Month: December 2013

December 27, 2013

Michael Smith: Back to Basics Review

I was given the pleasure of reviewing a copy of Michael Smith’s Back to Basics cookbook. If you are not yet familiar with Michael Smith, he is the best selling author of six cookbooks and also the host of several Food Network TV shows including Chef Michael’s Kitchen, Chef at Home and Chef Abroad. Michael lives in Prince Edward Island with his family.

This has to be one of the neatest cookbooks I have ever read. It is loaded with large, mouth watering photographs and contains a great variety of recipes. The recipes are broken down into salads, chicken, beef, pork and lamb, fish, pasta, sides and baking. I love how Michael constantly encourages us to add a bit of our own personality to his recipes (which is so important in cooking!).

I love the way he writes his cookbook. I felt like I had him standing beside me and talking to me (no numbered directions in this cook book!). It gave me the confidence to experiment with his recipes and feel confident that they would turn out fantastic.

I know that I love to have an idea of the types of recipes included in a cookbook before I purchase it so here are some of the names of the recipes that I fell in love with: Caribbean Braised Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash, Thai Chicken Broth with Sweet Potato and Cilantro, Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes, Bells Peppers and Goat Cheese, Tomato Basil Carbonara and so much more!

You can purchase the recipe book here.

Michael Smith’s Back to Basics is also featured on Penguin Canada’s December Daily Delight – have you been entering daily to win free books? You can still enter here now.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

December 18, 2013

A Gift for Sophie Review & Giveaway US/CAN

Story time is a very special time in our house. It is the time of day where we can relax in bed, cuddle up with a blanket and catch up on some quality time with a good book. We love stories that carry a strong meaning for our children, stories they can cherish and learn from.

A Gift for Sophie written by Gilles Vigneault follows the life of Sophie a seven year old girl and her friendships with Old Man Tom and Emilio. We watch as Sophie grows and learns about loss and friendship. A Gift for Sophie is a powerful reminder of the connections we have with our loved ones and help children understand that we are always there for them whether in spirit or presence.

This beautifully written story also comes with a CD that contains both a narration of the story and nine heart warming songs that your whole family will love. The CD really helps bring the story to life. If you are more of a digital person and love reading stories on an app with your children you can download it on the iTunes store for only $7.99. These enhanced e-books offer a complete narration of the story with animation and two recorded songs.

My favourite features of A Gift for Sophie:

– An incredibly powerful and poetic story with an important message for our children. Makes the perfect bedtime story!
-The addition of the CD with a narration and songs (as well as the lyrics to sing along with!).
-An enhanced e-book for those who prefer to download e-books.
-Story is the perfect length – enough to create an interesting story line and to keep a child’s attention.
-The illustrations are beautiful! The illustrations are by Stéphane Jorisch (also a four time winner of the Governor General’s Literacy Award.
-The book is completely Canadian – writer by a Canadian author (Gilles Vigneault), illustrated by a Canadian illustrator (Stéphane Jorisch) and published by a great Canadian publisher – Secret Mountain!

If you are not familiar with the Secret Mountain, they are a Canadian publisher based out of Montreal. They are renowned internationally as a publisher of children’s books and music. They have a large volume of work that you can browse through on their website.

The Secret Mountain is offering one reader a chance to win their own copy of A Gift for Sophie! This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada so feel free to share with all your fellow parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for the purpose to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

December 17, 2013

“You Can Be Anything!” with the Snoopy iPad App

I grew up with Snoopy and can never resist a favourite character from my youth! How can you not love how sweet Snoopy is?

I was very excited to review the “You Can Be Anything” Snoopy App from Story Panda. In this digital adventure Snoopy teaches children that they can be anything! This interactive story is a great way to start the conversation with our children on what they want to be when they grow up.

The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App was a great book to read with my son (it also has a mode where the story could be read to him) on our iPad. Snoopy had us laughing and learning lots of new careers and roles each one of us plays in life. Snoopy plays many roles in this great app inspiring children everywhere that we are special and we can be what ever we want to be.

The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App is full of animation, 3D effects, narratives and cool sounds. It also has a create mode where your child can create their own story to go along with the animations. My son had so much fun creating his own silly story using family names. He spent over thirty minutes on the app creating his own version. He was so proud of it at the end! He came up with cool jobs, neat story lines and was even able to change Snoopy’s clothes.

The You Can Be Anything Snoopy App was a huge hit in our home and for only $2.99 you can also explore this interactive story and create your own!

If your not following Story Panda yet you can find them on Facebook and Twitter.

December 17, 2013

Dora Live! #WW w/linky

Our WW post this week is from our great adventure we had last week. We braved the first big snowfall (well big to me as I do not like winter driving!) and headed down to see Dora! We had an incredible time (you can read about it here). Here is our favourite photo from the day:

Link up below so I can head over and see your post as well!

December 13, 2013

Dora The Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys: An Interactive Production

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

Dora the Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys landed at Hamilton Place this week and stole our hearts!

Our family was so excited to attend the live Dora show – especially our youngest son who is the world’s biggest Dora fan. He has us watching Dora re-runs over and over!

Hamilton Place was full of children of all ages excited and ready to see the loveable Dora and friends. There were little girls dressed up in orange pants, pink shirts and purple back packs. My son declared they were truly Dora-fied! Amongst those adorable Dora costumes was a diverse group of young boys, toddlers and adults excited to experience the magic that is Dora.

The entire production was an incredible experience. I kept wondering how they were going to make the animated Dora come to life! The casts and crew accomplished this in the most interactive and exciting way possible. The seventy minute live theatrical production included all aspects of the televesion show Dora – songs, actions, problem solving, language and all characters (including Back Pack and the Map!). There was also a short intermission that was a huge relief so we could get the kids to the bathroom and back, although our youngest was quite anxious to get the show back on the road!

The entire audience was singing, dancing and laughing along with the cast. I found myself clapping and singing right along with my boys (it is amazing how you can know every word to each song!). Dora had all of us involved in each part of the show clapping, dancing, stomping our feet, solving problems along the way as Dora and Boots search for the City of Lost Toys.

Each set change had us anticipating what new adventure awaited Dora and her friends. We were all anticipating the moment when that Sneaky Swiper would make his appearance. Our youngest was on constant Swiper watch and as soon as he saw that tail he would shout and throw up his hand “Swiper No Swiping!”.

Dora the Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys was an incredible experience for our family. It was honestly one of the most engaging and exciting family productions we have ever been to. I would definitely bring our family back again to see Dora and her friends.

Disclosure: I received tickets to the show to help facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.