Thursday, May 8, 2014

Celebrating Mother’s Day with DK Canada

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Mother’s Day is just around the corner and sometimes it might be difficult to find something for your mother or mother-in-love.   If she enjoys reading, why not consider getting her a book.  If she’s not much of a novel reader but enjoys cooking, has a crafts that she likes to do, loves to cook or simply want to try something new, DK Canada offers a huge selection of fun books.  

For the purpose of Mother’s Day I will present you four titles that could be interesting for your mom.

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9781465417619HMediterranean Cookbook

About the book

Bringing together authentic recipes from Italy, Greece, Provence, northern Africa, and the Middle East, DK's Mediterranean Cookbook gives cooks the necessary tools to recreate the flavors of the Mediterranean in their own homes.

Fresh, healthy, and easy to make, the Mediterranean Cookbook contains more than 300 recipes, from Citrus Lamb Tagine and Leek Moussaka to Panzanella and Tzatziki.

Whether it's the food of Tuscany, Provence, the Greek Islands, Morocco, or Spain, DK's Mediterranean Cookbook is a wonderful resource for families that want to eat fresh, fast, and healthy.

My Thoughts

A new cookbook is always a great idea for Mother`s Day.  Why not challenge your mom to try new recipes and explore new taste in the process.  That`s what the Mediterranean Cookbook offers because all the dishes included in this book are based on the Mediterranean region of our world.   Explore recipes from Provence, Andalusia, Turkey or Tunisia while learning to cook them at home.   

Each recipe includes step-by-step directions, photography and will allow you to discover new flavours with the help of fresh ingredients and spices from the region.   The book contains recipes for

  • Mezze, Tapas, and Antipasti
    Soups
  • Eggs
  • Pasta,Rice, and Beans
  • Fish and Shellfish
  • Meat and Poultry
  • Pizzas, Pies, and Tarts
  • Vegetables, Herbs, and Salads
  • Breads and Bread Dishes
  • All Things Sweet

In all you will have the opportunity to create recipes from the Middle East, North Arica, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Sicily, Greece, and Turkey.  Mmmm!  That makes me what to explore recipes while doing geography lessons with the kids.   In the introduction of the book, you will discover the Mediterranean region and learn more about it.   Throughout the book, you will get specific pages on the countries covered as well as some interesting information on some of the main ingredients like yogurt for example.

In conclusion, this book will definitively inspired your mom to cook and eat like a local from the Mediterranean region.   It is a great book to have in your kitchen in order to explore new tastes and excite your taste buds.

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Small Space Garden Ideas9781465415868H

About the book

Perfect for people who have little space to garden, whether a doorstep, balcony, or part of a wall. Small Space Garden Ideas is full of creative ideas for making use of every growing space available.  From windowsills and hanging baskets to rooftop containers and vertical gardens, Small Space Garden Ideas shows you how to create a dream garden, through step-by-step projects from start to finish.

My Thoughts

If your mom is a gardener and she loves getting new ideas on how to embellish her home Small Space Garden Ideas would make a great gift for her this Mother’s Day.  This book will inspire her to decorate smaller outdoor space with over forty projects.  Each project will allow her to explore new fun and inventive ways to grow plants where space is tight.

I have been dreaming of embellishing my own backyard but time is lacking for me.  So I am thinking these small projects might be just what I need to give me a push in planning slowly more green spaces for us to enjoy.   From upcycled tin cans and tabletop water garden to living pictures and Japanese moss ball planters, the book definitively brings creativity into the design of small gardens in homes.

Each project is explained with step-by-step photographs and instruction on how to care for the plants.  And with the help of this book, you will be able to create your dream garden on a windowsill, wall, step, staircase, balcony, porch, or patio.  You will find projects to create micro gardens, gardens to hang, garden that will grow out of things like a picture frame for example, gardens that can be contained within a single planter, how to plant wild plants as well as fabulous tips and tricks on being plant practical.

I love the ideas found in this book – one of them is a very original way of planting salad out of a colander.  Who would have thought that it was possible to do so- certainly no me…

For the gardener in your life, this book will be a great inspiration and will challenge her to explore new ways of planting around the house.

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9781553632252HFamily Cookbook

About the book

With more than 700 recipes — each with a picture of the finished dish — DK's Family Cookbook is packed with nutritious, easy-to-prepare meals perfect for anyone looking to feed their family good-quality, healthy meals on a budget.

Addressing food allergies, picky eaters, and how to keep meals healthy, the Family Cookbook includes nutritional information, with icons instantly alerting readers to healthy, freezable, vegetarian, and super-quick options, as well as notes on preparing ahead, batching and freezing, and how to be creative with leftovers.

My Thoughts

If your mom is not too interested in learning to cook recipes from another part of the world like the ones found in the Mediterranean Cookbook, then maybe she would love to have recipes that are more traditional for her family.  That is exactly what the Family Cookbook offers.  Over 700 healthy, quick recipes for all occasions that will  challenge you to get out of your routines of recipes in order to present new tastes around the table.   Feeding a family is not always easy and it is often easy to fall into the trap of routine.   We are no exception as I find that we often make easy meals that we know already.   This cookbook is the perfect gift in order to gives more ideas to the cook in the house. 

The table of contents will allow you to choose recipes, to make recipes for babies and toddlers, to be creative in your family meals (fish, poultry, meat, vegetables, pasta, rice, eggs and cheese), to get fun ideas to entertain friends and visitors (brunch, grill, Sunday dinner, celebratory meals, desserts, Kids`parties), to find creative recipes for food to go (sandwiches, wraps, dips, salads, pickles and spreads, snacks, pasties and pies), to do baking (cookies, bakes, cakes, savory bakes, breads) and to cook with the kids whether for savory or sweet.    You will also get come find tips and trips about picky babies and toddlers, smart shopping, batching and freezing, how to plan meals for a week, how to cook for vegetarian kids, how to cook for kids, how to manage your fridge, coping with allergies, how to deal with unexpected guests, how to be smart with leftovers,  organize kids’ parties, and how to deal with picky kids and teenagers.  

Each recipe indicates clearly the time it takes to make it, the portions, the calories and other useful information, the step-by-steps directions to make it, variations that could be fun to do as well as a stunning photograph of the finished meal. 

This book contains so many recipes that you will have no reason whatsoever not to spike the meals in your family with something different and fun.   This is definitively a great book to own in your kitchen.  It would also make a great gift for a bridal shower as well.

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Handmade Gifts9781465408402H

About the book

Containing more than 70 projects, from candle making and crocheting to paper-crafts and baking,Handmade Gifts is the perfect guide to making handcrafted items that people will love. Each project is clearly explained using simple step-by-step images along with photographs of the finished item and variations on how to make each piece unique. There are even ideas for green and up-cycled gifts.

My Thoughts

I enjoy doing crafts every once in a while.  With four kids and our homeschooling, I find it difficult to do it but there are days that I need to be creative and I would either make cards or embark on a sewing project.   In the past I also did some dried flowers arrangements or make beeswax candles.  When a birthday comes, my kids usually have a few ideas for their cakes that I try as best as I can to do for them.

One book that could brighten the day for a mom who loves to do crafts would be Handmade Gifts which contains over 70 step-by-step ideas to make and create at home.  From jewelry bags and accessories to pampering treats, edible goodies, and ideas for pet lovers, you can be certain to find something here for everyone.    The ideas contained in this book is suitable for all skill levels from beginner to experienced.  The crafter within your mom will create gorgeous gifts using a range of crafts skills including sewing, soap-making, crochet, beading, paper crafts, and silk painting. 

Each project is explained clearly using the famous step-by-step techniques from DK Canada which contains photographs along with variations which allows to personalize the gift.    Also included in the book you will find patterns and templates to ensure that the results are professional-quality. 

Let’s look at the table of contents to discover what kind of projects are included in the book.

  • For the home: customized pillow, personalized journal, dot-decorated ceramics, mosaic bowl, ribbon-bound photo album, rollaway game board.
  • Jewelry: beaded necklace, embellished felt brooches, silver clay jewelry, crochet necklace, découpage bangle, crochet flower pins.
  • Bags and accessories: stenciled bags, knotted scarf, clasp-frame bag, painted silk scarf, phone and table protector.
  • Pampering gifts: all natural luxury soap, manicure roll, container candles, oilcloth makeup bag, fizzy bath bombs, sweet dreams eye mask, pamper hamper.
  • For the pet lovers: cat`s play mat, catnip mice, dog biscuits, appliqué pet portrait, tartan dog jacquet.
  • Edible gifts: butter cookies, chocolate truffles, colorful macarons, creamy caramels, flavored oils.
  • Gift wrap: square gift box, jewelry case, pyramid boxes, homemade gift bags, twist-top gift box, printed gift wrap.
  • Templates
  • Crochet basics

As you can see there are multiple ideas for all the people in your life.   It is definitively a very inspiring book that will encourage you to try something new or to simply bless someone in your life.   You can download sample projects to see what the book contains.

All Natural Lemon Soap
All Natural Soap Variations

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mothers-day-button-185x185There are numerous more ideas at the DK Mother’s Day Boutique.  Swing by their special page to discover other titles that might interest your mom or mom-in-love.

 

All the books presented in this post are also available at amazon.ca and amazon.com.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned title for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

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