(Image from Barnes & Noble)

I've long been a fan of Six Sisters' Stuff, a website that features family-friendly recipes, crafts, product reviews, and more.  Maintained by—you guessed it!—six sisters, the site offers a lot of great, free content.  Because I love SSS so much, I get especially excited every time they come out with a new cookbook.  I own most of these glossy, colorful treasure troves, and have enjoyed everything I've made from them.  No lie.  I've never made a SSS recipe that didn't turn out well.

Their newest offering, Copycat Cooking, just might be their best.  It contains over 100 recipes for popular dishes from restaurants like Cafe Rio, The Cheesecake Factory, Panera, and Applebee's (even Disneyland) that you can make at home, including many of my personal favorites.  With only a couple exceptions, the recipes require fewer than ten ingredients and don't take a whole lot of time to prepare.  With bright, mouth-watering photos and clear, easy instructions, Copycat Cooking makes it easy to enjoy the restaurant food you love without having to leave your house.

I don't like to review a cookbook without trying a recipe or two.  In this case, I couldn't resist—I picked three!  Actually, my kids chose them since my oldest daughter's favorite appetizer is Panda Express's cream cheese rangoons, my son's #1 fast food meal is orange chicken (also from Panda's) and my youngest can't get enough of the lava cake at Chili's.  Thus, our dinner/dessert menu was born.  Because my 9-year-old just could not wait to bake, we worked on dessert first.  Although the prep was a little messy (probably because said 9yo wanted as little supervision as possible), our lava cakes turned out divine.  My husband said they tasted just like the Chili's version.  I actually think they're better since they're smaller and not quite as rich.  Next, came the rangoons.  My 16-year-old Panda's lover made these herself.  Although the wrapping and frying was a little time-consuming, her rangoons turned out really well.  Again, we thought the copycat recipe better than the original since ours tasted more flavorful.  The orange chicken also took more time than I thought it would, but it came out well.  All of us thought Panda's was better, but we agreed that the SSS version was a fine substitute.  Like I said, I've never had a Six Sisters' Stuff recipe not turn out and these were no exception—even with kid cooks.  There are a bunch more scrumptious-looking dishes in Coycat Cooking I can't wait to try.

I'm not going to lie, most (perhaps all) of the recipes in Copycat Cooking are available for free on the Six Sisters' Stuff website.  However, this is a great cookbook to have in your kitchen or to give away as a gift (believe it or not, Christmas is coming up fast).  It's sturdy, fun to look through, and convenient to have on hand.  At around $20 (it's only $15.50 on Amazon right now), it's totally worth the buy.  I love it already!

(Readalikes:  Other Six Sisters' Stuff cookbooks, including Celebrate Every Season; Dinner Made Easy; A Year with Six Sisters' Stuff; Sweets & Treats; etc.)

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(Image from Barnes & Noble)

In 1820, a time when religious fervor was sweeping the country, a young farm boy began to wonder.  All the churches in his small New York town claimed to be God's true church, but how could that be?  If they all preached different doctrine, which one was correct?  Directed by a promise in the Bible (see James 1:5), 14-year-old Joseph Smith knelt in a grove of trees and asked his Heavenly Father to help him know which church to join.  The answer changed Joseph's life.  

Young Joseph saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a vision.  He was instructed by them to join none of the churches.  Instead, he was commanded to translate an ancient record called The Book of Mormon and organize a church based on its teachings, plus the revelations Joseph would continue to receive from God and Jesus.  As overwhelmed and inadequate as this modern-day prophet must have felt, Joseph nonetheless did as he was bid, knowing the Lord would provide a way for Joseph to accomplish everything that had been asked of him.  Despite constant persecution that ranged from name calling to libel to false imprisonment to physical violence and even to his eventual murder, Joseph never wavered in his faith.  To the end of his life, he did everything the Lord asked of him, even sealing his testimony with his own blood.  

Many people across the world were drawn to the infant church, receiving burning testimonies of the Gospel.  Making great personal sacrifices to gather and worship together, the early Saints persevered—through persecution, in-fighting among church leaders, financial crises, forced evacuations, mob violence, controversial revelations, doubt, a tribulation-laden trek to Utah, and much more—to prove their faith and willingness to let God direct their paths.  From those very humble beginnings grew a global church that today has more than 16 million members spread over dozens of different countries.  Like their forebears, modern Church members strive to walk in faith and righteousness, despite continuing persecution and everyday trials.

Whatever your opinion of Joseph Smith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, theirs is an incredible story.  Saints: The Standard of Truth is the first installment in a planned four-volume series about the Church's rich, intriguing history.  Purposely written in an easy-to-read narrative style, the series is geared toward readers of all ages, all backgrounds, and all degrees of familiarity with Church history/doctrine.  Despite its simple style, the book has been painstakingly researched to ensure accuracy.  As evidenced in this first installment, the series explores its subject with a forthright and refreshing honesty that has been somewhat lacking in previous histories.  In fact, The Standard of Truth discusses some of Mormonism's most troubling historical issues—polygamy, pride and power-mongering among Church leaders, Joseph Smith's treasure-hunting, criticism of the prophet, spiritual crises, etc.  Sharing personal, intimate stories of many of the Church's early leaders and followers, the book makes it clear that although the Saints were faithful people doing their best to obey God's will, they were filled with the same human frailties and weaknesses as are we all.  

Although the paperback version of The Standard of Truth weighs in at a hefty 586 pages, it's actually a fast, easy read.  It moves quickly and offers plenty of compelling stories, some of which will be very familiar to members of the Church, others of which will not (even to "lifers" like myself).  The book is available for free online (read it here or download it from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Deseret Book, etc.).  The print version is chunky and a bit unwieldly, but it can be purchased for less than $8 at store.lds.org, BYU Bookstore, Deseret Book, and other retailers.  Whether you're a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or not, now is the perfect time to learn more about its history.  You won't be disappointed in this very readable and informative volume.

For additional stories and information from Church history, check out https://history.lds.org/saints as well as the Saints podcast, which you can find here:

(Readalikes:  The Church has published other histories in the past, but I haven't read any of them.)

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In his new book, Slave Stealers, Ballard discusses the inspiration behind O.U.R. and how his organization uses lessons from the past to guide its day-to-day operations.  Although he talks about some of O.U.R.'s rescue missions, his focus remains mostly on the original Underground Railroad.  He discusses historical leaders and heroes, some of whom are well-known (Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, etc.) and many whom are not (Harriet Jacobs, Levi Coffin, Robert Smalls, Cornelia Willis, etc.).  Despite the disturbing, overwhelming nature of his subject, Ballard emphasizes hope.  He insists that if good, ordinary citizens of all creeds, colors, and backgrounds can unite against the evil that is human trafficking, the plague can be eradicated.  Just like the battles of the past, this fight will require courage, cunning, compassion, and bold, well-planned action.  As has happened before, this war can be won.  

It's difficult not to feel bolstered by Ballard's optimism, especially considering the evil, heart-wrenching crimes he's seen with his own eyes.  His faith, his courage, and his positivity shine through everything he writes in this book.  While Slave Stealers is not overly graphic, its subject matter is as disturbing as it gets.  In spite of this, Ballard's tone is upbeat, making this volume an inspiring call-to-action that offers undeniable proof that when humans combine their individual sparks they can ignite a righteous bonfire that can spread light into even the darkest of corners.  As Ballard says to the children he seeks daily:  Your long night is coming to an end.  Hold on.  We are on our way.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other books about slavery and the Underground Railroad, although no titles come readily to mind.  You?)

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for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, disturbing subject matter, and references (not overly graphic) to rape, kidnapping, child abuse/neglect/abandonment, etc.