The Artisanal Vinegar Maker’s Handbook ─ Newly available in English from Spikehorn Press! by Bettina Malle and Helge Schmickl; translated by Paul Lehmann Vinegar making is a very ancient craft. Mankind first harnessed the creation of vinegar, along with its preservative and medicinal qualities, more than ten thousand years ago. Nowadays, however, most guides to […]
A Renaissance of Craftsmanship
Not too many years ago even the most awkward, clumsy public school students suffered through industrial arts (for boys), and home economics (for girls). Looking beyond the embedded sexism for a moment, it’s pretty obvious that a lot of good came from bringing a trainload of bad pencil holders and hotpads into the world. By […]
A Kind of Revival . . .
“Of late years, however, a kind of revival has been going on, as a protest against the conviction that, with all our modern mechanical achievements, comforts, and luxuries, life is growing “uglier every day,” as Mr. [William] Morris puts it. Even our painters are driven to rely rather on the accidental beauty which, like a struggling […]