Spoon Carving Project Book: 15 Simple Designs for the Kitchen

Van Driesche (Carving Out a Living on the Land), publisher of Spoonesaurus Magazine, details how to create wooden utensils in this handy manual. He writes for those with little background in woodworking and offers a rundown of necessary tools, recommending that readers get an axe, club, handsaw, straight knife, hook knife, and a smooth pebble or length of antler to rub along and soften edges. The projects follow the same general process: use a handsaw to shape a length of wood, whittle it down into the desired form, burnish it, and then apply finish. Though most of the projects are for spoons—including cooking, serving, and eating spoons, as well as scoopers for ice cream and flour—the author shows how to apply the same techniques to create a coat hook, butter knife, honey dipper, and several kinds of spatulas. Van Dreische’s reverence for trees lends this an appealingly meditative quality (he asserts that “trees are individuals” and “your partner in this process”), though the amount of equipment required poses a high barrier to entry for those who don’t already have woodworking tools. Novice carpenters might find this daunting, but those willing to put their backs into it will be rewarded. (Feb.)