Little House in the Suburbs: Backyard Farming and Home Skills for Self-Sufficient Living


Deanna Caswell - 2012
    Readers will learn the fundamentals of gardening--from what, when and how to plant--presented with options for container gardening, raised-bed gardening, traditional gardening and even covert gardening where they blend edible plants into their flowerbeds. The authors will draw from their real-life experiences as they teach readers how to keep bees, chickens and even goats in their backyards while still keeping the peace with their neighbors and their municipalities. Seventy-five recipes will show readers how to turn the eggs, honey, beeswax, goat milk and plants they harvest in to natural skin care products and non-toxic cleaning products. Readers will also find plenty of ideas for cute handmade gifts for family and friends. Finally, in true homesteading fashion, readers will find advice on how to build community in their neighborhood with babysitting co-ops, meal co-ops and barter systems.

Edible DIY: Simple, Giftable Recipes to Savor and Share


Lucy Baker - 2012
    Based on the popular Serious Eats column by the same name, Edible DIY includes 75 recipes divided into five chapters: Crunchy, Boozy, Sweet, Spicy, and Jars. With plenty of packaging tips throughout, Edible DIY is the perfect solution for making inexpensive edible gifts in your own kitchen with everything from Chocolate-Peppermint Marshmallows and Coconut Granola to Homemade Sriracha and Espresso Barbeque Sauce. Illustrated with inspirational full-color photography throughout.

Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from An Unlikely Life on a Farm


Molly Yeh - 2016
    Like her award-winning blog My Name is Yeh, Molly on the Range chronicles her life through photos, more than 100 new recipes, and hilarious stories from life in the city and on the farm.Molly’s story begins in the suburbs of Chicago in the 90s, when things like Lunchables and Dunkaroos were the objects of her affection; continues into her New York years, when Sunday mornings meant hangovers and bagels; and ends in her beloved new home, where she’s currently trying to master the art of the hotdish. Celebrating Molly's Jewish/Chinese background with recipes for Asian Scotch Eggs and Scallion Pancake Challah Bread and her new hometown Scandinavian recipes for Cardamom Vanilla Cake and Marzipan Mandel Bread, Molly on the Range will delight everyone, from longtime readers to those discovering her glorious writing and recipes for the first time.

Cooking Solo: The Joy of Cooking for Yourself


Klancy Miller - 2016
    While making single servings from other cookbooks means scaling down ingredients, adjusting cooking times, or being stuck with leftovers, Cooking Solo gives readers just what they need to make a delicious meal—all for themselves. Among the few other “cooking for one” books, this is the first by a hip young woman, whose vibrance and enthusiasm for cooking for herself comes through in the 100 attractive recipes like Tahitian Noodle Sandwich, Smoked Duck Breast Salad, Spicy Pork Burger with Coconut, and Mackerel with Lemon and Capers. Klancy also includes a chapter on entertaining at home, because being single still means having fun with friends.

Dinner: A Love Story: It All Begins at the Family Table


Jenny Rosenstrach - 2012
    Even when they work long days. Even when their kids' schedules pull them in eighteen different directions. They are not superhuman. They are not from another planet.With simple strategies and common sense, Jenny figured out how to break down dinner—the food, the timing, the anxiety, from prep to cleanup—so that her family could enjoy good food, time to unwind, and simply be together.Using the same straight-up, inspiring voice that readers of her award-winning blog, Dinner: A Love Story, have come to count on, Jenny never judges and never preaches. Every meal she dishes up is a real meal, one that has been cooked and eaten and enjoyed at least a half dozen times by someone in Jenny's house. With inspiration and game plans for any home cook at any level, Dinner: A Love Story is as much for the novice who doesn't know where to start as it is for the gourmand who doesn't know how to start over when she finds herself feeding an intractable toddler or for the person who never thought about home-cooked meals until he or she became a parent. This book is, in fact, for anyone interested in learning how to make a meal to be shared with someone they love, and about how so many good, happy things happen when we do.

Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication


Jean-Georges Vongerichten - 2000
    Simple to Spectacular introduces a unique concept developed by one of the world's top chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything and the New York Times's hugely popular column "The Minimalist." Ever since their award-winning collaboration on Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, the acclaimed duo has been cooking up a repertoire of new dishes that can be prepared in any of five progressively sophisticated ways.Simple to Spectacular features a total of 250 recipes in 50 groups. Each group begins with a simple, elegant recipe--a few ingredients combined for maximum effect--followed by fully detailed, increasingly elaborate variations. For example, a recipe for Grilled Shrimp with Thyme and Lemon leads to Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini on Rosemary Skewers, Grilled Shrimp with Apple Ketchup, Thai-style Grilled Shrimp on Lemongrass Skewers, and Grilled Shrimp Balls with Cucumber and Yogurt.Every aspect of the meal is covered, from superb soups and salads to unforgettable side dishes, entrees, and desserts. In Simple to Spectacular, everything--from the basics to innovations by a four-star chef--is tailored for a quick Tuesday night dinner or an elegant weekend party.  And in the now-classic Vongerichten-Bittman style, all of the recipes can be made in the kitchen of any home cook. With 80 full-color photographs giving a mouthwatering view of the Simple-to-Spectacular transformations, readers and cooks will eagerly explore the possibilities.Jean-Georges Vongerichten (right) won the 1998 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef and Best New Restaurant. His Manhattan restaurants include Vong, Jo Jo, The Mercer Kitchen, and Jean Georges, which earned a rare four-star rating from the New York Times.  In Simple to Spectacular, two titans of the food world have created a truly groundbreaking cookbook.  Here are 250 superb recipes arranged in a uniquely useful way: a basic recipe and four increasingly sophisticated variations, with each group (there are 50 groups in all) based on a given technique.  This ingenious organization enables cooks of all levels of expertise to understand how a recipe is created and to re-create the brilliantly simple recipes and dazzling variations from one of our best food writers and home cooks teamed with one of America's greatest chefs.

Midnight Chicken: & Other Recipes Worth Living For


Ella Risbridger - 2019
    Or, at least, you'll flick through these pages and find recipes so inviting that you'll head straight for the kitchen: roast garlic and tomato soup, uplifting chilli-lemon spaghetti, charred leek lasagne, squash skillet pie, spicy fish finger sandwiches or burnt-butter brownies. It's the kind of cooking you can do a little bit drunk. It's the kind of cooking that is probably better if you've got a bottle of wine open, and a hunk of bread to mop up the sauce.But if you sit down with this book and a cup of tea (or that glass of wine), you'll also discover that it's an annotated list of things worth living for: a manifesto of moments worth living for. Because there was a time when, for Ella Risbridger, the world had become overwhelming. Sounds were too loud, colours were too bright, everyone moved too fast. One night she found herself lying on her kitchen floor, wondering if she would ever get up - and it was the thought of a chicken, of roasting it, and of eating it, that got her to her feet, and made her want to be alive.This is a cookbook to make you fall in love with the world again

The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I kept the patio, lost the lawn, and fed my family for a year


Spring Warren - 2011
    The Quarter-Acre Farm is Warren's account of deciding, despite all resistance, to take control of her family's food choices, get her hands dirty, and create a garden in her suburban yard. It's a story of bugs, worms, rot, and failure; of learning, replanting, harvesting, and eating. The road is long and riddled with mistakes, but by the end of her yearlong experiment, Warren's sons and husband have become her biggest fans, in fact, they're even eager to help harvest (and eat) the beautiful bounty she brings in.Full of tips and recipes to help anyone interested in growing and preparing at least a small part of their diet at home, The Quarter-Acre Farm is a warm, witty tale about family, food, and the incredible gratification that accompanies self-sufficiency.

The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week)


Robin Mather - 2011
    Forced into a radical life change, she returned to her native rural Michigan.  There she learned to live on a limited budget while remaining true to her culinary principles of eating well and as locally as possible. In The Feast Nearby, Mather chronicles her year-long project: preparing and consuming three home-cooked, totally seasonal, and local meals a day--all on forty dollars a week.  With insight and humor, Mather explores the confusion and needful compromises in eating locally. She examines why local often trumps organic, and wonders why the USDA recommends white bread, powdered milk, and instant orange drinks as part of its “low-cost” food budget program.  Through local eating, Mather forges connections with the farmers, vendors, and growers who provide her with sustenance. She becomes more closely attuned to the nuances of each season, inhabiting her little corner of the world more fully, and building a life richer than she imagined it could be.  The Feast Nearby celebrates small pleasures: home-roasted coffee, a pantry stocked with home-canned green beans and homemade preserves, and the contented clucking of laying hens in the backyard. Mather also draws on her rich culinary knowledge to present nearly one hundred seasonal recipes that are inspiring, enticing, and economical--cooking goals that don’t always overlap--such as Pickled Asparagus with Lemon, Tarragon, and Garlic; Cider-Braised Pork Loin with Apples and Onions; and Cardamom-Coffee Toffee Bars.  Mather’s poignant, reflective narrative shares encouraging advice for aspiring locavores everywhere, and combines the virtues of kitchen thrift with the pleasures of cooking--and eating--well.

How It All Vegan!: Irresistible Recipes for an Animal-Free Diet


Tanya Barnard - 1999
    With fun illustrations and a cool, punky sensibility, How It All Vegan! will tempt you to join the Vegan Empire. "Written with sass, style, and a sense of humor. More than just a cookbook. . . ."—BUST

Simple Cake: All You Need to Keep Your Friends and Family in Cake [A Baking Book]


Odette Williams - 2019
    All of these recipes and more are within your reach in Simple Cake, a love letter from Brooklyn apron and bakeware designer Odette Williams to her favorite treat. With easy recipes and inventive decorating ideas, Williams gives you recipes for 10 base cakes, 15 toppings, and endless decorating ideas to yield a treat--such as Milk & Honey Cake, Coconut Cake, Summer Berry Pavlova, and Chocolatey Chocolate Cake--for any occasion. Williams also addresses the fundamentals for getting cakes just right, with foolproof recipes that can be cranked out whenever the urge strikes. Gorgeous photography, along with Williams's warm and heartfelt writing, elevate this book into something truly special.

James Beard's American Cookery


James Beard - 1972
    The James Beard Foundation, housed in the late culinary master's home in New York's Greenwich Village, has become the center of American cuisine through its in-house dinners, awards, and generosity to young chefs. Any book by James Beard is an absolute essential to a serious cook's library. Still in print you will find Beard on Bread, James Beard's American Cookery, James Beard's New Fish Cookery, and James Beard's Menus for Entertaining. But don't pass by any out-of-print book you can find (either through our search or your own) written by or coauthored by James Beard.

Deliciously G-Free: Food So Flavorful They'll Never Believe It's Gluten-Free


Elisabeth Hasselbeck - 2011
    But a decade ago, the Emmy Award–winning co-host of The View, New York Times bestselling author, and mother of three was diagnosed with celiac disease, and the family recipes she grew up with suddenly became strictly off-limits. Or so she thought.   Getting rid of gluten, however, doesn’t have to mean giving up taste. Deliciously G-Free combines Hasselbeck’s knowledge for healthy living and passion for tasty food to bring you 100 delectable, easy-to-make, and family-friendly gluten-free recipes. By adding a variety of other ingredients to the fridge and pantry, she’s perfected scrumptious zero-gluten versions of old standards and new creations that would make her relatives proud, including   • Breakfasts to Remember: Fried Egg Sandwich with Chipotle Mayo, Coconut Raspberry Muffins, French Toast with Caramel Rum Bananas, Blueberry Waffles, and Frittata • All-Star Appetizers: Pork Pot Stickers, Stuffed Mushrooms, Smoked Salmon on Corn Fritters, Crab Cakes with Homemade Tartar Sauce, and Hot Artichoke Dip • Mouthwatering Main Meals: Excellent Enchiladas with Quinoa Cornbread, Mac and Cheese, Lasagna, Veggie Pad Thai, Chimichurri Flank Steak and Grilled Asparagus, and Buttermilk Chicken • Deliciously Irresistible Desserts:  Chocolate Devil’s Food Cupcakes, Blueberry-Raspberry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Tiramisu, Yellow Birthday Cake, and Double Chocolate Brownies   Loaded with gorgeous color photos, Deliciously G-Free also satisfies your taste buds with ideas for gourmet entertaining, kid-friendly concoctions, cool-weather comfort foods, and “Get Fit” g-free recipes. Plus, Hasselbeck opens up about her own gluten-free journey—from getting diagnosed to getting her family on board—and shares tips for how to stock your kitchen, prevent cross-contamination, and whip up g-free flour mixes that literally take the cake.   Looking great and feeling good from the inside out is just one Deliciously G-Free meal away!  Praise for Deliciously G-Free   “Fried chicken, brownies, sliders, even spaghetti and meatballs and mile-high lasagna all gluten-free? My only complaint about Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s Deliciously G-Free is that I didn’t write it myself. She problem-solves in the tastiest of ways with the most requested recipes of our time—gluten-free. Nicely done, blondie!”—Rachael Ray   “Deliciously G-Free gives you world-class advice on gluten from a world expert on her body. Elisabeth Hasselbeck offers elegant, passionate, and tasty advice everyone will adore.”—Mehmet Oz, M.D.   “Deliciously G-Free eschews fancy, restaurant-level recipes and acknowledges instead the need for straightforward food for busy people, lovingly prepared.”—The Oregonian

The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Over 100 Vegan Recipes to Glow from the Inside Out


Angela Liddon - 2013
    Done with feeling sick and tired, she threw out her fat-free butter spray and low-calorie frozen dinners. Instead, Angela embraced whole foods that made her glow from the inside out. But first, she had to learn to cook-and eat-right. Five years ago, Angela started a blog, ohsheglows.com, to spread the word about her journey to health and the powerful transformation that food can make in our lives. Almost overnight, her energy and authenticity attracted readers eager to create their own positive life changes. Today, Oh She Glows attracts millions of visitors every month, making it one of the most popular vegan recipe blogs on the Internet.

Mason Jar Salads and More: 50 Layered Lunches to Grab and Go


Julia Mirabella - 2014
    SALAD MAGIC IN A MASON JAR Discover the coolest way to pack a tasty, healthy lunch! Mason Jar Salads and More shows how to prepare on-the-go meals that are packed with fresh produce and whole foods.The tasty recipes and gorgeous full-color photos in this book will show you how to create amazing dishes, including:•Pomegranate and pear salad•Pesto tortellini with cherry tomatoes•Crunchy Asian salad•Spinach, blueberry and blue cheese salad•Curried chicken salad•Kale and avocado salad•Porcini mushroom risotto•Overnight oatmeal with fruit•Green bean and feta salad