A complete course in machine-sewing for children aged 7+ years Sewing is a skill that has so many benefits for children and can give them real pride in their achievements. Angela Pressley has been teaching children to sew for 15 years, and knows how to encourage and inspire them to learn, starting with the basics and building up a portfolio of skills. And to keep them interested, she has designed 30 makes that will help them cement the knowledge they've gained, from sewing simple seams to patchwork, curves and corners, hems, linings and so much more. The book starts with an introduction to the sewing machine and some of the basic skills and equipment needed to sew. Then there are four chapters, each beginning with technique workshops, followed by projects that put into practice the skills just learned. Every project includes clear artworks plus a difficulty rating, from 'easy peasy' to 'you're on your way', 'you've got this', and 'you're a star'. As children progress through the levels they will learn how to make their own toys, bags, accessories and clothes, and will be encouraged to put their own creative ideas into their sewing.

A comprehensive guide to growing tulips from bulbs, with expert advice on the most rewarding varieties. A Gardener’s Guide to Tulips is a practical guide helping growers understand the tulip’s lifecycle and ensure success in its cultivation. Alongside practical advice, the book also includes wider information for interested growers and admirers of tulips. With over 300 photos, a wealth of varieties and planting situations are considered, as well as case studies of gardens where tulips have been used to great effect. It will interest experienced gardeners and inspire those who may not have attempted to grow these beautiful plants before. Readers will find information on: Taxonomy and types, Cultivating and caring for tulips, Propagation and breeding, Designing with tulips in the garden, Tulip varieties, both current and past selections, Gardens and places of interest for tulips, What can be learnt from commercial growing, The fascinating history of tulips.

The Thrifty Baker presents 65 delicious, affordable and impressive recipes, complete with gluten-free options, plus advice, tips and hacks covering many areas of shopping, baking and cooking in general. Filled with clever ideas and useful features, the book is written with a realism and empathy that comes from the heart, from a lived experience. It isn’t just a book of great recipes, but an essential manual for anyone baking today. Since appearing on The Great British Bake Off in 2023 and wowing the judges, Hermine Dossou’s career has gone from strength to strength, but life hasn’t always been easy. As a single mother to her son Steven, she had to learn to budget and make her income stretch, especially when he was young and she could only work part-time. With a limited income, but determined that they should both eat good, nutritious food, she learned how to shop, cook, bake and eat on a tight budget. This included making savings on ingredients and cooking equipment, devising clever, thrifty recipes, planning weekly menus, and running her oven as efficiently as possible to save on energy bills.    In the process Hermine has developed a wide-ranging ethos for baking on a budget, a set of values, habits and skills that have at their heart a belief that we can all eat flavourful, nutritious food without spending a fortune on ingredients and energy. And crucially also the knowledge that making our own bakes – whether that’s bread, pies, quiches, desserts, cakes or snacks – can save us considerable sums when times are tough.   Hermine still uses these skills to this day and would now like to share with you everything she’s learned about baking on a budget. 

From the Baroque Era to the Victorian Era, 1650-1850, unprecedented changes took place in the food ways and dining habits of European society. This daily life aspect of history comes alive for students and food enthusiasts as they read and try out these recipes, most translated into English for the first time. There are nearly 200 recipes, organized overall by the mini-periods of the Baroque and Rococo Era, the Reign of Louis XV to the French Revolution, and the reign of Napoleon to the Victorian Era. Author Ivan Day, a renowned food historian who specializes in meticulous recreation of these amazing dishes for museum exhibitions, makes them accessible with clear explanations of techniques and unusual ingredients. Recipes include examples from France, Italy, England, Austria, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, and Scotland, from the simple Salad of Pomegranate from La Varenne Careme's 1651 cookbook to the elaborate Boar's Head in Galantine of Careme's 1833 cookbook. This unique cookbook is a culinary treasure trove to complement all European History library collections.

As Day shows in his narrative and recipes, the principal theme in the story of food during the two centuries is the rapid spread of French fine cooking throughout Europe and its gradual percolation down the social scale. However, despite the domination of French cuisine at higher levels, most nations managed to cling proudly to their own indigenous traditions. A lively introduction explains the dramatic shift in culinary taste led by the exuberant creativity of French cooks. Cookbooks started to emerge from the Paris printing presses after a hundred years of silence. Numerous innovations completely transformed French cuisine and swept away all remnants of lingering medieval taste. There were new efficient cooking techniques for the kitchens of powerful and wealthy. For all, there were new ingredients from New World and new cooking mediums such as the mechanical spit and roasting ranges that made cooking cleaner and less back breaking. The recipes, each with a short explanation, are organized by type of dish. Categories include salads and cold dishes; soups; meat; poultry; fish and seafood; vegetables and fungi; eggs and dairy; sauces; savory pastries; starches, pastas, and legumes; breads and cakes; sweet pastries and puddings; fruit, nuts, and flower preserves; sweets and confections; jellies and ices; and drinks. Occasional sidebars offer period menus of, for example, elaborate feasts. A glossary and an appendix listing suppliers of equipment and ingredients are added features.

An exciting new book from Marion Short about collectible sheet music, this second volume includes lots of new categories. Learn about the music that provided background to America's communication, transportation, wars, and news events. Marion's entertaining and incisive writing style is accompanied by more than 500 color photographs of historical sheet music, each captioned and priced. Not just an attractive coffee table book, this compilation is a record of America's history and growth as told by tunes. Her first book, The Gold in Your Piano Bench, has received wide acclaim.

Among the first titles published in 1978, with more than 150,000 copies in print in three editions, "Japanese Maples" is a Timber Press classic. Japanese maples are unlike any other tree. They boast a remarkable diversity of color, form, and texture. As a result of hundreds of years of careful breeding, they take the center stage in any garden they are found. In the last decade, the number of Japanese maple cultivars available to gardeners has doubled and there is a pressing need for an up-to-date reference. This new fourth edition offers detailed descriptions of over 150 new introductions, updates to plant nomenclature, and new insights into established favorites. Gardeners will relish the practical advice that puts successful cultivation within everyone's grasp. Accurate identification is made simple with over 600 easy-to-follow descriptions and 500 color photographs.

A Knitter’s Guide to Gloves introduces several construction techniques, alongside the possible materials and tools that are suitable for knitting the gloves you want. A chapter on design guides you through adapting and customising your glove knitting. The book also traces the history of knitted gloves and is lavishly illustrated with examples from museum collections. With patterned gloves from Yorkshire and Scotland, alongside the stories of examples that have survived into the twenty-first century. Includes a step-by-step photo guide for those new to knitting gloves through the key points of glove construction and making your first pair. Five glove patterns are included which gives a choice of styles to knit, from a plain pair through to colour worked gloves of varied complexity.

The Comedy Way is a 30.5 mile (49 km) semi-circular walk around Morecambe Bay starting from the market town of Ulverston in Cumbria and ending in the Lancashire sea-side town of Morecambe. The area covered by the walk has the finest coastal scenery in north-west England and is exceptionally rich in plant, bird and animal life. Several nature reserves including the internationally famous RSPB Leighton Moss fall within the ambit of the walk. The Comedy Way celebrates two of the greatest comic duos of the twentieth century, Laurel and Hardy and Morecambe and Wise. Stan Laurel was born in Ulverston and in the central square of the town stands a statue immortalizing the comic genius of the actor and his slapstick partner. The much loved comedian, Eric Morecambe, was born in the town that provided his stage name. Located on the central promenade in Morecambe with the bay and the Lakeland hills forming a stunning backdrop stands a larger-than-life statue depicting the comedian in one of his characteristic poses. The Comedy Way is book-ended by these two evocative memorials to the world of comedy. The guidebook provides clear easy to follow route directions supported by 14 maps dedicated to route navigation as well as a wealth of practical information and safety advice. Features of historical and archaeological interest along the route are highlighted and captured by 55 colour photographs. Accommodation is plentiful along the route thus making this an ideal walk for those new to medium to long distance walking. Even experienced walkers looking for a new trail, one that can be completed in two or three days, will find the Comedy Way an interesting and altogether delightful walk.

Brontë Aurell, owner of the ScandiKitchen Café in London, brings her famous flair to over 65 Scandinavian-style recipes that perfectly capture the joy of summer eating. In the warmer months we crave food that is lighter and nourishing. Scandinavians do summer food so well – wholesome, flavoursome, simple yet sumptuous to look at – it is the essence of ‘lagom’ or balance, with everything in moderation. For some Scandi balance into your summer meals try tempting breakfasts such as Cinnamon Bun French Toast. Sharing plates such as Smoked Mackerel Rillettes with Rye Crisps are ideal for grazing, while satisfying larger plates include Danish Plaice with Remoulade. All-important cake and fika include a Midsommer Strawberry Cake, and a classic Sourdough Rye is on offer in the breads chapter. Delicious desserts include a Swedish Mess with Cloudberries. Also included are Brontë’s fascinating insights into Scandinavian summer traditions and celebrations.

An early description of a cocktail as ‘a mix of alcoholic drinks with flavouring ingredients’ does nothing to convey the alchemy and speak-easy glamour of these elaborate drinks. The cocktail’s humble beginnings as a medicinal tonic through the inclusion of botanicals into distilled spirits such as gin and whiskey, accelerates with the ingenuity of bartenders who created the ‘classics’ – the Martini, Manhattan and Old Fashioned – in the nineteenth-century, and in the decadence of the Jazz Age and Roaring Twenties. This book explores the journey that cocktails have made, via China and the Middle East, the Americas and the UK, to arrive at the bespoke menus of today’s stylish clubs and bars, complete with descriptions of the myriad ingredients, glassware and paraphernalia that the mixologist has at their disposal.

French food is regional, full of variety and above all designed for enjoyment. But it is also traditionally rich in products of animal origin: meat, butter, cream, eggs and cheese. Vegan Recipes from France translates all the French classics into vegan alternatives. You will discover many easy recipes to make, with simple ingredients. The book starts with all the basic recipes that are the foundation of French cooking such as stocks, baguette, brioche, croissants, bechamel, aioli and cheese. There are recipes for delicious vegan appetizers such as soups, terrines and many original salads. Main dishes offer a selection of tarts and tartlettes, gratins, omelettes, quiches, souffles and crepes. Desserts provide mouth- watering vegan alternatives to such standards as mousse au chocolate, clafoutis, tarte tatin, pain perdu, gateau and madeleines. The dishes are sumptuously photographed showing all your favourite French dishes vegan-style.

Impress and excite family and friends with 50 bold ideas for beautifully presented sharers from MasterChef UK’s Theo Michaels, including cheese, charcuterie and beyond. In this exciting follow up to SHARE, Theo Michaels’ new book provides everything you could possibly need to delight a crowd with beautiful boards and platters. Designed for effortless entertaining, this book contains the perfect combination of how-to instructions, shopping lists and recipes to create sharers for unforgettable snacks, meals and social events. The cheese board is often the most anticipated delight of any festivity, and here the concept is taken to the next level, with recipes to suit all tastes and occasions. These beautiful boards are both aesthetically pleasing and easy to put together; picture an ‘Indian Thali Board’, with chutneys, curries and sundries on a banana leaf, or ‘Summer Garden’ treats of crudités, dips and edible flowers brightening up an outdoor get-together. Casually entertain in style with recipes from Movie Night Boards to Bagel Boards, plus classic boards for cheeses and ‘Wine Bites’. Chapters include Brunch Boards, Everyday Sharers, ‘Big Night In’ Boards, Globetrotting Boards, Seasonal Celebrations and Sweet Treats Boards. Whimsical, tasty and visually enticing, these stunning centrepieces will ensure that you are the life of any party!

Creative Machine Knitting is simply a treasure trove for machine knitters; overflowing with design ideas and stitch patterns to inspire you to explore different styles and to make wonderful new projects. Knit with an open mind and be prepared to have a go, make changes and look to improvise – push yourself out of your comfort zone. Topics covered include; how to design – from where to source inspiration, consideration of materials and adoption of sustainable practices; painting with yarn – the process of translating a pattern or colour scheme into a knitted fabric; designing with panels and borders, and adding embellishments; Fairisle – advice on colour selection and pattern placement, including a ‘sketchbook’ of over fifty stitch patterns to try and finally, there is an inspiring stitch pattern directory of even more examples, illustrating the endless possibilities available to the machine knitter. The book features over 100 patterns, all of which can be adapted and form the basis of new designs, covering: jackets, cardigans and kimonos; sweaters; Fairisle designs; waistcoats; children’s knitwear; accessories and homewares.

Turkish food is one of the world's great cuisines. Its taste and depth place it with French and Chinese; its simplicity and healthfulness rank it number one. Turkish-born Ayla Algar offers 175 recipes for this vibrant and tasty food, presented against the rich and fascinating backdrop of Turkish history and culture. Tempting recipes for kebabs, pilafs, meze (appetizers), dolmas (those delicious stuffed vegetables or vine leaves), soups, fish, manti and other pasta dishes, lamb, poultry, yogurt, bread, and traditional sweets such as baklava are introduced here to American cooks in accessible form. With its emphasis on grains, vegetables, fruits, olive oil, and other healthful foods, Turkish cooking puts a new spin on familiar ingredients and offers culinary adventure coupled with satisfying and delicious meals.

Soft cover (Flexibound); full colour and laminated

Gardening, the most practised hobby in the world, survived through time and became a way of life for dedicated gardeners. Enthusiastic gardeners in South Africa are faced with unique challenges in all of the country's regions.

The way we garden - month by month covers each of the climatic regions in our country. Its contents include monthly gardening activities for each region as discussed in 'Regular tasks for the month', handy hints on various gardening aspects, the 'Ant' shares its wisdom, practical discussions on topics like compost making, pruning, nourishment and control of pests and diseases are some of the 'Topic of the month' content and a 'Plant of the month' closes each monthly chapter. There is also space for the gardener to write down pleasurable memories, notes and reminders.

The way we garden also provides more information on the influence of the moon's position in relation to aspects like soil moisture level, best planting time and consequently best growth of plants. The relation of earth elements to star signs and its influence on gardening is informative and gardeners can enjoy a tongue in cheek zodiac personality description of themselves.

Bottle spirits swirl around in bottles of all kinds. Sometimes they glimmer in the glass. You can always hear them if a breeze or your breath passes over the top of the bottle. But it's not too often that they show their faces. So how do you know at first glance what’s really inside a bottle? Once you decide what kind of spirits are living in your bottles, Tom Wolfe will set you to work carving charming faces to match. Using small pieces of scrap wood, basic carving tools and paint, and not much time, Tom guides the reader through the carving of a rebel soldier, a viking, and a laughing imp. The finished carvings could be hung around a bottle, a neck, on a Christmas tree, or anywhere else that could use a little personality! More than 200 color photos paired with step-by-step instructions demonstrate the process, and a full-color gallery of 20 different carved bottle spirits that would stimulate anyone's imagination. Ideal for both the novice or more experienced carver, this book explores Tom's basic approach to carving a face and the countless possibilities, simple or intricate, that follow.