Papercutting by Patricia Moffett

Papercutting by Patricia Moffett ISBN-13: 9780764358081 Paperback: 128 pages Publisher: Schiffer Publishing Released: Sept. 28, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
These 25 projects show how ammonites, lichen rosettes, honeycomb, and other natural forms can help you apply the rules of mathematics to create complexly beautiful works. Clear, paper-art-focused explanations teach you the principles of mathematics we see in nature, including the Golden Section and Golden Angle, Fibonacci numbers, and symmetry. Learn about using flaps and piercings with various projects, including "A Murmuration of Starlings." Benefit from lessons in the Japanese art of kirigami and geometric principles, with projects such as "Kirigami Cascade" and "Rotational Symmetry." Tesselations and 2-D weaving, 3-D form assembly, woven 3-D forms, and stacked layers come into play for projects such as "Radiolarian" and "Sea Urchin." The role that display plays in your work is covered too, including flexagons in the "Undersea Frieze," black light in "UV Jelly Fish," and light-box effects in "Art Deco Scarab" and "Diatoms through the Microscope."


My Review:
Papercutting is a how-to instruction book on papercutting. The author did a great job of explaining different papercutting skills and techniques and building these skills with each new project. Each project had templates so you can copy what she's done, but she taught how to come up with ideas and use the techniques on your own. She clearly explained how to do each project, and even complete beginners should be able to follow the directions. She started with flat, cut-out projects, then she talked about weaving and explained different types of 3D projects. She even talked about how to display the finished projects, including lighting ideas and framing. Overall, I'd highly recommend this informative book to those interested in trying out papercutting.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

American Sfoglino by Evan Funke

American Sfoglino by Evan Funke ISBN-13: 9781452173313 Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Chronicle Books Released: Sept. 24, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Evan Funke, esteemed chef of L.A.'s Felix Trattoria, shares classic techniques from his Emilia-Romagna training. Funke provides accessible instructions for making his award-winning sfoglia (sheet pasta) at home. With little more than flour, eggs, and a rolling pin, home cooks can recreate 15 classic pasta shapes, spanning simple pappardelle to perfect tortelloni. Beginning with four foundational doughs, American Sfoglino takes readers step by step through recipes for a variety of generous dishes, from essential sauces and broths, like Passata di Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce) and Brodo di Carne (Meat Broth) to luscious Tagliatelle in Bianco con Prosciutto (Tagliatelle with Bacon and Butter) and Lasagna Verde alla Bolognese (Green Bolognese Lasagna). Stories from Italy and the kitchen at Felix Trattoria add the finishing touches, while sumptuous photographs and a bold package offer a feast for the eyes.


My Review:
American Sfoglino explains how to mix, roll out, and shape pasta by hand (no pasta machine). Plus some pasta-related stories from Italy and the author's life. The author explained how to make hand-rolled sheet pasta and provided 4 master dough recipes for making pasta. He also explained how to use those recipes to make 15 different pasta types, from strands to shaped pasta to stuffed pasta. The pasta types were: Lasagna Verde Alla Bolognese, Pappardelle, Tagliatelle, Maltagliati, Strichetti, Garganelli, Triangoli, Tortelloni, Balanzoni, Tortellini, Sorpresine, Cestini, Caramelle, Strozzapreti, and Gnocchi de Ricotta. Included were step-by-step photos that clearly demonstrated how to roll out and to shape the pasta.

There were also recipes for pasta sauces, fillings, and dishes. He mainly talked about using the pasta when freshly made, but he did explain how you can best keep it for later use. He gave tips on making tasty, evenly-cooked pastas. He kept the equipment you need to a minimum and even gave some make-shift ways to do things without needing specialized equipment. However, he sometimes used ingredients in the pasta dishes (not the pasta but the finished dishes) that might not be easy for the average person to find. He also sometimes suggested easier-to-find alternatives. If you don't mind the work of making pasta by hand, then this book should be very helpful in learning how to hand make and use sheet pasta.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Vegan Mediterranean Cookbook by Tess Challis

Vegan Mediterranean Cookbook by Tess Challis ISBN-13: 9781641526142 Paperback: 166 pages Publisher: Callisto Media - Rockridge Press Released: September 24, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The Mediterranean diet is one of the most-studied diets of all time, and is known to boost energy, lower cholesterol, strengthen your immunity, and help you maintain a healthy weight. Coupled with the nutritional and environmental benefits of plant-based meals, a complete vegiterranean cookbook will help you create wholesome, flavorful, satisfying Mediterranean dishes that are free of both animal products and artificial ingredients.

Learn the main tenants of the Mediterranean diet so you can continue mixing up masterpieces on your own. Recipes include prep time, number of servings, and are labeled for gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free. This vegiterranean cookbook also offers guides and tips for a holistically healthy Mediterranean lifestyle, including exercise, attitude, and community.


My Review:
Vegan Mediterranean Cookbook is a vegan cookbook that is also based on the Mediterranean diet. The recipes focused on using minimally-processed, whole-food, plant-based ingredients. She sometimes used store-bought breads in the recipes. Most of the recipes served 4 to 6 people, took around 30 minutes to make, and had fewer than 10 ingredients. Almost all of the ingredients in the recipes should be easy to get. She labeled if a recipe was gluten-free, soy-free, oil-free, and/or nut-free.

She included 10 recipes for hummus, dips, and sauces; 10 recipes for small plates, sides, and snacks; 11 breakfast recipes (for smoothies, pancakes, etc.); 10 recipes for breads, wraps, and sandwiches; 18 recipes for salads and soups; 15 recipes for main meals; and 9 recipes for deserts. Each recipe included "per serving" information on calories, total fat, saturated fat, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber, protein, and iron. There were full-color pictures of some of the dishes.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Vlogger's Handbook by Shane Birley

The Vlogger's Handbook by Shane Birley ISBN-13: 9780711242876 Paperback: 96 pages Publisher: QEB Publishing Released: September 17, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
This fun guide to vlogging delivers an overview of the skills and tips you need to get started, produce a professional look, develop your skill level, and cultivate your creativity. With bite-sized text, learn about starting a vlog, inspiration for what to vlog about, how to storyboard a vlog, lighting and props, video skills, editing your vlog, adding sounds and effects, building an audience, and internet and social media safety guidance. Throughout the book, Q&A panels feature successful young vloggers who give their own personal tips and stories about how they got started.


My Review:
The Vlogger's Handbook provides basic advice on how to get started vlogging. It appears to be aimed at younger people (teenagers and up), and the author chose four young vloggers to offer tips and advice on each vlogging topic. The author covered how to decide on what type of vlog you want to do, how to come up with ideas to vlog about, online safety, what basic equipment is needed and what equipment you might like to get someday, the basics of filming, lighting, sound, and editing, and choosing what online platforms to use. If you've never really done video or audio editing or have never learned to storyboard or create a story sequence, then this book will get you started off quickly with good advice and basic information. However, this book didn't provide much detail (no step-by-step projects) or cover more advanced skills, so it might not be useful if you've already done some video work.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

How to Draw and Write in Fountain Pen by Ayano Usamura

How to Draw and Write in Fountain Pen by Ayano Usamura ISBN-13: 9781615196029 Paperback: 128 pages Publisher: The Experiment Released: Sept. 17, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In this modern guide to fountain pens, first-timers will find an introduction to choosing, filling, and cleaning your fountain pen. Adorable step-by-step drawing instructions for everything from fried eggs to fedoras. Eight modern, handwritten fonts to copy and customize. Decorative borders and frames (perfect for scrapbooks and bullet journals). And seven fun project ideas: wedding placards, labels, birthday cards, and more!


My Review:
How to Draw and Write in Fountain Pen is a very basic art instruction book on using fountain pens to sketch. The author started by talking about fountain pens: the different types of nibs, what paper to use, how to fill and maintain a fountain pen, and things like how to use a fountain pen to draw lines, basic shapes, and fill in areas.

She then moved on to sketching cartoon-style line drawings. She provided 3-step picture directions for how to draw a variety of foods, everyday objects, clothing and accessories, outdoor gear, and plants. Next, she provided examples of lettering styles, decorative borders, frames, and such which you're supposed to trace using tracing paper. She also gave some tips on the layout of your design. She gave 4-step instructions for 7 projects: lettering a welcome board, making cupcake flags, gift tags, earring cards, birthday cards, sticker labels, and decorating planners and scrapbooks.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Vegan Mac and Cheese by Robin Robertson

Vegan Mac and Cheese by Robin Robertson ISBN-13: 9781558329737 Hardcover: 144 pages Publisher: Harvard Common Press Released: September 17, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Awesome recipes for entirely plant-based vegan cheeses and cheese sauces, used in more than 50 recipes for comforting and deeply flavorful dishes. If you were a vegetarian before you became a vegan, chances are you ate a lot of cheese, some (or maybe even a lot!) of it in macaroni and cheese. But you don't need to give up cheese and cheesy dinners! Robin shows you how to make rich, delectable vegan cheeses that start with plant milks, vegan butters, and nut butters as their base ingredients. Using these—or, if you prefer, using store-bought vegan cheese—you then can make the delicious recipes in the rest of the book.

These include many variants on mac and cheese itself, from the familiar and homey, such as Mom's Classic Mac UnCheese, to the globally adventuresome, such as Indian Curry Mac or Salsa Mac and Queso. An entire chapter is devoted to veggie-loaded mac and cheese dishes, like Buffalo Cauliflower Mac, Arugula Pesto Mac UnCheese, or Smoky Mac and Peas with Mushroom Bacon. Another chapter serves up meatless mac and cheeses that use vegan meat substitutes. And, for delicious fun, there are recipes for Mac UnCheese Balls, Mac UnCheese Pizza, Mac UnCheese Waffles, and Mac UnCheese Muffins.


My Review:
Vegan Mac and Cheese is a vegan cookbook for a variety of non-dairy cheesy sauces which are combined with pasta and other ingredients for healthy, tasty meals. The author included recipes that were nut-free, gluten-free, or soy-free (and occasionally free of all three). While the book included many different combinations to create vegan uncheese sauces, she occasionally suggested using store-bought vegan "cheese" or vegan "meats" for a recipe...though she often also included homemade alternatives. The recipes usually only used ingredients that are fairly easy to find, and many could be made with what I (used to vegan recipes) already have around the house. I also suspect that these recipes will taste good even with some substitutions (like yukon gold rather than russet potatoes?). The recipes don't include an approximate guess at how long it'll take to make (which I would have liked) or nutritional information (which doesn't matter to me).

The author included 8 recipes for basic uncheese sauces (including one that's a dry mix for quick prep time), 12 recipes inspired by various pasta-and-cheese traditions around the world, 15 recipes that add various veggies to the pasta and uncheese, 11 recipes for vegan "meat" added to pasta and uncheese, and 10 recipes for re-using leftover mac and uncheese or other unique ways to eat pasta and uncheese. I immediately tried making the Free Mac, which my family enjoyed. As I expected based on the ingredients, it doesn't taste exactly like Mac and Cheese, but other recipes in the book do. The recipes sometimes assumed a basic cooking knowledge, though the recipes are not difficult to make as long as you have a high-speed blender. Overall, I'd recommend this cookbook.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Nut Butter by Carolyn Cesario, Julie Sullivan

Nut Butter by Carolyn Cesario, Julie Sullivan ISBN-13: 9781449499488 Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing Released: Sept. 10, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
NUT BUTTERS is a guide for those looking to make their own nut butters, as well as to incorporate more nut butter into your life in a healthy way. After making countless nut butters over the years, from some major hits (Cinnamon Snickerdoodle was a happy accident) to some, well…odder, concoctions (don’t ever make balsamic nut butter!), Julie and Carolyn share their wisdom so that you can make the perfect nut butter at home, too. All recipes will be peanut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free … but they’re so delicious that you wouldn’t even know it! You'll come away with the tools and know-how to make your own nut butters, as well as some helpful tips and recipes on how to use nut butters in your everyday cooking.


My Review:
Nut Butter explained how to make your own nut butters and how to use nut butters in other recipes. The authors have a small business that makes nut butters with no refined sugar or added oils; just nuts, seeds, spices, and a touch of honey if desired. They provided information on 12 common nuts and seeds and described how to make these into nut butters, from buying and storing them to toasting and food processing them. You only need the minimal ingredients, an oven, and a food processor. Then they provide 18 recipes for nut and seed butters, from plain almond butter to mixes like Cinnamon Snickerdoodle. Finally, they provided food recipes that used these nut butters (for example, adding them to smoothies). There were 11 recipes for breakfast, 8 for snacks, 8 for dressings and sauces, 14 for savory dishes, and 13 for deserts. Overall, I'd recommend this book to people interested in making their own nut butters.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.