this week...food and books

 I made Ina's Blueberry Crumb Cake from her Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. It was delicious, more like a coffee cake because it is not too sweet and has a thick crumb topping. Too much topping we thought, overwhelms the moist yummy cake below. Seemed like half cake, half topping.

Next time, will make much less topping. I used a springform pan to make releasing the cake from the pan easier.

We tried her Mustard Roasted Fish recipe from Back to Basics. Very tangy and good, everyone liked it. Much richer than our usual grilled fish. The color was kind of blah and unappetizing. The food stylist made the fish look prettier for the book. Made her Roasted Potatoes in the oven at the same time. Same method we all know for this dish. Used a separate plate for the salad, this would have been prettier with some green on the plate.

I have been receiving beautiful books in the mail. In January, I go though my Amazon Save for Later cart of book titles. I add them whenever I hear of a good one throughout the year. I then purchase several after researching for the best prices and narrowing down the list. Once they arrive, I ration them, reading through them very slowly to savor each one. It takes me months to go through them. 

I have just started Martha Stewart Entertaining, A Year of Celebrations that was published in 2011.This book is huge and gorgeous! It is the new version of her amazing first book Entertaining that is full of beautiful ideas and does not seem dated.

Each page is a visual treat.  Her gardens, her homes, her collections of every kind of tableware, glassware, etc. the presentations, the recipes, the serving ideas, it is all quite astounding! I am loving this book! 

I also purchased her Martha Stewart Gardening, a Month to Month Guide book which for some reason came without the cover but here is a page from it, equally as pretty as her Entertaining books.

 Here are a few others I bought....

And my husband was sweet to order Carolyne Roehm's Flowers and surprise me after seeing it mentioned on the blog.

These books will keep me company throughout the winter, simple pleasures.....

resolutions

Have you thought about your new year's resolutions? I have started to jot down a few, some trivial and some meaningful. A fun one I have decided on is to cook my way though some of my favorite cookbooks in 2013. 

For the last few years, I have been a creative cook, creating meals from what needs to be used in the fridge or freezer, not thinking to go to my cookbook collection. When reorganizing the shelf the other day, I realized that so many of them are being ignored.

This year, I will try to get through most of Ina Garten's cookbooks. I love Ina's recipes (and her pretty homes). Her recipes are always delicious and her cookbooks are filled with beautiful photography. I have used her first one, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook the most, bought it years ago when it first came out. It is full of bookmarks and stains.

I will blog about my journey through Ina's books, a la Julie and Julia and post about any yummy discoveries here and there. What are some of your resolutions this year?

  Happy New Year!

perfect gift for a gardener

Carolyne Roehm, master gardener and lifestyle author's newest book is titled Flowers. It is filled with over 300 photographs she took of the flowers in her own gardens. She talks about the book, her home and gardens here...

Purchase Flowers here.

book review and a giveaway!

book review and giveaway.

I saw this great website called Thomas Neslon and they have this amazing thing called thomas nelson mommy ( you can the button on the sidebar ) which gives you the opportunity to read and review books. I heart books, so I was more than happy to do this! 

Last week I got my book One Wintry Night in the mail. I was more than impressed and I am not just saying that because this is a book review. It is written by Ruth Bell Graham and illustrated by Richard Jesse Waston. The words are so great, and honestly the last part of the nativity story got me a little teary eyed. Don't even get me started on the illustration. stunning. I was really impressed on how the illustrations made such an impact on Jude. For those of you who have been reading my blog, you know Jude is quite the little realist. He was so intrigued by these pictures and was pointing and asking questions. The book is multiply books and stories into one, so you can take your time reading. It is a total of 72 pages.. You can see a virtual copy and a flip book HERE. Overall this book is great for personal use or would make an amazing tool for church or homeschooling.

Want a chance to win this book? 

Just answer one or all of the following questions: ( separate comment for each ) (this gives you more entries)

What is your child's favorite Christmas story they look forward to hearing each year?

What are your favorite Christmas book traditions?

 Do you read together on Christmas Eve? 

Do you have your kids make Christmas storybooks of their own? 

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

extra entries: like the following facebook, twitter @TommyNelson, and pinterest. 

open to us residents only.  

Tree Bookcase

When I came across this built-in tree bookcase I knew right away that I had 

to share it with you just because I think it's so creative and unique. 

What do you think?

Tree bookshelf



How would YOU go about creating something similar to this?