It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Sep 9

 Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.   

Welcome back to Monday! Greetings from your happy and zany book-loving, book-writing, book-editing REALTOR friend. In case you missed the memo, fall is my favorite season. Christmas might be my favorite holiday, but fall is the best season in New England for me. So, in between everything else I love doing, I am decorating for fall, thinking about pumpkins muffins, and plotting when I might have a weekend off to switch over my wardrobe. Here are a few photos from last week.

Updated my flower boxes

Decorated at the end of the driveway

Harvested my mini-pumpkins

Fermented wild grape wine

The only reason we don't have homemade applesauce right now is because it's too early for bushels of McIntosh. 

In my reading world, I read and reviewed the following:

Read review here

Read review here

Read review here

I didn't get to any of this one last week because my Kindle was in my office, but I wasn't very often. 

I finished the next book in the Love Comes Softly series on Sunday.

I finished listening to this one on Friday. 

I am listening to the one on Audible. 

I downloaded these two from NetGalley.

These are next.

Upcoming events:

• Side Launch by Brock Martin - October 2 (Review)
• The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts - October 16 (Review)
• A Celtic Yuletide Carol by Jennifer Ivy Walker - November 20 (Review)

You can read the latest Christmas news at the Christmas Year Round blog. Links to an article about Google Flights and ways to save money when you travel this holiday season. Check out my weekly post here.

It's late Sunday when I am posting this because my first appointment is at 8:30 on Monday. I will check in with you all later in the day. Thanks for reading! 

Book Blast and Giveaway: Dishing Love Daily and Other Secret Ingredients by Susanne Clark

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotion. The author will award a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

 

Dishing Love Daily and Other Secret Ingredients (trademarked in Canada and the US) is more than a cookbook. Chef Suzy shares her collection of cherished recipes that focus on healthy, fresh, easy-to-find ingredients, appealing to both the novice and experienced cook. She will also guide you to and through a revolutionary, adaptable approach to bringing mindfulness and positivity into the kitchen. It's a timely, relevant and original concept in food craft that weaves our energetic imprint into a meal and into the hearts of those who sit at our table. It's a powerful, creative concept in awareness that will transform the everyday endeavour of nourishing our bodies into a life-changing act of nourishing our souls. Come on, let's get dishing!

Read an Excerpt

Choice

At the heart of this cookbook and my life, is one word: choice. It’s also at the heart of yours. This one word has all the power, purpose and potential to create an intention for nourishment and positivity. Ask yourself: What do I bring to the table? What is my purpose? What am I going to cook today? Who am I cooking for? How can I make a difference? Why is this important? Be curious, joyful and open to the inspiration and answers that are on their way. And remember, sweet, beautiful reader, you are an alchemist . . . in your kitchen and beyond. Trust me when I tell you that there is a tangible shift which can be tasted and felt as you learn to trust your power of intention. Honour time, your choices, and their consequences. You are the question and the answer, to what’s cooking in your kitchen and who sits at your table. I’m offering you a new foundation in food-craft that weaves your energetic imprint into the meal and the hearts of those who sit at your table. Come on, let’s dish some love.

Chef Suzy xo

About the Author:

Susanne Clark, a.k.a. Chef Suzy, earned her Red Seal in Culinary Arts in 2009 at SAIT in Calgary, Canada, apprenticing at Hotel Arts under the talented supervision of Duncan Ly and Karine Moulin. Upon graduation, Chef Suzy established Magnifique Cuisine, a successful catering business in the Calgary area. She also worked full time as the in-house executive chef for one of Canada's original Dragons' Den entrepreneurs, W. Brett Wilson, cooking for his Home Office team and a global circle of business and community leaders, artists and celebrities.

Suzy's first and continuing career as a mother of four empowered and vibrant daughters formed her vision of food as an expression of love and a foundation for healing and sustaining our most important relationships. Suzy loves to travel and seeks out every opportunity to enjoy culinary experiences around the world. She has been married to the love of her life, Richard, for 36 years.

Book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dishing.love.daily
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefsuzyclark
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dishing.love.daily
Twitter: https://x.com/chefsuzyclark
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanne-clark-04a73157

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Review and Giveaway: Fresh Grown by Andrea Kristin

 

If you are looking for resources to help you use, store, and make the most of your fresh vegetables, then you need to grab a copy of Fresh Grown by Andrea Kristin. 

Filled with stunning photography, this organic cooking book is a fabulous help if you are starting from scratch to create a Farm-to-Table lifestyle. Andrea and her husband Denis started their organic market garden farm and were thrilled to share it with their community. And they found members of their community often asked how best to use, store, and preserve the vegetables from their shares. Fresh Grown compiles that information into one handy place to make it easier for you.

Fresh Grown is filled with helpful tips, a list of staple items in Andrea's kitchen, various ways to preserve your vegetables with important tips to improve your success, and an abundance of yummy-looking recipes. The book is broken down into a variety of sections, like one for root vegetables and another for leafy vegetables. This allows for ease in finding what you need. There is also a handy "Vegetable Index" at the end in case you are searching for information on a particular vegetable. The digital copy I have employs hyperlinks, which makes it easy for me choose one of my favorite vegetables, like beets, and go directly to that page. 

I'm so thrilled by how in-depth Fresh Grown is and can't wait to use it with this year's tiny harvest from our yard. 

Highly recommended!

EXCERPT

As I write this book, I am snacking on a crisp garden carrot. The sun shines brightly through my  kitchen window and casts a golden glow across the table while I battle its glare on my laptop  screen. Outside, we are in the throes of harvest season on the farm. Denis and the crew are  working hard to bring the remaining vegetables into storage before the heavy frost comes and  shuts our market garden down for the winter. 

Farming is so seasonal. Eating from a garden is so seasonal. During the summer here in Central  Alberta, we grow a delicious variety of produce in our market garden. We all feel rich from it.  And then our six months of northern winter hits and eating local grown becomes about digging  into our reserves (storage, pantry, and freezer) to keep enjoying whatever garden pleasures we  were able to save. 

It's been a learning curve for me, dealing with this wide variety and seasonal influx of fresh  vegetables. Wanting to feed my family wholesome, nutritious food and learn how to make good  use of our bounty, it has taken me years to gain all the knowledge and experience I am excited to  share with you here. I hope this book will be a valuable resource for you (as it is for me)— a  guide to vegetable usage, an inspiration, and a solid, practical starting point to build your  creativity. So here we go. 

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grey Arrow Press (June 20, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1068810912
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1068810916
• 
  

I received a digital copy from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

HELPFUL LINKS

https://andreakristin.ca

https://greyarrowfarm.ca

https://www.instagram.com/greyarrowfarm

https://www.facebook.com/greyarrowfarm 

https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Grown-Essential-Guide-Vegetables-ebook/dp/B0D7QN6Q64

Andrea Kristin will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. 

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - July 11

 Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday. 

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.   

Welcome back to Monday. I hope you had a nice week. Our first week on the Outer Banks has been filled making memories, working, and some troubling family news.

The walking trail at the North Carolina Aquarium in Manteo

Flag flying in Manteo

Beach in Kill Devil Hills

Manteo coffee shop stickers

The Lil' Diva and the Lil' Princess hold their tree pose (there is a story behind this one)

National Real Estate Ethics Day 2022

Not long after we arrived, we received the news that our daughter-in-law passed away unexpectedly. We considered returning home, but since her memorial service will be delayed, we wanted to try and keep things as normal as possible for the girls, especially with our youngest leaving for college in August. Our son also wanted us to stay here; so though I still feel I would be more helpful to him at home, we are doing our best to have a nice time.

I can't say I've really felt like reading much since then, but I know I have review commitments. 

I finished this book.

I am reading this one now.

Here are other books that I have with me, but doubtful I will finish many of them while we are away. I am spending more time catching up on my daily Bible reading. I allowed myself to fall behind when I got busy with work. 

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

As is typical when I spend some time browsing, I found a couple of Kindle freebies to grab. 

I hope you share some of your new books in the comments. I will check them out today.