Our Blog

Celebrity chefs? Exotic ingredients? Immersion blenders? Who needs 'em?!? Little Old Lady Recipes honors the extraordinary women who create pot luck dinners, church socials, wedding banquets, and the best desserts you've ever tasted. Every page features their simple, no-frills recipes for pot roast, meat loaf, dumplings, corn bread, fried chicken, bundt cake, and other mouth-watering favorites-along with gorgeous photography of the chefs at work and generous portions of their kitchen table wisdom ("Butter comes from a cow. Tell me where the heck margarine comes from, and then maybe I'll eat it!").

These Little Old Lady Recipes are simple, delicious, and ridiculously cheap and easy to make. So ditch the food processor, stop wasting money on overpriced organic frozen dinners, and start enjoying the 70 classic dishes, plus variations, that our aunties and grandmothers have made for generations!

Meg Favreau is a food writer and comedian living in Los Angeles. Someday she'll have a backyard raspberry garden like her grandmother had. Michael Reali is a photographer based in Philadelphia. In developing this project, he has helped many a little old lady cross the street.

Fat Bastard Chardonnay. Lazy Lizard Shiraz. White Trash White.

These three wines-and more than 100 others-can be found in Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape, a celebration of the oddest wines in the world. Some have strange names, like Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush. Others have bizarre artwork, like a Magritte-inspired UFO invasion. Still others have unusual production features (Braille typography, heat-sensitive inks, lenticular art, and more).

Along with brilliant reproductions of the original labels, we’ll feature brief stories about the origins of the wines, plus tasting notes from the author. Readers will learn about unusual vineyards (like Cleavage Creek, which donates its proceeds to breast cancer research) as well as the most innovative artists working in the wine label medium. Finally, there’s an appendix of resources that will help you buy these wines-so you can try them for yourself!

PETER F. MAY is a wine enthusiast and the creator of winelabels.org. He lives in England.

With the Kitchen Garden Box, gardeners will learn how to collect, store, use, and replant seeds of their favorite tried-and-true vegetables, from squash and cucumbers to peppers, peas, and heirloom tomatoes.

Over the course of 55 conveniently organized cards, gardening guru Mike McGrath provides simple step-by-step instructions, practical tips, and delicious recipes for each veggie. Also included are 10 reusable seed storage envelopes and a coupon redeemable for two free seed packets from Gardens Alive! Gardeners of all ages will enjoy discovering this time-honored, eco-friendly practice and creating something tangible from their labor of love.

Mike McGrath is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show “You Bet Your Garden,®” former editor of Organic Gardening magazine, and author of numerous books on vegetables, gardening, and composting. He grows his own peppers, tomatoes, and other delicious edibles at his home in Pennsylvania.

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.

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.

What’s the difference between pork sirloin and pork tenderloin? Are Spanish chorizo and Mexican chorizo the same thing? Do quail and pheasant really taste just like chicken?

Whether you’re a casual griller or a haute foodie, you need the latest volume in our popular Field Guide series—Field Guide to Meat. With engaging text from award-winning chef Aliza Green, this illustrated guide shows how to identify and prepare more than 100 different kinds of meat, from beef and pork to lamb, poultry, wild game, sausages, and more. Featuring detailed descriptions, selection tips, and full-color photographs for easy identification, Field Guide to Meat is every carnivore’s one-stop reference book.

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.