Review: Sweet Treats: Recipes from the Moonglow Christmas Series

Sweet Treats: Recipes from the Moonglow Christmas Series by Deborah Garner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This dessert cookbook if taken from the Moonglow Christmas Series. I love this series so much. I make it a part of my Christmas traditions to read this series every December. I have made some of the recipes in it. I’m not heavy on sweets but my guy is. The recipes range from easy to complicated but doable. I love that the other chose to group them with the book that they appear in. Each section opens with excepts from the books. I make the glazed cinnamon nuts often. I did make them without the cinnamon and they were very tasty glazed nuts. The Lemon Bars are a favorite. Potato chip cookies were a surprise and a hit when I made them, (super easy, too). The Dutch Sour Cream Cookies are tasty and have found there way to being Easter cookies as well. I have made many others but these stick out in my mind as being tasty and easy. There is a wide variety of cookies here. Enough to host your own cookie exchange. There are a few recipes for gluten free, a vegan recipe, fudge recipes, homemade eggnog, (so delicious!), brownies, butter rolls and candy. Disclaimer: I do have a cookie recipe included in here. I did not review it though I make them every year. All opinions expressed are based on my experience with the recipes. The review is voluntary.

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Review: The Callie's Kitchen Mysteries Cookbook

The Callie's Kitchen Mysteries Cookbook by Jenny Kales
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This cookbook is from the cozy mystery series Callie’s Kitchen Mysteries. Each book contains recipes. Those recipes and new ones are compiled in this cookbook.
I love Callie’s Kitchen Mysteries. I was hooked on it from the first book. I tried recipes from each book as I read them. I found them delicious and easy. Many have become family favorites. When the author announced this cookbook I could not contain my excitement. I had been dying for it. Now I am dying for a print version.
For the ebook there is a content list that will take you directly to the recipe. I note that because I have come across cookbooks that do not do this. I love that the author has the recipes marked with “new” or the book title. While there are a number of Greek recipes Midwest comfort food is included. The cookbook isn’t intended to be one type of food. It is food that a character in the authors series cooks, eats and serves. Callie is of Greek heritage and lives in Wisconsin. The recipes reflect that. There are excerpts from the books and some new bonus scenes that fans of the series will not want to miss.
Now on to the recipes. Most are easy. All that I have tried have been delicious. I am not Greek and had limited exposure to Greek food, (mainly from a restaurant in downtown Chicago close to DePaul University). I now live in Alaska and sorely missed spanakopita. I really got into Greek food through this series. So I’m no authority on Greek food. I am with tasty food and comfort food though. This book meets those expectations. The recipes I tried that are now made frequently are Avgolemono, (if anyone is ill, please make them this soup. They will love you for it), Lazy Spanakopita, Kota Kapama, Stifado and Rizogalo.
New recipes I made and loved are Feta Cheese Bites, (so good while reading), Tzatziki, (not going to lie, I will eat this like sandwich filling. I love this), Skordalia, (another thing to make when someone is ill. The first time I made this my other half thought I had made soup and added broth because it was thick. I had to explain to him, as I started over, insert eye roll. The extra broth just turned it into a tasty soup but it wasn’t what I was going for, haha), Spring Spanaorizo, (rice!), and Pastitsio. There are a number of dessert recipes, too. My favorite remains Melopita, it’s easy peasey and holy moley tasty.
My recommendations on this cookbook is a big, “order it now.” I’m planning on getting a print copy too. If you are new to Callie’s Kitchen Mysteries, give the series a whirl. They are cozy mysteries, meaning anyone from your teen to your granny can enjoy it.

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