Newsletter: 🥳 Your New Year’s party planner (plus an option if you need a late gift) 🎁

🎁 The ultimate emergency Christmas gift + your New Year’s party planner 🥳

🎁 Save 25% on ckbk gift subscriptions perfect for a last minute Christmas gift!🎁

Let's get this party started

Firstly, if you are reading this on the 25th, Merry Christmas from all of us at ckbk! Now get back to your merriment, and we will see you on the other side. To all of you, a gigantic thank you for being with us along the way in 2025, we appreciate every one of you, your wonderful comments, the recipes you try and share with us, your place in our food-loving community. Thank you.

As we finish up the mince pies, and lunch on turkey sandwiches, we turn our thoughts to New Year’s Eve, what to make for the party of the year, and what to raise a glass of. For Party Food think fun, hand-held, bite-sized, crowd pleasing food—find recipes in our collection for Mini Spinach Ricotta and Egg Pies, Cheddar Gougères, these Homemade Pretzels Sticks with Three Mustards, and a whole buffet more.

The year needs our goodbyes, and the new one our hopes and our energy. On the 31st we will toast to all of that. Cheers to the New Year with a glass of something special—how about a traditional Gin Punch, or this whisky and orange combination; a Hebridean Hogmanay Cocktail. For a celebration there are few things that top champagne, except perhaps one of these Champagne Cocktails—think a classy French 75, or this spicy Bellini with Cardamom and Peppercorns.

Last, but not least, for those who want to say hello to 2026 with a clear head, we bring you Mocktails and Non Alcoholic Party Drinks.

Try a tangy Ginger Beer, zesty Green Light District, or this vegan take on egg nog, a Pistachio Nog.

Have a joyous New Year’s Eve all!

Explore our party bookshelf

Pictured above: Rose Petal & Champagne Sorbet with Praline Cream Horns from Wild Weed Pie by Janni Kyritsis and Roberta Muir

Emergency Christmas gift

You forgot to get someone a present? There’s a last minute addition to the Christmas guest list? You’ve been up to your eyes and haven’t had time to do all your present shopping, and now the shops are all shut? Never fear, we’ve got you covered. Nothing could be better, or easier, than a gift subscription to ckbk. And it is just a few clicks away.

A ckbk gift subscription buys them full access to their dream cookbook collection: over 165,000 recipes, more than 1,000 the world’s greatest cookbooks, including contemporary bestsellers and award winners such as The Flavor Equation and Breaking Bao, cover-to-cover and ultra-searchable, and the subscription will only start when they claim their gift.

Do you have several food-loving friends? It is easy to buy a bundle of gift subscriptions — just select the number you want during checkout.

Enjoy 25% off ckbk gift subscriptions

Food for the family

An extra Christmas present for us, and perfect for time with the family, we bring you Anna’s Family Kitchen from home cook and cookbook author Anna Stanford. A tempting collection of over a hundred well-photographed dishes, ideal for those who needs to cook and feed a family, well, without any fuss. As Anna puts it:

‘I wanted to provide some inspiration for mealtimes and to de-mystify the art of cooking for a family. My recipes are quick, simple, use commonly accessible ingredients and allow for adaptations and swaps to accommodate different preferences or budgets. I always try to practice what I preach, so each recipe is tried and tested on my family. The principle that I pursue is that food should be achievable, not just aspirational.’

Recipes are organised to fit your needs, with plenty of guidance and understanding—for example for Quick & Easy Weekdays, and Weekends & Gatherings.

Find The Ultimate Chilli con Carne, this Cod & Chorizo One Pot, and satisfying vegetarian mains such as this Hasselback Halloumi & Hidden Veg Traybake, and this Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie.

Access all 105 recipes from Anna's Family Kitchen

Ingredient focus: ginger

‘Ginger the name of the plant Zingiber officinale, and of its rhizomes. These are mainly consumed in the fresh (‘green’) state in the countries where they grow, but are also dried to provide an important spice; preserved with sugar to constitute a sweetmeat; and processed to yield an oil used for flavouring.’ Alan Davidson, from the Oxford Companion to Food

Ginger has been cultivated since ancient times, and its bright intensity is an important flavor component of most cuisines. The use of fresh and dried ginger differs, as do their contribution to flavor. Fresh ginger has a particular zing, and heat, that are particular present in Asian cuisines, and in savory dishes. European cooking tends to favor dried ginger—mellower and aromatic—and is present in many baked goods, such as traditional Gingerbread Biscuits and English Gingerbread Cake.

Explore our collection of 12 Ways with Ginger, to find recipes showcasing ginger in all its zingy glory. Try Stir-Fried Ginger Chicken, invigorating Ginger Tea, or this Sticky Jamaican Ginger Cake (pictured above).

6 of the best recipes for Christmas leftovers

When catering for a crowd there are always leftovers. But what to do with that cold turkey, or the last slice of Christmas pudding? Look no further, here are six ideas to get you started, and here are a whole lot more!