Yummy Vegan Recipes

Vegan Holiday Cooking

from Candle Cafe

by 

Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos, and Jorge Pineda

Since my daughter and her husband started eating Vegan a couple of years ago, I have been doing research on yummy recipes. Vegan Holiday Cooking from Candle Cafe has all kinds of easy fun holiday cooking ideas. Super Bowl, Lunar New Year, Valentines' Day, Passover Seder, Easter Brunch, Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, 4th of July Backyard Barbecue, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve are on the menu in this easy to follow cookbook.

I'm not Vegan, but there are a lot of recipes I want to try on our family. We love chili, and the Make Your Own Chili Bowl, in the Super Bowl chapter, looks like something all the men in my family will like. It looks and sounds like a very hearty meal. One other recipe we will be having for sure on New Years is the Vegetable Black-Eyed Pea Soup, in the New Years Eve chapter. As a Southerner, we have to have our black eyed peas on New Years, and I do believe this will be a hit for all the vegan and non vegans in our family. 

Whether you are one of those that like to entertain with lots of guests, or with just a few family members, this book is a good one to have on hand for delicious, good recipes from the Candle trio of restaurants, Candle Cafe, Candle 79, and Candle Cafe West all located in New York.

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

I am Finally BACK!!!

Yes, I am finally back, on the internet that is. Since our house is still on the market after almost a year, and we are paying for two living places. We have been trying to cut back as much as possible. BUT!!! It has gotten to a point that one can hardly function without the internet...pretty sad, don't you think?

Every time I call a business I am told I "can do that on the net." Yes, I know this, people, the problem is I do not have access. Then they would pause, and then continue, "Well, you know it's much easier to use the internet." "Yes, I know this, the problem is I do not have it," I would replay, then they would go on as if that is impossible for anyone to not have.

Having a small business, one really needs to be able to get on to the world wide web. I have done ZERO business with my Thirtyone bags since the first of August because of no internet. This should be the time of year I do most of my business, but oh well.

Today, will be a day of cleaning out my almost 20,000 unread emails. Ya, I know :P right? I will be catching up on all the gossip on Facebook. And, I will be emailing people and trying to fix the mess the hackers made with my email. Another :P right?

Oh, and I am hoping today will be day of finding out we have a contract on our house. We lowered our price WAAAAAAYYYY down last week. Below what we needed to break even (ugh), and the next day we had two families come look. Yes, more than we have had in over a month, like two more than that. One decided they wanted a bigger house (really? 3100 is not big enough, most people think it's too big oh well). The other said they were going to let us know Monday. It's Tuesday. I have a call into the realtor. I'm guessing I probably already have my answer, but I'm not giving up hope....

Well, here's to life! I love life, even the ups and downs. I guess if it were not for the downs, the ups would not be as great.

 

Episode 4: On Location with a Guest - Aug. 30, 2014

I Love This Cookbook!

The Girl Who Ate Everything

Easy Family Recipes From a Girl Who Has Tried Them All

by

Christy Denney

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/

 

Can I say how excited I was to review this cookbook?! VERY!!! I don't know Christy, but we have a lot in common! First, she is from Arizona, I have a son serving a mission there. Second, she is a graduate of Brigham Young University...my old alma mater.  She took contemporary dance and ballet--my major at BYU! Her husband plays football for the Miami Dolphins; being a Florida girl, I have watched many a Dolphin Game (and cheered for them!). Then, of course, we share the love of good food.

The first thing I noticed about this book were all the wonderful pictures. I love cookbooks and one complaint I have with most is that there are not enough pictures showing the finished product; not with Christy's book! Every recipe shows a beautiful large picture of what it is suppose to look like. Thank you, Christy.

 

Egg Sonora (page 65) and Spinach Salad With Poppy Seed Dressing (page 141) were the first things I tried, and everything was gobbled up. NO leftovers; they were that good! For Sunday dinner last week, I made Apple Broccoli Salad (page 135) to go with the fish my husband caught the other day. Then for dessert, we had German Chocolate Brownies (page 198). Those were sinful. I'll have to admit, I goofed on that recipe. There was a lot going on, and I was just not paying attention. I wound up putting all the cake mix in the bottom of the pan instead of separating it. It still turned out yummy.

Christy starts out introducing herself and then gives a couple of tips and tricks. Then she dives right into the yummy recipes. She gives a little background or story before each recipe. Her instructions are clear and easy to follow.

I would recommend this book for anyone. It would make a great gift, maybe even for that new bride.

My First Vlog...

Hope you enjoy...

Let me know what you think.

 

 

Here are some links to places I mentioned...

My sister, Tammy Powley's Crafty Princess Diaries blog...
http://tammypowley.com/

Some of my sister's books...
http://www.amazon.com/Tammy-Powley/e/B001IGLQQM

Your Family In Pictures

The Parents' Guide to Photographing Holidays, Family Portraits, and Everyday Life

by
Me Ra Koh

 

As an amateur photographer, who loves to take pictures of her family, I found this book easy to read and understand. I wish I had had this book earlier in my career as a mother (our children are now 26, 24, 21, and 20).

I love how Me Ra helps you be successful at photographing your family. She uses a whole chapter to help you understand how to develop a photographer's eye. She also takes you through five chapters, giving you tips in photographing your family during the holidays, vacations. everyday life, family portraits and the tween/teen years. Me Ra also shares DSLR settings and hints on how you can take fantastic pictures with point and shoot and your smartphone camera.

Me Ra shares additional information through websites from the show she hosted for two years--Capture Your Story With Me Ra Koh--which aired on Disney Junior TV.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to have fun with the camera and wants to be successful in photographing family.

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

Friends

I love coming to Florida and visiting with my family and old friends. The other day, I had the opportunity to visit with someone I had not seen in about 27 years (give or take). Really? That sounds so long ago, but when I think back, it does not seem like that long ago.

My friend and I use to hang out at the beach a lot. When I think back on my growing up years, I will have to admit...I was very fortunate. Fortunate to live in a time when things were easier. Fortunate to live during a time of great excitement, and a place where wonderful things were happening. Growing up in Central Florida in the 60's and 70's, I really did not give it much thought, but thinking back, it was a great time and a great place.

We moved to Florida in 1967. The space program brought our family to the Sunshine State from Huntsville, Alabama. My dad was a NASA Engineer and worked on the Apollo program. I can remember many launches. We would watch it on TV and when countdown was at about 10, 9, 8,....it was time to go out in our yard and look up in the air. Pretty soon, we could see a bright light moving through the skies. Then poof! Stage one, POOF, stage two. Then the rumbling sound shook the earth. 

In 1969 when Apollo 11 headed for the moon to land the first man that would walk on its surface, I was there. Yes, I saw the actually lift off. It was a very warm, bright, sunny July day; and boy did I ever get sunburned! 

Going to the beach as a teen was a very fun thing. To this day, it is one of my favorite places to be. I love everything about it...the sun, the warmth, the sound of the waves and the birds, even the sand between my toes. Since I left for college, I have not been back for any length of time, and it saddens me. My husband and I have tried to move back, but I guess we will just have to wait until we retire, then head down like everyone else; but I will be coming back home.

Having lunch with my friend brought back a lot of fun memories. Twenty-seven years seems like a long time when you say the number, but to my friend and I, it really was not that long. You see, we just picked right back up where we had left off so many years ago. Here is hoping it won't be another 27 years before we meet up again...