BOOK REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY: Gooseberry Patch Stitching for the Kitchen

Today I am part of the Gooseberry Patch book tour for their newest book, Stitching for the Kitchen. This book marries two of my most favorite things...cooking and sewing....so I was more than happy to review it!  The minute it arrived in the mail I promptly sat down on my porch and flipped through it noting all the fun projects I wanted to make while my kids ran through the sprinklers.

Like this Appliqued House Trivet...so cute! How fun would this be for a Christmas gift!

And I love, love, love this Warm and Toasty Toaster Cozy.  I want it just for me!!! I can see my girls wanting to play house with it :-)

The book has 30 easy projects from sewing to embroidery as well as it has recipes sprinkled throughout it that many times correlate with the project.  Like a recipe for Super Simple Parkerhouse Rolls that would be just lovely in the Divided Bread Basket project.  How's that for nifty?  It makes this book just perfect for gift giving...you could make a project and then add the recipe for a bridal shower...or make a project and make the recipe for say a housewarming!  Awesomesauce!

The book also included a techniques section which offers embroidery techniques as well essential techniques for making all the projects.  Plus all the embroidery designs are included and there is also a pocket at the back with all the patterns....woot! Gotta love that!

If you'd like to win a copy of Gooseberry Patch Stitching for the Kitchen you can enter via the rafflecopter widget below or CLICK HERE now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS. here is the line up for the book's blog tour in case you wanted to follow along...there are projects, book reviews, and giveaways going on and coming up soon!

July 22

Gooseberry Patch

July 23

Momma Young At Home

Craft Gossip

July 24

Old House Homestead

Green Eyed Momma

July 25

Sew Serendipity

Prairie Flower Farm

July 26

Smashed Peas and Carrots

Marsha's Spot

July 27

Wild Olive

Only From Scratch

July 28

Pam Kitty Morning

Blue Nickel Studios

July 29

Glued to My Crafts

Susie QT Pies Cafe

July 30

The Crafty Princess Diaries

Gramma's In the Kitchen

Two Maids A Milking

August 1

Vicki O'Dell

Homesteader's Heart  

August 2

A Creative Being

Delightful Country Cookin

A Few of My Favorite Things {Book Edition}

Since giving you the *grand* tour of my sewing cabinets here and here, many of you have inquired as to which sewing/craft books I had tucked away on the tippy-top shelves.  Isn't it fun to see what other's have in their personal stash of craft-y geekiness?  I think so!  I really enjoy these kind of posts on other blogs so I figured why not.  You know I'm the kinda girl who loves to share :-)

So without further ado, here are a few of my favorite books right now.  Not only do they have great content but they also give me great inspiration...oh, and patterns...ya gotta love lots of patterns!

{These are a few of my favorite things...}

First up, for the knitters, is the super awesome book Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren.  

It's chock full of vintage-y sweet baby goodness.  I just adore this book and every single pattern in here...so pretty and so classic!!

There is a great pattern in the book for a pair of soakers...if you cloth diaper you will like these.  If you don't cloth diaper you will still like these, they are just too cute on sweet baby hineys, for reals.

When I first thumbed through this book I fell in love with this picture above.  Why, you might ask?  When I first had Noah my momma sent me box of knit sweaters, booties and blankets that my grandma from Peru made us kids when we were itty bitty.  This sweater is almost an exact match to a few that she made for us!!  How awesome that I was able to find a pattern for them!!

In the book, this sweater is called the 'Violet Sacque'.  They even mention how you can make it with a fingering-weight alpaca...so totally Peruvian!

Another book I just love is Little Girls, Big Style by Mary Abreu.  

This is a great book if you are at all interested in making your own little girl's clothing.  She gives you a four basic patterns and shows you how you can mix and match them to customize them to your own style.  

She even has a version of the ever-popular Knot dress...now you can make your own!

I received Craft Hope by Jade Sims this past Christmas.  

I absolutely love this book!  It is full of simple yet inspiring projects that you can make alone or with a group of friends for many wonderful charities that she shares with you in the book.  What an awesome idea to harness all your crafting energy to make things for others in need.  

Isn't this baby kimono great?

As a side note for each project she shares an organization with you that you may send your finished items too.  And a major bonus is that there is a Craft Hope blog found here, where you can get involved and take part in the latest Craft Hope project.  I would so love to start a sewing group in the Chicago suburbs this spring.  If you are interested at all, let me know!!

The next book that I really like is Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan.  

This book has tons, and I mean tons of cute sewing projects that you can get done in just a few hours time.   Perfect for birthday or Christmas gifts...or dare I say Valentine's Day gifts, muahahaha!

I really liked the patchwork sewing pillow and adjusted it to fit a boppy for Miss Eloise.

And lastly, how could I have a whole post devoted to my favorite sewing books if I didn't share one written by one of my favorite fabric designers, Heather Ross.  Her book, Weekend Sewing,  is just so wonderful!!  I have done sooooo many projects in this book and they really do only take a few hours to a weekend of time at the most.  

Here is Lucy's Kimono which I made for Eloise in this post here. 

Well, that's it folks!  I hope you enjoyed a little peek at some of my favorite sewing/craft books.  

Do you have any favorites?  I'd love to hear them as I'm always on the look-out for a new, fun book to read...it's really a sick addiction but you can enable me, I'm cool with that!

Leave a comment below and share your favorites please!!  

**Also, if you are a fan of Smashed Peas and Carrots on Facebook you might want to hop on over later today and enter a special Facebook Fans Snowstorm Giveaway!  These fun giveaways happen every so often over on the fan page so *ahem* become a fan and 'like' Smashed Peas and Carrots so you can get updates on the latest and greatest giveaways!!  Later dudes!

Books, Books and Cookbooks

Wow! Ok, it has been a while since I've posted anything, sorry! Hey, at least I'm getting in my first post of 2010 before the first week of the New Year is gone!

Quickly, I just wanted to let you all know that I am actually starting to feel a bit better, wahoo! (I think) For the past 2 days I have been able to eat a small breakfast and lunch. I still go downhill and fast around 5 pm. Let's pray this morning sickness/all day sickness is coming to an end....please!

I also wanted to thank all of you so much for the sweet words and the wonderful advice! I have taken many of you up on it and I think it has made a difference! You are all so lovely and my heart is warmed over one thousand times by all the comments and emails I have been showered with, you all rock, seriously!!!

Ok, you all know that I have been a bit on the tired and nauseated side lately and have not been very crafty lately. (I do have something small to show you though, hopefully in the next few days I can get it up for you.) But, to make up for it I have been a bit bookworm-y lately!! Yup, reading books, that is something I can handle. It takes about no energy, you can do it while laying on the couch, and it helps you fall asleep and forget your nauseated yucky self pretty quick. Me likey.

Well, I wanted to share with you what I have been reading, well actually re-reading, cause I think it is such fitting reading for a New Year with New Goals (I really hate the word "resolutions").

I absolutely love this book, Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It is non-fiction and is about Barbara Kingsolver's goal to try and go one year of eating locally, growing her food on her farm and making her own cheese!

I really dig this book because I try really hard to feed my family organic foods, buy from local farmers, and have healthy and natural cleaning practices in my home. With small children and feeling like I am always pregnant I feel it is a must! If you are new to my blog (well, hello there, I'm Maggie) please check out some of my past posts on how to make your own natural homemade deodorant and air freshener. These recipes work and are truly amazing without hurting your body or the environment.

If you are thinking of going more organic or natural I highly suggest you make yourself a goal of doing it for a month. It doesn't have to be a more expensive way to shop. There are so many grocery stores out there now that can really get you going in this direction without breaking the bank. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's are two that I love shopping at that carry their own generic lines of organic/natural food that are very reasonably priced. The local grocery stores in my area like Jewel, Meijer, and Dominick's also carry organic or natural products and with their store brand labels too. If you just look around and do some investigating you will find a lot of choices at good prices, pinky swear!

Meat is a huge expense for many families and if you buy organic it is even pricier. What my family did last spring was buy a quarter of a cow from an organic cattle farm owned by a good friend of mine. We ended up with tons of different cuts of meats, some I had never cooked with before and that gave me a great reason to search for new recipes! We grilled out a lot this past summer too and every person that came to our house and tried the organic meat was impressed. The steaks were so tender and the burgers always came out perfect. The price we ended up paying per pound of meat was only $2.50/lb!!! What a savings for buying in bulk. The only issue with buying part of a cow is that you need a freezer to store all the meat in. I think we ended up with well over 100 pounds of meat. We only eat red meat once maybe twice a week if we entertain so this meat will definitely last us over a year and that is just awesome. No meat shopping for whole year!! We ended up buying a deep freezer which has also come in very handy for trips to Costco (which by the way did you know that they sell lots of organic items these days? From yogurt to cheese, vegetables and fruits, etc. Totally Awesome!)

Anyhoo, check this option out if you are a meat eater and want to buy more organic, natural, antibiotic-free, free-range meat without the high grocery store cost. There are many local cattle farms out there if you just do a little searching.

The next book I am going to share with you is:

I ♥ this book!! Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, I know, it's a little odd of a choice to be sharing with you right now but I just bought this book for my brother and sister-in-law and my cutest doll of a niece, Emilyanne. They are first time parents and the "when do I start my baby on solids?" and "what should I feed my baby first?" questions come up fast.

I used this book with both Noah and Penny and recommend it to everyone! It gives you month by month foods to feed your baby based on what your baby's digestive system is ready to handle. It teaches you how to make your own baby food and has many other recipes in there all the way up to toddlerhood. I think making your own baby food is the way to go, you can give your baby the best in solid foods by going organic and it costs just pennies. One large organic sweet potato will make like two trays of frozen cubes which is many meals to a little babycakes! Check this one out if you have a soon-to-be-solids eater in your household!

And, now my last book to share with you is actually a cookbook. I bought this book this past summer and have made so many yummy recipes from it. I hope to get back into it once this 'yuck stage' of pregnancy has past me by.

This cookbook, Rustic Fruit Dessert by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson, is amazing because it shows you how to make these amazing rustic fruit desserts (hehe, like the title says) but it does it by season! Yup, you heard me right. By season!!! So, if it's currently winter where you live, like me (boo-hoo for the cold!) you can flip to that section of the cookbook and it will tell you what awesome desserts you can make with the fruit that is available at that time of year! SO COOL! There is no better way to start eating locally for dessert than with this cookbook!

Alright, so that's it for now. I hope you pick up one or all of these books and love them as much as I do. They are great inspiration if your New Year's Goals are to live a bit more organic, natural and local or wonderful add-ins to your library if you already do!

Hope your New Year is going wonderfully. I can tell you, I haven't thrown up since New Year's Eve so in my book my New Year is starting off on a good note. Now, if I could just get back to blogging regularly again :)

Talk to you soon!