Review: Charcuterie

Due to the unexpected success of the original edition of this book in 2005 and a surprising surge of interest in cooking heavily salted animal fats coupled with with authors' own continuing education in the subject, a revised and updated version of the text has been published eight years later.

Derived from French words for flesh and cooked, charcuterie - in the sense of salting, smoking, and cooking to preserve meats - has been around since the dawn of mankind, the authors point out. "It has been carried on in many forms through virtually every culture, and it has been one of the foundations of human survival in that it allowed societies to maintain a food surplus and therefor helped turn early peoples from nomads into clusters of homebodies...

"Historians have suggested that our ancestors first discovered cooked food in the form of animals that had perished in forest fires, and then began to cook food on purpose. Regardless of how they discovered cooking, they surely realized that cooking made food not only taste good but last longer as well."

Charcuterie

The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn

W. W. Norton & Company, 2013

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Reading the History of... A President in Yellowstone

For three weeks in August of 1883 the first sitting president to visit Yellowstone National Park, Chester Arthur, made an ambitious 330-mile overland trip from Green River, Wyoming, north to Mammoth Hot Springs with a 75-man military escort led by General Philip Sheridan.

It was the longest and most unusual vacation ever taken by a sitting President. The traveling party included Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving son of Abraham Lincoln, who commemorated the trip with a leather-bound album of photographs taken on the journey by a young photographer, F. Jay Haynes, along with the dispatches describing the President’s activities which were sent to the Associated Press.

This volume reprints much of that album, of which only six copies were ever made, and publishes more of Haynes' 130-year-old photographs of Yellowstone National Park and the President's party.

A President in Yellowstone

The F. Jay Haynes Photographic Album of Chester

Arthur's 1883 Expedition

by Frank H. Goodyear III

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Reading the History of... The Drunken Botanist

Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane, bourbon from corn. Thirsty yet?

In The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries.

The Drunken Botanist

The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks

by Amy Stewart 

Algonquin Books, 2013

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Farm and Garden Picks: Lobsters

This expanded and fully updated second edition of the most comprehensive and successful book on lobsters, comprises contributions from many of the world’s experts, each providing core information for all those working in lobster biology, fisheries research and management and lobster aquaculture.

The second edition of Lobsters: Biology, Management, Fisheries and Aquaculture delivers exhaustive coverage of these fascinating creatures, stretching from growth and development to management and conservation.

Lobsters

Biology, Management, Aquaculture and Fisheries

by Bruce Phillips

Wiley-Blackwell, 2013

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Reading the History of... Snake Country Expedition

Largely the story of fur traders Donald Mackenzie and Alexander Ross, who led the earliest fur trapping expeditions into the Snake River Country of present-day Idaho and Montana on behalf of the North West Company in the 1820s, this history also analyzes the legal, institutional, and commerce-related forces driving the North American fur trade of the early 19th century.

Details about the expeditions was provided primarily by Ross, a conscientious chronicler, who recorded Mackenzie's trailblazing expeditions of 1821-23 as well as the difficult 1824 expedition that he led.

"His journals provide the first account there is of daily happenings in the Snake country," historian John Phillip Reid points out. "The most compelling reason Ross and other leaders of the earliest Snake expedition kept journals was to furnish guidance to future trapping parties and inform them of problems, dangers, and places to avoid."

Forging a Fur Empire

Expeditions in the Snake River Country,

1809-1824

by John Phillip Reid

The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2011

Artwork: Trappers Carrying Furs on Snowshoes
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Review: Appalachian Toys and Games from A to Z

The toys and games described in this watercolor-illustrated children's picture book are authentic 19th century pastimes enjoyed by youngsters growing up in America's Appalachia Mountains.

Ranging from apple dolls (a wrinkled toy molded from Rome apples) to whimmydiddles (a toy carved by young boys on a stick with a spinner), author Linda Hager Pack provides an alphabetical sampling of traditional games, toys, and songs depicting playtime in 19th century Appalachia. The book describes familiar toys like marbles, slingshots and pick-up-sticks along with lesser-known toys such as limberjacks, Tom Walkers, and buzz buttons.

A native Appalachian, Pack is a veteran educator who has taught college-level courses in children's literature. Her text is accompanied by the artwork of master watercolorist Pat Banks.

Appalachian Toys and Games from A to Z

by Linda Hager Pack

The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

continued in The Book Stall

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Review: Growing Camellias in Cold Climates

Based on the author's decades of research and breeding experience, this book details the cultural practices necessary for growing camellias in northern climates. It names and profiles cultivars that have proven themselves cold hardy across many seasons.

"The primary purpose of Growing Camellias in Cold Climates is to present the advantages (there are some) and the challenges encountered by the northern gardener," Ackerman explains. "These emphasize striking differences as compared to those followed by our southern friends."

Growing Camellias in Cold Climates

by William L. Ackerman

Noble House, 2003

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Review: Llewellyn's Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac

Here's a book to add some magic to your days with a chronological collection of spells, recipes, rituals, incantations and meditations. Each day of the year is marked with a brief essay or piece of advice along with suggested colors and incenses based on planetary influences.

April 4, for instance, is linked to the Festival of Cybele and the Roman mother goddess, Magna Mater, an arbiter of moral and ethical dilemmas.

Chandra Alexandre, Ph.D., a doctor of ministry, suggests the following Megalesian divination:

"Take a bowl of water and drop three leaves onto the surface, having formulated a question for which a yes/no response will be useful. Three leaves face us is a yes. Two leaves up and one down in a yes with qualifications.Three leaves face down is no. Two leaves down and one up is a no with qualifications.

"To ascertain the meaning or the nature of the qualifications, crumble the leaves into the water, let them settle, and drain the bowl. Look for your fullest answer in the images you find left in the remaining leaves."

Llewellyn's Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac

Holidays & Lore

by Llewellyn 

Llewellyn Publications, 2012

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Well Read Books: The Itch

"There are a thousand causes underlying a condition of itching. They can include anything from dandruff to diabetes.

"In medical discussion and articles the term pruritis is used to indicate itching. To show the low status of the word, a similar-sounding word, prurience, means lewdness in thought or desire. An "itch plant," which is found in tropical countries and which is used to make itching powder, is call mucuna pruriens.

"Why do people scratch? Some believe that the pain produced by the scratching is a mean of stopping the itching. The physiological explanation is that itching stops when pain supervenes. But the explanation lies deeper...

The Itch and what to do besides scratching

by J. I. Rodale

Rodale Books, 1971

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Now Exploring "Lake Effect"

This book offers an in-depth and personal look at a natural phenomenon shaped by geography and weather patterns and how it affects human history. A "lake-effect snow" occurs when narrow bands of clouds formed in cold, dry arctic air pass over a large, relatively warm inland lake, producing intense snowfalls lasting from a couple of minutes to two days. Such snowfalls occur famously along the Great Lakes, the Great Salt Lake, and Hudson Bay; this narrative focuses on the Great Lakes and the Buffalo area east of Lake Erie in particular.

continued in The Nature Pages

Lake Effect

Tales of Large Lakes, Arctic Winds, and Recurrent Snows

by Mark S. Monmonier

Syracuse University Press, 2012

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Reading the History: The Kentucky Derby

If the Super Bowl had been played in the same city each year, say a working class community like Green Bay, and still grew up to become a multi-billion-dollar spectacle attracting the world's rich and famous as well as the beer-swilling, tatooed commoners then it would be an event comparable to the Kentucky Derby, especially if you added an extra hundred years of tradition to its history.

An unabashed  thoroughbred horse enthusiast and Kentucky Derby fan, the author nevertheless provides a straightforward history and honest assessment of the event and its evolution.

The book follows the progress of the Derby through the decades as it broke away from a pack of other races to become America’s premier thoroughbred event.

The Kentucky Derby

How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event

by James C. Nicholson

The University Press of Kentucky, 2012

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Denali National Park

The second edition of this guidebook updates and reorganizes a first edition published ten years ago by the defunct Alaska Northwest Books and now long out of print. It provides detailed information on the history of the region and advice on exploring by foot, train, car, bus, boat or even sled dog team.

Continued in The Nature Pages

Denali National Park

The Complete Visitors Guide to the Mountain, Wildlife, and Year-Round

Outdoor Activities

by Bill Sherwonit

Mountaineers Books, 2013

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Artwork: Remote Ruth Gorge, Denali National Park, Alaska

Weird Life

As a consequence of space exploration and the realization that life on other planets might be very different from what we are used to, scientists in recent decades have improbably discovered bizarre life forms here at home in places previously deemed uninhabitable.

This book provides a bestiary of weird creatures, both real and imagined, and describes the science behind their existence.

Weird Life
The Search for Life That Is Very, Very Different from Our Own
by David M. Toomey
W. W. Norton & Company, 2013

Out There: Scouting the Frontiers of Science
Out There: Extreme Sucking Up
Artwork: O'opu Nopili
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Dark

Until that moment, Silas had thought he knew what dark was-the simple absence of light. He thought that he understood it. He even thought that he had experienced it before. But as he rounded the first riser of stairs and continued up, step by step, he and darkness were forced into new intimacy. He came to understand that darkness was not just a lack but a thing, that it possessed mass, that it can be felt on your skin, that it can be a burden you carry. 

He knew then, with a certainty he could feel in his bones, exactly what had motivated his ancient ancestors when they first gathered around that very thing that the rest of creation fled from. It hadn't been to cook, or to harden spear points. Those things had come later. Heat was just a collateral benefit. Man had mastered fire simply to push the darkness away.

The Games

by Ted Kosmatka

Del Rey, 2013

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New Stokes Birding Guide

Available in Eastern and Western volumes, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds features over 4,600 North American bird species with stunning color photographs.

Each guide includes:

* the newest scientific and common names and phylogenetic order
* special help for identifying birds in flight through important clues of behavior, plumage, and shape
* detailed descriptions of songs and calls
* important behavioral information and key habitat preferences
* the newest range maps, detailing species' winter, summer, year-round ranges, and migration routes

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

by Donald Stokes and Lillian Stokes

Little, Brown and Company, 2013

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New Guide to Kentucky BBQ

Kentucky's culinary fame may have been built on bourbon and fried chicken, but the Commonwealth has much to offer the barbecue enthusiast.

The Kentucky Barbecue Book is a feast for readers who are eager to sample the finest fare in the state.

From the banks of the Mississippi to the hidden hollows of the Appalachian Mountains, author and barbecue enthusiast Wes Berry hit the trail in search of the best smoke, the best flavor, and the best pitmasters he could find. This handy guide presents the most succulent menus and colorful personalities in Kentucky.

While other states are better known for their 'cue, the Kentucky style is distinct because of its use of mutton and traditional cooking methods. Many of the establishments featured in this book are dedicated to the time-honored craft of cooking over hot hardwood coals inside cinderblock pits. Time intensive and dangerous, these traditions are disappearing as methods requiring less manpower, less wood, and less skill gain ground. Pick up a copy of this book and hit the road before these great places are gone.

The Kentucky Barbecue Book
by Wes Berry
The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

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Reading the History: The Age of Edison

University of Tennessee historian Ernest Freeberg recounts the story of Thomas Edison’s light bulb invention and how it revolutionized the world, illuminating cities and expanding workdays, invigorating new industries and changing the way people the world over live their lives.

It is also the story of how Edison single-handedly (and this may be his greatest invention) came up with a new style of inventing, using a coordinated program of scientific research and product development that systematically solves problems and pragmatically develops products to market.

While Edison is credited with inventing the incandescent light bulb, this book makes clear that it was a collective achievement. Edison and his fellow inventors created a technology with transformative applications far beyond their dreams, from billboards and night clubs and amusement parks to hospitals and highways and factories.

Freeberg's history helps us imagine a time, not so long ago, when "a light to hold the night at bay" was an awesome wonder, offering "liberation from one of the primordial limits imposed by nature on the human will."

The Age of Edison
Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America
by Ernest Freeberg
Penguin Press, 2013

Artwork: Thomas Edison with the first light bulbs

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Thinking Like A Plant

"To live and to think in and from the middle, like a plant partaking of light and of darkness, is not to be confined to the dialectical twilight, where philosophy paints "its grey on grey." It is, rather to refashion oneself - one's thought and one's existence - into a bridge between divergent elements: to become a place where the sky communes with the earth and light encounters but does not dispel darkness."

 Plant-Thinking: A Philosophy of Vegetal Life by Michael Marder

Artwork: Reaching for the Light
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Review: Picnic

This book offers menus, recipes and planning suggestions for 29 portable repasts, from an "After the Wedding" Brunch Picnic to a Workday Picnic. Arranged seasonally, the suggested picnics cover all 12 months of the year, beginning with a Spring Day-Hike Picnic and progressing to a Summer Canoe Picnic, an Autumn Beach Picnic and then, in winter, an Apres-Ski Picnic.

Picnics are usually associated with lazy Sunday afternoon trips to the seashore or a riverside park and a hamper full of sandwiches, cold meats and lemonade.

Picnic:  

125 Recipes with 29 Seasonal Menus  

by DeeDee Stovel 

Storey Books, 2001

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Review: Vodka

Does the word "vodka" derive from the Russian "voda," meaning water, or the Polish "wodka," derived from "woda," or water? Historians from the two countries will argue incessantly on the origins of the world's favorite liquor, which almost certainly originated somewhere in Eastern Europe during  the 14th or 15th century.

This new volume in The Edible Series of Reaktion Books explores how a rather unremarkable liquid -- pure alcohol distilled from grain -- became such a potent spirit, both culturally and economically. Once a humble drink known only to Eastern Europeans, it is now the most popular liquor in both the U.S. and Britain, and probably the world.

Vodka

A Global History

by Patricia Herlihy

Reaktion Books, 2013

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Good Guides: The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds

The culmination of many years of research, observation, and study, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds is factually, visually, and organizationally superior to any other photographic field guide available.

Available in Eastern and Western volumes, these easy-to-use guides feature over 4,600 North American bird species with stunning color photographs.

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

by Donald Stokes and Lillian Stokes

Little, Brown and Company, 2013

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Reading the History: The Old Fashioned

American tavern owners caused a sensation in the late eighteenth century when they mixed sugar, water, bitters, and whiskey and served the drink with rooster feather stirrers.

The modern version of this "original cocktail," widely known as the Old Fashioned, is a standard in any bartender's repertoire and holds the distinction of being the only mixed drink ever to rival the Martini in popularity.

In this book, Gourmand Award--winning author Albert W. A. Schmid profiles the many people and places that have contributed to the drink's legend since its origin.

The Old Fashioned
An Essential Guide to the Original Whiskey Cocktail
by Albert W. A. Schmid
The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

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Reading the History: Kit Carson

Best known today for his role in the tragic "Long Walk" of  the Navajos as Col. Christopher Carson of the First New Mexico Volunteers, "Kit" Carson was a mythical hero in dime novels of the 19th century and movie Westerns of the mid-20th century who fought savages, protected the virtuous and helped open the frontier.

This biography portrays the real-life Carson as Scots-Irish border man - a trapper, guide, hunter, soldier - shaped by his culture and his times. Rather than a stereotypic Indian killer, it argues that he matured intellectually and ethically as he grew older.

Kit Carson

The Life of an American Border Man 

by David A. Remley

University of Oklahoma Press, 2012

Continued in ... Out of the Past

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Fast Pitch: Top of the Heap

Perhaps more has been written about the New York Yankees than about any other sports team. And the magic that has played out on the field over the years has been rivaled only by baseball scribes' prowess on the page.

Excellence breeds excellence, and for 100 years some of the best writers in America have chronicled the New York Yankees, taking a single swing or game and somehow making it singular.

This anthology from the series editor of The Best American Sports Writing and author of Yankees Century collects the best writing about the Yankees over the course of their long history. Published to coincide with the team's centenary celebration, this is a must-have volume for fans the world over who claim the New York Yankees as their own.

Top of the Heap

A Yankees Collection

by Glenn Stout

Mariner Books, 2003

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Death by Melons

Speaking of unusual papal successions...

Massimo Montanari recounts the peculiar demise of Pope Paul II who died of a sudden apoplectic attack on a summer night in 1471.

"His doctors attributed this to a melon binge the evening before. After having spent the day in consistory, the pontiff dined late (around ten) on 'three melons, not too large' and other things 'of meager substance, as had become his habit over the past few months.' The account of this event, written in these words by Nicodemo di Pontremoli in a letter to the Duke of Milan, reveals and attitude of great suspicion toward this fruit, capable of causing not only indigestion but even death."

Medieval physicians disapproved of cold and juicy fruit, believing it could undermine the body's natural heat and upset its equilibrium. They commonly advised people to eat very little melon and, if possible, avoid them entirely.

"Melons in particular were held to be the most toxic of all fruits."

Let the Meatballs Rest

And Other Stories About Food and Culture

by Massimo Montanari

Columbia University Press, 2012

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Artwork: Ripe Melons by John F. Francis

"An Insect View of Its Plain"

"Thoreau, Dickinson and Muir had mutual interests in the relationships between science, culture, and nature, relationships that they were partly able to explore and express through the observed habits and experiences of insects. Sharing the belief that nature was a reflection of God's intention... they recognized that insects, like every other particle of nature, were lovingly created by God to serve a unique purpose."

"An Insect View of Its Plain"

Insects, Nature and God in Thoreau, Dickinson and Muir

by Rosemary Scanlon McTier 

McFarland, 2013

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Reading the History: Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey

This book is a history of the bourbon industry, beginning with its foundations in the small pot stills of American farmers in the late 1790s. It follows the growth of large distillers and rectifiers and the booms and busts of the beverage's market through wars and Prohibition, concluding with the emergence of craft distillers returning to small stills of the whiskey's origins.

"What made bourbon famous was the aging process employed by its distillers, one that took place in charred oak barrels," historian Michael R. Veach explains.

"It was known at least as early as the Roman Empire that water and wine stored in oak barrels charred on the inside stayed fresher longer. By the fifteenth century the process had been appropriated by the French to flavor and color brandy and cognac. And at some point in the early nineteen century it was adopted by Kentucky distillers and allowed them to produce a whiskey with a sweet caramel/vanilla flavor and a red color."

Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey

An American Heritage

by Michael R. Veach

The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

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Now Exploring "An Insect View of Its Plain"

During the nineteenth century, insects became a very fashionable subject of study, and the writing of the day reflected this popularity. However, despite an increased contemporary interest in ecocriticism and cultural entomology, scholars have largely ignored the presence of insects in nineteenth-century literature.

This volume addresses that critical gap by exploring the cultural and literary position of insects in the work of Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, and John Muir.

An Insect View of Its Plain
Insects, Nature and God in Thoreau, Dickinson and Muir
by Rosemary Scanlon McTier
McFarland, 2013

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The Divine Appointment of Animals

In 1542, the great German monk and Protestant reformer Martin Luther lived in a household that included horses, pigs, cows, calves, chicken, pigeons, geese and a dog Tölpel "whom Luther expected to meet in heaven."

Luther believed that animals were witnesses and messengers of God's glory -- an intended worldly presence -- and not simply created for the convenience and sustenance of man, according to Laurie Shannon's analysis in "The Accommodated Animal."

"Fruits were created chiefly as food for people and for beasts; the latter were created to the end we should laud and praise God."

In his Lectures on Genesis 1-5, Luther writes that "the mouse, too, is a divine creature... It has a very beautiful form - such pretty feet and such delicate hair that it is clear that it was created by the word of God with a definite plan in view. Therefore here, too, we admire God's creation and workmanship. The same thing may be said about flies."

Shannon's analysis of Luther's comments concludes that "the here-and-now facticity of observed animals grounds their privilege and divine appointment, and their presence as such warrants a spiritual attention."

The Accommodated Animal

Cosmopolity in Shakespearean Locales

by Laurie Shannon

University Of Chicago Press, 2012

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The Accommodated Animal

"Likewise to every beast of the earth and to every foule of the heaven, and to every thing that moveth upon the earth, which hath life in it selfe, every greene herbe shall be for meate."
Genesis 1:30

While the early Bible attentively noted the presence of other creatures in our world, they are never referred to by the English word "animal" in the Great Bible of 1539, the Geneva Bible of 1560 or the King James Version of 1611.


The widely used noun is likewise missing from almost all of Shakespeare's oeuvre, save eight instances, while the words "beast" and "creature" appear more than a hundred times and references to specific species are everywhere:

"Exit, pursued by a bear."

The distinction is significant, according to professor Laurie Shannon, reflecting an important change in our relationship with the natural world and its non-human creatures, denying "animals" a place in the world that our thinking previously accommodated.

The Accommodated Animal

Cosmopolity in Shakespearean Locales

by Laurie Shannon

University Of Chicago Press, 2012

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Farm and Garden Picks: Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys

Not only are turkeys an excellent source of succulent meat, rich eggs, and nutrient-dense manure, but they are curious, social, and friendly as well: a perfect and profitable choice for many farmers. Don Schrider brings his hands-on experience to this one-stop reference for humanely raising healthy turkeys.

Here is everything you need to know to raise turkeys successfully, from selecting the right breeds to housing, feeding, breeding, health care, marketing, and much more.

Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys
Breeds * Care * Marketing
by Don Schrider
Storey Publishing,, 2013

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Review: Contagious

Word-of-mouth often leads to popularity, or notoriety. It is much more effective than any form of traditional advertising and it seriously impacts the products people buy, the way they behave, and what they discuss.

So, how do you get it? What makes people talk about certain subjects rather than others? What makes some online content go viral? According to marketing professor Jonah Berger, the answer came be found in the psychology of social transmission.

Continued in Selling Points

Contagious

Why Things Catch On

by Jonah Berger

Simon & Schuster, 2013

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Review: Drinking History

Food historian Andrew F. Smith takes some 300 pages in his latest book to examine the wide assortment of beverages that Americans consume, try to figure out why certain drinks have become popular, and distill his findings down to 15 pivotal events that defined the culture's drinking habits.

Those "pivotal" events include Prohibition and the Tea Parties, of course, as well as the diversity of beverages introduced to the continent with colonial settlement from Europe. The growth of the rum trade in the Americas was pivotal, as was the development of local whiskeys, hard cider, and beer.

Subsequent chapters focus on the development and impact of milk, cocktails, fruit juices, soft drinks, kids' beverages, wine, bottled waters, and coffee on Americans.

Continued in The Book Stall

Drinking History

Fifteen Turning Points in the Making of American Beverages

by Andrew F. Smith

Columbia University Press, 2012

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Reading the History: The Kentucky Derby

If the Super Bowl had been played in the same city each year, say a working class community like Green Bay, and still grew up to become a multi-billion-dollar spectacle attracting the world's rich and famous as well as the beer-swilling, tattooed commoners then it would be an event comparable to the Kentucky Derby, especially if you added an extra hundred years of tradition to its history.

An unabashed  thoroughbred horse enthusiast and Kentucky Derby fan, the author nevertheless provides a straightforward history and honest assessment of the event and its evolution.

The book follows the progress of the Derby through the decades as it broke away from a pack of other races to become America’s premier thoroughbred event.

The Kentucky Derby

How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event

by James C. Nicholson

The University Press of Kentucky, 2012

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Review: Hot Drinks

Original recipes and new interpretations of hot beverage classics from around the world are served up in this slim volume by  Mary Lou and Robert J. Heiss.

Illustrated with historic photos, colorful advertisements and drawings, and spiced with both practical and unusual recipes, this enticingly clever text is a fun browse and a mouth-watering temptation.

Look inside for some liquid holiday cheer in the form of Mistletoe and Holly (part cranberry juice, part peppermint schnapps), the traditional wassail (a British ale-based drink with spices and apples) or a basic Hot Buttered Rum.
The 50 drink recipes include mixed coffees, special teas, festive punches, spiked cocoas, warm ciders and sophisticated cocktails.

Hot Drinks

Cider, Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate, Spiced Punch, and Spirits

by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss

Ten Speed Press, 2007.

continued in The Book Stall

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Farm and Garden Picks: Homegrown Honey Bees

This beginner’s guide to beekeeping clearly explains everything you need to know, from getting your first bees to harvesting your first crop of honey.

Spectacular macro photography brings the inner workings of the hive to life, while the playful text gives you the information you need to make it through your first year.

Everything is addressed here, from allergies, permits and restrictions, and how to deal with the neighbors to hive structure, colony hierarchy, and bee behavior.

Homegrown Honey Bees

An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping

by Alethea Morrison

Storey Publishing, 2013

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Guidebooks and How-to Titles

Review: Organic Gardener's Companion

This is a guide for growing organic produce specifically in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana and in the similarly semi-arid high altitude  climates of Utah, Idaho, northern Arizona and eastern Oregon. Short growing seasons, thin soils and inclimate weather makes any kind of gardening a challenge; growing organically is even more of a test.

"I've gardened in the West without using chemicals or poisons for more than forty years," notes author Jane Shellenberger.  "It's not difficult, but it helps to have a bit of education on the topic."

Organic Gardener's Companion

Growing Vegetables in the West

by Jane Shellenberger

Fulcrum, 2012

Cover Art: Organic Gardener's Companion
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Review: Organic Meat Production and Processing

As organic farming continues to emerge as a growth industry for both crops and meat, there is increasing demand for accurate and up-to-date information on producing, processing, marketing, and maintaining food safety in organic foods.

This textbook compiled by a team of editors and an international collection of authors focuses on the management issues facing producers of organic beef, swine, poultry and other meat species. It also includes background articles on the history of organic operations, current market and regulatory issues, the differences between organic and conventional meats, and the future of the organic movement worldwide.

Organic Meat Production and Processing

edited by Steven C. Ricke, et al.

Wiley-Blackwell, 2012

Cover Art: Organic Meat Production and Processing
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Knack Quick and Easy Cooking

Even if time is limited and experience lacking, it is still possible to prepare healthy family meals.

Combining photographs and succinct descriptions, this book outlines the process of putting meals together, quickly and easily, without sacrificing flavor.

Includes tips on organizing a kitchen and smart shopping.

Knack Quick and Easy Cooking

A Step-by-Step Guide to Meals in Minutes

by Linda Johnson Larsen

Knack, 2009

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Review: Making Peg Dolls

"When we watch children immersed in imaginative play, and one child presents us with a bit of wood saying, 'This is my baby,' these imaginings of children at play cross the expanses of history and culture to connect us in a universal way," writes author Margaret Bloom in her introduction to this book of peg doll inspirations.

Originally created from wooden laundry pegs, the dolls in this book are designed in the Waldorf education tradition that encourages imaginative play and emotional development through neutral faces and minimal features.

The 60 designs and patterns for peg dolls included in this book are arranged by season, Spring through Winter, with three fairy tale sets in the back of the book for making dolls for The Three Bears, Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel. Introductory chapters review materials and techniques and offer a glossary of stitches.

Making Peg Dolls

by Margaret Bloom

Hawthorn Press, 2013

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Review: Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares

This engaging text introduces readers to both the heroes and the villains of the Fungi  kingdom, from the seductively flavorful chanterelle to the poisonous Death Cap, highlighting their culinary attributes, undesirable characteristics, and complex cultural histories.

Author Greg Marley is a well-known New England mycophile who frequently lectures on wild mushrooms and medicinal plants, leads mushroom expeditions, and writes books on these subjects.

Mushrooms for Health: Medical Secrets of Northeastern Fungi, published in 2009, covered medicinal mushrooms; this one explores the gustatory traits of the fungi and the lore behind them.

Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares

The Love, Lore, and Mystique of Mushrooms

by Greg A. Marley

Chelsea Green, 2010

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Now Exploring Bark River

The Bark River valley in southeastern Wisconsin is a microcosm of the state's - indeed, of the Great Lakes region's - natural and human history.

The Bark River Chronicles records one couple's journey by canoe from the river's headwaters to its confluence with the Rock River and several miles farther downstream to Lake Koshkonong.

The Bark River Chronicles

Stories from a Wisconsin Watershed

by Milton J. Bates

Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2012

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