The holidays are here, and between shopping and decorating, finding the perfect recipes to cook for your friends and family can be a bit overwhelming. To make things easier, we are sharing a guide for 12 days of Christmas cooking from Pontiac County Recipes, a little cookbook of local recipes originally published by Pontiac Printshop in 1968.

For this series, I chose 12 classic recipes that cover everything from breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, giving you plenty of options for your holiday table. See more of the collection of recipes on page 3.

Some recipes were chosen because they felt perfect for the season, and others because they reminded me of my own mother’s and grandmother’s cooking during the holidays when I was a child. These are simple, time-tested favourites designed to take some stress out of this busy time of year.

I’ll admit, I have not tried them all. The more involved recipes like fruit cake and sea-pie really need a proper crowd to be enjoyed, but I’ve included them here as they are undeniably well-suited for the holiday season.

To help you get started, I’ve also produced cooking videos on our social media (THE EQUITY’s Community Hub on Facebook and Instagram) that will be shared throughout the holiday break so you can follow along with the process at home. I hope you enjoy cooking these recipes as much as I did!

Happy holidays, and happy cooking!