muffin tin new coverI’m excited to announce the release of my new ebook, The Original Muffin Tin Cookbook!  Several years ago, I wrote The Muffin Tin Cookbook for a large publisher. That edition is now out of print. Lots of people have emailed me asking how to buy it. Due to popular demand, it’s now back as an ebook. All the same great recipes are here. This was the very first book about muffin tin cooking ever published, so I’m happy to be able to bring it back.

The book includes recipes for entrees, appetizers, veggies, sides, potato and rice dishes, muffins, mini-pies, cupcakes, snacks, and much more.

Muffin tin cooking is easy and fun. It’s a great way to get your kids involved in cooking. Kids are willing to try new foods when they are presented in the shape of muffins – something they already love. Muffin tin cooking makes portion control easy for adults also. One muffin cup is one serving. The portions are easy to freeze as well.The book offers recipes for regular size muffin cups, mini and jumbo. There’s also lots of information about the types of muffin tin liners and pans to choose from (so many options!).

Enjoy the book yourself or give it to your mom, your sister, your college kid, your single brother or friends with kids.

This book was so much fun to write and I still often make the recipes from it. I hope you will enjoy it!

 

I’m excited to announce the release of my new ebook, The Original Muffin Tin Cookbook!  Several years ago, I wrote The Muffin Tin Cookbook for a large publisher. That edition is now out of print. Lots of people have emailed me asking how to buy it. Due to popular demand, it’s now back as an … Read more

I was so excited that the authors created a gluten free book for this series (there are several books in this 5 minutes a day series). Good quality gluten free dinner bread is really hard to come by. Store bought bread is fine for sandwiches, but sometimes I really miss French bread, challah, and Italian bread.

gf artisanFirst, let me say that the bread from this book is very good. It’s not exactly the same as gluten bread, but it’s incredibly close. I’ve made several recipes from the book. I recommend it but suggest you understand what’s involved before jumping in.

Secondly, this is most definitely NOT 5 minutes a day. Here’s how it works. First you need to make the flour blend and you probably don’t have all the flours you need at home so you have to go buy them.

Boule, basic artisan bread

Boule, basic artisan bread

You need to mix the flour and have a place to store it because the mix is not used up by making one batch. Then you make the dough. It has to sit out for 2 hours, then you refrigerate it. The day you want to bake some, you have to measure a pound of it and let it sit out for an hour. You need to preheat the oven with a pizza stone and a pan of water. Then you bake the bread on the pizza stone. If you use parchment paper under it, you have to pull it out halfway through (I did this because I do not have a pizza peel and did not want to buy one). It bakes for 45 minutes. Then you are supposed to let the bread cool completely before eating (2 hours). To accomplish all of that for dinner, I would need to start right after lunch. Not really doable on most days.

That being said, the bread is really, really good. The basic artisan bread recipe makes a bread that has a wonderful crunch on the outside and a good texture on the inside. The flavor is good. It’s not gummy or sandy as some gluten free breads are. It’s also not too heavy and not too light.

I also made another recipe from the book for the challah bread and from that I made challah, cinnamon rolls, and monkey bread. All three were very good. That dough is very wet and sticky and hard to manipulate but I managed. It’s basically the same many step scenario with this bread as well, however it was really wonderful to finally have challah again after years without it.

Boule, sliced

Boule, sliced

The only book I have that rivals this is How Can It Be Gluten Free, which has hands down the most amazing dinner roll recipe you will ever taste in your life. Both books require their own flour mix, so now I’ve got two containers in my pantry, plus my containers of Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Flour Blend and Cup4Cup.

I was so excited that the authors created a gluten free book for this series (there are several books in this 5 minutes a day series). Good quality gluten free dinner bread is really hard to come by. Store bought bread is fine for sandwiches, but sometimes I really miss French bread, challah, and Italian … Read more

surviving narcissistMy friend Meredith Resnick has just published a very helpful book about coping with the narcissists in your life. Surviving the Narcissist is a 30 day plan for how to get over or cope with this relationship in your life. I found this book to be eye-opening. It might just be the little nudge you need to solve some relationship problems! I had a chance to ask Meredith some questions about narcissism:

What is a narcissist?

Someone who lacks empathy, who is grandiose, who takes advantage of others, those are hallmarks traits of a narcissist. However,  narcissists can also be very charming, often taking on the personality of the person from whom they want approval. They do this because they themselves feel that there is nothing inside them–in other words, that they are nothing–and so instead of drawing on internal strengths, they take from others, and relegate to the other person their own feeling of emptiness and nothingness. This is called projection. (By the way, the emptiness or nothingness I’m referring to in narcissism is not the same as what is discussed in Buddhism.)

Why is it so hard to get over a narcissist?

Denial is a big part, and understandably so. The narcissistic person is wounded, however, they relegate this wound to the other person. Without realizing it, the other person starts to behave as the wounded one, something the narcissist needs to feel — momentarily — whole. But as the other person wakes up, the narcissist then senses that the other person might be getting a clue as to what’s going on, and then becomes needy and apologietic. The pattern repeats and morphs. All this is unconscious, of course, adding to the crazy-making. My first book, Narcissism: Surviving the Self-Involved goes into more detail about these and other dynamics. My new book, Surviving the Narcissist: 30 Days of Recovery, helps in the healing.

My friend Meredith Resnick has just published a very helpful book about coping with the narcissists in your life. Surviving the Narcissist is a 30 day plan for how to get over or cope with this relationship in your life. I found this book to be eye-opening. It might just be the little nudge you … Read more

GFGTT_finalToday I’m announcing the publication of my Kindle book, The Gluten-Free Guide to Travel. To the point (28 pp) and nicely priced, this is a complete guide to traveling on a gluten-free diet, whether you are celiac, gluten intolerant, or simply choose not to eat gluten. Based on my travels in the US and abroad, I’m offering tips on how to find great gluten-free meals, what to pack, how to get help finding food, how to communicate your diet in other countries, and tips about things such as cruises, tours, airplane food, and road trips.  I also discuss how to manage traveling with gluten eaters. Traveling gluten-free is easier than ever before, so it’s time to read this ebook and hit the road!

Today I’m announcing the publication of my Kindle book, The Gluten-Free Guide to Travel. To the point (28 pp) and nicely priced, this is a complete guide to traveling on a gluten-free diet, whether you are celiac, gluten intolerant, or simply choose not to eat gluten. Based on my travels in the US and abroad, … Read more

how can it be gluten freeI’m a fan of America’s Test Kitchen. I subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated for several years and love that there is someone out there who takes a methodical approach to recipe testing. If you’re not familiar, they usually take one recipe and then try it dozens of ways to find the very best method and recipe. Their results are always trustworthy. When I heard they had a gluten free cookbook  (The How Can it Be Gluten Free Cookbook) coming out, I was skeptical. I have to say I am generally not a fan of gluten free cookbooks. I buy GF flour, pasta, and bread and I made regular recipes with them. I don’t usually want to have to use 5 kinds of flour to make one recipe when I can buy Cup4Cup and substitute it in most recipes.

So, I was reluctant. But I bought it anyhow. And I sat down to read it and I wondered why I doubted them. They do a very in-depth comparison of existing GF flour blends and also test GF pasta and breads on the market. I found the flour testing the most useful and I agreed with their conclusions, however they did not test my go-to brand, Cup4Cup. I found the pasta and bread evaluations less useful. I can’t find some of the brands in my store that they used and I also rely heavily on my store’s in-house brand for pasta. They offer really good advice about cooking with GF products and storing GF baked goods (in short, they get stale fast). This is a book where the writers thought carefully about what they were making and spent a lot of time figuring out what works and what doesn’t. It is the BEST gluten free cookbook I’ve ever owned. It covers breakfast items, bread (I haven’t tried making any yeast bread but I am definitely going to now), cakes, pies, cookies, and more.

The real gold in this book is that they give you a recipe for their own flour blend. After testing many on the market they create one that they found to be better than everything out there (except Cup4Cup which they did not discuss, sadly). I’m not going to reprint their recipe for flour here (you’ll have to buy the book), but it was easy to make and I found all the items on the shelf in my store – white rice flour, brown rice flour, milk powder, tapioca starch and potato starch. I mixed it up and kept it in a large plastic container. A few minutes of mixing and I had a flour blend I could turn to for all of my baking.

GF Coffee Cake 1

Coffee Cake

So far I’ve made three recipes from the book so far: pancakes, coffee cake and carrot cake. I’m giving all three a big thumbs up. The recipes use their custom flour blend, BUT they tell you how much to substitute if you are using their top store bought flour blends. I love that part of the book. I made the recipes with their flour and was happy with the results, for the most part.

The pancakes turned out perfectly. Their method makes pancakes that are fluffy and cooked completely. They have some great tips about how important it is to preheat the pan and what size makes the optimum pancakes.

I was worried about the coffee cake because the batter didn’t taste great to me at all, but it turned out wonderfully – moist and fluffy. The only complaint I have about the coffee cake is that the glaze was too thin and ran off the cake.

Carrot cake

Carrot cake

The carrot cake was fantastic (moist with a depth of flavor), however the baking time was not long enough. I took my cake out of the oven and it was still jiggly in the center. I didn’t listen to my own instincts and let it cool, then it was obvious it was just mush in the middle. I put it back in the oven for 20 minutes, starting with a cold oven. Once it was baked completely, it was delicious.

I’ll definitely be baking more from this cookbook. If you’re GF, you want this on your kitchen bookshelf.

I’m a fan of America’s Test Kitchen. I subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated for several years and love that there is someone out there who takes a methodical approach to recipe testing. If you’re not familiar, they usually take one recipe and then try it dozens of ways to find the very best method and recipe. … Read more

melt coverWhen I heard that Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese by going to be published by my friend Stephanie Stiavetti and her co-author Garrett McCord, my first reaction was to drool. Because an entire book about macaroni and cheese is possibly the evilest, most wonderfulest thing I could imagine. Then I started to wonder, what exactly could Stephanie be up to? How many recipes for mac and cheese are there? Well, it turns out there are more than you can imagine. Stephanie was kind enough to send me a book and then kind enough not to get mad at me when it sat on my desk for several months while I waded through an incredibly complex work and personal time. I’ve finally shoved some other things to the side and gotten down to enjoying this book.

First let’s talk about the concept of the book. This is not a throw a recipe together from your pantry kind of cookbook. You need to plan ahead to make these recipes. Each recipe specifies a particular artisan cheese (I cannot fathom how much cheese Stephanie must have tasted and how she can still fit in her pants).  The recipes revolve around these very special cheeses and are meant to highlight the amazing flavors of said cheeses. And although she has chosen the most perfect cheese for each recipe, she offers alternatives if you don’t have access to a wonderful cheese shop. Which I don’t.  At first I was kind of put off by this. I mean, it can be hard enough to source the ingredients in recipes, but to have to order artisan cheese? Well, it seemed a bit nuts to me. However, the recipes are exciting enough by themselves so even if you use grocery store cheese (which I do!), you will still find a lot of things in this cookbook you’re going to want to make. With your grocery store cheese. And they’re going to knock your socks off because the flavor combos are amazing.

Since I am gluten and lactose intolerant, I was hoping for a little recognition and there is one recipe that uses gluten-free pasta, however I am not one to stand on ceremony so I always make my own substitutions in recipes for my own dietary issues. Here are the recipes I can’t stop thinking about and will be trying:

Humboldt Fog with Grilled Peaches and Orzo

Paneer, Pineapple, and Cucumber Pasta Salad

Early Autumn Pasta Salad With Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar and Fuyu Persimmons

Roaring Forties with Honey-Roasted Delicata Squash, Sage Butter, and Rotini

Raclette with Cornichons, and Sauteed Onions

Red Hawk Macaroni with Prosciutto and Raspberry Jam

Pumpkin Stuffed with Fontina, Italian Sausage and Macaroni

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Lenora Goat Cheese, Star Pasta, and Crushed Gingersnaps

Orzo Pudding with Poached Dried Fruit

As you can see, this isn’t blue box mac and cheese. And really it’s not a mac and cheese cookbook. It’s a cheese and pasta cookbook, done creatively with massive attention to detail. It’s filled with gorgeous photos and tons of info about cheese, so you can become a true expert just by holding it in your hands and breathing it in.

If you love cheese and love pasta, you want this book on your shelf. There are so many times when a pasta dish seems like the solution to my dinner dilemmas, but my repertoire is getting a little tired. These recipes will spice that up for me, giving me some new go-tos I can shop for in advance and have at the ready.

When I heard that Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese by going to be published by my friend Stephanie Stiavetti and her co-author Garrett McCord, my first reaction was to drool. Because an entire book about macaroni and cheese is possibly the evilest, most wonderfulest thing I could imagine. Then I started to wonder, … Read more

Summer Reading

Posted by Brette in Books

 

reconstructingFirst off is Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight. When her daughter dies in a fall from the roof of her private Brooklyn high school, single mom Kate is devastated. The fall is immediately ruled a suicide. But then Kate begins to find evidence that something more was going on, including texts, notes, and online activity. The book shifts between Kate’s point of view and that of her daughter and you are on the edge of your seat until the very end. Nothing is as it originally seems. The view inside a mean girls’ clique, the sensitivity with which the author handles a young girl’s sexuality, and the very authentic reactions of a devastated, self-blaming, and angry mom resonate. If you liked Gone Girl, you will like this. It’s not as upside down and twisted, but it is suspenseful and honest.

last orig wifeThe Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank was unfortunately a book I couldn’t get through. I read Frank’s books because they are about the Low Country and I’m a sucker for the Low Country. The premise of this is that Les is the last first wife in their group of friends. All of the husbands have remarried younger women. She packs up and leaves her husband for a month to stay in her brother’s home in Charleston while she figures out what she wants. There is plenty of trouble in her marriage: patronizing behavior, lack of attention, and some secrets about money. I couldn’t get past the terrible portrayal of Les’s gay brother as a supremely swishy caricature of a gay man. The dialogue was stilted and mostly I was annoyed at the main character for allowing her husband to treat her the way he had. I didn’t care enough to keep reading to find out what the money secret was.

widow waltzThe Widow Waltz by Sally Koslow didn’t exactly have an original premise. Georgia lives a privileged life with her successful attorney husband. When he unexpectedly dies, suddenly all of their wealth seems to be mysteriously gone.  I feel as if I’ve read other books with this concept, so at first I wasn’t too interested. However, I ended up really wanting to know where all the money went! There are lots of wrinkles and sub-plots involving their two daughters. Georgia at first is helpless but begins to find her way (although it seems to come a little too easily). Overall, this is a good beach read. I had an inkling where it was going but it was a satisfying read.

HeistI love Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. They are definitely silly, but the books have amazing sexual tension, Lulu makes me laugh, and it’s simply comforting to see Stephanie have her car blown up, eat doughnuts and her mom’s pot roast, and feed her hamster. I haven’t been interested in the other books Evanovich has put out – many of them recycled old romances. Her new book, The Heist, is co-authored with Lee Goldberg and is getting lots of attention (it’s high on the bestseller list). The premise is intriguing: FBI agent Kate O’Hare has spent her career trying to catch master thief Nick Fox. In a twist, Nick is caught but makes a secret deal to stay out of jail by helping the FBI catch other criminals for five years- teamed up with Kate. The book begins by dangling some attraction between Kate and Nick, but this never pays off. In fact, it basically disappears and the book becomes a blow by blow of their over the top scheme to catch another criminal. There are some interesting characters that may develop into favorites like Lulu and Ranger (although I’m not sold yet), but my main complaint is there is simply not enough of the sexual tension and chemistry that makes the Stephanie Plum books so addictive. I suspect there is a lot of Goldberg in this book and not a lot of Evanovich. Still, it’s a fun read and the capers are intricate and over the top, but they always waver on the edge between seriousness and silliness and I found myself just wanting the book to make a decision as to which it was going to be.

beautiful dayThis is the perfect beach read. Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand is a satisfying and engrossing novel that takes place on Nantucket (all of Hilderbrand’s books do) and centers around Jenna and Stuart’s wedding. The main character is Jenna’s older sister Margot, but there are many sub-plots that all tie together. Margot is dealing with a difficult relationship, some mistakes she made, and her family who have all gathered at the family summer home on Nantucket for the wedding weekend. Jenna’s wedding is the centerpiece of the story and it is made interesting because the women’s mother died several years ago, leaving behind a notebook of her vision for Jenna’s eventual wedding. Excerpts from the notebook are throughout the book and are lovely additions to the story. Hook ups, break ups, dirty secrets, rivalries, and close family connections tumble across each page. I loved the array of characters and how well I came to know them by the end of the book. I couldn’t put this down and it could only have been a more perfect read if I had had my toes in the sand while reading! Take this on your summer vacation.

  First off is Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight. When her daughter dies in a fall from the roof of her private Brooklyn high school, single mom Kate is devastated. The fall is immediately ruled a suicide. But then Kate begins to find evidence that something more was going on, including texts, notes, and online … Read more

moms-day-collageCongratulations to Rachel, whose entry at Parenting Without Borders was chosen as the winner of the great prize pack in this fun giveaway I joined in with other bloggers. Thanks to all who entered and helped make this giveaway a big success!

Congratulations to Rachel, whose entry at Parenting Without Borders was chosen as the winner of the great prize pack in this fun giveaway I joined in with other bloggers. Thanks to all who entered and helped make this giveaway a big success!

Thanks to Martha Stewart, I discovered Lucinda Scala Quinn. My blog began years ago as a one year experiment in which I unofficially apprenticed myself to Martha Stewart. I read her books, magazines, and watched her shows. Every single day I did a recipe or project from the land of Martha. It was insane, but I learned a lot (you can read about it here). Along the way, I became familiar with Martha’s peeps. She has a cast of experts that made frequent appearances on her shows and in her magazines. Lucinda Scala Quinn is an editor for MSLo (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia) and regularly appeared on the Martha Stewart Show. She also has regular features in Martha Stewart Living Magazine. I’ve always appreciated her recipes and her approach to food. Lucinda is all about making really good food, but doing it without tons of fussing.

I bought her previous book, Mad Hungry, in which she offers the recipes used to feed her

Italian Fries

Italian Fries

crew of boys (3 sons and a husband). Although I have just one son, I really loved the book and a couple of the recipes from it have become part of my standard repertoire. Obviously I could not resist buying Mad Hungry Cravings, in which Lucinda offers recipes for making the foods you crave from take out at home. I sat down with the book and some post-its and marked plenty of pages.

I think the book is fantastic and it’s funny to see that she makes a lot of the same things at home that I make to avoid take out – fried rice, fried chicken, potato skins. What you must keep in mind when reading this though is that she lives in NYC. Every type of cuisine in the world is available for take out within blocks of her apartment. What she considers takeout, most of us would consider interesting and exotic food. So while there are lots of recipes that allow you to make your favorites at home, there are also recipes for things you’ve probably never had before also.

Chicken Burger

Chicken Burger

I tried out two recipes recently: Chicken and Chive Burgers and Italian Fries. The chicken and chive burgers were pretty basic chicken burgers (I don’t know ANYONE who gets chicken burgers as takeout, but whatever). They were good – I think the lemon juice is the secret – it did give it a very nice flavor. They were really gloppy though, so I stuck them in the freezer to give them some shape before I grilled them. I also dumped some chopped fresh parsley in them for a little more color.

The Italian Fries did not wow me. Lucinda talks about how this is a family favorite at her house and everyone goes nuts when they smell them. I’m confused by them. They’re like fries, but they aren’t really. And are you supposed to eat them plain or dip in ketchup? They have Italian herbs and cheese on them so it was hard to figure it out. I ended up dipping and the husband didn’t. They were crunchy, but not in a French fry way, more in an oven baked cheesy potato way. They were good, but they just weren’t fries to me.

That being said, there are lots of other recipes I will try from this book, like spinach zucchini lasagna, flautas, and chicken tikka masala.

Italian Fries

6-7 Idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch thick French fry style strips, soaked in cold slated water

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon Italian herbs

2 cups grated Romano cheese

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

4 tablespoons butter cut into 6 cubes

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.

Drain the potatoes and pat dry. Spread 1 tbsp olive oil on each of 2 baking sheets. Spread the potatoes on it.

Sprinkle the herbs and cheese over the potatoes. Drizzle remaining oil on top. Scatter the cubes of butter around the potatoes.

Bake 45-50 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until the potatoes are brown.

Chicken Chive Burgers
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ lbs ground chicken
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ⅓ cup fresh bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
  • 4 slices Fontina cheese (optional)
  • 4 whole wheat hamburger buns
Instructions
  1. Preheat a grill to medium high. Combine chicken, salt, pepper, mustard, bread crumbs, lemon juice and chives in a large bowl and form into ½ inch thick patties.
  2. Grill the patties, flipping once, until the juices run clear or it reaches 160 degrees with a meat thermometer. Top with cheese during the last minute of cooking.
  3. Lightly grill the cut sides of the buns and serve with sliced tomato, sliced red onion, mayo, Dijon mustard or pickles.

 

Thanks to Martha Stewart, I discovered Lucinda Scala Quinn. My blog began years ago as a one year experiment in which I unofficially apprenticed myself to Martha Stewart. I read her books, magazines, and watched her shows. Every single day I did a recipe or project from the land of Martha. It was insane, but … Read more

parenting wo bordersI tend to be a big unconventional when it comes to parenting.  Both of them have  told us how shocked their friends are that we don’t have time outs, curfews, phones that are taken away, or a lot of disagreements with them. When my kids were babies, I parented by instinct a lot. Even though everyone said not to, our babies shared our bed, my husband kangarooed our son in the hospital (that got a lot of looks), I breastfed on demand, talked to them as if they understood me, and did crazy things like taking my newly 1 year old outside to stomp in mud puddles. I’m not big on following what you’re supposed to do in most instances.

I was interested to read Christine Gross-Loh’s new book, Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us, because I do think there is a lot we can learn from other cultures when it comes to parenting. We as Americans are a bit stubborn when it comes to parenting – certain that our way is the best and that other methods are weird. There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about Asian parenting styles, fueled by The Tiger Mom. I was ready to read what other parenting styles really are like.

Gross-Loh’s approach is one I really liked. This is not a book that tells you everything you’re doing wrong. In fact, she points out the benefits of American parenting styles throughout the book. What she does offer however, are lessons she learned from other cultures that could be helpful to American parents. I was fascinated to learn that in Japan, preschoolers spend most of their time in unstructured play, outside, with other children. The teachers hardly intervene at all, believing that children need to learn to work out their own problems. Many other cultures spend a lot of school hours teaching children living skills – cooking, homemaking, etc. yet they score higher on standardized testing than Americans. Scandinavians spend much less time in school total than our kids and do better than we do.

There are kindergartens in Germany in the woods – literally open air in the woods – where the children spend most of the day doing outdoor activities. There is a tremendous emphasis on children being outside and playing in so many other cultures.

Gross-Loh lived in Japan and raised her children there for several years, so she has great insight into Japanese parenting. She not only shares the way parents in other countries do things, but she analyzes why they do things that way. In Japan they emphasize getting along with others and being part of a group, while here we are all about fostering individuality. I was fascinated to consider the cultural reasoning behind parenting techniques.

She points out in Japan parents are very involved with their babies (they are carried often and sleep in a family bed exclusively) and slowly step away as the kids get older (first graders are expected to walk to school alone). In the U.S., family co-sleeping is considered wrong by most parents (and doctors) and babies are supposed to learn to sleep alone, yet as our kids get older we micromanage and helicopter parent them – almost the exact opposite of what happens in Japan. And honestly when you think about it that way, it makes a lot of sense to do things the Japanese way.

While I really loved this book, most of her real experience is in Japan, although she visited Korea, China, Finland and talked to parents from other countries as well, and did a lot of research into parenting in other countries, presenting the result of many studies. However, there is little or no information about South America or Africa, where I imagine parenting styles are quite different from ours. That would have been an interesting addition to the book.

There’s a lot of information in this book that will make you think about why you parent the way you do and how some small changes might benefit  you and your child. You will really feel comfortable with Gross-Loh’s tone, which I found to be very supportive, gentle, and friendly.  She is quick to point out the benefits of all the parenting styles she discusses, while never making you feel that any choice you make is wrong. She merely presents other ways of doing things, never labeling any approach as better than any other. Instead, she lets you make up your own mind about what works. Finally, a parenting book that doesn’t make you feel guilty! Gross-Loh also tells you how she has tried to incorporate some of the parenting styles into her own family and how successful that has been.

I definitely would give this book as a baby shower gift and as a gift to new moms for sure. And if you have young kids, this is a book you must read. If you have trouble putting your baby to sleep in his crib (or getting him to actually sleep in it!) you HAVE to read this because it makes it clear co-sleeping is not dangerous, and in fact, the studies in the book show it actually is safer (contrary to what the medical establishment tells us). There’s also lots of great ideas about kids and food, and how children in other cultures learn to eat healthy food, in the right amounts, and listen to their bodies. That is something Americans definitely need help with.

I highly recommend the book and know it will enlighten any parents who reads it.

P.S. If you want to get a taste of the book, read the author’s HuffPo piece here.

I tend to be a big unconventional when it comes to parenting.  Both of them have  told us how shocked their friends are that we don’t have time outs, curfews, phones that are taken away, or a lot of disagreements with them. When my kids were babies, I parented by instinct a lot. Even though … Read more

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