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1. Carry a gun and shoot out the wheels of anyone who cut me off in traffic. Especially if they didn’t use their blinker.

In honor of National Candy Month, we’re posting some of our favorite recipes from The Field Guide to Candy by Anita Chu!

Last week we had Tuxedo Strawberries. Today? Rock Candy! Mm!

Rosemary, basil, parsley, mint: all useful for summer cooking. Buying herbs can get expensive, so wouldn’t it be easier to just grow them yourself? It can be difficult if you don’t have a green thumb, but with these tips you’ll be sure to succeed.

Use An Egg Carton: Planting your seeds in a paper egg carton is a good way to ensure that your seeds can germinate and get everything they need to thrive as a plant. Punch holes in the bottom, put in the soil and seeds, and leave the carton in a place that will allow lots of light. When you see sprouts, you can just bury the carton in the ground along with the sprouts (leaving them above ground, of course). You can also transfer the herbs into pots to keep by your window. The paper will biodegrade and your plants will continue to grow in your garden!

Know What Herbs to Grow: Bringing a plant to life and keeping it alive can be hard if you don’t know what you’re doing. Some plants are tougher than others. You also don’t want to choose herbs that grow very wide or tall if you’re keeping them inside. Some good ones to start with are basil, mint, and parsley.

Use Organic Fertilizer: Fertilizer is a good way to ensure that your plants are growing up healthy and strong. It can also exceed the lifespan of your plants if you’re forgetful about watering them (like I am). For a plant that you’re later going to eat, however, you don’t want to introduce any chemicals to them that you wouldn’t want in your body later. Use compost or store-bought organic fertilizer with your herbs!

Choose the Right Time to Harvest: The best time to pick the leaves off of your plant is right before its flowers bloom. This gives them maximum flavor, whether you choose to use them fresh or dried. If you want to dry them, you can do so by hanging them upside down in a dry place or putting them in the oven at 150 degrees for three hours.

Happy gardening!

The Library of Congress has 34.5 million books, but the writers in the Publishing Office only used a select few sources from the Library's 838 miles of bookshelves.

In spite of the size of our book collection, the books we used from the Library's collections for the entries featured in Presidential Campaign Posters only occupied one small shelf in our conference room. Yet these books and the facts held within their pages helped all of our writers craft captions that were both fun and factual. Most importantly, the books helped us tell the story behind the posters and the election it commemorates.

Photo via The Queen’s Notebook

Some recipes should be prerequisites to entering the adult world. From Recipes Every Man Should Know, this is definitely one of them.

Nothing goes together like coffee and books. Reading in coffee shops is a favorite pastime of book lovers around the world, so what could be better than a book themed cafe?

These five literary coffee shops will feed both your mind and your body, so be sure to check them out.

Bennu (Pictured Above): A 24 hour coffee house in Austin, Texas, Bennu’s known for its gourmet mochas that are named after books. A quick glance at the menu and you’ll see classics like The Scarlet Letter, Oliver Twist and The Great Gatsby. Each drink is created with a book in mind, and they all sound delicious. The one the sounds the best to me is the Don Quixote, which is described as “Azteca D’oro Spiced Chocolate Mocha topped with home-made whipped cream and dusted with Mexican spiced powder.” Yum!

McNally Jackson Cafe: A bookstore in NYC, and its cafe is really something special. Books hang suspended from the ceiling and pages line the walls, giving the space a whimsical feel. The lights above the counter hold stacks of books, which is appropriate for its place in a bookstore. They even have a literary experience section on the menu where you can eat and drink the same things as a character from your favorite book.

Literati Cafe: Located in Los Angeles, Literati Cafe does not disappoint. The walls feature black and white photographs of various literary figures as well as posters of famous book covers. The atmosphere has been described as “bookish”, with little nooks and crannies for customers to sip a latte and crack open a novel.