Cookbook Giveaway at Frugal Creativity!

If you regularly read my blog, you very likely enjoy cooking! ;-) And, if you're anything like me, you LOVE looking through or collecting new cookbooks!

Melissa from Frugal Creativity is hosting a giveaway for Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.

I have no doubt this book is a wonderful resource as she has mentioned this book numerous times.

To enter this exciting giveaway, visit Melissa's blog here. You have until Tuesday, July 21 to leave a comment on her blog to be entered to win a copy of How to Cook Everything.

Recommend: YES






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Tags: giveaways blog contest free cookbook How to Cook Everything Mark Bittman Frugal Creativity

Fillo Peanut Butter Cups

This recipe was in my May 5th issue of Woman's Day. The Fillo Peanut Butter Cups are so simple and I can't wait to make them next year for my church's annual Ladies' Tea. Give me something chocolate over a cucumber finger sandwich any day!! ;-)

Of course, I don't think I'll be able to wait until next spring to make them... I'll have to have my own tea party!
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FILLO PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

1 box (1.9 oz) mini fillo shells (15 in box)
15 miniature peanut butter cups (from a 12 oz bag)
1 can (7 oz) whipped light cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place fillo shells on baking sheet.

Place a peanut butter cup in each shell. Bake 5 minutes until chocolate softens.

With small metal spatula or knife, flatten and even out chocolate in fillo cup. Let stand at room temperature until cooled.

Top each filled cup with whipped cream. Sprinkle with chopped salted peanuts, if desired.
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The magazine also suggested a few variations: such as using Rolos or chopped Andes candies. Mmmm...I'm sure you could come up with some others!

Recommend: YES




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Tags: recipes Woman's Day peanut butter cups tea party appetizers fillo cups Ladies Tea

A Proper Pursuit by Lynn Austin

Violet Hayes, shocked with her father’s announcement that her mother isn’t really dead, heads to her grandmother’s house in Chicago, hoping to do a little undercover detective work and find her mother.

Three very different aunts, a grandmother, and several interested young men make Violet’s time in Chicago quite eventful, to say the least.

A Proper Pursuit was the first book I picked up after moving. I wasn’t sure if the book was slow in getting started or I just had a hard time concentrating with everything else on my mind. Perhaps it was a little of both.

I have read a few of Austin’s books – some I’ve really enjoyed, others were okay. I think the character of Violet rubbed me the wrong way somehow. She seemed so flighty, selfish, and constantly daydreaming of fantastical situations that I think it annoyed me.

Supposedly, by the end of the book, Violet has grown and changed…but, I’m not sure I really noticed it.

For me, it just made the whole book feel kind of shallow. As “Christian” fiction, as well, no clear cut Biblical advice or reference is given. Violet’s grandmother works with Mr. Moody and several “good” things…but, it just seemed like A Proper Pursuit had religious thoughts thrown in just to make the book “Christian.”

Perhaps that's a little harsh.

Most Christian fiction books that I read are doctrinally wrong. Most books in the Amish genre talk about a works-based salvation. Not many authors are able to clearly present the Gospel or any kind of Biblical thoughts without it feeling fake or forced. It may be because the Lord is not really a part of their own life...

Ok, before I go on and on and offend without meaning to...

Since I wasn't enjoying A Proper Pursuit to begin with, the "religious" aspect was only magnified in my mind. I know that many “Christian” books are this way, but it always bothers me… And, definitely bothers even more when the story itself isn't that great.

If you want to read a better story overall, Austin’s Until We Reach Home was much more enjoyable.

400 pages from Bethany House.

Recommend: NOT REALLY




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Tags: Lynn Austin A Proper Pursuit Christian fiction Bethany House Publishers book reviews Chicago World's Fair D. L. Moody Dwight L. Moody

Without the rain...

Rain can be such a nuisance.

It can delay plans and prevent outdoor activities.

It can make days feel gloomy and dreary.

But, without the rain,

...my garden wouldn't grow.

...I wouldn't have a good excuse to curl up with a good book.

...I wouldn't spend time inside baking.

But, mostly, without the rain, we'd never see this:



I took these last night around 7:30. It's not very clear, but the beginnings of a double rainbow are in the first picture.

It was a gorgeous rainbow!




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Tags: everyday life rainbow