Beginning as a small, bitter berry in South America the tomato might be considered the Zelig of the vegetable world, present at so many important world events — witness to the overnight vaporization of an ancient and thriving civilization, victim of the excesses of the Renaissance, and revolutionizer of the diet of a new nation — you wonder how it could have been missed. And yet the world's most popular vegetable is often overlooked, if not downright vilified. In the first comprehensive biography of the tomato I bring this remarkable vegetable to life, focusing on ten great events in the life of the tomato. And I guarantee, after reading this book, you will never look at the tomato (or a pizza, or bowl of spaghetti) the same way.

Ever think, "Gee, I wish I could speak French?"(or Italian, or Spanish, or Russian) I've harbored that thought ever since falling in love with France in my twenties, but not until the age of 57 did I decide to do something about it, tackling the French language with the same hell-bent-for-leather enthusiam with which I've previously approached gardening and bread. Rosetta Stone, weekend classes, two trips to France,and one immersion experience in Provence later: Will I succeed? "Is that even the point" you may wonder as you read about my rollicking adventures, (literal) heartache and the joys and travails of learning language in late middle age in Flirting with French.

Have you ever had a groundhog eat your garden tomato the day before you were going to pick it? The neighbor's cat pee repeatedly on your organic lettuce? Ever suspect that your home-grown produce is costing you more than you could buy it for at the supermarket? Then you're familiar with the world of The $64 Tomato.

This critically-acclaimed humorous gardening memoir, praised in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and numerous other publications, was a National Book Festival selection, a Quill Book Award finalist, and a national bestseller. Let the experts have their garden encyclopedia; The $64 Tomato is the garden book "for the rest of us."

Who knew the joy, angst, illness, adventure, cheating, theft, marital discord, and enlightenment that lay in wait when I embarked on a year trying to bake the perfect loaf of peasant bread? 52 Loaves is a breathless week-by-week account of my year of baking often, badly, and even dangerously. Along the way, you'll learn fascinating nuggets about the history of bread and milling, why flour is enriched, why bread is an anti-aphrodisiac, why white bread may have been responsible for the worst epidemic of the early twentieth century, and what on earth are those plump, leavened biscuits are doing in DaVinci's "Last Supper" — during Passover!

Most of all, you'll learn how to bake the best loaf of bread you've ever eaten —guaranteed, or this website is free!