Gluten-Free for Good by Samantha Seneviratne.

We have been trying to eat much more healthy and we have been toying around the idea of going Gluten Free.

I always thought that gluten free would be difficult and expensive.  I saw this book and was intrigued by the descriptions of simple and easy gluten free recipes.  Could this be true?  So I had to check this book out.




Here is more info about the author, Samantha Seneviratne.  She has the credentials having written for many food publications.

Info about Samantha Seneviratne\


After receiving the book, I have been able to peruse the book and from what I can see, most of recipes, especially those involving backing includes special flours like oat flour and almonds flours.  What I don't particularly like about gluten free baking are the additional ingredients added in like tapioca starch, husk powder, etc.  But I was pleasantly surprises of how many recipes have simple everyday ingredients, especially the non baking items.

What I wished she would include are tips on how to make own specialty flours but I guess that's what the internet is for.

Overall, I would recommend this book to those who are seeking to tip their toes into gluten free cooking.

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

All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips.

Do you love Chinese food?  Do you think all Chinese food are the same?  Well are you in a surprise when you get your hands on All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips.

It's a MASSIVE, well researched cookbook about Chinese food. When I mean massive it is a big cookbook, it's over 500 pages massive and put all my other Chinese cookbook to shame.

In perusing this book, I can tell the Carolyn Phillips has spent a lot of time researching food from each of the five regions that she covers in this book.  It's well researched and comes with recipes from simple to difficult.  She starts each region by giving a history of the region, breaking down each major city in the region.




I know there are ingredients that might be difficult to find in some regions but Carolyn has offered alternatives to the difficult ingredients.

Note, there are no pictures in this book so if you want pictures in your cookbook, this book might not be for you.

If you had to buy one Chinese cookbook, this one is it.

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534780/all-under-heaven-by-carolyn-phillips/

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

Taste and See by John Piper

One of my wife's favorite Christian author is John Piper so was excited to see his new devotional book, Taste and See



John Piper writing is full of conviction and encouragement throughout this devotional. There are devotional that are short and sweet but the devotional is this book has depth to it.  John challenges the reader to not only reflect upon what Jesus is calling us to do but how we can live our lives to share Jesus love with those around us.  Especially as he addresses topics that are relevant to us today, such as gay marriage, abortion, race, etc.  It causes us to reflect about Jesus's heart and the truth according to Jesus.

Here's some more information about John Piper and the book
Information about John Piper

Taste and See review

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

Me: A Compendium A FILL-IN JOURNAL FOR KIDS By WEE SOCIETY

My kids are growing up too quickly and one of the things that I want for them is for them to remember their youth.  I selected this s book "Me" as a helpful medium to help my daughter remember her youth.




Just received the book and to my surprise, I think this book is more suited for someone of the younger age.  Maybe I read the description incorrectly but this book is well suited for my younger son.  He loved the book and wanted me to do it with him.

This book is actually really cool, I like the fact that it asks the kid to use their creativity about themselves.

My son last night was drawing his favorite shirt and there's questions like what's your favorite socks, places to go, etc.

I would highly recommend this book for a younger kid, it allows them to be creative about themselves, tweeners, maybe not so much.

The best part is that inside the jacket, they can draw "Me" on the cover of the book.

Click below is a link for more information about the book.


More information about the book

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

Street of Eternal Happiness by Rob Schmitz

I have always been fascinated by the rise of China since they opened up their economy years ago to a blend of communism and capitalist.  Having done some business in China, I've been able to observe firsthand the dramatic change of people in China.  The have nots now have and rich are now richer and it appears everyone is striving for more money, more money.  

But what has been under reported is how all the grab for success has affect the population, millions of peasants moving to the city, family live apart because parents trying to make it in this economy, people losing their moral compass, etc.

I'm familiar with Rob Schmitz work from hearing him on NPR and given that he's APM's China correspondence, who else is better to tell stories of the Chinese people

Author's Bio

His book Street of Eternal Happiness does a great job at telling the stories of individuals and families who live on this one street in Shanghai.  Shanghai, modern of all modern city but below the skyscrapers, there's stories of people trying to "make it."  The tales become entwined and gives us a glimpes of the hope, greed and pain of living in China.

This is a great book and great read. 

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

All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips

This has got to be one of the best book about Chinese cooking that I have read.  I didn't know much about the author but then I read about her background and the fact that she lived in Taiwan and immersed herself in the culture.  This has really given her a deep understanding and appreciation of the complexity of Chinese cooking.
I like how she noted there is these layers to Chinese cooking that not many in America has close to experiencing.

I especially how she wrote, you eat what you speak, which is so true, each region has it's down dialect and people each from the dialect they are from.  The breakdown of the book by different region is really cool, gives perspective of what each region is known for and specialize in. Who knew the chinese salad is originally from Manchurian region.

I like how at the beginning of each chapter, she will briefly explain the sub region within each large region and its food.  Who knew within one region, there's so many different sub regions.  For example The Yangtze River & It's Environs includes Huai Yang , Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Northern Fujia, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi.

The recipes are written concisely yet with very clear instructions.  The illustrations that accompany some of the recipes are good, such a making your own smoker, pot sticker, etc.

This book is really good and highly recommend it.

Around the Fire by Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quinez Denton, with Stacy Adimando.

Who doesn't love BBQ?  Not me, I love a good BBQ and always on the lookout for good BBQ recipes.

I got the book Around the Fire by two acclaim chefs,  Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton. Their restaurant Ox, is known of it's open fire style of cooking.




Click Here for More Information on this book

This book has great photography and lots of recipes. OX used a large wood fire grill that's what's used in Argentina. When I read this,  I'm like how do I make any of the recipes with just a gas grill.

But the authors made it known that the recipes are made for home cooks and in perusing the recipes, they are easy to cook, though some of ingredients, like squid are not that easy to get.

The pictures are beautiful and recipes are clear and easy to follow.

I would recommend this book for all would be BBQers.

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