Books read Sep 22

The Language of Sisters by Cathy Lamb
Like the story line enough to want to read this but it's over 450 pages long.
Russian parents come to the US with their three daughters and they open a restaurant. What I like about this is although it's about a Russian family it could easily be a Portuguese one(my nationality) as there is much that upsets the mother. Oregon, what a lovely area.
One daughter wants to marry an Italian and that sets off her creating new dishes for the restaurant because she is that upset.
Antonio is asked to fix all the problems-she's a reporter/writer.  Love the understanding of the language between the sisters as it's a family trait. You know when another is hurting or happy.
At times I am lost as to what era we are in as the book goes back to Russia, then to present then back to when they first arrived. So when Toni writes a  resignation letter I'm not sure where we are as she goes to work for the next week. Hot romances and work situations.
Kind of funny that one sister is a lawyer and is charge of bringing those to justice and her teaches the twins about self defense and they bring it to class for show and tell and the teacher gets upset when she explains how to get out of trunk of a car if kidnapped. It is useful information...
Lots of drama and action from them all.  Chapters go back in time so we can understand what happened in Russia before they came to the US. You wonder what will become of the wedding that is being planned as everybody is fighting over everything. So many secrets. X ending didn't see it ending like this.
X read but just took too long.
I received this review copy from The Kensington Books and this is my honest review

My blind friend has a pattern and she needed help so I went online and this was one that I could understand. I know braille also being blind but she needed help with the cells. This does show where to put the bobbles and that's all we needed to know as we had other calculations done. Directions are a bit confusing when you read them as they are not written like a typical standardized pattern from the publishers. I am a designer, published and we had guidelines that had to be met. This will do ok in a pinch if you really know what it is you are doing.

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The Bee Who Was Different
This colorful children's story is about a bee. He lives with his parents and has lots of friends.
The life of a bee is not quite how we think of it. This bee had something terrible happen and he's not able to walk or fly.
He knows what he can do when a bear comes to take the beehive. Like how it shows even though you can't do things everything else can you have special things you can do.

Katy bakes smarty cakes by Kurt Zimmerman
This colorful children's story starts out talking about Katy. She had to make one for school. She organized everything she'd need-recipe included, and followed the instructions. She got some answers about things from her mother.
She had a hard time finding the baking powder so selected the q powder instead. After each kid at school takes a piece and then takes the test and all pass they called it brain food.
She wanted to make the kids even smarter so put in more q powder but the kids just itched all day, boys grew colorful hair, girls were laughing and couldn't stop. Good lesson learned here.

Alex Goes To School! by Kurt Zimmerman, Michelle Zimmerman
Starts out showing children playing with summer inner tubes and it's time for school, kindergarten for Alex.
He just wants to stay home and play. He was worried nobody would like him and want to be his friend at school. bus was even scary to him.
Cute colorful children's book with great pictures to show what is going on as you read the words.
Mother takes him shopping for school supplies and a backpack. He gets to pick out what color he wants.
Kids at the bus stop were nice and ride was fun. Shows what they do all day long at school-so many fun things.
Other works by the authors are highlighted at the end.

The Itinerant Photographer: Photographs from Five Years of Wandering with Wildlife and the Stories behind Them by Max Allen
Introduction starts us off where the author tells of his travels and how he loved the wildlife, photographing it all.
Each picture is shown along with where it was taken and what settings on the camera and then a paragraph or two about it.
Love picture of the pine cones in CO the best, so simple and unique and ocean sunrise in Maine. So much in each photo, great composition.

Mexican Appetizer Cookbook: 25 recipes of Mexican Appetizers, Salads, Snacks & Salsa for ANY Occasions by James Miller
Starts with introduction and most important parts of the recipes-the ingredients. Each special ingredient has a picture and what it is and why it's great for the recipes used.
Each recipe starts with a title, color photo and a summary of the dish. Cooking time, servings and a list of ingredients.
How to make the dish but there is no nutritional information.
You should be able to substitute using low fat, low sodium products. Some recipes use canned soups thus more sodium is included.
Not sure why you couldn't use fresh tomatoes instead.
Salsa would be our choice to make.

Donut Cookbook: 55 Easy and Popular Sweetened Homemade Donut Recipes to Fry or Bake at Home (Donut Series Book 1) by Jane Willan
Starts out with a short introduction then onto the recipes.
They are broken up into sections as to the leavening agent used.
This is written with the person being in England as the measurements are metric and I don't know what 2 pieces of an egg is.
Each recipe starts with a title and list of ingredients and how to prepare them.
There are no pictures. There is NO nutritional information. You probably will not be able to substitute for a healthier dietary needs.
In some recipes the ingredients are listed using American and some have England measurements-all within the same recipe. Why not just one it's confusing enough already.
Some come from around the world.

Sous Vide Cookbook: Modern Sous Vide Recipes – The Art and Science of Cooking For Perfectly Low-Temperature Cooked Meals by Tina B.Baker
Free ebook gift and table of contents: eggs,  fruits and vegetables, poultry, beef and lamb , pork, fish and shellfish, cocktails and infusions , sauces and condiments and desserts.
This book starts out with an introduction discussing what sous vide is. We vacuum seal some foods so I can follow along easily with this book.
History of the technique and how to cook using items you have.
Machines and alternatives and chapter two discusses them in detail-the things you need.
Each recipe starts with a title and summary of the dish. Prep and cook time and servings. Nutritional information includes calories, fat-NOT broken up into good and bad, sodium, carbs, fiber and protein.
List of ingredients-look very fresh and how to make the dish.
Some recipes include a photo.  We do make our own yogurt but we use the electric pressure cooker=same outcome.

French Cuisine: The Ultimate Recipe Guide by Jackie Swansen
Starts with offer of free ebooks, table of contents-not in any specific order and then the recipes.
Each recipe includes a title, prep and cook time and servings.
Ingredients and directions. There are no pictures. There is no nutritional information and I'm not sure if you can substitute using low fat, low sodium products for your healthy dietary needs.
Chocolaty crepes would be my choice to make as you can use 2% milk.

Mediterranean Diet For Beginners by William Watts
Table of contents then an introduction. Understanding what the diet is all about. Has strong points about the diet and how it can benefit your body.
Food pyramid is explained using pictures and words about each category.
Also talks about not just a diet but exercise and sleep are important.
7 day meal plan is included. Starts out with breakfast recipes.
Each recipe includes a title color photo, prep cook total time, servings and calories.
List of ingredients and how to make.
Nutritional information includes calories, fat, sat. fat. cholesterol, carbs, sugar, fiber, protein.
Very healthy ingredients and so many choices. Quick meals in oven, pan, grill. Lots of charts to help you determine what you should be eating.
A KEEPER!

The Amazing Asparagus Cookbook: 25 Brilliant Asparagus Recipes by Robert Pratt
Love this vegetable and always looking for new ways to make it. Free gift is mentioned at the beginning of this book.
Table of contents and introduction about this vegetable.
Each recipe includes a title, color photo, prep time and servings. List of ingredients and I think you might be able to substitute for a healthier choice due to your dietary needs-low sodium, low fat.
Directions on how to make but there is no nutritional information.
Very well laid out cookbook.

Jerky :The Ultimate Recipe Guide - Beef jerky, Turkey jerky, Venison jerky, Alligator jerky, and more!
Short intro and table of contents. Each recipe starts with a title, prep and cook time, servings. List of ingredients and directions on how to make.
No pictures and no nutritional information but you can tell from the ingredients it will contain high volumes of sodium-something we can't have in our diet.
Was hoping to find one that we could eat.
Quite a large variety of choices of main meat used.
Free ebooks offered at the end.

40 Fabulous Chicken Recipes For Dinner For Your Slow Cooker (Easy Dinner Recipes - The Chicken Slow Cooker Recipes Collection Book 1)
Starts out with a short introduction, free ebook offered. Starts right in with the recipe that include a title and list of ingredients and how to make and serve.
There are no pictures and there is no nutritional information but you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs.
There are also no servings so you might be making a dish for 2 or 20. Everything goes in the crocket pot-slow cooker and some require you brown the chicken in a pan on the stove before adding everything to the slow cooker.
Too many pans to clean up. I'd just use our pressure cooker that can do this and more and be done in 30 minutes time or use slow cooker setting.
Author page at the end.

Crockpot Cuisine: Easy Meals for a Busy Family by J. R. Stevens
Starts out with listing of other books by the author, table of contents and then the recipes.
Each recipe starts with a title, prep and cook time, and servings.
Ingredient listing, some include prepared foods and then directions.
There is no nutritional information and no pictures.
Should be able to substitute for your healhier dietary needs.
Nothing struck me as they are basic meals that you can make in your crock pot.
Other books by the author are highlighted again at the end.