I found this book to be very useful in building my first piece of log furniture. In fact my first project is a log bed (under construction at this time). There are few resources available that teach you how to build log furniture. Dan and Les have written a no nonsense book with detailed information on wood, tools, finishes and etc. The plans are reasonably clear and concise and there are lots of tips that can help reduce the "ooops" factor when building your first piece of furniture. The tools required are simple and fairly inexpensive. If you want to build your own log furniture then buy this book. My only negative coment is that I wish there were a few more projects to chose from.

Being a beginner this book gave me alot of ideas and step by step insturctions and choices that other books did not.

Les has the ability to make it sound as if he is talking right to you in this book. I have just taken an interest in rustic and log furniture and was very happy to get this book from e-bay,and he included his signature!.
The book has several different suggestions, not making one way the only way to do things.
thank you les for your wonderful guidience as I start my new hobby!
jharriet

So many people told us that having an outdoor wedding was just asking for trouble, and we're glad we listened to this book instead of them!! Sharon Naylor eased all of our concerns about bad weather and finding a location, decorating and all the rest, and her really creative ideas on how to make an outdoor site really beautiful were just what we needed! I loved the part about choosing the right kind of gown and shoes and tuxes for any weather condition, and my fiance got into the 'how to plan your menu' part that talks about warnings and smarter choices we never considered before. If you're dreaming of an outdoor wedding, this book is going to make you very, very happy.

Have reviewed this book and given it as gifts. Ms. Naylor is a truly gifted writer, and has a talent for expressing her ideas in an easy-to-follow manner!!

Don't miss this book if you are planning (or know someone planning) a wedding!

My fiance and I LOVED this book. We did all the worksheets, completed the questionnaire of what we really, really wanted for our wedding, and planned out our entire dream wedding. The best part was all of the budget tips that helped us figure out how we're going to pay for the whole thing, and we are so excited to have learned all of the details that most couples forget. Before we got this book, we didn't know if we could pull off an outdoor wedding. We thought it might be too much, or that it would be too hard to plan....but now that we have this book, we have no doubts. Sharon Naylor really made everything easy to follow and easy to use, and she made it fun for BOTH of us with her sense of humor and her warnings about common mistakes to avoid. We highly recommend this book to any couple planning a beach or yard wedding -- it has advice you're not going to find in the magazines or other books.

Ideal for anyone seeking interior design inspirations for evoking a country atmosphere, The House & Garden Book Of Country Rooms is a simply gorgeous showcase filled with full-color photographs compiled by Leonie Highton (Editor-in-Chief of the British "House & Garden" magazine) of aesthetically pleasing and eminently practical country-style room designs. Descriptive captions highlighting balance and arrangement compliment the stunning and inspirational illustrations in this very highly recommended interior design reference.

This book is chock full of wonderful photos of absolutely gorgeous rooms located in England (mostly), France, Majorca, St.Lucia, and Greece. Graceful, nonpretentious elegance at its finest! If you love aged patinas, threadbare Oriental rugs, mellowed heirloom antiques, vintage linens, and a dash of eclecticism, this is THE book for you!

Like the other books in this House and Garden series, this is a wonderful reference for anyone interested in traditional, classic, elegant design. In my opinion, it should be in every interior designer's library! The interiors pictured are varied in their themes and beautifully composed. These are not cutsey, overdone rooms. They are timeless in their decor - informal and comfortable, but with style. I get new ideas each time I go to this book! The chapters are arranged by room type so that if I want to see kitchen design I can go right to that chapter rather than search through the entire book. Although, once opened, I rarely shut this book after looking at only one or two pages!

Cucina Rustica has inspired the first review I have written. I must say that his book was one of the best impulse purchases I have ever made. So far, I have made about 10 of the recipes and each one had become an instant classic in my house. I'm especially fond of the risotto and pasta dishes (but that's the carbohydrate addict in me talking). The ingredients are simple yet cleverly put together. I think the highest praise I can give is that my first-generation Sicilian boyfriend has cleaned his plate every time I have made one of these recipes. If you are enamoured of all things Italian (as I am), this book will be a joy.

I have had this cookbook for a number of years now, and give it as a gift to friends who like fresh-flavored, moderately complex to simple recipes. It is written by people who love this kind of food, know the genre, and seem to have made what they write about. The recipes are effective and the food works out each time.

The book contains a number of risotto dishes, several interesting bruschetta ideas (White Bean Puree with Garlicky Mustard Greens stands out), and a range of soups, notably Fennel and Tomato Soup and Cabbage and Rice Soup. Two great side dishes are Baked Endive and Braised Fennel.

As a vegertarian, I've found that many of the pasta and polenta dishes translate quite well. The authors are fond of ground sausage, sausage links, and especially pancetta. I've substituted, at the expense of authenticity but with minimal damage, vegetarian ground sausage, sausage links, and bacon. Polenta with Mushroom Saute and Polenta with Sausage and Tomato Sauce are hearty and delicious. Sausages Braised in Tomato and Orange Juice is unique and warming. Of the pasta dishes, Orechiette with Broccoli and Sausage, Orechiette with Sausage and Fennel, and Pasta with Onion Sauce are common in our house.

If you love the romantic look of twig trellises, arbors, gates and fences (not to mention wattling), this is the book for you! Using raw materials that most people have or can get for free (and Jim Long tells how to do this, too), the reader is led through the step-by-step process to make a variety of pictured designs.

Long also tells what tools and materials you need, how to make a work space, how to construct the basic trellis, and how to install it (including securing it in the ground). There's even a chapter on selecting plants for your new trellis. Best of all, Long reveals the trick for actually getting your creation to look like the picture (hint: it involves a picnic table).

This is a book for dreaming and doing!

The illustrations were very good as a first time person to trellis making, I found this book very exciting. The author made it simple for people to follow and do the project. I liked the detail he gave for making each project. Making arches to gates for your flower garden, they are all nice pieces of art. He tells also what is great to grow on the trellises. Thanks

I got a PBGV back in Dec '99 and the breeder recommended this book to me. So-o-o, I told my son to order it for me for Christmas, and, lo and behold, here it is Feb 24th and I STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED IT! Pretty soon, I'll know the breed well enough to write my own book! Don't believe that stuff about 4-6weeks for delivery - if a book's gone out of print, wouldn't it be more customer friendly to recommend ordering a different title, rather than frustrating a potential buyer who then chooses to avoid your products in the future? BAH!

With so little in print about the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, Ms. Steidel has done a wonderful job of researching the breed's origins and history. She presents her findings to us in this unique book, along with valuable information on the personalities, grooming requirements, health concerns, training challenges and more. In researching this breed before aquiring my first PBGV, I have found this book to be an excellent resource.

There are few books in English on regional French cooking that aren't about Provence, so a work like this is a real find. More important, Wolfert has written with her usual anthropological detail and authenticity. I think this is one of the best books on regional French cooking of any kind. The book is well organized by course and by type of meat. There is a special chapter on cassoulet as well, and very detailed instructions on making a confit that is as good as Madeleine Kamman's. Because most of this is peasant or bourgeois cooking, there are few things in the recipes that will be hard to find, and there is a lot on fascinating new techniques. There's an interesting recipe for mussels in which they're packed upright into an iron pan and covered with dried pine needles which are then set on fire. Also, Wolfert offers some very useful tips on reducing certain kinds of fat content while preserving taste, and what's best is that this is done for the sake of taste and quality, not with all the usual eating-disordered hand-wringing. Anyone interested in some of the real classics of French cooking--cassoulet and confit--will love this book. Most recipes demand a certain amount of experience and comfort in the kitchen, but the payoffs are superb. Great armchair reading too.

We are remodling a home (new to us). Before I opened this book, I knew what I liked, but there were so many choices that I just didn't know what to do. After reading the book and reviewing the pictures, I have a much better idea of how to put together an appealing home with the furniture and accessories I already own. Great suggestions. If you're not sure, this book is for you!

If you love cookbooks and especially love Italian food, this is a sparkling gem of a book. First of all, the book is lovely to look at and beautiful to hold. The paper just feels swell. But, more important, the recipes are miraculous. They are simple, often plain, different, and often so unusual you would never think up the combination on your own. There is a recipe for an open-face ice cream sandwich, which is a slice of crusty bread spread with lemon marmalade and vanilla ice cream. It is so delicious and voluptuous that you will want to eat it in secret. The book is wonderful to own and use and will make a great gift for your cooking friends because unless they have this exact book, they won't have anything like it.

I've always wanted to know how to make sophisticated Italian cooking look simple, and now I can. Thanks to Clifford Wright's new book I can whip up Mediterranean delights that approach the dishes in some of my favorite restaurants, and do it at home without spending all afternoon preparing. There's nothing esoteric here. Just as the title promises this is basic, down-home food.But Italian down-home, so it takes a little getting used to. There are combinations I've never tried before, and ingredients from Italian delis that I don't usually buy. But the recipes look perfectly do-able and promise a nice change from the usual pasta and red sauce.