In this debut collection, award-winning poet and baker Kate Lebo redefines everything we thought we knew about pie. An eclectic mix of prose poems, fantasy zodiac, and humor, A Commonplace Book of Pie explores the tension between the container and the contained while considering the real and imagined relationships between pie and those who love it. Expanding on Lebo's successful chapbook of the same name, this volume includes new poems as well as more than two dozen Americana-themed illustrations by artist Jessica Lynn Bonin. Bonin's art adds a sense of nostalgia alongside Lebo's modern style, and together with the text, puts pie and the art of baking in a fresh, contemporary context. Kate Lebo makes poems and pies in Seattle. Her writing has appeared in Best New Poets, Gastronomica, and Poetry Northwest. When Kate is not creating poems, she is hosting her semi-secret pie social, Pie Stand, around the US, teaching creative writing at the University of Washington and Richard Hugo House, and pie-making at Pie School, her cliche-busting pastry academy. Jessica Lynn Bonin is an illustrator and mixed-media artist whose work adds a modern twist to familiar images of American culture. Bonin's murals are displayed in New York,Oregon and Washington state. She lives and works in a former hardware store and lumberyard in Edison, Washington.

Pie baking has never been easier with this gorgeous dessert cookbook full of swoon-worthy recipes and expert advice on baking the perfect pie crust. Here are recipes for fifty perfect pies, including apple (of course), five ways with rhubarb, lemon chiffon, several blueberry pie variations, galettes, and more. Learn the tricks to making enviable baked goods and gluten-free crust while enjoying Kate Lebo's wonderfully humorous, thoughtful, and encouraging voice. In addition to recipes, Lebo invites readers to ruminate on the social history, the meaning, and the place of pie in the pantheon of favorite foods. When you have mastered the art, science and magic of creating the perfect pie in Pie School, everyone will want to be your friend.

"an anthology that’s ... eclectic, drunk and delicious." —The New York Times If you love pie, whiskey, and good writing, this collection of funny and heartbreaking stories, poems, and recipes serves up a plethora of pleasure. What happens when good writing is inspired by and served with a slice of pie and a shot of whiskey? Pie & Whiskey is a literary event series started in Spokane, Washington, where the idea was to serve good pie, good whiskey, and good writers reading prose or poetry about pie and whiskey. This collection features the best original work from the series by writers such as Anthony Doerr, Elissa Washuta, Kim Barnes, and more. Proving that good writing is best served with a slice of pie and a shot of whiskey, a smattering of pie recipes and whiskey-centric cocktails are included alongside dozens of surprising, funny, heartbreaking, fantastically written stories and poems by Jess Walter, J Robert Lennon, Kim Barnes, and ML Smoker and more. Full contributor list: Kim Addonizio • Steve Almond • Kim Barnes • Devin Becker • Judy Blunt • Anthony Doerr • Thom Caraway • Elizabeth J. Colen • Debra Magpie Earling • Christopher Howell • Sherrie Flick • Jacob H. Fries • Nina Mukerjee Furstenau • Margot Kahn • Meissa Kwasny • Kate Lebo • J. Robert Lennon • Samuel Ligon • Gary Copeland Lilley • Robert Lopez • Tod Marshall • Virginia Reeves • Laura Read • Paisley Rekdal • Nicole Sheets • M. L. Smoker • Alexandra Teague • Rachel Toor • Robert Wrigley • Ed Skoog • Jess Walter • Shawn Vestal • Elissa Washuta • Joe Wilkins • Nance Van Winckel • Kristen Millares Young • Maya Jewell Zeller

"A collection of facts (both real and imagined) about pie."-- ZAPP zine catalog.

From two-time Caldecott winner Chris Van Allsburg, creator of Jumanji and The Polar Express, comes a poignant story of one hamster's struggle with destiny. Being a pet store hamster isn't much fun for Sweetie Pie, but life in human homes proves downright perilous. As Sweetie Pie longingly gazes out of his cage at the squirrels frolicking in the trees, he wonders if he'll ever have the chance to feel the wind in his fur. Allsburg's expressive, soft-hued illustrations artfully capture a hamster's-eye view of the wide and wonderful world where maybe, just maybe, Sweetie Pie could someday run free.

What's a Desperation Dinner? How to feed your family well when your spouse is late, the kids are losing it, and the dog is scratching at the door. Features over 250 tempting, nutritious recipes that take brilliant advantage of convenience foods-from individual quick-frozen chicken breasts to chopped ginger in a jar-plus innovative techniques to cut time and "push" flavor. Desperation Dinners Promise: 1. These recipes are not hard. 2. These recipes do not require expensive equipment. 3. These recipes do not lie-every one can be made in 20 minutes, start to finish. 4. Expect to be working, but only for those 20 minutes. 5. These recipes taste good. A Slightly Desperate Cook's Answer to "What's for Dinner?" Skillet Shepherd's Pie Topsail Spaghetti Pork au Poivre Chicken Chili Quesadillas Garlic-Roasted Salmon Buttered Rum-Glazed Ham Fish Florentine Confetti Stuffed Peppers And When You're Really Desperate Southwestern Chicken on the Spot Minute Minestrone Tuna and Fusilli Alfresco Miracle Baked Pork Chops Practically Perfect Peach Crisp "The dinner dilemma is solved! The Desperation ladies deserve to be stove-side in every busy home." -Nathalie Dupree, author of Nathalie Dupree Cooks Quick Meals for Busy Days

Turk's parents are proud of him, the biggest, strongest, most graceful bird at Wishbone Farm. "He's a dancer," says his mother. "He's an athlete," says his father. "He's a goner," says his little brother, Runt. But no one ever listens to Runt -- even after people with seasonal plans and roasting pans begin showing up at Wishbone Farm, or even after the juiciest turkeys are chosen, one by one. "Chosen for what?" Turk asks. No one wants to hear Runt's answer. But you will laugh at what he has to do to get his family's attention. They are, after all, turkeys.