Asian Dumplings by Andrea Nguyen.

Who can resist dumplings?  My kids love dumplings and can devour plates of dumplings.

So when I saw this book, Asian Dumplings, how could I resist not picking it up?  I have read Andrea's other books and I really appreciate her cookbooks.

Here's a link about Andrea

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/105105/andrea-nguyen



I usually make my dumplings with the same fillings so it was great to read a book that gives me options for other types of fillings. but this book isn't just about dumplings, it's about spring rolls, samosa and other asian wrapping type of food.  It covers a wide range of dumpling style food.

Although making dumpling can be time consuming, Andrea give tips and suggestions to fit making dumplings into our busy lifestyle, though I'm not sure about making my own wrappers.

This is a book I would highly recommend to everyone who loves dumplings and it's siblings.  After all, who can resist dumplings.

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

Donabe by by Naoko Takei Moore and Kyle Connaughton

"Don what?"
"It's Donabe."
"What's Donabe?"
"Donabe is Japanese clay pot (donabe) cooking that provides a one pot meal."




That my friend, is what a donabe.  I own a Chinese claypot and always wanted to expand my clay pot recipes.  This book is exactly what I was looking for.  For the cold winter nights, donabe is perfect.  It's a very healthy way to cook with minimal fat and you can't complain when some of the donabe dishes brings a warmth to your body.

This books is beautifully photographed and great explanation of the history of donabe, different types of clay pot vessels and recipes ranging from rice, soup and hot pots.  I love reading about Naoko's family history with the Donabe and the artisanal Donabe from Japan.

Even if you don't own a donabe, this book is for a cookbook collector and would be a great collection to anyone's cookbook.


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

Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees by Kian Lam Kho

I love Chinese food, eating and cooking it.  I've always been interested in learning how to better my Chinese food cooking skills so this book caught my eye.

When I received the book, I love the feel of it.  It's a heavy duty book and lots of gorgeous pictures.

I tend to read cookbooks like a novel and this is one cook book that feels like a novel.  Mr. Kho make this book novel like.  He goes through the history of different types of Chinese cuisine, delves into Chinese cookware (wok, knives, etc) and ingredients.  He talks about general techniques and the theory behind it.

This book is broken up into twelve main chapters on cooks, from wok (stir fry), to braising and a section on sweets.

I love how it takes very simple techniques and encourages you to experiment with it and then move on to more difficult techniques and recipes.

I really like the pictures and especially like the note boxes sprinkled throughout the book, like ones such as what to do with left over oil.

I would highly recommend this book for all those who want to learn more about Chinese cooking.

More Info about this book

Author's Info

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

Food52 Baking by Editors of Food52, Foreword by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs.

I've been following the Food52 blog and site for and was excited to see this book on baking that they released.











Upon receipt of this book I cracked it open like a novel from beginning to the end.  I bookmarked several recipes, most of them from the breakfast goods and cookie section.  What I noticed, the recipes in this book are not very difficult in terms of the ingredients needed or amount of time.

For example, one recipe that I want to try is the Yogurt Bread, which sounds like such an odd mix but it sounds so simple, only flour, baking powder, salt, plain yogurt and milk. That it.  How easy could it be.

This book is great for baker for any skills because there are recipes ranges from ridiculously easy, like Yogurt Bread, to something a bit more complex.

It will make a baker out of all of us.

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

The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg

This is a must read book.  It's a powerful narrative about how a country steeped in a culture is able to dictate a life of a girl.

As a father, reading this book made me very sad.  To think that girls lives in Afghanistan is valued less just because they are girls.  It's really hard to wrap my finger around this.  Having a girl of my own, I could not imagine asking my girl to be a boy, to suppress all natural her feminine traits and to take on a boyish traits just because.  As difficult as it it, I'm sure the cultural pressure is so heavy that families but have their girls become "boys" in order for them to survive growing up. It's not something that I can understand but it's real.  Even people in powerful position are dressing their girls as boys.

Someday I want my daughter to read this book, for her to understand other culture and to appreciate the freedom she has is being who God created her to be and to be able to make her own choices and decision.

This is a must read book for all.














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

Searching For Sunday by Rachel Held Evans

Having been a Christian and churchgoer for a better part of my life, the title of the book intrigued me. Why, because I believe as a believer, finding a church is one of the most difficult things, actually finding an church that's authentic and in touch with the imperfect nature of humans is hard to find.




I love the journey that Rachel went on in her search of finding the church.  Most of what she said really resonated with me, how the church shouldn't be a place where everything is in place, nice and neat with a smile every Sunday, but it's a place where's it's messy, people are free to come as they are before God and to experieince God's grace, healing, redemption and joy.

It's refreshing for me to hear her journey and struggles, which I can resonate with as I too have and am going through the same struggle.

This should be required reading in Seminary, not everyone has to agree with what Rachel wrote but pastors and potential leaders of the church should understand what people are looking and seeking in the Church.  In fact, I have recommended this book to my pastors for them to read.

Legend by Eric Blehm

 I love books about military events, especially ones that have to do do with men and women who have risen to heroic level in serving their country and their fellow soldiers.

This book is a must have for all your military buffs but mostly this is a story about a man who had courage, conviction and belief and lived them out to the fullest.

I really enjoyed this book, reading the story of Sergeant Roy Benavidez, from his childhood, growing up in a without a mom and a dad, being raised by his Uncle and grandfather, poor, ill tempered and just disillusioned with life.

But from that down and out of luck situation, he pulled himself up and through the rigor of the military, he exhibited the stuff of legend which is detailed in this book.

How, single handedly he saved a special operating unit, surrounded by hundreds of NVA and pulled them to safety despite his own wounds.

It's a shame that despite his heroics, it took many, many years, and only after one of the few remaining survivors, who came forward to write an eyewitness account of Roy's heroics that US Military finally awarded him the long over due Medal of Honor.

I especially love the narrative of his uncle and grandfather, though proud of their Hispanic heritage, told Roy, that above all, he's an American, that he is not to let his color, race, his situation keep him down. 

This is a must read book and I can't wait to pass this book onto my two boys to read.

 

More Info About Legend by Eric Blehm

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

The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly by Matt McCarthy.

This book is about Dr. Matt McCarthy, who chronicles his first year experience as an intern.  I love this book, I could not put it down.

Why?  If you think Grey's Anatomy was the real deal, reading this book gave me a better perspective of what an intern actually goes through in their process of being a Dr.  I love the fact that Matt shares all this emotional up and down during his first year and it tracks his progression of being book smart to understanding that practicing medicine is not only what you know in your brain but connecting with patients.
It's an eye opener of the sacrifices that doctors have to make, sure they make oodles of money but at what costs? 

There's twists and turns to Matt's story and I felt emotionally attached to his story.  It's an easy and enjoyable read.

Dr. Matt McCarthy Bio

I would highly recommend this book for pure entertainment and also a great gift for someone you know who is entering the medical profession or soon to be medical student.

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

Guilt Free Baking by Gee Charman

Everyone loves sweets, who doesn't?  After all, it's been proven that sugar stimulates the same brain chemical as drugs in that it gives you this high/satisfaction after it's consumed.

However, with sweets comes the danger of obesity, which our country has a huge problem with.








When I saw this book, I was intrigued by the title and the author's preface. Her premise is not to cut out all the fats/sugar but to use acceptable alternatives, like fruit puree along with minimal fat and sugar.

As I read through this book, I found the recipes to be easy and ingredients normal staples.  These are simple recipes but with outstanding results.

The only thing I wish the author would have added was amount of sugar content per serving, which I would find more helpful

Otherwise this book is a must have for those who want to indulge but without much of he guilt.

Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood by Melissa Kruger.

Motherhood, what a joy it is yet it comes with much sacrifice.  As I have witnessed my wife, this season of motherhood, she has sacrificed her spiritual growth.  It has been up and down spiritually for her and only now as our kids are older is she able to retake her spiritual life back.

When I saw this book, I said this book is definitely for my wife.










Author's Bio

After perusing this book, this book is definitely full of substance.  It is a bible study book.  It's not a one page daily devotional book. This is broken out into different aspect of faith, such as joy, faith, etc. and each week for five days, there's a bible study with questions that pertains to a specific aspect of faith and how it pertains to the season of motherhood.

This book is not for those who are looking for a quick devotional but for someone who is looking to delve deeper into the word and how the word applies to this season of motherhood.

That is the challenging part of my wife to be able to make time and do a bible study, otherwise this is the book that she needs. I would highly recommend this book to mothers who are ready to study the Word.

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

The Dropbox by Brian Ivie and Ted Kluck

No, this is not a book about the cloud storage, Dropbox.  This is a book about a remarkable man, Pastor Lee of South Korea.  Who truly lives out Jesus' calling that he came not to be serve but to serve.

This book along with the movie tells the story of Pastor Lee's giving hope to babies who are abandoned in South Korea by creating a "dropbox' outside of his church so women can discreetly "drop" off their babies.



It's not just a story of this "dropbox" but of Pastor Lee's love for these babies and how he and his wife have personally taken/adopted some of these babies, who are mostly with birth defects.  What was telling is that though he is not rich by world, South Korea standard, Pastor Lee and his family are rich by God's standard.  His love and joy toward these babies are remarkable.

This book tell of this story more in depth but it also tells the back story of Brian's own journey. How he was once lost but through the making of this documentary, was found, like the parable of the lost sheep.

God works in mysterious ways, using the filming of this documentary to soften Brian's heart for Him.

This book is a great read and perfect companion to the movie.

The book was provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

Capture the Moment by Sarah Wilkerson

There are few passions in my life and it so happens that photography is one of them.  I love taking pictures of my family and I have been doing so for many many years.  In addition, I have been asked by friends to take pictures for their families.  I'm not a professional so I know my technical know how are limited so I'm always seeking opportunities to learn about photography.

When I saw this book, I said "Ah ha, a book up my alley.  It's about photography and subjects that I'm familiar with."

The book that I'm referring to is:

Capture the Moment by Sarah Wilkerson.
















Written by Sarah Wilkerson, who is the CEO of Clickin Moms, which was founded by professional photographer Kendra Okolita in March 2008 and has grown to become the photography industry's largest female-photographer social network.

I love this book because this book is a collection of photos, tips and musing from women, professionals, artists or full time mom, who capture these precious moments of their children lives.

As a father, it's priceless when I'm able to capture moments of my kids lives, that I'm able to freeze that moment in time that I know that I will never get back but I can look back at the picture and remind me of the joy, anger, or sorrow at that moment in our family.

Here is an excerpt from the book that I like:

It is said that photographers view life differently. Everything from the businessman striding down the sidewalk to succulent fruit at a farmer’s market to scuffed shoes on the doormat becomes a potential subject in our minds. We can hardly contain ourselves when dusk sets a child’s halo of curls aglow, and we love nothing more than an empty room filled with sunshine, the way shadows dance across our kitchen walls as daylight approaches, or the drama of tall trees enrobed in fog. We view rundown structures as feasts of textures and see evening’s rush hour as an irresistible collection of lines, shapes, and colors. This book intends to help foster this way of seeing: to make knowledge and instruction accessible, to provide the motivation to advance, to help you illustrate your world powerfully, and—above all—to empower you to embrace a passion as creator of beauty, keeper of memories, and teller of stories.

The last sentence is why I love photography, it is ultimately a teller of stories.  This book has very practical tips and ideas to help enhance the story telling and to motivate me to up my game.

This book is broken out into different sections: such as "natural light" "composition" and each page after that is a picture and a "tip" of how to use natural light.  There's not a lot of technical jargon which is good but just straight on tips.

I like this book and would highly recommend to all photographers, whether you are a newbie or season.  It's refreshing to be able to look at things from a different (female) perspective.

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

The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden by Karen Newcomb.

We have a raised garden that we started years ago.  I have to say, when we have planted tomatoes, we have been able to get good crop for a season.  We have also planted other crops but it has been hit and miss.  We want to grow more but have a hard time getting an abundant crop.

I saw this book The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden by Karen Newcomb which is an re-issue of a classic. What caught my eye is the fact that on a plot of 5x5 size, you can get a crop of 200 lbs of vegetable.  What!!!?? Get out of here, you gotta be crazy.  So that caught my attention and I told myself, I gotta read this book.

 

Here's a link to the author's bio below.

Author's Bio

There are drawings of many different types of postage stamp garden and the best layout for each style. Karen also delves into best time to plant, how to prep the soil and watering.  She makes it sounds so simple and easy but without any of the pretentiousness that sometimes you would associate with these DIY books.

In reading this book, I'm already imagining changes that I need to do for my own garden, it's been a long time coming and it looks so sad in my yard.  I especially like the latter half of the book where she lists out all different types of vegetables, when to grow, what they need and advise on growing them.

That is such a great reference tool because I want to grow other things than tomatoes...

Highly recommend this book, what more can you ask then grow your own food and do it easily. 

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

The Paleo Chef by Pete Evans

So a few years ago, I met a friend for dinner, whom I haven't seen in a while. The last time I saw him, he was a bit on the heavy side and wasn't in as great shape as he could be.

Well, when he walked up to me, I couldn't believe it was him.  He was almost half the size of when I last saw him and he had muscle definition.  We proceeded to sit down at eat (it was an all you can eat buffet) and he piled his plates with meat, meat and more meat.  I was like "dude, what's going on here?  You ready for a heart attack?"  He proceeded to explain to me how he started going on a Paleo lifestyle (he didn't mention diet) and how by cutting out starch/carbs/sugar/dairy free and eating proteins, vegetables and nuts, he has lost a lot of weight and along with working out has never felt healthier in this life.  I was amazed at the transformation and each time we get together, he continue to espouse his new lifestyle.

When I saw the book The Paleo Chef by Pete Evans, and felt I had to take a look at the book.  After all, here is an accomplished chef who has written a book about and with recipes for the paleo lifestyle.

 

In reading Pete's intro, I knew this was the right book for me.  First, he clearly states Paleo is not a diet but a lifestyle.  Diets don't work by lifestyle does.  He goes and makes the the case the in adopting Paleo, we are not missing out on carbs, sugars and grains but we are gaining so much more in getting carbs and sugars from natural sources instead of all the processed foods around his.  

However, Paleo is just one step in being and feeling healthy.  It includes rest, being outdoors, and a positive mindset.  All these, with Paleo will help enhance your life.

The book is broken out into seven sections: Breakfast, Vegetables/Sides/Snacks, Seafood, Poultry, Meat, Dessert and  Drinks.

The recipes are simple and easy, with ingredients that's generally easy to purchase from your neighborhood store.  Of course some you might have to purchase from Whole Paycheck (oops, Whole Foods).

The Vietnamese Chicken wings are awesome, cauliflower fried rice with chicken (who would have thought that you could sub Cauliflower for rice and its delicious), and the meat.

The desserts are what I like, being able to use other sweeteners besides sugar and they look fantastic.  Haven't had a chance to make any but here's the one's that I want to try:
Apple berry crumble
chocolate avocado mousse
chocolate beet mudcakes

actually want to try them all.
I like at the end Pete has a section on how to make the "basics" that's needed in his book.

I would highly recommend this book to all who wants to try the Paleo lifestyle yet eat well.

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

Draw-A-Saurus by James Silvani.

Who love Dinosaurs?  Who loves Dinosaurs?  Who loves drawing Dinosaurs?  We all do.    This book by James Silvani is exactly as advertised, its a guide to drawing Dinosaurs and even for my little one, they are able to use this book.  And me, who can't draw a lick, this book helped me become an "artist" (used very loosely).






This is what this book is, it shows how to draw Dinosaurs which my kids love to do.  Now they are able to draw their favorite Dinosaurs, from T-Rex to Raptors much better.

This book is great is bringing out the creative side in our family and have lots of fun doing it. 

This  is a great book for kids and brings out the kids in adults in drawing dinosaurs.  A lot of fun.

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

Clean Slate - Reset Your Health, Detox Your Body and Feel your Best - From Editors of Martha Stewart Living

There are lots and lots of books out there on detox and healthy living these days.  I got my hands on a copy of Clean Slate, a cookbook and guide on Reset Your Health, Detox Your Body and Feel Your Best.  This book was put together by the editors at Martha Stewart Living, who knows a thing or two about food.

Usually in the Martha Stewart Living magazines, there are not many articles on "clean" living so was surprised to see this from the editors.




First of all, I love this book is a softcover, it makes it easier to carry about and I'm not as afraid to get tis book dirty.

As the title says, this book is all about how to eat cleanly, what that means is naturally food and vegetables, though this book is not a vegetarian.  They just emphasize eating more vegetables than meat.

This book is broken up into two sections, the first sections gives various information about different nutrients, what's needed for the pantry and guide to 3 day detox. the second part of the book is all about recipes and there are lots of them.  All the recipes are in the "R" categories: replenish, reboot, recharge, reenergize, restore and relax.  I found this book very similar to Mark Bittman's VB6.

Many of the information in the first half I have already read about elsewhere but I was interested in the 3 day detox.  It's a short detox so easier for someone to do that the first time around than a 21 day detox.

There are plenty of pictures with each recipes, of course the pictures make the recipes look delicious but in reading the book, I was wondering, how do you get full on these food??

My favorite portion has to do with the reboot, which has recipes for drinks for my health, like smoothies and juice. Most of the ingredients are easy to obtain.

I would recommend this book to someone who is looking to get better health wise.  The recipes, in general are simple and most ingredients are easy to find.

This is a good book to have on hand in your journey of bettering your health.

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