Book review: Amerian Farmstead Cheese

I was a bit surprised at the content of this book. It is written in a textbook style and is sort of an information overload. I am sure to find it useful in the future but it is a lot of very dry information. This would be very useful for someone who is interested in selling cheese or understanding why cheese behaves the way that it does. I don't see a chapter on recipes. I haven't gotten very far into the book and will post more info when I get further along.

Book review: Cheese Making Made Easy

I received this book the other day and have read through it completely. I like the layout and the descriptions of the processes used. It is definetely a book for a beginner.  I will be starting to use some of the recipes soon and hope to review them here.

UPDATE: I feel annoyed at the recipes because they are based specifically on the products of Ricki's web store. For example, I went to make my first batch of Parmesan, but the recipe calls for a packet of her direct set culture. But I am not using her cultures, I am using anothers'. Had I not known that I could buy the cultures elsewhere, I would have felt that purchasing from her store was my only choice.

Book review: Nourishing Traditions

As the title implies, this book is all about traditional foods. It is largely based on the work of the dentist Weston Price, who traveled the world and found that those who ate their traditional diet were far healthier than our modern diet.

The book attempts to debunk the so-called "myths" surrounding the saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease theory. The author throws a billion studies at the reader. But the author strikes me as a gal who was already convinced of her own perspective and sought evidence to convince readers into thinking the same.

Many writers are convinced that saturated fats and cholesterol have no bearing on heart disease. I guess I cannot fathom how so many doctors and so many studies could be that incorrect. But it happened with margarine, so I guess it is highly possible.

Book review: Foods Pets Die For

I just started reading this book about pet food. I had no idea the things that go into pet food. Mostly "rendered" companion animals, meaning animals that have been euthanized, which can be toxic to the animals. Evidently that is what is done with road kill, euthanized animals (including the ones no one wants at animal shelters), zoo animals, etc. Evidently they don't bother taking off the collars either. All of it goes into the bin including poop and bedding from the livestock industry.

Oh, and the livestock industry participates by selling off its meat that is unfit for human consumption. Considering all the stuff that goes into hot dogs, that must be pretty disgusting. And, they have to differentiate the stuff that is animal food versus human food. This process is called "denaturing" and includes covering the food with charcoal, carbonic acid, fuel oil, or citronella.

The book also includes several recipes for homemade dog and cat food. I haven't done much cooking for my animals before but it may be worth it.

Besides, have you ever stopped to consider how much pet food costs? For a decent dry cat or dog food, it is about $1/pound. Canned food is more expensive. I'm sure that I can find some substitutes that would cost less than a dollar a pound and still be quality food.

The Gift of Fear

The news this evening is filled with violence, especially violence against women. Yuck.

A few years ago I watched an Oprah show featuring this book. I then got it from the library and wrote down the most useful tips so I could read them again in the future.
The book is very good and I hope everyone reads it. It is specifically geared toward women and violence against women, but it would be good for a man to read as well. And, I found myself thinking that had I read this book before I got into certain relationships that I would have prevented myself from other ways of being victimized.

Grace, I think this would be an excellent purchase for the family and highly recommend that all the girls read it, especially before they start seriously dating. It really does have some very useful information.

Domestic arguments

Last night my husband and I had a terrible argument. I won't go into specifics. Arguing sucks. Especially if the arguments aren't productive and hurt feelings abound. All I want to do when this happens is go into my shell.

I've read both of these books over the years and need to read them again. They are a bit conflicting... Nonviolent Communication is all about showing you that
how you communicate with your partner can be damaging and offers communication help. The second book, by John Gottman talks about issues such as feelings of contempt and defensiveness as the main cause of marital strife. Both books are extremely helpful.

Has anyone else read any books on partnership that have been helpful?