Making Books Book

I was very excited today to discover the book 'How to Make Books' by Esther K. Smith of Purgatory Pie Press, NY. http://www.purgatorypiepress.com/ (Book buyable here) http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Make-Books-Esther-Smith/dp/0307353362/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289659690&sr=8-1. Since spending a lot of time with historic libraries at my work, I have become more and more interested in the design and making of books, as well as the actual contents. It's one of those slighly off kilter, anarchic craft books that the Americans seem to do so well. How to make your own notebooks, cloth books, journals, you name it, using techniques used in ancient medieval, African Coptic and Japanese bookbinding. From an instant book made of one sheet of paper to carefully sewn and leather covered numbers. Even the book itself is lovely, with chapter headings printed from old printing blocks.

Pointless Ephemera

Link to my better half's excellent blog, Pointless Ephemera:

http://pointlessephemera.wordpress.com/

Souper

Sorry I have not blogged for so long. My current cooking project is to each week make a healthy soup for my lunch at work. Week 1 was Pumpkin (Halloween). Week 2 is Sweet Potato and Orange. I am using the fab New Covent Garden Soup Book which I got second hand in the Oxfam Bookshop. You can buy it here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Covent-Garden-Food-Book-Soups/dp/075220503X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289328605&sr=8-1 although I like the retro charm of my 1998 version. It is full of interesting soups like Aubergine, Kangaroo, Chocolate, Kohlrabi and Nettle, to name a few. The ones I fancy most though are Roasted Parsnip and Parmesan, Cream of Fennel and Red Pepper and Goat's cheese...mmmm.....