The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book

I love my pressure cooker and I have been looking for a good cookbook with some really good recipes that even I would like. This cookbook has 500 recipes in it. There are several I really want to try but there are a lot that I probably will never make. That being said it is worth it to have it.

The first part of the book is dedicated to explaining how to use a pressure cooker and helping people to get over their fears of using them. I really enjoyed this part of the book. The one thing that I didn't see in the recipes is how to adjust the recipes to the different sizes of pressure cookers. I have a smaller one and I'm afraid that some of the recipes will be too much for my cooker. Maybe I over looked the instructions pertaining to the size. The cookbook is full of information. I will go through it again and look.

The recipes are broken up into types of foods. There is a section for beef, chicken, pork, soups and desserts etc. I'm glad to have this cookbook in my collection and look forward to making some of the recipes. As of right now I haven't fixed anything from the cookbook so it is hard to say how the food will turn out but looking at the ingredients and with what experience I do have with pressure cookers I believe the recipes should be pretty descent.

I received this book at no charge in exchange for an honest review from www.bloggingforbooks.com.

Prison

 

 

I wasn’t sure about the book Prison by Toni V. Lee when I first saw it but decided to read it. I’m glad I did. I really enjoyed the story and wasn’t disappointed.

Sonja Gray is an undercover detective in narcotics. She attends a church where a drug dealer has set up his “business” thinking the cops wouldn’t suspect a thing. Sonja is paired up with Max Trent another detective that really gets under Sonja’s skin. They start their investigation in her church him posing as her nerdy fiancé.

Sonja doesn’t have any family but 2 elderly ladies have “adopted” her and are her aunties. These 2 women are so funny and they tend to butt in everywhere. They even “force” the drug dealer “Rock” to attend services by taking him in Sunday after Sunday.

I know that the book had to get a lot of things but there were a few things that probably could’ve been left out. There were a couple of characters who were introduced and then just dropped maybe they were there for a sequel I don’t know but I felt like too much emphasis was put on them only to be left out of the story in the end. Also, there were a few things that weren’t what I would call believable but overall the book was enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a little action and a little romance

I received this book at no charge by www.booklookbloggers.com in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

Serving Up a Sweetheart

Serving Up a Sweetheart is a Novell by Cheryl Wyatt. It’s a story about Meadow Larson who owns a catering business and Colin McGrath who just moved back to Havenbrook. He and his friends tormented Meadow when she was in high school and now he is living right across the street from her.

Meadow’s kitchen is destroyed by a cave in and Colin comes to her rescue offering her his kitchen and offering to repair hers. She is skeptical but allows him to do so. This is your typical wedding novella. I loved the characters. And I liked the fact that the author showed us through God and with his help we can forgive others.

This is a short read only requiring a couple of hours but it was enjoyable just as most of the others in this series have been. I like these books when I need to clear my mind and just need something light to read. I would recommend it anyone who loves romance stories.

I was given this book at no charge from www.booklookbloggers.com in exchange for an honest review.

Genius Recipes

Food 52: Genius Recipes by Kristen Miglore is a beautiful cookbook. It is filled with recipes from various chefs in one collection. Each recipe includes a brief introduction to it and a “genius tip”. I haven’t prepared a recipe yet but it appears that most recipes are straight forward and easily followed. The ingredients are readily available in most grocery stores.

The cookbook includes 100 recipes that have somewhat unique techniques to make them “stand out” quality. Professional chefs who have found tricks to make their food taste better and they are shared with us in this cookbook.

It is beautifully illustrated with delicious looking photos that make the food look mouth watering. I can’t say that this will be my everyday go to cookbook but it will definitely be one that I keep in my collection and plan on using.  I would recommend it to anyone who loves to cook. It has plenty of recipes in it that look great. Unfortunately at this time I’m going to have to depend upon the “looks” of the ingredients and not my actual experience of the taste.

I received this book at no charge from www.bloggingforbooks.com  in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase this book here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Stories

 

 

Easter Stories: Classic Tales for the Holy Season is a collection of stories by various writers. Some are well know like C.S. Lewis, Leo Tolstoy, and Oscar Wilde and some are less known at least by me. The collection begins with a poem by Jayne Tyson Clement called Carol of Hope and it is followed by 27 more short stories that make great devotionals leading up to Easter but could also be enjoyed any time of the year.  They are written like fables and have an underlying meaning about Christ and his love for us. One of my favorites was Robin Redbreast by Selma Lagerlof. It was a story about a Robin waiting on its red breast and wondering why he was gray, a story about God completing us when He is ready.

If you are looking for a good family devotion to teach your children the true meaning of Easter, to teach them it’s not about eggs and Easter bunnies this would be a great book. Each story is short enough that it doesn’t take a long time to read and discuss. It is also good for an individual devotion time just to prepare your heart and a time to reflect on just what Christ has done for us.

I received this book at no charge from Handlebar Publishing in exchange for an honest  review.

Trisha's Table

Trisha’s Table: My Feel Good Favorites for a Balanced Life by Trisha Yearwood has some wonderful looking recipes in it. I haven’t prepared anything from the cookbook yet bet there is so many recipes in it that I want to try.

Now this cookbook isn’t what I would typically think of when I watch her cook these recipes seem to have a little more of a healthy twist to her southern cooking. Some of which I probably wouldn’t care too much for myself. This probably wouldn’t be my go to cookbook but that’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of recipes that I want to try.

It is very well illustrated with beautiful photography of the prepared dishes. And most look mouth watering. There is a black bean chili and rice recipe for those who want to eliminate meat from a meal, oh and a wonderful looking slow cooker Georgia pulled pork barbecue for the meat lovers.  I believe this cookbook that is offering healthier versions of what normally could be not so healthy comfort foods. Then there are some yummy desserts: chocolate angel food cake with strawberries, brownie batter cookies, key lime cheesecake with raspberry sauce. Okay so not all of it is healthy haha.

I would recommend this cookbook to others. I received this book from www.bloggingforbooks.com at no charge in exchange for an honest review.

Still Life

 

Still Life by Christa Parrish left me a little uncertain about how I feel about this novel. It is a novel about Ada who was raised in a strict, religious sect who married an outsider, Julian Goetz and a lady Katherine who has a troubled marriage. I didn’t hate this book but it probably isn’t one that I absolutely love either. It was just an okay read for me.

First, the description of the book doesn’t quite add up to the story inside but it’s close.  It was a little misleading. I maybe expected something a little different. Ms. Parrish wrote this book in a format that is a little different than most books that I have read which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I kind of enjoyed the format. The characters were pretty believable but it seemed there wasn’t much of a connection made. It is almost as if the story includes too much information trying to be crammed into one book. I would have probably enjoyed the book more if I felt the characters connected with each other on a more personal level throughout.

Secondly, I felt heartbroken that such a weak woman lost so much in such a short period of time. It was nice to be able to feel the characters and follow them. I just wish their story was a little deeper and we were allowed a deeper insight to their lives. I believe the concept of the storyline is a good one. It needed to be pulled together just a little better.

I wish the ending had been a little more detailed and pulled together. It was almost as if the book was made to end just a little too soon and didn’t get a proper finish. It probably needed a prologue with the way it ended. I would have liked to have seen Katherine and Ada to come together a little better.

I’ve listed several negatives but the book still had its good points. I read it pretty quickly and did enjoy the characters. The overall plot was a good one and I did find myself wanting to keep reading it.

I received this book at no charge from www.booklookbloggers.com in exchange for an honest review.

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John Shaw's Guide to Digital Nature Photography

John Shaw’s Guide to Digital Nature Photography has some beautiful photography throughout. This book is full of useful information for anyone who is new to photography. I’m not sure it has much in the way of new information for people who have a lot of experience in photography.

The book is broken into 6 sections or chapters beginning with gear. The rest of the chapters are: Getting Started, Lenses, Composition, Close-ups, and The Photographer at work. Mr. Shaw goes into detail about the type of equipment that is out there. He uses Nikon and uses a lot of Nikon examples but you by no means need to be a Nikon user to enjoy this book.

The one thing that may or may not be a negative about the book is to me it is very “textbook” like. There are a lot of definitions and explanations but not a lot in the way of how to implement those things he tells you about. Yes he explains the different lenses, filters, etc. but really doesn’t go into what situations would these thing be beneficial. It is more explanation and less application. I’m thinking his intentions is to give you all of the information to understand the mechanics of photography and your job to figure it out.

I would recommend this book to people who have some knowledge of photography and those who are beginning to delve into dslr cameras and photography. It does have a lot of useful information and is beautifully laid out.

I received this book at no charge from www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review.

 

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden by Karen Newcome is a revised guide to gardening.  A guide for gardening in small and limited spaces. “To accommodate today’s lifestyles, a garden needs to fit into an extremely tiny plot, take as little time as possible to maintain, require a minimum amount of water, and still produce prolifically.”

I am so glad I got this book. We have a very small yard. We have had a very small 4x4 spot for a few veggies and herbs that was semi productive. I just felt like we couldn’t yield enough to make it worth our time. This book has renewed my hope. It is full of wonderful information from planning to harvesting in small spaces as well as container gardening.

It begins with planning and gives diagrams of some small garden plots.  There is information on preparing your seeds, soil and gardening spot. There is a lot of detail written in very easy to understand methods. One sections explains when and where to plant and there is even a section that explains watering properly.

The advice given on what crops to grow range from planting tips, crop stretching, recommended varieties, typical problems, harvesting, and storage. I am not a very experienced gardener at all and this book makes me feel like I can actually do this. Spring is right around the corner and planting season will start in just a couple of months. I can’t wait to try out some of the ideas in this book.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is the least bit interested in gardening but may feel like you don’t have the space or the time to invest. I feel like this book takes a lot of the guess work out of it and should help to have success come harvesting season.

I was given this book by www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review.

 

Hope Crossing

I loved Hope Crossing The complete Ada’s House Trilogy by Cindy Woodsmall.   This book includes 3 novels: The Hope of Refuge, The Bridge of Peace and The Harvest of Grace.  I am not a huge fan of Amish fiction but every book I have read by Cindy Woodsmall has been wonderful and this one is no exception. Plan on spending time reading this one since it is three novels in one it is over 1000 pages. The good thing is they all keep your interest.

The Hope of Refuge introduces us to several characters Cara Moore isn’t Amish but finds herself fleeing from a bad situation that lands her in Hope Crossing. There is a little mystery as to who she is and how she ends up here. The characters were fun to get to know and this book shows struggles among both the English community as well as the Amish community. At first I got frustrated at the way the Amish acts toward outsiders but Cindy does a good job at explaining why.

The Bridge of Peace continues the characters that were in the first book but focuses more on Lena and her struggles with the life she is dealt being marked with a birthmark on her face. Then she faces criticism from other members because of things that happen at the school where she teaches.

The Harvest of Grace introduces us to new characters as well as bringing forth the characters we have grown to love in the first two books. This book focuses on forgiveness.

If you like Amish novels you will definitely enjoy this one. If you are looking for something that will take you a while to read and take you away you will enjoy this one. If you want something that is quick for a weekend or vacation read pass on by. It is a larger book and somewhat cumbersome I prefer reading on an electronic reader in this case. These books have a little romance, mystery, conflict and resolution. I always enjoy Cindy Woodsmall’s books and I’m glad I chose this one. It is a good value since it is three in one.

I received this book at no charge from www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review.

You can purchase this book here.