Blog Tour/Review: A Year With Six Sisters' Stuff

A Year with Six Sisters' Stuff
2014, 256p, Cookbook
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Copy provided by publisher for an honest review

"What's for dinner?" Three words every mom dreads.

Don't panic! The Six Sisters are here to help you answer that question. The Sisters have gathered together more than 150 of their most popular recipes for entrees, side dishes, and desserts and have combined them into 52 stress-free menus of perfectly prepared three-course meals.

Filled with delicious tried-and-true family favorites and oh-so-easy-to-make dishes, A Year with Six Sisters' Stuff features all-new recipes using basic ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. Each menu is designed to make your dinner plans as easy as possible—and with such wide variety and a photograph accompanying every recipe in the book, you can easily mix and match menus to create a year's worth of dinner ideas.

In addition, the Sisters share some of their favorite family dinner traditions and crafts, as well as 52 dinner conversation starters, a list of pantry staples, and, food storage plan for beginners.

So what's for dinner? Whatever you'd like.

This is truly my kind of cookbook! I may have mentioned this before but I don't really enjoy cooking. Usually when a cookbook comes up for review, I want to pass. However, I jumped at the chance to review this one. As soon as it came, my daughter's eyes got big and she grabbed it and started looking through it. There are a few craft and family tradition ideas in here as well and she was interested in learning about those. 

There are lots of great recipes in here! They are quick and easy to make and they taste yummy. The ingredients are all foods I've heard of and can easily be found in your grocery store. 

I love the setup, too. There are 52 menu ideas: an entree, side dish and dessert. These can, of course, be used in multiple combinations so the ideas are limitless. There are also pictures of every dish so you can see what the food looks like. The sisters share a little about each recipe and why they like it. One little tidbit I found interesting (you can find it on their Sloppy Joe page) is they mentioned that they have been approached by two companies to do a reality show. I actually had wondered about that. They've turned them both down and I completely understand their reasoning.

There are a few crafts and traditions included as well. My daughter loved the DIY at-home family restaurant and the "crazy dinner" tradition. I like the 52 weeks of food storage and 52 family dinner conversation starters.

Yes, I have actually made some of the recipes and my family has loved them! Yesterday, we had Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs. We also snacked on the Perfect Pineapple Dip and ate Fudgy Brownies for dessert (this is my second time making them). Some of the other recipes we've tried are Cheeseburger Casserole, Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes, Mini Garlic Monkey Bread and Cheesecake Chess Squares. This is already my go to cookbook and I will make many more of these recipes.

There is a Table of Contents in the front and an Index in the back so as I flipped through and later tried to find a certain recipe again, it was easy to do! This is a great recipe book for busy moms and anyone that doesn't like their cooking to be a long and involved process. 

Enter to win a copy below!

Deseret Book * Amazon

About the Author

The Six Sisters—Camille, Kristen, Elyse, Stephanie, Lauren, and Kendra—grew up in Utah, but a few of them have lived in other parts of the country since moving out of the house. Between them there are five nieces and three nephews, and all of the sisters love playing “aunt.” The sisters started the blog in February 2011 to keep in touch while they were apart, but it has since gained popularity, garnering more than 9 million viewers per month and more than 307,000 followers on Pinterest.

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Book Review: The Romney Family Table by Ann Romney

The Romney Family Table: Sharing Home-Cooked Recipes and Favorite Traditions, by Ann Romney
2013, 213p, Cookbook
My Rating=5 stars
Source: Received copy from publisher for an honest review

Home is where good things happen--and for the Romney family, the heart of the home is the kitchen. In The Romney Family Table, Ann Romney, wife of former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney, reflects on her many years as a mom, shares family recipes, and describes some of her favorite and not-so-favorite moments of raising a family. Woven together with personal memories and traditions are Romney family favorite recipes such as Peppered Pork Chops with Peach-Vinegar Glaze, Welsh Skillet Cakes, Honey Wheat Bread (which Ann made regularly for five growing sons), and Mimi’s Buttermilk Pancakes, which she and Mitt shared with their Secret Service detail at the end of his presidential campaign.

This unique blend of heartwarming and humorous stories told in Ann’s warm, welcoming style, candid family photos spanning four decades, and more than 125 fabulous recipes will inspire your own traditions and family dinners for years to come.

This is my kind of cookbook! First of all, the recipes are simple and don't require a lot of ingredients. Also, the ingredients are easy to find and I know what they are. I may have mentioned before that I don't really enjoy cooking (which is why I blog about books), so when I do cook, I like to be able to do it quickly and easily and have something yummy at the end! 

The other thing I like about this are the stories behind the recipes. The Romney's are down-to-earth and I could relate to a lot of her experiences and stories. I grew up in a large family (9 children) and reading some of their family traditions brought back fond memories. I currently live in a house of picky eaters so I don't cook much because most of the time, I'm the only one who will eat it. I love the traditions the Romney's have built and the food they enjoy while spending time together: holidays, vacations, birthdays and even just Saturday morning pancakes. 

One of my favorite stories that she told was about Fluff. Fluff is basically marshmallow creme (not sure how different it actually is, though). One day, she went to play tennis for a little while and left her 13-year-old and 11-year-old in charge. When she got home, her youngest son had gotten into the Fluff jar and was having fun. When his older brothers saw what he was doing, they smeared Fluff over the parts of his face he had missed. She included a picture of her with her Fluff-covered son. 

It was fun to get a glimpse into the Romney's lives and see how normal they are. Yes, they've experienced things I never will, but they're easy to relate to. This book is gorgeous with lots of pictures, both of food and of family. If you enjoy cooking yummy food that won't take all day, then this is a cookbook you will want to pick up!

 Deseret Book * Amazon

Here's a fun interview Ann Romney did recently on the Jay Leno Show, where she shows how to make Mitt's Meat Loaf Cakes (part 2 overlaps a little with part 1 but the ending is different and Fluff will make an appearance): 

Ann Romney places primary importance on her role as a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. As First Lady of Massachusetts, she worked to focus attention on the challenges facing at-risk youth and served as the Governor’s Liaison to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, she has volunteered much of her time to raise awareness of the disease. She and her husband, Mitt, celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary this year. They have five sons, five daughters-in-law, and twenty-two grandchildren.