Reading, Writing & Pondering

    Book Review: Let the Biscuits Burn by Abby Kuykendall is a book that could be especially helpful for younger Christian women--both single and newly married women.   Abby Kuykendall shares how she made hospitality a priority while a single woman, newly married woman and as a new mother with a baby. She starts off the book by explaining why community matters. She then shares how to begin showing hospitality, how to invite others into your place, and how to continue to serve others without burning out in life. At the back of the book she offers a liturgy for your heart to think about when being hospitable. She also gives table tips and offers ideas for food to serve. The part I especially liked about Let the Biscuits Burn was in the beginning when she explains the difference between entertaining and being hospitable, which is something I hadn't thought about before. I was raised to entertain by someone who valued perfection so learning to serve in an imperfect way...

  Are you someone who likes to entertain at home? If you're like me, your answer is probably, not really. Gather and Give: Sharing God's Heart Through Everyday Hospitality by Amy Hannon offers a lot of wonderful encouragement and advice from the author. If you want to entertain more but aren't sure where to start this book may help you. Hannon talks about how to offer up your home with whatever you have to offer. The book starts out with an introduction and then is divided into three parts: Understanding Hospitality is the first section. In this section, I learned that hospitality isn't really an option if you believe the Bible. . .Rather it is a command. Hannon talks about that command and how she came to write this book to encourage readers to gather more. She says we can all do it well--and doing it perfectly just isn't necessary. Just because she has a restaurant, is a pastor's wife and all doesn't mean she is better at it than anyone else, she says. We...

I don't know about you, but having people I don't know over for supper is always a bit intimidating to me. Jen Schmidt in her new book, Open-Door Living, hopes to make entertaining less stressful and more enjoyable. Open-Door Living is a beautiful new book with pretty color photos, recipes, and lots of tips to make entertaining easier and more enjoyable. This gorgeous book has a ribbon marker to mark a recipe or pages of tips to check again. There are chapters on The Heart of Hospitality, Food and Feasting, Cleaning and Decluttering, Atmosphere and Ambience, and Conversation and Community. Open-Door Living has full-color pictures, gorgeous illustrations and a lot of truly helpful tips and recipes. I especially like the pages with cleaning tips and conversation starters. There is a lot of good information in this small book. However, while it isn't a deal breaker for me, I wish this book had an index so I could quickly find a recipe again or the page of conversation...

So Much to Celebrate:Entertaining the Ones You Love the Whole Year Through by Katie Jacobs is a beautiful coffee-table-worthy cookbook full of gorgeous full-color photographs. It is lovely eye candy even if you never make a recipe or host a party with this book. However, I think it does indeed inspire one to be a hostess of a nice family gathering. So Much to Celebrate is divided into seasons, starting with Spring. Lovely party and recipes are included starting with Easter celebrations and ending with the winter holidays. Jacobs has secrets for throwing fantastic parties for all ages, from more elegant gatherings to casual feasts. My favorite in the book is for the Mother's Day Tea Party. The recipes look delicious. These are just a few I would love to try: Strawberry Scones, Cherry Hand Pies, Chicken Pot Pie, Roasted Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad, and Skillet Roasted Chicken Ratatouille.  So Much to Celebrate is truly gorgeous. I love how it is arranged by...