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Would you like to learn more about creating a spiritual home or garden? Sacredhome.com, in association with Amazon.com, has assembled a focused selection of books to guide and inspire your efforts. From exquisitely rendered photographic essays to practical resource references, we're sure you will find something here that will delight you. And if you know of a book you would like us to include, please let us know.

KITCHEN
		100 Graces: Mealtime Blessings Marcia Kelly An inspirational anthology of one hundred mealtime blessings presents prayers and graces representing a wide range of religious traditions--including Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, and Native American--all rendered in beautiful calligraphic script.
		A Biblical Feast Kitty Morse Growing up in Morocco, Kitty Morse was struck by how many people still lived as their ancestors had in biblical times. This observation led her to wonder what people ate during the time of the Scriptures. Poring exhaustively through the Bible, she found many food references, such as the one for Esau's porridge, and another about a garden of cucumbers, but only the text of Ezekiel 4:9 regarding bread came close to being a recipe. So Morse delved into other sources, from the Dead Sea Scrolls to archaeological data. In A Biblical Feast, she draws reasonable and enlightening conclusions from the information she gleaned. For biblical cooks, "Low cooking (stewing), rather than roasting or frying, was their favorite method of cooking.... The ancient Hebrews prepared and ate most foods with their hands." Morse lists all the foods mentioned in the King James Bible, but assumes there were others, too, because the writers of the Old and New Testaments were, logically, more concerned with theology and other events than with "botanical, zoological, and culinary matters."
		Baking for Christmas Maria Polushkin Robbins´s little book offers 50 recipes for both sweet and savory Christmas treats, from cookies, brownies, and biscotti to not-the-usual fruitcakes to crackers and breadsticks. Many are appropriate for gift giving, and lots of them are easy. A handy collection for holiday bakers in search of some new ideas.
		Bread upon the Waters Peter Reinhart It is an age-old recipe--grain, yeast, and spirit--and author Peter Reinhart knows how to blend these ingredients well. On a worldwide level he is known as a master baker and author of the award-winning cookbook Crust and Crumb. On another (but equally important) level he is a spiritual pilgrim who finally planted his roots in the Christ the Saviour Brotherhood, an eastern orthodox service order. In this well-written memoir Reinhart demonstrates how a journey to God follows the same rules as the baking of bread. As in Like Water for Chocolate, Reinhart inserts bread recipes into each chapter of his book as he shares his hard-earned spiritual maturity and personal story. As a result, his stories, wisdom, and bread recipes are more easily understood, savored, and digested.
		Chocolate Chip Challah Lisa Rauchwerger What's for dinner tonight? Artist, author, and cook Lisa Rauchwerger serves up mouthwatering meals and memories in her delightful cookbook. Using the Jewish calendar as a framework, both parent and child can prepare tasty treats all year long. With Aunt Ada's Challah (with a twist) on Shabbat, Multicultural Charoset on Pesach, and Sugar Moon Cookies on Rosh Chodesh, families will be sure to find new, meaningful ways to celebrate the Jewish holidays. Each easy-to-follow recipe is designed for children ages 5-11, their families, and their teachers.
		Crust & Crumb: Master Formulas For Serious Bakers Peter Reinhart "Crust and Crumb" received the James Beard Award as best baking and pastry book of the year. In it, Peter Reinhart (who also penned "Bread upon the Waters: A Pilgrimage Toward Self-Discovery and Spiritual Truth" and "Brother Juniper's Bread Book") combines traditional methods and whole grains with sometimes wild creativity to create breads that are delicious beyond belief. With advice on using food processors and bread machines, the book shows that making world-class bread needn't be difficult or daunting.
		Family Prayers for Mealtime Grace John Colling Divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner and holiday prayers, and measuring 2.25 inches by 3.5 inches, "Family Prayers for Mealtime Grace" is the perfect gift item for weddings, holidays, family events and more.
		Feasting with God Holly Whitcomb Feasting as community, celebration, and thanksgiving--this is the subject of Holly Whitcomb's joyful work. In each chapter of the two sections Feasts and Culinary Interludes, Whitcomb provides a Christian theme on which the chapter is based, topics and questions for reflection and discussion, and mouth-watering recipes. Careful attention is also paid to creating an environment conducive to camaraderie and interaction. Don't worry about whether it is too much trouble for the host, though, as each feast is a potluck. Here are instructions for having your own mini retreat without ever leaving home.
		Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul Deborah Kesten It´s not what you eat, but how you eat, according to nutritionist Deborah Kesten. By exploring the food rituals of numerous cultures, Kesten reveals how food feeds the spirit as well as the flesh. We learn that in order to make soul food, one must learn the art of cooking from feel. Like creating great jazz, African American soul food comes from the depths of wisdom as well as the ability to playfully improvise. The Buddhist monks model the mechanics of mindful eating. And sacred fasting is best illustrated by the Native American vision quest. In the second half of the book, Kesten delves into useful advice on eating disorders, food-mood connections, and specific how-tos of enlightened eating.
		Graces June Cotner This elegantly packaged collection of diverse, original, and traditional blessings makes it easy to share wisdom and insight with family and friends before meals or at special gatherings. A gift edition of original, traditional, and multicultural blessings includes more than 135 poems, prayers, songs, invocations, and salutations for every occasion, and features the works of Yeats, King Solomon, Cat Stevens, and more.
		Sacred Kitchen Robin Robertson This book celebrates the everyday act of cooking as a sacred, life- giving activity and reclaims the kitchen as a temple in the home. Its recipes and sample menus are organized by theme and interspersed among chapters that include tips on using feng shui to supercharge kitchen space,learning to work with the chi (life force) in foods, and incorporating cross-cultural celebrations into mealtimes to bring friends and family closer together.
		Thank You For This Food Debbie Trafton O'Neal Charming, full-color illustrations combine with traditional and new table prayers to make giving thanks at mealtimes a joyful experience for the whole family. Includes detailed instructions for acting out simple finger rhymes and music for learning prayerful mealtime blessings.
		The Bread of Life Episcopal Church Women This book is not a manual of prayer or a pastoral journal or even a treatise on theology. It is just exactly what it says it is; a cookbook compiled and published by some of the liveliest and most agreeable cooks currently wielding a spoon. But this book is as intentional as any religious manual or journal or treatise ever was or could be intentional in its belief that food it the unbreakable bond that joins us, and that grace attends wherever food is given and received. This book, in sum, is a celebration of the secular part of a great mystery, as well as a means joyfully to participate in it.
		The Healing Secrets of Food Deborah Kesten Ancient wisdom meets modern nutrition in today´s kitchen! A thought-provoking book that will make you literally think about what you are eating and how your thoughts are affecting your food. Kesten will show you how your diet is intimately connected with not only your body, but also your mind and soul.
		Twelve Months of Monastery Soups Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette Offer your guests a big bowl of warmth and comfort--stir up some homemade soup! Brother Victor-Antoine vila-Latourrette, author of From a Monastery Kitchen, follows the months of the year with simple recipes using seasonal ingredients. The soup recipes are international as well--try some Polish Pearl Barley Soup in February and Traditional Austrian Cheese Soup in November. Twelve Months of Monastery Soups is a delicious introduction to the art of soup making.

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