Make-Ahead Meals Made Healthy

by Michele Borboa, M.S.

Tips on ingredients and methods, many recipes, some photos. Sections include breads, breakfasts, desserts.

A Love That Multiplies

An up-close view of how they make it work

by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar

The parents of America’s most famous large family talk about the health difficulties of their preemie baby and Michelle, the challenges of living in the public eye, how homeschooling works in their home, the goals they have for their children, and more.

The Lost Art of Real Cooking

Rediscovering the pleasures of traditional food one recipe at a time

by Ken Albala & Rosanna Nafziger

An old-fashioned cookery book with recipes written in paragraph form (no list of ingredients at the beginning) for many foods including pickles, jam, soup, bread, cheese, pie and more. Several medieval recipes are also reproduced in the book.

This is interesting just to read if you're interested in cooking; the writing style is entertaining and there's a great deal of historical information. The only error I noticed was that it says in one place that the recipe was reduced by one fifth because the original made a huge amount, but must mean the recipe was reduced to one fifth.

the Hip Girl's guide to Homemaking

Decorating, dining, and the gratifying pleasures of self-sufficiency - on a budget!

by Kate Payne

Basic instructions for doing basic things such as housekeeping, food shopping and preparation, decorating and things like that.

I found this book much too basic. It seems, though, to be written for young people just out of university who were never taught to do anything at home.

There were several errors:

On page 185, "small glass Tupperware containers." Hello? Tupperware is plastic. There is no such thing as glass Tupperware.

Pages 202 and 204 are very similar; 2 or 3 paragraphs are almost the same.

On page 207 "sticking extra dough balls in the fridge for quick homemade bread during the next month... To defrost, just place the balls in the fridge until thawed..." Obviously, you are supposed to put the extras in the freezer.

On page 218, speaking of how long before food goes bad, "You get a two-hour window...before spoilers can bloom." Actually, bacteria grows immediately and can double in number in as little as 20 minutes; the two-hour window is the time until there is so much bacteria that the food is likely to cause illness.

p. 235 "Taylor Pro Series combination thermometer/timer with a 4-foot-long probe..." Are you kidding me? I would need to be halfway across the room just to read it! I looked this up and it really is a probe with a 4-foot-long cord. Which makes a lot more sense.

The Ultimate Guide to Homesteading

An Encyclopedia of Independent Living

by Nicole Faires

Instructions for how to do almost everything yourself; building houses and animal shelters, digging a well, growing and preserving food, raising and slaughtering animals, health care, waste disposal and even homeschooling.

This is a really nice book; lots of pictures and diagrams and very thorough information. Although very few people would use all of this knowledge, almost everyone would find some of it useful.

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2010

by Bob Sehlinger & Len Testa

This very thorough guide includes information on travel, hotels (inside and outside of Disney World), area theme parks, restaurants, individual rides and much more. Tips on best values, how to save money, touring plans that guarantee up to four hours less waiting in lines.

One of the great things about this guide is that it is unofficial, which means that if a Disney product or venue or whatever is not very good, it says so, whereas the official sources won't. Although this is a huge hook and took a long time to read, I think it would definitely be worth buying to help plan a Disney vacation; do get the newest edition, however, as information changes every year.