We’re pumped for Steven Raichlen’s newest and most ambitious book yet, Planet Barbecue! and we want everyone else to be excited too! That’s why we’ve put together this awesome video with a mouthwatering sneak peek at the globe-spanning recipes from the book. Enjoy!

I’m not one of those people who loves cleaning, although I wish I were! It’s no fun, and it can be confusing and costly to figure out which products to use. I’d already swapped my brand name cleansers for some bleach or ammonia (but never together) diluted with water in a spray bottle, but I kept seeing more and more delicious-smelling, but occasionally pricey, “green” cleaning products on the market, and amazing-sounding new technologies to clean faster and better than ever.

But this is where Be Thrifty swooped in and changed my cleaning style forever with…microfiber. That’s all! You can use it wet or dry, with no other cleaning products, it will disinfect and wipe up like a dream, and it can go straight into the washing machine and come out good as new.

As soon as I read this, I immediately went on a hunt for a microfiber mop, and while I wasn’t able to track one down at my local hardware store, I found a bunch of options online for less than $20. I scored a style with a terrycloth-like texture lime green mop head that I got to put into action this weekend and it was so easy to use, it actually was exciting. Yes, exciting!

I also bought a couple of extra mop heads, but it was extremely easy to rinse the mop head in the sink with a bit of castile soap (another Be Thrifty-inspired purchase) when it was dirty and I didn’t want to wait for the washer.  I also found dirt-cheap packages of microfiber cleaning cloths for other dirty jobs around the house. These were sometimes marketed for washing cars, but it worked wonders on the gross splatters all over my kitchen, picked up dust with ease, and was way more sanitary than the sponges I usually use in the bathroom, with no stinky bleach smell! The novelty of microfiber had me giddily scrubbing away at everything in sight and for the first time in my life I think I’ve run out of things to clean!

For more thrifty cleaning tips, and tons of other cost-saving tips, read our other Be Thrifty blog posts or pick up the book.

Close to a year ago, my colleague Savannah asked me for some help with the home-repair directions in what was then a book-in-progress, now the bona fide book Be Thrifty. My qualifications are not, shall we say, extensive. I can tell a Slotted screwdriver from a Phillips, and I rarely require more than four attempts to strike any given nail. So my edit process involved a trip to Home Depot’s website; some practice hammering; and an inspection of the various doors, windows, and fixtures around the office—what we like to call method editing.

The bonus of method editing (aside from the fact that it gets the job done) is that you truly learn while you edit. The next time I visited my parents’ house, rather than just jiggle the handle on our chronically running toilet, I was actually inspired to take a look inside the tank, diagnose the problem, and replace a faulty shutoff valve. (You’re welcome.)

More recently, I had an opportunity to strut my stuff when my downstairs neighbor, Kate, came up to ask if I could help her install a new doorknob. Step One: Remove the old knob. With no screws in sight, Kate had wedged a Slotted screwdriver between the plate and the door in an attempt to pry the whole thing apart. Poor Kate. Had I not read Be Thrifty, I, too, might have tried to rip the knob in half. But I knew we needed to release the internal spring catch, easily accomplished by pressing any narrow, sturdy tool into the small hole on the stem of the interior knob. I removed and replaced Kate’s doorknob in all of about five minutes, and walked away feeling highly self-satisfied, and yes, a little bit manlier.

P.S. Props to colleague and master editor Ruth Sullivan, the original method editor.

How well do you know the DC Comics Universe? Test yourself with the following questions from DC Comic trivia master and author of Fandex DC Comics Super Heroes and Villians, Randall Lotowycz, plus a bonus question for the truly devout fan.

Click here for part 1

5) When Batman went on a year-long sojurn to retrace the steps that made him into Batman, he left Gotham City in the care of which villain (who was reformed at the time)?
A) Harvey Dent (Two-Face)
B) Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow)
C) Oswald Cobblepot (The Penquin)
D) Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy)

6) To help control young Clark Kent’s blossoming heat vision, his mother fashioned glasses with lenses made from what?
A) Diamonds
B) Kryptonite
C) A hard, translucent plastic
D) Kryptonian crystals

7) Wonder Woman was not born of flesh and blood, but was made out of ______ and given life?
A) Clay
B) Granite
C) Water
D) Lava

8 ) Green Arrow’s and Black Canary’s wedding was interrupted by an attack from which group of villains?
A) The Secret Society of Super-Villains
B) The Injustice League
C) The Brotherhood of Dada
D) The Secret Six

Bonus: John Henry Irons, the scientist and superhero known as Steel, was buddies with what other future hero while attending University of Michigan?
A) Will Magnus (creator of the Metal Men)
B) Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning)
C) Guy Gardner (Green Lantern)
D) Bruce Wayne (Batman)

All characters, their distinctive likeness, and related elements are trademarks of DC Comics © 2010. All Rights Reserved.

Click here for the answers

Read the exciting introduction and sample four amazing recipes from Steven Raichlen’s newest book, Planet Barbecue! Spanning 60 Countries with 309 Recipes, Planet Barbecue! is Steven’s most ambitious book yet!

Click here to read more blog posts about Steven Raichlen’s Planet Barbecue!

I generally think of myself as a fairly responsible eater – avoiding fast food, shopping the perimeters of the supermarket, buying “wild caught” fish, and perusing the local farmer’s market.  But do I really know the provenance of my food?  Well, sort of.  So I’d like to step it up a notch and start reading food labels with greater care—except all the terminology can be confusing, what am I actually looking for? When I saw that Steven Raichlen’s Planet Barbecue! very concisely listed some of the principles he and his family try to apply to their shopping and cooking, it seemed like a great go-to checklist to keep on hand…

Shop local: Food grown in your region supports local farmers and requires less fossil fuel to transport.

Shop seasonal: Food tastes best and costs less when you buy in your area’s peak season.

Shop farmers’ markets: Farmers’ markets are a great place to buy fresh, local, seasonal food, and you are also supporting your local growers and farmers.

Buy free-range: Animals that feed, graze, and move around in open air are healthier than chickens crammed into factory coops or steers crowded into feedlots.

Buy organic: Eating meat from animals fed hormones to accelerate their growth and antibiotics to keep them alive in crowded conditions may not sit well with shoppers. The USDA Organic label means your food is drug- and synthetic chemical-free.

Check the temperature: Cook all chicken and turkey to at least 170°F. Cook all burgers and sausages to at least 160°F. Use an instant-read meat thermometer to check for doneness.

Buy Fair Trade: The World Fair Trade Organization makes sure that growers and food producers in developing countries are paid a fair living wage for their labors. Look for words “Fair Trade” when you buy coffee, sugar, chocolate, bananas and other staples.

Buy wild: While it’s not always available, and it costs more, wild fish has a superior texture and flavor to farmed.

Buy underutilized species: Overfishing has depleted many of the world’s fish species, among them cod and sea bass. Other species are plentiful, cheap and perfect for grilling, including kingfish, bluefish, mackerel, and sardines. The list of endangered species changes from region to region and can be checked on www.montereybayaquarium.org.

Grill Green: If you’re a charcoal griller, use natural lump charcoal, made from pure wood, and light it in a chimney starter. This cuts down on petroleum residue and fumes.

Sunny days and looming vacations can make focusing in the springtime more difficult than usual. Get yourself onto a new, exciting track by turning your “good work”–decent, productive, but not thrilling–into great work with the first chapter of Michael Bungay Stanier’s Do More Great Work.

Having recently purchased a cream colored rug, and then promptly spilling a glass of red wine on it, I’m always looking for a quick rundown of stain removal tricks. I can never remember if you’re supposed to use warm or cold water, if vinegar sets stains or lifts, and if an ink spot means your shirt is heading for the trash can.  But, Pia Catton and Califia Suntree’s Be Thrifty gives easy tricks to get out commonly smudged, smeared, and spilled substances. My impractical-colored rug will thank me…

To prevent stains from sticking around for good, you need to be quick and targeted. The following formulas work on clothes, furniture and carpets, though each type of material will respond to different tricks in its own way.

Antiperspirant: Combine half a teaspoon dish detergent (or castile soap), a few drops of white vinegar, and a half-cup water. Press into the stain with a rag. Flush with water and blot.

Blood: Spit on it. It’s true—your own saliva is the best thing for getting your own blood out fast. Next line of defense: Soak the stained item in cold water mixed with a handful of salt, or apply equal parts ammonia and water with a sponge. Weirdly, bleach doesn’t work well on bloodstains.

Chocolate: Rinse the stain thoroughly, from the back if possible, with cold water.

Coffee: With a sponge, apply a mixture of half a teaspoon of white vinegar to 2 cups of cold water.

Gum: Freeze it by applying an ice cube to the gum. The frozen gum should break off.

Hair dye: Use a little shampoo—it gets it off your skin, and it should work on your clothes.

Ink: Gently massage some aerosol hairspray into the stain, then run it under cold water.

Makeup: Regular detergent should do the trick. First pretreat the stain with alcohol or a stain remover. (This should work on any grease.)

Red wine: Apply a little white wine if available. Then sprinkle liberally with salt (it absorbs) and rinse immediately, rubbing the stain out.

Sweat: Apply a mixture of water and baking soda or a few teaspoons of white vinegar. If this doesn’t work, soak in salt water.

Vegetable oil: Use a liquid dish detergent that cuts grease.

Wax: Scrape off what you can. Put a paper towel over the wax and iron until all the wax is absorbed.

A surprising number of true life love stories seem to start with blind dates. Whether it’s a fix up by a friend or a first meeting from the online dating world, blind dates give you a fresh start with someone totally new, which can be a recipe for romance.

Of course, it can also be a recipe for disaster, and the most horrible date stories are usually the most hilarious. The strange-but-true stories My Blind Date Went Blind have the same addictive quality of those “trauma-rama” embarrassing moments in teen magazines, but with even crazier adult scenarios (and far fewer mentions of feminine care products). Plus there are even happy endings, despite calamity, to give blind daters hope for the future.

Here’s one of my favorite stories from the book:

“The Glass-by-Glass Menagerie”
Harvey P., 44

I’m cruising Match.com one night and find this woman who looks great: forty, divorced, no kids, good job, pretty smile. I write to her, we flirt on e-mail, and we set up a date in a bar.

After she finished her first drink, she says, “I have a confession.” I have a good guess what it is–she looks older than forty. But she surprises me. “I actually do have a child. A son.” Okay, weird lie, but whatever. I don’t mind kids.

After the second drink, she’s smiling a little bigger and waving her hands around more. “Alright, Harvey,” she says, “I can’t lie to you anymore. I actually have two kids, a boy and a girl.”

During her third drink, she starts initiating body contact, laying her hand on my arm to make a point, brushing against my leg when she gets up to g to the bathroom. As she drains her glass, she says, “You know what, Harvey, I like you. So full disclosure this time. Harvey, I got three kids. My little girl Roseannae just turned five.”

I did not stick around for drink number four.

For more hilarious and harrowing tales from the dating world, read My Blind Date Went Blind! And Other True Stories of Dates Gone Wrong.

We’ve posted in this space before about how the book What to Expect When You’re Expecting can take on a whole new meaning to Workman employees who have worked with the book in the past and are now, well, expecting! The cover and title of Heidi Murkoff’s What to Expect have held a special place for 25 years as a cultural touchstone signaling big life changes and entry into parenthood. I think that’s why I love this Barnes & Noble Nook commercial. It not only features our book (yay!) but also shows how What to Expect and so many other books can come to mean so much at special times in your life. Watch the commercial below and let us know what you think! Are there any books that you always associate with a specific time in your life?

Web marketing manager Mell Perling always associates A Tree Grows In Brooklyn with the summer before 7th grade, and also with moving to Brooklyn 10 years later (which is very different than the book).