Daisy Cakes Bakes, a review

When UPS delivered this book for review, I had planned to quickly peruse it and set it aside to read at another time.  Instead it was about half an hour later I messaged my daughter that I was reading the BEST baking book I've seen in awhile.

Daisy Cake Bakes is subtitled Southern Layer Cakes, Pies, Cookies, and More.  The author is Kim Nelson, whose Daisy Cake business is a success story of ABC's Shark Tank.  I am happy she decided to share her recipes with us!

The first cake recipe in the book is one of my favorite cakes so she had me there, a simple yellow cake with chocolate icing.  Which was a favorite cake for her family growing up.  The book has a good balance of easy baked goods, those we would recognize from our own childhood, and cakes or desserts which she has created for her business.

For instances, some more unusual items are Long Island Iced Tea Pie, Bacon Jam Filling, Bacon Toffee, and Scotland Orange Cake (which I have marked to try right away).  She also offers basic easy-to-make recipes that offer various options to "make it your own" specialty.  There are a good amount of photos throughout the book.

The chapters are:

• Cakes and Cupcakes
• Cookies, Bars, and Confections
• Frostings, Fillings, and Sauces
• Pies and Fritters
• Ice Creams and Puddings

I highly recommend this cookbook for both the beginner and the experienced baker. 

Daisy Cakes Bakes was provided by Blogging For Books but the opinions are my own.

More information can be found... here.

Disclaimer:  Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

My Favorite Cookbooks of 2016

Once again, these only include the books I either purchased or reviewed this past year. They also don't include review cookbooks I passed on to friends or family members since I don't have them available to look at before writing. The order is only the way I pulled them off the shelf. Most are showing my preference these days for cookbooks with prose and photos.

When I do purchase books on Amazon with credit, most of the time they are cooking and craft books.  Although I realized I didn't buy any new decorating or crafting books this past year, which is why none are included.

Homestead Kitchen: Stories and Recipes From our Hearth to Yours by Eve and Elvin Kilcher is a must have for fans of Alaska The Last Frontier.  I didn't start watching the show until it had been on about a year or so but once I did, I was hooked!  Elvin is one of the sons of the family showcased in the program and the way Elvin and Eve raise a young family off the land in the wilderness is one of the reasons I watch the show.  I've had a longing to live off the land since watching my first Wilderness Family movie in the 1970s.  ;)

While I enjoy the stories told in the book very much, it is also loaded with good "from scratch" recipes and photos.  Obviously, some of the ingredients are those I don't have access to but there are plenty of great ideas that I can use.  They had me on the nasturtium vinaigrette.  This was a great purchase with a promo-code discount.

Kitchen Gypsy by Joanne Weir can best be described as a "memoir with recipes".  I have long enjoyed Weir's PBS cooking shows and being able to read the story of her life and travels was a lot of fun.  It was particularly interesting to learn how various people influenced her cooking through the years, beginning with her mother and grandparents.

As you can imagine from a chef who worked at Chez Panisse (the Forward is by Alice Waters), the ingredients are both fresh and flavorful.  Most of the recipes are easy for anyone having cooking experience and all have Weir's flare for making the ordinary just a little unusual.  I learned to try new ideas in the kitchen from her and most worked out just fine.

I wanted Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South since I looked through it at Barnes & Noble one day.  First of all, I love the PBS show, A Chef's Life.  It took me awhile to warm up to it in the beginning but I knew it had potential.  These past few seasons have been very enjoyable.

At first I wasn't sure I'd want this cookbook because it is pricey, I don't cook with North Carolina ingredients, and her show... and book... is ingredient based.  That's where perusing it changed my mind.  For one thing, this is a huge cookbook.  Chances are anyone can find a lot of recipes in it.  I know from the show that Vivian Howard likes to use ingredients in unusual ways so I was surprised at how many good, old fashioned, basic country style recipes are in the book.

Each recipe has not only a photo but an accompanying story.  I love that!  Because each chapter is Ingredient based, it is also easy to look through when I want an idea for something to do with that ingredient.  While I will never use the chapter on say... oysters... I will definitely be coming back to tomatoes and eggs and cucumbers (especially the Fancy Sandwiches), and beets, and... you get the idea.

So how did I come to purchase it?  A lovely aligning of the stars with an already good Holiday price on Amazon, a $10.00 promo-code, and Amazon credit available.  Yes!

The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson has been around for a couple of years but I didn't purchase it until this past year.  It has been on my Wish List for ages after seeing photos of the inside of the book and having cooks I trust online rave about it.

It's definitely an eye candy cookbook that one can drool over as the Winter winds are howling outside the window... as they are now.  Brrrrr...  But I have been adding a few vegetarian cookbooks to my shelves and decided this would be a good one. It is loaded with great ideas and recipes (which are often just ways of assembling fresh fruit and veggies).

She has a kid's cookbook that I've heard is good but takes a lot of recipes from this one.  Her brand new cookbook, which centers around entertaining large crowds, is getting rave reviews.  But this basic cookbook is fine for me.  It will get more use once seasonal fruit and veggies are available again.

The Love and Lemons Cookbook: An Apple-to-Zucchini Celebration of Impromptu Cooking is another ingredient based vegetarian cookbook with lots of colorful photos.  It is by blogger Jeanine Donofrio of the Love and Lemons food blog, which was a winner of Saveur's Best Cooking Blog Award.

This book also kept coming up on favorite food blogs and what everyone raved about was not the recipes (although they look very good), but the two page layouts that give basic ingredients of favorite foods and then adds variations.  In color.  In photos.  Amazing.

The two page layouts in the back of the book are:  Pesto, Hummus, Guacamole, Salsa, and Smoothies. They all begin with the most traditional ingredient recipes and then give suggestions from there.  This book has more Winter friendly recipes than The Forest Feast.  I have a few of the cauliflower recipes marked to try soon.

French Country Cooking: Meals and Moments from A Village in the Vineyards by Mimi Thorisson.  If one goes on readability and gorgeous photos alone, then this is definitely a case of saving the best for last.  This was the first cookbook I ever read all the way through after receiving it.

I liked Mimi's first book called A Kitchen In France but I absolutely loved this book.  In it, she tells the story of their purchase of a rundown chateau and the "pop up" restaurant they run off and on.  But it is also the story of a family that loves good food, dogs, kids, and their home in France.

Reading it was enjoyable and the photos, taken by her professional photographer husband, are gorgeous.  This is indeed the perfect book to read mid-winter.  It is one of those rare cookbooks that I don't care if I every try one of the recipes, although I do plan to soon, it would be worth the purchase just to read it as a novel.  It was a good day when I decided to review it!

Items mentioned in this post:

• Homestead Kitchen... here.
• Kitchen Gypsy... here.
• Deep Run Roots... here.
• The Forest Feast... here.
• The Love and Lemons Cookbook... here.
• French Country Cooking... here.
• The Adventures of the Wilderness Family Trilogy DVD... here.

Disclaimer:  Most links to Amazon.com are Associate Links.
I know you will ask:  I found all my Amazon promo book discounts on Modern Mrs. Darcy's updates on her blog... here.

The Berenstian Bears' Holiday Cookbook, a review

I'm a big fan of getting kids in the kitchen at an early age but I'm not always a fan of cookbooks for kids.  Many of them depend a lot on processed foods and unhealthy items.  However, this is a rare cookbook that is colorful, easy to follow, has a photo of each completed recipe, and many recipes are "from scratch". There are also some recipes using quick processed foods for it is a combination of both that most cooks use in their menus.

The recipes in the book are divided by Holidays, although they obviously can be made at any time of the year.  I have a couple recipes bookmarked to make and the only ten year old in the house is a cat.

Each Holiday has a very short Berenstain Bears story with a verse from Scripture.  For instance, Valentine's Day has "We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 as the verse.  Most, if not all pages, contain colorful photos of characters from Berenstain Bears books which would make it especially enjoyable for young readers.

Some of the recipes are:

• Lovely-Dovey Banana Bread
• Easter Hat Panini
• Honey Bear's Favorite Mashed Potatoes
• Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade
• Firework Fruit Explosion
• Creepy Crawly Pasta Salad
• Papa's Paw-Lickin' Good Chicken Wings
• Caramel Apple Nachos
• Gobbler Apple Muffins
• Mama Bear's Turkey and Veggie Soup
• Holiday Pinwheels
• Winter Sweet Potato Soup
• Accordion Potatoes
• Christmas Pasta Bake
• Bear's Christmas Cut-Out Cookies

This hardback, colorful, and fairly healthy cookbook is highly recommended.  For kids, parents, and Grammies.

This cookbook was provided by the publisher for the sake of review but the opinions are my own.

Further information can be found... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate Links.

Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes... a review

I was interested in reading Victuals as soon as I saw the Publisher's description as, "an exploration of the foodways, people, and places of Appalachia".  The author, Ronni Lundy, was born in Corbin, Kentucky but her family moved to Louisville.  Which is where my interest came in.

My mother was born in the area just south of Louisville. While it is not officially part of the mountains, the food and culture is similar for the rural people of the state.

The author drove 4,000 miles through Southern Appalachia covering parts of Kentucky, West Virginia, southern Ohio, northern Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina.  What follows is a loving account of the history of this region through its food, its' culture, and the people who have lived in each area.

If you are only wanting recipes, this is not your book.  If you want a history of a region by food... this is the best book on the subject I've read.  The author's research is amazing and written as if one were reading a novel.  The photography is gorgeous, both of the food and the various locations.

It brought me to tears a couple of times.  For instance, the "recipe" for sorghum butter took me back immediately to my childhood when my mother whipped up sorghum and room temperature butter for biscuits and pancakes.  I could taste it as if I'd had them for breakfast that morning.

I highly recommend Victuals for those who want to learn more about southern Appalachia, the culture in each location, and the food.  This makes for great reading even if you don't know how to cook.

This book was provided by Blogging For Books for the sake of review but the opinions are my own.

More information about Victuals can be found... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

Food With Friends, a review

Food with Friends, The Art of Simple Gatherings is a book about showing hospitality, whether a large party or a small get together with friends.  The author, Leela Cyd, is an artist with a camera who happens to have some very good recipes.

While this book is not for everyone, it is perfect for the cook who loves to make food pretty and who loves to experiment with flavors.  If one does not live on the West Coast, it may require ordering some special ingredient online.  However, I think it would be worth it if one is making this food for a special occasion such as a wedding shower or birthday.

The chapters include:

• Secret Ingredients
• Style File
• Breakfast & Brunch
• Teatime
• Happy Hour
• Potlucks & Picnics
• Desserts
• Tiny Takeaways

This is the perfect book for foodie meets Pinterest.  If your preference is for ingredients on hand and not at all complicated, I don't think you would be happy with the book.  Although you could certainly find a few recipes in it.  However, it is definitely for the cook who enjoys pretty, girlie food that is going to be unique for sharing with guests.

This book was provided by Blogging For Books but the opinions are my own.

Further information can be found about Food With Friends... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

Home Cooked, a review

Home Cooked is a beautiful and well written cookbook.  When I first perused it, the thought that came to me was that for some people, this is the cookbook they have always wanted.  It is perfect for those who cook from scratch, I mean really cook from scratch... like perhaps growing and processing their own meat.

But this cookbook goes far beyond that with recipes and instructions for processing your fruits and vegetables, pickling, making your own ricotta, and a lot of good sauces.  The recipes are mostly with an Italian slant as the author lived in Italy for some time.

The author also provides in-depth instructions when appropriate, such as in the section on making your own ricotta cheese.  I found the chapter on cooking with an iron skillet very helpful if just for the instructions on how to clean up very old iron skillets. The chapter called "A Steak Primer" was very helpful even to this long time cook.

While I may not use half the recipes in the book, there are plenty of good dishes I can't wait to try like Fast Kraut, Cornmeal Spoonbread, Asado Potatoes, Buttery Spatchcocked Chicken, and Apple Torta.

As I said in the first paragraph, this cookbook will be exactly what some cooks have been wanting but even for the rest of us, it is an excellent well written and well photographed book.  With a good story!

This cookbook was provided by Blogging For Books for the purpose of review but the opinion is my own.

Further information about Home Cooked can be found... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate Links.

Eating in the Middle: A Mostly Wholesome Cookbook, a review

I am drawn to cookbooks by people who have lost a great deal of weight to see if they offer good recipes for a diabetic.  Most often I am disappointed because they call for artificial ingredients that I don't want to use.

This book by Andie Mitchell was a lovely surprise.  Not only are the recipes made with food I can easily obtain in the Midwest but the book is full of "from scratch", easy recipes that I know even my husband will like. 

I have already bookmarked a few to try soon, including Cauliflower With Bacon, Roasted Carrots with Honey Butter, Baked Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls (using less heat so said hubby will eat it), and Chocolate Raspberry Breakfast Pudding made with chia seeds (of which I have a package waiting for a good recipe).

These are recipes I will make pretty much as described in the book but it is also full of recipes which one could easily tweak like Tuna and Orzo Salad with Parmesan & Basil.  The author not only provides mostly healthy foods but there are recipes for those days when one can cheat a little that are not as nutritious.

This is not a diet book and she has already told the story of how she lost the weight in a previous book.  But it is an excellent cookbook, full of colorful photos of the food.  It is exactly the kind of cookbook I like these days.

This cookbook was provided by Blogging For Books for the purpose of a review but the opinions are my own.

Eating in the Middle can be found at Amazon... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

Sweeter Off the Vine, a review

I have a lot of cookbooks in my collection.  Some are fun to take off the shelf and read, perhaps bookmarking a recipe or two to try when I have the time.  Others are what I call "workhorse" kinds of cookbooks, those I will reach for when I need a certain recipe.

Sweeter Off the Vine will definitely be among the latter although it is also a gorgeous cookbook.  I love the way this is set up with the sections divided by the four seasons and then further divided by fruits within that season.

SPRING
Herbs
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Cherries

SUMMER
Apricots
Mixed Berries
Melons
Stone Fruits
Raspberries
Figs

FALL
Grapes
Persimmons and Pomegranates
Apples
Pears
Quince
Squash and Pumpkins

WINTER
Cranberries
Citrus
Dates

Further chapters include Year-Round Essentials and Seasonal Larder. 

This is a cookbook that you can reach for when you come home from the Farmer's Market or the orchard and want to "bake something" with what you have just purchased.  The recipes are "from scratch" and have a nice variation of easy as well as complicated.  Some recipes are whole grain while others are made with AP flour.  There are plenty of recipes with no flour at all for those  needing such.

I highly recommend this cookbook for those cooks who want to cook in season, from scratch, delicious desserts.

This cookbook was provided by Blogging For Books but the opinions are my own.

For further information at Amazon.com, click... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

My Pantry by Alice Waters, a review

This is, for the most part, a great book for those wanting to keep a pantry and make their own items for the pantry.  The book is by Alice Waters, whom I have long admired for the way she helped change how America looked at food.  The charming illustrations are by her daughter, Fanny Singer.

The chapters are:

• Spice Mixtures and Condiments
• Nuts
• Beans and Other Legumes
• Savory Preserves
• Whole Grains
• Preserved Fish and Meat
• Cheese
• Sweet Preserves

We are told how to make everything from Za'atar, to apple peel cider vinegar, to almond milk, to hummus, to zucchini pickles, to gravlax, to ricotta and yogurt, to vanilla extract and lovage syrup.  I plan to make the lovage syrup when my lovage (hopefully) returns next Spring.

A lot of reviewers said that the book was not what they expected and I admit to having the same feelings.  I knew the recipes would include a lot of those which are more West Coast than my own Midwestern style of cooking.  That is fine. 

But the more I thought about what the book was missing, I kept coming back to my desire for... lists.   While some items are discussed, what would have been helpful is to have actual lists of what items are in Alice Waters pantry.  What kind of olive oil is there?  What types of salt exactly does she feel are important?  What particular spices and herbs could one find on the shelf?

Having said that, as with Alice Waters other books, it makes for enjoyable reading.

This book was provided by Blogging For Books for review but the opinions are my own.

The Homemade Kitchen, a review

It is very rare that I find a cookbook that I would recommend everyone stopping what they are doing now and buying the book!  The Homemade Kitchen by Alana Chernila is such a book.

Before I read it, I thought it was mainly a book about preserving food.  Then when the UPS guy dropped off the box, I opened it and had planned to give it a quick perusal.  I think it was about an hour later I came up for air (and a cup of tea). 

For this is one of those cookbooks I love, one that can be read like a good biography.  Some reviewers have compared Chernila to the late Laurie Colwin (if you have never read her food memoirs, they are a must).

Of course, this is first and foremost a cookbook.  It is perfect for the brand new cook with sections like Be a Beginner, where she talks about everything from how to make a salad to how to make a pie to how to make pickles to how to roast a chicken (and much more).  I had marked a few recipes to try right away in the first perusal.

Within the book she does teach us how to preserve food and then gives us a lot of recipes on how to use them once they are in our pantry.  She tells us how to use our scraps (aka: leftovers that are delicious).  She even shares how to make sushi.

There is something here for every level of cook/baker.  This book will be one I take from the cookbook shelf to the coffee table this winter, light a candle, brew a little pot of tea,... and read to my heart's content... or look at the beautiful photos.

If you are looking for streamlined recipes with no prose, this is not your book.  If you want to feel like you are sharing recipes with a friend... this truly is your book.  Highly recommended for the new cook and people like me who have been cooking nigh onto forty-five years and still love to learn more "from scratch" recipes.

This cookbook was provided by Blogging for Books but the opinions are my own.

Amazon.com link is... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

A Modern Way to Eat, a review

I'm not a vegetarian but I do include a lot of non-meat based meals in my menus.  So I was very interested to peruse this cookbook, especially when it comes highly recommended by Jamie Oliver.

The author, Anna Jones, worked with and was trained by Oliver in in London so his fresh and sustainable take on food is throughout this book.  But his former student can stand as an excellent chef and cookbook writer on her own.  This is one great cookbook.  She provides not only over 200 recipes but teaches readers as she goes along.

I admit that about half the recipes are not the kind I will make at home in an American kitchen and not being vegan or vegetarian.  However, there are lots and lots of recipes using fresh ingredients and grains that tempt me into the kitchen right away.  Not to mention the desserts. 

I think my favorite sections are scattered throughout the book where the author shows us building blocks of various aspects of cooking.  For instance, the first two-page spread shows how she puts a recipe together. 

Another two-page spread shows the building blocks for assembling a great salad.  Yet another shows the building blocks of putting together various soups.  The section on assembling various kinds of pesto provided ideas I'd never thought of beyond basil.

With information like this, any cook will have a mix and match set of ideas to take to the farmer's market or peruse the pantry and put dinner on the table.

This is a thick book but the height and width are not too large that it takes up a lot of space on the kitchen counter while cooking.  While a photo does not accompany every recipe, there are plenty throughout the book that one can get quite hungry just perusing the pictures. 

I highly recommend this cookbook for anyone wanting to eat healthier meals that taste good.  If you want a how-to book with beautiful photos and yummy recipes, this cookbook is the one you have been looking for.

This book was provided by Blogging For Books but the opinion is my own.

Further information can be found at Amazon.com... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

Milk Bar Life, a review

If you weren't familiar with Christina Tosi before, you may be enjoying her work as a judge on MasterChef this season.  I enjoy the sparkle she adds to the show (no offense to the men, however).

Christina is a James Beard award winner for Best Pastry Chef as well as the co-founder and owner of the Momofuku Milk Bar, which is known for rather unusual offerings.  So I wasn't too sure what to think of this cookbook as I'm not known for edgy baking.  But given that I enjoy her work on MasterChef, I was curious enough to agree to review the new cookbook.

That was one of the best decisions I've made in awhile!  What an amazing cookbook.  It truly is like an amusement park for cooks and bakers.  From the first section that contains recipes many home cooks will recognize from their childhood, made with very familiar ingredients.  To the edgy "out of the box" recipes Tosi is known for.  There is something for everyone in this cookbook.

It is also the kind of cookbook I enjoy reading, curled up on the sofa with a cup of herbal tea (okay, tisane) in the evening when I need an escape.  The photos are interesting, both of the food and the people.  Each section includes stories and the recipes have a background of their own to tell.  The font is easy to read and the recipes easy to follow.

However, this is not a cookbook I'll read and then place on the shelf.  I already have numerous recipes marked to try soon.  There are recipes for the home cook with just a little experience all the way to cooks who like a challenge.  There are plenty of pastry recipes as you would expect but enough savory offerings to keep you busy for quite awhile.

The book is divided up by Tosi's days and well... lifetime.  Sections include:

• Hand-Me-Downs (growing up recipes)
• A Cookie a Day...
• Supermarket
• We are Family
• Weak Nights
• Freakin' Weekend
• Cookout/Bonfire
• Craft Night/Sleepover
• Going Out
• and more...

I highly recommend this cookbook and don't let the amount of one star reviews scare you away.  For the most part, they are all people who thought her last book full of edgy, quirky, out-of-the box recipes was far better than this one.   I would say the average home cook would much (and I mean much more) prefer this one.

This book was provided by Blogging For Books but the opinion is my own.

Further information can be found... here.*

*Most links to Amazon.com are Associate links.

The Healthy Mind Cookbook, a review

I was very interested in this cookbook.  My husband, whom long time readers will know went on Disability ten years ago due to Bipolar Disorder, has been researching the relationship between the brain and the "gut".  The changes he made in his diet have proven very affective.

So when I saw there was a cookbook coming up for review that is about this very subject.  I jumped at the change to peruse it.  It is exactly the kind of book anyone who is using food to help heal (or at least alleviate symptoms in my husband's case) brain chemistry needs.

Having both a bipolar husband and an extremely ADHD son, I have known about the affect between the brain and what we eat for sometime.  But the advances within the past five years or so in research have been remarkable.

In The Healthy Mind Cookbook (subtitled Big-Flavor Recipes to Enhance Brain Function, Mood Memory, and Mental Clarity), Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson provide the latest information on the relationship between "the gut" and brain chemistry.  Just in case your doctor is skeptical the way some of our doctors have been in the past.

There is a great deal of easy to read and understand material in the beginning of the book.  I plan to go back and reread certain sections until I am very familiar with them.  Yes, I can see this cookbook becoming very well used and stained with the preparation of recipes.  

The chapter titled The Culinary Pharmacy is worth the price of the book alone as we are given a long list of foods (including herbs and spices) that are good for the brain and information about each food. I have already written down a few herbs I plan to add to my herb garden this Spring.

What makes this book truly functional are the recipes which incorporate all of these foods into our daily diet.  Unlike a scientific journal or a "book about the brain", this book is from a culinary perspective.  One can find familiar foods in recipes and more ethnic types of foods we learn about in The Culinary Pharmacy chapter.

Some recipes I plan to try are:

• Southwestern Sweet Potato Soup
• Avocado Citrus Salad
• Kale With Dates and Caramelized Onions
• Simple Shrimp Scampi and
• Triple Greens Frittata

Another nice thing about most of these recipes, with most recipes it would not be difficult to leave out a food you know the family would not eat or that would be difficult to obtain.  Also, I cannot afford organic everything so I would have to use a non-organic option when necessary.

I highly recommend this cookbook for anyone who is dealing with a brain chemistry issue (like bipolar disorder, ADHD, Dementia, etc.) but really it would be good for anyone wanting to protect themselves and their family from these issues in the future.

This book was provided for review by Blogging For Books but the opinion is my own.

Information can be found at Amazon.com... here.*

All links to Amazon.com are Associate links.  I thank you.

Pure Food cookbook, a review

I include meat free dinners at least half of the time in our weekly menus, not only for our health but to stretch the food budget.  So I was very interested in this cookbook.  The subtitle is Eat Clean With Seasonal, Plant-Based Recipes and the way it is set up (with recipes by what is in season each month) won me over immediately.

The author, Veronica Bosgraaf, is the founder of the Pure Bar, organic nut bars and fruit snacks.  But I find this book is written from her perspective of a wife and mom who loves to cook and put healthy meals on the table for her family. 

Unlike "nutritionist written" vegetarian or vegan cookbooks I have read, most of these recipes are the kind I could put on my own table without my family wondering what I was up to.  Honestly, I think even the meat and potato fed husbands would enjoy some of these dishes.

To name a few:

• Winter Root Vegetables with Honey Sauce (I am trying this one soon!)
• Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions
• Chocolate Rice Pudding
• Scalloped Potatoes with Onion, Garlic, Peppers Savory, and Dill
• Vegan Orange Cream Pops
• Egg Noodles with Wild Mushrooms and Spring Greens
• Rhubarb Breakfast Crisp
• Cheddar Artichoke Dip
• Hummus, Tomato, and Caper Bruschetta
• Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque
• Eggplant Love Lasagna
• Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Fresh Tomato Sauce
• Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

Have I made you hungry, yet?  Those recipes are but a smattering of the many included in the book and since they are provided within the month you would most likely find them (at least where I live)... very easy to incorporate into your menu.

I also like the feel of this cookbook.  It is softbound and just the right size that makes the font large enough to read easily but not so big it takes up the entire kitchen counter (at least in my small-ish kitchen).  There are photos of some of the dishes in the center of the book.  I highly recommend it.

This book was provided by Blogging For Books for the purpose of review but the opinion is my own.

For further information on Amazon.com, click here.*

*All links to Amazon.com are Associate Links.

The Soup Club cookbook, a review

Judging from the title alone, one would think this cookbook is just for those interested in starting a soup club.  Well, yes it does have the history of this particular soup club and the instructions on how one works... but this is also a collection of delicious soup recipes as well as side dishes that look absolutely yummy.

I plan to make the cornbread recipe this week.  Cream cheese in a corn bread recipe?  I can't wait to try it!

So what is a soup club?  In this case, it is four friends getting together (who love soup) and deciding that once a week one of the "members" makes a large batch of soup which can be shared with the other three families.  And then once a week for three weeks, they receive homemade soup and they do not have to cook.  Being a soup lover, this is one food club I would enjoy.

But as I said, you don't have to even think of starting a club to enjoy this book.  For one thing, it is so easy to handle.  The cover is soft enough to bend easily but sturdy enough to live through multiple lunches and suppers.  It is large enough that the print is not tiny and there are beautiful photos.  There is not a photo of every recipe but then again... how many ways can you photograph a bowl of soup?

The recipes are easy to follow and such a good variety between basic soups, ethnic additions, and seasonal offerings.  Some of the recipes are:

• Various Broths
• Miso Soup
• Egg Drop Soup
• Green Split Pea Soup
• Cuban Black Bean Soup
• The Dudes' Chili
• Potato Leek Soup
• Carrot Coconut Soup
• Potato Cheddar Soup
• Curried Apple Celeriac Soup
• Spiced Pumpkin Soup
• Winter Corn Chowder
• Mushroom and Cashew Cream Soup
• Senegalese Peanut Soup
• Watermelon Gazpacho
• Tomato Gazpacho
• Saffron Seafood Chowder
• Filipino Healing Soup
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Jewish Chicken Noodle Soup
• Italian Wedding Soup
• ... and lots more.

There are also plenty of additional recipes for salads, dressings, side veggies, breads, pastas, snacks, etc.  Since these are recipes the members actually use all the time, they are home tested.

I highly recommend this book!  For more information click on over... here.*  You can get a look inside the book there.

This book was received from Blogging For Books for the purpose of review but the opinions are my own.

*All links to Amazon.com are Associate Links.

Joy the Baker: Homemade Decadence, a review

You know a cookbook may be good when you become very hungry just perusing the beautiful photos of food!  As a cookbook collector, I do love it when the book has good photos.  But this latest edition by the blogger known as "Joy the Baker" also offers something rarely seen in books about baking... very unique recipes!

Joy Wilson has taken many basic recipes and made them "over the top" indulgent.  Decadent, as the title implies.  This cookbook would be very much appreciated by those who love to bake and want to expand their recipe file to something more than brownies and cookies.

Although it does have a good selection of basic and easy-to-make recipes, this would be my "go to" cookbook when I want to make something special for a party or as a gift to a friend.

You would definitely get your money's worth from Homemade Decadence.  It is loaded with good ideas!  I thought it amusing that I had just seen smoked sea salt on the grocery store shelves and wondered how I would use it.  She uses it in a cookie recipe (or to be more specific, on a cookie)!

I highly recommend this new cookbook and plan to make a few recipes soon.  Well, as soon as I get over the Christmas baking extravaganza.  I have not tried any of the recipes (being in the midst of cookie baking) but having baked for forty years, I can tell looking at them that they will work just fine. ;)

You can find out more about Homemade Decadence at Amazon... here.*

This book was provided free from the publisher for the purpose of review but the opinions are my own.

*Associate's Link

Mennonite Girls Can Cook, a cookbook review

I want to begin reviewing cookbooks which will help to stretch the food budget and I can't think of any better book to start with than Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

I was thrilled when I found out the ladies of my favorite food blog were writing a cookbook.  You know how sometimes you look forward to a book and it turns out to be such a let down?  Well, that didn't happen with this cookbook.

It is filled with easy to read heritage recipes as well as recent favorites, beautiful pictures... some of them showing the process of making the dish and many showng what the completed recipe would (or should) look like.  Because one of the ladies has celiac disease, there is a nice selection of gluten free recipes.

There is a  full page telling the story of each of the ten contributors as well as a selection of their popular Sunday Bread for the Journey writings.

One thing I must tell you regarding the heritage recipes, many are from a Russian-Eastern European background since the Canadian Mennonites (at least part of them) came from this area of the world.  I didn't know that!  Having said that... there are still lots and lots of great recipes the same as Americans are used to with Mennonite cooking.

As you can see, the instructions and pictures are clear, many of them just right for the beginning cook.  However, there are plenty of intermediate recipes and a few containing multiple steps to complete for the experienced cook.

I love to read cookbooks and this one offers spiritual as well as physical food.  :)

This book is highly recommended!  It is available at Amazon... here.  The proceeds the ladies receive are going to a charity which feeds the hungry.