Good morning everyone! I have a delightful movie review for you. Today’s movie comes from a series called “Homestead Blessings.” The titles include:

• The Art of Bread Making
• The Art of Candle Making
• The Art of Canning
• The Art of Cooking
• The Art of Dairy Delights
• The Art of Gardening
• The Art of Herbs
• The Art of Quilting
• The Art of Sewing
• The Art of Soap Making
• The Art of Crafting

There are so many skills that have nearly been lost in an age of ipads, microwaves, and “modern” grocery stores. These skills used to be passed from mother to daughter on through the generations. Girls were taught how to be virtuous in their attitude, their wardrobe, and their cooking. I see this DVD series as a much needed tool, because, though many women today have the desire to return to the old ways, they were not taught by the generation before them. And even if their mother taught them some things, there were probably things that were missed. My mother is the most wonderful seamstress on the planet. (Love you Mom!) She taught us how to sew and we all can do it quite well. She didn’t have as much interest in food preparation, so now she is excited to be learning some things from her daughters. <3 I love that! We are learning from each other to care for our homes and families, and these DVDs can play such an important role. This is one series that I might just save up to invest in. Now, on to my specific review of the cooking DVD.

Let me start by saying that my children find some weird delight in watching cooking shows. Even my seven year old son will sit and watch someone grill a steak while commenting vaguely on the delicious smell. So, I expected the kids to at least sit still for this movie, but they were captivated. Okay, they made me promise to watch it again whilst feverishly copying all the recipes onto index cards. They literally want to try every single recipe! I do too!

The setting is an incredibly beautiful old fashioned kitchen with a fully stocked pantry in the back and rolling pins on the wall. The hostesses are a mother and her three daughters. They have long hair and aprons and wonderfully pleasant voices. And, boy, can they cook! But they explain and show everything so well, that I am anxious to get my children in the kitchen and get started. I’m a pretty decent cook, at least according to my husband, who has a cooking background. But I’ve learned several things in this DVD to improve the food I prepare for my family. The foods are simple, healthy, and cover lots of skills. Everything is cooked in cast iron. The ladies interact with each other. “How much oregano do you usually put in this?” They not only show many basic skills for putting a healthy meal on the table, they demonstrate a family working together for the common good. And perhaps that is the true value in this series. You don’t see one person showing off their skills. You see a family helping, asking questions, treating each other with dignity and respect. I hope as you watch this, you will want to take your children in the kitchen with you. They will learn how to cook with you, and they will learn healthy family dynamics. So many cookbooks and cooking shows are all about getting the meal on the table in 30 minutes or less. Some of the dishes in this DVD were prepared quickly, but the emphasis was on showing love to your family by preparing them wholesome delicious meals.

And you know what? I think that’s a Torah thing!

I hope you will want to watch this movie, and the others in the series. You can get it here:

• Homestead Blessings: The Art of Cooking – this is the Amazon link, where you can get new copies for under $8, at least when I wrote this.
• Christian Cinema – You can join this Christian movie rental club. They have the whole series. They also sell individual DVDs.

Enjoy! And have a great day!

PS Are you wanting to complain about how many sentences I started with the word “and”? Well, try reading Hebrew! Probably half the Torah starts with and!

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