Foodie Fest: Baked Goodies

Various cooking and baking utensils on shelf and hanging from rail. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 5 Sep 2015.

Who knew there was so much variety in baking? Vegan baking, baking with less sugar, gluten-free, raw (?!), America's favorite desserts, cakes and cupcakes with a surprise inside, cakes with evil designs, vintage bakes, baking traditions from around the world, baking to make yourself happy, the Great British Bake Off  (anybody else watching it on PBS?). This was an easy list to compile - the difficulty was not placing a hold on every book so we could drool over the glossy pictures! 


Honey & Jam: Seasonal Baking From My Kitchen in the Mountains by Hannah Queen

Custom Confections: Delicious Desserts You Can Create and Enjoy by Jen Besel (J)

Cake My Day!: Eye-Popping Designs For Simple, Stunning, Fanciful, and Funny Cakes by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson 

Back in the Day Bakery, Made With Love: More Than 100 Recipes and Make-It-Yourself Projects to Create and Share by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day 

Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, With Recipes For Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats by Anna Brones & Johanna Kindvall

Baking With Less Sugar: Recipes For Desserts Using Natural Sweeteners and Little-To-No White Sugar by Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery + Café

Rawsome Vegan Baking : An Un-Cookbook for Raw, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Beautiful and Sinfully Sweet Cookies, Cakes, Bars and Cupcakes by Emily von Euw, founder of ThisRawsomeVeganLife.com

 
Baked Occasions: Desserts For Leisure Activities, Holidays, and Informal Celebrations by Matt Lewis

Baking Chez Moi: Recipes From My Paris Home To Your Home Anywhere by Dorie Greenspan  

The Secret Lives of Baked Goods: Sweet Stories & Recipes For America's Favorite Desserts by Jessie Oleson Moore 

Bake It Like You Mean It by Gesine Bullock-Prado

Bake It In a Cupcake: 50 Treats With a Surprise Inside by Megan Seling [eBook] 

Great British Bake Off 2013  by Linda Collister 

Surprise-Inside Cakes: Amazing Cakes For Every Occasion-- With a Little Something Extra Inside by Amanda Rettke 

Let Us All Eat Cake: Gluten-Free Recipes For Everyone's Favorite Cakes by Catherine Ruehle with Sarah Scheffel 

Saved By Cake: Over 80 Ways to Bake Yourself Happy by Marian Keyes 

Twisted Cakes: Deliciously Evil Designs for Every Occasion by Debbie Goard [eBook] 

A World of Cake: 150 Recipes For Sweet Traditions From Cultures Near and Far by Krystina Castella 

Vintage Cakes: Timeless Cupcakes, Flips, Rolls, Layer, Angel, Snack, Chiffon, and Icebox Cakes For Today's Sweet Tooth by Julie Richardson   

Modern Art Desserts: Recipes For Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art by Caitlin Freeman

If you enjoy baking,  have you considered checking out a cake pan from the library? The library catalog also has lots of books about baking bread...we just didn't choose that as our focus. Because dessert.

 

Foodie Fest: Food and Literature

Various cooking and baking utensils on shelf and hanging from rail. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 5 Sep 2015.

Are you a fan of culinary mysteries? Do you enjoy novels and memoirs with recipes, such as Like Water for Chocolate, A Homemade Life, Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, My Berlin Kitchen, and Julie & Julia? We'd like to recommend more delicious literary feasts to you! Whether it's taking inspiration from literature (and, occasionally, from television and art) or cooking one's way through great books and the history of world literature, these books should tickle your palate for reading, or eating, or both!


Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way Through Great Books by Cara Nicoletti

From Goldy's Kitchen: Recipes and Words on Writing, Culinary Adventures, and Life by Diane Mott Davidson

The Modern Art Cookbook by Mary Ann Caws

Kafka's Soup: A Complete History of World Literature in 14 Recipes written and illustrated by Mark Crick

The Bloomsbury Cookbook: Recipes for Life, Love and Art by Jans Ondaatje Rolls

My Prairie Cookbook: Memories and Frontier Food From My Little House to Yours by Melissa Gilbert 

Mary Poppins in the Kitchen: A Cookery Book With a Story by P.L. Travers [eBook]

Dinner With Mr. Darcy: Recipes Inspired By the Novels and Letters of Jane Austen by Pen Vogler 

Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook: A Love Story Told Through 150 Recipes by Susan Mallery 

 

   

Foodie Fest: Single Subject Cookbooks

Various cooking and baking utensils on shelf and hanging from rail. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 5 Sep 2015.

Sometimes you pick up a cookbook because you are a fan of a celebrity chef (hello, Nigella) or a cuisine (Ethiopian, anyone?) or a lifestyle (many, many people are giving veganism a try) or a cooking technique (barbecuing/grilling, for example).  But have you ever tried a cookbook that is based around a specific food? We recently saw that the catalog was featuring 3 cookbooks devoted to yogurt, and we thought, what other cookbooks revolve around a single subject?  The list we came up with is kind of...eclectic. Are there any single subject cookbooks you've been intrigued by or would recommend?  Let us know in the comments!

Yogurt

Yogurt: Sweet and Savory Recipes For Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner by Janet Fletcher

Yogurt Culture: A Global Look at How to Make, Bake, Sip, and Chill the World's Creamiest, Healthiest Food by Cheryl Sternman Rule

The Greek Yogurt Cookbook: Includes Over 125 Delicious, Nutritious Greek Yogurt Recipes by Lauren Kelly [eBook] 


Vegetables

Brassicas: Cooking the World's Healthiest Vegetables - Kale, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts and More by Laura B. Russell  

Salad Love by David Bez

Fifty Shades of Kale: 50 Fresh and Satisfying Recipes That Are Bound to Please by Drew Ramsey, MD & Jennifer Iserloh

Garlic: An Edible Biography - The History, Politics, and Mythology Behind the World's Most Pungent Food, With Over 100 Recipes by Robin Cherry 

 

Animal Ingredients

Egg: A Culinary Exploration of the World's Most Versatile Ingredient by Michael Ruhlman

Haute Dogs: Recipes For Delicious Hot Dogs, Buns, and Condiments by Russell Van Kraayenburg 

Pork: More Than 50 Heavenly Meals That Celebrate the Glory of Pig, Delicious Pig by Cree LeFavour  

Meat: Everything You Need to Know by Pat LaFrieda and Carolynn Carreño

 

Miscellaneous

The Donut: History, Recipes, and Lore from Boston to Berlin by Michael Krondl 

Bitter: A Taste of the World's Most Dangerous Flavor, With Recipes by Jennifer McLagan 

Puddin': Luscious and Unforgettable Puddings, Parfaits, Pudding Cakes, Pies, and Pops by Clio Goodman

 

Foodie Fest: One Dish, One Bowl, One Pot

Various cooking and baking utensils on shelf and hanging from rail. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 5 Sep 2015.

We don't know about you, but when we get home from a hard day at the library, we want our dinner to be simple and fast to make. That doesn't mean it has to be frozen or boil-in-a-bag or takeout, though!  Here are some cookbooks - there's even a baking book - of food you can make that won't have you cooking on all burners and cleaning up a mess of dishes afterwards. Enjoy a homecooked meal  without using every pot in the house!

Sheet Pan Suppers: 120 Recipes for Simple, Surprising, Hands-Off Meals Straight From the Oven - Plus Breakfasts, Desserts, and Snacks, Too! by Molly Gilbert

Savory Bites: Meals You Can Make in Your Cupcake Pan by Hollis Wilder 

One Bowl Baking: Simple, From Scratch Recipes for Delicious Desserts by Yvonne Ruperti 

One-Dish Vegan: More Than 150 Soul-Satisfying Recipes For Easy and Delicious One-Bowl and One-Plate Dinners by Robin Robertson

One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals From Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Stockpot, and More from the kitchens of Martha Stewart Living

One Good Dish: The Pleasures of a Simple Meal by David Tanis

Ready When You Are: A Compendium of Comforting One-Dish Meals by Martha Rose Shulman

One Pot of the Day by Kate McMillan

Salad as a Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads For Every Season by Patricia Wells 


For slow cooker recipes, try a search using the subject "electric cooking, slow" or the keyword "slow cook*" (an asterisk at the end of a word will search for all variations of the word beginning with cook - cooking, cooker, etc.).


Not a meal, but looks like fun:

One-Hour Cheese by Claudia Lucero

 

Links

The Story Behind the One-Pan, Nine-Minute Pasta Recipe That Took Over the Internet [Slate] 

Healthy one-pot recipes [BBC] 

One-Dish Wonders [Whole Foods Market]

How to Eat Healthy [President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition] 

  

New and Novel: Herbs

We've got a lot of  great books about herbs in the library catalog right now!  Whether you are a budding herbalist (pun intended!), a gardener, a tea aficionado, or just looking to know more about culinary herbs, we've got something for you to peruse. Here's some of our latest acquisitions:

Herbal Goddess: Discover the Amazing Spirit of 12 Healing Herbs with Teas, Potions, Salves, Food, Yoga, and More by Amy Jirsa

Natural Health Remedies: An A-Z Handbook With Natural Treatments by Janet Maccaro

The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer: The Ultimate Guide to Producing High-Quality Herbs on a Market Scale by Jeff Carpenter with Melanie Carpenter  

Herbs for Children's Health: How to Make and Use Gentle Herbal Remedies for Soothing Common Ailments by Rosemary Gladstar

Dental Herbalism: Natural Therapies For the Mouth by Leslie M. Alexander, Ph.D., RH(AHG), Linda A. Straub-Bruce, BS Ed, RDH

The New American Herbal by Stephen Orr

Rodale's 21st-Century Herbal: A Practical Guide for Healthy Living Using Nature's Most Powerful Plants by Michael J. Balick 

The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving edited by Lee Buttala and Shanyn Siegel

Healthy at Home: Get Well and Stay Well Without Prescriptions by Tieraona Low Dog, M.D 

Homesteading: A Backyard Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Canning, Keeping Chickens, Generating Your Own Energy, Crafting, Herbal Medicine and More by Abigail R Gehring

Homegrown Tea: An Illustrated Guide to Planting, Harvesting, and Blending Teas and Tisanes by Cassie Liversidge

Culinary Herbs & Spices of the World by Ben-Erik van Wyk

Storey's Guide to Growing Organic Vegetables & Herbs For Market: Site & Crop Selection Planting, Care & Harvesting Business Basics by Danny Barney

If you are interested in growing your own herbs, have you checked out our Seed Library or one of our home & garden guides?  

Links

Medicinal Plants at the Petroglyph National Monument [National Park Service]

UNM professor shares tradition of curanderismo with community [Albuquerque Journal]
 

 

Young Adult Horror

It's been about three months since I've read any young adult fiction, and now that it's October, I've found myself finally wanting to read it again. It's perfect timing, too. This month's reading theme is horror, and there are plenty of young adult horror novels to choose from. Here's what I'll be reading this month. All book summaries are from the library's catalog.


MARY: Unleashed by Hillary Monahan: Jess McAllister's summoning obsession has turned into a deadly haunting since the ghost of Mary Worth will not rest until Jess has come undone, so now it is up to Jess and her reluctant friends, Shauna and Kitty, to stop Mary for good.

The urban legend of Bloody Mary has always fascinated me, and I was thrilled when MARY: The Summoning was published last year. While it wasn't the best horror novel I've read, it kept me interested, and I was happy to see that it was the first of a series.

Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton: When Jack enters the deserted house in his neighborhood, he finds a group of people who invite him to take the thirteenth chair in the room and share a story--in the house where the ghosts meet.

I love ghost stories, and this one sounds different enough from the typical ghost story that I couldn't wait to check it out.

What We Knew by Barbara Stewart: "When I was little, I imagined a monster: Scaly hands. Pits for eyes..." When Tracy and her best friend, Lisa, were kids, stories about a man -  a creep who exposes himself to little girls - kept them out of the woods and in their own backyards. But Tracy and Lisa aren't so little anymore, and the man in the woods is nothing but a stupid legend. Right? But someone is in the woods. Someone is watching. And he knows all their secrets, secrets they can't tell anyone - not even each other. "Monsters don't exist." Lisa's just being paranoid. At least that's what Tracy things. But when a disturbing "gift" confirms her worst fears, ti sets the girls on a dangerous journey that takes them beyond the edge of the woods. But reality is more terrifying than the most chilling myth, and what they find will test the bonds of friendship, loyalty, and love. "Once upon a time, two girls were lost in the woods." In Barbara Stewart's What We Knew, Tracy and Lisa can't destroy the evil they'll face, but can they stop it from destroying each other?

A creepy monster living in the woods? Yes, please!

Don't Stay Up Late: A Fear Street novel by R.L. Stine: Ever since a car accident killed her father and gave her a severe concussion, high school junior Lisa has been plagued by nightmares and hallucinations, but when she accepts a babysitting job in hopes it will banish the disturbing images, she faces new terror as she begins to question exactly who--or what--she is babysitting.

I have to admit, I'm only reading this one because it's R.L. Stine. I never read the original Fear Street series, but I loved Goosebumps, and now that Fear Street is back, I thought I'd give it a try.

Return to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz: Ivy Jensen escaped the Dark House--but the haunting memories of the friends she left behind remain. As the trail for the killer grows cold, it's up to Ivy to end the nightmare. Forever.

I loved Welcome to the Dark House. It felt like I was reading a horror movie. I love horror movies, and I would love to see this book turned into one. It was creepy without being too terrifying, and I couldn't help but read it in one sitting. I can't wait to dive into the second book.

Slasher Boys and Monster Girls, edited by April Genevieve Tucholke: Inspired by classic tales and films, a collection of fourteen short stories ranging from bloody horror, to psychological thrillers, to supernatural creatures, to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, by acclaimed YA authors of every genre.

Ask the Dark by Henry Turner: Billy Zeets has a story to tell. About being a vandal and petty thief. About missing boys and an elusive killer. And about what happens if a boy who breaks all the rules is the only person who can piece together the truth. Gripping and powerful, this masterful debut novel comes to vivid life through the unique voice of a hero as unlikely as he is unforgettable.

There are also a few adult novels and short story collections I'd like to read.

Hawkes Harbor by S.E. Hinton
Christine by Stephen King
The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe


I don't know that I'll be able to get through everything, but I love this time of year. Fall perfect for reading (I love curling up in bed with a cup of hot tea and a good book!), and October is even better because with the holidays coming up, everything is starting to feel festive and fun, and there's no better time to read a scary story than that.

Will you be reading any horror novels this month? Let me know in the comments. Happy reading!

World Mental Health Day 2015

World Mental Health Day is annually held on October 10th to raise awareness about mental health issues. This event promotes discussions on various conditions and treatment options.

Mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and personality disorders, affect millions of people around the world. Loved ones also face challenges as they do their best to support partners, relatives, and friends. The theme of this year's day of awareness is "Dignity In Mental Health". 

The World Health Organization (WHO) is focusing this year, on confronting the ways mentally ill people can be denied human rights, abused and discriminated against, especially in war torn and impoverished areas where quality care is absent. WHO is concerned with human rights being secured through policy, law, the training of health professionals, informed consent, and patients' inclusion in their treatment plan. Public information campaigns are also vital in reducing ignorance and stigma, which prevents so many people from getting the help they need to live healthy, independent lives. 

ABC Library has a LibGuide to help patrons locate services and support groups. The following list of books can also cover a wide variety of issues, such as dual diagnosis recovery, compassion fatigue, and some uplifting biographies from people living with mental illness and sharing their experience, strength, and hope.

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher

Understanding Addiction by Elizabeth Connell Henderson                  

Resilience: Two Sisters and A Story of Mental Illness by Jessie Close with Pete Earley

 A Road Back From Schizophrenia: A Memoir by Arnhild Lauveng

Coping With Schizophrenia: A Guide for Patients, Families, and Caregivers by Steven Jones and Peter Hayward

Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified: An Essential Guide For Understanding and Living With BPD by  Robert O. Friedel

Conquering Depression and Anxiety Through Exercise by Keith Johnsgard

Conquering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Newest Techniques for Overcoming Symptoms, Regaining Hope, and Getting Your Life Back by Victoria Lemle Beckner and John B. Arden

The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope With Mental Illness by David A. Karp