Blurb:
“Extraordinary Devices and Ingenious Contraptions from the Leading Artists of the Steampunk Movement”
The Art of Steampunk seeks to celebrate the world of Steampunk: a world filled with beauty and innovation. A world in which steam power and technology intertwine to create machines that are not only functional and practical, but unique and striking.
Art Donovan is the owner of Donovan Design, a handmade lighting company with clients like Tiffany & Co, Bennetti Luxury Yachts, and Four Seasons Resorts. He also specializes in Steampunk-inspired lighting and artwork, and runs a blog devoted to the subculture at http://artdonovan.typepad.com/blog/ He’s also a regular contributor on The Steampunk Home blog, and was the curator of the Steampunk Exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science at The University of Oxford.
In a nutshell:
I liked it: x Yes No
For people who like: Steampunk, design, art,
My thoughts:
When I saw this book at Netgalley it caught my eye right away. I have been a regular visitor of The Steampunk Home for quite some time now and just love to look at all those gorgeous designs. Also, a book about Steampunk art, instead of fiction, is a good addition to my books for the Steampunk Challenge.
This book is a feast for the eyes.
First we learn about the Steampunk exhibition (of which Art Donovan was the curator) at the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford, which is followed by an introduction to Steampunk. Already at this point some gorgeous designs are shown.
Then follows a “Steampunk 101” by G. D. Falksen where he answers some very basic questions every Steampunk newbie will ask, for example, “Where does the punk come in” or “What about goggles”.
The next 17 chapters are each dedicated to one specific artist. At the beginning each one is introduced and then his or her designs are displayed. Now this is where the eye candy starts. I just couldn’t stop looking at those gorgeous looking items. I was going to mention some of the most remarkable items but I realized I couldn’t pick any because they all are so wonderful to look at. Just to give you an idea, there is a laptop, jewellery, sculptures, a cover for cell phones, a clockwork heart, the list could go on and on.
I am considering myself to be a Steampunk newbie and this book is a very good introduction to Steampunk design. Even though you might not be particularly interested in Steampunk as a literary genre or life style, the designs are so beautiful that I can’t imagine anybody would not enjoy looking at them and subsequently want to know more about Steampunk in general.
Product info and buy link :
| Title | The Art of Steampunk |
| Author | Art Donovan |
| Publisher | Fox Chapel Publishing |
| ISBN | 978-1565235731 |
| Buy link | Buy The Art of Steampunk |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.
Blurb:
Want to bring a new look to a tired room without spending a fortune? Designer Lexie Barnes shows you how to personalize your living space in just a few hours, with 50 fresh, fun, pattern-free sewing projects. Transform a living room with a custom-designed slipcover and coordinated pillows. Redecorate a bedroom in a weekend by sewing up a headboard cover, a lampshade, and matching window treatments. Learn how easy and inexpensive it can be to change the look of a child’s room as she grows from a baby to a kid to a teenager. With dramatic before-and-after examples, beautifully styled photography, and a fun “you-can-do-it” attitude, Sew Up a Home Makeover is a creative resource that you’ll return to every time you’re ready for a new look.
In a nutshell:
I liked it: x Yes No
For people who like: to sew and like easy projects. Especially if they are sewing newbies.
My thoughts:
As a complete sewing newbie I totally loved this book. I have to admit that I haven’t re-created any of the projects, but I am pretty optimistic that it wouldn’t be a problem to do so with the given instruction.
I liked how the book was structured and the overall look. The photos were gorgeous and made you want to go out and buy more fabric right and re-do the complete home away.
The book starts with three chapters introducing the reader to the basics of sewing (very important for the beginners). They deal with the six principles of decorating and making over your home, fabrics & tools (like for example what should be in your sewing kit) and tips & techniques (various types of stitches, stitch jargon etc.).
The there follow four makeover challenges, each sub–divided into rooms or occasions and again into various projects. Just to give you a few examples:
- Room: La Vida Lively – Project: Stretched Canvas Art
- Room: Sweet Dream Bedroom – Project: Upholstered Headboard
- Occasion: Tea for Two – Project: Unlined Napkins
- Room: Pee Wee Playhouse – Project: Marshmallow Cushion
- Room: Craft Atelier – Project: Utilitarian Table Cover
There are many, many more…and they all look absolutely stunning. Each project gives you an exact list of needed supplies, the finished size of Ms. Barnes’ project (the size of a lot of them depend on the size of your furniture or needs) and very clear instructions with easy to understand illustrations.
I got this book from netgalley as an e-book and could only read it on the PC, but I am considering getting the print edition so I can take a closer look and so that I have the instructions right in front of me.
Product info and buy link :
| Title | Sew up a home makeover |
| Author | Lexie Barnes |
| Publisher | Storey Publishing, LLC |
| ISBN | 978-1603427975 |
| Buy link | Buy Sew Up a Home Makeover (available from Sept. 24) |
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I’d love to hear other opinions.
One of the first weekend cooking posts I read was by Caite where she talked about Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating
Indeed, the book is a very comprehensive guide to various types of food. It tells you everything about it, where it comes from, how it is grown/produced/made and how to tell the good from the bad. The book is well structured and comes with a lot of background info in neat little boxes and sidebars. I like the whole concept of it.
The foods that are covered are:
- Oils, olives & vinegars
- Grains and rice (bread, pasta, polenta, Italian rices, Spanish rices, wild rice)
- Cheeses (Parmigiano-Reggiano, Cheddar, mountain cheeses, blue cheeses, goat cheeses)
- Meat and fish (Prosciutto, Serrano ham, salami, smoked salmon)
- Seasonings (Pepper, sea salt, saffron)
- Honey, vanilla, chocolate, tea
Every section also provides a number of recipes, some very easy, some more complicated. I am going to share an easy one that still is delicious and great “to go”.
Spanish fried egg “sandwich”
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp fruity extra virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
- 2 large eggs
- 2 slices crusty country bread
- Fine sea salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
In a medium skillet, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet. They will bubble around the edges, making them crisp. Break the yolks with a wooden spoon and spread them over the whites a little and cook until set, 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the bread and brush it with the remaining olive oil.
Place 1 egg on each slice of bread and sprinkle with salt and plenty of pepper. Serve hot.
Suggestion: Wrap them and take them with you for a brown-bag lunch.
Enjoy!
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads
Caite at A lovely shore breeze
Today’s book beginnings is not really the beginning of a book but of a manifesto against war by Wolfgang Borchert, a German writer who died in 1947 at the age of 26. He wrote this in 1947, but if you think it is outdated in any way you couldn’t be any more wrong. There are various translations available on the net, I linked to them at the bottom of this post.
The manifesto is called “Then there’s only one choice”.
You. Man at the machine in the factory. When they tell you tomorrow to stop making pots and pans and instead make helmets and machine guns, then there’s only one choice:
Say NO!You. Woman in the store, woman in the office. When they tell you tomorrow to fill grenades and mount telescopic sights on sniper rifles, then there’s only one choice:
Say NO!
You can read the full text and also the original German here. Other translations you can find here and here, but I personally prefer the first one.
Some time ago in another weekend cooking post I talked about Ottolenghi already. Now, Ottolenghi has come out with a vegetarian cookbook called “Plenty”.
”. We are always on the lookout for veggie recipes, so this book comes quite in handy. It has chapters sorted by vegetable, like for example Funny Onions, Capsicums, Brassicas, The Mighty Aubergine, Leaves Cooked and Raw, Green Things, Cereals and closing with the last one Fruit with Cheese. Even though you might need to go hunting for a few exotic ingredients, the actual preparation is rather easy and doesn’t take too long.
Today I want to share a recipe that I did the other day. It is very easy to make and tastes lovely.
Aubergine with Buttermilk Sauce
Ingredients (starter for 4):
- 2 large and long aubergines
- 80ml olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon thyme leaves, plus a few sprigs to garnish
- 1 pomegranate
- 1 tsp za’atar
- Sea salt and black pepper
For the sauce:
- 140ml buttermilk
- 100g Greek yoghurt
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, plus a drizzle to finish
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- pinch of salt
1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, cutting straight through the green stalk (not to be eaten). Make three or four parallel incisions in the cut side of each half, without cutting through to the skin. Repeat at a 45 degree angle to get a diamond-shape pattern.
2. Place the halves, cut-side up, on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Brush them with the olive oil – keep on brushing until all of the oil has been absorbed by the flesh. Sprinkle with the lemon thyme leaves and some salt and pepper. Roast for 35 – 40 min., at which point the flesh should be soft, flavoursome and nicely browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down completely.
3. While the aubergines are in the oven, prepare the pomegranate and sauce. Whisk all the ingredients (except for pomegranate) together. Taste for seasoning, then keep cold until needed.
4. To serve, spoon plenty of buttermilk sauce over the aubergine halves without covering the stalks. Sprinkle za’atar and plenty of pomegranate seeds on top and garnish with lemon thyme sprigs. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Enjoy!
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads
Blurb:
For ages women have come together over coffee, cocktails, or late-night phone chats to analyze the puzzling behavior of men. He’s afraid to get hurt again. Maybe he doesn’t want to ruin the friendship. Maybe he’s intimidated by me. He just got out of a relationship.
Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo are here to say that — despite good intentions — you’re wasting your time. Men are not complicated, although they’d like you to think they are. And there are no mixed messages.
The truth may be He’s just not that into you.
Unfortunately guys are too terrified to ever directly tell a woman, "You’re not the one." But their actions absolutely show how they feel.
He’s Just Not That Into You — based on a popular episode of Sex and the City — educates otherwise smart women on how to tell when a guy just doesn’t like them enough, so they can stop wasting time making excuses for a dead-end relationship.
Reexamining familiar scenarios and classic mindsets that keep us in unsatisfying relationships, Behrendt and Tuccillo’s wise and wry understanding of the sexes spares women hours of waiting by the phone, obsessing over the details with sympathetic girlfriends, and hoping his mixed messages really mean "I’m in love with you and want to be with you."
He’s Just Not That Into You is provocative, hilarious, and, above all, intoxicatingly liberating. It deserves a place on every woman’s night table. It knows you’re a beautiful, smart, funny woman who deserves better. The next time you feel the need to start "figuring him out," consider the glorious thought that maybe He’s just not that into you. And then set yourself loose to go find the one who is.
My thoughts:
This is the first book I read for my “relationships topic” for the One, Two, Theme Challenge. I don’t know exactly what I expected other than an entertaining read, but I was disappointed. Yes, it was an entertaining read, but other than that reading it is as enlightening as reading no book about relationships at all.
The book takes various situations, e.g. he doesn’t call when he said he would, he puts you down in front of others, he doesn’t want to marry you…., and evaluates them. The result of that evaluation is invariably the same, “he’s just not that into you”. Greg Behrendt’s world is black and white. If the man doesn’t do what he said he would and/or doesn’t do what you expect him to, dump the loser!
He doesn’t call on Monday, like he said, but on Tuesday? What a jerk! Dump him! He doesn’t want to marry you even though he knows how important it is for you to get married? You know now what to do.
Admittedly, there are some situations where the dumping is appropriate, but in others a readiness for compromise would help a bit. Also, your own feelings towards the jerk seem of no importance. You might be crazily in love with the guy who’s just not that into you. Doesn’t matter, get rid of him anyway.
The basic statement of the book “Better to be alone than to be with someone that makes you unhappy” might be sane and sound, but I am not sure that 100% of the women out there would agree with that. Liz Tuccillo, the co-writer of this book and the girl voice likes Greg’s wisdom and lives by it. Strangely enough, even though he assures the female reader continuously that she is a. hot stuff (how he knows this is beyond me, not all of us are hot stuff) and b. a better man is somewhere out there waiting for her, Liz is still single at 40 something and looking.
I’m ambivalent about this. Some advice is good, makes sense and should be followed, but that is advice that your mother would give you, too. The writing style is entertaining and every woman recognizes herself in the stories. However, a few more shades of grey would have done a great deal to make this book more helpful all in all.
| Title | He’s just not that into you |
| Author | Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| ISBN | 978-1416948674 |
| Buy link | Buy He’s Just Not That Into You |
Today I want to talk about Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
Today I want to share a recipe that we tried out right away, a salad that might come in handy on those hot summer days.
Burnt aubergine with yellow pepper and red onion
Ingredients:
- 2 medium aubergines
- 2 yellow or green peppers, cored and cut into 1.5cm dice
- 1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
- 24 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 40g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 70ml sunflower or nut oil
- 90ml cider vinegar
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- coarse sea salt and black pepper
1. Place the aubergines directly on 2 separate moderate flames on the stove and roast for 12-15 minutes, turning them occasionally with metal tongs, until the flesh is soft and the skin is burnt and flaky. By this stage your kitchen will have the most magnificent charred smell. (Alternatively, place the aubergines under a hot grill for about an hour, turning them occasionally and continuing to cook even if they burst.) Leave to cool slightly.
2. Make a long cut through each warm aubergine. Using a spoon, scoop out the soft flesh while avoiding most of the burnt skin on the outside. If you don’t like the seeds, try to avoid them as well. Leave the aubergine flesh to drain in a colander for at least an hour or overnight.
3. Chop the aubergine flesh roughly. Mix all the ingredients together, then taste and adjust the seasoning. It should be robust and pungent. Serve within 24 hours.
Enjoy!
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads
As you know I love cookies. The other day I discovered this cookie book in the library. I am sure you have heard of James Rizzi; Peter Bührer is a Swiss chef who has already created a few cookbooks together with Rizzi. It seems that this is a German book, it is available on amazon.com, but only at an horrendous price and, I think, in German.
“American cookies and more” is a nice combination of delicious 
recipes and art. Each page is embellished with Rizzi’s art, an absolute pleasure to look at. 
The recipes vary from muffins, brownies and pancakes & pies to cakes and a number of Christmas cookies. They are not very difficult and usually consist of four or five steps only.
I will share the recipe for chocolate cake with you, not the most original cake, admittedly, but I can vouch for it, since I tried it already. It is rich and delicious. I translated the recipe into English, so forgive me for any awkward terms that an English speaker wouldn’t use when talking about baking.
Chocolate Cake
- 250g soft butter
- pinch of salt
- 200g sugar
- 6 eggs
- 500g flour
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 packet of baking powder
- 150g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 200ml milk
- 1/2 bottle of bitter almond oil (these are tiny, tiny bottles)
- grease for the baking form
- 50g almond flakes
- icing sugar to dust the cake
1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Grease the form, sprinkle it with almond flakes and distribute evenly.
2. Beat butter with salt and sugar until frothy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix flour with cocoa, cinnamon and baking powder. Mix milk with bitter almond oil. Add some of the flour mixture and some of the milk mixture to the butter mixture alternating between both. The dough should be heavy and sticky.
3. Fill dough into form. Bake for about 1 hour in the middle of the oven. If it gets too dark at the top, cover with aluminum foil.
4. Leave cake in the form for about 10 minutes, turn it out and leave on a cooling rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
American Cookies and more
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads
I bought this book years ago because I liked the combination of, well, recipes and memories. I imagined that a book that had Italian recipes and Sophia Loren’s memories in it can’t be bad at all. And I wasn’t disappointed.
The book is divided into various sections. Every section comes with a small introduction, additionally there are small tidbits of information about the ingredients and more details about certain dishes in general like polenta or frittata (the Italian version of an omelet). Often Sophia Loren would explain where she knows the dish from and give little additional tips for preparing or varying the dish.
The book is full of private family or movie photographs with captions that give more information about what was going on at the time and in the picture. If you like Sophia Loren and Italian cuisine this cook book is a must have.
Here is a recipe so you see what you’re getting. I chose an unusual one, but there is something for everybody in there, from the basic to the refined.
Spaghetti al Limone (Spaghetti with Lemon)
For 6 servings
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- Zest of 2 to 3 lemons, minced
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds spaghetti
- Freshly grated Parmigiano cheese (optional)
Melt the butter in a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until golden; add the lemon zest, 1/4 cup cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Remove and discard the garlic if you like.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta until just al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the saucepan along with the remaining cream. Toss well for a couple of minutes, remove from the heat and serve. Pass the cheese at the table.
Sophia Loren’s Recipes and Memories is available at amazon.
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads
I don’t think I ever planned to blog about a baking book, but this one is so great that I can’t help it. So it came quite in handy to find this great meme to participate in. It is called “weekend cooking” and participants share anything that is vaguely food related. It is hosted by Beth Fish. So, here we go.
I’m not a very passionate baker and I’m not good at it either (i.e., I hate baking and suck at it). However, I do like cookies and thought a cookie baking book might be a good idea. So I got Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies
The cookie recipes are absolutely yummy, not very hard to do and produce delicious results. The five or six recipes I tried so far all turned out great and I got lots of compliments on them. Contrary to an amazon review it is also suitable for the inexperienced baker. At least so far I had no problems with the recipes.
The book is divided into different sections, drop cookies (my favourites as they are time savers), shaped cookies, bar cookies and holiday cookies. It does not offer any pictures. Some might say a cookbook always needs pictures, but I disagree. Without them I’m under no pressure to create a cookie looking exactly like the one in the book, and that is a good thing.
If you consider buying only one cookie baking book, then let it be this one.
For more weekend cooking posts go here.
