I got this ex-library softcover from Better World Books. It's subtitled "celebrity recipes and Hollywood memories from six feet under the mistletoe"; how could I resist!

And it's tremendous fun - much more of a "memories of entertaining movies, TV, and celebrities" than actual recipes, but considering that most of the recipes are fairly lame (apologies to the contributors) that may be for the best. [I gather that some of the recipes came from pamphlets from food manufacturers, who would get celebrity endorsements of one kind or another, so whether the celebs actually created, or ever even tasted, the dishes isn't clear.]

I loved the author's writing style, as he cheerfully chats about his favorite films and the roles that made him love them - and he includes "Christmas tidbits" with trivia about things like one star's bitchy remarks on another, for a little spice. I enjoyed revisiting favorite films of my own, and the author's nods to some of the great character actors (some of whom had tiny, though memorable, roles in the films under discussion) also pleased me. [Example: Thelma Ritter's section is based on her brief appearance in "Miracle on 34th Street", and touches on her later career as well - taking longer to read than her scene in the movie did to watch!]

I also appreciated some of the entries on movies I've never seen - even when the author admitted they weren't really all that great. He included the 1947 film Christmas Eve, which starred George Raft, George Brent, and Randolph Scott as three long-lost adopted siblings - it sounds pretty bizarre, but with a cast like that I'd love to see it anyway.

Among the so-bad-they're-unforgettable recipes: a Ham Ring Mold attributed to Stan Laurel, whom I hope intended it as a joke {wry grin}. It's right out of the James Lilek school of Regrettable Food, a Jell-o mold involving condensed soup, cream cheese, mayonnaise, ground cooked ham, sliced eggs, and stuffed green olives, and I can just see it advertised in a 1950s magazine as "just the thing for a summer picnic." Um, nope. (Oliver Hardy, on the other hand, is attributed with a recipe for Baked Apples with Honey and Almonds that sounds *amazing*. It involves adding some aromatic bitters to the honey before filling the apples, and I'm definitely trying that one.)

Other favorite entries here included the animated films - notably "Mr. Magoo's Christmas" - and, yes, even a gleefully snarky nod to the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special".

[I liked this so much I got a copy of the first Dead Celebrity Cookbook as well.]

I left this book in my Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2022 Christmas in July challenge. ***

** Released for the Movie challenge. **

I'm reclaiming this from my Little Free Library as it's gone unchosen for a while.

I left this book on a bench in the entrance of When Pigs Fly on this cold, blustery day; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in ME here.]

*** Released for the 2022 Decemberish challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2022 What's In A Name challenge, for the embedded "Chris" in the title. ***

*** Released for the 2022 D for December challenge. ***