Market Basket: Local cake doughnuts and a beautiful book of herbs

In the world of artisan doughnuts, we've seen just about every imaginable flavor profile, from lavender to hibiscus to matcha-pistachio. Not at Firehouse Donuts, which churns out old-fashioned, no-frills, classic cake doughnuts just like the ones longtime firefighter Kevin Carney used to make for fund-raisers for the Goshen Fire Company. Now, Carney, whose kitchen is in Springfield, makes plain, powdered-sugar, cinnamon, and chocolate-frosted varieties available online or at various retailers, including Swiss Farms stores around the western suburbs.

Firehouse Doughnuts, $5.50 for a dozen mini-doughnuts at Skippack Village Italian Market, 4101 W. Skippack Pike, Skippack, or at Firehousedonuts.net

-- Samantha Melamed

If you don't know your parsley from your purslane (and who does?), author and designer Caz Hillebrand brings you a reference work that is perhaps more beautiful than it is practical. Herbarium is an illustrated encyclopedia of herbs, with etymologies and cultural currencies, cooking suggestions and growing advice, and even potential medicinal benefits. More than 100 stylish illustrations accompany entries around herbs familiar, obscure, and even toxic, like monkshood, a poisonous perennial.

Herbarium by Caz Hillebrand, Thames & Hudson, $29.95 at Barnes & Noble.

-- S.M.