Hand-Crafted Gifts Of Love. - Review - book review

American Visions, Dec, 1999 by J.H.

Homemade chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies are the ideal way to let friends and family know that you love them--without your having to spend lots of time and money searching for that perfect something (and without their having to exchange it for what they really want). But cookies aren't the only good ideas out there.

Marcia Odle McNair, an artist and educator in New York, has done your thinking for you, and she has come up with dozens of gift ideas for the Kwanzaa season. In her simple, colorful book Kwanzaa Crafts: Gifts and Decorations for a Meaningful and Festive Celebration, there's a chapter tot each of the seven days of Kwanzaa, and each one gives step-by-step instructions for creating such useful and attractive presents as centerpieces, wreaths, notecards, placemats and items of clothing. Then there's a real bonus: a recipe or two pops up in some of the chapters! These recipes, like the instructions for the crafts, are easy to follow, and they're fun to prepare. What's more, they're inventive: ginger beer, curried chicken, mango salad, sweet cinnamon plantains. Even the recipe for festive Kwanzaa cookies has a twist: Decorate them with candy clay.