Funny story but a great lesson learned. Couch potato was exactly that, a couch potato. Potato liked to sit on his comfy, cozy couch all the time. Since he has everything within reach from this spot, why would he ever want anything different.
In front of Potato is a wall full of screens.
Screens that he can do anything he wants on: watch TV, talk to his best friend, use his computer, and even play video games. Life was fantastic for Potato!
When his latest purchase was delivered to his house, Potato went to install it and he lost power. In total darkness, Potato was forced to open his curtains, where…..he discovered the outside world. Hey, there’s life outside the walls of his living room!! Ha, this was funny! Potato decides to venture outside and soon, he’s enjoying the fresh outdoors again. Holy moly, there is more to life than just sitting on the couch! Potatoes life has changed forever!!
We laughed over this story but in reality, I can see this story actually taking place. Some individuals prefer to stay inside and stay connected to the internet when there is the great outdoors calling them. I liked everything about this book. The illustrations were fun and simple, nothing extra was added to illustrations. The story had a great flow and it was high energy. 5 stars.
What a great book with a fantastic lesson! It’s the holiday season which brings stress upon Cool Bean. Not everything about the season stresses him out, it’s the gift exchange. The dreaded gift exchange.
All the beans have entered their names into a hat for the gift exchange. As they each draw a name to see who they get to find a gift for, Cool Bean draws Beanadette J.’s name. She is one of the coolest beans in town and immediately, Cool Bean starts to feel the pressure. She is going to want something expensive and cool.
With no bean-bucks to spend and no luck finding anything on his treasure hunt, panic sets in. What will Cool Bean do? Ah-ha! Cool Bean decides he will be creative and make something for Beanadette J. and he’s quite proud of it, for the moment. As time passes, his self-esteem starts to fade and on the day of the party, his panic returns. I could totally relate to his emotions as he mingled in the party just waiting for the ball to drop.
This was a great book dealing with self-worth, stress, peer pressure and acceptance. I liked how the author dealt with Cool Beans emotions as they swung in every direction and Cool Bean didn’t have an easy way out. Definitely a 5-star read for me.
This is more than a cookbook. This book is packed with information about being a cowboy and cooking with a chuckwagon. Kent starts the book by explaining what a chuckwagon is and how it came to be. Chuckwagon cooking is simple, and I was surprised at the variety of food that it consisted of. “Cowboy cooking is made from ingredients you’’ already have on hand” and most of the ingredients were canned ingredients except for the spices and the meat. Chuckwagon cooking reminded me of good-old family gatherings as it brings folks together over a meal where stories and the day’s events can be discussed and everyone can be themselves and feel accepted. Inside this book, you will find Kent’s recipes from his chuckwagon, stories, and interesting articles about being a cowboy in the lower United States.
This book is sectioned off into 9 sections. From the introduction to the index, there are 248 pages in this hardcopy book. Again, Kent discusses the first chuckwagon, then he discusses taking care of your cast iron pans, as those are respected tools of the trade for great chuckwagon cooking. Whether they are brand new pans or ones that you have saved from the depths, these treasures will be with you forever, if you keep them looking nice. Now Kent starts into the food part of the book. We have Breakfast, Lunch (dinner), Appetizers, Supper, and Dessert. Each of these sections, Kent came up with a cute title for. Each of the sections has 10-23 recipes. You will not get pictures for all of the recipes, but you will get detailed step-by-step directions, yield size, list of ingredients, and a couple paragraphs explaining the recipe. There is an estimated prep and total time given in case you need that too. Start your morning with some Sourdough starter so you can make Kent’s cinnamon rolls or his pancakes, cowboy coffee, or how about a breakfast egg bowl with a smoky cream sauce. Want to try some Smoky Mac & Cheese, or Sloppy Cowboy Joes, or Sweet Heat Barbeque Chopped Pork Sandwiches for lunch? Appetizers are normally a part of the cowboy’s menu, but they can happen, and Kent has recipes for Cowboy Sushi, Bite-Sized BJT’s, or Red River Smoky Chip Dip. Supper can pack a hearty meal and Baked Potato-Stuffed Pork Chops with Creamy White Gravy, Garden Harvest Stir-Fry, Brown Butter and Bacon Pasta, or Creamy Beef and Parmesan Company Casserole. I’m not a huge dessert fan but if you are, there is some Jan’s Spiced Wine Cake, Cowboy Coconut Cake, Buttermilk Pie, Raspberry-Apple Crumble or Cowboy Fry Bread. I’ve only included some of the recipes that are inside this book, as there are plenty more to choose from.
I’m thinking that this would be a great cookbook to have, one that doesn’t require a lot of fancy ingredients, and the recipes offer something different without a lot of time requirements. It would also make a good gift for someone who likes to cook, and you want to give them something different. The index in the back is very helpful too.
After reading the other cookbook by Nadia, I had to pick up this one. There were similarities among the two cookbooks, yet the recipes were somewhat different. This cookbook was not for me though.
Nadia begins this cookbook just like her other one. She introduces herself and explains her cooking journey. It is an interesting journey from her family to where she is today. Next, she spends a great deal of time talking about tools, terms and items that you might need to create great Italian dishes. This section is very detailed, and it does provide some good information but there is a lot of reading and information. The recipe section begins next, and it is sectioned off into 7 categories. They are: Aperitivi, Antipasti, Primi, Secondi, Contorni, Dolci, and Street Food.
With each recipe you get: a list of ingredients (grams and cups), total prep and cooking time, how many it will serve. Some recipes have an icon to scan so you can watch the recipe if you scan the icon with your phone. Some recipes also tell you how much/how many the recipes make. Some of the recipes are titled in their Italian name which left me boggled sometimes but Katie puts on the page what it means in English.
This cookbook begins with some interesting alcohol beverages. Nothing hard or too fancy but they are simple and sound delicious. The appetizer section had a recipe I might try: Insalata Pantesca (Sicilian Potato Salad). The first course is next, and this is the section that I thought I would like the most, but it had a lot of seafood in it and I’m not a huge fish eater. Zuppa Di Pesce, Scialatielli Alle Vongole, Baked Seafood Linguine, and some risotto recipes were some of the offerings in this section. The second course comes next, which had more meat, chicken, and fish recipes. Cozze Alla Tarantina, Abbacchio Alla Scottadito, Piccata Di Pollo, and Frittura Di Pesce were some of the dishes offered here. Side dishes were next, and I couldn’t find anything in here for me. Cicoria in Padella, Carciofi Alla Romana, and Broccoletti in Padella were a couple of the dishes in this section. Desserts, yes. Ciambelline Al Vino looks tempting and easy to prepare. For those coffee drinkers, there is Caffe Alla Panna. Nothing in the street food section caught my eye. Tiella Alla Scarola or the Pizza E Fichi just wasn’t something that I would eat.
Nadia closes the book with some comments and a great index. The illustrations in the book were great. Not every recipe had a picture with it and some recipes had multiple pictures.
I don’t understand why there were so many photographs of Nadia throughout the book when there weren’t photographs of all the recipes included. I’m not against a couple individual shots but I think this cookbook had too many photographs of the author and not the food. It’s a cookbook, right? 3 stars
I’m a pasta lover! Seriously, I love my pasta! Ok, let me rephrase that, I love pasta that doesn’t have anything to do with fish. I’m not a fish person. Nevertheless, I was excited to get my hands on a few of the pasta books at the library. From how she got started cooking, to what a cook needs to make pasta, to recipes, this book has a little bit of everything in it.
I enjoyed reading how Nadia began her career and learning about her family’s history. Sharing these recipes, she hopes that she is keeping her family’s traditions alive and bringing together her family’s history with society today. Nadia explains the tools, terms and items that are needed to make good Italian recipes even before providing any recipes to her readers.
She then puts her recipes into 6 chapters in this book. There are also some closing remarks from her, a resource guide (where to locate items), a pasta by category page, and a great index. The six chapters are:
Pasta Basics, Where It All Began, Be My Guest, Family First, Falling in Love With America, The Pasta Renaissance.
With each recipe you get: a list of ingredients (grams and cups), total prep and cooking time, how many it will serve. Some recipes have an icon to scan so you can watch the recipe if you scan the icon with your phone. Some recipes also tell you how much/how many the recipes make. Some of the recipes are titled in their Italian name which left me boggled sometimes but Katie puts on the page what it means in English.
I liked that this book spends a lot of time discussing and showing how to make the different kinds of pasta. I’ve been meaning to do this, and I think I can tackle this now. I also like how most of her recipes don’t take a lot of ingredients to make. Using fresh tomatoes, I like how she adds a few more ingredients, her pasta and there’s a new dish. There are not a lot of fish recipes, and I think I could tweak most of the recipes to make them something I would enjoy. What I didn’t like about this cookbook was that every recipe didn’t have a picture. Now, I’m not expecting a huge picture each time but something small would be nice.
I think around 80 % of the recipes had their accompanying recipe pictures with them. Some of the recipes had no pictures and some had pictures of Nadia or Nadia and her family. I still think this cookbook is a keeper. 4.5 stars for me
There’s been at least one time in your life that you’d like to be someone different whether that person is real or fictional. Pizza and Taco have decided to act on this and create a graphic novel together.
They believe that they would make great fictional superheroes, so the besties start planning out how to accomplish this goal together.
It truly is a fun, creative plan. Pizza is good at writing so he’ll be writing the story and with Taco’s great handwriting and artistic ability, Taco will oversee the graphics. It’s funny as they work all day separately writing/sketching and when they come together to discuss their ideas, the reactions they get from one another. Will Taco Awesome and Super Slice ever make it past the preview stage? Could they have done this a different way to be successful? Through it all, they did come up with some Rules for Working Together: 1. Listen 2. Be Positive 3. Compromise
My grandchildren enjoy this book as they like how Pizza and Taco create their superhero and how they argue back and forth but they’re still friends. They’re able to express themselves, be heard, and still have a friend at the end of the book.
I love the illustrations and how everything is not rosy. There is conflict and differences which they work out without a bunch of drama. 5 stars
How hard is it to create your own band? Well, Taco and Pizza soon find out. After discussing their favorite bands: Beetles, Jo-Jo’s, Jam Jett, and Food Fighters, they decided to create their own band because that would be so cool!
They each have their own vision of what they should sound/look like, the besties must now make some comprises as they get to work planning and putting their new group together. I love the creativity behind this book as there are lots of funny moments as the duo discovers that this new dream of theirs is harder than they imagined.
Pizza will be strumming the guitar and Taco really wants to play the tambourine in their new band. A calm Taco is portrayed rocking it out, with colorful strings hanging off his instrument as he moves to the music. Pizza feels that Taco should take it up a notch and hammer down on some drums in their band and the contrast between these two pictures is funny. From deciding what they should call their band to recruiting other band members, and deciding how to move forward, it’s obvious that they need to comprise. Pizza needs to let Taco help make some of the decisions as this is a group decision.
The Best Friend’s Dance makes an appearance as they needed some music to perform. After they did some “think, think, think” to come up with some lyrics to write and coming up empty, they put their famous dance to music. The reaction from their potential band members wasn’t what they hoped but the besties thought it was “awesome!” “yaaas!” and that keeps their energy pumped. Who thought putting a band together would be this much work?
Super fun series that keep my grandchildren and I laughing as we read each book. We’ve read each book in this series so many times, my preschool grandchildren know each story by heart, and they tell me if I am missing a word when I read them out loud to them. You don’t really need to read them in order, but you’ll appreciate them more, if you do. They sometimes relate to the previous stories in the sequential books but for the most part, you’ll be able to follow the story. 5 stars
I’m not sure who enjoys these books more, my grandchildren or me? Every time I read one of these books, which is every weekday, they make me laugh. We have purchased every book in this series and are awaiting the new book this fall. Pizza and Taco are great friends who have their moments together but, in the end, they realize how much they like each other, and they know that’s what really matters. There’s a life lesson squeezed into each book but if you’re not looking for it, you just might miss it.
In Pizza and Taco’s Best Party Ever, the friends are bored and don’t have anything to do. They “think, think, think” about some options but nothing ends up being fun until the idea of having a party, pops into their minds, at the same time. Of course, Taco is ready to make the list of what they need, so with Pizza’s pen and Taco’s paper, they get down to work planning the perfect party.
If you’ve read the other books in the series, you will pick up on the reference to some of their comments in this book but if you haven’t, you’re not lost as the illustrations and the text will fill you in. With their list complete, it’s time to get working on the party!
I think this is one of my favorites in this series. They had planned their party out, they thought they had planned every detail of their party, yet it seems like everything started to crumble as they tried to execute their plans. It was supposed to be “awesome!” “yaaas!” but “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” their plans are met with disaster. The look on their faces was hilarious!
I loved how they pushed themselves through, repeatedly, trying to make the best of the situation just to get through the party. They’re trying to make the party fun and entertaining even though their plans are history.
With short chapters, a text that’s easy to follow and a great storyline, these stories are fun to read and are a great book for beginner readers. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and busy but aren’t bursting with unnecessary details. Other readers will enjoy them for the humor and illustrations. A great series that my grandchildren and I really enjoy.
What did I just read? Llama eats a cake that he just found and that ends up destroying the world. I’m sorry but this book makes no sense to me except it shows me that Llama didn’t pay attention to anything during the week except for his usual routine.
Friday, the world ended because of a black hole and as everything was sucked through the black hole, life on the other side continued as before. Really? The book then continues as Llama eats a pie and unfortunately, I have a feeling the whole thing would continue again …..if the book had more pages.
So, Llama makes lots of mistakes in this book and he just keeps on making mistakes and is that ok?
He just does his own thing because he can. He knows there’s danger, but he doesn’t really care, he is more worried about himself and what he needs.
I guess some people might think this is funny but I’m not one of them. Sorry. The illustrations are cute and nicely done but otherwise, I don’t care for this book. Not reading this one to my grandkids. 1-2 stars
Yup! A slice of cheese pizza and a walking taco make up this children’s graphic novel. They’re best friends yet in this book, they want to find out which one of them is better than the other. They have a best-friends dance which consists of yes, a fist bump and a butt bump.
Trouble started when pizza didn’t return the compliment that taco gave his best friend. Had pizza told taco that, “he was the best!” this little argument between them would have never happened.
Taco and Pizza both try to list off the ways they are better but that doesn’t solve the problem, so they enlist the help of Hamburger. That doesn’t help either, so Taco and Pizza have a voting contest after they give their speeches. That doesn’t go over very well either so they do some create some challenges between themselves and in the end, yep…..everyone wins.
One Chapter 