Review: Homestead Blessings - The Art of Cooking

In a world where homemaking skills are, at best, ignored, and too often ridiculed and looked down upon, I love that the West Ladies of Homestead Blessings, are spreading their love and knowledge of so many wonderful homemaking topics!

My daughters, especially A2, LOVE learning about cooking and working in the kitchen, so when Franklin Springs Family Media gave me the choice of which of the Homestead Blessings videos to review, choosing The Art of Cooking seemed like the logical choice.

We received our video a few days before we were scheduled to leave for our week in Williamsburg, but despite all the preparations we were in the middle of, I couldn't wait to sit down and watch the video with the girls.  The West Ladies are so personable! Watching their video is like sitting in the kitchen chatting with them while they cook. I also have to admit, I was fascinated by all the things they have hanging on the wall behind them, I could watch it over and over just to see all the interesting things on that wall, hee hee.

As I was watching the video, I thought . . . this is great, but I wish they gave me the complete recipe(s) on one screen so I could pause it and write it down. But then, when we were ready to try a recipe and I went looking, I found something even better, you can put the DVD in your computer and there is a .pdf of the recipes!! Woo-hoo, no copying required, just print it out and you're good to go (though some of the simpler recipes aren't included, but that's ok. What a great idea!!!

We didn't have alot of time that week for extra cooking, and now that we're home, we're trying to catch up on laundry and stuff, so STILL haven't had alot of time for anything beyond the bare minimum of cooking, but we did get to try a few recipes before we left for Williamsburg.  What I was the most excited about was their tomato soup recipe. I already have a tomato soup recipe that I'm happy with, so initially figured  I wouldn't get much out of that particular part of things, but then, as I watched it, I got a GREAT idea!! I also have a tomato sauce recipe that I like but my girls don't like it because it doesn't have "chunks" in it. This summer we tried making some chunky tomato sauce but weren't very happy with it. BUT, the tomato soup recipe on this video was for a tomato soup that had chunks of tomato in it, and I realized that I could combine that aspect of the soup recipe with the sauce recipe I already use, and it would be PERFECT!! I had tomatoes that needed to be used before we left, so on Friday, as we were trying to pack and such, I also had a big pot of tomato sauce simmering on the stove (Little Bit desperately wants to see whenever there's anything cooking, so she tries to climb the oven door), and it turned out BEAUTIFULLY!! I'm so excited with my new sauce recipe, and it's all thanks to the West Ladies' tomato soup recipe! Woo-hoo!!!  Their video also got us in the mood for homemade pizza, so we had fun one evening using a couple frozen crusts from the freezer, and making our own version of their yummy pizza!

But then . . . one of the recipes the girls REALLY wanted to try was their recipe for apples and onions. Now I have to admit, I was skeptical (at best)! I like apples, and I like onions, but TOGETHER? Ick! Especially because I'm very picky about mixing sweet & savory (I can't stand any form of sweet & sour, for example).It also seemed odd that the girls wanted to try this since they don't even LIKE onions! But they kept coming back to wanting to try that recipe, and it was something quick and easy, so we made it for lunch one day (it's on the West Ladies' breakfast menu, but that's ok).

We re-watched the part of the video that tells how to make it, and then I set the girls to work. They don't like cutting onions, so I did that part, but they did the rest. It did smell delicious!! But I served up small servings just the same . . . but we all LOVED it!!!  The "savory" aspect of the onions seems to completely disappear and it's just a yummy, sweet . . . almost dessert! But it's healthy! The girls thought we should have it again the very next day but since I'd only  bought a few apples to use for this recipe, and we were leaving that morning for Williamsburg, we put it off. Now that we're home, I have a feeling we'll be getting some more apples soon and this will become a regular breakfast &/or lunch around here, it's SOO yummy! And easy, and healthy! What more can a busy homeschool mom ask for?

So, all-in-all, this was a GREAT video!! Full of yummy recipes (you can see a list of the included recipes here).  An added bonus for our (vegetarian) family, there was only one meat recipe, I'll admit we fast-forwarded through that part. But the rest of the recipes were vegetarian or easily adaptable, the pizza included pepperoni but it's easy to leave that off.

AND . . . Franklin Springs Family Media has these videos on sale right now for only $14.95, or check out their boxed sets for savings when you buy more than one of the Homestead Blessings series.

And now the really cool part, Franklin Springs Family Media has generously offered up to 3 copies of Homestead Blessings The Art of Cooking to give away to my readers!  So, if we get up to 25 entries, I'll give away one copy, 26-50 entries, I'll draw 2 names, and over 50 entries, I'll give away 3 copies.

Mandatory first entry:  Visit Franklin Springs Family Media and leave a comment on this post telling me which of the Homestead Blessings videos you think sounds most interesting.

Additional entries: Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

• Follow my blog (link in the right sidebar), or let me know that you are already a follower.
• Blog about this giveaway, and leave a comment here with a link to your blog post.
• "Like" Franklin Springs Family Media on facebook.
• Post about this giveaway on facebook.

This giveaway will close on September 28. Winners will be notified on September 29. Please make sure that I have a way to contact you (via your blog or e-mail address). If I cannot contact you, I will have to pick another name. You will have 2 days to respond to me, or I will draw an alternate name.

This giveaway is now closed, winners have been notified. If they do not respond, alternate names will be chosen and notified.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Homestead Blessings The Art of Cooking from Franklin Springs Family Media in exchange for writing this review, Franklin Springs Family Media is also providing the videos offered in this giveaway. No other compensation was received and my opinions are my own.