Enoying My Twinkies!

I was really looking forward to the 85th anniversary cookbook edition of Twinkies.  Hostess updated and expanded the Twinkies Cookbook.  They ahve included some of the best recipes and some new recipes.  I have to admit some of the recipes seemed rather bizarre to me, but may very well taste good.

I would have liked pictures for all of the recipes, instead of pictures for about 30% of the recipes.  Some recipes included Twinkies with meat, which didn’t sound appetizing, Twinkie Corn Dogs don’t get me excited, but a Patriotic Twinkie Pie or Twinkie Strawberry Shortcake sounds great! 

There were recipes covering ~
Twinkies and Cake
Twinkies and Pie
Twinkies and Fruit
Twinkies and Chocolate
Twinkies and Cream
Twinkies and Meat
Twinkies and Novelty

Twinkies in smores or with fruit kabobs sound great and will spice up a dinner party or make for some new snacks and desserts

I enjoyed reading a little about the history of the Twinkie in the introduction to the book.  It included facts, ingredients, its inventor, and the celebration of eighty-five years in production.

Overall, this is a fun and easy book to read.  It would make for a fun gift.

I received this book from Bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review.

Finding God in the Darkness!

I have always benefitted from reading books by Nancy and John Ortberg.  They are consummate story tellers.  And their stories always have a message which speaks into my heart.  The newest book by Nancy Ortberg, Seeing in the Dark: Finding God’s light in the most Unexpected Places was another powerful Ortberg book. 

The purpose of the book is to help us find or better yet, recognize the light of God in the midst of the darkness which surrounds us.  What I like about her writing is the fact she is not offering a cookie cutter model of how we need to react to life.  Instead, she shares stories and allows the reader to embrace her message. 

Each chapter seems to be disconnected and yet at the same time they are powerfully connected.  At times the stories and jumps she makes don’t seem to connect until you read the final words of the chapter.  This is an easy to read, yet powerful book.

I was really struck by the last chapter, Benediction.  It was a powerful chapter as Nancy recalled life and death and the last words, the ways in which we say to others “may the Lord . . .”  That was the chapter which will leave a lasting impression upon me. 

This was an excellent book, especially for those who don’t want someone to give them all of the answers to life’s issues, other than to seek the light of Christ!

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale Press in exchange for my honest opinion.

Infuse Away!!

I really was looking forward to this book.  Infuse, by Eric Prum and Josh Williams is a book about how to infuse oils, spirits and waters.   In Infuse the authors share not only their favorite infusion recipes, but also how to use them in food and cocktails, like a spicy chili oil added to a grilled pizza bianca.  With more than 50 recipes for infusing oils, spirits and waters, Infuse provides instructions, quick tips and plenty of inspiration for how you can make delicious infusions part of your everyday.

There are also great pictures and the instructions are very clear.  So, if you are looking to try something new and different, this would be a really fun book.  The ideas are limitless, then you can go off on your own and make your own concoctions. 

I would recommend this book. 

I received it from Bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an impartial review.

Bible for Dad's

While Father’s Day is past, there is no time like now to get the dad in your life a Bible he will read.  The NIV Dad’s Devotional Bible (2nd Edition) is filled with 260 devotionals written for dads. These devotionals, written by Robert Wolgemuth, author of She Calls Me Daddy, The Most Important Place on Earth, and She Still Calls Me Daddy.

The devotionals were well written, filled with stories I was able to relate to.  While I didn’t read each devotional, if you are looking for a Bible which is easy to read, filled with thoughts and ideas which are practical to dads, then this is a great choice.

I appreciated the section entitled, “Questions Kids Ask” along with a topical section called “fruit of the Spirit Topical Index.”  Those were helpful indexes for men to read to help them better understand their children and their faith.  There were also 7 articles for kids to read, so they could better understand their dads.  I thought that was a novel approach.

The main criticism was the location of the introductions for each book of the Bible.  That was in the back of the Bible.  While this saved a few pages, having the introduction would have been better immediately preceding the chapter.

Overall, I felt this was a good Bible to purchase as a gift.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Booksneeze.com.