As the executive culinary assistant to celebrity Chicago chef Patrick Conlon, Alana Ostermann works behind the scenes—and that’s just the way she likes it. But with developing recipes for Patrick’s cookbooks, training his sous chefs, picking out the perfect birthday gifts for his ex-mother-in-law, and dealing with the fallout from his romantic escapades, she barely has a personal life, much less time to spend with her combo platter of a mutt, Dumpling. Then a fluke online connection brings her RJ, a transplant from Tennessee, who adds some Southern spice to her life. Suddenly Alana’s priorities shift, and Patrick—and Dumpling—find themselves facing a rival for her time and affection. With RJ in the mix, and some serious decisions to make about her personal and professional future, Alana must discover the perfect balance of work and play, money and meaning, to bring it all to the table—one delicious dish at a time… INCLUDES RECIPES

Blessed with a high emotional IQ, Phinn Reed enters the world with the promise of finding his soul mate. With heaven's memories erased, his romantic quest teaches him that the heart often sees clearer than the eyes-and that not everyone has ordered the same items from The Menu. This inspirational love story is heartfelt evidence that love stories come in many different forms.

Our Changing Menu unpacks the increasingly complex relationships between food and climate change. Whether you're a chef, baker, distiller, restaurateur, or someone who simply enjoys a good pizza or drink, it's time to come to terms with how climate change is affecting our diverse and interwoven food system. Michael P. Hoffmann, Carrie Koplinka-Loehr, and Danielle L. Eiseman offer an eye-opening journey through a complete menu of before-dinner drinks and salads; main courses and sides; and coffee and dessert. Along the way they examine the escalating changes occurring to the flavors of spices and teas, the yields of wheat, the vitamins in rice, and the price of vanilla. Their story is rounded out with a primer on the global food system, the causes and impacts of climate change, and what we can all do. Our Changing Menu is a celebration of food and a call to action—encouraging readers to join with others from the common ground of food to help tackle the greatest challenge of our time.

There were signs all throughout town telling eight-year-old Connie where she could and could not go. But when Connie sees four young men take a stand for equal rights at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, she realizes that things may soon change. This event sparks a movement throughout her town and region. And while Connie is too young to march or give a speech, she helps her brother and sister make signs for the cause. Changes are coming to Connie’s town, but Connie just wants to sit at the lunch counter and eat a banana split like everyone else.

Best friends Annie and Eve know the bare bones of both culinary school and amateur sleuthing. Now they’re in the trenches, struggling to keep a new restaurant, Bellywasher’s, from going belly up… Annie and Eve have joined their former cooking teacher, Jim—who doubles as Annie’s on-again, off-again boyfriend—in running his new restaurant, Bellywasher’s. Bombshell Eve is the hostess, while Annie stays behind the scenes, frantically managing everything from the books to the radicchio supply. Then a rave review makes the spot an instant success, drawing Washington’s high-powered elite to sample Jim’s cooking…people with both money and secrets to burn. Everything’s simmering along just fine until Annie and Eve find their friend Sarah, staffer to a powerful Congressman, lying dead in her tub. The cops want to write it off as a suicide, but the girls notice that, like Annie’s invoices, the facts just don’t add up. Then, after a series of suspicious “accidents” that come dangerously close to taking the girls permanently out of commission, Annie and Eve realize that this kitchen fire isn’t about to put itself out…

Grade Level: 3-6 Make learning fun while boosting basic skills with this unique book of practical application math activities. The ebook includes a colorful menu to which students must refer to figure costs when spending money at a restaurant! From hamburgers to french fries, your students will get their fill as they work through hundreds of computation and real-life word problems. Students figure food costs, tax, total restaurant checks, make change, and more!