Haven Nutt launched her wellness retreat, Heart Haven, to help others on their journey to instinctual health. Her cookbook offers more than a hundred recipes developed by enjoying moments in the kitchen, along with tips for allowing the body and mind to live free and flourish.

Haven is an entrepreneur, personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and adventure lover. She is passionate about empowering people to find the root of their own health with mental, physical, and spiritual wellness—because each of these elements is a peg in the turning wheel of what it means to be alive. She is the owner and operator of Heart Haven—a lakefront retreat tucked away in the Ozark mountains, where adventure meets R&R, and guests can enjoy the great outdoors, a dose of lake life, and garden to table meals. She is a people person who loves anything and everything active, and is passionate about hosting and bettering others.

New Jersey Hot Dogs

"Hot dogs are an underappreciated aspect of New Jersey culture. New Jersey Hot Dogs shines a spotlight on them and celebrates our state’s unique contributions to culinary history. Can you think of anything more Jersey than a good hot dog?" -Mark

Any local will tell you New Jersey is home to a surprising number of unique local and regional hot dog styles. Chili-drenched hot Texas wieners in Paterson. Potato-packed Newark-style Italian dogs at Jimmy Buff’s. Dirty water pushcart franks topped with mustard and sauerkraut and juicy MOP dogs (that's mustard, onion, and pickle) like the ones served at Hot Dog Johnny's. The origins of New Jersey's iconic hot dogs begin well over a century ago and include obscure holes-in-the-wall and world-famous roadside stands like the historic Rutt’s Hut.

Descendants of whalers and those accustomed to hard living, the people of Cape May County served their emerging country on land and sea. They fought in the Continental army and the local militia at places like Brandywine and Germantown, and they fought at sea and on Delaware Bay, mostly as privateers. Their activities devilled the vaunted British navy and damaged the British war effort. Men like the Stillwell brothers, Nicholas and Enoch, prowled the waters around Egg Harbor and Peck’s Beach. Others, like successful Philadelphia lawyer and merchant Thomas Leaming, financed privateer ventures at the risk of losing everything.

Raritan Bay was more than a body of water during the American Revolution—it was a front line. Its villages, farms, and ports became places where Patriots, Loyalists, and those in between clashed in a struggle that reshaped the colonies. Smugglers, privateers, and spies used its waters and inlets to move men, messages, and supplies. Families were torn apart, neighbors eyed one another with suspicion, and violent raids brought the war directly to the doorsteps of New Jersey residents.

The maritime tragedies of the Jersey Shore reveal the terror of North Atlantic hurricanes, the high price of human failure, and the dreadful consequences of mutiny and murder. But this sad and dark history also has a haunting side. Immigrants perished just miles from their destinations, their dreams of a new life dashed, and well-heeled passengers aboard posh vessels never saw land again. Yet all their cries still echo shoreward to this day. Destroyed by fire or mysterious mishaps, ocean liners still travel the waters they sank beneath many years ago.

Vessels like the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Niagara, and Walk-in-the-Water are now the stuff of legend, but lesser-known ships also have their stories to tell. Cargo-carrying schooners, such as Moonlight and Minnedosa, got faster and bigger over the years, helping them hold their own against the emerging steamships, while the revolutionary design of the R.J. Hackett set the standard for lake freighters for years. Of course, the Great Lakes have often exacted a heavy toll, as demonstrated by the mysterious disappearance of the Griffon and the harrowing sinking of Pere Marquette 18.

When Gideon Granger arrived in the area that would become Jefferson in 1803, he found an inhospitable land of dense forest, harsh winters, and sultry, humid summers. Even the most basic supplies were a day’s journey away. However, the former US postmaster general saw the potential in this land that he named for the president he had served, Thomas Jefferson. 

The city would later become the center of the US abolitionist movement in the pre–Civil War years as well as the seat of Ashtabula County government when the county was formed in 1808. Nearby Rock Creek, organized in 1819, never grew as big as its neighbor. However, the village is home to a Civil War cemetery, a picturesque creekside park, and one of Ohio’s most talented chainsaw artists. Roaming Shores, a lakeside residential community with hundreds of homes, was created in 1966–1967 when the Rock Creek dam was constructed, forming the largest private-access lake in Ohio.

Wilmington Before Interstate 95

Interstate 95 was constructed as part of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, signed into law by Pres. Dwight Eisenhower. Francis “Frank” Victor du Pont (1894–1962), son of T. Coleman du Pont, who gave Delaware the DuPont Highway, was the US commissioner of the Bureau of Public Roads from 1953 to 1955. Frank du Pont was a key figure in promoting a national highway and for championing the need for this new interstate system to access city centers. This “Center City” requirement came into play when a lame duck Wilmington City Council on June 21, 1957, approved placing the interstate between Adams and Jackson Streets, essentially cleaving the city and ignoring various protest groups who favored a route east of the city.

Boston in 50 Maps

Covering four distinct categories (“The Making of Boston,” “The Lay of the Land,” “Getting Around,” and “People and Culture” ), Andy Woodruff’s newly created, original maps investigate all facets of Boston’s past and present. In unraveling the many complex layers that comprise the “real” Boston, some explorations are expected: sports championships, universities, and pothole complaints. Others, such as the former cow paths that predated downtown streets, are decidedly more hidden.

Dig into the city’s history with a guided tour through Revolutionary War sites, landmarks of nineteenth-century Black Boston, and notable “first in the nation” events (like the first recorded UFO sighting). Uncover the structural forces that shaped the social and lived experience of Boston, with maps showing the impact of redlining, urban renewal practices, and the busing crisis of the 1970s. Discover how the city’s boundaries evolved through annexation and landfill and how they’ll continue to change due to coastal flooding risks. Explore some of Boston’s most unique quirks through surprising revelations about the density of Dunkin’ locations, the distinctive architecture of three-deckers, and the spread of the infamous Great Molasses Flood.

Add These New Title To Your To Be Read Pile

The best local history and cooking books do more than inform. They invite you in. They make you feel proud of where you come from, curious about what you did not know, and hungry in more ways than one. Today's new releases are a celebration of the places, people, and flavors that make communities worth knowing. Browse the full collection, pick up a title that speaks to you, and share it with someone who loves history as much as you do. These stories deserve to be read, and the table is set.