Book Review: Bittersweet: A Savage Memoir

Bittersweet: A Savage Memoir by George Savage is just that, his memoir.   In this book George talks about everything in his life; family, growing up, jobs, cars, places traveled, and medical issues.  There is very little that he does not cover in this book.

I was very surprised about how this book was written.  From the publishers summary I was expecting a much different story than just this man’s memoir.  I think this book would be more suited for just passing among friends and family (or a freebie on amazon.com). 

In all honesty I really did not enjoy this book.  After the first couple chapters, I just wondered “Why am I reading this?”  There is so much detail in this book about his life; I guess I can only seeing friends and family caring about what car he had in 1951 and what he swapped it for.  This man lived in an amazing era of history and I found his childhood stories very interesting.  The family loss from TB, the wars, depression are all amazing times to read about how individuals and families survived and adapted during such harsh times. But this was only a portion of this story

Note: I did receive a copy of this book from www.booksneeze.com to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Simply Delicious Amish Cooking

Simply Delicious Amish Cooking by Sherry Gore is a wonderful collection of Amish recipes from Northern Florida. I cannot wait to try all of them. The cookbook includes categories like breakfasts, seafood, meat, sides, desserts, and breads.  This cookbook contains over 300 recipes.

Sherry Gore has done a wonderful job compiling recipes, local Amish history, and helpful hints.  You can almost look through it and read it like a book instead of a cookbook.  Since I also live in Florida I found some the local favorites also in there.  Gator tail anyone?

I am very excited to have this book be added to my recipe shelf.  I am sure that I will use it for a long time.  These recipes only use common ingredients that most would have in their pantry. 

I did notice that a lot of the recipes depend on canned and semi-prepared items purchased at the store.  Although these are a great convenience, my family uses very little of these products.  We like to make everything with fresh ingredients and minimally processed foods.  I will have to adapt many of the recipes to meet my family needs.  It is still a great collection of simple meals that I will be able to reference often. 

Note: I did receive a free copy of this book from www.booksneeze.com to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.