Kitchen Confidence - Kelsey Nixion

5/5

I fell in love with Kelsey Nixon while watching her cook her way to winning Next Foodnetwork Star a few years ago. Now her first cookbook, Kitchen Confidence: Essential Recipes and Tips That Will Help You Cook Anything, has hit the shelves!  Her delicious, healthy, and easy recipes are ones I can recreate in the kitchen and feed my family.  Honestly, this cook book is fantastic!

The book begins with all of Kelsey's essential kitchen items- tools, pantry ingredients, and a simple how to guide.  It is a wonderful overview for beginner cooks and even introduces a few useful techniques for the more seasoned chef.

The recipes are varied, easy to follow, and delicious.  All courses are covered, from breakfast to appetizers to desserts, as well as party planning menus.  They are simple but interesting recipes, each one with an interesting ingredient or twist that causes the dish to rise above its average counterpart.

Our family favorites were:

- Skillet Sausage Hash with Eggs

-Tarragon Chicken Salad

- Creamed Corn

- Essential Stove-top Mac n Cheese (to die for!)

- Summer Bean Pea Salad

- Skillet Blueberry Peach Cobbler

This cookbook is beautifully laid out with colorful pictures on most pages, fun fonts and tidbits about the recipes.  If you like cooking, or need more confidence in the kitchen, I highly recommend Kelsey Nixon's cookbook!

Disclosure of Material: I received a complimentary copy from Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Family Project - Glenn Stanton & Leon Wirth

2.5/5

Well.  I had high hopes for this book because I feel passionately that the value and purpose of the "family" is something that has been lost to our culture in recent years.  Family has become such a watered down version of what the Bible laid it out to be.  It does not hold to the vision God created it for.  Instead of using our families as vehicles to reach the lost, serve our neighbors, and grow and tell the stories of our faith, family has become a way to satisfy our cultural desires for health, weath, and prosperity.

I had hoped that The Family Project by Focus on the Family would have concrete ideas about how to steer our current Christian culture's identity of family back to a Godly foundation.  Instead, the book is mostly a historical exposition on what family has meant throughout the generations- from Genesis to the the 21st century.  And while it is at times interesting, and most certainly very well researched and thought out, the overall message promised ("what to do about the reality that the idea of family is dying") is never delivered.  We get a lovely history and biblical worldview of what family is and was designed to be, but no real plan as to how to get there.

This book was a little too scientific and historical for me.  If that is what you're looking for then it will be right up your alley!  I was hoping for a clarion call to the culture- a biblical mandate to revisit the truths of the Bible, to build our families around a faith in God that dramatically changes the desires and purposes of our lives here on Earth.  That did not happen.

All in all, The Family Project fell a little flat.

Disclosure of Material: I received a complimentary copy from Tyndale Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

What Once Was Lost - Kim Vogel Sawyer

3.5/5

What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogel Sawyer is an inspiring story about hope and redemption through the eyes of a single woman and an orphaned boy.

Christina Willems is struggling to run her deceased father's poor farm after it is destroyed by a fire.  She is particularly invested in the life of a little boy who is orphaned, blind and has no place to turn.  When Levi Johnson, a grumpy widower, agrees to take him in, lives are changed for the better.

I appreciated how this novel addressed many issues that are near and dear to my heart.  Sawyer touches on the many prejudices that the poor, orphans, and people with disabilities face.  She showed how sometimes the church is not the place of refuge for these peole that it should be.  Still, there were times I wasn't sure if I would finish this book.  The main protagonist, Christina, was hard to sympathize with.  She was vey stubborn and headstrong, refusing to seek help when necessary and causing almost implausible trouble because of it.  In the end I found it was downright frustrating to muddle through the plot in order to get to the resolution.  The resolution, however, was very sweet.

I adore Kim Vogel Sawyer, and while this was not my favorite of her offerings, I do recommend it based solely on the careful and thorough way she explores the topics of poverty, fatherlessness, and prejudice.

Disclosure:  This book was provided to me by Waterbrook Multnomah for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

My Time With Grandma Bible Storybook - Phil A. Smouse

5/5

My Time with Grandma Bible Storybook by Phil Smouse is a fantastic collection of bible stories written with children in mind.  The book is filled with colorful illustrations by Ela Jarazbek, and the beautiful pages really help to bring these classic bible stories to life.

I let my two year old and four year old explore the twelve different stories, beginning at Creation and ending with the Resurrection.  They loved the pictures and the silly way the author uses action words to make the stories interactive.

The story of Daniel in the Lions' Den was my son's favorite.  The pictures were fantastic and it was very well written while staying completely true to the biblical rendition.

Each story ends with a "love note from Grandma", which sums up the devotional nicely and helps encourage your children to live out the truths they learned in the story.  A "love note from God" follows, which is a scripture verse that can be memorized and applied to the story.

Overall, this is a wonderful book that would be perfect to give as a gift for new grandmas, or even on Mother's Day.  Our family has thoroughly enjoyed it and we highly recommend it for yours!

Disclosure of Material: I received a complimentary copy from Tyndale Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Little Book of Great Dates - Erin & Greg Smalley

3.5/5

The Little Book of Great Dates by Erin and Greg Smalley is a neat concept- a chronological resource to carry you through a year of dating.  The first devotional starts on January 1st and each date throughout the year corresponds with various seasons and holidays.  For example, the first date involves laying out a plan for hopes and dreams in the New Year.  There are 52 devotionals so you can use one each week to carry you through the year.

Marriage takes work, most anyone who is married knows that!  The Smalley's book is a wonderful tool for creating intimate and inventive dates for the typical husband and wife who have run out of ideas.  They encourage couples to make time each week to set aside time just for each other.  Some of the suggestions are pretty basic and if you've ever read a couple's devotional you've probably already visited many of these topics. However, I appreciated how many dates did not involve going out and spending money, as sometimes this can be hard to do on a consistent basis with tight finances and young kids at home.  Each date also ends with conversation suggestions, which have actually sparked some pretty interesting discussions between my husband and I.

Overall, Little Book of Great Dates was a nice reminder that you can not give up on loving your spouse.  It is so important to continue to "date" your husband or wife throughout your marriage.  Sometimes it is easy to stop being as polite, well manned, romantic, or thoughtful as the years tick by, but all these things are attitudes that Christ calls us to have toward one another.  When we put our spouse's needs before our own we are truly investing in our marriage. I have thoroughly enjoyed using this little book to put a spark back into our weekly date night and encourage other couples to give it a try as well!

Disclosure of Material: I received a complimentary copy from Tyndale Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Governess of Highland Hall - Carrie Turansky

4/5

The Governess of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky was a very enjoyable read.  I finished it in two days, practically read it from start to finish.  It was addictive, almost like the literary version of Downton Abbey!

Julia Foster is a young missionary from India who finds herself seeking employment at Highland Hall, a majestic estate worlds away from the simple life she has always led.  Julia works diligently as a governess and finds that as time passes she is falling in love with not only the estate, but with her employer and his children.  The social and financial implications that follow threaten to destroy Highland Hall and the cozy security that Julia has found.  As she leans on her faith, Julia finds that true comfort and security can only be found in trusting Jesus.

The Governess of Highland Hall was such an entertaining novel.  I would highly recommend it, especially to those who enjoy romantic historical fiction.  Turansky does a remarkable job of transporting the reader to 1900s England.  Her descriptive details are magnificent, and I often found myself daydreaming about the gorgeous gardens, cavernous hallways and opulent surroundings of Highland Hall.  There are many secondary characters with fabulous story lines.  Catherine, the Lady of Highland hall, has a particularly interesting plot line that nicely compliments the romance between Julia and William.  I throughly enjoyed learning about all the servants and their respective duties.  Every time I sat down to read I couldn't help looking forward to experiencing another holiday, meal, or romantic encounter with the characters of this novel.  Reading fiction is sometimes an escape from the mundane stresses of every day life, and The Governess of Highland Hall is a perfect example of an exciting literary getaway.  Turansky's novel includes elements of intrigue, suspense, tension, romance and heartwarming happiness.  I can't wait to read book two in this series and be carried back to Highland Hall!

Disclosure of Material: I received a complimentary copy from Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Outcast - Jolina Petersheim

4/5

The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim takes us into the conservative, secretive world of the Old Order Mennonites.  The author does a brilliant job of telling a modern story against the backdrop of a people who live as though time stood still many centuries ago.  The twists and turns of the plot were most unexpected, and I found myself taking guesses as to how the story would be resolved and being pleasantly surprised when I was completely wrong!  Petersheim's debut novel is a compelling retelling of The Scarlett Letter, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Rachel Stoltzfus is the independent and vivacious counterpoint to her twin sister Leah.  They are opposite in almost every way except looks, but the bond they share runs deep.  When Rachel suddenly turns up pregnant and refuses to name the baby's father, her strict Mennonite community shuns her as an outcast.  The heartbreak that follows is told through the perspectives of Rachel, her sister, and her sister's husband as they come to terms with betrayal, forgiveness and ultimately, redemptive healing.

The Outcast is told in two different first person narratives, with one point of view being a deceased person who almost acts as a reliable witness to all that is happening, one without bias.  I enjoyed this interplay between Rachel, who is so personally involved in every act of betrayal and sacrifice born from her sin, to Amos, the deceased minister who has an otherworldly perspective of his community's thoughts and feelings.  The characters that Petershiem creates are rich and vibrant, particularly Ida Mae, whose rough edges and deep feelings make for a most interesting read.  Although at times I felt the story was tending toward the melodramatic, is held a very real and visceral grip on the realities of our world and how choices we make can result in devastating consequences.

I would highly recommend this novel and author to anyone who enjoys a good piece of inspirational fiction.  It was neither predictable nor heavy handed.  The spiritual nature of the book was very understated, but I did not have a problem with that as the themes of forgiveness and healing were very prevalent throughout the novel.  I look forward to reading Jolina Petersheim's next offering!

Disclosure of Material: I received a complimentary copy from Tyndale Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.