From wild baboons to gooey slime molds, most every living organism instinctually knows how to balance their diets, except modern-day humans. When and why did we lose this ability, and how can we get it back? David Raubenheimer and Stephen Simpson reveal the answers to these questions in a gripping tale of evolutionary biology and nutritional science, based upon years of groundbreaking research. Their colorful scientific journey takes readers across the globe, from the foothills of Cape Town, to the deserts of Arizona, to a state-of-the-art research center in Sydney. Readers will encounter locusts, mice and even gorillas along the way as the scientists test their hypotheses on various members of the animal kingdom. This epic scientific adventure culminates in a unifying theory of nutrition that has profound implications for our current epidemic of metabolic diseases and obesity. Raubenheimer and Simpson ultimately offer useful advice to understand the unwanted side effects of fad diets, gain control over one’s food environment, and see that delicious and healthy are integral parts of proper eating.

    In this work, fermentation guru Donna Schwenk introduces readers to the healing properties of kefir, kombucha, cultured vegetables, sprouted flour, and sourdough. Fermentation has been used in food preparation for thousands of years, but in the past few decades it has moved from being a commonplace kitchen ritual to being something done only by a few health-conscious proponents. Most fermentation now is done at factories, whose processes strip away some of the abundant vitamins, minerals, and healthy bacteria that make this way of preparing foods so beneficial. But Donna Schwenk is working to bring this staple of food preparation back to readers by showing that these now-unfamiliar processes are actually easy and fun. And by doing this, she opens the door to a world of foods that can help rid readers of health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes, allergies, acne, hypertension, asthma, and irritable bowel syndrome. After telling the astonishing story of how she healed herself and her family with these probiotic foods, Schwenk walks readers, step by step, through the basic preparation techniques for kefir, kombucha, cultured vegetables, sprouted flour, and sourdough plus more than 120 recipes that use these foods to create dishes to please any palate. With recipes like Herbed Omelet with Kefir Hollandaise Sauce, Sprouted Ginger Scones with Peaches and Kefir Cream, Kefir Veggie Sprouted Pizza, Apple Sauerkraut, and Sprouted Brownies Kefir Cupcakes, along with inspirational stories from Donna’s family and friends, readers will enjoy a diet that’s as delicious as it is healthy. Schwenk originally self-published a portion of this book through Balboa Press. It garnered solid sales and positive reviews.

    Now fully updated and expanded by the original author, this elegant new edition is sure to become a modern staple in backpacks, kitchens, and personal libraries.A noted wild edibles authority, Doug Benoliel provides more than 65 thorough descriptions of the most common edible plants of the Pacific Northwest region, from asparagus to watercress, juneberries to cattails, and many, many more! He also includes a description of which poisonous "look-alike" plants to avoid -- a must-read for the foraging novice. Features include detailed illustrations of each plant, an illustrated guide to general plant identification principles, seasonality charts for prime harvesting, a selection of simple foraging recipes, and a glossary of botanical terms. Beginning with his botany studies at the University of Washington, Doug Benoliel has been dedicated to native plants. He has owned a landscaping, design, and nursery business, and done his extensive work with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Doug lives on Lopez Island, Washington.

    It was there where she first saw a lamb being born, giving her the drive to defy her urban roots and become a professional shepherd. She never looked back.In this uplifting and inspirational memoir, Hannah shares how she broke the stereotypes of her 'townie' beginnings, took risks and faced up to the challenges of being a young woman in a male-dominated industry, and followed her heart to become the Red Shepherdess. But behind the beautiful landscape, talented sheepdogs and eye-catching red hair was a steep learning curve. The physically and mentally demanding conditions she faced as she chased her dreams to build her own Cumbrian farm taught Hannah the values the holds true, including community, leadership, patience and resilience.In Call Me Red, Hannah gives a unique insight into farming life and reveals a mindset and determination that proves no matter your background, with hard graft (and a loyal sheepdog) you can make your dreams a reality.

    They were hunter-gatherers, consummate foraging experts, but taking the world as they found it. Then a revolution occurred – our ancestors’ interaction with other species changed. They began to tame them. The human population boomed; civilization began.In her new book, Tamed, Alice Roberts uncovers the amazing deep history of ten familiar species with incredible wild pasts: dogs, apples and wheat; cattle; potatoes and chickens; rice, maize, and horses – and, finally, humans. Alice Roberts not only reveals how becoming part of our world changed these animals and plants, but shows how they became our allies, essential to the survival and success of our own species – and to our future.Enlightening, wide-ranging and endlessly fascinating, Tamed is an epic story, encompassing hundreds of thousands of years of history and archaeology alongside cutting-edge genetics and anthropology. Yet it is also a deeply personal journey that will change how we see ourselves and the species on which we have left our mark.

    In FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL, he discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact.Salatin, hailed by the New York Times as "Virginia's most multifaceted agrarian since Thomas Jefferson [and] the high priest of the pasture" and profiled in the Academy Award nominated documentary Food, Inc. and the bestselling book The Omnivore's Dilemma, understands what food should be: Wholesome, seasonal, raised naturally, procured locally, prepared lovingly, and eaten with a profound reverence for the circle of life. And his message doesn't stop there. From child-rearing, to creating quality family time, to respecting the environment, Salatin writes with a wicked sense of humor and true storyteller's knack for the revealing anecdote. Salatin's crucial message and distinctive voice--practical, provocative, scientific, and down-home philosophical in equal measure--make FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL a must-read book.

    Along the way Helena Attlee traces the uses of citrus essential oils in the perfume industry and describes the extraction of precious bergamot oil; the history of marmalade and its production in Sicily; the extraordinary harvest of 'Diamante' citrons by Jewish citron merchants in Calabria; the primitive violence of the Battle of Oranges, when the streets in Ivrea run with juice. She reveals the earliest manifestations of the Mafia among the lemon gardens outside Palermo, and traces the ongoing links between organised crime and the citrus industry. By combining insight into the country's cultural, political and economic history with travel writing, horticulture and art, Helena Atlee gives the reader a unique view of Italy.Helena Attlee is the author of four books about Italian gardens, and others on the cultural history of gardens around the world. Helena is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund and has worked in Italy for nearly 30 years.

    edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

    She has a thriving freelance writing career, good friends close by, a handsome boyfriend and now the perfect kitchen to cook in. What more could a could a girl want? Certainly not to stumble across a spilled bottle of wine, a shattered glass and a dead body! The well-known winemaker was, as the Chief of Police declared, “dead as a doornail”, and Nicki is sure it’s murder! Along with her good friends, Alex and Jana, and her one-of-a-kind landlady, Maxie, Nicki’s determined to uncover who killed the much-despised winemaker, and what was so special about his personal blend of wine? In the very best tradition of a riveting “whodunit” mystery-- with twists and turns to keep you guessing, Nicki and her friends of amateur detectives will make you laugh and wonder “who murdered the winemaker” until the very last clue! A Special Blend of Murder has recurring characters, but can easily be read as a stand alone book. Download your copy today- and be prepared to put your thinking cap on! Author’s Interview: Why a Murder Mystery? I love a good mystery, especially if the clues are all there but you’re still guessing until the very end—and then it’s “Oh, of course!” Agatha Christie was a master at it, and who doesn’t love Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote? I love the cozy mystery books, and even any mystery movie they’re made into! You wrote romances, why the switch? I still do write them. Never sell a romance reader short—they literally love a good story! Quite a number of my romance novels end up with a murder or some other major element of suspense. A good romance story needs a bit of something more than longing looks and a string of misunderstandings. I honestly think a little suspense, action or mystery, helps any story along. But in a romance, it’s all about the love story with some mystery on the side. In a mystery, it’s all about solving the puzzle, with friends—and maybe some romance—on the side. And I do love to read them both! And how did you come up with your characters? Like all writers do, they’re partly based on people I know or have met. But mostly, I like characters who are close and interact naturally with each other. And books are a fantasy world. Who doesn’t want a group of close-knit people you can always count on? Friends, who are not only like family but who know you really well and like you anyway? I think that’s something everyone wants in his or her life. Including me!

    New chapters cover how to build a personal carb count database, carb counting for insulin pump users, a whole week of meal plans, and much more.

    Dr. Tunick spends his everyday deep within the halls of the science of cheese, as a researcher who creates new dairy products, primarily, cheeses. He takes us from the very beginning, some 8000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, and shows us the accidental discovery of cheese when milk separated into curds and whey. This stroke of luck would lead to a very mild, and something akin to cottage, cheese-deemed delicious enough by our traveling cheese maker that he or she did it again another day. Today we know of more than 2,000 varieties of cheese from Gorgonzola, first noted in year 879, to Roquefort in 1070 to Cheddar in 1500. But Tunick delves deeper into the subject to provide a wide-ranging overview that begins with cows and milk and then covers the technical science behind creating a new cheese, milk allergies and lactose intolerance, nutrition and why cheese is a vital part of a balanced diet. The Science of Cheese is an entertaining journey through one of America's favorite foods.

    But as she began reading scholarly works in an attempt to grasp the microbiology, she quickly realized she couldn't do it alone. That’s why she went back to school in middle age, to study Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology at Columbia University. Her college experience was in equal parts challenging, humbling, and hilarious. The material was daunting, not only because she had spent her life convinced it was beyond her comprehension (a conviction many people share about science), but also because microbes are so different from the organisms we can see. She initially found it difficult to understand creatures that evolve so fast they can become another species in a matter of weeks, that can share genes by touching, that bridge the nonliving and living spheres of life. But despite her academic trials, Bone realized all life, from a mushroom to a maestro, are microbial in essence. Indeed, life itself is a vast conspiracy of microbes.This popular science book takes the layman on a broad survey of the role of microbes in nature and shows how different the world is with a microbial point of view.

    But for beginner foragers who just want to answer the question “Can it eat it?”, most of the books on the subject are dry, dense, and written by mycologists for other mycologists. Frank Hyman to the rescue! How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying is the book for anyone who walks in the woods and would like to learn how to identify just the 21 edible mushrooms they’re likely to come across. In it, Hyman offers his expert mushroom foraging advice, distilling down the most important information for the reader in colorful, folksy language that’s easy to remember when in the field. Want an easy way to determine if a mushroom is a delicious morel or a toxic false morel? Slice it in half – “if it’s hollow, you can swallow,” Hyman says. With Frank Hyman’s expert advice and easy-to-follow guidelines, readers will be confident in identifying which mushrooms they can safely eat and which ones they should definitely avoid.

    The definitive guide to fish, fishing and fish cooking from the team behind the award-winning 'River Cottage Meat Book'.

    Everyone cheers when she returns to shore, but only Annie knows that she and the dolphin have forged a special bond. He's become her friend -- and keeps returning to the cove to visit and play!Meanwhile, out of the water, nothing is going right. Annie's best friend, Emma, has changed, and keeps ditching her to hang out with snobby Morgan. At home, Annie's busy parents barely seem to have time for her, and she's stuck with her hyper younger brother always tagging along. Then a misunderstanding with Morgan makes things even worse... and ultimately leaves Annie alone and in danger. Can her dolphin friend help her when she needs it most?