Stir My Soul: A Giveaway

As you might imagine from a food blogger, cookbooks are an obsession of mine. Anytime we travel, I love to find and thumb through a cookbook from the region because I believe a culture’s food is one of the best expressions of who its people are. And there is nothing better than a cookbook full of recipes you’d really make, but which are all new dishes to your family. Solid gold! The fine folks at Andrews McMeel Publishing sent me a copy of Stir My Soul by Roxie Kelley to review and give away. I’m happy to report that Stir My Soul is FULL of recipes that I’m sure will become regular favorites around our house.

In order to whet your appetite, let me share a few dishes Roxie serves up in Stir My Soul. I didn’t get far into the book (page 2, in fact) until I came upon Spinach Artichoke Nachos. Um, yes, please! A couple of pages over is a recipe for her daughter Brooke’s Sweet Potato Hummus. We eat a TON of hummus at our house, so I’m always looking for a new twist on it. Since we love sweet potatoes, this one will be a big hit! Potato skins are a traditional appetizer in our area, but Roxie makes her Classic Potato Skins with prosciutto and mozzarella. Since our are typically made with bacon and cheddar, I look forward to trying her recipe. Her Castle Wings are a fried chicken wing served with your choice of Kahlua & Coffee Sauce or Raspberry-Tequila Sauce. What?!? I’m all over those!

But appetizers aren’t all Roxie shares. The main dishes in Stir My Soul are equally as mouth-watering. She shares a recipe for Parmesan Pork Loin, complete with carrots and potatoes, which would be a perfect Sunday lunch dish. Jack’s Gumbo is the real deal! It’s a chicken and sausage gumbo made with a roux (the ONLY way to make REAL gumbo in my humble opinion.) Her Chipotle Barbecue Chicken Club Sandwiches will be on my menu soon. And she has several authentic pasta dishes including Stuffed Shells, Baked Ziti, and Fettuccine with Asiago and Parmesan Cheeses.

When I look through a cookbook, I always check to see whether the side dishes are any good, because I feel like a good side dish can accompany most any entree. Roxie’s Asian Rice is something I’d serve with grilled chicken, shrimp, or pork tenderloin. It has lots of veggies, so it’s a starch and veggie in one dish. Her Roasted Mushrooms would be perfect with a juice grilled steak. Her Spinach Baked Potatoes would be delicious (and again, the only side needed) for roast. And her Kelsey’s Asiago AuGratin Potatoes would pair nicely with ham. Her Spiced Marinated Tomatoes would be delicious at this time of year, since tomatoes are in season.

In addition to lots of delicious looking breads and muffins, Stir My Soul also features a large dessert section. The first one I’m trying is the Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. But her Cheese Filles Chocolate Bundt Cake will be a close second. Her Apple Turnovers are made with spiced apples and puff pastry. Her selection of cookies look divine! They include Peanut Butter Dreams, Salted Chocolate Cookies, Lush Lemon Bars, and Turtle Shortbread Bars.

Stir My Soul can be ordered directly from Andrews McMeel here, you can find it at Barnes and Noble, or you can order from my Amazon affiliate link here..

The generous folks at Andrews MCMeel have sent me a copy to give away to a reader. I’ll give you three ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post. One comment per person, please.
2. Follow The Hill Hangout on Facebook, and leave us a comment on the Facebook post linked here.
3. Follow @TheHillHangout on Twitter, and tweet us a comment about Stir My Soul. 

Good luck, dear readers! I’ll announce the winner next Friday at noon.

** Andrews McMeel Publishing sent me a copy of this cookbook for review purposes. As always, opinions about it are entirely my own. Also, as always, I only review and give away books I think my readers really will enjoy.