Can Picnics Help Save the World?

By White Feather

White Feather has been going on picnics throughout his life. The nature of those picnics have changed considerably with time. The picnics of his youth were fun but very different from the picnics he went on as a father. Later, his picnics became solitary and took on near spiritual dimensions. Through three very touching stories, White Feather shares what he has experienced and learned about picnics and their importance in our lives. Every day millions of picnic tables across America go unused as going on picnics has become less popular. Western culture has undergone a severe disconnect with nature and White Feather suggests that if we all start going on more picnics it would not only better our own lives but it just might help save the world..... Read it

Goat Recipes Cookbook 101

By Heviz's Books 

Goat meat, or mutton as it is also known, is the most commonly consumed red meat in the world. Apart from its unique taste, mutton also has a range of health benefits to offer.

The amount of saturated fat in goat meat is less than the total amount of unsaturated fats it contains, which improves blood cholesterol levels, eases inflammation and stabilizes heart rhythms.

Goat meat reduces the risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Goats are ruminants, so their meat is a good source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)- a fatty acid that may help prevent cancer and other inflammatory conditions.

Goat meat contains Vitamin B, which helps you burn fat. Considering that goat meat contains high amounts of lean proteins and low amounts of saturated fat, it helps control weight and reduces the risk of obesity

 Download the recipes here

How to Bake Without Baking Powder

How to Bake Without Baking Powder:

Modern and Historical Alternatives For Light and Tasty Baked Goods

By Leigh Tate

Baking powder is a staple item in most kitchens, yet it is not as necessary as we sometimes think it is. How To Bake Without Baking Powder discusses other options: from making one's own baking powder to the numerous alternatives to be found at the home baker's fingertips. The recipes and science behind them will be of interest to homesteaders, preppers, do-it-yourselfers, homeschoolers, living historians, and historical re-enactors.

Leigh Tate has always loved living close to the land. From the back-to-the-land movement to the modern homesteading movement, the agrarian lifestyle is the one she says feels like home. She and her husband currently homestead five acres in the foothills of the Southern Appalachians. Their vision is to become as self-sustaining as possible by stewarding their land, animals, and resources. Leigh's homesteading activities include gardening, food preservation, foraging, raising goats, chickens, and guinea fowl, herbs, cheese making, permaculture landscaping, spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing, quilting, natural dying, soapmaking, wood cookstove cookery, and renovating their old 1920s farmhouse.

Download it to your favorite device here

Succeeding in Culinary School

The No-bullshit Guide to Succeeding in Culinary School, by Kim Brauer

This is a practical, no-bullshit guide to thriving in culinary school and using it to launch into a professional cooking career. From basics like how to pull your kit together, all the way to ninja-level tactics like building a SWAT team and ensuring you’re one of the students your instructors want to mentor – this book offers you step-by-step strategies for kicking ass in culinary school.

 Kim Brauer was raised on Tuna Helper and delighted by ‘those tiny cabbages!’ when she discovered Brussels sprouts in a college cafeteria. She started cooking while living in Kuwait and visiting Turkey, and later left a career in education to tackle culinary school and become a line cook. She lives in Seattle with her girlfriend and way too many cats.

Read more here

Baking Real Sourdough Bread

Baking Real Sourdough Bread

By The Artisan Bakery School

Written by two passionate artisan bakers and teachers, this book dispels the myth that sourdough is difficult and time-consuming to make. It shows how to fit regular baking into even the craziest lifestyle by using an ordinary fridge and the principle of retardation – or ‘slo-mo’ dough.
Packed with clear explanations and helpful photographs the book shows:
* The Seven Steps to creating truly exceptional artisan loaves
* How to create, manage and maintain a wild yeast leaven
* How to choose and use the best flours
* The secrets of long fermentation
* Tips on improving the look, taste and texture of your loaves.
* Insights on managing the three T’s: Timing, Temperature and Technique
* How to bake sourdough that tastes the way you want it to – from milky to truly tart
* Includes original recipes from The Artisan Bakery School.
A handbook for anyone reaching for a real life-skill.

Learn more here 

Einkorn: Recipes For Natures's Original Wheat

Are you a food history buff? Do you have problems with gluten?
There is great information here:
Einkorn: Recipes For Nature's Original Wheat

The Recipe Hacker

By Diana Keuilian

Break the recipe code for your favorite foods!  Free of grains, gluten, dairy, cane sugar, and soy, The Recipe Hacker is a mouthwatering collection of your favorite comfort foods with a healthy twist. Learn to use easy ingredient substitutions to transform traditional dishes into real, healthy comfort food masterpieces, without sacrificing any of the flavor! Enjoy healthier, whole-food versions of Key Lime Pie Crispy Orange Chicken and Banana Pancakes Step-by-step photos, dozens of recipes, and delicious flavors will keep you coming back for more. Enjoy all the comfort foods you crave and keep your body (and skinny jeans) happy at the same time! Find out more here.

Food Truck Road Trip

By Kim Pham and Philip Shen and Terri Philips

Kim, Phil and Terri traveled from state to state, visiting the best food trucks out there to get the incredible and authentic recipes that make their trucks some of the most popular in the country. This book includes delicious recipes for everything from sandwiches, soups and chilies to vegetarian dishes, classics with a twist and desserts—all straight from the cooks themselves. With the country’s food truck favorites made accessible in your own kitchen, you’ll deliver incredible and unique food at home you’d have to travel across the country to try.

Outstanding dishes include Prosciutto and Grape Pizza from The Urban Oven in Los Angeles, Maker’s Mark Fried Chicken from Big D’s Grub Truck in New York, Santa Fe Black Bean Burgers from Mix’d Up Food Truck in Atlanta and Pad Thai Tacos from The Peached Tortilla in Austin.

To get these recipes, the authors found and traveled to the most vibrant food truck cultures across the country, including: Southern and Northern California; New York City; Portland, Oregon; New Orleans; Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta; Minneapolis; Austin; Washington, D.C and Philadelphia...... Find out more here

Best Smokers

The Tucci Table

By Stanley Tucci

 

 

Featuring family-friendly recipes and stunning photography, an all-new cookbook from New York Times bestselling author, beloved actor, and respected foodie Stanley Tucci.

Stanley Tucci’s association with wonderful foods began for fans with the movie Big Night and resonated in his role as Julia Child’s husband in Julie & Julia. But well before these films, he was enjoying innovative homemade Italian meals throughout his childhood, when family and food were nearly inseparable and cooking was always a familial venture.

Now, in a completely new, family-focused cookbook, Tucci captivates food lovers’ imaginations with recipes from his traditional Italian roots as well as those of his British wife, Felicity Blunt, tied together with a modern American ribbon. The time-tested recipes include pasta alla bottarga, mushroom-stuffed trout, pork chops with onions and mustard sauce, barbeque chicken wings, and much, much more! Nothing will make you happier to spend time with family than the aroma of a hearty Italian dish sizzling on the stovetop.....

Get it here

Homemade Decadence

By Joy Wilson

Joy Wilson believes that everything is better with pie. And caramel. And definitely ice cream. Her world is pretty sweet: she dabbles daily in butter and sugar as her blogging alter ego, Joy the Baker. Her new book, Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence, is packed with 125 of Joy’s favorite, super-easy, most over-the-top, totally delicious treats, such as Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Smoked Sea Salt Cookies; Butterscotch Cream Pie with Thyme-Marshmallow Meringue; Mint Chocolate Chip Cake; and Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.

Joy Wilson is the voice behind the popular blog Joy the Baker. She's obsessed with butter, sugar, cream, and dark chocolate.

Joy's love for sweets began at an early age with her father, a fanatical pie baker, and her mother, a cake decorator. Joy quickly learned that the shortest route between her and a warm batch of brownies was a bowl, wooden spoon, and hot oven.

Joy is a self taught baker whose obsession was honed as a Ben and Jerry's cake decorator, and professional (crack of dawn) baker in various bakeries in Los Angeles. Joy has made everything from biscuits to wedding cakes... but her favorite thing in the world is a tall stack of pancakes.

In her first cookbook, Joy illustrates that muffins are best served warm, bread should be studded with chocolate, and even avocados can be made into cake. It's a simple celebration of butter, sugar, and flour.  Get it here

The Maine Summers Cookbook

The Maine Summers Cookbook: Recipes for Delicious, Sun-Filled Days, by Linda and Martha Greenlaw. The bestselling mother-daughter duo offers delicious homespun summertime recipes in their new cookbook featuring cuisine from their island in Maine. From blueberries to lobsters, kitchens everywhere will now be able to enjoy the delicious food of Maine.

Between her three New York Times bestsellers and her role in the Discovery Channel's current hit series Swords, Linda Greenlaw has undoubtedly become America's best-known fisherman. In The Maine Summers Cookbook, Linda once again teams up with her mother, Martha, to welcome readers everywhere into the kitchen on their very small island.

After agonizingly long winters, summer in Maine is a magical time when fresh swordfish, shrimp, lobster, clams, blueberries, and other seasonal produce bursting with flavor fill the Greenlaws' kitchen. Linda and Martha share their favorite recipes for these blissful days. Some are tried and true family heirlooms while others are more recent twists on coastal New England cuisine-but every one captures the sensational tastes that go hand in hand with the season.

From snacks and refreshing cocktails for lingering sunsets such as Schoolhouse Shore Clam Dip and Strawberry-Mint Sparkling Lemonade to mouthwatering starters such as Grilled Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms, and from simple but elegant entrées such as Blackened Swordfish with Blueberry Chutney to indulgent desserts such as Mile-High Strawberry Pie, these delectable recipes are tailored for the home cook. And, of course, this collection wouldn't be complete without Linda and Martha's favorite lobster roll recipe. Ninety gorgeous four-color photographs and delightful essays chock-full of Linda's salty wit and Martha's kitchen wisdom round out this lavish feast, making The Maine Summers Cookbook an irresistible treat for everyone with a zest for good food and good living-any time of year.

Click here for more information or to order.

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Fried Baloney Sandwiches

Betty Crocker The Big Book of Slow Cookery

New Book Review

Betty Crocker The Big Book of Slow Cooker, Casseroles & More Enjoy the comforts of home-cooked family meals every night of the week. You want hearty, home-cooked meals for your family, but with today's busy schedules, getting dinner on the table can be a challenge. Thanks to The Big Book of Slow Cooker, Casseroles & More, cooking fresh and flavorful meals doesn't have to equal hours in the kitchen.

This book collects favorite recipes that Betty Crocker fans have come to trust for simple solutions for home-cooked meals and modern twists to comfort food classics. With hassle-free slow cooker recipes like Porketta Pot Roast and Korean Beef Stew, and 30-minute meals like Chicken Cacciatore and Jambalaya, this book offers classic meal ideas with a fast and modern twist. More than 200 tasty recipes offer no-fuss convenience, short prep times and quick-and-easy cleanup. These recipes are so delicious, they'll think you spent all day in the kitchen!

You'll find more than 200 recipes, including casseroles, pastas, soups and stews, simple slow cooker meals and more. Handy tips on using your slow cooker, cutting down prep time and preparing simple make-ahead recipes the whole family will love. Plus a bonus I-didn't-know-I-could-do-that snacks and drinks made with a slow cooker. Click here for more information or to order.

True Crime Review

Momofuku

New Book Review

Momofuku, by David Chang and Peter Meehan. Never before has there been a phenomenon like Momofuku. A once-unrecognizable word, it's now synonymous with the award-winning restaurants of the same name in New York City: Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ssäm Bar, Ko, and Milk Bar. Chef David Chang has single-handedly revolutionized cooking in America with his use of bold Asian flavors and impeccable ingredients, his mastery of the humble ramen noodle, and his thorough devotion to pork.

Momofuku is both the story and the recipes behind the cuisine that has changed the modern-day culinary landscape. Chang relays with candor the tale of his unwitting rise to superstardom, which, though wracked with mishaps, happened at light speed. And the dishes shared in this book are coveted by all who've dined—or yearned to—at any Momofuku location (yes, the pork buns are here). This is a must-read for anyone who truly enjoys food.

David Chang is the chef and owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Ko, and Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar, all located in New York City's East Village. He has been named a Food & Wine Best New Chef, a GQ Man of the Year, a Rolling Stone Agent of Change, and a Bon Appétit Chef of the Year. He has taken home three James Beard Awards: Rising Star Chef, Best Chef New York City, and Best New Restaurant (Momofuku Ko). This is his first book.

The Pleasures of Cooking for One

New Book Review

The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones. From the legendary editor of some of the world’s greatest cooks—including Julia Child and James Beard—a passionate and practical book about the joys of cooking for one. Here, in convincing fashion, Judith Jones demonstrates that cooking for yourself presents unparalleled possibilities for both pleasure and experimentation: you can utilize whatever ingredients appeal, using farmers’ markets and specialty shops to enrich your palate and improve your health; you can feel free to fail, since a meal for one doesn’t have to be perfect; and you can use leftovers to innovate—in the course of a week, the remains of beef bourguignon might be reimagined as a ragù, pork tenderloin may become a stir-fry, a cup or two of wild rice produces both a refreshing pilaf and a rich pancake, and red snapper can be reinvented as a summery salad. It’s a fulfilling and immensely economical process, one perfectly suited for our times—although, as Jones points out, cooking for one also means we can occasionally indulge ourselves in a favorite treat.

Throughout, Jones is both our instructor and our mentor, suggesting basic recipes—such as tomato sauce, preserved lemons, pesto, and homemade stock—that all cooks should have on hand; teaching us how to improvise using an ingenious strategy of building meals through the week; and supplying us with a lifetime’s worth of tips and shortcuts. From Child’s advice for buying fresh meat to Beard’s challenge to beginning crêpe-makers and Lidia Bastianich’s tips for cooking perfectly sauced pasta, Jones’s book presents a wealth of acquired knowledge from our finest cooks. The Pleasures of Cooking for One is a vibrant, wise celebration of food and enjoying our own company from one of our most treasured cooking experts.

Judith Jones is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. She is the co-author with Evan Jones (her late husband) of three books: The Book of Bread; Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!; and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook. She has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, Departures, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in New York City and Vermont.

Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook

New Book Review

Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook, by Martha Stewart. Imagine having Martha Stewart at your side in the kitchen, teaching you how to hold a chef’s knife, select the very best ingredients, truss a chicken, make a perfect pot roast, prepare every vegetable, bake a flawless pie crust, and much more. In Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, you get just that: a culinary master class from Martha herself, with lessons for home cooks of all levels.

Never before has Martha written a book quite like this one. Arranged by cooking technique, it’s aimed at teaching you how to cook, not simply what to cook. Delve in and soon you’ll be roasting, broiling, braising, stewing, sautéing, steaming, and poaching with confidence and competence. In addition to the techniques, you’ll find more than 200 sumptuous, all-new recipes that put the lessons to work, along with invaluable step-by-step photographs to take the guesswork out of cooking. You’ll also gain valuable insight into equipment, ingredients, and every other aspect of the kitchen to round out your culinary education. Featuring more than 500 gorgeous color photographs, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School is the new gold standard for everyone who truly wants to know his or her way around the kitchen.

The Heirloom Tomato

New Book Review

The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit, by Amy Goldman. From the world-class garden of acclaimed food writer Amy Goldman, a gorgeously illustrated guide to the world’s most beautiful and delicious tomatoes. Every year, renowned grower Amy Goldman produces an amazing 500 varieties of tomatoes on her farm in New York’s Hudson Valley. Here, in 250 gorgeous photos and Goldman’s erudite, charming prose, is the cream of the crop, from glorious heirloom beefsteaks – that delicious tomato you had as a kid but can’t seem to find anymore – to exotica like the currant tomato, a pea-sized fruit with a surprisingly big flavor. Along with the photos are profiles of the tomatoes, filled with fascinating facts on their history and provenance; a section of more than 50 delicious recipes; and a master gardener’s guide to growing your own. More than just a loving look at one of the world's great edibles, this is a philosophy of eating and conservation between covers — an irresistible book for anyone who loves to garden or loves to eat.

Amy Goldman is a passionate gardener, seed saver, and well-known advocate for heirloom fruits and vegetables. She is the author of The Compleat Squash and Melons for the Passionate Grower, and she appears frequently on such TV programs as Martha Stewart Living and Victory Gardens.

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How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table

New Book Review

How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table, by Russ Parsons. "Eat locally, eat seasonally." A simple slogan that is backed up by science and by taste. The farther away from the market something is grown, the longer it must spend getting to us, and what eventually arrives will be less than satisfying. Although we can enjoy a bounty of produce year-round -- apples in June, tomatoes in December, peaches in January -- most of it is lacking in flavor. In order to select wisely, we need to know more. Where and how was the head of lettuce grown? When was it picked and how was it stored? How do you tell if a melon is really ripe? Which corn is sweeter, white or yellow?

Russ Parsons provides the answers to these questions and many others in this indispensable guide to common fruits and vegetables, from asparagus to zucchini. He offers valuable tips on selecting, storing, and preparing produce, along with one hundred delicious recipes. Parsons delivers an entertaining and informative reading experience that is guaranteed to help put better food on the table.

Russ Parsons is the food and wine columnist of the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of the best-selling How to Read a French Fry, a winner of multiple James Beard Awards for his journalism, and the recipient of the IACP/Bert Greene Award for distinguished writing. He lives in California, which produces more than half of the fruits and vegetables grown in this country. He has been writing about food and agriculture for more than twenty years.
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The Asian Vegan Kitchen

New Book Review

The Asian Vegan Kitchen: Authentic and Appetizing Dishes from a Continent of Rich Flavors, by Hema Parekh (Author) and Tae Hamamura (Photographer). The Asian Vegan Kitchen is a collection of recipes from across Asia, featuring the spices and the many tasty ingredients that have made these cuisines popular world-wide. It caters to the growing segment of people of all ages who have chosen to eschew animal products, yet still want to add some global spice and excitement to their diet.

There is one big difference between this and many other vegan cookbooks. These dishes do not use replacement ingredients for traditional recipes. Instead, author Hema Parekh - a noted teacher of vegetarian cooking styles in Tokyo - has selected recipes that were traditionally vegetarian, and have been enjoyed by diners for decades, even centuries. In doing so, she has had to make only minor changes, if any, for these recipes to be deliciously appealing to everyone: vegan, vegetarian or otherwise.

Over 200 dishes have been selected to cover a wide variety of tastes. Here readers will find vegan-ready recipes for everything from Japanss sushi to northern Indian curries, from Vietnamese spring rolls, to red-hot tofu, Chinese-style. Soups, noodle dishes and some desserts are also included. The recipes are simple, with detailed explanations. Also included are over 50 mouth-watering photos and a comprehensive glossary. Vegan cooking just became a lot more interesting.

A long-time vegetarian, Hema Parekh has been teaching vegetarian cooking in Tokyo for almost twenty years. She has written two popular books on vegetarian cooking in Japanese A Touch of Spice and Indian Vegetarian Cooking and is working on a third. Order from Amazon.com

Vegan Joy

Mollie Katzen's Recipes: Salads

New Book Review

Mollie Katzen's Recipes: Salads, by Mollie Katzen. Credited with moving vegetarian cooking from the fringes of American society to mainstream dinner tables, Mollie Katzen has proved that there's more to salad than tossed greens. With fresh fruits and vegetables, pungent cheeses, beans, oils, herbs, and nuts, a salad can be a hearty meal in itself. Celebrating The Moosewood Cookbook's 30th anniversary, the latest addition to the Mollie Katzen's Recipes series brings together her classic salad combinations from Moosewood and Enchanted Broccoli Forest in a convenient easel format. Each recipe is lovingly hand-lettered and illustrated with Mollie's distinctive pen-and-ink drawings, making this timeless collection the perfect kitchen countertop companion. Mollie Katzen is a cookbook author and artist who has profoundly shaped the way America eats. Mollie is both a consultant and cocreator of Harvard's groundbreaking Food Literacy Project. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Order from Amazon.com

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles

New Book Review

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, by Jennifer 8. Lee. If you think McDonald's is the most ubiquitous restaurant experience in America, consider that there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. New York Times reporter and Chinese-American (or American-born Chinese) Jennifer 8 Lee traces the history of Chinese-American experience through the lens of the food. In a compelling blend of sociology and history, Jenny Lee exposes the indentured servitude Chinese restaurants expect from illegal immigrant chefs, investigates the relationship between Jews and Chinese food, and weaves a personal narrative about her own relationship with Chinese food. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles speaks to the immigrant experience as a whole, and the way it has shaped our country.Order from Amazon.com