Awesome Snacks and Appetizers

Awesome Snacks and Appetizers by: Kari Cornell with photos by Brie Cohen

Read & Reviewed by: Cris

My Review: I gave this book 5 stars, and would recommend it to those that want to involve their children in cooking, or who are just starting out in the world of cooking. This book has good common sense safety tips, measuring conversions, supplies list, notes on special ingredients, and several simple but fun snack food recipes. I felt this book would make a great present for a tween/teen just starting out in the kitchen, the recipes are easy to follow and there are good pictures to go along with each recipe. My 4 year old was excited to be able to help out making the guacamole and apple slice sandwiches, especially that he was able to look in the book and do the prep work of pigs in a blanket with minimal help from me. It is overall a great book for less experienced cooks or ones with kids that want to help out. If you fit in either of those catagories go out and pick it up starting this coming Sunday!  

Synopsis: Ready to turn your kitchen into snack central? You can be the chef with these easy-to-follow recipes, including pigs in a blanket, cheesy fondue, chicken dippers, and apple slice sandwiches. You'll find simple drawings of important steps as well as photographs of the finished dishes. This book also provides key information, such as an equipment list, a technique list, safety tips, notes on special ingredients, and more. 

What are you waiting for? It's time to get cooking!

The Easy Way Pasta

The Easy Way Pasta  by: Love Food

Read & Reviewed by: Cris

My Rating & Review: I gave this book 4 stars, and recommend it to others. I use it regularly. This book has a great variety easy to make recipes involving pasta. I have made several of the recipes and my guest always are asking what sauce I used. My only complaint is that they often have canned tomatoes in the recipes, but I have found that using fresh tomatoes adds so much more flavor. I will never buy jarred pasta sauce or canned chicken noodle soup ever again, these recipes taste better and are healthier without all the extra sodium and preserves. My favorite sauce that I've made so far is the vodka sauce, get the book and try it for dinner today!

Synopsis: Over 140 delicious recipes, 500 color photographs, step-by-step images, and nutritional information. The Easy Way Pasta is a beautiful cookbook filled with recipes that you will refer to time and time again.

Angel on the Ropes

Angel on the Ropes by: Jill Shultz

Read & Reviewed by: Cris

My Rating & Review: I gave this book 5 stars, and have recommended it to other, and will read it again. This book was wonderful! It centers on the heroine, Amandine, an amazing trapeze artist, who happens to be a leopard and her struggles between circus and seeker and with the people in her life.  It has great characters that surprise you as the story moves along and their back stories are slowly revealed. It had a decent plot line that kept going and surprising me and as it went on I found myself caring for the characters, and was left wanting more at the end. Please write a sequel Jill! 

Synopsis: Amandine Sand walks a high wire between two lives—hobbled by a life-threatening secret. She’s a leopard, one of the spotted humans wrongly accused of being a plague carrier. Leopards like her are hunted by zealots to protect their offworld colony from the scourge. Despite this threat, Amandine spends her days guiding other leopards to an underground shelter run by the pacifist Seekers. At night, with her own spots hidden, she takes to the air, the one place this extraordinary artist feels free and gloriously alive.

When the persecution of leopards explodes into widespread violence, the Seekers demand more of her time. But her circus is teetering toward bankruptcy and desperately needs her, too. She has no time to breathe…and then she meets a stranger who leaves her breathless. And might just be the biggest risk of all. If her trust is misplaced and she’s unmasked, everyone she loves—and everything she’s fought for—could crash.

In her darkest hour, Amandine must draw upon everything she’s learned from the circus and Seekers to bring peace to her fractured society. Can a reluctant angel fly beyond her limits to save her life, her love, and her world?