Download or read book I Am A Good Cook I Just Cuss A Lot written by Creative Posh Designs and published by . This book was released on 2020-08-18 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: De-stress with this unique swear words coloring book. Cooks Appreciation Gifts Gag Gift Idea. This is an Adult Coloring Book of 20 swear words related relaxing designs. Features: Size 8.5" x 11" inches 20 Unique and Relaxing Designs to Color Unique Colorful Matte Cover This swear word coloring book is the best gag gift idea for End of year gift, Retirement, White Elephant Gift Exchange Gift, Birthdays, Appreciation & Thank you, Christmas & Secret Santa gift idea. Each swear word is designed around PATTERNS. Unleash your inner artist as you color this antistress coloring pages, perfect for getting your groove back. Intrigued yet? Click on the BUY BUTTON now. Best Appreciation gifts for coworkers.

Download or read book Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1 written by Julia Child and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2011-10-05 with total page 857 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The definitive cookbook on French cuisine for American readers: "What a cookbook should be: packed with sumptuous recipes, detailed instructions, and precise line drawings. Some of the instructions look daunting, but as Child herself says in the introduction, 'If you can read, you can cook.'" —Entertainment Weekly “I only wish that I had written it myself.” —James Beard Featuring 524 delicious recipes and over 100 instructive illustrations to guide readers every step of the way, Mastering the Art of French Cooking offers something for everyone, from seasoned experts to beginners who love good food and long to reproduce the savory delights of French cuisine. Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle break down the classic foods of France into a logical sequence of themes and variations rather than presenting an endless and diffuse catalogue of dishes—from historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. Throughout, the focus is on key recipes that form the backbone of French cookery and lend themselves to an infinite number of elaborations—bound to increase anyone’s culinary repertoire. “Julia has slowly but surely altered our way of thinking about food. She has taken the fear out of the term ‘haute cuisine.’ She has increased gastronomic awareness a thousandfold by stressing the importance of good foundation and technique, and she has elevated our consciousness to the refined pleasures of dining." —Thomas Keller, The French Laundry

Download or read book Healthyish written by Lindsay Maitland Hunt and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2018-01-09 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Take the hassle out of healthy eating with this new release from expert recipe developer Lindsay Maitland Hunt. A guilt-free guide to nutrition.” —Real Simple For anyone on the move, working long hours, and trying to eat a bit more healthfully, Healthyish offers 131 satisfying recipes with straightforward instructions, using as few pots and pans as possible, and ingredients that won’t break the bank. Not to mention, you can find the ingredients at your everyday grocery store (no garam masala or açai berries here!). Emphasizing balanced eating rather than fad diet tricks, Lindsay Maitland Hunt includes guilt-free recipes for every meal of the day, from breakfast to snacks to dinner, and yes, even Healthyish treats, such as: Banana-Avocado Chai Shake Peanut Butter Granola Salty Watermelon, Feta, Mint, and Avocado Salad Miso-Butter Toast with a Nine-Minute Egg Pozole with Pinto Beans and Queso Fresco Spiced Chicken and Chickpea Flatbreads with Cucumber-Dill Tzatziki Single-Serving Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookie Designed for novices and experienced cooks alike, Hunt’s meticulously considered recipes offer crowd-pleasing flavor profiles and time-saving tips and tricks, and her vegetable-centric dishes, with an occasional dash of meat, dairy, and decadence, are showcased in vibrant, mouthwatering photographs. Destined to be an everyday kitchen essential, Healthyish is a call for simple ingredients, food that makes us feel good, quick prep, and even quicker cleanup, so we all can enjoy what’s most important at the end of a long day: getting back to the couch. “This is THE cookbook for the modern generation . . . you’ll be turning to this book for decades.” —Sarah Copeland, author of Instant Family Meals

Download or read book Cooking in the Moment written by Andrea Reusing and published by Clarkson Potter. This book was released on 2011-04-05 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If there’s one thing Reusing understands, it’s the power of a remarkable ingredient." – O Magazine "[A] must-have title for both new and experienced cookes." --Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review) “Her enthusiasm is infectious, her approach, inviting.”—BookPage Top Pick and Cookbook of the Month “I love Andrea Reusing’s Lantern in Chapel Hill. And her recipes in Cooking in the Moment are so approachable and her stories so insightful that they blaze a path toward great home cooking.” —David Chang “I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying many fine meals at Lantern. Andrea Reusing’s food is always fresh, seasonal, and as local as possible. Her recipes are creative and downright delicious.” —John Grisham For Andrea Reusing—an award-winning chef, a leader in the sustainable agriculture movement, and a working mother—“cooking in the moment” simply means focusing on one meal at a time. Tender spring broccoli given a smoky char on the grill, a summer berry pudding with cold cream, or a cider-braised pork shoulder served with pan-fried apples on a frosty night—cooking and eating this way allows food in season to become the foundation of a full life. Cooking in the Moment is a rich, absorbing journey through a year in Reusing’s home kitchen as she cooks for family and friends using ingredients grown nearby. When seasonality is reimagined as a grocery list rather than a limitation, everyday meals become cause for celebration—a whole week of fresh sweet corn; a blue moon autumn asparagus harvest; a rich, spicy soup made with the last few sweet potatoes of winter. Reusing seamlessly blends down-to-earth kitchen advice with delicious, doable recipes, including childhood favorites (chicken and dumplings), simple one-pot dinners (shrimp, pea, and rice stew), as well as feasts to satisfy a crowd (roast fresh ham with cracklings). And while the action takes place in North Carolina, the kinds of producers and places that animate these pages—farmers, ranchers, cheesemakers, butchers, bakers, orchards, backyard henhouses, and fishing holes—can be found all over, producing the flavors that we crave. With gorgeous photography throughout and more than 130 recipes, Cooking in the Moment will inspire cooks everywhere to embrace the flavors and bounty of each season.

Download or read book The Cook You Want to Be written by Andy Baraghani and published by Lorena Jones Books. This book was released on 2022-05-24 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Beloved food writer and social media star Andy Baraghani helps you define and develop your personal cooking style—and become the cook you want to be—in more than 100 recipes. “This book is full of things I want to make and cook.”—Yotam Ottolenghi ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: San Francisco Chronicle ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Bon Appétit, Saveur, Salon, Epicurious Andy Baraghani peeled hundreds of onions at Chez Panisse as a teenage intern, honed his perfectly balanced salad–making skills at Estela in New York, and developed recipes in the test kitchens of Saveur, Tasting Table, and Bon Appétit. It took him all those years to figure out the cook he wanted to be: a cook who is true to his Persian heritage, a fresh-vegetable lover, a citrus superfan, and an always-hungry world traveler. In The Cook You Want to Be, Baraghani shows home cooks on how to hone their own cooking styles by teaching the techniques and unexpected flavor combinations that maximize flavor in minimal time. At Bon Appétit, Baraghani created a bevy of viral recipes—from Tahini Ranch to Fall-Apart Caramelized Cabbage—that became household staples. Here, he follows up with more umami-rich dishes, beautiful and restaurant-worthy meals (that take half the time), and well-known dishes recast in utterly delicious ways. Among his debut cookbook’s 100 recipes, new surefire hits include Caramelized Sweet Potatoes with Browned Butter Harissa; Sticky, Spicy Basil Shrimp; and Tangy Pomegranate-Chicken. Cooks will find inspiration to riff on, quick meals for hurried weeknights, condiments galore, and memorable meals to impress dinner guests. In essays throughout the book, Baraghani shares convictions (why everyone must make his beloved Persian egg dish, kuku sabzi) and lessons to live by (the importance of salting fish before cooking it). The Cook You Want to Be is a trove of go-to recipes and knowledge, stunning photographs, and delicious, simple home cooking for modern times.

Download or read book I m Just Here for the Food written by Alton Brown and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book How to Cook Everything The Basics written by Mark Bittman and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The next best thing to having Mark Bittman in the kitchen with you Mark Bittman's highly acclaimed, bestselling book How to Cook Everything is an indispensable guide for any modern cook. With How to Cook Everything The Basics he reveals how truly easy it is to learn fundamental techniques and recipes. From dicing vegetables and roasting meat, to cooking building-block meals that include salads, soups, poultry, meats, fish, sides, and desserts, Bittman explains what every home cook, particularly novices, should know. 1,000 beautiful and instructive photographs throughout the book reveal key preparation details that make every dish inviting and accessible. With clear and straightforward directions, Bittman's practical tips and variation ideas, and visual cues that accompany each of the 185 recipes, cooking with How to Cook Everything The Basics is like having Bittman in the kitchen with you. This is the essential teaching cookbook, with 1,000 photos illustrating every technique and recipe; the result is a comprehensive reference that’s both visually stunning and utterly practical. Special Basics features scattered throughout simplify broad subjects with sections like “Think of Vegetables in Groups,” “How to Cook Any Grain,” and “5 Rules for Buying and Storing Seafood.” 600 demonstration photos each build on a step from the recipe to teach a core lesson, like “Cracking an Egg,” “Using Pasta Water,” “Recognizing Doneness,” and “Crimping the Pie Shut.” Detailed notes appear in blue type near selected images. Here Mark highlights what to look for during a particular step and offers handy advice and other helpful asides. Tips and variations let cooks hone their skills and be creative.

Download or read book Heirloom Beans written by Vanessa Barrington and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2008-09-17 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Everything you need to know about the delicious new world of beans in this pioneering [recipe] book . . .A keeper.” —Paula Wolfert, James Beard and Julia Child Award–winning cookbook author Who would have thought a simple bean could do so much? Heirloom bean expert Steve Sando provides descriptions of the many varieties now available, from Scarlet Runners to the spotted Eye of the Tiger beans. Nearly ninety recipes in the book will entice readers to cook up bowls of heartwarming Risotto and Cranberry Beans with Pancetta, or Caribbean Black Bean Soup. Close-up photos of the beans make them easy to identify. Packed with protein, fiber, and vitamins, these little treasures are the perfect addition to any meal. “Heirloom Beans is no less than a promise of good things to come from this humble but rather magical food.” —Deborah Madison, James Beard and Julia Child Award–winning cookbook author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone “Heirloom Beans is the ultimate kiss and tell all of legendary legumes. A delicious recipe and savory story for every heirloom bean.” —Annie Somerville, cookbook author and chef, Greens Restaurant “We give Rancho Gordo beans a place of honor at our restaurants.” —Thomas Keller, James Beard award-winning chef, cookbook author and restaurateur, French Laundry

Download or read book Cook This Book written by Molly Baz and published by Clarkson Potter. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A thoroughly modern guide to becoming a better, faster, more creative cook, featuring fun, flavorful recipes anyone can make. ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, Food52, Taste of Home “Surprising no one, Molly has written a book as smart, stylish, and entertaining as she is.”—Carla Lalli Music, author of Where Cooking Begins If you seek out, celebrate, and obsess over good food but lack the skills and confidence necessary to make it at home, you’ve just won a ticket to a life filled with supreme deliciousness. Cook This Book is a new kind of foundational cookbook from Molly Baz, who’s here to teach you absolutely everything she knows and equip you with the tools to become a better, more efficient cook. Molly breaks the essentials of cooking down to clear and uncomplicated recipes that deliver big flavor with little effort and a side of education, including dishes like Pastrami Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Onions and Dill, Chorizo and Chickpea Carbonara, and of course, her signature Cae Sal. But this is not your average cookbook. More than a collection of recipes, Cook This Book teaches you the invaluable superpower of improvisation though visually compelling lessons on such topics as the importance of salt and how to balance flavor, giving you all the tools necessary to make food taste great every time. Throughout, you’ll encounter dozens of QR codes, accessed through the camera app on your smartphone, that link to short technique-driven videos hosted by Molly to help illuminate some of the trickier skills. As Molly says, “Cooking is really fun, I swear. You simply need to set yourself up for success to truly enjoy it.” Cook This Book will help you do just that, inspiring a new generation to find joy in the kitchen and take pride in putting a home-cooked meal on the table, all with the unbridled fun and spirit that only Molly could inspire.

Download or read book Smitten Kitchen Every Day written by Deb Perelman and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the best-selling author of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook—this everyday cookbook is “filled with fun and easy ... recipes that will have you actually looking forward to hitting the kitchen at the end of a long work day” (Bustle). A happy discovery in the kitchen has the ability to completely change the course of your day. Whether we’re cooking for ourselves, for a date night in, for a Sunday supper with friends, or for family on a busy weeknight, we all want recipes that are unfussy to make with triumphant results. Deb Perelman, award-winning blogger, thinks that cooking should be an escape from drudgery. Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites presents more than one hundred impossible-to-resist recipes—almost all of them brand-new, plus a few favorites from her website—that will make you want to stop what you’re doing right now and cook. These are real recipes for real people—people with busy lives who don’t want to sacrifice flavor or quality to eat meals they’re really excited about. You’ll want to put these recipes in your Forever Files: Sticky Toffee Waffles (sticky toffee pudding you can eat for breakfast), Everything Drop Biscuits with Cream Cheese, and Magical Two-Ingredient Oat Brittle (a happy accident). There’s a (hopelessly, unapologetically inauthentic) Kale Caesar with Broken Eggs and Crushed Croutons, a Mango Apple Ceviche with Sunflower Seeds, and a Grandma-Style Chicken Noodle Soup that fixes everything. You can make Leek, Feta, and Greens Spiral Pie, crunchy Brussels and Three Cheese Pasta Bake that tastes better with brussels sprouts than without, Beefsteak Skirt Steak Salad, and Bacony Baked Pintos with the Works (as in, giant bowls of beans that you can dip into like nachos). And, of course, no meal is complete without cake (and cookies and pies and puddings): Chocolate Peanut Butter Icebox Cake (the icebox cake to end all icebox cakes), Pretzel Linzers with Salted Caramel, Strawberry Cloud Cookies, Bake Sale Winning-est Gooey Oat Bars, as well as the ultimate Party Cake Builder—four one-bowl cakes for all occasions with mix-and-match frostings (bonus: less time spent doing dishes means everybody wins). Written with Deb’s trademark humor and gorgeously illustrated with her own photographs, Smitten Kitchen Every Day is filled with what are sure to be your new favorite things to cook. Look for Deb Perelman’s latest cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers!

Download or read book Olives Lemons and Za atar written by Rawia Bishara and published by Kyle Books. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tangy lemony tabbouleh, smoky, rich baba ghanouj, beautifully spiced lamb shank...the recipes in Olives, Lemons & Za'atar provide something irresistible for every occasion. These dishes represent the flavors of Rawia's Middle Eastern childhood with recipes copied faithfully from family cookbooks (her mother's most treasured harissa), and then developed with a creative flourish of her own. Her food is deeply personal and so she includes the classics but also the Mediterranean influences that come from summer holidays in Spain and living in Bay Ridge, the old Italian neighbourhood in Brooklyn. The result is a sensational cross-cultural mix and provides you with everything you need to enjoy the best home cooking and share the most convivial Middle Eastern hospitality.

Download or read book Cook s Illustrated Cookbook written by Cook's Illustrated and published by America's Test Kitchen. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 3810 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate recipe resource: an indispensable treasury of more than 2,000 foolproof recipes and 150 test kitchen discoveries from the pages of Cook's Illustrated magazine. There is a lot to know about cooking, more than can be learned in a lifetime, and for the last 20 years we have been eager to share our discoveries with you, our friends and readers. The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook represents the fruit of that labor. It contains 2,000 recipes, representing almost our entire repertoire. Looking back over this work as we edited this volume, we were reminded of some of our greatest hits, from Foolproof Pie Dough (we add vodka for an easy-to-roll-out but flaky crust), innumerable recipes based on brining and salting meats (our Brined Thanksgiving Turkey in 1993 launched a nationwide trend), Slow-Roasted Beef(we salt a roast a day in advance and then use a very low oven to promote a tender, juicy result), Poached Salmon (a very shallow poaching liquid steams the fish instead of simmering it in water and robbing it of flavor), and the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies (we brown the butter for better flavor). Our editors handpicked more than 2,000 recipes from the pages of the magazine to form this wide-ranging compendium of our greatest hits. More than just a great collection of foolproof recipes, The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook is also an authoritative cooking reference with clear hand-drawn illustrations for preparing the perfect omelet, carving a turkey, removing meat from lobsters, frosting a layer cake, shaping sandwich bread, and more. 150 test kitchen tips throughout the book solve real home-cooking problems such as how to revive tired herbs, why you shouldn't buy trimmed leeks, what you need to know about freezing and thawing chicken, when to rinse rice, and the best method for seasoning cast-iron (you can even run it through the dishwasher). An essential collection for fans of Cook's Illustrated (and any discerning cook), The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook will keep you cooking for a lifetime - and guarantees impeccable results.

Download or read book Southern Grit written by Kelsey Barnard Clark and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2021-08-10 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A modern take on Southern cooking with 100+ accessible Southern recipes and hospitality tips, from Kelsey Barnard Clark, 2016 Top Chef winner and Fan Favorite From preeminent chef, multitasking mom, proud Southerner, and 2016 Top Chef winner Kelsey Barnard Clark comes this fresh take on Southern cooking and entertaining. In Southern Grit, Kelsey Barnard Clark presents more than 100 recipes that are made to be shared with family and friends. Indulge your loved ones in delicious modern Southern meals, including Bomb Nachos, Savannah Peach Sangria, Roasted Chicken and Drippin' Veggies, and six variations of Icebox Cookies. Featuring beautifully styled shots of finished dishes and the Southern home style, as well as Kelsey Barnard Clark's tips for stocking the pantry, entertaining with ease, and keeping your house guest-ready (with or without toddlers). Readers of Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines and Whiskey in a Teacup by Reese Witherspoon, fans of Kelsey Barnard Clark and her stint on Top Chef, and any home cooks who love cooking and serving Southern food, have a young family, and like to host guests will appreciate these modern homemaking tips, the approachable instruction, and the contemporary repertoire of recipes that brim with flavors of the Deep South. SOUTHERN FOOD IS PERENNIALLY POPULAR: With 100 simple recipes that cover all occasions, plus entertaining tips throughout the book, Southern Grit has wide-ranging appeal for the broad audience of people who love Southern flavors. TOP CHEF WINNER & FAN FAVORITE: Kelsey Barnard Clark is a self-branded "spicy Joanna Gaines." Her personality and talent were showcased on Top Chef, leading her to win the title of Fan Favorite in addition to winning the season overall—only the second time in 16 seasons when that's happened. Perfect for: • Fans of TOP CHEF and Kelsey Barnard Clark • Southerners and fans of Southern cooking • Home cooks who like to host and entertain • Home cooks with young families

Download or read book Bar Tartine written by Nicolaus Balla and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2014-11-25 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here's a cookbook destined to be talked-about this season, rich in techniques and recipes epitomizing the way we cook and eat now. Bar Tartine—co-founded by Tartine Bakery's Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt—is obsessed over by locals and visitors, critics and chefs. It is a restaurant that defies categorization, but not description: Everything is made in-house and layered into extraordinarily flavorful food. Helmed by Nick Balla and Cortney Burns, it draws on time-honored processes (such as fermentation, curing, pickling), and a core that runs through the cuisines of Central Europe, Japan, and Scandinavia to deliver a range of dishes from soups to salads, to shared plates and sweets. With more than 150 photographs, this highly anticipated cookbook is a true original.

Download or read book The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook written by Deb Perelman and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 696 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • Celebrated food blogger and best-selling cookbook author Deb Perelman knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion—from salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and galettes; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe. “Innovative, creative, and effortlessly funny." —Cooking Light Deb Perelman loves to cook. She isn’t a chef or a restaurant owner—she’s never even waitressed. Cooking in her tiny Manhattan kitchen was, at least at first, for special occasions—and, too often, an unnecessarily daunting venture. Deb found herself overwhelmed by the number of recipes available to her. Have you ever searched for the perfect birthday cake on Google? You’ll get more than three million results. Where do you start? What if you pick a recipe that’s downright bad? With the same warmth, candor, and can-do spirit her award-winning blog, Smitten Kitchen, is known for, here Deb presents more than 100 recipes—almost entirely new, plus a few favorites from the site—that guarantee delicious results every time. Gorgeously illustrated with hundreds of her beautiful color photographs, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking. Here you’ll find better uses for your favorite vegetables: asparagus blanketing a pizza; ratatouille dressing up a sandwich; cauliflower masquerading as pesto. These are recipes you’ll bookmark and use so often they become your own, recipes you’ll slip to a friend who wants to impress her new in-laws, and recipes with simple ingredients that yield amazing results in a minimum amount of time. Deb tells you her favorite summer cocktail; how to lose your fear of cooking for a crowd; and the essential items you need for your own kitchen. From salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and galettes; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake, Deb knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion. Look for Deb Perelman’s latest cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers!

Download or read book Well Fed Flat Broke written by Emily Wight and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this charming yet practical cookbook - based on her popular blog of the same name - Emily Wight offers great recipes, ideas and advice on how to prepare imaginative and delicious meals without having to spend a lot of money. Recipes vary from the simple (perfect scrambled eggs, rice and lentils) to the sublime (orecchiette with white beans and sausage; mustard fried chicken). With its down-to-earth charm and sage advice, Well Fed, Flat Broke will have you eating like a millionaire without having to spend like one.

Download or read book Man V Nature written by Diane Cook and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A refreshingly imaginative, daring debut collection of stories that illuminates with audacious wit the complexity of human behavior, and the veneer of civilization over our darkest urges. Told with perfect rhythm and unyielding brutality, these stories expose unsuspecting men and women to the realities of nature, the primal instincts of man, and the dark humor and heartbreak of our struggle to not only thrive, but survive. In "Girl on Girl," a high school freshman goes to disturbing lengths to help an old friend. An insatiable temptress pursues the one man she can't have in "Meteorologist Dave Santana." And in the title story, a long-fraught friendship comes undone when three buddies get impossibly lost on a lake it is impossible to get lost on. Below the quotidian surface of Diane Cook's worlds lurks an unexpected surreality that reveals our most curious, troubling, and bewildering behavior. Other stories explore situations pulled directly from the wild, imposing on human lives the danger, tension, and precariousness of the natural world: a pack of "not-needed" boys takes refuge in a murky forest where they compete against one another for their next meal; an alpha male is pursued through city streets by murderous rivals and desirous women; helpless newborns are snatched from their suburban yards by a man who stalks them. Through these characters Cook asks: What is at the root of our most heartless, selfish impulses? Why are people drawn together in such messy, needful ways? When the unexpected intrudes upon the routine, what do we discover about ourselves? As entertaining as it is dangerous, this accomplished collection explores the boundary between the wild and the civilized, where nature acts as a catalyst for human drama and lays bare our vulnerabilities, fears, and desires.