If you read yesterday's review, you know that I am a BigTime Fan of Susan Branch. So, you'll understand how fun it is to be giving away her book, Autumn, on my site this week. One lucky reader will receive a copy of this beautiful book. It is chock-full of beautiful drawings and delicious recipes. We enjoyed Touchdown Chili last night. The verdict from the FishFam is that it is SuperBowl quality.
There are three ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite part about Fall.
2. Participate in this week's Ultimate Recipe Swap which starts tonight. The topic is Make-Ahead Meals.
3. Become a fan of Susan's on Facebook or follow her on twitter. Come back here and leave a comment telling me you did so.
Update 11/6/09 - Due to new Facebook guidelines which I don't understand, I'm eliminating that part of the entry options. Any entries up until this point are still valid, but let's stick to the other methods of entry from now until Sunday night when this contest will close, 8 pm, PST.
To be eligible to win you must leave me an email contact. I just don't have time to search the blogosphere for you. Thanks for understanding.
For the past sixteen years I've been a great admirer of Susan Branch's work and cookbooks. I have collected her books over the years, and the pages of Heart of the Home, Vineyard Seasons, Christmas from the Heart of the Home, and The Summer Book are well stained and dogeared, as all good cookbooks should be. Not only are the books beautiful to look at, but they feature some fantastic recipes. (Some are even posted online.) Our family has regularly feasted on Lemon Chicken for special occasions, Annie Hall's Butter Cookies at the holidays, and Grilled Shark with Peach Salsa for June birthdays.
While I am just an itty-bitty drop in her bucket of fans, she stands out to me as one of my favorite people to admire from afar. She even answered a "fan letter" of mine a few years ago. How fun is that to receive a illustrated notecard from the artist herself? Having met her at a book signing once, I can vouch that she is as charming in person as she is on paper.
The good people at Susan Branch Studios recently sent me a copy of Autumn to review. It is just as fun as her previous books. Inspired by the colors of Fall, the water colors in this book are as restful as they are whimsical. I always wonder if I would like Martha's Vineyard in real life as much as I like Susan Branch's artwork.
This book is the perfect handbook for autumn entertaining as it includes recipes, decoration ideas, and all sorts of tips for hostesses and moms with kids to entertain. Susan is the oldest of EIGHT KIDS, so she knows what family management is all about. Her lightheart and "happy gene," as she calls it, is evident throughout her work. One can't browse her books without absorbing some of her joie de vivre. You can follow Susan Branch on twitter or on facebook.
This book, as with the others in the Susan Branch collection, get the FishMama Stamp of Approval.
Since this is Freezer Cooking Week, the FishKids and I are going to be experimenting with some of the recipes in Autumn, including Indian Shuck Corn, Touchdown Chili, and Homemade Marshmallows with Hot Cocoa. Yum! Tune in tomorrow at LifeasMOM for the live-blog edition of this made-ahead experience. More details are here.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. However, my opinions are in no way changed by this. I was not asked or required to write a review. Encouraged by what you've read? Subscribe to LifeasMOM by email or in a reader and join me on the Road to Joyful Motherhood.
When I lived in France during my junior year in college I developed a taste for coffee and tea. I loved to have it with cream, but fresh cream was expensive. And I was, after all, a "starving college student in Europe." One of my fellow Americans introduced me to canned evaporated milk. Sold in tiny cans it was the perfect solution to my coffee creamer dilemma. Evaporated milk is merely fresh milk that has been heated to remove some of the water. Condensed, it is a perfect substitution for cream with more calcium and protein per serving. It can be used in virtually any recipe calling for milk and sometimes those calling for cream. (That's going to depend on the recipe.) One of the added benefits is that it has a longer shelf-life and needs no refrigeration prior to opening.
Recently I was approached by One2One Network and Carnation Evaporated Milk to test one of their recipes as well as one of my own, using The Cooking Milk. They graciously provided me with a gift card to purchase ingredients and two coupons for free Carnation Evaporated Milk. I was sent a copy of their Holiday Recipe Guide. You can request one to be mailed to your address or download it online.
Since potatoes and bacon are such a great Fallish, Footballish combination of flavors, I made the Loaded Potato Potluck Favorite. Oh my! The recipe is delicious. Even my potato-hating FishBoy liked it. One kid who has an aversion to the word "casserole" did not care for it. Not sure what's wrong with the boy, 'cause this was good stuff. FishPapa called it a Naked Twice Baked Potato. There we have it.
For our own recipe experiment, I substituted evaporated milk for the cream that's called for in my blueberry scones. They were a little moister than normal, but still very good. We didn't notice any difference in flavor. And, of course, I made them in miniature.
I think keeping canned milk in the pantry is a great idea, especially considering that the price of fresh milk is on the rise. You could easily use canned instead of fresh in most of your baking without noticing a difference. Keep your eyes open because sales will abound in the next few months. Evaporated milk is often a "called for" ingredient in many a holiday recipe. Last year I was able to get several cans "for free" after sales and coupons. I imagine that will be the case again this season.
Disclosure: Carnation and One2One Network provided me with two free cans of evaporated milk as well as a gift card to cover the expense of the ingredients needed to prepare these recipes. I was not compensated in any other way. My opinions shared here are just that -- mine.
I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, eating a TV dinner was an event. It usually only happened once-in-awhile, but what fun to stroll the frozen foods aisle, gawking at the photos on the packages and trying to choose just one. And I suppose I date myself when I recount my joy at peeling back the layers of foil wrapping the meal, after Mom pulled it from the oven.
Yes, foil. Yes, the oven.
If you had showed me this photo twenty-five years ago, I would have been shocked to know it was a TV dinner.
Recently, my children recaptured that joy for me when we reviewed a variety of meals from ConAgra. Look at them! They're such hams!
ConAgra, the makers of Banquet, Marie Callender's and Healthy Choice meals asked if our family would try out a selection of their frozen dinners and give them some feedback. You know us, we love to eat and we're full of opinions, so I said, "Yes." And don't forget the fact that feeding SIX KIDS is a lot of work each day, so I was happy to have a break. While not required to do so, I thought you might like to hear our feedback as well. These frozen meals go on sale quite often, and you might wonder about stocking up. We tried these out for three school days in a row.
The funniest comment from my tween: "I can choke down these carrots better than the ones you make." I consider this high praise, since I think my carrots are pretty good, thank you very much! In fact, the dinners exceeded his expectations, "These are better than I thought. I expected them to be really gross."
Overall the boys liked the meals that they tried. They would prefer to ditch the carrots, reduce the gravy, increase the amount of potatoes, and increase the apples in the Caramel Apple Crisp. But they commented that the portions seemed large and that the veggies were good. (My kids aren't huge vegetable fans, so this is a supreme compliment, despite how good my own veggie cooking is.)
From a mom perspective, I enjoyed having them critique something that I didn't cook!
But seriously, these were not bad at all. The average prep time is about 6 minutes. This is great if you just have one mouth to feed or eat at staggered meal times. However, it was a little cumbersome to stand at the microwave for 30 minutes, rotating meals in and out. I was thankful that many meals can be heated in a conventional oven. We tried it that way, placing five meals in at one time; that worked much better.
My favorites were the Marie Callender's Pasta al Dente. The packaging is a clever concept of two tiered bowls, the bottom holding sauce, the top holding noodles. The steam from the hot sauce helps to warm the noodles in the upper, colander-type bowl. The flavors were good, spicy with a zing.
The packaging for all these meals, however, is a little bulky. Unless you have a large freezer, it may be difficult to stockpile these items. However the sales and coupons seem to be prolific, so I think they could be worth some grocery budget if you've got room to store them.
Currently, ConAgra has a Facebook contest going. The Grand Prize is a $10,000 family vacation. To enter, upload a short video sharing what you would do if you had an extra 30 minutes a day. Contest is open until October 25th. Wouldn't that be FUN to win? If you enter, let me know so we can look to vote for you on the 26th.
Have you tried any of these ConAgra meals? What do you think? I'd love to hear your opinions.
Disclosure: I received a $50 gift card to Walmart in order to purchase these frozen meals so that I could gain first hand knowledge of these products and share our family's experience with ConAgra. I was not required to write a review, but have done so because I think this is valuable information for my readers who I know want to be savvy shoppers.
YogaChips by YogaVive are 100% natural, organic, dried apple chips available in Original, Cinnamon, Caramel, Strawberry, and Peach flavors. Our family recently had the opportunity to taste all five flavors and did they disappear in a heartbeat! In the midst of packing and moving, we had a little tasting party. It revealed what total gluttons some of my children are. One individual was stuffing them in with both hands.
Into the mouths of babes....
While the FishKids said peach was the best, I preferred the Original. FishPapa's hands were not quick enough, so he didn't get any, and thus, can't share his opinion.
According to YogaVive, these chips are fat-free and contain 35 calories per bag. Baked and popped to preserve flavor and nutrients, they are also kosher, gluten-free and vegan. As a mom who tried to get good stuff in my kids, I felt great about feeding these to my children. And they tasted yummy, too.
Today I have one ginormous prize package to giveaway. YogaVive is giving away 1 box of each of the five flavors to one lucky winner. That's 25 bags of apple chips. Each bag holds the equivalent of one apple, so how 'bout them apples? I guess you can win a bushel today!
Like this week's other giveaways, there are three ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment here telling us your favorite snack food.
2. Leave a second comment naming one fun thing we (the FishFam) do with apples. (You might find some hints here.)
3. Tweet this giveaway on twitter - make sure you use @fishmama - and leave a third comment telling me you did so.
Comments left between now and Sunday night, 8 pm, PST, will be eligible for winning. Winners will be chosen at random and announced sometime next week. Please make sure that you leave a way for me to contact you in case you win.
*Disclosure: I received samples of YogaVive Apple Chips in order for my family to taste them and share our experiences with you. I was compensated in no way for this post.
When we lived in Kansas City, one of the places that FishPapa and I missed most, believe it or not, was a little specialty grocery store called Trader Joe's. They are ubiquitous throughout Southern California and in a number of states, but alas there was not a single location in the great state of Kansas. Those of you who haven't had the pleasure of a TJ's should know that almost everything they sell is gourmet, "healthy," and yummy.
OK, I lied about the everything is healthy part. But they do try. Lots of organic and all-natural items are available for less than you would pay elsewhere. Trader Joe's isn't as cheap as I remember it back in the old days, but, then again, I am cheaper than I used to be. So, who knows? But, they won't sell something unless they can beat the prices of their competitors. And they have lots of delicious items. In fact, it is our go-to shop for vacation food. A little more exciting than the average grocery store, TJ's has "fun food" galore.
I am partial to their hummus and potato chips.
Recently, I was sent a cookbook that is designed to use all sorts of Trader Joe's products. At first I wondered if Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's by Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati would be pointless for someone stuck in the middle of Kansas without access to TJ's. But, no, it's not. In fact, the recipes are written so that no matter where you live, as long as you can get to a decent grocer, you can prepare a lot of the recipes in this book. I won't say all, but a lot.
Written by two moms, the book is designed to show you how to take the convenience items of Trader Joe's and transform them into homecooked meals. Though the ingredients may be "gourmet," they're still family-friendly. Recipes like Antipasto Pasta Salad include chunks of ham, fresh mozzarella, roasted veggies, and olives. The Baja Quesadilla is easy to asemble with chicken, salsa, cheese, guacamole, tomato, and cilantro. Yum!
If you've got a Trader Joe's near you or even if you don't, I think you'll enjoy perusing this book and trying your hand at some of the recipes which make my mouth water just thinking about them. Today I have three books to give away!
Like this week's other giveaways, there are three ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment here telling us about your favorite thing to get at Trader Joe's.
2. Participate in this week's Ultimate Recipe Swap by linking up a beef recipe or leaving a comment.
3. Tweet this giveaway on twitter - make sure you use @fishmama - and leave a third comment telling me you did so.
Comments left between now and Sunday night, 8 pm, PST, will be eligible for winning. Winners will be chosen at random and announced sometime next week. Please make sure that you leave a way for me to contact you in case you win.
*Disclosure: I received this cookbook for free in order to review it. I was compensated in no way for this post.
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