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Winter Cocktails

When the days grow longer and the air gets crisp, it’s time to gather with friends for drinks that’ll put a rosy glow on your cheeks. In Winter Cocktails, María del Mar Sacasa and Tara Striano share more than 100 seasonal recipes for cold-weather cocktails, like Hot Buttered Rum, English Christmas Punch, Pumpkin-Bourbon Eggnog, Irish Coffee, Coquito, Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, the Old-Fashioned (and the New-Fangled!), Mama’s Remedy, and the Kentucky Baby.

Detailed, in-depth chapters cover hot toddies, mulled wines, and mulled ciders; spiked hot chocolates, eggnogs, coffees, and teas; punches and pitchers for serving a crowd; and chilled winter cocktails that have a magical warming effect. Foolproof recipes for infused liquors, simple syrups, and from-scratch ingredients like Fresh Tomato Juice and Homemade Sour Mix make it easy to craft drinks from the bottom up. Plus, you’ll find ideas for elegant cocktail party bites that make pairing drinks and snacks a snap.

Party prep is a breeze thanks to guides to pantry and fridge basics, the well-stocked bar, must-have tools, serveware, and glassware, plus tips for sourcing local and hard-to-find ingredients. Beautiful and instructive step-by-step photos explain essential techniques like muddling, prepping garnishes, making ice molds, and opening champagne. Whether you’re throwing a party, lounging at a ski lodge, camping on a mountain, or just curling up with a good book on a blustery night, Winter Cocktails is sure to make the season bright.

Summer Cocktails is coming in April 2015!

A graduate of the International Culinary Center, María Del Mar Sacasa is a writer, food stylist, and recipe developer who has worked for Vogue, Lucky, and Cook’s Country. Her styling work has appeared in numerous print publications, TV commercials, product packaging, and cookbooks. She lives in New York City and Los Angeles.

Tara Striano is a native New Yorker and graduate of NYU. Her photography has been featured in publications such as House Beautiful, O, The Oprah Magazine, Garnet Hill, and Elle Décor. T

ogether, María del Mar and Tara share recipes, photos, and stories from their lives behind the scenes of the food industry on their blog, Cookin’ & Shootin’.

Posted by impart

Sprinkles!

Here’s a guide to baking delicious desserts with a colorful twist: sprinkles! Of course you can scatter them over cakes and pies. But did you know that you can swirl sprinkles into waffles, “embroider” them on cookies, and bake them into pretty pie crusts?! Inside this book you’ll find dozens of creative, colorful, super-fun recipes, plus quick-and-easy projects (ideal for little kids), holiday treats, and party-perfect edible gifts.

Learn how to custom tint your own sparkling sugars, mix up sprinkles cocktail rims, and even craft your own sprinkles from scratch. When it comes to sprinkles, the possibilities are endless—and so much fun!

JACKIE ALPERS is an award-winning photographer who writes, cooks, and styles recipes in her sun-lit studio and documents food and travel adventures on location. She lives in Tucson, Arizona

 

Posted by impart

Homemade Quirk DIY Sampler: Volume 1

We knew you were coming. So we baked you a sampler. 

Welcome to the first Homemade Quirk sampler. Here, we’ve rounded up some of the best crafts and baked goods that Quirk Books has to offer. Tiny books from Microcrafts, cat portraits from Crafting with Cat Hair, mini homemade Pop Tarts from Tiny Food Party, bottled potions from Witch Craft, and a lot more! 

So if you have special people on your list who appreciate cute and quirky items and edibles, use this guide to create one-of-a-kind presents that will show them just how well you know them and just how much you care.

Just save the .PDF, and upload it to your favorite eReader. We've got the directions below. 

Right Click, Save As [PDF, 3.7mb]

Uploading a PDF to your Kindle: Connect your Kindle to your computer using the USB cable. You should see the Kindle pop up as an external drive. Open it, and copy the .PDF into the Documents folder. BAM. It'll appear as an item on your Home page. Done and done. 

You can also email the file directly to your Kindle. For information on that process and how to find your device email, visit Amazon's official website

Uploading a PDF to Your Nook: Uploading files to your Nook Tablet is easy. Connect your Nook to your computer. You'll see it as a removable drive. Copy and paste the PDF to the appropriate Nook folder. According to Barnes & Noble's official website, you should place PDFs in the Documents folder. The same thing applies to the Nook Color and Simple Touch

You can also email the file to yourself, and open it on your Nook. Download and save the attachment when you open it on your Nook. 

If you need more help, check out Barnes & Noble's Nook Support section for more information

Uploading a PDF to Your Kobo: There are different steps involved in transfering over a .PDF onto a Kobo, depending on what model you have (Wireless, Original, eReader Touch). You can get a step by step breakdown over on the Kobo website.

If you want to share your creations or are just looking for more original D.I.Y. projects, join us online! Follow Homemade Quirk on Twitter and check us out on Facebook, where we tweet and post our favorite recipes, crafts, and more! 

Posted by impart

Noodlemania!

Kids love pasta! It’s fun, easy to make, and good to eat. Noodlemania! serves up 50 great recipes to play with in the kitchen, from crazy-cute Super Stuffed Slugs and Ladybug Salad to savory Totally Tortellini Kabobs and Big Fat Cheesy Shells. It even has recipes for sweet desserts and snacks, like Sweet Ramen Trail Mix and Crunchy Cinnamon Noodle Ice Cream Sundaes.

Noodlemania! also teaches basic math skills and includes fun pasta trivia. How many thousands of years ago was the word noodle first used? What is the world record for the largest meatball ever? Let your kids have fun in the kitchen while sharpening their cooking skills with Noodlemania!

MELISSA BARLOW is the author of 101 Things to Do with a Salad and Easy Cut- Up Cakes for Kids. A food writer and editor, she lives with her husband and three children in Salt Lake City.

Posted by impart

Breakfast for Dinner

Inside Breakfast for Dinner you’ll find more than 100 classic breakfast recipes made with a twist. Enjoy hearty "brinner" dishes like Bacon Fried Rice, Breakfast Ravioli, Pizza over Easy, and Cornmeal Pancakes with Beer-Braised Short Ribs, plus such sweet treats as Sunrise Margaritas and Maple Bacon Cupcakes—to name just a few. This cookbook is a breakfast lover’s dream come true.

Posted by impart

Cooking with Flowers

Bring simple, fresh flower recipes to your kitchen table! Edible flowers are abundant and easy to cook with but are often overlooked as being intimidating or too fancy. Cooking with Flowers is filled with special confections and easy everyday treats that everyone will love, from jewel-toned Violet Jam and pretty pink Lavender Lemonade to Pansy Petal Pancakes and Carrot Sunflower Cake.

In this book, you’ll find easy-to-follow recipes and beautiful photographs, as well as the fascinating history and meaning of flowers, plus tips and tricks for finding, cleaning, and preparing edible blossoms. This essential guide covers all the classic uses for farm-fresh, seasonal flowers—whether they’re sourced locally or plucked from your very own garden.

MICHE BACHER is an herbalist, chef, and owner of the custom confectionary studio Mali B Sweets. She lives in the waterfront village of Greenport, New York.

MIANA JUN is a photographer specializing in food, weddings, and flowers. She is based in Brooklyn.

Posted by impart