Michigan Books

A companion to the Emmy award-winning PBS cooking show of the same title, "Fork In The Road With Eric Villegas" is a showcase compendium of recipes celebrating the culinary traditions of Michigan. Parisian trained, Chef Villegas also studied at the New England Culinary Institute and in 1987 opened his first restaurant, 'Dusty's Wine Bar' in Okemos, Michigan, and then in 1995 his namesake dining establishment 'Restaurant Villegas' in the same city. His culinary show debut in 2001. Now his legions of fans have access to a beautifully illustrated compendium of his best recipes ranging from Wild Ramp Quiche with Raw Milk Cheddar and Roasted Garlic; Sugar Baked Pear Pizza with Maytag Blue Cheese, Arugula and Toasted Walnuts; and Great Lakes White Shrimp Ceviche with Smoked Tomatoes and Honeycrisp Apples; to Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Waffles with Thyme Lime Honey; Cheese Fondue with Hard Apple Cider; and Potato and Cheese Ravioli Topped with Mixed Vegetable Vinaigrette. Thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' from first page to last, "Fork In The Road With Eric Villegas" is an inspired and inspiring culinary compendium that is enthusiastically recommended for both personal and community library cookbook collections.

An absolutely perfect teaching tool about architectural form and space.

Illuminating and realistic in its approach to a subject reserved normally for the specialist professionals. This CD sheds light on that misconception by its clear and step-by-step (and sometimes tentalisingly seductive) discovery of forms an spaces unnoticed by the ordinary visitor to such masterworks.

Le Corbusier's Monastery, itself a masterpiece, remains fresh, alive and etheral in its setting. This writer visited 20 years ago. The CD proves that the building remains timeless.

quite goo

This tremendous book, brought to you by the nation's favourite pizzeria, shows a genius at work. What is evident in the work of Lloyd Wright, and what can certainly be seen in this magnificent retrospective, is his continual striving to incorporate innovation with consistency in order to create an architectural grammar which was, though eclectic, uniquely American. Take, for example the Larkin Building, in which the architect showed his willingness to experiment with new materials and technologies. Just as Lloyd Wright innovated with air-conditioning, plate-glass windows, integral desk furniture and suspended toilet bowls, so the Domino's Master Piemaker brings an almost symphonic unity to his work with multifaceted swathes of mushroom, cantilevered tranches of melting cheese and geometric designs hewn from pork. As David Hanks says in his helpful introduction "The romantic spirit that Wright brought to all his buildings is that same unabashed virtuosity that is brought boxed and piping hot to your door (thanks to their revolutionary new HeatWave packaging system) when you phone for a delicious Domino's pizza from any one of their 6200 franchised stores worldwide".

Translated into English for the first time and edited for an American readership by Graham MacDonald, Frederic Baraga's Short History Of The North American Indians was originally published for German, French and Slovenian readers in 1837 Europe. An account of the author's first years in Michigan territory, originally composed for his supporters in Europe, especially the membership of his sponsoring agency, Frederic Baraga's Short History Of The North American Indians offers a unique perspective of mid-ninteenth century Catholic missions in the New World, and offers detailed observations of Native communities on the Lake Superior frontier, including hunting techniques, tools, and cultural features of various tribes. A smattering of color photographs and artworks illustrates this very down-to-earth and articulate accounting, offering depictions of Native American life as vivid today as they were over a century ago.

It's really about time French-Americans with roots in Canada tell their stories and even toot their very historic trumpets. French history pre-dates the English settlements in colonial America. It's called "The French Fact". Thousands of French-Canadians can trace their family genealogies to the 1640s and even earlier. Many families even, rather easily, find their first ancestor's roots in medieval France because the history of the culture is so meticulously preserved through the accuracy of the Roman Catholic Church's directories of baptisms, marriages and deaths. Nevertheless, few Americans learn about French-Canadian culture. So, it's about time the descendents of French-Canadians tell their interesting and special stories. Thankfully, many French-Canadian families living in New England are telling their family stories; but now we learn the French-Canadian history and culture is proudly shared by others living in Michigan. Thanks to the research by John P. DuLong, a third generation French-Canadian whose family settled into the Michigan area, the stories of America's French-Canadians are literally tied together - Michigan's French-Americans are culturally similar to New England's "Franco-Americans". Moreover, it's not a parochial or regional history anymore. DuLong's history of Michigan's French-Canadians is a story New England's Franco-Americans will relate to. There's vintage photographs and even a tourtiere recipe (traditional pork pie, an icon of the French-Canadian culture). Furthermore, all French-Americans of Canadian descent will enjoy a well deserved sense of pride in reading French-Canadians in Michigan. As a side comment, it seems the writing of French history in North American suffered sort of an arrested state of development after Francis Parkman published his series in the late 1800s about the French in North America. A lot has happened since Parkman wrote his chronicles, largely transcribed from the Jesuit Relations documents written by French missionaries. DuLong's work on French-Canadians in Michigan might stir more interest in French-Canadian history. For the sake of a culture older than Plymouth, in Massachusetts, we need more of DuLong's writing to preserve the dwindling numbers of living memories of French-Canadians in America.

This outstanding book clarifies many freudian topics that remain obscure in less skillful hands. An opinionated and thorough discourse.

This massive 2 volume work was well documented, well illustrated with drawings, photos & maps, indexed and referenced. This is not another book that summarizes the same old stories with the same old characters. Through nearly a 1150 pages Mr. Kent gives us a personal portal into the everyday life at Fort Ponchartrain and surrounding area in relation to it's time in history and sets the bar higher for every future historian to attempt to match it's quality & expansive approach. Common trade items of the day are shown & discussed such as the various imported fishing hooks--but also how they were knotted! Spears, kettles, bells, tools, crooked knives, furniture, crosses, silver, axes, tomahawks, beads, decorations, weapons, rings, medals, etc all backed up in great detail by countless manifest lists, diary entries, and other documents. Nearly every aspect of the lives of these soldiers, priests, traders, carpenters, blacksmiths, middlemen, and voyageurs is meticulously laid out for us through thousands of French and English sources from around the world. Never before has a work of this scale been done that comes close to this concerning the fur trade.

Yes the price is not cheap, but considering the warehouse of information gathered, any serious reinactor, historian, or just history buff would consider the result priceless.

Mr. Semion is a walking plethora of Michigan information. He has fished the Au Sable, skied the Boynes, pheasant hunted in Grayling, hiked its thousands of miles of trails, and snowmobiled the Upper Penninsula in january. if you're looking for something to do year round, besides the obvious Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village tour, check out his book. Not only will you know where to find Detroit's historic buildings, he can tell you where to enjoy a famous coney island hot dog!

Bioplanning is Diana Beresford-Kroeger name for gardening within nature. Using the characteristics of the Northern Temperate Bioregion and the ecological needs and values of all of her favorite plants, Beresford-Kroeger offers plans and reasoning for wonderful gardens. She also lists many invaluable ecologically friendly techniques and products (many made from common household products) to use for reducing common garden problems ie. using wood ash as a fungicide.
This book is my new must have in gardening book.