Christine, Author at Have Sippy Will Travel

Cookbook: Everyday Thai Cooking

October 25, 2013 by Christine Leave a Comment

As an adventurous chef, I always like to try to cook various culture’s cuisine. Everyday Thai Cooking by Katie Chin is made for people like me. The book is filled with everything from noodle dishes to seafood and even drinks and desserts. This book is essential for anyone wanting to give cooking Thai food a shot.

The Good:

Everyday Thai Cooking has so much variety. I enjoyed how there was varying levels of mastery and experience. This book make sit easy to start with the basics and work your way to excellence.

The book included basic cooking techniques and their explanation as well as a wonderful forward by Katie Workman that talks about why Thai food has such a rich history and how fun it is to enjoy and indulge in.
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Filed Under: book review, cooking Tagged With: coconut milk, fun dinner recipes, mango, mango shake, mango smoothie, shake, thai cookbook, Thai cooking, Thai recipes, thai shake

Cookbook: Vegan Slow Cooking For Two or Just For You

October 24, 2013 by Christine Leave a Comment

As a former vegetarian who at one time dated and lived with a vegan, I have learned to appreciate meatless meals. I also have a small family of just three of us, so I was excited to test out the book, Vegan Slow Cooking For Two or Just For You by Kathy Hester.

Vegan Slow Cooking For Two or Just for You is full of everything from entrees to side dishes and even sauces to accompany many meals.

The Good:

Vegan Slow Cooking For Two or Just for You has beautiful photos. For me, as a chef, I was taught we “eat with our eyes first”, so this is one of the most important aspects any cookbook can have. The photos really made my mouth water and my husband came in and peeked over my shoulder and didn’t even know it was a vegan cookbook.

I liked that the book also included tips for using a slow cooker as well as an explanation of some new ingredients that may not be familiar to many home cooks. There was also a section on tips for cooking for small families in general as well, which I found very useful. I think this book would be great as a wedding gift!
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Filed Under: book review, cooking, food Tagged With: Coffee, hazelnut creamer, slow cooker, slow cooking, vegan, vegan coffee creamer, Vegan Cookbook, vegan cooking

Book Review: World Food Cafe Quick and Easy

October 23, 2013 by Christine Leave a Comment

As a chef, I love to cook interesting foods from around the globe, even if my less than adventurous family isn’t so excited about eating them. World Food Cafe Quick and Easy:Recipes from a Vegetarian Journey by Chris and Carolyn Caldicott gave me to opportunity to try my hand at foods that I may have never tried.

The Good:

I was absolutely enthralled with the beautiful and often breath-taking photos in this book. I found that the richness in colors of not just the recipes, but the people and landscapes that are from the regions the recipes come from really made the book not only something to instruct readers on how to make e=worldly foods, but also made the book quite a conversation piece. The book is full of information and introductions describing each region and country and the people’s way of life. This book reads more like a travel book with a few recipes thrown in and is a great way to get to know historically why the foods used in the recipes are so important to the people’s culture.
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Filed Under: food Tagged With: cookbook, interesting foods, quick and easy foods, world foods

Quick Start Homemade: Book Review

October 7, 2013 by Christine Leave a Comment

I was sent a copy of Southern Living’s Quick Start Homemade to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

It is not very often that a recipe book comes along that contains so many easy and budget friendly recipes in it that I had a hard time choosing which to try out for the review. Quick Start Homemade by Southern Living was such a book.

Quick Start Homemade features recipes that are hearty and delicious. The book allows you to make all the recipes using commonly found ingredients and cooking techniques that are fitting for just about any level home cook. The book contains 101 recipes for commonly made home-style meals with an extra spin on them to break up the ordinary.

The Good:

The book included a ton of great photos. I was always told in college when I went to culinary school that the #1 rule of food presentation was “You eat with your eyes, first”. This book gets that. The pictures are bright, bold and you can practically smell the recipes through them.

I enjoyed how the book broke down meals into colored sections so you could easily find the section you were looking for. These were broken down into categories such as pasta, pizza, eggs and so on. There were not only dinners in it, but also great dishes for lunch and brunch.
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Filed Under: book review, food Tagged With: book review, cooking with kids, food, frugal recipes, Homemade food, quick dinners, recipes, southern living, southern living cooking, Southern Living Recipe Book

Starters & Sides: Made Easy Book Review

September 23, 2013 by Christine Leave a Comment

“Starters & Side: Made Easy” was provided to me for my review. All opinions are my own and I am being 100% honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.

Starters & Sides: Made Easy Promises “Favorite triple-tested recipes” that are easy to make. All the recipes are Kosher and include plating and serving suggestions. There is even a spice guide for those of you that are “spice shy”.

The Good:

I enjoyed the full color photos for nearly every recipe in the book. They looked appetizing and delicious. I also enjoyed the spice guide. I know quite a bit about spices and I am definitely not spice shy when it comes to cooking, but I enjoyed the in-depth explanation of each spice from peppers to types of salt. I also enjoyed the serving suggestions in the book as well as suggestions on how to make each dish a main dish rather than a side.
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Filed Under: book review, food

Apple Pie Parfaits Recipe

September 16, 2013 by Christine 1 Comment

One of my favorite things about fall is the apple harvest. To me, nothing says, “Autumn” better than the crisp air and warm scent of apples filling the home.

Here is a super easy recipe you can make in a short time to bring home the taste of the season! It can be made and assembled in less than an hour so it is perfect for a quick dessert and is sure to impress kids and company.

To make Apple Pie Parfaits, you will need:

3-4 Granny smith (or other tart apple) apples

1 Cup oats, instant

1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar

3 Tbsp flour

1 Stick of Butter, unsalted + 4 tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Cloves

1/2 Lemon

Whipped Cream

Directions:

1. Start by cutting up the apples into eighths. Slice off the core areas and make sure to remove the seeds. You can remove the peels if you like, but I leave them on, personally.
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Filed Under: cooking, food, recipes Tagged With: Apple Pie Parfaits Recipe, apple pies, apple recipes, easy pies, fall baking, fall cooking, fall recipes, fun for fall, fun recipes, mini apple pies, mini pies

Book Review: Get Your Family Eating Right

September 9, 2013 by Christine 4 Comments

I was sent a book for review, “Get Your Family Eating Right” by Lynn Fredericks and Mercedes Sanchez M.S, R.D.

The book is a 30 day plan to getting your kids and family into a healthy eating lifestyle. It shows you how to introduce healthy foods and even provides step-by-step instructions on how to get your child to help you cook the foods in the book.

The Good:

I liked the bright photos in the book. Nearly every recipe has a photo and there are great photos of kids cooking. This book is definitely child friendly and fun to learn from. I also enjoyed the instruction in the book on how to get your child to enjoy healthier foods. I also liked the way the book broke down how to create balanced meals. I do think this book is great for almost all skill levels in the kitchen.

The recipes include a format that is easy to follow, allowing mom or dad to have their child perform tasks to creating the dish. There are even foods from around the world’s cuisine. I like how it helps open your family’s taste buds to new ones.
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Filed Under: book review, food, recipes Tagged With: Book Review: Get Your Family Eating Right, cookbooks, easy family recipes, feed the family, food, Get Your Family Eating Right, good food, review

Katsu Chicken

September 2, 2013 by Christine 2 Comments

Katsu chicken is a Hawaiian/Japanese dish that just about anyone likes, including kids!

Katsu Chicken is essentially just Hawaiian fried chicken. It is so simple to make and also, not to bad on the pocketbook. It is served with a special BBQ sauce that can be purchased or made. What is really awesome about this main dish is, it is relatively quick to put together.