In 2018, community sites took turns covering a book every week. You can see "In 2018, we read books" to review that coverage. We didn't want to repeat ourselves in 2019 or 2020. So when Marcia came up with a way to cover books but with a twist, we were all for it. Marcia's idea was for us to digital books -- we're largely a printed text crowd -- and to use AMAZON's KINDLE UNLIMITED. So for 2021, we'll be doing a book a week and trying to just use KINDLE UNLIMITED. This week, we're talking with Trina about her "Mexican Casserole and a book in the Kitchen."
Okay, Jennifer Smith's INSTANT POT PRESSURE COOKER COOK BOOK: 500 RECIPES FOR BEGINNERS AND ADVANCED USERS was the book you tackled. It's a great review but what did you think about the next day because, we know you, you always have a "I should have . . ."
Trina: You do know me! I thought, "Small homes!" Then I thought, "I can talk about that with Ava and C.I." I watch HGTV from time to time so I've seen TINY HOUSE HUNTERS and the other tiny home shows on other channels. An Instant Pot is perfect for a tiny home. It can do so much. It's a pressure cooker, it's a rice cooker, it can saute, you name it. You can make a meal in it. You can make a dish in it. Often, on those programs, a full kitchen isn't possible. So an Instant Pot is really something.
Yogurt too, right?
Trina: Yeah, and it's a steamer -- think vegetables, it's a slow cooker, it's something that does need a cookbook, many in fact. And that's because of the pressure cooker aspect. Do either of you use or have used a pressure cooker?
Yes.
Uh-huh.
Trina: Well then you know that they are not that difficult. My sister was cleaning out her kitchen recently and she gave away two pressure cookers. One was the standard place on a stove burner and the other was the electric kind. She got the standard as a wedding gift and never used it. She never used the electric kind that she got 15 years later. Why? Because what most people know about pressure cookers -- if they don't cook a lot -- is that they can blow up. The lid can fly off -- if it's not secure -- and put a whole in the ceiling. That has led some people to really be afraid of them. So you really do need something that talks you through. And let me add, with the Instant Pot, it's not going to allow the pressure cooker function to work unless the lid is sealed properly.
There are a lot of people out there who are afraid of pressure cookers. Now the e-mails about recipes for them, is that why you selected this book to review?
Trina: No. I went with this book because of my e-mails. I get a ton of e-mails about Instant Pots and about recipes for the device so when I was looking through cookbook selections that KINDLE UNLIMITED had, I went with that one. It looked like the strongest of the bunch and it turned out to be a solid book that I highly recommend.
There was a recipe you wanted to share?
Trina: Right. This is for BBQ chicken.
Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken (breasts or thighs)
1/2 cup water
3 large potatoes, unpeeled and quartered
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbs minced garlic
1 large onion, sliced
Directions:
1. Add the chicken, water, potatoes, BBQ sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic and onion to the Instant Pot. Stir well.
2. Close and lock the lid. Select MANUAL and cook at HIGH pressure for 15 minutes.
3. Once pressure cooking is complete, use a QUICK RELEASE. Unlock and carefully open the lid.
4. Transfer the chicken to a plate and shred it. Return shredded chicken to the pot.
5. Stir well until fully coated with the sauce. Serve.
What was the selection like of cookbooks at KINDLE UNLIMITED?
Trina: I don't read cookbooks much these days. Maybe one a year or one every two years. So I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask. If someone reads several cookbooks a year, they might not be impressed. I got married very early and I read cookbooks for years and years. I have a shelves of cookbooks. So someone who's been buying them or getting them at the library for the last year or the last five years might not be impressed with the number available. I don't know. For a casual cook or a beginning cook, I think they'd be impressed with KINDLE UNLIMITED.
What do you think of KINDLE UNLIMITED overall?
Trina: I don't know. I'm hoping that they update or freshen every few months. If this -- what's offered right now -- is what's offered all year long? There's not enough to justify paying ten or so bucks a month for KINDLE UNLIMITED. NETFLIX offers new content every week as well as a huge backlog, is there a reason KINDLE UNLIMITED can't?
Good point. Other things KINDLE UNLIMITED could work on?
Trina: Finding things. It's not easy to access. It should be you go to AMAZON, you do one click and you're in KINDLE UNLIMITED. Instead, it's go to AMAZON, click on KINDLE, and then click again to get KINDLE UNLIMITED. And you really can't search -- or if you can, it's not easy. I want to just search KINDLE UNLIMITED. I can't. I can browse by genres -- like cookbooks or novels -- but I can't search. If I try to search, I've got KINDLE books -- which are things you pay for -- and I've got KINDLE UNLIMITED. It shouldn't be that hard.
