Sweet Paul: The Holiday Issue

I was already feeling Christmasy thanks to the heavy blanket of snow we've had heaped upon us over the past few days, but today's browse through Sweet Paul's Holiday Issue has made me all giddy and wanting to run into the kitchen to bake gingerbread in a flurry of flour clouds. As you know, I absolutely adore Sweet Paul. The New York-based food and prop stylist and crafter extraordinaire from Norway runs a hugely popular blog that is pure joy, and now he's published his third issue of Sweet Paul magazine dedicated to making the most of the holidays, with an emphasis on making. Paul Lowe and his super-talented and surely just as sweet team of photographers, illustrators, stylists, and writers bring us recipes, entertaining ideas and crafts that have us taking inventory of our cupboards and drawers within seconds.

I think it's the personal, homey feel of the magazine and blog that gives that makes Sweet Paul such a delight to look at and to read. It's a little world where everything is simple, clean, bright, rich, colourful and tasty, altogether blissful, in home settings that are both aspirational to give us that wonderful daydream factor and attainable; you can make your space and your experiences at home this special, too. And that's what it's all about!

In September, Paul asked me to contribute some tips for the article No Pain Holiday which I was thrilled to do. See pages 29-30 for ways to keep your holidays as enjoyable and stress-free as possible. That one might come in handy.

The recipes in this issue are so good and there are so many that's it's almost overwhelming! I rarely want to make everything I see in a cookbook or magazine but Sweet Paul has a way of finding dishes and desserts that look irresistible and are also easy to make. If you love food and you can read, you can whip them up.

And that's what I plan to do for our Christmas dinner with my parents who are coming in from Canada. It's all laid out in the issue.

How does this sound:

Pumpkin soup with cranberry compote
Maple and apricot roasted turkey
Mashed potatoes with crisp parmesan
Olive bread and mushroom stuffing
Brussels sprouts with almonds and pancetta
Spiced pumpkin trifle

Now that's a dinner! And that's just one feature, for Thanksgiving, and I'll likely substitute the pumpkin trifle with chocolate pudding cakes - Sweet Paul knows chocolate. Watch for The Best Hot Chocolate Ever! in the Chocolate, a Passion feature.

There's so much more, including six pages of delicious winter cocktails; a gorgeous holiday brunch that I would love to have each and every weekend; charming gift-wrapping ideas; gingerbread, cupcake and potato pancake recipes introduced with sweet personal stories; how to decorate your table with an old sweater, scissors and glue gun, expert advice on wines, and there's always something for kids and doggie friends as well. And it goes on and on and on. We're having two wonderful friends for dinner soon, for the first time, and I now feel that we're going to be able to prepare something worthy of their company.

Go on, see for yourself!