The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book!

This looks like a wonderful book, and I have enjoyed reading the recipes. Unfortunately I haven't been able to try any yet as I haven't received my Electric Pressure Cooker, and my old stovetop version is missing a part.

The book has a wonderful introduction, and a lot of practical information and tips for cooks from novice to more advanced.

The chapters are as follows:

Breakfast
Soup
Meat
Poultry
Fish and shellfish, vegetables, beans, and grain
Desserts

I'm most excited to try some of the soup recipes. They all sound wonderful! Both main course and vegetable and grain soups are included.

And of course, meats.... Short ribs!

The book has around 500 recipes, something for everyone. I can't wait to get my cooker so I can try these recipes out!

If you have a pressure cooker, or have toyed with getting one; if you want to eat healthy food in a shorter amount of time, or if you want great food without heating your kitchen this summer, this may be the book for you!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

More info

Author bio

Reviewing Bowl + Spoon by Sara Forte

I just browsed through Bowl + Spoon. Interesting concept; one I thought I like better than I did. The author's premise is that people are busy, yet still want to eat good, healthy food. Her choice is food in bowls. Simplicity. Practical. Carry to the couch in your sweats and curl up with a good book easy.

The book itself is lovely, wonderful full color, full page photos. The recipes are creative, and broken into five categories: Morning Bowls, Side Bowls, Big Bowls, Sweet Bowls and Dressing and Sauces. The ingredients are pretty simple, often seasonal, with an emphasis on vegetables and greens.

Sara Forte also includes tools and ingredients to stock in the kitchen to make food prep easy.

Recipies I would like to try are Homemade Ricotta, Tropical Smoothie Bowl, Kale Caesar with Cornbread Bits, Herbed Falafel Bowl, and  Smoky Black Bean Chili. 

I wish there here had been a few more recipes that incorporated noodles and rice, and maybe some beef or chicken. but considering that this is a Sprouted Kitchen book, I understand why there is not.

If you are into tofu and quinoa, tons of greens and salads, then this would be a wonderful book for you!

For more information, here is the link. http://www.randomhouse.com/book/235998/the-sprouted-kitchen-bowl-and-spoon-by-sara-forte-and-hugh-forte

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Lighten Up, Y'All

Yep, another cookbook review. I just love cookbooks! I read them, use them, collect them, love them.
However, I'm just not sure about this book, Lighten Up, Y'all.
I haven't found too much I actually want to try. :( Which is disappointing.
The premise is that the Southern author, realizing southern food is often not very good for you, has remade those famous southern dishes. Unfortunately, I haven't found many I'm itching to try. I think, if I'm honest, I'd rather eat healthy consistently and then splurge on occasion with REAL southern food.
I know some people choose cauliflower as fake rice. Too much work. I'll eat rice. And hiding broccoli in guacamole? Um, no.
And some of the recipes, didn't sound especially southern, and actually didn't sound all that good. I realize many people will probably love this book. But I am not one of them. Thanks for trying, Virginia Willis. I might find a few recipes to try, but I lost interest about halfway through and I'm moving on.

Here is the official blurb:

A collection of classic Southern comfort food recipes--including seven-layer dip, chicken and gravy, and strawberry shortcake--made lighter, healthier, and completely guilt-free.  $24.99
 
Virginia Willis is not only an authority on Southern cooking, a French-trained chef, and a veteran cookbook author; she is also a proud Southerner who adores eating and cooking for family and friends. So when she needed to drop a few pounds and generally lighten up her diet, the most important criterion for her new lifestyle was that all the food had to taste delicious.

The result is Lighten Up, Y’all, a soul-satisfying and deeply personal collection of Virginia’s new favorite recipes. All the classics are covered—from a comforting Southern Style Shepherd’s Pie with Grits to warm, melting Broccoli Mac and Cheese to Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie. Each dish is packed with real Southern flavor, but made with healthier, more wholesome ingredients and techniques. Wherever you are on your health and wellness journey, Lighten Up, Y’all has the recipes, tools, and inspiration you need to make the nourishing, down-home Southern food you love.




"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

87th Annual Academy Awards!

I'm not trying to guess what will win. No. I'm choosing who/what I want to win. Hence the reason I don't enter pools or contests. This is just MY opinion, what I think, and it will definitely show how differently I think from the voting members. Sigh.

Ok. Here goes: (I didn't vote in categories where I didn't see the films or have enough information.)

Best Picture: Boyhood

Actress: Julianne Moore

Actor: Eddie Redmayne

Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette

Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons

Animated Feature:....

Cinematography: Yeoman/Grand Budapest Hotel

Costume Design: Atwood/Into the Woods

Director: Linklater/Boyhood

Documentary Feature:....

Documentary Short:....

Film Editing: Whiplash

Foreign Language:....

Makeup: Grand Budapest

Original Score: Grand Budapest Hotel

Original Song: Glory/Selma

Production Design: Into the Woods

Animated Short:....

Live Action Short:....

Sound Editing: Birdman

Sound Mixing: Whiplash

Visual Effects: Guardians of the Galaxy

Adapted Screenplay: Imitation Game

Original Screenplay: Grand Budapest Hotel

Inside the Test Kitchen by Tyler Florence.

            

I wasn’t sure about this book, but I thought I’d give it a chance. To my delight, I really enjoyed it and have marked several recipes to try.

The food is all familiar. And food you want to eat. Tyler has taken it, and tested different ways of making it better. His basic premise is, why are we using the techniques our grandmothers used…aren’t there better ways to cook these foods, yielding an even better result?  And so he decided to set up the test kitchen to try out his theory. He says, “We can’t be afraid to take chances and to try again if the first attempts don’t work.” And a strict no-bad-ideas rule was put into place.

When he asked people what recipes they would like to see in a new cookbook he found that people were asking for new recipes for recipes that already existed. And this book followed. A book where his recipes are the best possible, and which can be made in the most efficient way. As Florence says, “changing conventions.”

Thirteen chapters follow, chapters that give you a plan for an entire meal, as well as recipes that sound wonderful… from barbecue and its accompaniments to chicken, to burgers, to eggs and yummy sides.

Not only do the recipes sound great, the book is a fun read, and Florence explains his thought process as well as testing results.

I’m glad I gave the book a try!







"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

A Kitchen in France

Well, we just returned from Hawaii. It was lovely, and warm, and I wish I was still there! It did help to come home to a wonderful new Cookbook! The book, A Kitchen in France, by Mimi Thorisson, is absolutely gorgeous!  I love the personal stories shared by the author, and the family memories. each recipe has another memory or anecdote. The food truly looks scrumptious. It is divided by season, which is helpful. It is not crammed with an over abundance of recipes, but rather they are chosen carefully and thoughtfully. The photos accompanying the recipes are beautiful, and not just pictures of the dish, but the family, the vegetables, the pets, the country. I feel like I am on a vacation to France! I can't wait to try a few of these.

MIMI THORISSON is the author of Manger, a blog devoted to French cooking that was named Saveur’s Best Regional Food Blog in April 2013. After a career in television and having lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Reykjavik, and Paris, she settled with her photographer husband, their five young children, her two older stepchildren, and the family’s fourteen dogs in a farmhouse in Médoc. She is the star of the cooking shows La Table de Mimi and the upcoming Les Desserts de Mimi, both on Canal+ in France.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."