Building Families One Meal at a Time: Six Sisters Release New Cook-Craft-Create Book
With busy schedules, after-school activities, late workdays and long commutes, is sitting down to a family dinner still possible?
The authors of Six Sisters’ Stuff (Shadow Mountain, ISBN: 978-1-60907-324-4, $21.99, March 2013) say YES!
In their debut cookbook, the sisters (yes, six biological sisters— Camille,
Kristen, Elyse, Stephanie, Lauren, and Kendra) show families just how
simple putting dinner on the table can be. From Baked Chicken Fajitas
to Slow Cooker Pot Roast Sliders to Mini Oreo Cheesecakes, Six Sisters’ Stuff has
nearly 100 easy-to-follow recipes that use ingredients commonly found
in your pantry. Each recipe includes easy-to-follow instructions and
photographs that eliminate any guess work.
Six Sisters’ Stuff evolved from the sisters’ blog SixSistersStuff.com,
that began in February 2011 out of their love to cook, craft, and
create. After years of living close to one another, they suddenly found
themselves living in different parts of the country and used the blog to
stay in touch and share ideas. In just two short years,
SixSistersStuff.com has quickly become one of the most popular food and
craft blogs, receiving on average 5 million page views per month, with
over 130,000 Facebook fans and more than 190,000 Pinterest followers (as
of 2/7/13).
Six Sisters’ Stuff also
includes a collection of simple and inexpensive craft ideas – how to
make hand puppets, felt bows, decorative wreaths, and more – plus lists
of fun family activities for road trips, entertaining rainy-day ideas,
healthy snack suggestions, and even some recommendations for cheap date
nights. This family-focused cookbook is really more of an idea book to help families create fun, lasting memories together.
Join the Family Dinner Challenge
According to Pew Research ,
only about half of families make dinner a daily ritual and another
third eat together a few times a week. Roughly one in 5 families (20%)
eat together only occasionally or never. In conjunction with the book’s
release, on March 4, 2013, SixSistersStuff.com will launch a 4x4 Dinner Challenge. Families are encouraged to eat together as a family at least four times a week for four weeks. Families can register online at www.SixSistersStuff.com and
receive meal tips, ideas for family activities, and helpful recipes to
assist in making this challenge a reality. “We grew up knowing the
importance of feeding our families a home-cooked meal and sitting down
to eat it together,” said Camille, the oldest sister. “Even the busiest
of people can make the food and project ideas we share, which will give
you even more time to spend with your family and loved ones.”
My thoughts: And can I get an "amen"? I get
cookbooks periodically from publishers. Most of them are good for a recipe or
two. I file them up with my books and pull them down when I'm stumped for what
to make for dinner but then run into the usual problem - I don't have all of
the ingredients. I struggle mightily with executive functioning skills. It's a
real disorder, people! I doubt it's in the DSM-IV, but it is thrown around as a
diagnosis. It is not terminal. Usually.
Anyway, I did it again. I got up on Sunday morning and
stared at the stove. It didn't blink and magically make dinner so I thumbed
through the Six Sisters. What ingredients did I already have? Also, haven't I
already put the ingredients I have in some kind of mixture before? It starts to
taste the same. If it isn't something I don't have and/or complicated, I've
already made it. Or not.
Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the Slow Cooker
Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken but it was a hit. It's a lot like Huli Huli
Chicken only instead of using ketchup, you use a vinegar mixture with a little
bit of lemon lime soda. Okay. I didn't have any of that. I just used water but
it was divine. Family loved it. It was sooooooooo easy and we had dinner nearly
complete. I added these rolls:
And dessert.
Incidentally, I didn't have pecans. Even
if I had pecans, I wouldn't have used pecans. This was perfect and would have
been great for pecan lovers, too.
Later that week I made Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu (You
might be seeing a pattern emerging, here) and last Sunday it was Slow Cooker
Kalua Pork Roast. All of them great. Big. Hits. My picky kids liked them all. I
have bright green sticky notes sticking up all over the book. I have the
ingredients. I haven't tried all of the combinations together, after all. And
they are EASY and QUICK. Yes, I have a propensity to use the slow cooker but
prep time is itty bitty especially in contrast to the flavor and originality of
the food.
Later that first night, my sister showed up with her boys.
She started looking through the book and saw the other parts of it that are
striking. A few examples:
- 101 Fun, Easy, and cheap indoor activities for kids.
- 50 Fun Date Ideas.
- Spring Cleaning Checklist
- 72 Hour Kit in 52 weeks (do one thing a week)
- How to make Pallet Bookshelves
- 40 Road Trip Ideas for Kids
There are more. I ended up beefing up my staples like
including more cream cheese and Heath chips for desserts. But generally
speaking, I can look at most of the recipes and say, "I've got that"
and end result is something new and different.
Side note: After looking at the book for a half hour,
my sister determined that she wants this book. She tried to steal mine but
admitted that she'll buy it for herself.
*I received a free copy of this book from publishing company in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
1 comment:
I've checked their blog and made several yummy dishes from their recipes.
Isn't the internet a great (and quick) way to break into business? Less than two years with a blog and voila, a book.
By that time standard, I should have two books finished...where have I gone wrong?
I think I'll blame it on the fact that I have zero sisters.
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