First: The Christmas Kitchen by Tammy Maltby

The Christmas Kitchen by Tammy Maltby is an attractive, little book filled with Christmas goodies, and not just the edible kind.  It's a smaller bound book that I would be proud to place on my coffee table, if I had one.  It's not the type of book I would normally just sit down and read all the way through, but it is one that I'd read in snippets, browsing through all of the ideas and recipes.
  

This book, of course, centers around the kitchen, since the kitchen is the focal point and main area in many homes.  Each chapter is filled with delicious looking recipes, but before the recipes are chapters of ideas and inspirations.  Here are some of the topics included in this book:

• Christmas Kitchen Prep- Preparing your home and your heart for a season of comfort and joy.
• Make-Ahead Merrymaking- Cooking together for a joyful, stress-free holiday.
• Delicious Decor- Warm ideas for decking halls and hearts.
• Kids in the Kitchen- The messy joy of creating with pint-size cooks.
• From Our Home to Yours- Inspired gifts from your kitchen and from your heart.
• The Gift of Yourself- Intimate gatherings for your special friends.
• No Place Like Home- Fun and delicious time-out evenings.

....and many more.  I especially liked the pages full of gift basket ideas; these were actual ideas for different themed baskets you could throw together for Christmas presents for friends and family; the ingredients/items for each basket were listed.  I also loved the idea from the Fun Family Evenings section about getting the kids all ready for bed, bathed and in pajamas, hot chocolate in thermoses, and packing into the car to drive around and see Christmas lights together.  I'm thinking that may be a new tradition in our house this year.:)  This book is definitely a keeper for me, and I would definitely recommend it to any Christmas lover. 

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Tammy Maltby

and the book:

The Christmas Kitchen

Howard Books (October 6, 2009)

***Special thanks to Jennifer Willingham of Simon and Schuster for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tammy Maltby is a writer, speaker, and media personality. For eight years, she was the co-host of the Emmy Award-winning television talk show, Aspiring Women. She serves on the board of the National Women’s Ministry Association, Christian Women in Media and Arts, and Women of Courage International. She and her family live in Colorado Springs, CO.


Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Hardcover: 132 pages
Publisher: Howard Books (October 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416587659
ISBN-13: 978-1416587651

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Press this picture to browse inside the entire book:

(Disclosure: I was provided this book, free of charge, in association with First Wild Card blog tours.)