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100 GHOSTS by Doogie Horner

Cut two eyeholes out of a bed sheet, and BOO! You've scared yourself up a classic Halloween icon. But what does that ghost look like when he's shy? Or in love? Or a pirate, a llama, a bond villain, or Russian nesting doll? 100 Ghosts explores every sort of spook in a series of whimsically haunting illustrations. 

It's a delightful collection for adults, children, and anyone in need of a friendly fright.

It's a fact. Here at Quirk, we love a good zombie book. Zombie Trekkies. Zombie Tarot. Zombie Jane Austen. We just can't help ourselves. 

With Halloween quickly approaching, we figured we'd put together a fun giveaway, to celebrate our love of being scared and the joy of zombies.

Go ahead and enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a Quirk library of zombie books, including:

• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith
• Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall
• The Zombie Tarot by Stacey Graham

We'll pick three winners closer to the end of the month. Good luck! 

It's a fact. Here at Quirk, we love a good zombie book. Zombie Trekkies. Zombie Tarot. Zombie Jane Austen. We just can't help ourselves. 

With Halloween quickly approaching, we figured we'd put together a fun giveaway, to celebrate our love of being scared and the joy of zombies.

Go ahead and enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a Quirk library of zombie books, including:

• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith
• Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall
• The Zombie Tarot by Stacey Graham

We'll pick three winners closer to the end of the month. Good luck! 

October is usually a time for orange leaves, pumpkins, ghouls, and ghosts. But, I think it should be a month of clockwork trains, aeronautical goggles, and steam-powered machines more amazing than you can imagine. In essence, October is steampunk.

October 15th marks the anniversary of when the New Orleans, the first US steamboat, made the long journey along the mighty Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh, PA to New Orleans, LA. Owned by Robert Fulton and Robert R. Livingston, and built by Nicholas Roosevelt, the New Orleans was a marvel of its time and ushered in a new way for people to travel in luxury.

In honor of the New Orleans journey, here are 5 ways can have your own steampunk adventure in portable, but sadly not steam-powered, book form.

Excerpted from our Making Dough cookbook by Russell van Kraayenburg. 

YIELD: 6 shortcakes  |  PREP TIME: 1 hour  |  BAKE TIME: 12 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound prepared Biscuit Dough

1 cup heavy cream

5 sprigs fresh mint

4 ounces granulated sugar, divided

12 ounces blackberries, pureed, plus 12 ounces whole berries

1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

½ teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut biscuits and bake according to the instructions on page 28, about 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Set aside.

2. Heat heavy cream and mint sprigs in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, until cream reaches the scalding point (180°F on a clipped-on thermometer); it will begin to steam and appear slightly frothy. Transfer to the refrigerator and let steep for 1 hour, until cold.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the blackberry sauce: bring pureed blackberries, half of the sugar, chopped mint, lemon juice, and vanilla to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat slightly to maintain boil and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, until thickened. Strain liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; discard any blackberry seeds. Set aside to cool.

4. Strain steeped cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl; discard mint leaves. Whip cream with an electric mixer on high speed while slowly adding the remaining sugar, until stiff peaks form. Note: This will take longer than normal whipped cream, up to 10 minutes, because of the oils from the mint leaves. Set aside in the refrigerator.

5. Assemble the shortcakes: Cut biscuits in half to create two rounds. Cover each bottom half with blackberries and blackberry sauce. Top with the top halves. Spoon whipped cream on top and drizzle with a little more blackberry sauce before serving.

Excerpted from our Making Dough Cookbook by Russell van Kraayenburg.

YIELD: 1 pound  |  PREP TIME: 20 minutes  |  BAKE TIME: 12 minutes

Ingredients

6 ounces cake flour

2 ounces bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

Mixing the Dough

There are two ways to mix biscuit dough: by hand or using a food processor.

By-Hand Method

1. Mix flours, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.

2. Chop butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Add to flour mixture.

3. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, pinch or cut butter into flour, breaking it into pieces about the size of coarse cornmeal. If using your hands, work quickly to prevent butter from melting.

4. Add milk and stir 10 to 20 times with a wooden spoon, until dough just begins to come together.

5. Place dough on a very lightly floured surface. Knead 4 to 5 times, until it just holds its shape. Take care not to knead the dough too much or add.

Food Processor Method

1. Pulse flours, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor to combine.

2. Chop butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Add to flour mixture. Pulse for 1 to 2 seconds 8 to 12 times, until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

3. Add milk and pulse 2 to 4 times, until dough begins to come together. It will form a few large chunks and many small ones.

4. Transfer dough chunks to a very lightly floured surface and push together. Knead 3 to 5 times, until dough just holds its shape. Take care not to knead the dough too much or add too much flour, which can make the biscuits tough.

Why Cake Flour?

The American South enjoys a growing season that is relatively long and free of harshly cold weather, so less hardy varieties of wheat can be grown there. The resulting flour has a lower protein content, which is responsible for the cakey biscuits associated with that region. The similarly low protein content in cake flour will consistently produce these classic soft biscuits.

How to Handle Leftover Dough

When using a cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out round biscuits, you’ll inevitably have leftover dough. Instead of kneading the leftover pieces together before rerolling the dough, stack them in layers and then roll the stack. Every time you knead or roll dough, it will become tougher. Stacking it helps delay the toughening.

Storage

Bake immediately, or store in an airtight container. Refrigerator: 2 days. Freezer: 1 month.

Qualities of Good Biscuit Dough

THE DOUGH: Biscuit dough should be dry but easy to manipulate. You should also see small dots of butter throughout the dough.

THE PASTRY: Once baked, biscuits should be tender. The outside crust should be firm and crumble easily, and the crumb inside should be soft.

Adding Mix-Ins

Throwing in some mix-ins—such as herbs or spices, lemon zest, a small pile of cheese, or a big pile of bacon—is a snap. Biscuit dough can handle it! So long as your add-ins are dry, they won’t affect the dough ratio.

Making Classic Butter Biscuits

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 425°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll prepared dough with a rolling pin until ¾ inch thick. Cut out 2½-inch disks with a cookie or biscuit cutter, or simply pull off small handfuls of dough for a more rustic look. Stack pieces of leftover dough, roll dough again, and cut out more disks. Repeat until all the dough is used. Place biscuits on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet spaced at least 1 inch apart. Brush tops with melted butter. Bake for 12 minutes, until tops are just golden. Let biscuits cool on the pan

for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack. Serve warm.