More Mushrooms!

Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest by Steve Trudell & Joe Ammirati, Timber Press, 349 pp., $27.95

I have mushrooms on the brain right now. This guide to Pacific Northwest mushrooms is comprehensive, full of great color photographs, well bound, and has a nice sturdy glossy cover - great for resisting water as you're walking through the wet forest.

It also has a fancy ruler on the back cover for referencing fungi in the field. My thumb is only 3" long. I always thought it was longer.

Highly recommended. Great gift for a forager.

-Reviewed by Tom

Every Friday morning, we get our latest magazine titles in, and every Friday afternoon, I have to buy the latest editions of several of my favorites. My favorite titles right now are: "Food Network Magazine" What can I say? I am addicted to that channel. I consider myself a foodie, even though I probably wouldn't eat a lot of the stuff that they make on the shows, especially if it involves seafood or blue cheese. This month's issue includes some yummy looking cranberry sauces, Alton Brown's guide to making the best Turkey, and even a Chocolate-Toffee Pecan Tart.

Another favorite is "Real Simple". The fact that the main cover story is called "Feel Organized for the Holidays" is definitely one that I need to read, tells me that this is my kind of magazine. Of course, I am so unorganized, that I'm not sure where I put my copy of the magazine after I bought it. Hmm..maybe I need how to be organized every minute of the day? This magazine has everything, recipes, health helps, and fashion. I always enjoy looking at decorating ideas, not that I'll get to that, see the unorganized comment.

-Debbie Buck

Foraging, Then Cooking. My Favorite.

Pacific Feast: A Cook's Guide to West Coast Foraging and Cusine by Jennifer Hahn Skipstone, 223 pp., $21.95

I have recently become a mushroom forager. I enjoy romping through the wet forest; digging through the underbrush; the thrill of the hunt; and the dopamine induced rush brought on by the discovery of a white capped Matsutake. There is also the cleaning; brushing; and the preserving in numerous ways - freezing, drying, vacuum packing - all part and parcel under the wide umbrella of mushrooming. And, of course, I also love eating them - which helps to connect this voracious cycle.

Hunting for mushrooms has piqued my interest for other types of foraging, and Pacific Feast: A Cook's Guide to West Coast Foraging and Cuisine, by Jennifer Hahn, is a perfect book for someone in my position: someone excited about the prospect of discovering foods in the wilds of the pacific northwest, but unenlightened to its bounty.

Pacific Feast features detailed notes on 40 species of flora and fauna. From kelp to shellfish, mushrooms to grapes, Pacific Feast is a great introduction to a variety of foods available for harvest and for cooking. The field notes include descriptions, locations, edible parts, harvest calender, and culinary uses. I have yet to cook any of the numerous recipes, but they appear simple and complementary to the foods they feature. Wonderful.

There is a separate fold out foraging guide that sells for $7.95.

Reviewed by Tom

Oh, boy. A world of cake. Wouldn't that be a great place?

A World of Cake: 150 Recipes for Sweet Traditions from Cultures Near and Far by Krystina Castella, Storey Publishing, 343 pp., $24.95

Mochi rice cakes in Japan; Nutmeg Cake in Armenia; almond pasty M'hanncha (Snake Cake-because it looks like a snake, not made of snake); and vibrant Pandan Cake in Indonesia.

A real world tour of a cake book. I would eat all of these cakes, and I would become very fat.

-Reviewed by Tom

FRIDAY SURPRISE! Surprise, lit. sale today!

SALE TODAY

$3.50 for a trade paperback, $ 6.00 for a hardcover, 3 hardcovers for $15.00

what a deal

Starter Vegetable Gardens, by Barbara Pleasant,

Storey Publishing, 179 pp., $19.95

Like all great gardening books, Starter Vegetable Gardens is about potential. There are a variety of different gardens featured in this book--from the simple yet fruitful beginner's garden--to family gardens and long-season gardens. Many of the gardens offer 3 year plans that build on skills and help the reader understand how their hard work will pay off in the future years--a helpful exercise for beginner gardeners who might overextend themselves, hoping for the one-season "wondergarden", and being disappointed with the results.

Starter Vegetable Gardens, offers promise for the patient, practical mind. Strongly illustrated with a mixture of hand drawn pictures and simple color photographs, its ideas are concise and well presented. There are numerous "tips" scattered throughout the book which help whet the reader's appetite for further study and at the end of the book there are 46 excellent recommendations on which vegetables to grow and tips on their cultivation and use. Its larger paperback format is lightweight and the pictures and text feel open and clean, easy to glance through and study in detail. Highly recommended.

-Reviewed by Tom

Death Come Knockin'

We posted this on facebook for Halloween, but here it is again for posterity.

Death Come Knockin' from Vintage Books on Vimeo.

We are going to start doing more book reviews in the coming months. Kicking off the new review section is one of my favorites: Pie, by Angela Boggiano. My friend bought a copy years ago and it's safe to say that I coveted it. Then, one sunny day in Oakland, California, while snooping around at Pegasus Books, my girlfriend's cousin became drawn to its tasty pastry cover.

I slipped him a fiver as a finder's fee and have since made numerous empanadillas; handpies; filled pastries; and, of course, pies. The "soccer pies", or "football pies"--to our friends across the pond--are my favorite. They are small, and you can make a lot of them for lunches, picnics, or indeed, soccer games: these are a perfect warm up for a cold night out. The picture below shows the size of the hand pies I'm talking about.

There is a range of influences in these recipes: empanadillas with a North African and Catalan influences; South Indian masala pasties; sweet pies; and many meat pies. Never boring, some challenging recipes, and all of them are definitely worth a try.

-Reviewed by Tom

New Calanders!

This is a favorite from my childhood. I now read it, along with the companion book featuring Elmo and Grover "Another Monster at the end of this Book", to my kids. We have a lot of fun with the voices. I'm not the greatest Grover or Elmo, but the kids enjoy the book just the same.

--

Debbie Buck

Loose your cool? Want to stomp that person who charged in front?

"The Cow in the Parking Lot" may be the best hour or two you've

spent in a long time. The simple, humorous, thoughtful process

for learning to rethink how we approach difficult situations is

a bonanza in a small book. I may not be "Zen", but I'll react

differently next time someone "swipes that parking spot."

-from Becky

The Cow in the Parking Lot: A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger
Lenoard Scheff & Susan Edmiston
Workman Publishing

We brought AGAAT home from the Winter Institute. A coworker selected it

and was immediately caught up. She is a passionate supporter, and kept

at me until I read it. Amazing book!

P.S. We keep it on display near "Little Bee". Two very different

voices and stories of a world far from our experience but incredible

reads, both.

******

Agaat: savior, nurse, caregiver or demon and punisher to dying

white farm owner Milla? "Agaat" twists and turns and weaves through

time. It is a brutal South African tale, filled with beauty, love,

passion, hatred. Nothing is mellow, not even nature.

The storytelling is superb: poetic and full of mystery.

"One Shoe Blues" Event

We are celebrating Sandra Boynton's new book "One Shoe Blues" which includes a dvd starring B.B. King.

Saturday November 28th at 1pm.

We will watch the dvd, make sock puppets, play games and have lots of fun.

Bring a sock to make a puppet, we'll supply the rest!

Crochet For Cats Event

Another Crochet for Cats Event here at Vintage. Friday October 23, 11-2. Bring your crochet hooks, knitting needles and yarn.

Don't know how to knit or crochet? Sign up for the Read Me a Blanket Program. 2 books equals 1 blanket donated to the Southwest Washington Humane Society or the local Snuggles program. These blankets go home with the kitties when they are adopted.

We had a great response to this event during the summer and at your request, we are doing it again.

Have extra yarn laying around? We'd be happy to pass it along to the program for you.

Thanks.

Check out our Vimeo Video Page

http://vimeo.com/6539997

Bad Store Episode #2

Bad Store Episode 2 - Self Service from Vintage Books on Vimeo.

Bad Store Episode #1

Bad Store Episode 1 - Media Mail from Vintage Books on Vimeo.

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