Book Review: Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist

I received a free copy of this book/Ebook/Product to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am a part of Handlebar Publishing. 
 

About the Book:
 As a follow up to her two-bestselling books, Bittersweet and Cold Tangerines, author and blogger Shauna Niequist returns with the perfect read for those who love food and value the community and connection of family and friends around the table.

Bread & Wine is a collection of essays about family relationships, friendships, and the meals that bring us together. This mix of Anne Lamott and Barefoot Contessa is a funny, honest, and vulnerable spiritual memoir. Bread & Wine is a celebration of food shared, reminding readers of the joy found in a life around the table. It's about the ways God teaches and nourishes people as they nourish the people around them. It's about hunger, both physical and otherwise, and the connections between the two.

With wonderful recipes included, from Bacon-Wrapped Dates to Mango Chicken Curry to Blueberry Crisp, readers will be able to recreate the comforting and satisfying meals that come to life in Bread & Wine

My Thoughts about the Book
This book was a delight to read. It was the perfect combination of two of my favorite things; cooking and writing. Shauna writes about relationships and how food and eating around the table helps to strengthen and enhance these relationships. I love how Shauna is open and honest about her journey. I felt like I was there with her throughout the book whether it was when she was learning how to cook or when she talks about her struggles with infertility.  I love how she ties each chapter around a theme and ties in a recipe with the theme. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves family, friends and food! 

About the Author
Shauna Niequist is the author of Cold Tangerines, Bittersweet, and Bread & Wine. Shauna grew up in Barrington, Illinois, and then studied English and French Literature at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. She is married to Aaron Niequist, who is a pianist and songwriter. Aaron is a worship leader at Willow Creek Community Church and is recording a project called A New Liturgy. Aaron & Shauna live outside Chicago with their sons, Henry and Mac. Shauna writes about the beautiful and broken moments of everyday life--friendship, family, faith, food, marriage, love, babies, books, celebration, heartache, and all the other things that shape us, delight us, and reveal to us the heart of God. You can find out more about Shauna and read her blog at www.shaunaniequist.com. 


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I received a free copy of this book/Ebook/Product to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am a part of Handlebar Publishing. 

 
 

Me Time

I believe in this ever changing fast paced world that me time has become increasingly important. WebMd says: "Recent research has shown that women today are less happy than they have been over the past 40 years." There are many theories about why, but  I  believe that the lack of free time can be a major reason.
I am guilty of taking care of everything and everyone else and putting myself last all too often. I am really trying hard to work on that this year. Here are my favorite things to do for "me time".

1. Bubble Baths-I love bubble baths. I don't know what it is about it. Maybe it's the bubbles or my lavender scented bubbles but I always come out refreshed and restored. Plus I don't think it hurts that I lock the door sometimes . :)









2. Drawing- I have always loved to draw.  It's just therapeutic for me. Even though people some people say my art work looks it was done by a third grader I still like them! I will be adding more pieces to my page soon. I'd love to have you check out my artwork and tell me what you think. You can view my work here.

3. Baking- My mom and my grandmother were always in the kitchen baking something when I was growing up. Naturally I have followed in their footsteps.  When life gets crazy you'll find me in the kitchen baking away. I don't know what about baking relieves stress but it's certainly not cleaning up the mess afterwards. Maybe it's working with my hands or just simply trying to feed my incurable sweet tooth. Notice I say baking. I love to bake but I don't like to cook. Baking has definitely become more challenging since going gluten free but more about that in another post coming soon!

Well there you have it. The things I like to do for me time. What do you like to do when you take time for yourself?

My First Gluten Free Christmas Part 1

Well I did it! I made my first gluten free holiday foods! I here's what I made: Cranberry Cobbler, Surprise (Tortilla Chip) Stuffing, Crestless Coconut Pie, Cinnamon Bun Muffins, and Cheddar Biscuits.
     I started with the stuffing. It was surprisingly easy to make. You just take tortilla chips, and cover them with broth. Then you add whatever "extras" you want too. I added cranberries, celery, onion, and mushrooms.I can't wait to taste it tomorrow over at my in-laws. I hope every one likes it.  Here's a picture of what it looked like when took it out of the oven. Thanks Shirely over glutenfreeeasily.com for the recipe.

After that I decided to some cranberry cobbler. Having been born and raised in the South-I love cobbler! I decided to try agave nectar with this recipie. My hubby bought a huge bottle of agave nectar at one of the local liquor store a while back.  I like it!  It so sweet and I really like the fact that it has a low glycemic index.! :) Things went well tll I put it in the oven. When it was time to take the cobbler  out of the oven it was still runny! Like really runny. So I left it in the oven for an extra 20+ minutes. Finally, it looked like a cobbler. Also, I want to thank ginger lemon girl (http://gingerlemongirl.blogspot.com) for the recipe.

While the cobbler was in the oven cooking, I decided to start on my crestless coconut pie. My hubby loves coconut! He was such a wonderful helper today. He help me cook and even helped me clean up the kitchen afterwords! :) I love you sweetie. Thanks for all your help.

Back ot my pie. I usually tweek recipies after I have made them one or twice. For some strange re ason I decided not to follow the recipie. the recipie (from glutenfreeeasily.com) called for 1 1/2 c. of coconut and since there was only a little bit more of coconut left in the bag I decided to put it in too.  Needless to say, silly me did not think about the pie overflowing. Thankfully I had decided to put a cookie sheet under the pie pan.

 

I made had made cheadder biscuts earlier in the week (this recipie is also from www.glutenfreeeasliy.com). So last but not least, I made Cinammon Bun Muffins. This recipie was from www.elanaspantry.com. I tweeked this one slightly as well. Instead of using almond and coconut flour as the recipie suggested I used a bun mix from Kinnikinnick. I just added all the other ingrediance to the recipie. I don't feel compitent enough in my baking to make my own glutten free mix yet. Oh before I forget I also, subsituted the grapeseed oil for coconut oil. I also decided to put the topping on last. However, after the first dozen. I discovered that they were to dry if you put the icing on after the muffins are done. So I decided to put the icing on before I baked them. Here's a picture of them.

 Hopefully, I have not put you to sleep yet.! :) I just wanted to share with you my advents in gluten baking so far. Read my next blog post to find out how the rest of my Christmas was! :)