My Christmas Special at the Comfort Food Cafe

When I think of Christmas and comfort food, the first thing that comes to mind is canelons (cannelloni). You might think this is an Italian dish but in Catalonia we have our own version of it and it's a really traditional dish to have for Christmas (since the 19th century). And definitely my favourite Christmas food. If there are no canelons, there is no Christmas. 

The elaboration to make them is quite complicated, I have never tried myself but it takes at least a couple of days if you make them at home. I remember that my late grandma used to make them and I would help her making the filling with a really old mincer. So because it takes so much time to make them, it's a dish reserved only for special occasions. My mum is not very kind of cooking, so she usually just buys them at the butcher, they are usually really good too but luckily for me, my mother-in-law still prepares them every Christmas the traditional way and it's always a highlight of the meal. She makes like a hundred of them so she can freeze them and we enjoy them for a few weeks after Christmas.

While reading both Summer and Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe, I fell completely in love with the the Cafe and all its quirky characters, especially with the owner, Cherie, who was bigger than life. I found it really cute that all the regulars had their own specials and they tried to help and be nice to all the newcomers. So I think that if I went to the cafe, my special would be canelons because of all the memories it brings back and because it's just delicious!

About the book: 

Title: Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe (Comfort Food Cafe #2)

Author: Debbie Johnson

Published: September 22nd 2016 by HarperImpulse

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Becca Fletcher hates Christmas so much, she’s considering getting ‘Bah Humbug!’ tattooed on her forehead. She has her reasons for being Little Miss Grinch; Reasons that make this the very worst time of year for her.

Now, though, she can’t avoid her version of ho-ho-hell – because she’s travelling to the Comfort Food Cafe to spend the festive season with her sister Laura, and her family. She’s expecting mulled wine, the smell of pine trees, 24-hour Christmas movie marathons and all kinds of very merry torture.

But little does Becca know that the Comfort Food Cafe is like no other place on earth. Perched on a snow-covered hill on a windswept bay, it’s a place full of friendship; a place where broken hearts can heal, and a place where new love can blossom. It’s a place where Becca’s Christmas miracle really could happen – if only she can let it…

Inviting readers new and old to pull up a cosy armchair, Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe is the novella-length follow-up to the 2016 best-seller Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe.