The Martha Stewart Holiday Collection - Homemade Holidays

Playful and dazzling desserts include meringue mushrooms, which look just like the real thing, and a Birch de Noel made of chocolate and cream, laid out like a Yuletide log. Household decorating hints are both clever and simple, including the strategic placing of colorful bowls of fruits and candies on shelves, and the embellishing of homemade wreaths with colorful balls (small, pink ones from Japan are oddly magical), candy, and popcorn. A section on Hanukkah gifts and foods includes a nice idea for filling embossed bags with candies, and a variation on traditional potato pancakes that includes adding strips of carrots and parsnips. Suggestions for making gifts and wrapping round out this very pleasant disc. --Tom Keogh