I'm Dreaming Of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes that Use Less and Mean More [Paperback]

Every year for more than a half century I've made thousands of Christmas cookies, handmade wreaths and scores of home-made decorations - some of professional quality and some just fine things to make with your children! I am a child of people who grew up during the Great Depression and then survived World War II. I was raised on the motto "Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do or do without!" so recycling household items into something new has always been a way of life. Many of the things I've made have been my very own ideas. Other ideas have come from Woman's Day and Family Circle and Martha Stewart and so on. Unfortunately, "I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas" contains few to none of those great ideas.

Best left in the great recycling bin at the print shop, "I'm Dreaming" is a perfect example of an "author" who is dreaming of a great pile of green cash for Christmas without knowing much about anything at all she preaches about. And make no mistake - this is not a "fun" book. It is a sermon from the very first page - and not very original.

Many of her ideas are ill-conceived and poorly planned. Some, however, are downright dangerous. Completely ignoring the various ways to cover fruit with sugar sparkle, edible gold and silver leaf or edible glitter and fairy dust - all safe techniques in use over decades and centuries - the author recommends the application of a non-toxic glue stick and ordinary glitter. And then recommends eating the fruit so as not to waste it.

My nomination for the Worst Book of 2009, "I'm Dreaming" is not worth the paper it is printed on. Save a tree and leave the book behind. Send a subscription for Martha Stewart Living or Good Housekeeping (1-year) or Ladies Home Journal (1-year) instead!

This book is a very thorough guide to greening your holidays. From entertaining, decorations, recipes, and shopping choices, it delivers quite a packed punch of beautiful and sustainable information. My husband and I are both foodies and love to cook. We are very discriminating about recipes, and I can assure you that Anna's Sweet Potato Christmas Enchiladas are delicious and the Truffled Goat Macaroni and Cheese is now a regular staple in our weekly dinners. The apple, brie, and cranberry quesadillas are perfection as well as the pumpkin gnocchi. I made the salt-dough ornaments with my kids and it was gleefully nostalgic and is now a new tradition in our household. This book has re-birthed the handmade goodness that our culture has lost in all its plastic consumerism. My most favorite decor item I did this year was the Bell Jar Mini-Scenes. So cute and fun, and people rave about them when they come over. Such a simple, but unique idea that anyone can make. What I love most about the book is how stocked with information it is. There are so many great projects, ideas, tips, and recipes that I keep thumbing through for something new. A lot of entertaining books I own are very sparse in their content, but this book has an abundance. I'm giving one to all my girlfriends and my mom for Christmas and it will be a permanent fixture on my entertaining/cookbook/holiday guide bookshelf forevermore.

"During the holidays, household waste increases by more than 25 percent...Americans throw away an additional 5 million tons of trash between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve."

This statement was part of the author's inspiration to write this book, which gives tips and ideas to help minimize the impact of the holidays on planet Earth. But it is so much more than that...this book has ideas to simplify your holidays, build family traditions, and bring meaning back to what has become such a commercialized time of year.

This book starts with the 10 easiest things you can do to save energy during the holidays (although several of the tips apply to the entire year). These range from switching Christmas lights to LEDs to avoiding junk mail (the author gives websites to stop the catalog madness). From there, she goes into decorating projects, recipes, simple homemade gifts, entertaining, and other subjects. Throughout the book are sprinkled easy ideas and scary statistics from other sources. She discusses the greenest Christmas tree issue (fake vs. real...which is better for the environment?), the fact that many traditional paraffin candles have wicks containing lead, cloth vs. paper napkins, and many other issues.

The main reason I purchased this book is I have a 2 1/2 year old son, with another child on the way. I want to do things greener for them, but I also want to do more homemade projects and start some traditions so they enjoy the holidays without thinking of mountains toys. This book accomplishes this for me, with many simple & easy crafts and tips. I love the idea of making wreaths out of old wool sweaters, putting some sparkle on fruits (something I never would have thought of), making angel doily ornaments and twig stars.

Many of the recipes sound great, although some sound strange or have some fairly exotic ingredients. I can't imagine making truffled goat cheese macaroni & cheese (I don't even know if I can get truffle salt or truffles in Alaska), or celery root soup with crumbled bacon and humboldt fog cheese, or apple cranberry & brie quesadillas with black bean salsa. However, several of the recipes do sound good like the stuffed mushrooms, maple walnut cookies, and seven layers of sin bars. I can tell you that the roasted acorn squash soup is simple & excellent!

My main complaint about the book (why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5) is while most of the crafts seem simple, a few of the crafts were not explained well enough and were a bit confusing. Pictures of the steps would have been helpful. Some of the crafts had no pictures at all. Granted, I'm quite craft challenged, so if you are crafty this may not be an issue for you.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for green tips, starting family traditions, or wanting ideas for homemade gifts and decorations. While some of the recipes sound good, that is not really the main focus and is not a reason to purchase this book.