Whether it’s simple cocktails, a major family occasion or unexpected drop-ins, these guides remind us that hospitality isn’t about perfection – it’s about creating inviting spaces and soulful gatherings.
The Christmas Companion: Simple Recipes and Creative Ideas for a Magical Festive Season
by Skye McAlpine
The lifestyle-and-food personality grew up in a pink Venetian palazzo with her bon vivant parents Lord and Lady McAlpine (a politician and fashion plate, respectively). She now divides her time between her own storied palazzo in Venice and a Victorian home in London. McAlpine has finessed being simultaneously aspirational and approachable (really!) in this lovely book of ideas for elegant but unfussy occasions. She incorporates British traditions in her Venice apartment with signature Anglo-Italian dishes (like Ginger and Apricot Glazed Ham, and Salted Caramel Zuccotto), edible gifts and versatile menus for bustling cocktail parties and Christmas lunches for two – or 20. Those without the jet-set pedigree will find translatable lessons for cultivating warmth and good cheer in these pages – and it’s gorgeous.
Having People Over: A Modern Guide to Planning, Throwing, and Attending Every Type of Party
by Chelsea Fagan
Fagan, co-founder and CEO of The Financial Diet, is an avid home cook, and her handbook delivers the same no-nonsense candour she brings to her website where women talk about money (including, naturally, how to host a party on any budget – crucial, as grocery prices continue to climb). She recommends keeping a few trusty recipes in your back pocket (mine’s Dorie Greenspan’s almond-infused Swedish Visiting Cake) and offers practical tips like curating “a space optimized for entertaining, so people can drop by without it sending you into a tailspin.” Think: small achievable goals.
Let’s Party: Recipes and Menus for Celebrating Every Day
by Dan Pelosi
The main complaint about food channels is that programming is now entertainment, reliant on competitions – with few actual cooking shows teaching viewers the basics (what’s known in the biz as “stand-and-stir” shows). That audience has migrated to social media for instructional video content – and Instagram influencer Pelosi is one of its new stars (@grossypelosi, a self-described “gay male Pinterest mom”). High and low concepts abound in this fun hybrid cookbook/entertaining guide to hosting a crowd at home. From Hanukkah latke parties and book club dinners to a cookies-only potluck and Breakfast for Dinner bash, Pelosi places the emphasis on keeping it simple and putting the comfort in comfort food.
Entertaining
by Martha Stewart
In some ways, it’s an artifact of its age (’80s second-wave feminism) and, in other ways, feels timely (with the rise of trad-wifery). Either way, Stewart’s revival of setting a beautiful table with the good linens, taking time to arrange flowers and devising elaborate at-home menus imbued with a sense of occasion still holds. Either way, Stewart’s revival of setting a beautiful table with the good linens, taking time to arrange flowers and devising elaborate at-home menus imbued with a sense of occasion still holds. Even if the fantastical “midnight omelette supper for 30” or soirée dansante are not on your holiday plans, her approach to dining with seasonality endures, as does the ethos that underpins it all: elevating the standard for welcoming people into one’s home makes guests feel cared for.
Lee Miller: A Life with Food, Friends & Recipes
by Ami Bouhassane
For fortification in the face of a busy holiday calendar, I flipped through this scrapbook-with-recipes portrait of Lee Miller, written by her granddaughter Ami Bouhassane and styled like a family album. The mid-century fashion model-turned photographer-turned-war correspondent (famed for her self-portrait in Hitler’s bathtub) is back on the cultural radar thanks to a current major retrospective at Tate Britain, an exhibition at North Vancouver’s Polygon Gallery and the recent biopic starring Kate Winslet. Following intense experiences in the Second World War, food and hosting became a creative vehicle for Miller, whose regular guests included friends like Picasso and Jean Miro. I picked up my copy on a visit to Miller and Sir Roland Penrose’s Sussex farmhouse museum because it was unavailable in North America. But this month, it has finally been published here. Poring over smiling snapshots of Miller and her madcap-yet-easy recipes is an excellent, timely reminder that what counts is making meaningful memories, and not the meals themselves.
MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT
Three Cheers: Cocktails Three Ways: Classics, Riffs, and Zero-Proof Sips
by Kaitlyn Stewart
I’m recommending this new release about cocktails done three ways not only to be inclusive, but to plug my favourite holiday entertaining mode: the cinq à sept. Whether limited by schedule, budget or skill, hosting a late afternoon drop-in still ensures festive face time. Being clear and firm with the occasion’s cutoff hour (it’s right there in the name) means guests know what’s expected of them (that they’re not getting dinner). And by 7:15 p.m. everyone gets to be home in PJs watching the latest holiday rom-com – another reason to love this form of entertaining. Set out aperitivo snacks: pretty little bowls of inventively flavoured potato chips, Marcona almonds (stocked at Bulk Barn) and good, plump olives (Cerignola are my go-to).
Fizz: 70+ Homemade Artisan Sodas
by Andrea Lynn
When it comes to celebrating New Year’s, sparkling delights needn’t be boozy! We are in an era where we can’t assume everyone drinks alcohol. Champagne, prosecco and cava are lovely, of course, but this is a great primer on sustainably making artisan sodas (like apricot-cinnamon) and sophisticated mocktails at home, using simple pantry ingredients. The 70+ recipes work with a SodaStream, classic siphon or pre-carbonated water. There are adaptations to modify the sugar content for health considerations, or make them into cocktails and hard sodas – and you don’t have to be an expert.
Leaning into Lighthearted Kitch
As we know from the way grown-ups have embraced Halloween, there’s also something about being delightfully kitsch that can fire up one’s seasonal hosting mojo (should it be flagging). And there are many themed and TV tie-in tomes for entertaining this season. Yellowstone: The Official Dutton Ranch Family Cookbook comes courtesy of the hit series’ character (and real-life chef) Gabriel ‘Gator’ Builbeau. Just pull a recipe card or two from the little wooden trunk they are housed in and serve up the grub. Requesting guests arrive in Western garb is optional.
Similarly, there’s fun to be had with Killer Cocktails: Dangerous Drinks Inspired by History’s Most Nefarious Criminals (for true crime aficionados, from the host of Criminalia podcast); Romantasy Cocktails: 60 Spicy & Sweet Cocktails to Fall For (exactly as it sounds); Dinks and Drinks: A Pickleball Cocktail Book, which includes ideas for in-between game refreshers; and for the bookish there both A Ravenous Feast: Spellbinding Recipes Inspired by the Literary Works of Edgar Allan Poe and Get Lit: Cocktails That Bring Your Favorite Books to Life. For hosting the group chat that can’t get enough of HBO’s robber baron soap opera and its extravagant, cut-throat social occasions, The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook: Cookies and Treats from America’s Golden Era, by Becky Libourel Diamond, looks to the past for inspiration (think: sugar plums!) while adapting the 19th-century fare for modern cooks using today’s ingredients and appliances. (Turns out, there are also selections of Jewish Hanukkah traditions that were practiced during the era.) And Yule Need a Drink: 100+ Cocktails to Keep Your Season Bright bills itself as the ultimate holiday stress-buster, with more than 100 cocktails on a fa-la-la note. I especially liked the Holiday Gatherings Survival 101 chapter on pre-batching drinks for a crowd, so the host isn’t behind the bar all night. Whatever pop culture theme is your pleasure, the important thing is to lean into it!
TAKING A BREATHER
All Is Calmish: How to Feel Less Frantic and More Festive During the Holidays
by Niro Feliciano
For advice on navigating forced merriment and obligations during the season, make time for Feliciano’s welcome addition. The psychotherapist and regular Today show guest shares personal anecdotes and research insights about lowering expectations and letting go of perfect. It’s an essential, quick read on how to cope when real-life stressors are layered on top of holiday pressures – after all, this is the season when mental, physical and emotional health often takes a hit. Instead of getting sucked into the vortex of overdoing and decorating, overspending and stressing, Feliciano suggests boundaries, new traditions and drafting a to-don’t list that puts the focus on intention and grace.
