Art Nouveau Designs (Design Source Books)

Art Nouveau Designs (Design Source Books) by Judy Balchin
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Judy Balchin's "Art Nouveau Designs" uses simple, but elegantly rendered, line drawings to give the beginning user a real sense of the flow and curve of the Art Nouveau style. The patterns are uncluttered enough for easy tracing and transfer, with plenty of room for the more advanced artist to add their own embellishments. Black and white illustrations are ideal for photocopying, and can be scaled using a modern copy machine that does it automatically.

My only caveats are that the book is heavily skewed towards floral designs (about 15 pages out of the 32 page total), and that the human figures are rendered in a flatter style (see simple) than you'll find in similar motifs elsewhere, especially in reproductions of period references. That being said, this book is an excellent resource for those new to the exuberant Art Nouveau style, and a good way to get a feel for the structure underlying the works of Mucha, Mackintosh, Lalique, and many others.

Art Nouveau Designs (Design Source Books)

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Early American Decorative Arts, 1620-1860: A Handbook for Interpreters (American Association for State and Local History)

Early American Decorative Arts, 1620-1860: A Handbook for Interpreters (American Association for State and Local History) by Pauline K. Eversmann
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Winterthur Museum is well-known for its dazzling decorative arts collections. Since 1952, Winterthur staff has worked to compile comprehensive training materials. Now, Rosemary Krill with Pauline Eversmann, two Winterthur educators, have created a general, highly accessible guide to interpreting early American decorative arts.

Early American Decorative Arts, 1620-1860: A Handbook for Interpreters (American Association for State and Local History)

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The Complete Chile Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking

The Complete Chile Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking by Dave DeWitt
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In this comprehensive book, world chile experts Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland have assembled all the information that anyone with an interest in chile peppers could ever hope to find. Detailed profiles of the 100 most popular chile varieties include information on how to grow chiles; how to diagnose and remedy problems, pests, and diseases; and post-harvest processing and preservation. The book culminates in 85 mouth-watering recipes that make brilliant use of both the characteristic heat of chile peppers and of their more subtle flavor qualities.

Want to know what the hottest chile pepper in the world is? You'll find it in the fascinating story of 'Bhut Jolokia', acknowledged by Guinness World Records as the fieriest chile on earth. Confused about the identity of those chile peppers you bought? The authors' clear photographs and precise descriptions will clear up the mystery.

The Complete Chile Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking

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Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink (Modern Library Paperbacks)

Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink (Modern Library Paperbacks)
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As a foodie, New Yorker fan, and lover of good writing (I'm a professional journalist/writer), this turned out to be one of my favorite books of ALL TIME. This book represented so many different eras in food and culture. A masterful collection of the best food essays and articles ever written.

Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink (Modern Library Paperbacks)

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Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet

Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas
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I have been vegetarian(ovo-lacto) for over 10 years and I have plenty of vegetarian cookbooks, but this one will be a big workhorse in my kitchen. I am a mom and I work outside the home as well, and this book has given me hope and inspiration to get out of the "sandwich-pizza-frozen dinner" slump that I've been in. All the recipes in this book call for only 5 ingredients, but there are endless ways that you can change or add to the recipes. I made two of the recipes tonight and both came out really well (Cabbage, Carrot & Apricot Slaw and Red Pepper and Corn Quesadillas). Also, the prep didn't take that much time or require a lot of clean up. Many recipes can be made using fresh convienience foods like pre-shredded or chopped veggies and canned broth and tomatoes. There are a few recipes for kids and also menu suggestions for dinner, parties and potlucks. I think that this is a very well thought out addition to anyone's kitchen library.

Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet

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