Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week, I reviewed Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier, a historical novel about the paleontologist Mary Anning. Heather reviewed The Marquis who Mustn’t by Courtney Milan — I’m pretty sure this is the first book I’ve heard of that features characters with Chinese heritage in England. Tina enjoyed book 2 in the Inspector Tom Reynolds series, Beneath the Surface by Jo Spain.

I watched all the Mary Berry shows that PBS would give me last year, reviewing the cozy-themed ones in December. My post was a couple of weeks too early to include the 2022 special, Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas, so I saved it to watch this year.

In Ultimate Christmas, Mary visits with three fellow chefs, cooking holiday dishes with them. In between those segments, Mary teaches us how to prepare, start to finish, her Christmas Day dinner. She shows us what she prepares in advance and how to get everything done in an organized manner so that everything is hot and ready to serve on time.

Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas was a delightful way to kindle the Christmas spirit. Every location is decked out with greenery and baubles. Her guests show up in festive fashions. The food, naturally, looks so delicious that you can practically smell it through the screen.

I’ve never been tempted to make anything that I’ve seen in Mary Berry’s series or specials, but I may try her twice-roasted potatoes. Those look easy, delicious, and not too decadent as a starchy side dish with poultry or fish.

Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas is available via PBS Passport, a benefit of belonging to your local PBS station. If you enjoy it, make sure to catch her 2023 special, Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas, on PBS on Monday.

I think the Weekend Cooking folks will enjoy this show.

I’m also sharing this post on the Comfy Cozy Christmas link party. Erin at Cracker Crumb Life and Lisa at Boondock Ramblings host this event.