Modern living isn't easy. It often requires some know-how our parents didn't pass on, or a special tool. Happily, Kaufmann Mercantile has both, and in this comprehensive field guide, share their expertise on a huge range of topics, from frying an egg, tying a tie, or brewing coffee to things the inner utilitarian in all of us aspires to do, like splitting wood, building a fire, growing our own food, or making our own soap. Forty-eight how-tos are organized into five sections: Kitchen, Outdoors, Home, Garden, and Grooming. Written in clear detail and extensively illustrated,The Kaufmann Mercantile Guide teaches us what we ought to know how to do, as well as what we d like to. Supplemental sidebars feature the best tool for the job, whether a dibber for planting, the best rawhide- and-ash snowshoes, or flammable smoking bags'for making authentic BBQ. This book is a must-have reference tool for living well in the twenty-first century.

Includes 150 newly drawn illustrations.

Includes forty-eight step-by-step how-tos for mastering common tasks, like mending a hem, shaving, or stocking a pantry, or more adventurous activities, like sabering a champagne bottle, starting a vegetable garden, or fording a stream.

Sidebars highlight thirty Tools of the Trade to get the job done right.