Troubleshooting and Repairing Major Appliances

Melodie Moore

VIM & Vinegar: Moisten Cakes, Eliminate Grease, Remove Stains, Kill Weeds, Clean Pots & Pans, Soften Laundry, Unclog Drains, Control

Vinegar is inexpensive, safe and 100 percent natural, and nearly every household has a bottle tucked away somewhere, but few people ever take advantage of its full potential. Yes, it's great for dying Easter eggs and making salad dressing, but there's so much more it can do. In Vim & Vinegar, Melodie Moore tells all. Here are hundreds of tips to help readers tenderize meats, soup up soups, eradicate odor, firm fish fillets, cut grease, ease arthritis, cure cramps and more. Versatile vinegar also does wonders for flavoring food (plus, it has no fat or calories), and readers will be amazed at the range of tasty recipes, which include such treats as Vinegar Pie, Crazy Cake and Vinegar Hard Candy. For tightwads, environmental activists, health advocates and curious cooks -- in fact, anyone who appreciates good old American ingenuity -- Vim & Vinegar is the perfect book.

David Giffels

All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House

As wry as Bill Bryson's I'm a Stranger Here Myself, as insightful as Tracy Kidder's House, here is smart, engaging tale of one man's stuggle to restore his family's new home--a decrepit old mansion--and discover himself With his pregnant wife and their 18-month-old son in tow, David Giffels scoured the environs of Akron, OH, in search of the perfect house. But nothing seemed right . . . until he spotted the beautiful, decaying Guilded Era mansion. A former rubber robber baron's domain, the once grand house does need some repair . . . okay it's a dump. So what if, there's “nothing holding this place up but memory,”--the assessment of his father, a structural engineer? It wouldn't be perfect if it were easy, and Giffels relishes the challenge. He's a committed do it yourselfer who fears a life without struggle--and Home Depot. All the Way Home follows Giffels's funny and sometimes frustrating journey as he and his young family turns a decrepit money pit into the the home of their dreams. From outwitting squatters (both four- and two-legged) to rebuilding termite ridden walls, battling wisteria vines and finding $14,000 in Depression-era cash hidden in a bathroom wall, ...

Victoria Moran

Shelter for the Spirit: Create Your Own Haven in a Hectic World

Even though Americans spend thousands on furniture, appliances and interior decoration, many of our homes have become little more than drop-off zones where we collapse after work, glued to the TV while gulping down a microwave dinner. The home can be so much more than that, says Victoria Moran. It can be a haven in which people can revitalize mind, body and soul. That's what Shelter for the Spirit is all about. Merging Eastern and Western spiritual traditions with a sensitivity to the demands of modern life, it provides people with usable directions for bringing a sense of peace and renewal to their homes. Whether addressing how to get rid of clutter, decorate in a way that respects your personality, clean house as a spiritual exercise or celebrate special days (and ordinary ones too), Shelter for the Spirit shows how the quality of attention we give to everyday acts can transform our lives. The only book of its kind, it helps all readers make their homes places in which they and their guests enjoy spending their moments.