Culinary Mexico is a "regional exploration of the cooking of Mexico," according to author, Chef Daniel Hoyer.

With this cookbook, Hoyer excludes the Americanized version of what Mexican food is and instead gives a gastronomical survey of authentic cuisine from various geographical regions of Mexico.

In addition to recipes for these dishes, Hoyer also gives adaptation instructions for modern approaches to traditional Mexican cooking methods, such as making your own tortillas.

He describes one of his favorite recipes from the book, Cochinita Pibil, or Pit-Roasted Pork, in this 2-minute video filmed in Santa Fe, New Mexico. WARNING: If you watch this clip when you're hungry, it could cause panic.

"I think families are so scattered and our lives are pretty hectic and fast-paced," says Janet Peterson, author of the new cookbook, Family Dinners: Easy Ways to Feed Your Kids and Get Them Talking at the Table. That's why she's written two cookbooks focusing on simple, tasty recipes along with techniques to promote family interaction.

Family Dinners has recipes for standards such as lasagna and sloppy joes, and also includes activities and conversation starters designed to get your family eating together and enjoying that dinnertime.

In this 2-minute video, Peterson extolls the virtues of family dinners for not only the emotional and mental health benefits, but for your physical health as well.

Today's video is the first in a series of Salt Lake City authors filmed at the offices of Gibbs Smith, Publisher, during our 2006 Summer Tour. Gibbs Smith is a leading publisher of lifestyle books.

Janet Eyring is a slow cooker enthusiast. She’s the co-author of a cookbook called 101 Things To Do With A Slow Cooker that includes instructions for entrees, as well as atypical recipes such as appetizers and desserts.

Eyring is the mother of a toddler, so she understands the time crunch that many families face when trying to fix a good meal. She believes that we’re in the middle of a slow cooker revival.

In this 2-minute video, Eyring briefly describes one of her favorite recipes in the cookbook, something you probably wouldn’t think you could prepare in a crockpot!

Today's 2-minute video is a real treat, thanks to the robust storytelling of artist and author Franklin Adams.

The video was filmed at the Bywater Tech Center in June, 2006. Franklin Adams is Professor Emeritus at Tulane University where he was dean of the school of architecture before he retired.

Professor Adams' book, The Yellow River Kid, co-written with James Whitmore, is an adventure yarn built around a floatplane. The authors have been working on the story for decades. In fact, they've been at it so long that Adams has difficulty telling the difference between his characters and real people, as you'll see.

The Yellow River Kid is a manuscript in production. As soon as copies are available, we'll post a purchase link next to the video. If you want to contact Professor Adams about his book, just drop us a line here at AuthorViews.

In today's 2-minute video, author Tom Benjey introduces us to his new book, Keep A-goin': The Life of Lone Star Dietz.

Football Hall of Famer William "Lone Star" Dietz is one of the most colorful characters in sports history. He coached Washington State's team to a spectacular Rose Bowl victory in 1916. An athlete, actor, and artist, Dietz created a buzz wherever he went.

Part native American, Dietz played the role of "injun" as well as all the other roles he took on. When his Indian heritage was challenged in court, Dietz was personally crushed.

Tom Benjey spent years researching Dietz' life, traveling all over America to gather anecdotes, news clippings and artwork. The book is a masterful piece of research highlighted with over 250 illustrations, many drawn by Dietz himself.

As you'll see in today's 2-minute video, Ellen Schwartz is passionate about helping people take control of thier lives back from multinational corporations that play you like a cash accordian, trying to squeeze every dollar out of your hide.

Schwartz is co-author of Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance, published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This video was filmed at BK's offices in the heart of San Francisco during the AuthorViews tour last summer. Schwartz was too busy working on her new book about global corporate corruption to approve her video for release. Until now.

Why do multinational corporations have such disproportionate power over ordinary people's lives? What can you do to take back control over your life? Schwartz has some suggestions for you.

Ken McCarthy and I have shared ideas about online marketing since before the Web, when we would chat in threads on The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, also known as "The WELL."

McCarthy hosted the first conference on the commercial implications of the Internet in San Francisco in 1994. His work has evolved into The System Seminar, an annual gathering for online entrepreneurs with year-round support on the web. The next seminar is scheduled for April 27-29, 2007, in Chicago.

If something big is going down in Internet marketing, I usually hear about it first through McCarthy's newsletter, later through blogs or The Wall Street Journal. In today's two-minute video, McCarthy talks with us while visiting New Orleans to support the city, soak up some jazz, and tour our offices in the Bywater Tech Center.

We recently featured Linda Salisbury's video about the premiere book in her Bailey Fish Adventures series, The Wild Women of Lake Anna. On that same day at the 2006 Virginia Festival of the Book, we also spoke with her about the second book in the series, No Sisters Sisters Club.

Salisbury tells us about the success of the Bailey Fish Adventures series, which is aimed at children aged 8 through 12. Her books are on the required reading list in school districts around the country, and as a result, Salisbury is being invited to visit the schools as a guest speaker.

In this 2-minute video, she explains the unique opportunity she gets out of meeting with over 2000 students and being exposed to their feedback.

We conclude our Summer of 2006 Austin, Texas, tour today with the engaging Virgnia Fleck.

We interviewed Austin artist Fleck in her studio where she talked about the evolution of her mandalas -- gorgeous nine-foot circles of color built using a surprising material.

Fleck's mandalas make a statement that has resonated with art collectors, museums, galleries, and civic art programs. They are meditations on materialism that challenge us to contemplate just how much we consume.

One mandala is shown in the video. For other examples, please see the gallery link in the sidebar.

On our visit to "The People's Republic of Austin" we took an opportunity to interview activist blogger "OZ" from the Earth Family Alpha blog, one of Austin's many portals dealing with global political issues.

In today's 2-minute video, filmed at The Bread Factory, OZ talks about "cybercoops" as one of the new organizational motifs made possible through social networking technology.

OZ is the author of several books, but he wanted to talk about the blog, not the books, because that's the main vehicle for his writing today. At Earth Family Alpha, you'll find a lot of posts dealing with large issues such as energy, climate change, and global health.

Where else but Austin -- an oasis of enlightened thinking -- can you find people determined to fuse politics and technology into a superior republic?