Two Words, One Answer.
everything
 Lifehouse - Everything $14.99 Ups and downs - great to have Lifehouse on DVD BUT - why so few songs and one of them repeated. Looks like it was a bit of a rushed job; let's throw something together quickly with whatever's available. And then again ... great to have Lifehouse on DVD, so I'm happy I bought it. Cheers Jon  Everything $0.99 What draws me to Alanis' music is the fact that she writes song about real, human emotion. Unlike a lot of the new talent coming out of the pop/rock-pop industry, she does not write about sex, drugs, or money in a manner that other artists do. 'Everything' is an example of that. Essentially a song about how a lover sees everything in her, Alanis tells a story of how said lover 'sees everything' and remains with her despite the good or the bad. 'You love all my light, and you love my dark' is one of the most powerful lines in the song; not only because a lot of relationship songs fail to point out the pros and the cons of being with someone, but because a true relationship SHOULD involve the good and the bad. There is nothing wrong with being creative about your songwriting. Alanis' musical interpretation of such common themes is what sets her apart from other artists, and, ultimately, makes her far more interesting than anything new coming out of the pop industry. 'Everything' is a song worth looking into. Its beautiful writing, its elegant tune, and Alanis' amazing voice makes it a song that everyone should listen to.  The Everything Meals For A Month Cookbook: Smart Recipes To Help You Plan Ahead, Save Time, And Stay On Budget (Everything: Cooking) $15.95 This seems like a nice cookbook, especially good for a beginning cook. It has a very helpful chapter that spells out how to set up a OAMC day - things to consider when picking recipes, how to set up your shopping list, organize your day, etc. Recipes are generally provided in two quantities (for instance in appetizers, there would be serves 36 and serves 108; entrees would be serves 6-8, serves 24 - varies by recipe of course). The recipes sometimes have "kits" assembled, where instructions are given to attach a bag of green peppers (or cheese or whatever) to main entre so the dish has all ingredients assembled when used later. Seems like a fair number of the recipes called for cooking the entrees, then freezing, so you would be thawing and reheating them later. This is somewhat of a pet peeve of mine, as I don't really care for that style of cooking (since it reminds me of leftovers), but that's a personal bias and you may prefer that kind of recipe as being more timesaving on final serving days. The recipes have what I consider to be fairly normal ingredients (i.e. peppers, onions, garlic, olive oil for instance). I didn't see a lot of exotic ingredients, other than where you would expect to find them (like coconut milk in a Thai Chicken recipe). They are mostly what I consider to be "home cooking" type recipes (i.e. the kind you would find in a community cookbook or Taste of Home). I like the inclusion of the Freezer to Slow Cooker and Freezer to Grill chapters, although the recipes are pretty standard (in other words, half of them you probably already make or would have easily thought of on your own). For example, in the Freezer to Slow Cooker chapter, the recipes include Beef Stew, Southwest Chicken Stew, Slow Cooker Fajitas, Beef Stroganoff, Chili, Swiss Steak, Lasagna, etc. However, it also includes Beef with Broccoli, Spicy Peanut Chicken, and Apricot Pork Chops, so there are a few more unique entrees scattered among the old favorites. Same with the Freezer to Grill chapter. It includes BBQ Ribs, Beef Kabobs, All American Burgers, and Shrimp Kabobs, but it also includes Marinated Steak with Blue Cheese Butter, and Pesto Chicken Packets. The TV Dinners chapter gives you tips for creating your own personal TV dinners using those plastic divided plates that can be microwaved or reheated in the oven. I thought this was kind of a unique chapter, even though (again) the majority of the recipes were old standards. I don't remember having seen that style of preparation in the other freezer cooking books I have looked through. Those of you cooking for elderly parents or family members that eat at different times will probably appreciate that chapter. The appendix of the book includes an equivalents chart (1 pound lean ground beef equals 2.5 cups cooked, etc.). It's kind of funny for me with cookbooks. On the one hand, excluding an ethnic cooking book for instance where I would expect it, I don't like cookbooks that have so many exotic recipes and ingredients that I feel like I can't make anything without a huge shopping trip. Normally I like having recipes with ingredients that sound familiar to me. In this case though, I'd say more than half (probably 75%) of the recipes in the book are old standbys (meaning I already have recipes I use for them), which makes this book feel just the teensiest bit boring. It's hard to feel like you are trying a new recipe, when it is a recipe for beef stew and you've made dozens of them, you know what I mean? However, that minor criticism aside, the positive side is I feel like I can take a chance on the less familiar recipes in the book, because if the author likes the old standbys I like, the more exotic recipes probably aren't too exotic. I think this will be a good basic recipe book and I am glad I added it to my collection. I especially give it a thumbs up for the unique specialty chapters (slow cooking, grilling, TV dinners). I think it would be a fabulous choice for someone just starting out (like a college student or newlywed) who doesn't have too many cookbooks. |
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