Packed with savvy tips on today's best investment opportunities, this book provides a down-to-earth, straightforward approach to making money on the market without the fancy lingo. Soon you'll have the power to optimize your returns by:Recognizing and minimizing the risks Gathering information about potential stocks Dissecting annual reports and other company documents Analyzing the growth and demand of industries Playing with the politicians Approaching uncertain markets Using corporate stock buybacks to boost earnings Handling the IRS and other obligations With a different strategy for every investor--from recent college grad to married with children to recently retired--this valuable reference is a must-have. It also features tips and tricks on how to tell when a stock is on the verge of declining or increasing, how to protect yourself from fraud, and common challenges that every investor must go through, along with resources and financial ratios.

    And yet in many ways this fragrantly comforting and storied brew remains elusive, even to its devotees. As down-to-earth yet stylishly refined as the drink itself, A Little Tea Book submerges readers into tea, exploring its varieties, subtleties, and pleasures right down to the process of selecting and brewing the perfect cup. From orange pekoe to pu-erh, tea expert Sebastian Beckwith provides surprising tips, fun facts, and flavorful recipes to launch dabblers and connoisseurs alike on a journey of taste and appreciation. Along with writer and fellow tea-enthusiast Caroline Paul, Beckwith walks us through the cultural and political history of the elixir that has touched every corner of the world. Featuring featuring charming, colorful charts, graphs, and illustrations by bestselling illustrator Wendy MacNaughton and Beckwith's sumptuous photographs, A Little Tea Book is a friendly, handsome, and illuminating primer with a dash of sass and sophistication. Cheers!

    As more and more people switch to the Atkins diet or variations of it, they will need recipes! 15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes offers over 200 recipes that can be made in 15 minutes or less.Capitalizing on the runaway success of 500 Low-Carb Recipes, this book offers all-new quick and easy recipes that will be a godsend to low-carbers everywhere.

    So get ready! It's time to cut your expenses! (Or just make sure they never pile up.)

    The earlier we choosetosave(R), the sooner we can stop saving, and the later we start saving the more we need to know in order to catch up. What you need to know; where you can find the answers; how you can take action. It is all here." -Dallas Salisbury, CEO, Employee Benefit Research Institute and American Savings Education Council (www.choosetosave.org) "Bookstores are full of tomes advising people how to save for retirement, yet millions of people are still hopelessly confused about what they should do. Gail MarksJarvis breaks it down into simple steps that anyone can do to ensure a more comfortable retirement. Read this book and prosper!" -Liz Pulliam Weston, MSN Money Personal finance columnist and best-selling author of Your Credit Score "This book offers a sensible, sophisticated approach for tackling the daunting challenge of saving for retirement. The good news? You can retire-without living on canned food or buying lottery tickets-if you follow Gail's realistic strategies for saving, investing, and ultimately spending money in retirement." -Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press "You can wallpaper a warehouse with all of the awful investment advice offered up every year in newspapers, magazines, and books. One of the most difficult tasks is to separate the get-rich-quick hype from the truly worthwhile knowledge that will make you wealthy over time. I'm thrilled to say that Gail MarksJarvis has cut through the claptrap of investment cacophony and provided not only a solid plan for retirement saving, but a realistic, common-sense approach to personal finance in general. This is a triumph." -John F. Wasik, Bloomberg News personal finance columnist and author, The Merchant of Power Drawn from responses to questions from over 20,000 readers of the author's personal finance columns. Over the years, Chicago Tribune financial columnist Gail MarksJarvis has taken the time to listen and respond to thousands of her readers about the issues, questions, and concerns that are most important to them. Saving and investing for retirement has never been more important...and with this book, it's never been clearer what you need to do and how to do it. Don't wait another day! Discover...How much you'll need and how to get there...even if you've fallen behind Exactly how to set up IRAs, 401(k)s, or 403(b)s in minutes and pocket your tax money How to harness the money-making power of the stock market How to pick the right mutual funds confidently with simple strategies and specific recommendations Incredibly easy, safe investing strategies based on professional money-management techniques "Gimmick-free" investing shortcuts that won't backfire on you How to keep debt from making you poor How to get reliable help if you need it...and avoid incompetents or scam artists How the new 2006 pension laws affect you MarksJarvis eliminates the insider jargon, confusion, and math...takes the mystery out of the stock market...simplifies investing techniques...answers all your questions...clears away every obstacle in your way so you make money without taking foolish risks. She's already done it for millions, in the nation's top newspapers and most popular financial radio and TV shows. Now, she'll do it for you, too! Introduction 1 Start Investing Early, or Start Now 1 2 Know What You'll Need 9 3 Savings on Steroids: Use a 401(k) and an IRA 39 4 An IRA--Every American's Treasure Trove 59 5 IRA Decisions: How to Start, Where to Go 65 6 Why the Stock Market Isn't a Roulette Wheel 89 7 What's a Mutual Fund? 105 8 Making Sense of Wacky Mutual Fund Names 115 9 Know Your Mutual Fund Manager's Job 127 10 The Only Way that Works: Asset Allocation 151 11 Do This 163 12 How to Pick Mutual Funds: Bargain Shop 181 13 Index Funds: Get What You Pay For 189 14 Simple Does It: No-Brainer Investing with Target-Date Funds 209 15 Do You Need a Financial Adviser? 219 Index 229

    But it might surprise you to learn that this isn’t just an American problem.   Packaged snacks and junk foods are displacing natural, home-cooked meals throughout the world—even in Italy, a place we tend to associate with a healthy Mediterranean diet. Italian children traditionally sat at the table with the adults and ate everything from anchovies to artichokes. Parents passed a love of seasonal, regional foods down to their children, and this generational appreciation of good food turned Italy into the world culinary capital we’ve come to know today.   When Jeannie Marshall moved from Canada to Rome, she found the healthy food culture she expected. However, she was also amazed to find processed foods aggressively advertised and junk food on every corner. While determined to raise her son on a traditional Italian diet, Marshall sets out to discover how even a food tradition as entrenched as Italy’s can be greatly eroded or even lost in a single generation. She takes readers on a journey through the processed-food and marketing industries that are re-manufacturing our children’s diets, while also celebrating the pleasures of real food as she walks us through Roman street markets, gathering local ingredients from farmers and butchers.   At once an exploration of the US food industry’s global reach and a story of finding the best way to feed her child, The Lost Art of Feeding Kids examines not only the role that big food companies play in forming children’s tastes, and the impact that has on their health, but also how parents and communities can push back to create a culture that puts our kids’ health and happiness ahead of the interests of the food industry.

    If you want to know whether it is kosher to plant onions between cabbage plants, this is the place to look.-- Oklahoma TodayFirst published in 1975, this classic companion planting guide has taught a generation of gardeners how to use plants' natural partnerships to produce bigger and better harvests.Over 500,000 in Print!

    No longer just for jellies and jam, mason jars are now being filled in the most creative and often super healthy ways, such as salads and casseroles. The easy-to-follow recipes in this book will show you how to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner in a mason jar. Oh, and dessert! Can’t forget dessert.Some of the recipes included in the book are:• Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats• Creamy Polenta with Bacon and Eggs• Spicy Watermelon and Cotija Salad• Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Salad with Pepitas• Mexican Caesar Salad with greek yogurt dressing• Lazy Lasagna• Campers Sangria• Pie in a JarThe Mason Jar Cookbook will feature, in beautiful full-color photos, over 100 ways to create, carry, and consume food in the mason jar. Many of the recipes will include tips on serving and storage. Several will also include notes on substituting ingredients to include seasonal fruits and vegetables.Beautiful, convenient, easy, versatile and just plain cool. Just some of the many reasons why everyone should have mason jars in their life. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Good Books and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of cookbooks, including books on juicing, grilling, baking, frying, home brewing and winemaking, slow cookers, and cast iron cooking. We’ve been successful with books on gluten-free cooking, vegetarian and vegan cooking, paleo, raw foods, and more. Our list includes French cooking, Swedish cooking, Austrian and German cooking, Cajun cooking, as well as books on jerky, canning and preserving, peanut butter, meatballs, oil and vinegar, bone broth, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

    Whether you want to dabble or immerse yourself completely in the do-it-yourself, back-to-basics lifestyle, Welcome to the Farm is a comprehensive, fully illustrated guide to growing the very best food right in your own backyard. Shaye Elliott takes readers on a journey that teaches them how to harvest baskets full of organic produce, milk a dairy cow (and make butter), plant a homestead orchard, can jams and jellies, and even raise chickens and bees. From her experience running The Elliott Homestead, Shaye provides all the how-to wisdom you need to know about: The benefits of a home gardenThe basics of seed startingBuilding your own greenhouseWhat belongs in the winter gardenCanning, freezing, and dehydrating techniques and recipesThe pros and cons of caged vs. free-change chickensKeeping a dairy cow and what to do with all the milkRaising animals for meatMaking your own cider and wineAnd so much more!Welcome to the Farm is aimed to serve homesteaders and urban-farmers alike, guiding them through the beginning stages of small-area farming and utilizing whatever amount of space they have available for optimal and delicious food production.

    Learn how baking soda was developed into a consumer product, how it works, and more importantly how to use it in an amazing number of ways. In fifteen different catagories, ranging from cooking and cleaning to hygience and home remedies, you'll find ideas you never thought of. Baking soda can be used for cooking, laundry, gardening, skin solutions, kitchen clean up, dental care, caring for kids, crafts and hobbies, bathroom clean up, grooming, pet problems, cars, and camping to name a few.

    From old friends like chickpeas and pintos to rediscovered heirloom beans like rattlesnake beans and teparies, from green beans and fresh shell beans to peanuts, lentils, and peas, Bean by Bean is the definitive cookbook on beans. It’s a 175-plus recipe cornucopia overflowing with information, kitchen wisdom, lore, anecdotes, and a zest for good food and good times.Consider the lentil, to take one example. Discover it first in a delicious slather, Lentil Tapenade. Then in half a dozen soups, including Sahadi’s Lebanese Lentil Soup with Spinach, Kerala-Style Dahl, and Crescent’s Very, Very Best Lentil, Mushroom & Barley Soup. It then turns up in Marinated Lentils De Puy with Greens, Baked Beets, Oranges & Walnuts. Plus there’s Jamaica Jerk-Style Lentil-Vegetable Patties, Ethiopian Lentil Stew, and Lentil-Celeriac Skillet Sauce. Do the same for black beans—from Tex-Mex Frijoles Dip to Feijoada Vegetariana to Maya’s Magic Black Beans with Eggplant & Royal Rice. Or shell beans—Newly Minted Puree of Fresh Favas, Baked Limas with Rosy Sour Cream, Edamame in a Pod. And on and on—from starters and soups to dozens of entrees. Even desserts: Peanut Butter Cup Brownies and Red Bean Ice Cream.

    . .Bottle your own soda? Press your own tofu? Smoke your own cheese? Boil your own bagels? Ferment your own miso? Can your own tomatoes? Roast your own coffee? Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It walks you through a slew of satisfying culinary projects to stock your larder and shower your friends with artisan foods and drinks, kitchen staples, and utterly addictive snacks. Karen Solomon—veteran food writer, kitchen explorer, and author of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It—brings forth a new collection of 75-plus recipes for condiments (Plum Catsup), cereals (Cornflakes), crunchy snacks (Tortilla Chips), beverages (Soy Milk), and more. Whether you're a beginning or seasoned home cook, you’ll be inspired to pump up the power of your pantry. With detailed instruction on essential techniques, time commitments for each project (from 20 minutes to 2 hours to a weekend), and labeling and wrapping tips, Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It will help you get creative in the kitchen. So leave the grocery aisle's mass-produced packaging and mystery ingredients behind and join the urban homesteading revolution as you whip up a bevy of jars, bottles, and bags full of outstanding hand-labeled eats.

    This modern handbook boasts more than 200 brand new recipes ranging from jams and jellies to jerkies, pickles, salsas, and more.Organized by technique, The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving covers water bath and pressure canning, pickling, fermenting, freezing, dehydrating, and smoking. Straightforward instructions and step–by–step photos ensure success for beginners, while practiced home canners will find more advanced methods and inspiring ingredient twists.Tested for quality and safety, recipes range from much–loved classics—Tart Lemon Jelly, Tomato–Herb Jam, Ploughman's Pickles—to fresh flavors such as Asian Pear Kimchi, Smoked Maple–Juniper Bacon, and homemade Kombucha. Make the most of your preserves with delicious dishes including Crab Cakes garnished with Eastern Shore Corn Relish and traditional Strawberry–Rhubarb Hand Pies. Special sidebars highlight seasonal fruits and vegetables, while handy charts cover processing times, temperatures, and recipe formulas for fast preparation.Lushly illustrated with color photographs, The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving is a classic in the making for a new generation of home cooks.

    This lively, no-nonsense financial guide explains:How much of your income to saveHow to avoid the perils of credit card debtHow to create a budget you can live with (and still have fun!)How to invest widely using a keep-it-simple planHow to deal with real-life situationsThe sooner you apply the financial concepts highlighted by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar, the more likely you'll achieve common life goals--all free from financial stress.

    Even after she worked her way out of nearly $30,000 of consumer debt, her old habits took hold again. When she realized that nothing she was doing or buying was making her happy—only keeping her from meeting her goals—she decided to set herself a challenge: she would not shop for an entire year.The Year of Less documents Cait’s life for twelve months during which she bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she challenged herself to consume less of many other things besides shopping. She decluttered her apartment and got rid of 70 percent of her belongings; learned how to fix things rather than throw them away; researched the zero waste movement; and completed a television ban. At every stage, she learned that the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt.The challenge became a lifeline when, in the course of the year, Cait found herself in situations that turned her life upside down. In the face of hardship, she realized why she had always turned to shopping, alcohol, and food—and what it had cost her. Unable to reach for any of her usual vices, she changed habits she’d spent years perfecting and discovered what truly mattered to her.Blending Cait’s compelling story with inspiring insight and practical guidance, The Year of Less will leave you questioning what you’re holding on to in your own life—and, quite possibly, lead you to find your own path of less.