From the description of the odd blooms, I'll guess some kind of Peperomia. Try a search for that, then w/in that, an Image search. That should bring up pictures you may then recognize.

leslie6ri, mad gallica and ginny12 - thank you so much for your help! Sadly, it's not any of these books or authors but ginny12's suggestion was def in the right direction! More clues... -I purchased it from Borders, new, in the early 2000's. It was on the discount rack. -It showed less than 10 landscapes -Each landscape had at least 2, maybe even 4 pages dedicated to each one. I have to thank everyone for entertaining and helping on this. I must have read this book cover to cover a million times (you'd think I'd remember a little more about it...).

Search Update!!! What luck; I found the duck ...recipe. My "Drunken Duck" recipe has re-appeared today! Happy Dance!!! It was in an old file box I'm slowly clearing out. I wonder what other jewels may surface? I had made two copies of this recipe from a library book and then put both copies in the same place. What was I thinking? The book - a history review of cooking, restaurants, and recipes of the late 1800s - came from the Dover, DE, Library. I think it was long out of print when I checked it out in 1992. The dinner is called "Positively Ducky, A Small Spring Dinner for Four." It's Chapter 29 of the book and begins on page 305. Apparently the recipes were broken down into seasons and the duck recipe came under "Spring." I know everything about this book - except the title and author. I had made photo copies of the pages, stapled them together, and did not bother to reference the book, author, or publisher on the pages. Again, what was I thinking? The menu for this dinner is includes... Crisp Savory Almonds Chilled Spring Green Soup Aromatic Duck (which I named Drunk Duck; it's soaked in Brandy) Gingered Red Cabbage Slaw Fresh Grapefruit Gelatin with Cream I won't copy all the instructions right now - I have birthday treats to prepare - but the marinade/rub for the 5 lb. duck includes... 2 teaspoons black peppercorns 1 teaspoon dried thyme 2 bay leaves, crumbled 6 whole cloves 1 Tbls. coarse Kosher salt 1 Tbls. brown sugar 1 Tbls. gin, vodka, or brandy 1 garlic clove, peeled I am so thankful I found this recipe. A copy will be put in my computer; my friends will have emailed copies, a paper copy will go in a proper file folder and cabinet, and another copy will go in my Betty Crocker cookbook. My ducks will never be served sober again!

Maybe you can look on EBay and find something. Try putting in a few key words in the search engine and see if anything looks familiar. Make sure to check "search title and description" for the best success. Or try amazon.com.