Being an avid cookbook reader is nothing new for me. As a kid, I used to pour over cookbooks for hours and hours. The first half of my year was spent analyzing the loose pages of my mom’s Cut-Up Cake Party Book, trying to decide which cake shape would make for a totally epic July birthday party. After my birthday had come and gone (and having the perfect cake had not suddenly made me the talk of the town), I got to switch my focus to my other favorite read, Ideals Christmas Cookbook.
This Christmas cookbook has always had a spell over me. It is full of very fancy, gourmet recipes- “French-Style Appetizer”, “Ham Balls”, “Beef Tingler”. It’s very, very 1970, but I would look at it and fantasize about the wonderful world of the adult holiday season: a never-ending string of dinner parties, cocktail dresses, waltzing, tiny appetizers, laughter echoing through glamorous ballrooms.
But this is real life and grown-up-dom isn’t exactly what I had imagined. No waltzing and most of the dinner parties I attend, I’m wearing a long white apron and passing the tiny appetizers. As for the off-the-shoulder black cocktail dress I bought at 19? It hangs in the basement, still wearing its price tag.
It’s fine, though. I probably wouldn’t even like being at the Ideals’ Christmas party anyway. I’d be grossed out upon realizing “French-Style Appetizer” is actually just a piece of toast with a slice of Spam on top. And knowing me, I’d probably spill the “Beef Tingler” all over my cute cocktail dress.
It’s fine because I have the one recipe from this book that stands the test of time, that you don’t need a party invite to enjoy. Tender, warm, buttery jam-filled turnovers will never go out of vogue and will never stop being my favorite Christmas cookie.
