Review This Reviews!

Saturday, January 13, 2024

National Bagel Day Review

For Bagel lovers (of which I am one), having a special day to celebrate the tasty bagel is delightful.

National Bagel Day is celebrated yearly on January 15.

History of Bagels

Bagels have a long history extending back nearly 500 years to the Jewish families of Poland in the 1600s. They were brought to America by the large Polish-Jewish immigration in the 1800s and thrived in New York City where many of the immigrants settled.

Bagel with lox, cream cheese, capers, tomatoes and red onions

The 'bagel brunch' we still enjoy today began in the early 1900s. It's nearly the same as it was then, consisting of the popular lox, cream cheese, capers, tomatoes and red onions. Other flavors and toppings have evolved over time. It began as a plain bread roll made from yeasted wheat dough that is shaped by hand into a ring, briefly boiled in water, then baked, resulting in a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned exterior. Today the basic plain bagel also comes in a variety of flavors, including poppy seed, sesame seed, cinnamon raisin, bagels with berries, and the Everything Bagel.

A Few Fun Bagel Facts

The first bagel began in the 1300s as a Polish obwarzanek, which was a thin, boiled, then baked ring of dough.
In 1610, The first written records about bagels was traced to Krakow, Poland, stating that bagels should be gifted to women soon after childbirth. (A new baby, a new bagel).
By the early 1900s, bagels became wildly popular in the Jewish-immigrant communities of New York City.
By the 1950s, Bagels became an American Staple. Today Bagels are sold in supermarkets everywhere and surpass the donut as an essential breakfast item.

Summary

The original bagel today is still most popular acquired fresh from a bakery the day you wish to eat them. But it is also handy to buy store-bought packages to have available anytime a bagel is desired.

Since bagels have their own special day, be sure to have some bagels on hand for January 15th to celebrate the official 'Bagel Day'.

Order your Bagels here on Amazon

For more Holiday Reviews, check out ReviewThisHolidays.com

For more Food Reviews on ReviewThisReviews,

Click Here

*Bagel Day Holiday Review is written by Wednesday Elf

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.”

FOLLOW US ON:

Friday, January 12, 2024

Fall Into Winter (2023) - Great American Family Movie Review

I was initially drawn to this movie because of the name, Fall Into Winter. In our area, I feel like we did literally fall into winter. One day we were admiring beautiful red & gold leaves and the next we were looking at grey skies and bare tree limbs.

It didn't really happen overnight, but it sure felt like it! I keep wondering, where did our fall season go?

The second thing that drew me to the movie, "Fall Into Winter", was the actress, Lori Loughlin. I have always liked her and her characters. Thanks to her role as Abigail Stanton in When Calls the Heart, I'm used to seeing her in the kitchen, which is the setting for "Fall Into Winter". She co-owns a candy shop and makes all of the candy.

Last but by no means least, I wanted to watch this movie because it is a Great American Family Movie. I have come to rely on the Great American Family Channel to provide me with wonderful movies that do not include explicit content, violent or gory scenes, or foul language. I find them quite uplifting, peaceful and easy to watch.

Fall Into Winter Synopsis

Fall Into Winter

Kerry Murphy (Lori Loughlin) doesn't like change. She is quite content co-owning the family candy shop with her brother. However, when her brother, Jake, informs her that his wife has taken a job in London, England and he is selling his half of the candy shop, she is very distressed. That distress is increased tenfold when he tells her that he has sold his share of the shop to his high school friend, Brooks McLeod. According to her brother, Brooks is a very successful businessman who will surely be able to help the shop.

Kerry isn't as much interested in profit as she is in the community. She has "lived in the same house, in the same town, and had the same job" her whole life. She doesn't want to make drastic changes, raise prices, or view people as just customers. She enjoys treating everyone like family.

Brooks and Kerry clash now as much as they did in high school, although Brooks doesn't really understand why Kerry has always had a problem with him. As business partners, it is necessary for them to work out their problems, past and present, to have a successful partnership.

Fall Into Winter is predictable, but still a fun movie to watch. Even though they had differences of opinion, they both worked toward finding areas of agreement and understanding for one another.

More Great American Family Movie Reviews

A Brush With Christmas (2022)

Twas the Text Before Christmas (2023)

A Dash of Christmas (2023)

From Chicago With Love (2023)

Accidentally Engaged (2016)

Check Out More Movie Reviews at
ReviewThisMovies.com

Fall Into Winter (2023) - Great American Family Movie Review by:

FOLLOW US ON:

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Book Review-Daughters of Green Mountain Gap

I love reading historical fiction and time period novels and I also love reading books that are real page turners. Teri M Brown fits the bill in both of these areas. Last year I reviewed her book An Enemy Like Me and I loved it, so I was really excited to have the opportunity to review her latest book, Daughters of Green Mountain Gap. In this book we meet three generations of women living in North Carolina at the turn of the twentieth century.

The Book on Amazon

The book will be released on January 23, 2024. You can order it at the following link on Amazon. Daughters of Green Mountain Gap

Three Generations-Three Exceptional Women

Maggie

Maggie is the granny, who is known throughout the small Appalachian town and surrounding area as a healer. She believes and relies on traditional methods for her healing. She has learned her skills through family tradition, folklore and also from visits she makes to the healer in the local Cherokee tribe.

Carrie Ann

Carrie Ann is Maggie's daughter. She has graduated from nursing school and feels strongly that modern medicine should prevail and that her mother's methods are not only outdated but could be harmful. Carrie Ann works for the local doctor and feels that all should see him for their medical needs and not her mother.

Josie Mae

Josie Mae is Carrie Ann's daughter and because of her mother's job she stays much of the time with her grandmother, Maggie. While she is there Maggie teaches her all about her traditional healing methods. Josie loves her grandmother and believes that her methods are important, however she is caught between the vastly different methods of Maggie and Carrie Ann.

My Thoughts on Book

I was engrossed in the book from the first chapter. The author, Teri M Brown, does a wonderful job of bringing you into the lives of these three women. You find yourself smiling at their victories and feeling sad as they deal with sickness and death. The family dynamics are a great way to show the spirit of the times with the struggles between folk medicine and science, old and new methods, and dealing with the change in society. I highly recommend this fascinating book.

Reviews of other Teri M Brown Books

Two of Teri M Brown's previous books have been reviewed on Review This. Our reviewer Olivia reviewed Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, and I reviewed An Enemy Like Me. Here are links to those reviews.

Sunflowers Beneath the Snow

An Enemy Like Me

FOLLOW US ON:

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Fantastic Kitchen Necessities You'll Wonder How You Did Without

A Product Review

This past year has been a struggle for our family and what was "normal" and "easy" is NOT so anymore. Since bringing my mother to live with us, our lives have been turned upside down. That includes doing all the things we took for granted. I'm complaining, but not really complaining. We are blessed that we can do what we are doing even though it causes some disruption to our routines or changes them altogether.

The point I'm trying to make is that we started to do things that don't take us out of our home as much. Mom needs constant supervision, so someone has to be with her. Preparing for Christmas this year meant not going out so much. We ended up doing things in our home so that we worked together and got to include her as well. She was more than a taste tester. .

Baking was one of those things that we decided to do more of. . We always baked, but this year saw us baking much more and sharing that baking with friends and family.

When you are gifting tins of cookies, you want to make them as presentable and pretty as possible. We are not professional bakers, but still like to make our gifts beautiful and a feast for the eyes. Uneven and lopsided cookies just don't look or present themselves as nicely. When your cookies are all the same thickness and baked just right, they make the gift that much nicer to present to your friends.

One tool that we found that has helped us immensely is this Adjustable Rolling Pin.

All our cookies this year came out the same thickness thanks to this roller. And the added silicone mat was helpful as well.

It is filled with all kinds of information and size guides to make those pies just the right size. A regular rolling pin just doesn't do that. The baking mat has sizes in Imperial and Metric measurements too. So that's a bonus for sure.

Made of stainless steel you can also chill it when working with pie crusts so that your crusts will be tender without being overworked.

I have been cooking for years and did not know that something this simple existed. Well, let me tell you that baking will be something that we will do far more often now that we are truly kitchen tooled for the occasion.

The other must have that we love and can't do without is Parchment Baking Paper. This was a game changer in our home. I don't remember being able to get this wonderful paper years ago, but now it is available everywhere and I am thankful for that.

Clean up has never been so easy! Lining baking sheets with this parchment makes your cookies slide off of the baking pan without having to grease and flour the pans ahead of time. Step savers are always welcome in this kitchen. We use it constantly now, not only for baking cookies but for anything that we bake in the oven. Scrubbing baking sheets is a thing of the past.

When you have the right tools everything is much easier and less complicated. For us, these are two of our most favorite new gadgets. They are in use weekly for sure and not relegated to some corner of the kitchen where they will never be used again. I guarantee that once you have these you will wonder how you did without them.

Are you looking for a great cookie recipe? Well let me tell you that the Linzer Cookies we made are so tasty and look so elegant that you will want to try them for sure. With Valentines Day coming up, just imagine Linzer cookies in a heart shape for all the ones you love.

You can do it and this is the recipe that I liked the best!

From Ali on Gimme Some Oven
See Her Recipe to Make These Cookies by Clicking the Link on the Picture

FOLLOW US ON:

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Reviewing the Stunning Snowdrop In Gardens And Home Decor.

I adore Snowdrops. From the end of December I start eagerly searching for signs of snowdrop life. To see those tiny green shoots really lifts my heart and brings such joy. To me Snowdrops epitomise beauty, strength and overcoming adversity.

They are the first flowers to bloom in the year and are a symbol of hope and renewal after the long wet, cold winter.

Snowdrops appear so fragile and delicate yet they are so resilient. The exquisite white flowers are a beautiful sight I look forward to every year.

Snowdrops are a Spring flower and part of the amaryllis family. They are classed as a hardy perennial mostly flowering in January and February. They are small and close to the ground growing about 3 to 6 inches tall yet are perfectly capable of growing up through snow and ice.

There are many varieties of snowdrop each with their slightly different height and shape and size of flower. I enjoy making home decor items and greetings cards from photographs I take of snowdrops in my garden and the parks nearby each year.

Stunning Snowdrops Canvas
by RaintreeDesigns

Snowdrops are very easy to grow. They enjoy partial shade and moist soil. If they are happy they will grow into stunning drifts of white flowers and look amazing. Equally they look gorgeous in small or large pots.

Mostly I grow snowdrops as an outdoor plant but I have heard of people growing them indoors to use as table decoration and an alternative or addition to buying cut flowers in winter which sounds a great idea I may try.

Snowdrops are so delicate looking and beautiful that they make great subjects for home decor and you can buy many snowdrop related items. For example from cushions to hand painted glass or this lovely Glass Flower Snowdrop Glass handblown or snowdrop scented candles.

Snowdrops are a fleeting flower but by having them in home decor items you can have snowdrops all year round.

Being with white flowers and green stems they fit in with most home decor schemes and always look fresh, clean and appealing.

Stunning Spring Snowdrops Cushion
by RaintreeDesigns

Snowdrops always leave me feeling joy and smiling perhaps more than any other flower. Perhaps it is their tenacity and resilience wrapped in such delicate beauty having come through winter with all its challenges ready to charm us all and bring happiness.

I would never be without them in my garden and in pots and in my home in one way or another.