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Mary Morrison’s Cape Breton Christmas
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95The Halifax Chronicle-Herald calls award-winning comedian Bette MacDonald “a superlative actress, a polished ad libber…making the audience howl with delight by a lift of her eyebrows, a shift of elbow or a single word.”
For years, Bette has delighted audiences with her irreverent and lovable Cape Breton character Mary Morrison. Now Mary is here to entertain readers with her stories and memories of the Christmas season. Mary Morrison’s Cape Breton Christmas is a treasury of all things holiday, including Mary’s advice for coping with family, gift-giving dos and don’ts, and even her favourite seasonal recipes. This new softcover edition of the popular books is a hilarious and colourful collection of Cape Breton Christmas humour.
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Pantry and Palate Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$34.95In Pantry and Palate, journalist Simon Thibault explores his Acadian roots by scouring old family recipes, ladies’ auxiliary cookbooks, and folk wisdom for 50 of the best-loved recipes of Acadians past and present. Recipes run the gamut from Acadian staples such as potato pancakes called Fring Frangs, Rappie Pie, Chicken Fricot, and various forms of meat pies; old-fashioned foodways, such as how to render your own lard, and make the most of out a pig’s head; and sumptuous sweets take the form of Rhubarb Custard Pie or a simple Molasses Cake. Thibault not only discovers the past lives of his immediate and extended family, but their larders as well.
Including essays celebrating the stories behind the recipes, a foreword by bestselling author Naomi Duguid (Taste of Persia), and photos by noted food photographer Noah Fecks (The Up South Cookbook), Pantry and Palate is magnifique from page to plate.
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In the Spirit Reflections on Everyday Grace
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95The wonder of a human hand; the tenacity of trillium; the restorative power of a hymnal: these topics and many more are explored in this thought-provoking collection of 80 spiritual essays from author-journalist Monica Graham.
Taken from the best of the Chronicle-Herald column of the same name, In the Spirit explores with wit and wonder our human relationship with spirituality and religion. With a journalist’s curiosity, Graham asks the tough questions on a variety of subjects, from the implications of declining church membership, to Sunday shopping, to the merits of curiosity and acceptance in faith, but urges readers gently to come to their own conclusions. Whether we pray out loud or in silence, at the pub or the pew, this collection boldly holds each of us accountable to and responsible for our own spirituality, however we may choose to practice.
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Little Book of Sea and Soul
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Lifelong seaside gardener Denise Adams shares 70 ocean-inspired reflections, each paired with an original photograph, in this unique gift book.
Musings on coastal life include both tender and humorous observations that will appeal to seadogs and landlubbers alike. Highlighted by Adams’s stunning photographs of Atlantic seascapes, The Little Book of Sea and Soul invites quiet contemplation. Dive into it boldly or comb it carefully, either way you’ll discover beauty and wisdom in these gentle seaside gems. A perfect gift for the ocean lover in your life.
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A Real Newfoundland Scoff Using Traditional Ingredients in Today’s Kitchens
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Inspired by her desire to stay connected to the food of her home province, culinary writer Liz Feltham goes back to her roots to bring fresh and modern twists to favourite Newfoundland meals. A Real Newfoundland Scoff provides recipes using traditional ingredients from the sea, land, air, bakeshop, and bar to create non-traditional dishes. Above all, Liz encourages readers to use this cookbook as a guide to exploring, discovering, and creating new versions of their old Newfoundland favourites.
Packed with fifty-six new recipes, thirty colour photographs, and a guide for buying Newfoundland ingredients in Atlantic Canada, this cookbook will appeal to all Newfoundland chefs, traditional and adventurous alike.
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Mother’s Message in a Bottle
Editor: Tyler HaydenPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95The most important message that moms deliver is underscored by love.
Mother’s Message in a Bottle is an inspirational collection of over 40 letters from mothers around the world to the people they love.
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The Finest Tree and other Christmas Stories from Atlantic Canada
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95Celebrate the holiday season with over twenty tales—true and make-believe—of Atlantic Canadian Christmases, past and present.
Edited by Dan Soucoup (A Short History of Halifax), The Finest Tree showcases memories, traditions, and stories from all four Atlantic provinces. PEI’s L. M. Montgomery brings Christmas to a group of train-bound strangers, while Gary L. Saunders turns to Christmastime to escape September writers’ block in Newfoundland; Beatrice MacNeil details her magical journey to Christmas Mass in Cape Breton, while in rural New Brunswick Michael O. Nowlan and his father take their annual trip to town. Featuring these stories of homespun Christmas tradition and cheer from Atlantic Canada’s finest authors, and plenty more, The Finest Tree will warm your heart on the coldest winter nights.
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Seasoned Recipes and Essays from The Spiceman, Costas Halavrezos
Artist: Joanna ClosePublisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95Indulge in a uniquely crafted culinary history and recipe guide as Halifax’s resident “Spiceman,” Costas Halavrezos, blends genres as expertly as he does spices and leads an educational and sensory exploration. With 30 essays and 50 accompanying recipes, Seasoned demystifies domestic and familiar spices, like cloves, fennel, and paprika, and introduces readers to a whole new world of flavour, including Kaffir lime leaves, Moroccan rosebuds, and Isot Kurdish black pepper—and that’s just a taste!
Featuring facts and anecdotes, storage and preparation methods, and recipes from Halavrezos’s personal collection paired with delightful illustrations by Joanna Close, Seasoned is a fabulous resource for foodies, home-chefs, and aspiring spice connoisseurs.
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Dutch Oven 2nd edition
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95The town and county of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, has a tradition of hospitality that dates back over two centuries, when German settlers first arrived to carve a new life from the wilderness. Augmenting their farming produce with the abundant harvest from the sea, they developed a unique cuisine that combines longstanding traditions with contemporary ingredients and methods.
This wonderful collection of recipes from Lunenburg kitchens began as a fundraising project by the Ladies Auxiliary for the Fisherman’s Memorial Hospital and was first published in 1953. This new edition features an updated design and index of recipes for ease of use.
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You Can Too Canning, Pickling and Preserving the Maritime Harvest
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95More and more Maritimers are recognizing the many benefits of eating locally and even growing their own food, and starting to wonder how to get even more value from their kitchen gardens or their favourite farmer’s stall. Enter Elizabeth Peirce, vegetable-gardening guru and lifelong preserver of food! In You Can Too! Peirce describes all the best ways to preserve Maritime crops: Canning, pickling, dehydrating, freezing, fermenting, and using root cellars. She also includes inspiring interviews and profiles of some of this region’s most enthusiastic preservers of food.
With detailed instructions, full-colour photographs, and recipes for old Maritime favourites like mustard pickles as well as innovative new concoctions like spicy plum ketchup, You Can Too! is a complete how-to for anyone interested in eating delicious local food all year round—and doing it on the cheap!
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To Every Thing There is a Season A Cape Breton Christmas Story
Artist: Peter RankinPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$14.95It is Christmastime in Cape Breton, and a young boy describes the anticipation his family feels toward the holiday and most of all, to the homecoming of his older brother, Neil, working in Ontario on the “lake boats.”
To Every Thing There is a Season was first published in 1977, yet its impact remains powerful to this day. This new softcover edition features 20 of Peter Rankin’s splendid illustrations, a perfect complement to a classic Canadian Christmas story.
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The Christmas Secret
Editor: Dan SoucoupPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95The Christmas Secret is a homemade collection featuring twenty tales of Atlantic Christmases past and present, plucked from the memories and traditions of famed purveyors of local lore. This edition features a veritable buffet of Atlantic holiday celebrations and experiences, from the heartwarming holidays inside a lighthouse on Bon Portage Island to a struggling Cape Breton coal mining community, to the spirit of “old Christmas” in Island Cove, Newfoundland.
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A Bluenose Twelve Days of Christmas
Artist: Doretta GroenendykPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Five Highland flings!
Four coal seams,
Three lobster traps,
Two fiddle tunes,
And a Bluenose in at Pier Three.“The Twelve Days of Christmas” gets a taste of Nova Scotian revelry in this energetic retelling by storyteller Bruce Nunn. With Doretta Groenendyk’s charming and funny illustrations, readers young and old will want to read–and sing!–this version of the carol every Christmas.
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Maritime Fresh Delectable recipes for preparing, preserving, and celebrating local produce
Photographer: Kelly NeilPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$27.95In this one-of-a-kind cookbook and grower’s guide, Taste Canada Food Writing Awards nominee Elisabeth Bailey (A Taste of the Maritimes) celebrates a medley of home-grown Maritime produce, from apples to zucchini. Featuring 150 recipes and 80 accent photos, Maritime Fresh covers everything that the aspiring chef-gardener needs to know, from how to get the most out of the local farmers’ market, to the benefits of Community-Supported Agriculture, to tips for growing and preserving produce and, of course, unique recipes for creating beautiful dishes that the whole family will enjoy.
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Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens (revised edition)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Now an established regional classic, Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens was first published in 1970 and became an instant hit, selling more copies than any cookbook ever published in the province. A collection of traditional Nova Scotia recipes, the book remains extremely popular today and has proven to be a practical guide as well as a delight for armchair cooks. Besides providing easy-to-use recipes for the province’s traditional dishes, Marie Nightingale also tells the stories of the people who prepared this unique cuisine.
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Halifax Tastes Recipes from the Region’s Best Restaurants
Photographer: Scott MunnPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Halifax Tastes is the newest installment in the popular Tastes series. Halifax is famous for its flavourful seafood but as the largest city in the Maritimes, it should be no surprise that Halifax also boasts plenty of variety when it comes restaurants. From zesty Italian to spicy Thai, from tangy Chinese to carefully presented Japanese, from delightful Greek to classic Canadian cuisine, there is sure to be a restaurant to suit everyone’s liking. Easy access to Halifax’s much loved farmers’ market has allowed many of the area’s chefs the freedom to add local, fresh ingredients to their menus. Liz Feltham has chosen 27 restaurants from Halifax and Dartmouth so you can find a great spot to eat no matter where you are located. Featuring tried and tested recipes and approximately 60 mouth-watering photographs of the food and the scenery, Halifax Tastes will tempt your taste buds and give you some fantastic ideas for where to eat on a night on the town.
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A Christmas Dollhouse
$18.95Dot’s family is having a hard time. Her father has work, but her mother is terribly sick, and there is barely enough to make ends meet—and definitely not enough money for a lot of presents this Christmas. In the window of the town’s drugstore, Dot sees a beautiful dollhouse that is being raffled away. But her family doesn’t even have a dollar to spend there so she can enter the contest.
A Christmas Dollhouse is about hope in the face of hardship and about communities gathering close and taking care of each other. Set in Nova Scotia during the Great Depression, this is a story that will appeal to anyone who believes in the magic of Christmas.
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Best of Buddy The Bluenose Reindeer
Artist: Brenda JonesPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$18.95Both Buddy books—truly the best of—now in one handsome edition!
First heard on CBC radio, Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer became an instant Maritime Christmas classic. Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer is sad because, despite his best efforts, he just can’t fit in with Nick Klaus’s fishing crew on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Santa, that normally jolly proprietor of Christmas cheer, is worried because his star performer, the famous Rudolph, is sick with a bad cold! How will Santa and Buddy set everything all right?
In Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer and the Boston Christmas Tree, the search for the perfect Christmas tree to send to Boston isn’t going well, and Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer is called on to help. Of course, with his nose so blue and his aim so true, Buddy easily finds the right tree. Little does everyone know that that’s the easy part.
Packed full of playful puns and perfect for old and young listeners alike, Buddy’s adventures are real treats to read and share aloud.
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The Apple a Day Cookbook
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95“An apple a day keeps the doctor away!” It’s no secret that apples are both good to eat and good for you, and The Apple a Day Cookbook is full of inventive and enticing recipes that will have you adding apples to dishes of all kinds. From appetizers to entrees, soups to salads, cookies to cakes, there’s something here for everyone—savoury meals like apple-stuffed spare ribs, delectable desserts like chocolate chip apple cookies, and even an entire chapter devoted to apple pie.
Along with her delicious recipes, author Janet Reeves offers up a wealth of apple trivia, including many tidbits from the Maritimes that are sure to fascinate.
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Plants for Atlantic Gardens Handsome and Hard-working Shrubs, Trees, and Perennials
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95With all the special challenges associated with gardening in Atlantic Canada, in-depth information and genuine inspiration are even more important. Plants for Atlantic Gardens is your go-to resource for growing perennials, shrubs, and trees on the East Coast. Well-known gardening columnist Jodi DeLong profiles over 100 of the best species for planting in Atlantic Canadian gardens. Each plant description includes essential gardening information, such as growing requirements, hardiness, height, and bloom period. In an accessible, friendly writing style, Jodi also tells prospective gardeners about the plant’s natural history in the region and shares her own experiences-both good and bad!
The book includes a hardiness map, Jodi’s list of preferred further reading, and short sidebars on useful topics like soil type, native plants, and pollinators. Over 200 colour photos provide readers a great opportunity to truly assess each plant’s suitability for their own gardens.
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South Shore Tastes
Photographer: Scott MunnPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95South Shore Tastes, the fourth installment in the popular Tastes pictorial cookbook series, celebrates the local harvest and culinary culture of Nova Scotia’s picturesque South Shore. In this attractive, easy-to-use cookbook, food critic and writer Liz Feltham collects recipes from twenty-four restaurants spanning the region, from the Sou’wester in Peggy’s Cove to Lane’s Privateer Inn in Liverpool to Chez Bruno’s Bistro in Yarmouth. Showcasing a diverse array of dishes that feature local ingredients and tastes, such as Ruisseau oysters with fresh tomato marinade, maple curry ravioli with roasted chicken, and blueberry grunt, South Shore Tastes is an ideal way to bring the flavours, sights, and traditions of the South Shore home with you.
Includes striking photos of both the dishes and the surrounding region by photographer Scott Munn, as well as a map and restaurant guide to help readers find their favourite eatery.
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Atlantic Seafood
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95Drawing from over 20 years of experience as a professional chef in Chicago, Staten Island, Boston, and the Bahamas, Nova Scotia native and chef Michael Howell brings delicious twists to Atlantic seafood in this new cookbook. The book is organized by seafood type, so finding the right recipe is a breeze, and it also means home chefs will be able to select meals based on what’s available in their area. An additional section on sustainable and ethical food choices helps readers make the right choices when it comes to buying Atlantic fish and shellfish. A must-have for any seafood enthusiast!
Includes 40 colour photographs as well as special instructions for sauces and stocks. Types of seafood include: char, clams, crab, haddock, halibut, lobster, mackerel, monkfish, mussels, oysters, salmon, salt cod, scallops, shrimp, smoked seafood, sole, squid, sturgeon, swordfish, and tuna. -
Out of Nova Scotia Gardens Delicious, Nutritious, Vegetable Recipes
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95Bestselling author and newspaper columnist Marie Nightingale has compiled this delightful book on choosing, storing, and cooking delicious local produce. From the lowly cabbage to the more glamorous asparagus and Brussels sprouts, freshly grown vegetables from Nova Scotia are unsurpassed in taste and texture. Offering over 160 delicious recipes, from Leek & Tomato Quiche to Stuffed Onions to Rhubarb & Ginger Jam, Out of Nova Scotia Gardens is organized by vegetable and includes a recipe for everything you can grow in your backyard. It also includes a Chef’s Corner, featuring recipes from famous Nova Scotia chefs.
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Cape Breton Tastes
$22.95Mouth-watering recipes from twenty eight of Cape Breton’s best restaurants.
Cape Breton Tastes presents but a sample of the food available on the island of Cape Breton. If the recipes from local restaurants don’t whet your appetite, then the vivid colour photographs of these dishes surely will. Featuring restaurants from all over the island map-from Ingonish to Arichat-this book is your guide whether you are looking for a bowl of chowder and a homemade biscuit or a hearty meal of lamb, pork,
or roasted goose. Of course, don’t leave without tasting the wondrous bounty of the island’s seas and rivers, or one of the fine desserts worth lingering over. Whatever dish you choose, you won’t be disappointed.
This book features twenty-eight different restaurants from around the island, and includes recipes for starters, soups, meat, seafood, pasta, and desserts. -
Green Shutters Cookbook
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$18.95The Green Shutters Cookbook, with its hearty, simple, downhome recipes, has been a Nova Scotia favourite for over 50 years. Featuring recipes from Hilda Zinck’s Green Shutters Inn, now closed, the book includes timeless favourites like hot cross buns, fish chowder, meatloaf and banana bread.
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Blueberry Connection
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95An Adventure in indigo, summer sapphires, dewy downy bunches of black and blue –what else but BLUEBERRIES! And what goes best with blueberries? Memories! Memories of berry pickin’ time and the delectable delights that follow –pies, jams, jellies, cakes, cookies, puddings, drinks, salads, and, of course, blueberry muffins. The Blueberry Connection has them all. And tucked between the hand-lettered recipes are bits of fact, fluff, and folklore –absolutely anything that you can imagine about blueberries. Over 200 recipes! A Companion volume to The Blueberry Connection is The Cranberry Connection, another bog adventure which, says the Washington D.C. Star, “includes recipes for such gourmet delights as cranberry shrimp dip, cranberry ham glaze, cranberry mincemeat, and four-fruit chutney.” The Register of Des Moines, Iowa, calls it “a treasure,” and Canadian Living says, “it’s more than a cookbook, it also celebrates [Beatrice Ross Buszek’s Rediscovery of her Maritime roots.”
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East Coast Gardener
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$39.95Marjorie Willison grew up gardening on the Canadian prairies but has spent much of her life in Maritime Canada growing and using a wide variety of plants. Since 1985, she has been answering gardening questions on CBC Radio’s Maritime Noon.
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Christmas with the Rural Mail
Artist: Maud LewisPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95A gentle poem describing the journey of a mailsleigh through rural Nova Scotia at Christmas time, delivering packages and parcels to children, Christmas with the Rural Mail is a holiday classic. The poem is carefully crafted to fit Maud Lewis’s colourful paintings, and the mailsleigh passes children skiing and tobogganing, oxen and Clydesdale horses pulling heavy loads, and the train station, among other classic rural winter scenes.
Lewis’s artwork is ideal for babies and toddlers, with its bright colours and simple forms, and the paintings and poem together perfectly evoke Christmases gone by. This is a sturdy board book edition great for young readers.
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Wartime Recipes
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95In recent years, the role played by women during World War Two on the home front, particularly the industrial front ? in factories, shipyards, and coal mines ? has been receiving a lot of attention. But a true valuation of women?s contribution to the war effort needs to include their work on the literal ?home front,? caring for their families alone and deprived of goods and services they had ordinarily taken for granted. During the dismal years between 1939 and 1945, Maritime women learned to keep their families well fed and ?fighting fit? amidst food shortages and rationing. Their recipes, relevant today for anyone who wants to prepare economical, nutritious meals, have been gathered from newspaper food columns, advertisements, and articles from the war period. Devonna Edwards?s collection of wartime recipes harks back to a time when cooking was an act of patriotism. At the same time, it calls attention to the ingenious simplicity that characterizes so much of Maritime cooking.
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A Victorian Nova Scotia Christmas
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95It’s Christmas Eve in the fair town of Amherst, Nova Scotia, and sparkling snowflakes crown the pointed roofs of houses as stately as Victorian ladies. It has been a day of well-loved traditions: visits to the ill and elderly, candlights services, and a favourite story told by father at the fireside.
And upstairs in the attic, a little girl has just found a long-lost treasure that will make tomorrow a Christmas to remember for years to come.
Molly Simmons, author and illustrator of A Victorian Nova Scotia Christmas, was that little girl in the attic, and it is through the eyes of a child that she rekindles all the warmth, wonder, and tradition of a time gone by.
This is a magical tale that speaks to the child in everyone, with exquisitely simple prose, delightful drawings, and cherished family recipes that offer a gift that will last for years to come.
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Newfoundland Pictorial Cookbook
Artist: Sherman HinesPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95Perfect food and perfect pictures all about Newfoundland.