Books I am currently reading

I have quite a few books checked out from the library right now.
Here are some of them:

How To Dry Foods by Deanna DeLong
Food Drying with an Attitude by Mary T.Bell

I just got a food dehydrator and checked out these books to see if there was anything intersting in them. 
So far, I have dried some fruits - which we ate.  I don't think I dried them enough though because when I put the leftovers in a container they were soggy the next day.  I also sprouted and dried kamut and wheat - that worked great - and made it into flour.

Some other cookbooks I have out from the library right now are:

From Amish and Mennonite Kitchens by Phyllis Pellmand Good and Rachel Thomas Pellman
I love that it is written in calligraphy!  I think that it is all hand written - not a font - and I cannot imagine how long that took to do!  The recipes look simple and yummy! 

Healthy Meals for Less by Jonni McCoy
I am not sure if I will use many of the recipes but there is one for homemade granola bars that I am going to try.

Healthy Helpings : 800 Fast and Fabulous Recipes for the Kosher (or Not) Cook
by Norene Gilletz
It looks intersting .  I tried the homemade potato chips and figured out how to use my food processor to slice potatoes.  Now you know how little I use the food processor.
The chips were ok, but I think I over cooked them - some were very black and crispy.

Other books currently checked out include:

fearless knitting WORKBOOK by jennifer e. seiffert
Sadly, I fear this one is beyond my beginner knitting skills.  I did get a good idea from it though.  She has lots of little knit squares patterns - which are too difficult for me to do - but I thought that was a good idea to do to learn new skills and techniques so I am using my scrap yarn to knit some potholders trying some other patterns.  Perhaps I will work my skill level up and check out this book in the future.  For now, it is going back to the library.

Just In Case: How to be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens
by Kathy Harrison
So, I have learned from this book that should the unexpected happen and we are trapped in our house without electricity we are just in major trouble.  The book does have some recipes in the back though!  I love recipes even though I rarely follow them exactly.  I see recipes as good general guidelines to follow and adapt using ingredients that I like and have on hand.

Making the Best of Basics: FAMILY PREPAREDNESS HANDBOOK
By James Talmage Stevens
Yet more evidence that we would not do well with no electricity.  But again, it has recipes!  And it tells how to make homemade yogurt!  I want to try that sometime. 


By the way - I am blogging in a chair full of kittens.  Three are behind me which makes the back of my backside nice and warm, but I cannot sit back in the chair and one is in my lap purring, which she always does.