Books about Seasonal from Amazon.com

Wherever you are, summer is a time to savor longer days and lazy weekends Fresh produce abounds, and life moves at a more relaxed pace. Anna Pump, proprietor of the iconic Loaves & Fishes store on Long Island, has catered to a devoted clientele of Hamptons weekenders for more than twenty-five years and understands summer's rhythms. She knows that while you may want to enjoy a picnic on the beach or a late supper on the porch, you don't want to spend the entire day in the kitchen, painstakingly preparing elaborate dishes. In Summer on a Plate she shares more than 120 recipes for delicious, no-fuss, memorable meals that celebrate the bounty of summer.

Anna never confuses simple with ordinary. A distinctive first course of Avocado Mousse and Shrimp on Tortilla Chips comes together in a flash. Chilled Tomato and Cucumber Soup with Seasoned Croutons makes a light and refreshing midday meal, and Spicy Corn Fritters with Salmon Caviar Dip are just the thing to set out for your weekend guests when a sunny Saturday on the beach turns into breezy evening on the deck.

Many dishes can go straight from the grill to the table, like Grilled Tenderloin of Beef with Fresh Herb Sauce or Perfect Whole Grilled Chicken with Plum Chutney. In the mood for seafood? Halibut Baked with Olives, Lemons, and Fresh Basil is a snap to prepare and full of fresh flavors. And what would summer be without salads? Serve Black Mission Figs with Goat Cheese and Upland Cress to begin a dinner party, while the Magret of Duck and Wild Rice Salad or the Asian-Flavor Beef, Pepper, and Spinach Salad are meals in themselves.

If your favorite part of the meal is dessert (like Anna!) you won't be disappointed. Chocolate Chunk Orange Cake is a sweet ending to any meal (or even a sweet breakfast) and is just as satisfying with a cup of midafternoon coffee. Rhubarb Blueberry Pie or a Peach Tart with Almond Topping and a Cookie Crust take advantage of the best of summer fruits. The Coconut Lemon Layer Cake is a showstopper, or you can opt for a simple dish of dead-ripe berries lavished with a dollop of Crème Fraîche.

Put summer on your plate and enjoy everything the season has to offer..
Price: $12.75 [Notify me when price goes down.]

If you're a fan of amigurumi, you already know that super-sweet crocheted bunnies and kitties and pandas have taken the indie craft world by storm. Well, the dolls in Creepy Cute Crochet eat your typical amigurumi for breakfast

This unique craft book contains more than 25 patterns for zombies, ninjas, Vikings, vampires, aliens, robots, and even Death himself. Each easy-to-follow pattern is presented with step-by-step diagrams, hilarious commentary, and full-color photographs of the creatures in their natural environments. Plus each pattern is ranked according to difficulty so that even beginners can share in the fun.

The scary-cute photographs, accessible text, and illustrated patterns are sure to be a hit with indie crafters, angsty teens, and hip moms everywhere..
Price: $10.17 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Not so long ago most fresh food on North American tables came from home gardens and local farmers markets. Today, the average item of food travels more than a thousand miles before it lands on our tables. It's a remarkable technological accomplishment, but has not proven to be healthy for our communities, our land or us.

Through stories and simple "whole foods" recipes, Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert explore how the food we put on our tables impacts our local and global neighbors. They show the importance of eating local, seasonal food—and fairly traded food—and invite readers to make choices that offer security and health for our communities, for the land, for body and spirit.

Simply in Season offers a starting point encouraging you to feed both your body and spirit with nutritious food and challenging ideas about the world around you. Woven throughout the recipe pages of each season are writings, tidbits of information to reflect upon while the onions saute, the soup boils, or the bread bakes..
Price: $9.08 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This informative and easy-to-use cookbook celebrates sustainable farming with a wide array of scrumptious recipes for seasonal, farm-fresh produce. From peas, peppers and potatoes to basil, bok choy, and burdock root, From Asparagus to Zucchini highlights the best of seasonal cuisine from around the country.

Revised and updated third edition features:420 recipes, 80% new, 100% are originalRecipes and information for more than 50 vegetables and herbsDishes from growers, farm members, and home cooks who love vegetablesSpecial sections on community supported agriculture, the benefits of eating locally, seasonal cooking, recipes for kids, and much, much more!.
Price: $12.83 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle shows readers how to create beautiful yuletide accessories to enhance the home, using simple but incredibly effective techniques. A Christmas-inspired color palette and lovable designs combine to create a festive and fun collection of over 35 projects with ideas for the entire home from the kitchen to children's bedrooms - readers will be able to spread Christmas joy throughout their house. Easy-to-follow instructions, stunning photography and delightful illustrations accompany each project, making it an ideal title for beginning sewers to more advanced stitchers looking for a festive spin..
Price: $15.60 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Nestled in the sand on the Santa Monica coast, Shutters On The Beach is everyone’s favorite luxury seaside resort, serving up fresh and delicious food with style year-round In The Summertime Anytime Cookbook, Dana Slatkin shares 130 irresistible recipes from her family’s celebrated hotel for any day or night at the beach.

Whether it’s a scorching summer day or a foggy morning in early spring, Slatkin knows better than most that life at the beach truly revolves around the weather. So The Summertime Anytime Cookbook is cleverly divided into the chapters Sunny Days, Cloudy Days, Balmy Nights, Stormy Nights, Misty Mornings, and Beach Basics. Perfect rain or shine, the appealing, fuss-free dishes are Shutters favorites, including Plum Tomato Soup with Baby Grilled Cheese Sandwiches; Dungeness Crab Cakes with Avocado Tartar Sauce; Bull’s-Eye Eggs; and Yogurt Mousse with Honey-Poached Apricots.

Along with recipes for colorful entr?es and side dishes, fresh picnic fare, simple sauces, and fabulous desserts, The Summertime Anytime Cook-book offers inventive style and entertaining ideas for casually elegant beach living, such as Five Wonderful Ways to Spend a Cloudy Day at the Beach, How to Make the Perfect Smoothie, and Six Uses for a Bucket of Sand. Slatkin also shares expert tips on creating over-the-top hotel hospitality, decorating with relaxed sophistication, and preparing homemade spa treatments.

With simple, artful food for every day and night, and stunning color photographs, The Summertime Anytime Cookbook is your secret to bringing the best of the beach into your own home..
Price: $19.45 [Notify me when price goes down.]

By now just about everybody whose interest in eating runs deeper than fast food knows about Alice Waters. The creator of Chez Panisse, the legendary restaurant in Berkeley, California, that helped create a modern American cuisine based on fresh ingredients, she is also equally well-known as a teacher and cookbook author. Chez Panisse Vegetables is one of the best new cookbooks of the season; it's as useful for its information about vegetables and how to use and handle them as it is for its irresistible recipes, which lead to complex and interesting dishes built from simple ingredients and simple techniques..
Price: $21.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Suzanne Goins is the chef-owner of Lucques, an acclaimed Los Angeles restaurant noted for its Sunday meal service Sunday Suppers at Luques presents 132 recipes from the restaurant, arranged by seasonal menus and thus by market availability, with the likes of Hawaiian Snapper with Green Rice and Cucumbers in Crème Fraîche; Saffron Chicken with Parmesan Pudding, Spring Onions and Sugar Snap Peas; Bistecca California with Peperonata, Baked Ricotta, and Lemon; and Young Onion Tart with Cantal, Applewood-Somked Bacon, and Herb Salad. Home cooks should find these deft, light-handed creations immediately attractive, if not always readily reproducible, as many call for special ingredients like the aforementioned snapper, Kaboca squash, and roncal, a Spanish sheep's milk cheese, among many others. Reasonable alternatives aren't always suggested. Though the dishes themselves aren't difficult to make, reproducing whole menus, or even multiple dishes within them, will require a kitchen workout.

These things said, many cooks will want to try making the more approachable dishes apart from their "trimmings," not to mention such desserts as Warm Crèpes with Lemon Zest and Hazelnut Brown Butter, and Jessica's Favorite Meyer Lemon Tart with a Layer of Chocolate. With color photos, the book is also lovely to pore through. --Arthur Boehm.
Price: $20.52 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Join the real food revolution with a true pioneer in the Community Supported Agriculture movement-Farmer John Peterson and his farm, Angelic Organics. Angelic Organics is a leader in community supported gardening and biodynamics, helping to connect people with their food, their farmers, and healthful living.
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Price: $10.96 [Notify me when price goes down.]