Book Review - The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

The School of Essential Ingredients
Erica Bauermeister
Putnam Adult
ISBN # 978-0399155437

I'm finding it hard to do this book justice. It's intoxicating, intriguing and moving. It educates and entertains. It will make you giggle, sigh, yearn for romance and grieve for loss. Everything about it is beautiful, including the cover.

The main story revolves around a cooking class - the teacher and her eight students. But the stories of the characters are interwoven elegantly throughout, each dish triggering a memory vignette specific to each student.

I loved The School of Essential Ingredients, but then again, I love to cook and I love psychology. And I especially love words that make me see the story and feel the emotions of the characters. Erican Bauermeister is a talented writer and I can't wait to see what she does next!
(January 2009, pp 256, $24.95)

Book Review - What Happy Parents Do: Ninety-Three Cents and a Little Humpty Dumpty--The Loving Little Rituals of a Child-Proof Marriage

by Carol J. Bruess and Anna D.H. Kudak

There is an old saying "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." The truth is if Mama AND Papa ain't happy, they're probably not doing their children any favors, either. Protecting and nurturing the parents' relationship is the most important thing in raising healthy, happy children.

What Happy Parents Do provides suggestions on how to take care of each other, and gives anecdotes from real couples on how they've done just that. Loving and supporting each other isn't always about grand gestures. Sometimes the little things we do mean much more.

What Happy Parents Do is an excellent little book to give to new parents!
(Fairview Press, pp 112, $14.95)

Be a Shutterbug!

Last Christmas, one of my gifts was a very nice digital camera. It was a discontinued model and cost less than $100.00. The photos are crisp and clean, and the camera is easy to use.

I have made it a habit to have it close at hand. I take it with me wherever I go. I took some gorgeous photos this Fall when I was out hiking in the nearby woods.

If you are a freelance writer, photos make your stories that much more desirable to editors. And some publications pay you for your photos, as well as your words. So, get to clicking that shutter, you never know when a photo might complement one of your articles.