Books read Jun 10

Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas (Books of Miscellany)  by Jonathan Green
Starts with dedication page then table of contents where various subjects are highlighted.
My most favorite one was learning more about Vikings traditions and customs and what they stood for. Also enjoyed hearing about the twelve days of Christmas and how they relate to the Christian holiday.
There are also 'did you know' sections in each one that give your more insight...
Lots of history throughout the centuries of where things started and how they are adapted to our holidays these years.
Such a fun read even in the middle of summer.







Healthy cooking: healthy cooking and baking recipes for weight loss and a better life by Ariana Hunter
Offer of free ebook. Short TOC where recipes are listed by meals and food categories.
Intro talks about healthy eating.
Breakfast basics into then the recipes.
Each recipe starts with a title and list of ingredients and it tells you to substitute for healthier options.
Directions are given and there is some nutritional information: 1 serving: protein, and calories only are listed.
 There are NO servings and NO pictures.
Can't wait to try flourless chocolate and peanut butter cookies-not sure how much these will make....
Other books are summarized at the end along with excerpts.






Power Pressure Cooker XL cookbook: 150 amazing electric pressure cooker recipes for fast, healthy and incredibly tasty meals by Vanessa Olsen
Table of contents has chapter with meals and food categories.
Intro and history of the pressure cooker,  benefits, and functions are discussed.
Q&A included and how to convert slow cooker recipes for pressure cooker.
Each recipe starts with a title, servings, cook and prep and ready in times.
Summary of the dish and list of ingredients. You should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sodium, low fat, low sugar and fresh vs. Canned items.
Directions are given and there is some nutritional info: specific serving size: calories, protein, fat-NOT broken up into good or bad, carbs and fiber.
There are NO pictures. Found a few I'll be making.

Pressure Cooker Magic: 101 Fast & Fabulous Recipes  by Alison DuBois Scutte
Table of contents where recipes are broken up into meals and food categories.
Note from the author starts this book along with tips and tricks to use in your electric pressure cooker.
Basics and what functions on cooker mean and how to do them.
Each chapter also lists with an index the recipe it has included.
Tips are included also with color photos.
Each recipe starts with a color photo, next page has a title, prep, ready in and servings are iconized.
list of ingredients is listed and you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sugar, low fat, low sodium and fresh vs. canned items.
Directions are given and there is NO nutritional information.
Tips along the way. Cooking charts for various foods are included.
Conversion charts and index are included at the end.

America's Best Harvest Pies: Apple, Pumpkin, Berry, and More!
Starts with pictures of a lot of colorful pies. Intro talks about favorite fruit pies and author own experience being Exe dir of American Pie Council.
Index of recipes are alphabetized.
Each section has it's own index of recipes.
Each recipe starts with a title, summary of the dish, who made it, for what reason and place finished.
List of ingredients and you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sodium, low fat, low sugar and fresh vs. canned items.
Fillings have their own list of ingredients as does the toppings and crusts.
Directions are given and a medium color sized photo is included at the end of the recipe.
There is NO nutritional information.
Read through many of these and picked up some tips along the way.
Not all recipes include a color photo.
Like flavor combinations of fruit pies.
Index of all recipes is included at the end along with conversion charts.

Cast Iron Cooking for Vegetarians by Joanna Pruess
Book starts out with other works from the author.
Dedication page and a quote then table of contents where recipes are broken up into meals and food categories.
Acknowledgements and intro where favorite dishes are discussed.
Explains why you should use cast iron and the cravings from yesteryear to today.
Color photos are showing in the intro section.
How to care for cast iron pans is included.
Each recipe starts with a title, servings, and summary of the dish. List of ingredients is given and you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sodium, low fat, low sugar, and fresh vs. canned items.
Directions are given and there is NO nutritional information.
Some recipes do NOT include a color photo.
Appendix Q&A is included at the end.
Glossary is also listed.
About the contributors is listed.
Conversion charts are listed at the end.

Breakfast Cookbook: A Breakfast Cookbook Filled with Delicious Breakfast Recipes (2nd Edition)
Starts with a TOC where recipes are not broken up in any specific order.
Each recipe has a title list of ingredients and you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sodium, low fat, low sugar and fresh vs. canned items.
To the far right in a shaded area lists: prep and total time to make, servings. Some nutrition info: calories, fat-NOT broken up into good or bad, carbs, protein, cholesterol and sodium, not sure of the serving size of information.
Directions are given also how to prepare the dish.  Full color photo is shown on next page.
Not every recipe has its own pictures.
Lots of fancy meals, some I would serve to my family as an everyday item.

Sous Vide: The Complete Cookbook! Best Sous Vide Recipes for Everyone Made Simple
Offer of free audible version with trial. Table of contents where recipes are broken up into meals and food categories.
Into talks about what sous vide means and how to make it happen in your life. We've used it daily especially when the crops from the garden are ready. We are able to freeze them in bags, when ready to be used, put them in a pan of boiling water and they'll still taste as if you just picked them.
Many reasons for using this method are discussed. Charts showing temperature for different meats is included.
Each chapter of recipes has at least one photo at the start.
Recipes start with a title, servings and list of ingredients and you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sodium, low fat, low sugar, fresh vs. canned items.
Directions are given and there are NO pictures and there is NO nutritional information.
Some recipes do not go along with the directions as NOT all the ingredients are even listed. For tomato sauce there is NO tomatoes and also garlic and shallots are not listed and neither is tomatoes listed as ingredients but directions call for some of them.
Not all recipes start at the top of a new page.
References are included at the end.

Fair Food Recipes, famous food found at State and county fairs by JR Stevens
Free ebook offer.
Recipes in table of content are not in any specific order.
Each recipe starts with a title, prep and cook time and servings.
List of ingredients and you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sodium, low fat, low sugar, and fresh vs. canned products.
Directions are given.
There are NO pictures and NO nutritional information.
Like the idea of apple pie and using cornstarch to make the filling a bit more syrupy-I can use this also in tarts/turnovers.
Nothing we could even eat but nice to remember we did eat a few of these items.

RAISED BED GARDENING: An Easy Guide to Growing Organic Vegetables with Your Thriving Raised Bed Garden Month by Month (Easy Garden Book 2)
Starts with table of contents where every aspect of gardening has it's own chapter: watering, raised bed construction, etc.
Introduction with some pictures,  talks about basics of gardening.
Vegetable planning starts the chapters off, with pictures and wants you to plan the spot, what is to be grown, etc.
Q&A are included in each chapter. Composting I enjoyed reading about because I go about my own a bit different and they have a lot of scientific data to back up their methods.
Right vegetables month by month won't work here in the northeast as we have a very short season compared to others, we don't even put crops in the ground til june.
Discusses growing of herbs, fruit trees, vegetables and how to use flowers to get rid of pests.
Lots of tips along the way, so glad I spent the time to read the whole book.
The scientific data is about soil and nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and manganese, iron, etc.
Bad insects and how to get rid of them without chemicals is a treasure!
They are a lot of work but worth it if you won't have to be to the store every other day to get fresh vegetables.
Some of the sections in this book are over the top, very technical and scientific, a bit hard...