Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life
Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life
This is a type of info/memoir by and about Jenna Woginrich. Made from Scratch covers beekeeping, chicken raising, antique hunting, bread making and many other rituals of the not-so-urban dwellers. Her book is set up well and there are sections of it that are extremely helpful and smart.
Many times however, I was turned off by the attempt to cover up poor writing by and addition of overly flowered and emotional prose. It was just way too loaded for me. She got emotional and excited because some friends from college were to join her at her house and so she went out of her way to make it a complete hassle-free weekend for them. She goes on to speak of how blessed she is that as she sees her friend falling asleep on the couch she knows that the food that is going through his body is from her very own farm. Cheesy! I have chickens in my backyard and I have never sat and thought that, yes I am delighted the boys get fresh eggs, and delighted that we aren't paying into the insanely hideous picture of all those caged birds laying eggs onto a conveyor belt for their whole lives while never to set foot on grass. Yes I am! But it seems to me Jenna goes a little overboard with her pleasure of the food that is in her friends digestive system. It isn't just that passage either- there are more.
Besides the emotional aspect of this book (which seems to be written by someone either PMSing or enduring Menopause) I did enjoy the farming insight and tips. Although I am not quite ready to dive into bee-keeping (the neighbors probably wouldn't like it either) I liked reading what she learned from both her mistakes and successes. I learn from other people's mistakes when it comes to farming, gardening and such- it is way to expensive not to! Overall this was an average short and light read. It could have been so much better without the melodrama, but there were enough tidbits in it to keep me somewhat content.
If you could own one kind of farm animal (without worrying about land space, or your neighbors) what would it be? The latest one that I want...Angora rabbits! I really want me a pair.
- ISBN: 9781603420860
- Subtitle: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life
- Author: Woginrich, Jenna
- Publisher: Storey Publishing
- Subject: Do-It-Yourself - General
- Personal Memoirs
- Country life
- Urban homesteading.
- Farmers & Ranchers
- Self-reliant living
- Publication Date: December 2008
- Pages: 184
I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!
How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph
How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids
If you are a parent, you know that a parent does what a parents gotta do-that is just the way it is. We drive the kids around, we make sure they brush their teeth, we take them to school (or even Homeschool them) we aim to do everything short of coddling them in order to have them turn out into able bodied adults and well rounded individuals. However from so much scheduling and activity the most important aspect of a whole person, which is the spirit and soul is many times neglected, or passed off as "the Sunday school teacher's job". We aren't doing our job as parents who love Jesus if we aren't intentional in instilling faith into our children.
How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph is a book, or even more a type of help manual which goes through each age and stage of the child from preschool through high school and equips parents with the tools necessary to pour a passion for what is right into their children. It is called How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph because no matter what the situation, Joseph (yes as in the Joseph with the coat of many colours) was able to make the right decision even when life really was not seeming to move in his favor. God gave him a dream as a boy and he must have thought many times that it was just a hoax and that God was no where close- however the faith that he kept when it came time to make the right choices is to be admired. He was surrounded by a people who didn't know God, who worshiped all different sorts of gods and he didn't even have a local home Bible study to go to, or a youth group and still he stood strong.
That is what every christian parent should aim to nurture in their child, not that everything is up to the parent, but it is nice to know when your kids grow up that you did what you could with the gift that God blessed you with. It isn't up to a youth leader to train your children spiritually, just as much as it isn't up to the pastor make you grow. The biggest problem with kids and adults alike is that they think they go to church to be challenged and to grow- and the result is that church has never been so full of saggy and faithless Sunday-only Christians. It is up to the individual to trust God, to place their feet on steadfast ground, no program for adults or kids will ever fashion that on its own. With or without programs and church events, we as parents are called to guide our children into a real relationship with Christ.
How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph is not a step by step guide on how to raise all children, it is a guide for creating a personalized and practical plan to best help your children bloom into teenagers who know, love and serve their Lord. I will use this book with my kids. We have started working with it and I love the scripture verses that it has for each different age group. Modern-Day Joseph is an excellent book for parents to keep on hand.
Title: How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph
ISBN: 9781434765314
Subtitle: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids (An Awana Resource)
Author: Linda Weddle
Publisher: David C. Cook
Subject: Christian Life - Family
Publication Date: June 2009
Pages: 220
I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!
Kids in the Holiday Kitchen
Kids in the Holiday Kitchen: Making, Baking, Giving
The holidays are a time when everyone just wants to create. Weather it be crafts, gifts or yummy treats to eat- the time that we get to spend together is so much better spent when we get our hands sticky, right!? Kids (and even adults) of all ages will find some eye-catching pictures in Kids in the Holiday Kitchen, pictures that will reel them right in to want to make the recipes/crafts. From the Stuffed French Toast (on page 14), the Sugarplum Lollies (p. 36) to the crafts of Stellar (felted) Stockings (p. 81) and the Let There Be Light (colourful beeswax candle) (p. 88) there is more than enough so that everyone in the family will find a "must make".
These projects are made to be kid friendly and most kids preschool age and older could do a portion of the work with a parent helper. Older kids could do them completely by themselves. It is a way that children can take ownership of making their gifts for their teachers, aunts or that special friend that needs a little encouragement. It is never to early to encourage giving and Kids in the Holiday Kitchen encourages a season of giving all year round, even from the littlest hands. This books gets two thumbs way up from me. I am leaving you with a recipe from the book that would be perfect for your New Year's celebrations!! Yum.
New Year's Nuggets
Chocolate-Caramel Popcorn, from Kids in the Holiday Kitchen (p. 45)
You'll Need:
1/2 Cup Dried Yellow Popcorn
Scant 1/4 Cup Water
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil (optional)
1/4 teaspoon orange extract (optional)
1 Cup Sugar
8 Ounces Milk Chocolate
1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
What to do:
1. Pop the popcorn.
2. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Heat over medium-high heat until golden brown, and 5 minutes. Stir gently, add the orange extract, if using, stir again. Add some of the popcorn and coat it with the caramel. use a wooden utensil to help coat the corn. Place the coated kernels on the parchment paper to cool. Repeat.
4. When cool, break up the clumps of caramel corn, keeping the corn clumps on the parchment.
5. Heat the chocolate over low heat in the top of a double boiler, or in a metal bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of hot water (creating your own double boiler). Heat the chocolate until it's smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.
6. Fill a ladle with the melted chocolate and lightly drizzle over the caramel corn. Let the chocolate caramel corn cool for 30 to 45 minutes. To make gifts, put small batches in cellophane bags; otherwise, wrap in parchment paper and keep in a Tupperware container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
Makes 4 Cups
Watch Chronicle Book's Kids in the Holiday Kitchen book trailer:
Title: Kids in the Holiday Kitchen
ISBN: 9780811861397
Subtitle: Making, Baking, Giving
Author: Jessica Strand & Tammy Massman-Johnson
Photographer: James Baigrie
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Subject:Holiday - Christmas, Crafts for Children, Handicraft, Recipes
Publication Date: November 2008
Pages: 95
I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!
I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas
There are so many things about Christmas that are fabulous, with spending time with the family, and eating good food at the top. However Christmas can be a very wasteful holiday- if we aren't keeping an eye out that is. What to do about that? I've got a book for you! I'm Dreaming of A Green Christmas has some very practical solutions to go and green up your Christmas. I'm Dreaming of A Green Christmas includes solutions for green holiday home decor, how to save energy, delightful new recipes, homemade craft ideas (to keep or to gift), pretty green wrapping options, and all the info you need to enable your own family to celebrate a green Christmas in style not giving up any of the glam (unless you really do still like tinsel).
Green looks better, local/organic tastes better so it is all around the best choice. If you are a green fanatic already, or just need the ideas and tips to get you there, I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas is your book! There are so many ideas that would work perfect year-round as well.
I love the VS. sections in this book, one of them being The Party Line On Cloth vs. Paper Napkins, you shouldn't have to think to hard to know that it would be greener to launder your napkins rather than throw them away. I really don't like cloth napkins, or I haven't in the past. I just didn't feel like they got my hands really wiped off at all. However it was because the napkin fabric used was more for decoration rather than to clean your hands. A stout cotton fabric would do the trick for sure. I am on a mission now to make myself some good napkins that we could use, maybe even with personalised embroidery for each family member (Lets see how ambitious I am feeling when I actually get to making them though!). I'll get back to you on that.
There is a recipe in I'm Dreaming of A Green Christmas that I just HAVE to share. I'll leave you with it:
Chai Hot Cocoa With Whipped Cream
For the Chai Hot Cocoa:
3 Cups Milk
1 Cup water
3 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
2 Tablespoons Sugar (optional, sugar to taste)
2 Cinnamon Sticks
5 Cardamom Pods
1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
Pinch Cayenne Pepper
Pinch Ground Cloves
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
4 Ounces of Bittersweet Chocolate
For The Whipped Cream:
2 Cups Heavy Cream
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1+1/2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
To Make The Chai Hot Cocoa:
1. Combine the milk, water, cocoa powder, sugar (if using), cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, ginger, cayenne, cloves, and vanilla in a large saucepan. Heat over medium heat until scalding. Remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes, then strain into a bowl or pitcher.
2. Transfer the milk back to the sauce-pan and heat over medium-high heat to scalding. Add the chocolate and stir for 5 minutes, just until chocolate is melted.
3. Strain again and pour into 4 mugs. Top with a dollop of whipped cream.
To Make the Whipped Cream:
1. Place a mixing bowl and the beaters of an electric mixer in the refrigerator or freezer for at least 15 minutes.
2. Pour the cream, sugar, vanilla and salt into the chilled bowl and whip on high speed until soft peaks form.
I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas Book Deets:
Title: I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas
ISBN:9780811867672
Subtitle:Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes That Use Less and Mean More
Author: Anna Getty
Photographer: Ron Hamad
Publisher:Chronicle Books
Subjects: Seasonal
Entertaining - General
Holiday - Christmas/Hanukkah
Handicraft
Pages: 180
Publication Date: September 2009
I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!
Ecoholic
Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products, and Services
by Adria Vasil
371 Pages
Non-Fiction
Reference: Sustainable living, Home economics, Environmental awareness
W. W. Norton & Company
April 2009
I was looking for a book that told me if putting toilet paper in the trash or in the toilet was better/worse, if it is better to have a this chemical or that one in my coffee, and then Ecoholic was plunked into my hands! It is a complete guide to how to best take care of yourself, your home, your children and your planet all at the same time. Living sustainably can be very complicated, as it seems like the professionals are all on conflicting sides. Paper or plastic? Oh, wait-none! Because of the confusion it is easy to want to check out and just keep doing as you are doing, I get that and that is exactly what I did. Still I was curious, what effect does it really have if we all convert to the fluorescent bulbs, when they do last longer but contaminate the landfills with mercury? Those kinds of questions and a BILLION more will be answered in this book.
As for the kids, and health and being environmentally friendly- how could that ever work?? We want it and we want it now, and then our kids pick that up faster than this years Christmas toy. Ecoholic is excellent at providing answers for all of your questions of what is safe for everyone involved.
The table of contents includes: Bathroom Confidential, What Not To Wear, Green's Anatomy, Food for Thought, No Kidding Around, Homeward Bound, Home Improvement, Outer Space, I Get Around, It's All Fun and Games, You work Hard For Your Money (So You Better Green It Right), Big Issues. In each of these chapters Adria Vasil goes to great detail in giving you the skinny on the big picture.
I really enjoyed this book, well maybe enjoyed isn't the right term. I appreciate it. It really has brought me to a much better understanding of what I should watch for in the products I buy, what I should eat and what I should wash my hair with. I have made some big changes after reading Ecoholic. We now all use homemade or organic soaps and shampoos. Almost all of our food is organic. We think about what we buy and how it affects our planet. This isn't just a good book, it is one of those you can keep in your library and bust out for a stellar explanation of the way things are. Put it on your Christmas list, everyone should have a copy.
I am a Powell’s affiliate and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any book you buy using my links. Thank you!
One Hundred Butterflies
One Hundred Butterflies
Photography by Harold Feinstein
Author Fred Gagnon
128 Pages
Non-Fiction: Photography of Insects
Little Brown and Company
November 2009
When this colourful delight came in the mail I could barely pry out out of the hands of my two safari-ready boys. They were peering at the pages choosing their favourite butterflies and re-naming them with names all their own. I hesitated in pulling it away because they were enjoying it so much, so I just sat and let myself watch and listen to them. I think they would have done a better job with this review than me, with so many more exclamation points because of their sheer happiness each time the page was turned. They said things like, "each one is prettier and prettier" and "mom, this one should be called rainbow because it just has so many colours". Yes, it seems they could have published an excellent review themselves.
When I finally got my chance to look at it closely I felt their excitement as well, it really is impressive that each time you turn the page the butterflies and moths have that- I know this is real, but how could it be not digitally altered to be so beautiful- thing about them. This book is one hundred percent the best of both worlds. You know how when you are little (or not so little) and want the butterfly to just stay still so you can watch its colours? There are those who pin them and then have the beauty to look at as long as they want, but that was something I never wanted to do. One Hundred Butterflies allows the kids and I to have a looksy any time we want and we didn't even have to net and pin these suckers- yep, the best of both worlds.
One Hundred Butterflies would be the perfect gift for a kid who loves nature, or even one who needs to be exposed to it. Also it would be great for a person who isn't a kid, but still allows himself(herself) to sit and admire the beauty of creation, and butterflies are wonderfully good at being some of the most beautiful pieces of creation. I don't think it was written with kids in mind necessarily, but kids and adults who can still be filled with awe and wonder would delight in this book alike. Excellent book, pure loveliness.
I will leave you with a little more beauty, it is a poem by the photographer of this book, Harold Feinstein.
The wing of a butterfly,
The petal of a rose;
What a joy!
I celebrate every flower.
And yet, what a piker I am.This glorious planet of ours,
Mother earth,
Festooned with multiples
Of glory surrounded by glory.
Oh but I aspire,
From the depths of my soul
To pay tribute
To the array of wonder
We so often take for granted;
Wake up! Wake up!Look around you!
It is here!
Heaven on earth,
Our endless gift,
Give Thanks.-Harold Feinstein
What book has made you stop in your tracks weather you were an adult or one that you remember even now from your kid-days??
I am a Powell’s affiliate and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any book you buy using my links. Thank you!
God*Stories
God*Stories: Explorations in the Gospel of God
by Andrew Wilson
302 Pages
Non-Fiction
Christianity
July 2009
David C. Cook
I started this book last night and finished it this morning. I couldn't put it down! The author, Andrew Wilson stormed the gates of hell when he drafted this one up, no question. GodStories is a powerful, life-changing yet incredibly digestible book on putting the punch back into God's word. The truth is that it has always been there, but we Christians have minimized it down to suit ourselves and fill our little cups. GodStories is about ambushing our limited view of God, and what He has done by the study of key verses and very short (most not even 3 pages long) devotional type blurbs that will cause the reader to think, remember and be transformed all in the same breath.
Andrew Wilson shatters the 'Christian' thinking when he puts God back into the Bible and not just any god, but the God who can actually change things, who is all-out Holy, and who has proved Himself to His people. These GodStories take the reader through the Bible from the Creation of the world to when we will see Jesus face to face in Heaven. By reading the sections I completely understand what the author means when he says, " If we are not careful, we can take a story about Jesus rescuing creation and reduce it into a story about ourselves. We can turn stories into statements, and poems into punchlines. We can miss the sweeping, triumphant, heartbreaking, and glorious stories that make up the gospel of God" (back cover, God*Stories).
I love understanding scripture better, understanding who Jesus is and how the prophecies led up to Him and the salvation He brought. It is so easy to make the stories about us, to strip them of all that brings transforming change and then wonder why there is no power in the Christians of this day. Why do we not stand where we should? Why do we not feel backed by each other through prayer? What has stolen our joy and life? It is our own lack of knowing God. What is worse is that we don't even want to know Him because the image we have of Him is so small it makes Him not even worth it.
This book shook me, changed me and made me think about so many things, manly how I myself am completely guilty of this behavour, and that I want to change it now. I recommend this %100, perfect for daily devotional, for small groups, or just to read through it like I did. I loved this book!
Have you ever had a book be the perfect book at the perfect time? What was it and why was it perfect?
I am a Powell’s affiliate and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any book you buy using my links. Thank you!
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