Kirjahaku

*** Official Selection of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club - Five Diamonds in the Tiara *** By the age of 40, adventure journalist and world traveler, Beth M. Howard, was convinced that no matter what she set her mind to, she could find a way to do it. Nothing, however, had prepared her for to Stuttgart, Germany, to marry a German.After a lust-filled, trans-Atlantic courtship, Howard trades the West Coast for a newlywed life with Marcus, an automotive engineer. With fairy-tale optimism, she's determined to learn the language, settle into her new home and live happily ever after--in an equal partnership. The Teutonic tongue, she discovers, is about as easy as deciphering DNA code. The Germans have a plethora of rules, she learns, but only by breaking them. And, once she is living in his country, her husband expects her to wash his dishes. Uh, I don't think so "But you are living your dream " her sister reminds her. "You can have European adventures, and you can write." Howard has adventures all right--from Stuttgart to Munich, Berlin, Paris, Italy and beyond--and she's written all about them in her lively and witty narrative, "Hausfrau Honeymoon: Love, Language and Other Misadventures in Germany." Will the marriage survive the minefield of culture clashes? And will she ever learn that "awful German Language?" As Howard strives for the answer, her story will have you laughing, crying and, above all, rooting for a happy ending.

Beth M. Howard knows about pie. She made pies at California's Malibu Kitchen for celebrities including Barbra Streisand (lemon meringue), Dick Van Dyke (strawberry rhubarb), and Steven Spielberg (coconut cream) before moving back home to rural Iowa. She now lives in the famous American Gothic House (the backdrop for Grant Wood's famous painting) and runs the hugely popular Pitchfork Pie Stand.With full-color photos throughout, Ms. American Pie features 80 of Beth's coveted pie recipes and some of her own true tales to accompany them. With chapters like Pies to Heal, Pies to Seduce, and Pies to Win the Iowa State Fair, Beth will divulge her secret for making a killer crust without refrigerating the dough and will show you how to break every rule you've ever learned about making delicious, homemade pie.

CAN PIE REALLY PROMOTE WORLD PEACE?Beth Howard always dreamed of circumnavigating the planet; not to tick off a list of tourist sites, but to immerse herself in the culture of each country by making pie with local residents. Pie had healed her grief after her husband's death, so why not use it to heal the world and promote peace? Hauling her rolling pin from New Zealand to Australia, Thailand to India, Lebanon to Greece, Switzerland to Germany and Hungary, Howard uses America's iconic comfort food as a means for connecting with people in their homes, kitchens, and caf s. In each region, she offers pie lessons and, in turn, learns about the surprising origins of ingredients and traditional dishes-including pie in its myriad forms. During her demanding three-month journey, she meets charming characters, experiences uncanny coincidences, and finds kindness when she least expects it. She also encounters geopolitical unrest (past and present) that prompts the questions: Why is world peace so elusive? And what can we do to achieve it? She offers some answers in her feisty, often funny, always unflinching voice. Underlying her pie and peace mission is her personal story about overcoming fear, letting go of grief, searching for a new home, and making room for new love. A balanced blend of multi-cultural insight, world history, social commentary, immersive travel, and the comfort of pie, World Piece could be described as Waitress meets Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Come along for the wild ride as Howard takes the reader on a deeply intimate, delicious, and inspirational global adventure.