Thanksgiving Recipes Time!

Don't forget that the library is a wealth of cookbooks and cooking/lifestyle magazines for use by our patrons.

Want a new recipe for mashed potatoes or a side that you've never tried before? We can help with that.

Have a family member or two who have special diets? We can point you in the right direction.

Want to go all out and cook recipes as close as possible to the original holiday? No problem!

Are you looking for recipes easy enough for your kids to make? We have those too.

Perhaps you would like to keep the little ones busy making crafts and decorations. We have books to keep them busy for hours.

We can even help you print off those recipes and decorating tips you've been saving on your Pinterest boards!

What Are You Cooking?

With the holidays coming up, I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some of the wonderful cookbooks and cooking magazines here at the library. We even have holiday cookbooks in the children's department!
Some of our wonderful cookbooks include: Paula Deen Celebrates! by Paula Deen, Historical Thanksgiving Cookery by Robert W. Pelton, Thanksgiving 101 by Rick Rodgers, and Thanksgiving Entertaining and Thanksgiving & Christmas put out by Williams-Sonoma. These books offer recipes and tips for making your holiday special. For instance, in Thanksgiving 101, author Rick Rodgers offers step-by-step instructions for carving the turkey as well as the best way to deep fry you holiday bird. He also includes a section titled "Thanksgiving Menu Planner" to give you some ideas about what to serve for your meal. Historical Thanksgiving Cookery offers recipes from the Revolutionary War through the time of the Civil War. This small book also offers historical excerpts on famous historical figures who enjoyed the dishes featured. If you need any help finding these or other titles, feel free to ask the Reference Desk for help!

We also carry some of the most popular cooking magazines available. We have Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light, Country Living, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Food Network Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Martha Stewart Living, and Taste of Home. Some of these may be checked out for one week at a time, or, if you prefer, you may make copies of the recipes you think you would enjoy. Don't forget about our public access computers that allow our patrons and guests to pull up websites for these magazines as well as other recipe sites.

It'll Be Thanksgiving Before You Know It!

It's hard to believe, but in one month, it will be time for Thanksgiving. A lot of people tend to sail through this holiday in favor of Christmas, but I love Thanksgiving because it's not about presents or fancy decorations. This is a time for coming together with family and friends and giving thanks for all the blessings of the previous year. And, of course, it's about the food! Whether you celebrate with the traditional turkey and sides or do your own thing, the meal is the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving gathering.
If you're like me, sometimes you want something a little different, but what to do? While most recipe sites on the internet have wonderful recipes, you often have to sift through dozens to find one that is right for you and your family. Here's an idea (an oldie but goodie) why not check out some of the holiday magazines here at the library? Even if the magazine you want cannot be checked out, you are certainly welcome to make a copy of any recipe you want for your personal use. We get a great many wonderful magazines with recipes galore: Better Homes & Gardens, Woman's Day, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, Martha Stewart Living, Country Living, Southern Living, and, of course, Cooking with Paula Deen, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Cooking Light, Food Network Magazine, and Taste of Home. I encourage you to come in and thumb through the November 2013 issues of these magazines to see if you can find a new recipe or decorating idea for your holiday gathering.
My family is trying hard to eat healthier and Thanksgiving is no excuse to stop doing this. There are some wonderful lighter fair to be found. Instead of potato salad, why not try the pearled barley & corn salad found in Every Day with Rachael Ray (Nov. '13)? Rachael Ray also has a section of mix & match menus for the turkey, sides, and dessert.
Good Housekeeping has a section by Ina Garten - a.k.a. the Barefoot Contessa, which highlights a traditional, simple, delicious meal for Thanksgiving. It also boasts Ina's 10 simple steps for planning and enjoying your holiday. For example, Ina suggests making a game plan, writing out the menu and shopping list for each aisle of the grocery store. She also suggests prepping as much food as possible before the big day.
If you're not looking for lighter fair on your day, (I can't really blame you) then there are plenty of recipes, tips, and tricks in the November 2013 issue of Food Network Magazine. If you're a baker, how about trying the white chocolate-cranberry cheesecake on page 87? If you want to brush up on your kitchen skills before the big day, why not check out the section titled "Chefs' 50 Best Thanksgiving Tips"? I think I'll indulge for dessert and make the maple pumpkin pie with salted pecan brittle found on page 134 of Better Homes and Gardens (Nov. '13)!
Whatever you choose to do this Thanksgiving, remember that the library has magazines and cookbooks to help you with your holiday plans.

   

Yummy!

     Anyone who knows me also knows that I LOVE cookbooks. For the past couple of weeks, I've been thumbing through two of the newer cookbooks we have here at the library. The first one is Hors d'Oeuvres: New Edition by Victoria Blashford-Snell and Eric Treuille.

This gem has more than 200 recipes and a slew of step-by-step sequences to show you how to create each delectable little morsel. Asian pork balls, marinated Mediterranean olives, roast beef with horseradish cream finger sandwiches, mini sticky orange cakes, triple chocolate biscottini, and Thai chicken skewers are just a few of the delicious and simple recipes this book offers. There are also handy "Cook's Note" sections located throughout the book to help with preparation. Probably my favorite features are the seasonal menu planners for parties as well as the "how much will I need" sections at the beginning. This is a great book to pick up if you are planning a shower, cocktail party, or just some nibbles with friends!

     The second book I've been perusing is called PIES: Sweet and Savory by Caroline Bretherton. As the title says, this book contains both sweet and savory pies as well as how-to sections on different kinds of pie dough (although, many recipes can be made with purchased dough). The recipes in this book are quite a bit more complicated than the above tome, but they are still pretty easy if you have done a bit of baking in your lifetime. You'll find recipes for chicken and cheese empanadas, shephard's pie, pot pie, quiche, chicken pasties, apple strudel, plum crumble, Normandy peach tart, cherry lattice pie, chocolate tart ...you get the picture! (Boy, I'm making myself hungry!) Now, check out one of these, or any of our myriad of cookbooks, and go cook somethin'!