**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**  

We are such huge fans of the Gilded Age and food that this is the perfect program for us! Join author Becky Libourel Diamond as she discusses her new book "The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook: Cookies and Treats from America's Golden Era" with all of the details that will go straight to your foodie heart. "The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook" bridges the past and present, bringing back sugar plums and other confections not typically found in modern cookbooks, while revisiting some beloved favorites. 

Please note that this is a discussion NOT a cooking demo. But, feel free to grab the book from your library or local indie bookstore to learn how to make some fantastic, historical treats from one of our favorite eras! 

Register directly on Zoom HERE.

NOTE: This program will be recorded and a video link will be sent to all registrants. 

You can buy signed books by Becky from Aesop's Fable, just make a note that you want the books signed when you check out. 

Buy Signed Books By Becky (link coming soon)

About the book:

Although most Americans have heard of sugar plums thanks to the famous holiday poem A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore, many have likely never have had the pleasure of tasting one of these luxuries, or even know what they really are (hint: they are not sugar-dusted plums). This is because sugar plums are one of the Gilded Age era holiday sweets that got eclipsed as America moved into the twentieth century. But The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook will bridge the past and present, bringing back sugar plums and other confections not typically found in modern cookbooks, while revisiting some beloved favorites.

With origins that date back to the nineteenth century and even earlier, the recipes in The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook have been adapted for today’s ingredients and appliances, allowing cooks to recreate them in their own modern kitchens. Each recipe will provide a colorful glimpse into the era, featuring the fascinating history behind each cookie, its ingredients and baking methods. There will also be sidebars throughout, offering tidbits of Christmas lore of the era. 

A perfect gift to bring sparkle to the holiday season for anyone who enjoys food, history, culture and Christmas traditions, The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook is a unique way to revitalize any baker’s holiday repertoire while looking to past foodways for inspiration. With all the opulence and enchanting allure of the Victorian period, this nostalgic book is chock-full of delicious holiday treats.

About Becky:

A food writer, librarian and historian, Becky Libourel Diamond has had a varied career combining writing and research. Her book, The Gilded Age Cookbook, was published by Globe Pequot in August 2023. Her previous book, The Thousand Dollar Dinner, tells the unique story of a nineteenth century “Top Chef”-style competition between Philadelphia restauranteur James Parkinson and the Delmonico family of New York. The result was a luxurious seventeen course feast that helped launch fine restaurant dining in America as we know it today. She is also the author of Mrs. Goodfellow: The Story of America’s Cooking School, a successful nineteenth century pastry chef who also ran an innovative cooking school for young women - a Philadelphia first. 

Her fourth book, The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook: Cookies and Treats from America’s Golden Era, launches in September 2025 and is now available for preorder! She is currently working on a history of the City Tavern restaurant, to be published by Westholme in the summer of 2026.  . 

Please register for this event and you'll receive the link in the confirmation and reminder emails - make sure to check your spam folder for them, the email will be coming from Zoom.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library, is in collaboration with the Chelmsford, Groton, and Tewksbury Libraries, and is in partnership with a multitude of MA & NH libraries.