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.

   

Try Your Hand at Card Making!

Since the Fall season has officially begun and thoughts are drifting to the holiday season, many folks begin to think about preparing handmade gifts.  For many years, I have been making Christmas cards to send to my family and friends.  They are a fun way to send something sweet and personal to the folks you love!  I found two new "book treasures" a few days ago when I was looking for new Christmas card ideas.  Both books contain card ideas, although one is focused strictly on cards and the other on general Christmas crafts.  Ultimate Cardmaking by Sarah Beaman is a collection of over 100 techniques and 50 projects to make homemade cards for any occasion!  I really enjoyed the first section, which contains wonderfully illustrated descriptions of many different card techniques.  There are a few templates for Christmas cards in this book, but the biggest value to me is the book's clear explanation of common card techniques.  The second book, Christmas Crafts by Carol McCleeve, gives instructions on how to make cards, gift wrappings and decorations for the entire family!  This book contains many examples of cards, complete with patterns.  I especially enjoyed the section on making your own wrapping paper.  I personally believe it would be time-consuming, but I think the results are gorgeous.  The library has many other Christmas craft books available--please ask the reference desk for help in locating the perfect one for you! 

Light of the World

James Lee Burke's latest Dave Robicheaux novel, Light of the World, is fantastic in its melding of two storylines that Burke is familiar with.  The characters that we all love from the New Iberia stories (Dave Robicheaux, Clete Purcel, Molly Robicheaux, Alafair Robicheaux and Gretchen Horowitz) are vacationing in Montana (setting of his second series) at the home of Albert, one of Dave's rabble-rousing friends.  The story begins with Alafair almost getting pierced by an arrow during her morning run up the mountain behind Albert's house.  Through a string of events, Dave (Police Detective) wonders if the shooter could be serial killer Asa Surrette, who Alafair visited in prison, and who may have escaped a fiery crash while he was being transported from one prison to another. Clete (Ex-policeman and current

Private Investigator)  is also staying in a cabin on Albert's property when he receives a visit from his ex-hit-woman daughter, Gretchen, who decides to stay and enjoy a little rest and relaxation.  Clete is up to his old tricks when he becomes enamored with Felicity Louviere, an unhappily married woman who's daughter has been recently murdered.  The plotlines become twisted until all of the characters end up chasing the same man, who is behind all of the killing.  There are some very tense moments in this book, and the ending is definitely a surprise.  Dave is the perfect flawed hero but his sidekick Clete takes more of the stage in this book, as the reader watches his dangerous downward slide.  Could this be the end for "The Bobbsey Twins from Homicide?"  Gritty but fun, and full of lovely descriptions of the gorgeous Montana countryside, this book could be read alone.  However, I suggest beginning with the first in the series, because James Lee Burke's books build on the characters lives with each one.

 

The Prayer of Love

The Prayer of Love (C 241 H233p) by Dr. Mark Hanby and Roger Roth, Sr. is a non-fiction audio book I recently listened to while driving back and forth to work.  The book is based on a little known prayer contained in a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the

Phillippians.  The text of this 59 word prayer, according to the New International Version of the Bible is: 

⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

The authors use this prayer to illustrate that love is not an occasional feeling but a daily experience that continually brings peace and joy.  The authors examine this prayer by breaking it down into seven parts that form "benchmarks" for understanding and maturing in love.  The tone of the book is friendly and uncomplicated and is easy to understand by persons familiar with the bible or not.  This is a great audiobook for anyone interested in increasing their own understanding of how to develop love in their lives.  The library owns this book in audio CD format as well as in a Large-Type print version.  

Martha Stewart as a Guiding Light

One of the newer additions to our collection is 'The Tao of Martha : My Year of LIVING, or Why I'm Never Getting all that Glitter off the Dog' by Jen Lancaster.

After confronting the countertop clutter that had been dumped in the kitchen gun cabinet (a story in itself) and the Drawer of Shame (where anything found on the floor that the pets might choke on gets stuffed), the author decides to see if she can take her home and herself up a notch by following the spirit of the Martha Stewart empire for a year in helping her de-clutter, decorate, revamp her storage, make crafts, throw fabulous parties and basically, get her groove back.

While her attempts occasionally fall a bit (sometimes quite a bit) short of magazine picture ready, she makes a game attempt at her Martha home make-over with a copy of Martha's 'Handmade Holiday Crafts', Martha's web site on her computer and a stack of back issues of 'Living' magazine.  Through a difficult year, she not only manages to get her groove back, but her path on the trail to getting both home and life in order might inspire a round of de-cluttering for those following her adventures through her year of living the Martha way.

     With all the blockbuster movies coming out this summer the one I have been waiting for (somewhat impatiently) is “R.I.P.D.”  It stars Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds and concerns a recently deceased cop who is recruited to work for the Rest in Peace Department that try and keep law and order with the evil dead.  I ran across a new book that has some similar qualities.  The title is Reviver: Death Won’t Silence Them by Seth Patrick.  Revivers are able to wake the recently dead, and let them bear witness to their own demise.  Twelve years after the first reviver came to light, they have become accepted by an uneasy public.  The testimony of the dead is permitted in courtrooms across the world. Forensic revival is a routine part of police investigation. 
      In the United States, that responsibility falls to the Forensic Revival Service.  Despite his troubled past, Jonah Miller is one of their best.  But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence.  Something is watching and waiting.  His superiors tell him it was only in his mind, a product of stress.  Jonah isn’t so certain.  Then Daniel Harker, the first journalist to bring revival to public attention, is murdered, and Jonah finds himself dragged into the hunt for answers.  Working with Harker’s daughter, Annabel, he becomes determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice.  Soon they uncover long-hidden truths that call into doubt everything Jonah stands fork and reveal a threat that, if not stopped in time, will put all of humanity in danger.

Who Killed the Professor?

Compound Murder is the latest Dan Rhodes Mystery by Bill Crider; and I have to tell you it was such a pleasant and easy read, that I finished it in just a couple of hours. Small town Texas sheriff, Dan Rhodes, just wishes the local Dr. Pepper manufacturer would go back to using real cane sugar in their formula, so that he could enjoy his daily caffeine. While musing over his boycott of the beverage, and staring at the Mr. Pibb bottle in front of him, the phone rings. Police dispatcher, Hack, tells him that the local beauty shop has been burgled and the thief made off with the hair! When sheriff Rhodes arrives, he finds that someone has broken in through the bathroom window and stolen all of the wigs and hair extensions made of natural hair--a pretty expensive bounty. Just as he is telling the owner to leave everything as it is and to cancel all of his appointments for the morning, Hack calls Rhodes again and tells him to get over to the local community college; there's a dead body. Math professor Seepy Benton, a graduate of the Citizens' Sheriff's Academy, is trying to keep all of the students and faculty away from the crime scene, but he's having little luck. The sheriff helps herd the students and professors inside and takes a look at the body, but before he can get into any real police work, a car peels out of the parking lot and Rhodes give chase, leaving Seepy to guard the area. A high speed chase ensues that winds up with the suspect's car smashed into a tree with its trunk wide open and Rhodes' windshield cracked and sagging. Turns out, the driver is 19 year-old Ike Terrell, son of the local doomsday prepper, Able Terrell. Rhodes finds the missing hair in the open trunk of Ike's car. The Terrells are thought to be gun-toting, survivalists that have fenced themselves inside the family property. Ike is unwilling to talk, so Rhodes has no choice, but to book him. This is all just the first couple of chapters. Sheriff Rhodes also has to deal with copper thieves, wrestle a pot-bellied pig, calm trigger-happy deputies, all the while trying to find out who murdered English professor Earl Wellington. By all accounts, Wellington was not liked. He was a picky when it came to his students attendance and work and he lacked the social skills necessary to make friends. Rhodes' investigation is fraught with red herrings and the diversions of small-town America and peppered with the humor and frailty of the human condition. I can't reveal anymore without giving away the story, so you'll just have to give it a go!

Remembering September 11, 2011

On this day, the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library invites you to remember the lives that were lost and celebrate the heroes of this day.  May we never forget their sacrifices.

Girl in Progress

I was working the library's audiovisual desk this week and I stumbled across the cutest movie!  Girl in Progress stars Eva Mendes, a carefree waitress with a teenage girl named Ansiedad who desperately wants to grow up and be an adult.  Ani is very disappointed in her mom 's behavior, because her mom acts more like a teenager than she does.  Ani decides to create her own "coming-of-age story" by becoming a nerd, attracting the attention of her teachers, then having an abrupt spiral downwards into "bad girl mode" by partying, suddenly making bad grades, shirking her chores and other duties and getting involved with the popular girls in school and dating the "baddest" boy in school.  What follows is a hilarious romp through the life of a teen.  The story is set in Seattle and features some of the famous landmarks in the town.  The movie is rated PG-13 and is perfect to watch with your own teenage girl!

Beat the Heat with a Cool Summer Salad

In the steamy Mississippi summer time, I often do not feel like cooking a huge, hot meal for myself.  What better way to enjoy your supper, and celebrate the lovely abundance of summer gardens, than by making yourself a beautiful salad for dinner!  50 Spectacular Salads by Steven Wheeler is a Step-By-Step book that shows the reader how to make fifty wonderful salads, from main courses to special occasion dinners and sweet salads for dessert.  Each recipe is on the left side of the page with a full color picture of the finished product on the right-hand side.  Each recipe step is numbered and clearly marked and includes tips on how to arrange the salad prettily on a plate.  Especially handy is a small set of pictures on the left-hand side of the recipe page, that show what the recipe items look like, in case the reader does not know what arugula, etc. is.  The book opens with sections on salad leaves, dressings, equipment and how to grow a kitchen herb garden.  This is a great book for the beginning chef or an experienced one and it is great for helping you plan your next salad adventure!