¡°I love low carbing, but I'm getting so tired of the same old foods.¡±

¡°I wish I had time to figure out how to convert my family recipes to low \rcarb!¡±

¡°I love finding old recipes done low carb!¡±

Do any of these comments sound familiar? They sure do to me; I've said \rthem all at one time or another. And they are so true-two years later and \rI am still trying to find the time to try and convert some of my favorite old recipes, especially with the holidays arriving!

I am determined this holiday season to stick with my low-carb eating \rplan, and I decided since I couldn't find the time to convert my own \rrecipes, I needed to find some good alternatives. I hit the jackpot with \rLow Carb Christmas Cookin' With an ¡°Old-Fashioned¡± Cook by Jan \rMcCracken (Poppyseed Press, 2003).

Jan's brand new cookbook is an entertaining delight. Every page \rdelivers a smile, laugh or grin-and terrific recipes. Low Carb Christmas \rCookin' is a colorful, easy-to-read, 224-page paperback book liberally \rsprinkled with fun. From funny and sometimes outrageous photos of the \rauthor mugging for the camera to anecdotes, homespun quotes, and \rhumorous ways to prepare recipes, all the way through I got a strong \rsense of the fun and spirit of this feisty and entertaining lady.

Low Carb Christmas Cookin' isn't just fun. Though smiles lurk on every \rpage, the recipes are seriously good. The cookbook is broken into nine \rchapters. Some of my favorites are, ¡°Dollops & Plops,¡± ¡°Feliz Navidad¡­ \rLow Carb Fiesta Christmas!¡± and ¡°Holiday Affair with Chocolate.¡± The \r¡°All Thru the House¡± chapter has some great potpourri recipes, too.

I've tried several recipes from the book, and so far they are all keepers. \rMy mom adores ¡°Ole'¡­It's Holy Guacamole!¡± and I made the ¡°Staggerin' \rSwiss Chicken¡± for friends, and it was a huge hit. Other personal \rfavorites from Jan's book include, ¡°Pineapple Upside-Down French \rToast Casserole¡± and ¡°Hot Cashew Chicken Salad.¡± Since this is a \rholiday recipe collection, you should expect that there are some recipes \rthat call for fruit, so for those on very low carbs you may need to watch \rthe portions, but Jan has done a good job of keeping her recipes low on \rthe low carb scale.

I just fell in love with the humor and joy so obvious throughout the entire \rbook, and I drooled over the recipes. Honestly, I'm not sure what I \renjoyed more, reading it or making the recipes. Either way, I will be \rsending copies of this low-carb cookbook to low carbers on my \rChristmas list¡­ and I know one old sugar grouch that will find one in his \rstocking!

Low Carb Christmas Cookin' With an ¡°Old-Fashioned¡± Cook by Jan \rMcCracken can be purchased through www.lowcarbcookin.com.

Cherie¡¯ Davidson is a freelance writer and Web content developer who \rlives in the Pacific Northwest with her toy poodle, Auggie Dog, her \r¡°energy muse.¡± She has her own freelance writing business, Suitable \rWords Publications (http://www.suitablewords.com), where she writes \rand promotes Website content, designs and develops e-books, hires out \ras a copywriter and writes a wide variety of articles, reviews and essays. \rShe has started a blog at http://suitablewords.blogspot.com and a free \rarticle site at http://www.writerscontent.com - If you'd like her to review \ryour book, write her at cherie@suitablewords.com