Posts Tagged ‘Book Review’

The Farm Fresh Southern Cooking cookbook for me is a taste and reminder of home. My mother being raised in the deep south brought to the table food that was just as tasty as it was comforting. I grew up enjoying meals that included many fresh pickings from our own and family and friends gardens. And am thrilled to be reminded and challenged to bring to my own family’s table delicious meals that are healthy and encourage us to know where our produce is coming from, supporting our own local farmers thanks to this great cookbook by Tammy Algood.

As you open the book, you’ll find a table of content which includes; Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Sides, Breads, Entrees, Desserts, Breakfast and Brunch, and Canning Instructions followed by acknowledgments and a helpful index. Each food catagory has a list of all the recipes in that section followed by Spotlights. The Spotlights are of local farms sharing about various fruits, vegetables, etc. For example one of the first spotlights in the book is on “Honey” the farmer being interviewed talks about how they craved a simple life of making honey and how and why they chose to do that. Reading the Spotlights in the book whether on honey, figs, herbs, or pecans, has been a real treat. In my eyes, this a cookbook that keeps on giving in more than one way.

The photos of the food are warm, inviting, and real. I love real photos when it comes to food! No airbrushing, or photo tunning. Real because that’s the way it should be presented as that will be how it looks coming to our own tables.

There are many recipes in this book, I’m just dying to whip up! The ingredients are usually something that I have in my own home and easy enough to find in your local store or farmers market. Over Easter, I happened to make the “Orange Hugged Carrots” and it was a hit with my family. So glad that even my very picky three year old even gave them a thumbs up!

If you are looking for a taste of home or just inspired to bring to the table something different from down south, I highly recommend this book. And with Mother’s Day around the corner, I’d think about presenting her with this one for sure.

Buy it: You can purchase Farm Fresh Southern Cooking: Straight from the Garden to Your Dinner Table on Amazon.com for 11.99 (Kindle Version) or $16.49 (print version.

I received this book free from the publisher through the Book Sneeze, book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Most if not all children grow up being told and taking to heart the story of the Three Little Pigs and that big bad wolf that would huff and puff and blow all those houses down. My children know this story well in and out with no surprise in-between. That is until just recently when I introduced a version of this tale called “Huff and Puff” by author Claudia Rueda that puts a fun unexpected twist on this classic story!

In this version of the Three Little Pigs, it allows for the children being read to as well as the reader, to play the part of the big bad wolf. Through this tale children can interact thanks to the unique three interior die-cut holes to blow the houses down created by the little pigs. My daughter got a real kick out being able to interact and giggled till the story ended!

The illustrations are done in watercolor style with a soft pale pen outline. And the story is written very simply and would be a great early reader book, in my opinion. Myself and my children loved the surprise ending we received as we huffed and puffed after the last little pigs home. We’ve read this book numerous time and would highly recommend it as an engaging book that any young child would enjoy.

You can purchase Huff & Puff: Can You Blow Down the Houses of the Three Little Pigs? for $10.36 and it’s also eligible for free shipping at Amazon.com.

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Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in exchange for my opinion of them. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

My children so enjoy and look forward to their evening bedtime stories. As a mother, I see bedtime stories as a wonderful opportunity and privilege to spend time in building memories that will last a lifetime in being passed down from generation to generation. One of our new favorites for bedtime recently is a from the Abrams Books For Young Readers line called “Sweet Dreams”.

Sweet Dreams is a endearing bedtime story about a mother preparing her daughter for bed by telling her about all the near by animals and their nighttime activity. I appreciate how the story is written in lyrical rhyming way that makes the book flow rather nicely when reading aloud. And the illustrations are simply beautifully done in pen, ink, and watercolor. I honestly wish I could frame some of pictures of the animals in their natural environments from the book on my wall . My favorite picture by far in the book is one of three baby owls sitting in their nest waiting for their mother to return with a meal.

I so adore this book and am pleased my daughter has asked to have it read several nights in a row. I ponder if after hearing this story if she is whisked away into dreams filled with of all the animals mentioned in the story starting at dusk and ending at dawn. The book as a whole is comforting, sweet, and will leave your child feeling safe and secure all snuggled up tightly in bed.

You can purchase Sweet Dreams  on Amazon.com for $10.95 and it’s also eligible for free shipping.

Get Connected with Abrams Books:  Twitter |  Facebook | Sign up for their newsletter | Check out their online catalogs

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in exchange for my opinion of them. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.