"thomas nast" news and stories

Yesterday, I featured a new cookbook geared towards the holidays. Today, I'm showing off one of my very favorite childhood holiday cookbooks. A Child's Christmas Cookbook was originally printed in 1964 in conjunction with Once Upon a Christmas, an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. It features a series of easy-to-prepare seasonal recipes that are all charmingly illustrated by drawings by Thomas Nast.

I loved this book when I was younger, because it allowed me to fantasize about the ways in which people used to celebrate Christmas. I would read the description of an old fashioned taffy pull and beg my mom to let us have one (she always nixed that plan, saying that it was too messy). I loved the instructions for how to have an indoor picnic around the fireplace and longed to cook over an open fire (at Christmas time, we would be allowed to toast marshmallows over the fire).

This book also includes recipes for such things like Baked Apples, Humbug Hash and Santascones. It's not an ambitious book, but is wonderful for kids who like old-fashioned things. Get a used copy if you have know of such a child, they're certain to adore it.