E-Book Review: Homespun Holidays: Fall and Winter

The days are getting shorter, and the air is starting to feel pleasantly crisp...ah, Fall is here and the holiday season is nigh. This REALLY IS my absolute favorite time of year. I enjoy the cooler weather, the breeze with a bit of a bite, and layering the cozy clothes.

The Old Schoolhouse has published an E-Book that is just right for the season: Homespun Holidays: Fall and Winter. It's a hearty e-book, 88 printable pages, with nicely coordinated graphics, fonts, color scheme, and personal photos used throughout. Echoing the title, the book is organized into two main sections: Fall and Winter. The table of contents quickly shows that the main sections are both subdivided into Fun and Food (simple and to the point!). Under Fun: poems, stories of memories from seasons past, decorating tips and crafts for all ages (for inside and outside the house), family traditions, travel activities, book recommendations, gifts to sew, and suggestions for making and keeping the holiday season meaningful. As for Food: a generous selection of gastronomic goodness! Of course there are pies, cookies, and cakes (no holiday would be complete without them!), but delightfully there are also soups, casseroles, drinks, and popcorn goodies! The holiday e-book finishes up with two nice features: first, a section for the contributors to write a little about themselves, and finally, the recipes are all offered in a printer friendly (no graphics), easily readable format.

My final verdict: Homespun Holidays: Fall and Winter is a very welcome addition to my growing list of e-books. I think it has a wonderful variety of ideas on how to celebrate the fall and winter seasons. I am looking forward to putting some of the recipes to the test. The ingredients for Pumpkin Pie Squares are sitting on my kitchen table as I type (will blog about the results soon!). [UPDATE on Oct. 31st: I have now made the Pumpkin Pie Squares on four separate occassions, and they were a HUGE hit each time! Excellent recipe!] I have my eyes on Autumn Soup, Lentil Soup, Gingerbread Pancakes, and Caramel Corn. I am interested in incorporating a Jesse Tree in our Christmas celebrations this year. I had never heard about this idea before and am very excited about it! A trash bag wreath (I know it may not sound like much, but I assure you it's a really cool project!) will be on our list of things 'to do' this year too. Funny, I made something similar with tissue paper when I was a child! My absolute favorite feature of the e-book: the personal accounts from the contributors on the majority of the pages. What a nice touch! An explanation of how or why a tradition got started, the origins of favorite family recipes, the memories shared...wonderful, wonderful!!

I have great childhood memories of this time of year: raking leaves, the smell of bonfires, bicycle rides, hot chocolate, grilled cheese sandwiches and creamy tomato soup...love it! As I'm being a helpmate to my husband and raising my children I want a home atmosphere that will create great memories for my entire family. In Homespun Holidays: Fall and Winter I've found a number of ideas to start new traditions and hopefully make meaningful memories that my husband and my children will cherish.