Book Review- Just Add Watercolor

A beautifully illustrated, easy-to-navigate guide to creating contemporary watercolors, pairing full-page paintings with insights and tips for artists.
     Featuring 200 of the best works of young, modern watercolor painters, paired with bite-sized painting tips and art instruction, Just Add Watercolor gives aspiring artists access to information about–and examples of–top work in the medium. Artist and instructor Helen Birch breaks down each painting by techniques, subject matter, and tools, providing art enthusiasts and painters with a one-stop resource and gallery of the best that modern watercolor has to offer. Its small trim size with one painting per spread provides a bold, but user-friendly alternative to traditional, process-heavy painting instruction texts. Just Add Watercolor shines the spotlight on featured paintings, while still giving readers all the insights needed to get started painting in this popular medium.


My Thoughts-
This is a great book. It's smaller than I expected, not sure why I thought it would be a bigger book. It's about the size of a greeting card, with over 200 pages full of beautiful images, ideas, suggestions, and techniques from about 70 different watercolor artists. 

Each page spread features a full-color print of watercolor art on one side (sometimes a grid of several from the same artist), and one or two paragraphs on technique, plus a "tip" on the facing page.

There are no step-by-steps in this book. There's no "here's how to get started in watercolor". Instead, this book is more of a tiny exhbit of gorgeous watercolor works, plus a little insight on how the artist created them.

This is such a great book. I actually requested this book for review, send this book to a friend who loves painting. Highly recommended.

*Disclaimer*

I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for my feedback. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Sweetapolita Bakebook: 75 Fanciful Cakes, Cookies & More to Make & Decorate

Paint, doodle, and sprinkle your way to stunning one-of-a-kind sweets. 
 
The world of Sweetapolita is sparkly and sprinkly and charming as can be, with 75 recipes for everything from pretty homemade cookies to decadent layer cakes. But what really sets these treats apart are interactive designs that let everyone in on the fun of decorating: Painted Mini Cakes are served with edible “paint” for guests to personalize at the table, the fondant-covered tiered Chalk-a-Lot cake is paired with homemade edible “chalk,” and Rainbow Doodle cookies are made for kids to go to town on with edible markers. 
 
Rosie Alyea, the creator of the Sweetapolita blog, frolics in flour and frosting, and she loves to get her two young daughters involved, too. The pages of her debut book are full of playful ideas that will inspire creativity in bakers of all levels—including a recipe for making sprinkles at home and numerous ways to showcase them, such as the Sprinkle-Me-Silly Pizza with rainbow jimmies and nonpareils galore. 
 
With 75 full-color photographs of cookies, cakes, and more plus step-by-step technique tutorials, The Sweetapolita Bakebook will change the way bakers decorate, while entertaining every kid—and kid-at-heart.

*My Review*

This book has so many amazing recipes. It has things I didn't even know about and I have been baking for many years. My grandmother taught me to cook and bake at a young age, and for that I am so thankful. This book has such useful information and how-to's. I am excited to try out all the recipes! I even found the perfect recipe for my wife's birthday next week.

Sweetapolita has so many cute ideas. There are a bunch of recipes that children would enjoy helping with. I have three children(11, 5, & 3) and they have all looked through this book many times to see which recipe they want to help make. 

From the moment this book arrived at my door I haven't been able to stop looking all the wonderful recipes and all the information this book had.

I recommend this book to everyone who loves cooking/baking...I would say for that special woman in your life, but I'm a guy and I absolutely love this book. It would make a great wedding/housewarming gift! 

*Disclaimer* 

I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for my honest review. 

{{Book Review}} Franklin Barbecue by Aaron Franklin

A complete meat- and brisket-cooking education from the country's most celebrated pitmaster and owner of the wildly popular Austin restaurant Franklin Barbecue--winner of Texas Monthly's coveted Best Barbecue Joint in Texas award.

When Aaron Franklin and his wife, Stacy, opened up a small barbecue trailer on the side of an Austin, Texas, interstate in 2009, they had no idea what they’d gotten themselves into. Today, Franklin Barbecue has grown into the most popular, critically lauded, and obsessed-over barbecue joint in the country (if not the world)—and Franklin is the winner of every major barbecue award there is.
 
In this much-anticipated debut, Franklin and coauthor Jordan Mackay unlock the secrets behind truly great barbecue, and share years’ worth of hard-won knowledge. Franklin Barbecue is a definitive resource for the backyard pitmaster, with chapters dedicated to building or customizing your own smoker; finding and curing the right wood; creating and tending perfect fires; sourcing top-quality meat; and of course, cooking mind-blowing, ridiculously delicious barbecue, better than you ever thought possible.

*My Review*
As you can see from my other reviews that I usually review cook books! I Love BBQ and this book is simply amazing, while it isn't FULL of recipes, it does tell you everything you need to know about creating the perfect meat. It also tells you how to build a smoker. I personally cannot wait to build my own and start using the tips and tricks shown in this book! 

*Disclaimer*
I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for my honest opinion

Punch Bowls and Pitcher Drinks by Jeanne Kelley and Sarah Tenaglia -Book Review-

Find inspiration in fresh fruit, smoky spices, and potent spirits, and mix a bowl or pitcher of punch for any occasion or season. Whether it's a drink served in champagne flutes at a holiday party or in Mason jars and paper cups in the backyard, you'll take cocktail hour to a whole new level with every one of these drinks:

• CLASSIC COCKTAILS, such as Pimm’s Punch
• SANGRIAS AND CHAMPAGNE-BASED PUNCHES, such as Meyer Lemon Drop Champagne Punch
• TROPICAL DRINKS, such as Kumquat-Tangerine Smash
• HEIGHT OF SUMMER, such as Watermelon-Tequila Punch
• FIRESIDE COCKTAILS, such as Aztec Chocolate Punch
• NONALCOHOLIC PUNCHES, such as Mixed Berry Lemonade

My Thoughts

This book is packed full of excellent recipes and ideas for fun party drinks.

My absolute favorite punch is the Vampire Brew! This is a non-alcholic fun punch that is perfect for Halloween.

This book is going on my recipe shelf for keeps.

*Disclaimer*
I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for my honest opinion