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Friend or Faux

True friends give you strength, validation, and genuinely helpful fashion advice. Faux friends compliment your outfit because they hate it and flirt with your boyfriend the minute you leave for the bathroom. So how can you tell the difference? Friend or Faux has the answers – along with more than 80 hilarious profiles of the most common female friends and frenemies, from the true blue to the truly diabolical. Readers will discover the catchphrases and characteristics of:

* The Creepy-Clinger Friend (”Where are you going?”)
* The So-Slammed-at-Work-Right-Now Friend (”Work is so crazy right now – can I call you back?”)
* The Crazy Cat Lady Friend (”You won’t believe what Butterscotch did!”)
* The Shallow Scenester Friend (”I like your coat – is that Old Navy?”)

And many more. Complete with whimsical illustrations and organized by “threat level” rating, Friend or Faux will teach you how to keep and cherish your closest companions – and how to evade the rest.

Heather Wagner has written for Travel & Leisure, Dwell, Antenna, Yoga Journal, Domino, and SOMA magazines, as well as her popular blog, MissBehavior.

Posted by impart

First Timer’s Kit

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Fine Waters

Water is indeed everywhere-especially bottled water. High-end restaurants now have water lists in addition to wine lists, water bars are opening up around the globe, and gourmet markets are selling dozens of different varieties of domestic and imported bottled waters. Consumers are beginning to recognize that bottled water, like wine, has a unique identity that is defined by its origin.

Fine Waters introduces readers to the epicurean delights of water, sharing the ins and outs of the characteristics that provide various waters with their unique flavors, as well as recommended food pairings, stemware suggestions, and optimum serving temperatures for enjoying both still and sparkling waters. The book also provides tasting notes for more than 100 of the world’s best bottled waters. Produced in full color, with photographs throughout, Fine Waters is the first guide to this up-and-coming food trend.

DR. MICHAEL MASCHA is a food anthropologist, culinary expert, and proprietor of finewaters.com.

Posted by impart

Field Guide to Tools

What’s a plumb bob look like? Where can I find a chop saw? How can I tell the difference between a tire wrench and a box wrench?

If you’ve ever asked these kinds of questions, you need Field Guide to Tools, an illustrated guide to the world of hardware stores and home improvement centers. From glass cutters and marking gauges to grout saws and caulk guns, you’ll learn how to identify and use more than 100 different tools. Author John Kelsey (a columnist for This Old House magazine) provides step-by-step directions for using each tool, along with interesting historical anecdotes and creative alternative uses. Best of all, the book includes color photographs of every tool for easy identification.

Don’t attempt another fix-it-yourself project without Field Guide to Tools!

JOHN KELSEY writes the “Talking Shop” column for This Old House magazine and was formerly the editor of Fine Woodworking magazine. He is the publisher and editor-in-chief at Cambium Press, which specializes in woodworking and furniture making.

Posted by impart

Field Guide to Seafood

There’s more to seafood than lobster tails and fried calamari. Today’s supermarkets are stocked with a bounty of delicious and delightful choices—everything from salmon and snow crabs to oysters, barnacles, and even sea cucumbers! But you don’t need a degree in marine biology to make sense of it all—just Field Guide to Seafood.

Award-winning chef Aliza Green explains everything you need to know about different types of seafood, fish, and prepared fish: how to select them, prepare them, serve them, and more, with a recipe for every one. Beautiful full-color photography depicts carp, catfish, clams, eel, squid, and more than 100 other swimmers. Don’t buy seafood without it!

Aliza Green is a chef, food writer, and teacher based in Philadelphia. She’s the author of Field Guide to Produce (Quirk, 2004), Field Guide to Meat (Quirk, 2005), Field Guide to Herbs & Spices (Quirk, 2006), and Starting with Ingredients. She is coauthor of the James Beard Award–winning cookbook Ceviche! Seafood, Salads, and Cocktails with a Latino Twist.

Posted by impart

Field Guide to Produce

Produce: It’s not just apples and oranges anymore. Today’s supermarket shelves are stocked with strange, exotic, and delightful items such as quince, jicama, kumquats, amaranth, yuzus, and wing beans. But you don’t need a degree in botany to make sense of it all—just carry along Field Guide to Produce! This practical guide to the world’s most popular fruits and vegetables features more than 200 full-color photographs—plus detailed descriptions, selection tips, and guidelines on peeling, blanching, cooking, and eating.

Award-winning chef Aliza Green describes everything you’re likely to find at your local grocery store and farmers’ market—from common cabbages and coconuts to more adventurous fare like chayote and cherimoya. Grocery shopping—and dinner—will never be the same again!

ALIZA GREEN is a chef, food writer, and teacher based in Philadelphia. She’s the author of Field Guide to Herbs & Spices (Quirk, 2006) and Field Guide to Produce (Quirk, 2004) as well as the coauthor of the James Beard–award winning Ceviche!: Seafood, Salads, and Cocktails with a Latino Twist. Visit her on the Web at alizagreen.com.

Posted by impart