REVIEW: The New Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoë François

Starting at the title, I was VERY skeptical. I mean, really? Yummy, beautiful homemade bread in 5 minutes a day? Who do they think they're kidding? I have always wanted to bake... to BE someone who BAKES. I even own a top of the line bread machine to help this time-crunched mama (ostensibly) make bread more easily. Even as "easy" as that is, it still just didn't happen all that often. And frankly, bread machine crusts are just not the same as bread baked in the oven.

Skeptical or not, I really wanted to believe that I could fit baking into my daily life. The introduction did nothing to make it sound any less "too good to be true". Then they shared their secrets: 1) "Mix enough dough for several loaves and store it in the refrigerator" and 2) "Pre-mixed, pre-risen, high moisture dough keeps well in the refrigerator." (my emphasis). This dough is WET and as a result, requires no kneading, no proofing the yeast, no resting/rising/resting, no punching down (in fact, NEVER punch it down), no stress or fuss whatsoever. With my trusty kitchen scale and my Kitchenaid mixer, I can put a large batch of dough together in under 15 minutes. The only thing I have to do each day for fresh bread is pull off a ball of dough, shape and bake. There is some resting and baking time involved, of course, but the actual active work required takes mere minutes. I have even cooked a few loaves in the slow cooker (!!!) with zero resting time. You do need to put a slow cooker loaf under a broiler for a minute to crisp up the top but this is a super SUPER easy way to make already super easy bread.

I usually get books from the library first before forking out the cash for them. I will definitely be adding this one to my cookbook collection permanently. They also have written "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" and "Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in 5 Minutes a Day". This review is for the 2nd edition of their original book and I plan to buy this one as it includes whole grain and flatbread recipes in it, as well as recipes for pretzels, pain d'epi, pumpernickel, rye, beignets, naan and so much more.  There is a sizable gluten-free section as well! If you want to fit baking into your life, do yourself a favor and get this book. I'm not sure your waistline will thank me but your taste buds definitely will. 

Silly Saturday - Blaze Loves His Kennel (ORIGINAL) Husky Says No to Kennel - Funny

REVIEW: Eyestandia, or The way other people might see us By Lynn Shroll

The following is a guest post from my awesome husband, Jason Norbury.

Thanks to NetGalley.com for early access to this book.

What would happen if the descendants of the last survivors from Earth, looking for sanctuary, finally reach another civilized planet?

I like the idea of a good, rough satire of the powerful. Afflict the comfortable and all that. I was looking forward to settling down and getting pointed criticism of our modern culture, similar as the British culture is to our American culture. The criticism was there, and it was decidedly pointed.

It was also extremely heavy-handed in the beginning of the book. The first section of the book felt more like a screed against unrestrained capitalism than a satirical examination of our flaws as humans (and bankers). This was done surely to set the stage for the events that followed, but in the main made the first section of the book rather tiresome to get through.

The middle of the book, exploring the development of new culture on the bones of the old, was a good and, I would guess, a fair estimate of what would transpire if people of Earth, warts and all, were suddenly transported to a nearly Utopian world without need or want. But again, it fell short of the promised satire.

The twist to reach a conclusion in this book was clever, if a bit of a reach, and had probably more satirical potential that was realized. Overall, however, I just found the story rather flat, and it would have been difficult to recover from a very preachy and overdone beginning.

Wordless Wednesday - Squee!

REVIEW: Three Heinemann Read & Learn Stay Healthy! Books

Stay Healthy! What Should We Eat? by Angela Royston
Stay Healthy! Why Do We Need to Drink Water? by Angela Royston
Stay Healthy! Why Do We Need to be Active? by Angela Royston

I picked these up for some social studies work for my 6 year old daughter. As a reminder, I homeschool my daughter as well as my 10 year old son. Honestly, I don't remember how I happened to get these three. I know I requested them from the library so I picked them up without having really looked inside them. I didn't know until I got them home that they are readers (books meant for the child to read himself or herself). They were too juvenile for my daughter for me to read to her (which is what I was looking for). She could have read them herself with some assistance.

What Should We Eat? This book was published in 2006 and yet it used the term "starchy foods" instead of carbohydrates. It used other appropriate terms such as protein, fats and sugars so I'm not sure why the choice to use "starchy foods" instead of the more appropriate (and, today, more commonly used) carbohydrates.

Why Do We Need to Drink Water? Fairly basic information regarding why we need water. It did leave out the fact that our bodies are made up mostly of water. While it did enumerate various body fluids for which we need water (tears, mucus, even pee), it never mentioned that we're really just one big vessel of water. I know my own kids find this sort of trivia entertaining so I noticed that omission. I think that fact also drives home the point fairly well that we need to make sure we stay adequately hydrated.

Why Do We Need to be Active? My one complaint about this book is that it doesn't actually answer the question it poses "What Happens If You Are Not Active?" all that well. It just states simply that your body gets weaker. There are so many more reasons to stay active and so many more consequences to not being active. Regular exercise helps kids feel less stressed, build strong bones and joints, pay better attention at school, and more.

All in all, these books are fine readers if that is what you are looking for. They fall pretty short on educating the reader about the importance of making healthy food choices, drinking plenty of water and staying active. I really feel like they could and should have done both. The books did pose questions and engage the reader to answer them. If read with a parent or educator, these questions can lead to further discussion and learning. My daughter and I whipped through these three books quite quickly and now we're on the hunt to find books with more in depth information on the same topics.

Silly Saturday - What Does The Kid Say (Ylvis - The Fox Parody)

The thing that really entertains me about this video is the family. You can tell they had just a blast making it.

Easy Kitchen "Warmer" with Bonus

I love, love, LOVE my new house. But this recent cold snap has exposed just how COLD the kitchen is in winter. I cook dinner almost every night and do other "warming" activities in the kitchen but it just doesn't stay warm unless I'm in the middle of a four-course meal cooking session. And that isn't happening as often as I need to not freeze in the kitchen.

I decided to give the ol' pot of water trick a try. Humidity plus heat. Win-win. Right? Why not also perk it up a bit with some smell good. I decided to see just how little of the smell good stuff I could get by with and still have a lovely fragrance. This is a 3 quart saucepan with a small piece of cinnamon bark, four cloves and two already-juiced lemon halves. It smelled divine and made a noticeable difference in the temperature and comfort level in the kitchen!