Quirk Books: Home Economics, Bento Boxes, and Tiny Food

We’ve been enjoying these fun reads from Quirk Books. I thought they would be interesting and haven’t been disappointed – maybe some of you will like then too! Quirk books specializes in quirky reads, and I find them to be a lot of fun!

Home Economics takes vintage homemaking advice and republishes it for the 21st century – literally republishes; as far as I can tell it was not updated in any way. This charming little book (7 x 5 x .5 inches) has advice on frugal living, sewing, baking, cleaning, and even hobbies! It’s all information you *could* find on the internet, but I love having it in book form for three reasons: it makes a neat little book for my kids to go through (they would never search for this advice online), it’s focused information (meaning I won’t be distracted by yet another hobby I don’t have time to take up while perusing Pinterest), and it is a bunch of very basic information in one place – so I can also learn a few things I would never think to look up.

Yum-Yum Bento Box: Fresh Recipes for Adorable Lunches is a book I decided to review because I’m always admiring cute Bento boxes online. The food I make isn’t nearly as cute as what I see in the book (mostly because I’m not willing to put in that much time), but it’s a nice source of fun ideas. I’m actually hoping to teach Emma how to do this – she likes making food, and will have a lot more patience than I do when it comes to taking time to make it look cute.

I decided to review Tiny Food Party!: Bite-Size Recipes for Miniature Meals because Emma adores tiny food, and I like the book. It includes a nice range of sweet and savory foods, and the recipes range from very simple with fairly basic ingredients (cherry tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella) to more complex with ingredients I don’t really buy, like quail eggs and lamb. I really like that all the recipes are designed to be made from scratch, and there are helpful tips for getting them to turn out right. The recipes would make very nice hors d’oeuvres for an adult party party, which is maybe why the book also includes a cocktail recipe section.

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books to review. All opinions are my own. Links in this post are affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them. :)

MaryAnne Kochenderfer

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MaryAnne lives is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.