Well, I had to adult recently, calling a repair company to fix a gas fireplace. While it’s too hot to run it now, winter has a nasty habit of sneaking up on me. Thankfully, the repair man, Dustin, was nice and he fixed the fireplace quickly so I didn’t have to adult for long. He then requested something epic. Dustin turned to me and suggested I leave a review for their company. In my brain I was thinking, “sure, I could leave them a 5 star review and move on.” However, Dustin had other ideas and gave me the ultimate quest!

What was my quest? Dustin asked if I could write the longest review possible just to drive his boss crazy. Apparently. the boss reads every single review at the end of the day and he must respond to every review before he can go home. Quest accepted. My mission was clear and it was time to create.

I love it when people give me quests like these! I quickly put my keyboard on the table and started typing. The words flowed and the nerdiest review started to form. I was in the moment adding themes from my favorite movies, games, and shows. Let me just say, I maxed out the character limit! Meaning, it’s the longest review I could write on Google! Curious? You can check it out here: Review of Quality Stoves & Spas.

Of course, I have to share the whole review here! It was a hilarious one to write after all! But I have a fun quest for you.. How many different Geeky shows, movies, and games can you identify?

REVIEW:

I am always nervous when it comes to calling an expert out to the house to fix something. Living in the reality that we do, these things cannot be simply fixed by placing a Brick Block or using Mage Hand for small repairs. As much as we wish for such ease, much of life proves to be more chaotic, unknown, and frankly, less magical. For lack of a better description, we live in a world of “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” when it comes to problems and the repairs needed. What starts out as an adventure in this amazing world turns into a to-do list of saving and balancing money to eventually cover the cost of maintenance and repairs.

Now to my case. My house is kept warm by two crazy fire-breathing dragons, better known to us mortals as gas fireplaces. 3–4 years ago, one dragon breathed his last flame when it looked as if it caught fire. We shut it off and never used it again. The poor thing has lain dormant ever since. We didn’t call for a repair job because money was tight (ah, the choices we make as adults) and we had a second fireplace. Last year, our second dragon sounded like it was eating itself. Think of a metal fan hitting a steel plate. This terribly deadly sound echoed through the house and we made the devastating decision, in the dead of winter I might add, to put the dragon to an indefinite sleep. Tragically, my family spent that winter in what felt like the ice planet of Hoth. With no Tauntaun to keep us warm, we bundled with multiple blankets, ran electric heaters, and waited with bated breath for the return of Spring.

Spring eventually came and like a blast of Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, it was summer. Now, winter looms even closer in our future and to blink means certain doom. So, reluctantly, I called Quality Stoves asking for assistance in waking our beloved dragons. The people that answered the phone were kind, understanding, and willing to assist in any way they could. Understanding our situation with a fixed income, they gave me options on how best to tackle the sleeping dragon problem. Once we agreed on a course of action, Quality Stoves sent a repair man out the next day. Simply marvelous in my opinion.

That teleports me to today. After receiving a phone call with the option for an earlier time slot, I logically accepted and prepped for the Dr. Zefram Cochrane of repair men. Dustin warped over an hour earlier than scheduled and began his journey in our crazy home.

Sadly, there was not much more he could do for Dragon #1. It couldn’t take much more of heating our home and has come to rest amongst the graveyard of other non-functioning equipment. Dragon #2, however, seemed to still have its spark and we received a promising bill of health with the possibility of transmitting power to it from the flux capacitor and sending it a few years back in time. Dustin proceeded to provide the necessary care with a system check and a deep clean. After such love, the dragon purred back to life and began heating the house with vigor, much to our horror, as it’s Crematoria and 90 degrees outside! However, the joy to hear it run was celebrated across the home as the summons of winter was no longer the dreaded call of a horn and more of a gentle whisper in the wind.

Dustin respectfully and carefully put everything back together, cleaned up his workstation, and smiled at us. His task was done and money was now needed. I released the green pieces of paper willingly, as this whole situation was completed in a kind and professional manner. Our home was respected, my family was treated with respect, jokes, and laughter, and I could not have asked for a better expert to repair what had become a looming pile of dread.

I will 100% be calling them back to replace the first fireplace as soon as I can afford a new dragon.

And in all seriousness, I thank God that they could come out and do such a quick job for a fraction of what it would cost to replace a gas fireplace. We did receive the news that it is time to replace both, and while that will cost a lot to do, I can think of no better company to work with to get it done.

Thank you!

With Summer heat making its way to most of the country and kids taking a break from school, families are looking for fun new foods that will inspire imaginations. Sometimes the best way to find a little fun and inspiration is to look at a cookbook, especially if it’s themed. Thanks to Disney and Insight Editions, a cookbook will be released June 30, 2026 featuring fun summer meals, snacks, and drinks inspired by Moana! Find it on Amazon.com here (affiliate link)!

The Official Cookbook: Pacific Recipes Inspired by Motunui features several recipes the family will enjoy as they travel the ocean waves of flavor and fun. With the help of Hei Hei, Pua, Moana, and Maui, each recipe includes ingredients and instructions to make creating each delicious food easy. I also love that each recipe is ranked on a difficulty scale of Easy to Highly Advanced. This difficulty level tells me how much effort I will have to put into the meal/snack. If I am not up for a massive Lamb Sapasie (Medium), I can find something more simple to make such as a Tuna Poke (Easy).

Insight Editions seen me this Moana Cookbook, and here is what I think.

Upon receiving Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook: Pacific Recipes Inspired by Motunui (I will call it the Moana Cookbook), my first impression was, WHOA. This is not a small book of a few recipes, this is a large book featuring over 130 pages of Snacks, Mains, Sides, Sweets, and Beverages. It’s almost an overwhelming amount of recipes that are new to me and my family. But I believe that is what gives this cookbook its charm. We are all excited to read and explore another culture through their cuisine.

The Moana Cookbook starts with a simple introduction about why and how this Moana Cookbook was created and how important the movie is to Islanders and the world. This introduction is followed by a description of cuisine in the Pacific and a map of Islands found in the Pacific. Because these ingredients may be a bit foreign to many people seeking to enjoy the foods from Moana, Author Monique Fiso includes an Ingredients Guide to help us find the correct items to make these delicious foods. I want to make a quick note: Thank You for including instructions on how to prepare papayas, mangos, and other foods; this is beyond helpful.

Finishing the education of foods in the Pacific and how to prepare certain foods, the readers are taken on a journey through Moana inspired recipes. We start with Chapter 1, Snacks, featuring Fruits of the Pacific, Taro Chips, and even Maui’s Boat Snacks. I just have to say, I was disappointed that the recipe Boat Snacks didn’t include chicken. We all know Hei Hei was supposed to be a boat snack, and somehow, he evaded that fate. I suppose a delicious seaweed popcorn is the next best thing. It’s an easy recipe and simply requires some coconut oil, dried seaweed powder, popcorn kernels, and sea salt. YUMMMM

Chapter 2 starts the Main course where we find recipes like Chicken Curry, Rukau, Tuna Poke, Watercress Soup, and Huli Huli Chicken. Thankfully, while many of these recipes run medium to advanced, the creators of the Moana Cookbook did include Easy recipes for us unsure cooks. Oka I’a and Tuna Poke are the only two easy recipes, and in my humble opinion, are a welcome site.

Chapter 3 features the ever popular category, Sides. We find Motunui Salads, Papaya Slaw, Poi, Island-Styled= Vegetables, Mango Salsa, and more. There are so many sides, its like the author knew, more than likely, our meals will be just the sides hahaha. With the help of the Ingredients Guide and how to prepare certain foods, the Sides chapter can be more of a breeze than the Main category. For example, the Mango Salsa (pg. 86) is simply diced Mango mixed with onion, garlic, and red chilies topped with olive oil. It is easy to make and sounds so refreshingly good! I think the sides may become my snacks!

Chapter 4 is the chapter I am sure we have all been waiting for. Sure snacks, main dishes, and sides are important, but to truly get a feel for a culture, one has to try their desserts! Chapter 4 features 29 pages of Sweets! From Pineapple Pie to Banana Pudding, the Sweets do not disappoint! One I really want to try is the Voyager Cake (pg. 96). Basically, it’ i’s a coconut cake with a passion fruit syrup. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. The difficulty is Medium, so hopefully I will have the skills to make this cake in the future. It may take a few tries as cakes are my nemesis.

The Moana Cookbook finishes off the recipe extravaganza with iconic Islander beverages. from Passion fruit Soda to Hibiscus Tea, these beverages are unique and not found in every day beverages where I live. While I tend to avoid floral flavors, they just are a little off putting for me, the Yotai (pg. 124) with watermelon and pineapple sounds absolutely devine. And since it’ i’s an easy beverage to make, I could see myself making an effort to create this delicious treat for me and my family. I will just have to make sure we don’t hyper focus on such a lovely drink and try to keep enjoying new things.

Cookbook Quality Control:

As I stated above, the Moana Cookbook is filled with recipes that explore Islander life and their culture inspired by the Disney Movie, Moana. But I want to take a minute and also focus on the book itself. A cookbook can be a great edition to any family, but how the book is made can either make or break a cookbook. Does the cookbook have a spine that makes the book lay flat so that your hands can be free to create in the kitchen? Are the pages plastic coated so they are easy to wipe off if there is a spill? Are the ingredients and instructions in a large enough font that they can be read from across the kitchen while creating the desired foods? Is the cookbook colorful enough or engaging with photos? There are so many questions that need to be answered to determine if this cookbook will last during family fun.

The Moana Cookbook I received has a hard cover. This is a win. Flappy covers fold, get messy easy, absorb random liquids found on the counter, and take stains as their new personality. A hardcover book can quickly be wiped down and still look decent.

The book I received also had a stiff bind because of the hard cover. This makes keeping the book open a little more difficult. When I opened the book to a recipe in the front or at the end of the book, the pages flip to another recipe. I think this is because the book is so new. To test my theory, I pushed the pages down and creased the bind a bit. This, in fact, made my desired page stay open. This means I can be hands free as my family and I attempted to create new concoctions in the kitchen.

The pages in the Moana Cookbook are definitely more thick than average books and feel as if they have a coating. However, any sauces or liquid will damage these pages. I suggest having a cookbook stand for the Moana Cookbook. It keeps this gem off the counter and safe from disasters that may occur. After all, the colors and images in this cookbook are an array of beautiful art featuring the Moana fandom we will want to enjoy for a while!

The Moana Cookbook gets an A+++++ when it comes to art and images. Throughout the entire cookbook we are welcomed by waves and characters from the Moana movies. From Moana to Pua to Maui, it’s a fan’s dream to cook with those who have inspired this Pacific Islander meals. The Author Monique Fiso, also includes several images featuring many of the meals descried in the book. This helps creators see what the meal should look like, but also helps us decided what we may want to cook. After all, we eat with our eyes before we taste with our mouths… yes that totally made sense.

Of course, with the amount of art in the Moana Cookbook, the list of ingredients and instructions are tiny. These are hard to see from across the kitchen. It isn’t a deal breaker, just have a family member read the next steps if needed. Also if the Moana Cookbook is on a cookbook stand, it makes it easy to prep and create in the same area without worrying about damaging an adorable book.

Overall, The Moana Cookbook gets 5 stars from me! It has a hard cover, nice binding, great pictures, and delicious foods, making this cookbook a recipe for success! To anyone questioning if they wish to add this unique collection of foods to their family recipes, the answer is a resounding yes from this Cookbook reviewer. It is a great way to embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2!

About The Moana Cookbook
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Insight Editions
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 30, 2026
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.8 x 10 inches
Purchase here: https://amzn.to/4oUasJz