even the Grinch himself will find something yummy to make in the Christmas Movie Cookbook!
I love this book so much! It has everything you need to plan a holiday meal from A to Z. I’ve never made a mule before, but the recipe for The Christmas mule was very clear and easy to follow.