Home, Garden, and DIY
July 2017
"Sometimes the best thing you can do is call it a loss and start over. Or order some pizza. It's okay. It's just dinner -- you'll get another chance tomorrow."
~ from Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
 
Recent Releases
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
by Samin Nosrat; illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton

This is not your typical cookbook. Yes, it includes recipes, but it's more like a (fantastic) cooking course in a book. Using an approach she's perfected over the years, acclaimed chef Samin Nosrat explains four basic elements -- salt, fat, acid, and heat -- that will cut your apron strings to recipes. Complemented by lovely watercolor art, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat just might be to cookbook of the year. Want more books about cooking science? Try J. Kenji López-Alt's The Food Lab, Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, and various Cook's Illustrated guides.
Harvest : unexpected projects using 47 extraordinary garden plants
by Stefani Bittner

A full-color photographed guide to growing, harvesting and utilizing 47 garden plants to make organic pantry staples, fragrances, floral arrangements and beauty products reveals the practical and natural applications of common garden favorites.
Planting design for dry gardens : beautiful, resilient groundcovers for terraces, paved areas, gravel, and other alternatives to the lawn
by Olivier Filippi

This inspiring volume teaches how to build and maintain lawns that feature plants suitable for growing in dry climates, offering for each plant information about its origin, height and spread, hardiness, and propagation techniques.
Bangkok: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Thailand
by Leela Punyaratabandhu; photography by David Loftis

Sharing memories of growing up in Bangkok as well as some of the city's food history, Leela Punyaratabandhu grounds readers in what makes this city so special -- and then she provides 120 authentic recipes that will transport your taste buds there. Featuring Hot and Sour Fish Soup, Steamed Dumplings with Chicken-Peanut Filling, Fried Bananas, Coconut Rice Pudding Cakes, and more, the book also has notes on how to make ingredients or where to find them and is accompanied by gorgeous photographs of the dishes and the city itself.
Bowls! : recipes and inspirations for healthful one-dish meals
by Molly Watson

Bowls! offers recipes for one-dish meals that feature combinations of nutritious grains, proteins, and vegetables, plus recipes for mix-and-match components, including such options as cauliflower couscous bowl, sizzling beef bowl, and reuben bowl.
Backyard Projects
Handmade Garden Projects: Step-By-Step Instructions for Creative Garden...
by Lorene Edwards Forkner

Providing creative ideas as well as instructions for 30 projects (with plant suggestions!), Handmade Garden Projects helps readers who appreciate whimsy spruce up their yard. Encouraging the reuse of items when possible (an old wooden ladder makes a great trellis), the author details making Urban Cowgirl Pavers, Portable Bamboo Edging, a Stacking Herb Tower, Temporary Turf Tattoos, a Simple Backyard Firepit, a Table-Top Knot Garden, and more. Photographs help guide readers and provide more inspiration. 
The beginner's guide to starting a garden : 326 fast, easy, affordable ways to transform your yard one project at a time
by Sally Roth

Simplifying the garden design by showing aspiring gardeners how to tackle one small area at a time, a helpful resource provides garden plans for 10 unique areas that can be linked together over time to create a unified yard, plants that are dependable and easy to find and tips on how to avoid the most common planting mistakes.
Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening with Kids
by April Pulley Sayre

While some try to keep wildlife out of their gardens, author April Pulley Sayre suggests that families with kids should do the opposite. Taking a bit-by-bit approach to creating an appealing garden habitat for animals (such as birds, butterflies, bees, deer, and more), Sayre offers hands-on activities that kids can achieve, like observing which animals already live nearby, and then experimenting with plants, water, and shelter to see what entices those animals most. Bursting with fascinating eco-facts and savvy tips for encouraging kids to go outdoors, Touch a Butterfly is a great pick for families wanting to get into nature.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
San Mateo Public Library
55 West 3rd Avenue
San Mateo, California 94402
(650) 522-7802
www.smplibrary.org