Situated beautifully at the intersection of Michael Pollan, Ruth Reichl, and Barbara Kingsolver, Heirloom is an inspiring, elegiac, and gorgeously written memoir about rediscovering an older and still vital way of life.Fourteen years ago, Tim Stark was living in Brooklyn, working days as a management consultant, and writing unpublished short stories by night. One evening, chancing upon a Dumpster full of discarded lumber, he carried the lumber home and built a germination ...

Flowers are probably the most popular choice of all cake decorations. The simplest representation of a flower is a cut-out shape. Other more interesting ways of representing flowers are to create fabric-effect flowers out of paste or to try your hand at creating lifelike flowers. There are many books written on the art of sugar flower making; LindySmith touches on this subject here, showing you how to make lifelike poppies and peonies, as well as fabric roses, blossoms and dahlias, and sim...

With our world so storm-tossed and rudderless, this might just be the book for our times.Sun-drenched Tuscany is synonymous with the ideal life. But it didn't happen by chance. Since the Etruscans, the Tuscans have treated their breathtaking countryside with sagacious respect and, in hamlets and hill towns, have built a culture of simplicity, beauty, neighborliness, good food, and a love of daily life.Ferenc Máté, a Tuscan resident for twenty years, explores this idyllic ex...

Pumpkins and monsters and bats! Oh My! These aren't your typical grade school papier-mache projects. Get ready to let your creepy, creative juices flow, and sink your teeth into some chill inspiring Halloween projects. For more projects, check out Papier-Mache Monsters.

The popular New Yorker writer combines the style of Mary Roach with the on-the-ground food savvy of Anthony Bourdain.Dana Goodyear’s narrative debut is a highly entertaining, revelatory look into the raucous, strange, fascinatingly complex world of contemporary American food culture. At once an uproarious behind-the-scenes adventure and a serious attempt to understand the implications of an emergent new cuisine, it introduces a cast of compelling and unexp...

A room-by-room guide to creating domestic bliss.Home—it’s the place where we can let down our hair, loosen our clothes, put our feet up. It’s where those we love most share in the ordinariness and extraordinariness of our days. It’s where many of us spend lifetimes trying to get back to. As the proverb goes, it’s where our hearts are.Simple Pleasures of the Home is for everyone who has the nesting impulse—from passionate and accomplished home decor...

From "the funniest writer in America," a book about cooking and cleaning for people who don't know how to do those things and aren't about to learn ( The Wall Street Journal).In addition to debunking popular myths about bachelors (they are in fact not creatures known to hang around the house in silk smoking jackets, sipping brandy from oversized snifters), #1 New York Times–bestselling author P. J. O'Rourke offers some useful advice about housekee...

The Simple Guide to Coffee is a short easy to read guide to one of the world's favourite beverages. The guide looks at where coffee comes from, how it is harvested and processed and most importantly how to make your cup of coffee taste wonderful.We start our story by looking at the two main types of bean, Arabica and Robusta, where do they come from, what are the differences and how are the different characteristics used in different types of coffee.Harvesting and processing ...

With so many brands and types of soaps available in the market, the idea of making soaps at home seems a little bit weird, but the satisfaction and enhancement of creativity while experimenting different colors, pattern and shapes while soap making will make you fall in love with it.

In a hectic world of mass-produced food, clothing, and entertainment, it’s easy to miss out on the simple pleasures of doing things for yourself. Young web designer Jenna Woginrich chronicles her adventures as she learns to embrace the idea of self-sufficiency in all aspects of her life, including sewing her own clothes, growing her own food, and creating her own fun outside of the mainstream. Woginrich’s hilarious, heartbreaking, and soul-satisfying journey will bring joy and inspiration ...

Based on the premise that we have 21 days before we lose our modern conveniences, Surviving the Apocalypse in the Suburbs is packed with practical solutions for becoming more self-reliant and transitioning to a lower energy lifestyle. From shelter to livestock to transportation to tools, this is the ultimate guide to simplifying your lifestyle while reducing your dependence on oil.

Fruitcake Hill is a cleverly written history and personal memoir of an Irish family from the Chicago suburbs that has continuously occupied a single farmhouse property for over 137 years. The story focuses on the family's struggles to preserve the life they knew before urban sprawl became a reality. A humorous and informative read!