Review: Fix, Freeze, Feast

I'm probably late to the party, but I just found Fix, Freeze, Feast. I've tried freezer cooking before, but I found myself tired of the same old thing, and I lost interest.

This book is full of recipes that sound interesting, and it contains tips for easing your way into the process. I don't currently have a membership in a warehouse club because I tended to allow things to go to waste. But these recipes sounded good enough to make me reconsider.

The book is divided into sections for Chicken, Beef Pork, Meatless, Sauces, and Breakfasts. Recipes are geared towards the purchase of  a large tray of meat at a warehouse club from which 3 meals are assembled. Since ingredients are mixed together and distributed among 3 freezer bags, you get three of the same meals. You could either serve the same meals 3 times that month or over three months. I like that several recipes have similar ingredients so that I can utilize bulk ingredients without a lot of leftovers.

For my family size, I would likely divide between two bags. For recipes that I want to test on my kids, I think I might divide in half and make one recipe the first time. I think I'll start with a couple of recipes and see what I think. Since I don't have a club membership, I'll go with what's on sale at my grocery store and work from there.

Review: Sport of the Gods

by Paul Lawrence Dunbar
1409963004 Paperback: 132 pages



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Review: Hell-Heaven

From
Unaccustomed Earth: Stories (2009)
by Jhumpa Lahiri


0307278255 Paperback: 352 pages

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Color Me Brown book challenge

I never intended for this to be a book blog, but I love books - I almost wish that I had become a librarian. The books I've reviewed so far have been how to books because I intended this to be a book about things I make.

I just stumbled upon the Color Me Brown book challenge, and it called my name. As a mother of four beautiful daughters, I want them to develop a love of reading. I also want to instill positive self images. So this particular challenge has personal value for me. I'm not yet sure which books I'll be reviewing in August, but I'm looking forward to whatever they will be.

Review: Hammocks, Hassocks and Hideaways

Hammocks, Hassocks and Hideaways: Furniture Kids Can Build For Themselves (1980)
by Timothy Fisher 0201029367 170 pages

Summary: As the title states, this is a book of furniture projects described at a level intended to encourage kids to DIY.

Review: The first section of this book out lines tools and materials that will be used to complete the projects. The next section explains projects that sit on the floor - primarily chairs. The section on "in the air" furniture provides guidance on projects that are swing and hammock in nature. The next section is about boxes and tables that can be folded flat. There is a section on outdoor furniture that utilizes interesting materials. There is a small section on storage and a section with ideas for various room dividers. The final section focuses mainly on lamps.

Recommendation: The projects in this book are simple and utilize simple materials. While I might want to modify them a bit if I were making these items for my kids' rooms, I would follow them as is for a playhouse. With simple directions, it will come in handy in my first attempts and furnishing a play space for my children.

Review: Creating and Crafting Dolls

Creating & Crafting Dolls (1994)

by Eloise Piper 0801985242

128 pages

Summary: This book gives a pattern and steps for making a doll with suggestions for varying the appearance.

Review: This well written book gives a relatively simple pattern for a doll. Each chapter gives information on how to add to the details of the doll. For each detail, instructions are given on how to stay simple or how to add more complexity to the project. For example, when adding facial features, one could draw them on, use embroidery, or applique features. Instruction is given for clothing dolls from applique to actual outfits.

Recommendation: I would definitely recommend this book for beginners to intermediate doll makers who are looking to make a simply doll and perhaps spice it up a bit.

Review: Housebuilding for Children

Housebuilding for Children (1977)

by Les Walker 0879513322

175 pages

Summary This book gives details that guide children through the process of building small-scale structures using large-scale techniques and principles.

Review I bought this book several years ago with the intention of saving money and building my own playhouse for my daughter. I chose this particular book because it is aimed at children. It is written to allow a child to increase her skill sets under adult supervision. The edition I have is older, so no power tools are mentioned. A group of kids could conceivably follow the given directions and complete one of several different structure types. They might also learn about different building techniques along the way.

Recommendation I would recommend this book to a young person with a budding interest in architecture or construction. I would also recommend it to the adult novice in woodworking who would be interested in building something for children.

Review: Fleecie Dolls

Fleecie Dolls (2008)

by Fiona Gamble 0896897346, 112 pages

Summary: This book gives detailed descriptions and patterns for making dolls from fleece.

Review: I happened upon this book at a fabric store during a time when I was just becoming interested in doll making. I was just learning about how to do hair, and I was fascinated that hair could be done so easily with fleece.

This book has patterns for dolls of different sizes. It includes patterns for clothing as well. It has a range of challenge levels for doll details. I've already planned to make several of the dolls and have ordered my projects by perceived difficulty level.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to doll makers at the beginning to intermediate levels.

Read with Kids challenge

Reading for the 48 hour book challenge has me on a roll. I'm now particpating in the 2009 Read With Kids Challange. I didn't intend for this to be a book blog, but I am a sucker for a book. The challenge dosen't end until June 30. You ought to do it too!

From their site:
"Read and Win a Disney Vacation!
For a second year, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and US Airways are working together to help children nationwide discover the joy of reading. Starting April, adults are invited to join the 2009 Read with Kids Challenge and help collectively log 5 million minutes spent reading with kids. You’ll have the chance of winning a family vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort® and more great prizes. Get on board! Visit www.RIF.org/readwithkids today."

I'm done: 48 hour book challenge

I completed something! Here is my summation.

Number of books (re-) read: 8

Number of pages read: 847

Hours spent reading/reviewing: 16

My comments: This was cool to do. It gave me a reason to add posts to a new blog. It refreshed my memory of what resources I have at hand. I wish I could have done more, but life got in the way this time. Next time, I might focus more on fiction books. And next time, I WILL get my kids to participate.

Review: Miss Patch's Learn to Sew Book

Miss Patch's Learn-To-Sew Book (1969)

by Carolyn Meyer, 0152549331 96 pages

Summary: This book is written for young readers. It contains instructions for basic skills and simple projects.

Review: Using the premise that Miss Patch is learning to sew, the reader walks alongside her learning what he learns. There are instructions for making a pillow, a bag, a skirt, and doll clothes. The reader learns to work with patterns as well. All sewing is done by hand.

Recommendation: I also bought this book to have ideas of what and how to teach my children. I'd like them to do a few things by hand before going to the machine. I have not had an opportunity to try any of the projects yet.

Review: The Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids

The Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids

by Nancy Smith & Lynda Milligan   1571202544, 128 pages

Summary: This book is designed to create a course for teaching young children to sew.

Review: This book is geared towards making using the sewing machine more like a game than a chore.  There are activities like word searches and puzzles as well as projects.

Recommendation: I was excited to get my hands on this book. The projects look fun and appropriate for my younger kids. Unfortunately, I haven't had an opportunity to see how well they work with kids.

Review: Simply Sewing

Simply Sewing (Kids Can Do It) (2004)

by Judy Ann Sadler 1553376609, 48 pages

Summary: This book walks a teen sewer through basic sewing techniques and a few projects.

Review: This book contains information on hand sewing techniques, sewing machine stitches and age appropriate projects. Though there are few pages, it contains a lot of information for a beginner.

Recommendation: I bought this book in hopes of having resources to teach my children to sew. The content is good for a teen who learns visually.   

Review: Fabric Art Journals

Fabric Art Journals: Making, Sewing, and Embellishing Journals from Cloth and Fibers (2005)
by Pam Sussman 1592531962, 128 pages

Summary: This book focuses on creating fabric journals.

Review: Aimed at altered art artists, this book teaches techniques for creating and embellishing fabric journals. There is instruction on stitching techniques, dyeing fabric, applique, photo transfer and embellishment. There are also projects for different types of journals based on the difficulty of binding.

Recommendation: I was so excited when this book was published. It is beautiful and I can see the potential of using these techniques in making fabric books. A must have if you want to go beyond the plain and ordinary fabric book.

Review: How to Make Cloth Books for Children

How to Make Cloth Books for Children: A Guide to Making Personalized Books (1993)

by Anne Pellowski 0801983983, 104 pages

Summary: This book gives detailed instructions for making fabric books.

Review: This book goes into great detail on putting books together. There is a section on customizing, a section on materials, a section on planning layout and format, a section on applique and applying color, a section on finishing, and a bibliography and resources.

Recommendation: I was impressed with the amount of information shared in this book. If there is one must have book, this is it. 

Review: A-B-C 1-2-3 Craft Book

A-B-C 1-2-3 Craft Book (1994)

by Phyllis Fiarotta and Noel Fiarotta 0806906715, 128 pages

Summary: This book explains how to make a fabric book with pages based on the alphabet. It also gives directions for making stuffed letters instead of a book.

Review: This books offers a lot of details on options for materials and techniques. While I doubt that I would ever use these options to make the individual letters, I will definitely use the techniques described to make pages in books.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to someone looking to learn how to make a fabric book because there are ample explanations of how to do it as well as great pattern ideas.

Review: Busy Christians

Busy Christians: Patterns for cloth books (1978)

by Janet Sage 0570079284, 119 pages

Summary: This book is primarily composed of patterns for pages in a quiet book based on biblical themes. Sage has written three other books in this series.

Review: This book is a bare bones minimum on directions. Guidance is offered on materials to use and steps to bind the book. However, the pages that give patterns for the different pages of the quiet book have no written directions. One would need to have some other book with more detail or have some experience in making such books.

Recommendation: I checked out all of Sage's book through the library prior to buying this one. Although the directions are minimal, I wanted at least one book from the series because I like the patterns with moving parts. I was hoping that, after making such a page, I could improvise to use the techniques on other patterns. I would recommend it to someone who has experience at making such books and who is looking for other pattern ideas.

Review: 26 Lively letters

26 Lively Letters: Making and ABC Quiet Book (1977)

by Barbara Williams and Carol Grundmann , 96 pages

Summary: This book gives detailed explanation for creating a fabric book using felt applique with buttons, snaps, and other attachments. It has various activities. If directions are followed, the crafter will create a 28-page ABC quiet book.

Review: This was the first book I purchased for making quiet books.  I appreciate the variety of activities and that the author gives suggestions for variation. For example, instructions are given for applique, but the author suggests using fabric paint if the creator is in a hurry. 

Recommendation: This book is out of print and apparently hard to find online. (I got mine on ebay years ago.) If you can find it through the library, I would recommend it. I get excited every time I look through it. I'm not likely to make an alphabet book, but I will definitely be making several of the pages in different books. 

I'm in: 48 Hour Book challenge

I’ve decided to participate in the 48 hour book challenge. So I think that I will reread and write reviews on some of those craft books I purchased.

I also hope to get my daughters to each read at least one book and write a review. I know that school just let out, but they’ll thank me for it later.

I'm starting Saturday morning. Why don’t you join in?