Tortillas and Honey

The Review: The premise of Soul Food Love by Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams is family history, food, and eating a little healthier to break the cycle of obesity. The family history of this book is about a third of the book, focusing on each of the women down the family's lineage. Their personal stories as well as their food is discussed in great detail. This is a great document of a family's history and is the heart from which the rest of the book flows. I have made three dishes from this cookbook so far: Sweet Potato Broth, Chicken and Peanut Stew, and Sinless Sweet Potato Pie. All the recipes I've tried so far have been totally on point as well as recipes that I will definitely keep in my repertoire. Other recipes that I look forward to trying include Chicken Breasts with Grapes and Mushrooms, Spicy Pepper Chicken, Red and Black Bean Burgers, and Broccoli with Peanuts and Raisins. I was really excited to receive this book, but I found myself wishing...

Vanilla and Blueberry Cheesecake Pudding Do any of you follow any reality food television or food competitions? There are several food competition shows now that seem to be getting more and more popular. There are really only two food competition shows that I've watched and they are "The Next Food Network Star" and "The Taste." There are some of my favorite cooks and chefs that came out of the series that I adore, including Guy Fieri, Aaron McCargo Jr., and Melissa D'Arabian! One of the things that I loved about Melissa was that she always seemed like the underdog on the show but she always came out on top and ended up winning the competition. Her show and her books focus on delicious yet inexpensive meals to feed your family, which is a great concept. The Review: Supermarket Meals is Melissa D'Arabian's second book. As you may expect from the title, this cookbook features healthy recipes whose ingredients that you can find at your local su...

Did any of you ask for (and receive) cookbooks for the holidays?! And are any of you trying to be just a little more healthy this new year? One of the books that took the world by storm last year was Gina Homolka's Skinnytaste  cookbook, and I've been itching to get my hands on a copy! I was very fortunate to get this cookbook, and today I'm offering you a review of the Skinnytaste  as well as a recipe that I made from the cookbook, Cheesy Baked Penne with Eggplant. The Review: Skinnytaste by Gina Homolka is 320 pages and features 150 recipes and is organized into sections like, breakfast, sandwiches, salads, different proteins, and dessert. This is not a diet, but rather Gina focuses on helping to create healthy and lighter dishes that people can incorporate into their every day eating (whether one is trying to lose weight or just trying to eat a little more healthy.) The first thing you notice about the book, is the cover! How enticing is a cookbook called S...

Apple Cranberry Pecan Crumble Welcome to the holiday season! I hope that you have lots of fun activities and recipes lined up for the upcoming holidays! I have one cookbook to add to your holiday list (for giving and/or receiving!) and recipe to add to your holiday baking list! Today I am reviewing Joy Wilson's (better known as Joy the Baker) Homemade Decadence  and also including an adaption of one of her recipes from her book, Apple Cranberry Pecan Crumble. The Review: Joy's book is very inspired and she includes slight adaptions or variations on classic recipes, such as chocolate chip cookies where she throws in some smoked sea salt and roasted pistachios or her Banana Bread Biscotti where she adds bananas into her biscotti so that it's reminiscent of banana bread. I love that she sometimes replaces pie crust for puff pastry and is not afraid to line regular pie crust with pretzel twists. And I love that she makes pancake syrup with bacon and that she drizzle...