The Fearrington House in Pittsboro is offering a rare dining experience: a chance to meet and dine with renowned chef Thomas Keller.

Keller, whose flagship restaurant is the French Laundry in Yountville, Ca., is participating in McIntyre's Books' cooks and books series. The $250 dinner will be 6 p.m. May 17. It will include wine pairings and five courses based on recipes in Keller's books, including "Bouchon Bakery," which was recently a finalist for a James Beard cookbook award. Dinner guests will receive an autographed copy of the book.

Seats will go quickly for this event so call 919-542-3030.

Information: fearrington.com/event/cooks-books-thomas-keller/

Other upcoming cooks and books' events include:

• 6 p.m. April 11, Chapel Hill cookbook author Nancie McDermott will lead diners through a five-course Thai New Year's dinner based on the recipes in her book, "Real Thai: The Best of Thailand's Regional Cooking." It will cost $100 and diners receive a copy of McDermott's book.
• 6 p.m. April 24, Amy Stewart, author of "The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks," will be the guest of honor at a cocktail party. Diners will enjoy the cocktails and heavy appetizers and receive an autographed copy of the book. The event costs $145.

Information: fearrington.com/village-shops/mcintyres-books/cooks-books/

The News & Observer's  coupon database has been updated with Sunday's new coupons.

The home-delivered Final Edition of The News & Observer contains two inserts -- one Smart Source and one Red Plum -- for a total of 102 coupons with a face value of more than $130.

Not familiar with the coupon database? You can access it on the right-hand side of the blog. There's a button at the bottom right to view it as a full-size page.

Or, you can download it as an Excel spreadsheet by clicking on the attachment at the bottom of this post.

It's a handy tool, giving you the most timely and detailed list of coupons in the Triangle.

Documents:

Look for two coupon inserts -- one Smart Source and one Red Plum -- in this Sunday's home-delivered Final Edition of The News & Observer.

All together, we'll have 102 coupons to clip with a face value of more than $130 -- and that's before every-day double coupons, which we're fortunate to have at Kroger, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.



I'll have the coupon database updated and the best Sunday deals posted early Sunday morning, about the same time your paper hits the driveway. That way, you'll have the most complete and up-to-date coupon information for the Triangle at your finger tips.


Please note: Single-copy and State Edition papers may not contain all coupon inserts.



Fast Company, a business magazine and website, released its list of best business books of 2012.
1. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain, Crown, 352 pages.
2. How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon, HarperBusiness, 240 pages.
3. Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours, by Robert C. Pozen, HarperBusiness, 304 pages.
4. The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail—But Some Don’t, by Nate Silver, Penguin Press, 544 pages.

McCLATCHY-TRIBUNE SERVICES

If you’re still searching for the perfect holiday gift for that special small-business owner, look no further. Here’s a list of best-selling business books for December from 800-CEO-READ, a leading direct supplier of book-based resources. 

 1. The $10 Trillion Prize: Captivating the Newly Affluent in China and India by Michael J. Silverstein, Abheek Singhi, Carol Liao and David Michael; Harvard Business Review Press, 336 pages

 2. Own Your Success: The Power to Choose Greatness and Make Every Day Victorious by Ben Newman; John Wiley & Sons, 130 pages

 3. The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money by Carl Richards; Portfolio, 240 pages

4. Influence Game: 50 Insider Tactics from the Washington, D.C., Lobbying World that Will Get You to Yes by Stephanie Vance; John Wiley & Sons, 196 pages

 5. How to Read a Client from Across the Room: Win More Business with the Proven Character Code System to Decode Verbal and Nonverbal Communication by Brandy Mychals; McGraw-Hill, 256 pages

Look for two coupon inserts -- one Smart Source and one Red Plum -- in this Sunday's home-delivered Final Edition of The News & Observer.

Also, don't forget to look in Parade magazine this week. You'll find one coupon there to clip.


There will be a combined total of 131 coupons with a face value of more than $140 -- and that's before every-day double coupons, which we're fortunate to have at Kroger, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.




As always, I'll have the coupon database updated and the very best of the drugstore and Kroger deals posted early Sunday morning. That way, you'll have the most complete and up-to-date coupon information for the Triangle at your finger tips.



Please note: Single-copy and State Edition papers may not contain all coupon inserts.
 

Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh's 28-year-old independent book store, is on the market.

Owner Nancy Olson, who founded the shop in 1984, is retiring, and looking for a buyer "who can keep the printed word going in the age of Amazon and Kindle." The bookstore stocks about 70,000 titles and more than 17,000 households are loyalty program members. Quail Ridge is also a hotspot for book signings.

Read Josh Shaffer's story here.

Look for two coupon inserts -- one Red Plum and one Smart Source -- in this Sunday's home-delivered Final Edition of The News & Observer.

Both inserts are hefty in size and have some pretty terrific coupons that we haven't seen in awhile.

All together, there will be 187 coupons with a face value of more than $170 -- and that's before every-day double coupons, which we're fortunate to have at Kroger, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.



I'll have the coupon database updated and the very best of the drugstore and Kroger deals posted early Sunday morning. That way, you'll have the most complete and up-to-date coupon information for the Triangle at your finger tips.


If you've been wondering how to use the database or have other basic coupon questions head over HERE to my Coupons 101 section.


Please note: Single-copy and State Edition papers may not contain all coupon inserts.



Look for three coupon inserts -- one Smart Source, one Red Plum and the November P&G BrandSaver  -- in this Sunday's home-delivered Final Edition of The News & Observer.

There will be a combined total of 153 coupons.



I'll have the coupon database updated and the best Sunday deals posted early Sunday morning, about the same time your paper hits the driveway.

Look for three coupon inserts -- one Smart Source, one Red Plum and one mid-month P&G -- in this Sunday's home-delivered Final Edition of The News & Observer.

There will be a combined total of 134 coupons with a face value of more than $170 -- and that's before every-day double coupons, which we're fortunate to have at Kroger, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.

As always, I'll have the coupon database updated and the very best of the drugstore and Kroger deals posted early Sunday morning. That way, you'll have the most complete and up-to-date coupon information for the Triangle at your finger tips.


If you've been wondering how to use the database or have other basic coupon questions head over HERE to my Coupons 101 section to read some tips and gain other insight into the world of couponing.


Please note: Single-copy and State Edition papers may not contain all coupon inserts.