Excerpt from the Introduction

This, my friends, is the cookbook I have been dreaming about writing for years.

I am unabashedly THAT person when it comes to Christmas. I start humming Christmas tunes in October while my Halloween decorations are up. I put up three Christmas trees every year: a 1960s silver aluminum tree, a 1960s green aluminum tree, and one faux fir tree (which my kids insist on), all of which are put up, without fail, the day after Remembrance Day. (Let me confess, I own still another three vintage trees that don’t always get decorated simply because I run out of room.) And as soon as I pack away the Christmas turkey leftovers, I am already dreaming about how I will decorate the house next year and what we will cook up.

I’ve always wondered if my love of the holiday season stems from our noto­riously, bone-chillingly cold winters on the Canadian Prairies, with copious amounts of snowfall that astonish people who don’t live here and seemingly never end for those of us who do. If we are lucky, the snow holds off until the kids have enjoyed Halloween, but when I was a kid, trick-or-treating involved costumes pulled over my snowsuit! Christmas becomes a wonderful bright spot in our long winter and, if you’re like me, can be stretched out for a solid two months of decorations, lights, and entertainment. Ukrainian Christmas celebrations don’t begin until January 6th, so we wait until after that to take everything down.

During our cold Prairie winters, our pace of life slows down, whether we want it to or not. Our attention shifts from the outdoors to the indoors. Outside activities lessen, as even the most diehard skaters, skiers, and snow­shoers stay inside when the mercury dips below –30°C. Occasionally, we get snow days from work and school. Outings at the lake turn into board games around the table. Mowing the lawn turns into shoveling the sidewalks and hurrying back inside as soon as you can.

But it can be lovely. With that change of pace can come more time to bake and cook. And the food—oh, the food that we have only during the holiday season! The glorious, once-a-year baking fest where we pull out all the stops.

From the middle of November onward, I take great joy in planning, baking, and freezing goodies for Christmas. Even though it’s the busiest time of year for my website (my website traffic quadruples during the holidays, with everyone wanting recipes), I truly live for every moment of holiday baking as soon as those first few flakes of snow fall until Ukrainian Christmas on January 7th. (Then I am so done with all the baking and cooking, and survive simply on soup until spring.)

You will see some recipes here that also appeared in one of my first two books, Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky and The Prairie Table. There are some treats, like my quintessential Traditional Whipped Shortbread and my Thin & Chewy Snickerdoodles, that simply could NOT be left out of a baking book that is all about Christmas on the Prairies. So if you have my other books, first of all, thank you! Second, forgive the repeat recipes, but rest assured that it’s recipes like these, which reflect baking on the Prairies per­fectly, that make this the perfect cookbook to gift to loved ones and pass down to your kids. Plus, there’s over 120 recipes in this book, giving you so many new ones to enjoy! (In fact, I have so many cookie recipes, they fill two chapters!)

Mr. Kitchen Magpie (aka my husband, Mike) once again gets the closing chapter, full of punches and libations. He took on the task of creating a safe eggnog that cooks the egg yolk and can be enjoyed by everyone— which can, of course, be made adults-only with a splash of rum. The Cranberry Bourbon Sour is a seasonal favorite of ours. And do you remember ice cream punches at holiday parties as a kid? I haven’t seen them in decades, so I think it’s time to bring them back! We’ve also included one of those: the Retro Sherbet Party Punch. Just thinking of that tangy sherbet floating on top of a sweet punch makes my mouth water!

I have given my all to this book to make sure that I’ve captured the best of the best when it comes to our holiday baking classics here on the Canadian Prairies. Even though this book is bursting with oodles of cakes, cookies, dainties, pud­dings, and dessert salads, I have an ever-present nagging urge to add just one more recipe to make it perfect. I could have included a solid 250 recipes if I had really run wild! (That’s right, this is me reined in.) I’ve curated what I feel are the best of the best, what my family and I love to fill our home (and bellies) with.

I hope this book becomes the first one you pull out every year when starting your Christmas baking. I hope you find some new favorites and rediscover some forgotten treats you haven’t made in years. And most of all, I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Love, Karlynn