Debbie Macomber - Debbie Macombers Christmas Cookbook: Favorite Recipes and Holiday Traditions from My Home to Yours

Photographs by Andy Ryan

Oh, how I love Christmas. Give me an excuse to prepare a spread for my family or invite friends to the house, and I immediately head for the kitchen and reach for my cookbooks. (Ive lost count of the number Ive collected through the years. Cookbooks dating back to my years as a young wife and mother, even a recipe file from my teen years. I have notes from my grandmother, as well as my mothers recipes.)

What the holidays are really about is being with others. Theyre about celebrating and sustaining our personal community of family and friends, giving and receiving affection, reciprocating good timesand that so often takes the form of a shared meal.

Every year, for almost as long as Ive been published, Ive written a book that features some aspect of Christmas. It was my love of Christmas that brought those wacky and irrepressible angels, Shirley, Goodness and Mercy, to life. That goes for Mrs. Miracle, too, along with dozens of holiday-themed stories. My goal wasand isto give you, my readers, something to take you away from the frantic activity of the Christmas season and yet ultimately reflect what it really means. To give you the gift of laughter and a few moments of respite and relaxation.

What I love most about the Christmas holidays is the traditions with family and friends. When Wayne and I were first married, we lived in western Washington State and our families lived on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. Traversing the mountain passes in the dead of winter wasnt always possible, so we had to start our own traditions.

Ill be passing on several of those Macomber family traditions in this cookbook. Take what you like and add your own unique twist. I offer them to you with a grateful heart for all youve done to support me through my publishing career.

I can say without hesitation that youre going to enjoy this cookbook. The recipes will leave you eager to get into the kitchen; the pictures are a feast for the eyes and will inspire you.

Please join me now and flip through the pages. As you read these recipes and Christmas craft suggestions, remember youll be creating memories in your own kitchen, sharing a heritage of good eating with your family and friends.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

For many years, our tradition was to open gifts on Christmas morning. Maybe thats a tradition in your family, too.

Because they just couldnt wait, one or both of our boys would rise before dawn and tiptoe into the living room to sort through the gifts. Then someone would put on Christmas music, which naturally woke us all up. Before long, the frenzy would begin.

First thing Christmas morning (like every morning!), my husband, Wayne, needed his coffee in order to function. While he waited for the coffee to brew, I put the breakfast casserole in the oven to bake. Then and only then was the opening of gifts permitted. (I assembled the casserole the night before and stuck it in the refrigerator. Youll find the recipe in this chapter.) We never let our children just rip into their gifts. We did things in an orderly fashion, taking turns; everyone had an opportunity to choose which present he or she would open next.

I particularly remember the year Ted was five. Hed get so excited when it was his turn, hed race around the package two or three times before he opened it. Come to think of it, he still does. (Just kidding!)

It always seemed that the casserole finished baking before we were through opening gifts, so wed take a break and concentrate on breakfast. What I remember most about those Christmas breakfasts wasnt the meal itself (delicious though it was); what lingers in my mind is the conversation around the table. The laughter and stories and jokes. No one was in a rush. No one had an appointment that required a quick bite and then dashing out the door. No one had someplace else they needed to be. This was family time at its best.

My childhood memories of Christmas breakfast, any breakfast really, involve potato salad. You see, my father loved potato salad and we ate it at every holiday meal. In fact, I was a married adult before I learned that not all families had fried eggs and potato salad for breakfast. (Try it, thoughits really good.) For as long as I can remember, my mother made my father a huge batch of potato salad on Saturday that would have to last him the week. I dont think it ever went past Wednesday.

Over the years, Christmas morning has changed quite a bit for Wayne and me. These days, were usually on the road, driving from Washington State to our winter home in Vero Beach, Florida. Weve spent Christmas Day with friends Joan and Bob McKeon in Arizona and with Terry and Cheryl Adler, my brother and sister-in-law in Kansas City. But most often were somewhere between Washington and Florida. It was hard for me to give up Christmas Day with our children and grandchildren. Now we celebrate with our family the weekend beforeIll tell you about that later. By leaving a few days ahead of the official holiday, Wayne and I have freed our children to establish new traditions with their own families.

The lesson Ive learned from our experience is that traditions need to be flexible, need to change with the times, adapt to circumstances. In my book Can This Be Christmas? a group of travelers is stranded in a train depot on Christmas Eve. After getting over the initial shock of not being able to reach their families, not being able to take part in their usual traditions, they become family to one another for that one night.