Magnolia Table Cookbook Reviewed

Delightful Recipes To Cook

Cooking For Family

Joanna Gaines can do more than decorate a home! I would like to review her cookbook Magnolia Table for you all today.

I received this cookbook for Mother's Day this year and was thrilled to get it. I am a huge fan of Joanna and her husband Chip. I have probably watched every single episode of their popular television show "Fixer Upper" at least three or four times. Sure, I love to see how the two work together to remodel a house for a client into a home that the new owners will love for years to come. There is more to it than that, though. I love the example the two give in each episode of two people who love each other. Through each episode they show how a couple can and should be partners in life; they have taken it further by actually being in business together for an even stronger partnership. Their love of family is apparent, too. I greatly admire both of them. 

Magnolia Table Cookbook

It amazes me that with all of the different little businesses that Joanna has going plus raising her children (which by the way is about to grow) that she has time to cook at all. Cook, she does and from the recipes in the cookbook I would say she does it well.

Not only does Joanna share recipes that she cooks with love for Chip and the kids but she adds little messages about each recipe. For instance, she tells about how she kept trying to perfect the biscuit recipe until she finally got it right...she knew it was right when everyone in the family voiced their approval. There is a sweet little message about her oldest son Drake going to summer camp and writing home telling her that he missed her and asking for her to make a certain dish when he got home. She shares that Chip loves breakfast and wants the entire family to start their day together sharing breakfast every morning. So, this is way more than just another cookbook!

I haven't had time to try many of the recipes yet but I am working on it. This weekend I fixed the Three Cheese Quiche recipe. Oh my word it was delicious! It was extremely easy to make and filled the kitchen with a scrumptious aroma as it baked. The final test was how would my husband like it. You see, he is a strong "meat and potatoes" kind of guy. He wrinkled up his nose when I said I was making  a quiche so I had my fingers crossed. After his first bite, he remarked that it was good but not with a lot of enthusiasm. I thought, "Well shoot, I guess this will be a recipe that I will make when the kids come home." Personally, I thought it was a slice of heaven. So, when he finished the first piece and asked for a second; I almost fell out of my chair! He actually loved it! I have to admit my eyes leaked a little.

I highly recommend this cookbook for your kitchen. I think you will enjoy making the recipes inside but most of all you will enjoy eating them! This cookbook would be an excellent gift for a new bride or someone who is moving into their first home away from home. I know I love my copy which is even more special because my family made sure that I got a signed first edition. Wasn't that sweet? They know how much I admire Joanna as a woman so they took that extra step as an act of love. Something that I share with Joanna is the love of my family and the joy of cooking for them. 

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Tips for Better Hummus at Home

Smooth and creamy hummus.

I like hummus. I like hummus a lot. A lifetime ago, a friend who was vegan introduced me to hummus. But I could never make my own and have it turn out right. Frankly, I had given up trying. Then while living in Baltimore, my roommate brought home a tip about hummus. Cook the chick peas. Since then, I use that tip to make the kind of smooth and flavorful hummus that I like to eat.

Hummus is a spread made of chick peas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic. Tahini is a "Middle Eastern paste or sauce made from ground sesame seeds" (online dictionary). Think peanut butter made from sesame seeds. 

Tips for Making Better Hummus at Home

Cook the Chick Peas.  A few years ago, my roommate came home with exciting news. A person had shared their delicious hummus with him. When he asked what the secret was, the person told him that it was boiling the chick peas and mashing them when they are still warm. I use two cans of chick peas. I dump them into a sauce pan and simmer them until the juice has simmer away. Be careful not to burn the beans (that stinks up the kitchen and is hard to remove from the pan). I then strain the remaining juice off before mashing the chick peas.

Use Fresh Tahini. Tahini comes in a can and is much like peanut butter but with oil floating on top. I only just now learned that oils can go rancid, and this includes the oils in Tahini. Which explains why I once made hummus - using a can of Tahini I found in the back of the cupboard - and it tasted terrible. I thought it was just because I'm not good in the kitchen and the odds of me messing up even the most simple recipe are high.  But in this case, it was the old Tahini. Make sure you have Tahini that was recently purchased. Stir the layers of paste and oil together before scooping out the amount you want.

Use a Food Processor or Nutri-Bullet. If you like extremely smooth Hummus, use a food processor. I use my Nutri-Bullet.  I first use a potato masher to mash the chick peas and Tahini together. I add the additional ingredients and give it all a spin in my Nutri-bullet. The Hummus turns out very creamy and easy to spread or dip. 

There are days that I want more coarse Hummus and on those days, I just mash with a potato masher and stop there.

I don't do recipes. 

For a recipe that is the same as how I make my hummus 
check out this Easy Hummus Recipe by inspired taste. 

Basically, I simmer the chick peas (two 15 oz. cans). Strain the remaining water off. Add around a 1/2 cup of tahini, a squirt of lemon juice, a pinch of garlic salt, and a squirt of olive oil. Tonight I added a can of black olives. I mashed the mix with a potato masher. Then I added the mixture to my Nutri-Bullet with about a 1/4 cup of water. Blend briefly. Tonight I served with a few drops of sriracha and baby carrots. 

Customize Your Hummus

Add the ingredients that you like. I really like to add a can of black olives to mine. I also use a splash of water and use less oil.

Other Hummus flavor ideas are:

• sriracha
• cumin
• roasted red peppers
• mushroom
• spinach

Additional Links About Hummus

I like the taste of Hummus. I think it is a great light meal or snack. I eat it on bagels, tortillas, chips, carrots, or pita bread. I don't eat it because I think it is a super food. Some people believe that Hummus is a food that is high in protein, helps with digestion, and is an anti-inflammatory. Others say that claims of high protein are inflated and that Hummus is only high in carbs and fats. If you are looking at Hummus for it's health benefits, please consider both sides of the debate. Jessica Migala in EatingWell writes on the side of hummus being a very healthy food with many different health benefits, including being a good source of protein. While Jessica Cording writes for Shape Magazine that hummus not only is not high in protein, but IS high in fat and carbs. 

My thinking about the health benefits of hummus are somewhere in the middle. I do know that I love the taste when I make my own and it has to be far healthier than that entire bag of M&Ms I'd eat as a snack if I didn't have hummus. 

Intro Photo: Hummus courtesy of Pixabay under CC0 license

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How to Use Color on the Walls or Ceiling in an Open Concept Room

Notice the Kitchen Ceiling is in the Same Color Family as the Walls Outside of the Kitchen Area

They've provided Continuity by Bringing the Main Room Colors into the Kitchen Design
Photo Via Pixabay

Most newer homes are designed so the main rooms combine or flow directly into one another. Although popular, deciding how to create a cohesive color scheme can be challenging.

Here are Three Tips to Review:

1. Choose Your "Neutral Color" and Use it On All the Rooms that Open to Each Other

A neutral color shouldn't be white, beige, gray, or tan. We think of ' light ' colors when we think about a neutral color. However, your neutral color can also be bold.

The main tip in choosing your base color is to use it on all the rooms that flow together in an open area.

Once you've established your base neutral, you're free to create separations in the space using elements or furnishings in the room.

For example, if a living room opens up to the kitchen, establish your base color for the walls in both rooms, then define the spaces using color in other décor aspects. The couches could be lighter and more neutral with darker walls, while the countertops could be darker if the kitchen cupboards were lighter.

Once you establish a base color for the walls and floors, the rest of the room becomes an effort to match and bind the elements together.

Notice the Wall Color Between the Two Spaces is the Same

Check out the Ceilings - Because of the Dividing White Beam, a Different Ceiling Color Works
Photo Via Pixabay

2. If You Prefer Different Wall Colors in Each of the Defined Spaces that are Open to Each Other, Choose Colors in the Same Color Family or Color Temperature

If choosing just one color flowing between your open space rooms is not to your liking, consider choosing colors in the same tones.

For example, choose a darker shade of a particular color for one aspect of the room and a lighter shade of the same color for the other open area.

Remember the ceiling. Rather than going with a standard white ceiling, depending on the design of your room, you could use an even lighter shade of your chosen color for the ceiling.

As an example, in a living room kitchen combined space, you could use a dark grey for the living room walls and two shades down for the kitchen color. For the shared ceiling between the two spaces, bring the grey even lighter, perhaps four shades down from the darkest shade you've selected. With this example, you've stayed in the grey family, yet provided distinctive color differences between the two rooms and tied them together using the ceiling.

With a cohesive floor and ceiling flowing through the space, walls in the same tone but different in shade still work nicely without leaving one feeling overwhelmed.

This Design Opens to Several Rooms
They've used Various Shades in the Same Color Temperature
to Create Cohesiveness and Separation - Photo Via Pixabay

3. When You're Not Sure Whether a Room Flows from One to Another

One of the difficult things people find about an open-concept space is that the rooms are available to each other.

In other words, a room is open to another yet not visible from every angle, and thus, you're still determining if it's considered a separate space.

The solution to this is 'Sightlines". Stand in a room, determine what other rooms can be seen when you're in it, and repeat this for all rooms. If there's an open connection to another room, you must be cognizant of color flow.

If you're standing in a room and the only way you can see another room is through a door, that doesn't count as 'open to the other space.' It doesn't mean you should go hog-wild with color differentials; it merely means you're not obligated to consider the flow as carefully as you would with adjoining rooms.

The bottom line is don't be afraid of color. Take your time to determine how your rooms connect, then decide what system works best for your open-concept spaces, such as one color connecting all walls or shades in the same family.

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Reviewing Smoothie Bowl Recipes

Taken by Louanne Cox

Here at Review This it seems that a few of us enjoy our smoothies.  I have been having a smoothie nearly every morning since I first did a 30 Days to Healthy Living and Beyond plan*.

I do like to take my smoothie up a notch some days though (especially on the weekend) with a smoothie bowl.   My very first smoothie bowl was essentially just a chocolate one topped with hazelnuts and it was like having a delicious chocolate treat ... that was healthy - how much better does life get?

What is a Smoothie Bowl?

Essentially a smoothie bowl is a thick smoothie served in a bowl with different toppings and it is delicious.  You can have a myriad of different flavors and there are really no rules as to what you can pop on top - I have seen some amazing-looking ones on instagram.

Smoothie Bowl Recipes

The smoothie bowl that I have the most for breakfast is a chocolate cherry one.

200 ml water
2 scoops vegan chocolate protein powder (I use the Arbonne one as it's the only one I really like the taste of)
1 scoop Be Well Superfood Greens (this powder contains fruit and veg goodness and gives me energy during the day)
1 scoop daily fibre
1 tsp cacao powder
8 frozen cherries
1/2 avocado

I blend all of this together and the combination of the avocado and 50ml less water than I use for my 'normal smoothie' makes this into a lovely thickness.

I serve it into a bowl and then add toppings.  Sometimes I add fresh raspberries and chopped nuts, sometimes I sprinkle coconut on it as I love cherries with coconut.

We couldn't get frozen cherries for a couple of weeks so I would use frozen strawberries, frozen blackberries or a combination of the two and this was also delicious.

I sometimes don't feel like chocolate, but I've never been sure what avocado would taste like in a vanilla smoothie.  As I was looking through my instagram feed I came across a recipe that used zucchini in a smoothie so I reached out to the person and asked about it.

This next smoothie bowl was delicious ..

200 ml water
2 scoops vanilla protein powder (the Arbonne one of course!)
1 tsp acai powder
6 x frozen strawberries
6 x frozen blackberries
1/2 zucchini

I blended this up and it made a vibrant delicious looking smoothie (that tasted delicious too by the way).  I topped it with chopped mixed nuts and some fresh raspberries.

Now the zucchini added a thickness and creaminess to the smoothie, but you couldn't really taste it which was good.  I wanted it a little thicker the second time I made it so I added a whole zucchini - big mistake!   Zucchini has a high water content so if you want it thicker than this one reduce the water to 150 ml do not increase the amount of zucchini!

On Mother's Day, my daughter took me out to breakfast where I had a smoothie bowl that was out of this world.

Decorated with not just fruit, seeds and coconut, but flowers too!

I don't have their recipe, but I really need to up my game as you can see here -

The Ultimate Smoothie Bowl!

Check out some of our other smoothie reviews -

Tropical Fruit Smoothie Recipe Reviewed
The tropical fruit smoothies taste really good and they are very easy to make. Simply gather your favorite tropical fruits and the blender and you have a quick and healthy snack for breakfast, lunch or after dinner!

Reviewing Chocolate Smoothies
Enjoying your chocolate is easy when you make it into a smoothie. Yes, I have gotten into smoothies lately. And since I can't not have chocolate as part of my day, a chocolate smoothie sounded great.

Healthy and Delicious Smoothies
Some time ago I began trying to eat healthier foods and cut things from my diet such as soda. One of the things I've enjoyed are green smoothies.

*By the way if you're interested in finding out more about my 30 days to healthy living and beyond plan please message me via my facebook business page or instagram. Personally I have lots more energy, my hormones are balanced, the inflammation from my rheumatoid arthritis is non existent and I've lost 13.4kg over the past 6 months.

Back to smoothie bowls - have you ever made your own smoothie bowl and what was your favorite flavor combination?

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Crooked House Movie (2017) Review

Agatha Christie never disappoints!  Crooked House is an awesome mystery. 

As always, Agatha Christie held me spellbound until the very end.  I had no idea who the murderer was and the ending was completely unexpected.

I don't know how I previously missed seeing one of the movie versions of Crooked House.  Apparently, there have been several.  I was thrilled to discover an Agatha Christie book plot that I had neither read, nor seen a film adaptation of the story.   

If you love a great mystery, if you are an Agatha Christie fan, or if you happen to be seeking a wonderfully suspenseful movie, I highly recommend Crooked House.   I don't know about any of the other movie versions, but I do know this 2017 version is phenomenal and Glenn Close is superb as Aunt Edith.  

The Plot of Crooked House by Agatha Christie

When Aristide Leonides dies at the age of 85, every member of his family and household are murder suspects.  He was extremely wealthy and each family member had reasons why they would want him dead.  Since they all lived together in his mansion, they all had opportunity and access to his medicine, which was mixed to create a lethal poison.

The family was not sad over Leonides death.  In some ways, it was a relief to several of them because he was a controlling patriarch who enjoyed playing games with their lives.  He used his money and their dependence upon him, to wield power over them.  Now, they were free from the overbearing, oppressive bully in their lives.

Everyone thought they knew what would happen to his estate in the event of his death, but they were all wrong.  Unbeknownst to his sons, his grandchildren and his first wife's sister, Leonides had neglected to sign the will that left them all heirs.  Because there was no legal will, his young wife stood to inherit everything by default.  

Even before they knew about the unsigned will, family members were not particularly fond of his wife and they were more than willing to cast the blame for his murder on her.  Even the police suspected that his wife, Brenda, and her lover had poisoned Leonides.   

As you would expect, Brenda did not like the family either and was thrilled to find out she would inherit everything.  She did not hesitate to show her happiness over this turn of events. 

Leonides granddaughter, Sophia, hired her previous lover, who also happened to be a private detective, to investigate the murder.  She worries that Scotland Yard will not be respectful of the families privacy and she wants Charles Hayward to protect them from unnecessary probing. 

You now know the basic plot.  Two sons, two daughters-in-law, three grandchildren, a sister-in-law, a young wife and her lover all living in the same house, who all have means and motive to kill the head of the family, Aristide Leonide.  Scotland Yard is even depending on Charles Hayward to figure out which one is the murderer.  See if you can figure it out before the last 10 minutes of the movie!

By Senator Stabenow
(Senator Stabenow, Glenn Close and Faustino Venzor.)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Glenn Close in Crooked House

Glenn Close stars as Edith de Haviland in Crooked House.  As always, she is fabulous.  I can't imagine any other actress ever coming close to her performance.  She was totally and completely believable as Aunt Edith.

Edith was Aristide Leonides sister-in-law by his first marriage.  Therefore, she was his children's aunt and his grandchildren's' great aunt, but they all call her Aunt Edith.  She is a bit eccentric, self-assured, intelligent and strong willed.  I loved her!  

In my opinion, Glenn Close as Edith made what is clearly a wonderfully suspenseful book plot into a phenomenally superb movie.  

 Crooked HouseCheck Price

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