Its a Non-fiction Saturday two-fer!

June 21, 2014

Its a Non-fiction Saturday two-fer!

The Creative Shrub Garden
Eye-Catching Combinations that Make Shrubs

the Stars of Your Garden
By -Andy McIndoe

5 Stars!

ABOUT THE BOOK -

Home gardeners know the key elements to a well-designed garden: perennials that bloom year after year, annuals that add a burst of color, and bulbs that guarantee spring flowers. But what about shrubs—what role should these hardy plants play?

The Creative Shrub Garden by Andy McIndoe puts the shrub in its rightful place—front and center. This groundbreaking approach shows you how to make the most of the many benefits of shrubs—including their hardiness, year-long beauty, size, and low-maintenance nature—by making them the main element in a garden design. McIndoe teaches you the basics first, with tips on choosing shrubs based on a garden’s size, determining soil and climate needs, and pruning and maintenance. He then offers hundreds of shrub combinations that work with 15 main garden styles, including coastal, cottage, Mediterranean, tropical, urban, and more.

The Creative Shrub Garden celebrates a plant that is too often taken for granted and gives gardeners the confidence to use shrubs in the design-forward treatment they deserve.

MY REVIEW -

This is a gorgeous book! And oh so helpful. I have told you all that we will be buying a new house and moving to PA - so I will have a whole new landscape to play with! I totally plan on using this book.

This is very user friendly.

Has tons of gorgeous pictures.

There is a plant directory.

And a section on how to plant and care for your shrub garden.

What kind of mood do you want your garden to reflect -.

~Cool and calming

~Uplifting

~Mellow and glowing

~Warm and relaxing

~Indulgent

~Reflective

What style of garden do you like -

~Coastal

~Mediterranean

~Japanese

~Exotic

~Urban contemporary

~Cottage

~Tropical

~Country

~Urban traditional

Choosing the right shrubs for your garden -

~ larger or smaller garden

~ shade or sun

~ wet conditions or dry

I think I love the cottage garden the best -

Get your copy from Amazon - HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tacolicious
Festive Recipes for Tacos, Snacks, Cocktails, and More
Sara Deseran, Joe Hargrave, Antelmo Faria, Mike Barrow

5+++ Stars!

ABOUT THE BOOK -

A collection of recipes for fun, accessible taqueria fare--including colorful salsas, tasty snacks, irresistible cocktails, and of course tacos galore--from the wildly popular San Francisco restaurants and food stall, Tacolicious.
As their legions of fans can attest, Tacolicious is all about delicious, authentic, fresh Cal-Mexican fare--eaten in a fun, communal atmosphere. Tacolicious translates the vibrant, festive food of the restaurant into book form, with scores of recipes for fresh, easy, and downright delicious tacos and accompaniments. Whether you're looking for a quick and family-friendly weeknight meal or inspiration for a fabulous Mexican taco fiesta,Tacolicious has something for everyone. Taco recipes range from the familiar--Pork al Pastor, Carnitas, Chile Verde--to new favorites like Three-Chili Bistec Adobado and Guajillo-Braised Beef Short Rib. Chapters on snacks; salsas; cocktails, mocktails, and aguas frescas; and other party essentials round out this entertaining collection.

MY REVIEW -

Let me start by saying that I love tacos! I could seriously live off them and have them everyday (well that and pizza!). This is an awesome book! There are so many ideas in here. Not only does it give you great ideas for the tacos, but it also gives you the recipes for the "fixins" (sauces, salsa, etc.).

Pet peeve #1 - pictures? - CHECK! there are tons of great pictures, not one for every recipe, but still lots!

Hard shell, soft shell

Veggie, fish, seafood, chicken and meat

And even breakfast tacos!

But... Lobster tacos??? OMG!!!! Yum!

The daughter made me fish tacos the other night for dinner!