Book picks similar to
Ambitious Brew by Maureen Ogle
history
non-fiction
beer
nonfiction
Generation Decks: The Unofficial History of Gaming Phenomenon Magic The Gathering
Titus Chalk - 2017
The brainchild of misfit maths genius Richard Garfield, Magic combines fiendishly complex gameplay with collectability. When it came out in the early '90s it transformed the lives of gamers who had longed for a game that combined challenging mechanics and kick-ass artwork with a chance to connect and compete with likeminded people. Titus Chalk's tale is part biography, charting the author's own relationship with the game, part history, and part love letter to the card game that made it cool to be a geek. Prepare to meet Generation Decks, a community like no other...
The Complete Meat Cookbook: A Juicy and Authoritative Guide to Selecting, Seasoning, and Cooking Today's Beef, Pork, Lamb, and Veal
Bruce Aidells - 1998
Which are worth the price? Which are meaningless? Bruce Aidells, America’s foremost meat expert and the founder of Aidells Sausage Company, makes sense of the confusion and helps you choose the best steaks, chops, roasts, and ribs and match them to the right preparation method.The definitive book for our time, The Great Meat Cookbook includes• hundreds of extraordinary recipes, from such “Great Meat Dishes of the World” as Whole Beef Fillet Stuffed with Prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano to economical dishes that use small amounts of meat, like Thai Pork Salad, to American classics like Steak House Grilled Rib Eye• handy recipe tags like “Fit for Company,” “In a Hurry,” and “Great Leftovers” that help you match each dish to the occasion• at-a-glance guides to all the major cuts, with a full-color photo of each• recipes for handcrafted sausages, pâtés, confits, and hams• recipes for newly popular meats like bison, goat, heirloom pork, and grass-fed beef, veal, and lamb• recipes for underappreciated parts that make delicious dishes without breaking the bankWith straight talk and an affable voice, Aidells provides every single bit of information you need to get comfortable in the kitchen, from which thermometers are the most reliable, to instructions for thawing frozen meat from the farmers’ market, to tips that will make you a grill and barbecue pro.
The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont
Shawn Levy - 2019
An apartment house-turned-hotel, it has hosted generations of gossip and folklore: 1930s bombshell Jean Harlow took lovers during her third honeymoon there; director Nicholas Ray slept with his sixteen-year-old Rebel Without a Cause star Natalie Wood; Anthony Perkins and Tab Hunter met poolside and began a secret affair; Jim Morrison swung from the balconies, once falling nearly to his death; John Belushi suffered a fatal overdose in a private bungalow; Lindsay Lohan got the boot after racking up nearly $50,000 in charges in less than two months.Perched above the Sunset Strip like a fairytale castle, the Chateau seems to come from another world entirely. Its singular appearance houses an equally singular history. While a city, an industry, and a culture have changed around it, Chateau Marmont has welcomed the most iconic and iconoclastic personalities in film, music, and media. It appeals to the rich and famous not just for its European ambiance but for its seclusion: Much of what's happened inside the Chateau's walls has eluded the public eye.Until now. With wit and prowess, Shawn Levy recounts the wild revelries and scandalous liaisons; the creative breakthroughs and marital breakdowns; the births and deaths that the Chateau has been a party to. Vivid, salacious, and richly informed, his book is a glittering tribute to Hollywood as seen from inside the walls of its most hallowed hotel.
The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World's First Classic Cocktail, with Recipes and Lore
Robert Simonson - 2014
Its formula is simple: just whiskey, bitters, sugar, and ice. But how you combine those ingredients—in what proportion, using which brands, and with what kind of garnish—is the subject of much impassioned debate.The Old-Fashioned is the spirited, delightfully unexpected story of this renowned and essential drink: its birth as the ur-cocktail in the nineteenth century, darker days in the throes of Prohibition, re-ascension in the 1950s and 1960s (as portrayed and re-popularized by Don Draper on Mad Men), and renaissance as the star of the contemporary craft cocktail movement. Also featured are more than forty cocktail recipes, including classic variations, regional twists, and contemporary updates from top bartenders around the country. All are accessible, delicious, and elegant in their simplicity, demonstrating the versatility and timelessness of the Old-Fashioned formula. With its rich history, stunning photography, and impeccable recipes, The Old-Fashioned is a celebration of one of America’s greatest bibulous achievements. It is a necessary addition to any true whiskey- or cocktail-lover’s bookshelf, and destined to become a classic on par with its namesake beverage.
Thanksgiving 101: Celebrate America's Favorite Holiday with America's Thanksgiving Expert
Rick Rodgers - 1998
From shopping through chopping, from making flawless gravy to fearlessly carving the bird, he offers tips, insight, and inspiration every steop of the way. Whether it a tradition holiday feast with turkey and all the traditional trimming, chutneys, and chowders; a vegetarian dinner with just the trimmings; or new ideas for regional classics, including Cajun- or Italian-inspired tastes, Thanksgiving 101 serves up a delicious education for novice and experienced cooks alike.
The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America
Eric Cervini - 2020
Defense Department in Hawaii, received a summons to report immediately to Washington, D.C. The Pentagon had reason to believe he was a homosexual, and after a series of humiliating interviews, Kameny, like countless gay men and women before him, was promptly dismissed from his government job. Unlike many others, though, Kameny fought back.Eric Cervini's The Deviant's War is the story of what followed. This book is an assiduously researched history of an early champion of gay liberation, one who fought for the right to follow his passion and serve his country in the wake of Joseph McCarthy's Lavender Scare. We follow Kameny as he explores the underground gay scenes of Boston and Washington, D.C., where he formulates his arguments against the U.S. Government's classification of gay men and women as "sexual perverts." At a time when staying in the closet remained the default, he exposed the hypocrisies of the American establishment, accelerated a broader revolution in sexual morals, and invented what we now know as Gay Pride.Based on firsthand accounts, recently declassified FBI records, and forty thousand personal documents, The Deviant's War unfolds over the course of the 1960s, as the Mattachine Society of Washington, the group Kameny founded, became the first organization to protest the systematic persecution of gay federal employees. It traces the forgotten ties that bound gay rights to the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism, and trans resistance. Above all, it is a story of America (and Washington) at a cultural and sexual crossroads; of public battles with Congress; of FBI informants; murder; betrayal; sex; love; and ultimately victory.
How to Manage Your Money When You Don't Have Any
Erik Wecks - 2012
It provides both a respectful, no-nonsense look at the difficult realities of life after the Great Recession and a hope-filled, easy to follow path toward better financial stability for even the most financially strapped households. Created by a financial expert who hasn't struck it rich, How to Manage Your Money When You Don't Have Any offers a first hand story of financial survival in the face of rough times. Rather than emphasizing wealth creation, How to Manage Your Money When You Don't Have Any teaches readers to do the best they can with their income no matter its size. Content rich, personal, and jargon free, the book is opinionated and at times humorous. Full of current everyday references, it is meant to be a quick read which will appeal to the average reader just struggling to make ends meet.
Mikkeller's Book of Beer
Mikkel Borg Bjergsø - 2014
These range from good beginner's beers such as pale ale and brown ale to more advanced ales such as barley wine, smoked stout and Belgian wild ale, so there is something here for both the novice and the experienced home brewer. Learn too about Mikkeller's evolution from experimental hobby brewer to trailblazing international microbrewery; the history of beer; the beer revolution of the 1990s, beer and food, and the most important beer types, from pale lagers through highly-hopped IPAs to dark stouts and strong quadruples.
Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring
Alexander Rose - 2006
For the first time, Rose takes us beyond the battlefront and into the shadowy underworld of double agents and triple crosses, covert operations and code breaking, and unmasks the courageous, flawed individuals who inhabited this wilderness of mirrors—including the spymaster at the heart of it all, George Washington. Previously published as Washington’s Spies
My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation
Donald M. Rattner - 2015
Whether it's to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, or to find personal fulfillment, people are looking to develop their capacity for creative and innovative thinking in business and daily life. Many have turned to the growing literature of creativity to shed the shackles of conventionality and discover new ways of doing things. Now comes THE CREATIVITY CATALOG, a fresh and original take on the pursuit of innovation. Rather than start with the premise that creativity originates largely from within our minds, THE CREATIVITY CATALOG looks outward to the things we surround ourselves with in our home and work environments to uncover a trove of products deliberately designed to cultivate our mental faculties through hands-on experience. Among the products featured are furnishings, accessories, shelving, cookware, jewelry, and children's playthings. Pieces are attractively presented with 550 high-quality photographs and explanatory text, and supplemented by an introduction by author, educator and architect Donald Rattner on the history and future of interactive, touch-based design. Profiles of the designers and brands represented, and a list of further resources, round out this distinctive book.
1,000 Indian Recipes
Neelam Batra - 2002
This is a book Indian food lovers—and health-conscious eaters and vegetarians, too—can turn to for everyday meals and special occasions for years to come!
Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis
Sam Anderson - 2018
It was founded in a bizarre but momentous "Land Run" in 1889, when thousands of people lined up along the borders of Oklahoma Territory and rushed in at noon to stake their claims. Since then, it has been a city torn between the wild energy that drives its outsized ambitions, and the forces of order that seek sustainable progress. Nowhere was this dynamic better realized than in the drama of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team's 2012-13 season, when the Thunder's brilliant general manager, Sam Presti, ignited a firestorm by trading future superstar James Harden just days before the first game. Presti's all-in gamble on "the Process"—the patient, methodical management style that dictated the trade as the team’s best hope for long-term greatness—kicked off a pivotal year in the city's history, one that would include pitched battles over urban planning, a series of cataclysmic tornadoes, and the frenzied hope that an NBA championship might finally deliver the glory of which the city had always dreamed.Boom Town announces the arrival of an exciting literary voice. Sam Anderson, former book critic for New York magazine and now a staff writer at the New York Times magazine, unfolds an idiosyncratic mix of American history, sports reporting, urban studies, gonzo memoir, and much more to tell the strange but compelling story of an American city whose unique mix of geography and history make it a fascinating microcosm of the democratic experiment. Filled with characters ranging from NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook; to Flaming Lips oddball frontman Wayne Coyne; to legendary Great Plains meteorologist Gary England; to Stanley Draper, Oklahoma City's would-be Robert Moses; to civil rights activist Clara Luper; to the citizens and public servants who survived the notorious 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, Boom Town offers a remarkable look at the urban tapestry woven from control and chaos, sports and civics.
The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice
Michael Krondl - 2007
The tales these spices could tell: of lavish Renaissance banquets perfumed with cloves, and flimsy sailing ships sent around the world to secure a scented prize; of cinnamon-dusted custard tarts and nutmeg-induced genocide; of pungent elixirs and the quest for the pepper groves of paradise. The Taste of Conquest offers up a riveting, globe-trotting tale of unquenchable desire, fanatical religion, raw greed, fickle fashion, and mouthwatering cuisine–in short, the very stuff of which our world is made. In this engaging, enlightening, and anecdote-filled history, Michael Krondl, a noted chef turned writer and food historian, tells the story of three legendary cities–Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam–and how their single-minded pursuit of spice helped to make (and remake) the Western diet and set in motion the first great wave of globalization.In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the world’s peoples were irrevocably brought together as a result of the spice trade. Before the great voyages of discovery, Venice controlled the business in Eastern seasonings and thereby became medieval Europe’s most cosmopolitan urban center. Driven to dominate this trade, Portugal’s mariners pioneered sea routes to the New World and around the Cape of Good Hope to India to unseat Venice as Europe’s chief pepper dealer. Then, in the 1600s, the savvy businessmen of Amsterdam “invented” the modern corporation–the Dutch East India Company–and took over as spice merchants to the world.Sharing meals and stories with Indian pepper planters, Portuguese sailors, and Venetian foodies, Krondl takes every opportunity to explore the world of long ago and sample its many flavors. The spice trade and its cultural exchanges didn’t merely lend kick to the traditional Venetian cookies called peverini, or add flavor to Portuguese sausages of every description, or even make the Indonesian rice table more popular than Chinese takeout in trendy Amsterdam. No, the taste for spice of a few wealthy Europeans led to great crusades, astonishing feats of bravery, and even wholesale slaughter.As stimulating as it is pleasurable, and filled with surprising insights, The Taste of Conquest offers a fascinating perspective on how, in search of a tastier dish, the world has been transformed.
Zero to Maker: Learn (Just Enough) to Make (Just About) Anything
David Lang - 2013
You’ll discover how to navigate this new community, and find the best resources for learning the tools and skills you need to be a dynamic maker in your own right.Lang reveals how he became a pro maker after losing his job, and how the experience helped him start OpenROV—a DIY community and product line focused on open source undersea exploration. It all happened once he became an active member of the Maker culture. Ready to take the plunge into the next Industrial Revolution? This guide provides a clear and inspiring roadmap.* Take an eye-opening journey from unskilled observer to engaged maker-entrepreneur* Enter the Maker community to connect with experts and pick up new skills* Use a template for building a maker-based entrepreneurial lifestyle* Learn from the organizer of the first-ever Maker Startup Weekend* Be prepared for exciting careers of the future
There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America
Amy Argetsinger - 2021
The sash. The tears. The glittering crown. And of course, that soaring song. For all of its pomp and kitsch, the Miss America pageant is indelibly written into the American story of the past century. From its giddy origins as a summer’s-end tourist draw in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, it blossomed into a televised extravaganza that drew tens of millions of viewers in its heyday and was once considered the highest honor that a young woman could achieve. For two years, Washington Post reporter and editor Amy Argetsinger visited pageants and interviewed former winners and contestants to unveil the hidden world of this iconic institution. There She Was spotlights how the pageant survived decades of social and cultural change, collided with a women’s liberation movement that sought to abolish it, and redefined itself alongside evolving ideas about feminism. For its superstars—Phyllis George, Vanessa Williams, Gretchen Carlson—and for those who never became household names, Miss America was a platform for women to exercise their ambitions and learn brutal lessons about the culture of fame. Spirited and revelatory, There She Was charts the evolution of the American woman, from the Miss America catapulted into advocacy after she was exposed as a survivor of domestic violence to the one who used her crown to launch a congressional campaign; from a 1930s winner who ran away on the night of her crowning to a present-day rock guitarist carving out her place in this world. Argetsinger dissects the scandals and financial turmoil that have repeatedly threatened to kill the pageant—and highlights the unexpected sisterhood of Miss Americas fighting to keep it alive.