Library Loot LXXII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 


Hello friends, how is everyone?
Things have been busy around here.. when are they not, right? Anna's in her second week of high school now and we are already counting the days down to summer! Oh yes, we are having that much fun. It's actually not that bad.. I think overall she's just not one of those kids who likes school and so far she says she's not crazy about any of her teachers and she barely has friends in any of her classes. She only has time go to her locker at the beginning of the day, at lunch time and at the end of the day, so she has to carry a lot of her books and notebooks around all day and up and down flights of stairs. Hey, at least it's exercise, right? Tonight is back-to-school night for parents, so husband and I will walk through her schedule and meet all her teachers. Maybe leave a little mommy & daddy love note in her locker.

In other news, Maria came home last weekend! Yay! Those two weeks were the longest we've ever been apart since she was born (since I was pregnant with her?) but frankly she was more traumatized by the three weeks she had been apart from her boyfriend for the first time in 3.5 years. Oh how their love-priorities change so quickly yet a momma's love never does.. sigh. Her boyfriend, Nick came home this weekend, too (he goes to school in NYC), so we had to share her with him, but we'll take what we can get! Actually, Nick wanted to come hang out at our house so he could visit with us, too, which was very sweet.

I picked up a pretty neat mix of books at the library in the last week or so, including an art how-to book, some cookbooks, a health and nutrition book, several graphic novels, and one novel.

a stack of library books

nonfiction: 
nigellissima by Nigella Lawson
VB6 by Mark Bittman
One Zentangle A Day by Beckah Krahula

graphic novels: 
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle adapted by Peter B. Gillis
The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adapted by Ian Edginton
Amulet: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi
The Girl Who Owned A City by O.T. Nelson
One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry

novel: 
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

The last one is a re-loot from last year. Planning to read it for R.I.P. VIII along with The Sandman graphic novel.

I also picked up (on a separate trip) three other books:

 

Another cookbook and graphic novel:
What Katie Ate by Katie Quinn Davis (not pictured - this is a re-loot)
What's For Dinner by Curtis Stone
A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel adapted by Hope Larson


See anything interesting in my stack?

I've skimmed through all of the nonfiction already and read a couple of the graphic novels. If you have any questions about any of them, please ask!

What are you reading from your library right now?

Library Loot LXXI

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 


I returned a whole bunch of library books before going on vacation, but as soon as we got home, I hit the library! I already had (have) several books on my reading queue right now, so I didn't get too many books. I didn't read much in July and because I've been doing some re-reading lately, I've fallen at least 10 books behind in my 2013 goodreads Reading Challenge to read 101 books by the end of the year. I really wish goodreads would allow us to count re-read books to our annual stats. I mean, I read the whole book again.. it should count! Anyway, to help me along a little bit, I decided to check out the graphic novel section for some quick reads. I was psyched to find some pretty awesome--and fairly grown-up-- newly released graphic novels at my library! Check it out:

Primates by Jim Ottaviani & Maris Wicks This one is a nonfiction book about three scientists who dedicated their research efforts to studying primates! Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton So psyched about this one. I read and loved The Illustrated Man when I was maybe in 8th grade but never read Fahrenheit 451. I figured this was a great but sneaky way to catch up with this classic.

The Kite Runner Graphic Novel by Khaled Hosseini I know, I know... I should just read the full book. I even have it! My daughter read it this spring, loved it and implored me to read it, too. And I should. But when I saw the graphic novel I couldn't resist the temptation of a short cut.

The Pickled Pantry by Andrea Chesman Finally, as always I had to visit the cookbooks in the new book section where I found this delightful book on pickling. I'm planning on making at least one of the recipes and posting a review, but in the meantime, know that it is fabulous!


What do you have borrowed from your library?


Do you like pickles? Not just cucumbers.. pickled anything?!

Library Loot LXX

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

My 70th Library Loot post.

I'm hoping to go blueberry picking this or next week, so needed to borrow my favorite two canning books from the library.. Well Preserved by Mary Anne Dragan and Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan. Food in Jars also has some interesting rhubarb recipes that I'd like to try, especially since we got some rhubarb in our co-op box the other day and the rhubarb in my garden is happily producing stalks like crazy!

The Flexitarian Table grabbed my eye, so I brought that one home, too, but after quickly flipping through it when I got home, I don't see myself trying out any of the recipes. They look interesting and delicious, but more along the lines of food I'd like to try out at a restaurant and not go through a lot of trouble to make at home when I'm not so sure my family would be keen on the bold flavors and more unusual ingredients.

In fiction, I borrowed the second half of the critically acclaimed Persepolis story by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis: The Story of a Return. I read the first book, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood last month. Okay since typing this up yesterday, I finished Persepolis: The Story of a Return today.. 5 stars. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical memoirs particularly about personal growth during wartime.

I also borrowed A Tale For the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki for this month's book club. The author is Japanese-American and half of the story takes place in Japan, so it sort of goes along with the Japanese Lit Challenge I'm doing, although not technically. Still, I'm excited to read more Japanese fiction.

What have you borrowed from the library recently? 

What are you reading right now?

COOKBOOK REVIEW: The Gardener & The Grill by Karen Adler & Judith Fertig

This coming Monday is Memorial Day in the US--a National holiday of remembrance and respect for the men and women who died while in service to our nation [traditionally May 30 but observed on the last Monday in May since 1971]. Many towns will hold parades on Monday in honor of these men and women and adorn their graves with American flags and flowers, traditionally red poppies. Memorial Day weekend has also come to be the unofficial start of the summer season, bringing family and friends together for the first backyard barbecues of the season. If you're getting your grill fired up for the season and looking for some inspiration, I have a cookbook recommendation for you: The Gardener & The Grill by Karen Adler & Judith Fertig.

The full title of this cookbook is The Gardener & The Grill: The Bounty of the Garden Meets the Sizzle of the Grill, which pretty much describes exactly what this cookbook is all about. Whether you have your own backyard vegetable garden or you harvest your seasonal produce at your local farmer's market, you will find an abundance of recipes in this cookbook that you're going to just have to make this summer. Recipes will appeal to vegetarians and flexitarians alike.

(A "flexitarian" = an individual who is not vegetarian, but traditionally eats less meat than typical omnivores. A bit of trivia: "flexitarian" was first introduced to the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dictionary in 2012. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexitarian])

The Gardener & The Grill is loaded with great tips, recipes and ideas for grilling with chapters for the following:

Pantry
Appetizers
Sandwiches,
Flatbreads and Pizzas
Soup & Salad
Meat, Poultry & Fish
Vegetable Sides
Fruits & Desserts

The book opens with a short primer on grilling techniques. Not a very elaborate primer, but techniques such as grill roasting, indirect grilling ,planking, plant-roasting, smoking and stir-grilling (using a metal wok on the grill grates) are discussed. Then the fun starts with the Pantry chapter. This chapter is brimming with inspiration. So much so that I think your grilling style will be transformed from ordinary to EXTRAordinary by the recipes in this chapter alone. There are recipes, ideas and tips for making your own seasonings, salts, marinades, dressings, dipping sauces, bastes and flavored butters. I want to try all of them!

After the pantry chapter come the grilling recipes that focus on fresh, seasonal (mostly summer) vegetables, herbs and even fruit that many of us grow right in our own backyards or buy at our local farmer's market. If you love vegetables or simply want to make them more enticing for you and your loved ones, this cookbook is just what you need to spice up your summer menus. Here's a list of things I love most about this cookbook:

• Recipes or instructions for making just about everything in this cookbook from scratch, even down to the homemade corn tortillas, flatbreads, naan and pizza dough. 
• Tips for container gardening, raised bed gardening, companion planting, how to prep produce for grilling and even using edible flowers in recipes. 
• Recipes are simple with only a few ingredients, yet have gourmet flare. 
• Recipes are healthfully plant-based and promote sustainability.

Each and every recipe in The Gardener & The Grill appeals to me, but if I had to design a menu using one recipe from each chapter, I'd go with the following:

Chard-Wrapped Goat Cheese on the Grill 
Herb-Stuffed Afghan Flatbread 
Smoked Tomato Bisque 
Tandoori Turkey Burgers with Grilled Red Onions and Tomatoes
     OR Peppered Tuna with Grilled Peach, Red Bell Pepper and Onion Relish 
Charred Green Beans with Lemon Verbena Pesto 
Grilled Cantaloupe Rings with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
     OR Skewered Strawberry & Marshmallow S'mores 

Sounds delicious, right? I can't wait to try these recipes! I think I might just make the strawberry s'mores this weekend if it stops raining and I can actually get a fire going to grill the berries and marshmallows!

I borrowed The Gardener & The Grill from the library, but I'll be adding this one to my kitchen bookshelf for sure!

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Weekend Cooking, a weekly blog event hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food related post to share--a food related book review (fiction or nonfiction), cookbook review, movie review, a recipe, random thoughts, gadgets, food quotations, photographs, etc. Please visit Beth's blog for more information and join the fun! 

Note: your post does not have to be posted on the weekend, but do visit Beth's blog over the weekend to link up your post. 

Library Loot LXVII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

My turn on the holds list finally came up so I got my hands on Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and am reading that now for April's book club. Oops. Kind of late to the discussion, but I expect to finish reading it in a day or two. I'm about halfway through right now. It's not this superb piece of suspense but it's not terrible either. I think I have what's going on figured out and if I'm right, both Nick and Amy are liars, cheaters and manipulators. Not exactly compelling characters.

Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi caught my eye on the new books shelf (yet published in 2009) in part because of the yummy title, but also because her award winning graphic novel Persepolis has been on my to-read list for ages. So I should really be picking up that novel, but this one is shorter so I thought I'd be more likely to read it right now amidst a busy spring.

The Gardener & The Grill by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig. This delicious cookbook caught my eye at the library at the end of the gardening and grilling season.. . why it's still on the new bookshelf at the library, I'm not sure, but at least it was where I'd spy it again and this time I borrowed it. I've only casually flipped through it as of yet, but upon my cursory review it looks like a winner with a bountiful collection of fabulous recipes for all kinds of dishes to make with the grill. I cannot wait to read it more carefully and make some of the recipes. I would love to review this book for all of you before Memorial Day weekend so you can get inspired with grilling this season.

The 2nd Law by Muse. I fell in love with their single "Madness" the very first time I heard it. I haven't downloaded a Muse song in a while, so when I saw this CD come in to the library, I couldn't resist the opportunity to listen to all the tracks. I'm actually listening to it while I type this! So far "Madness" is my favorite track.

What have you borrowed from the library lately?

Library Loot LXIII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

I haven't had a library loot in a while. Here's a look at what I've brought home in the last couple of weeks.  

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

I saw this book all over the place for a while late last year and when fellow readers lead by Joy of Joy's Book Blog expressed interest in reading and discussing it together, I decided to check it out, too. I only read some parts of the book and intend to share my thoughts within the next couple of days. Overall, I think this book contains a lot of valuable information and insights to the undervalued role of introverts in our society. 


 

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka graphic novel adapted by Peter Kuper

A Game For Swallows by Zeina Abirached 

I thought these graphic novels sounded quite fascinating. I really have very little knowledge about Franz Kafka - his life or his writing. I did read his wiki entry after bringing The Metamorphosis home so I'm curious now. 

I saw someone (I'm afraid I forgot who it was!) post a photo of A Game For Swallows on instagram with a quick rave assessment so I grabbed it off the shelf when I saw it at the library. It's a memoir inspired story about a family in Beirut during the civil war. 

A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean 
This is the first book in the author's The Rules of Scoundrel's series and it's been on my TBR for quite some time. I've read a lot of great buzz for MacLean's latest in this series, One Good Earl Deserves A Lover, but I am a stickler for reading these things in order so it was time to get this one at the top of the book pile!

 

Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas

A plethora of recipes for cooking those greens that are so healthy for you! I made a modified version of the Pad Se Ew in this cookbook tonight. I thought it was a very attempt at the authentic Thai dish, but it didn't quite pass the critics test, i.e., my family. We thought it was decent, but not as good as another recipe I've tried which is yet not as good as the local Thai restaurant. Lots of other recipes to explore in this one. 

What Katie Ate by Katie Quinn Davies

A cookbook with mouth-watering recipes and photos that are candy for the eye, this one is written by the award winning Australian based food photographer, Katie Quinn Davies. It's a visual delight. A culinary one as well, I'm sure. I need to experiment in the latter with this one.  Visit Katie Quinn's website at  http://www.whatkatieate.com/ 

A rather eclectic mix of books on my coffee table this month! 

Have you read or are you interested in any of these? 

I'd love to know your thoughts or comments on any or all of these titles. 

What books do you have out on YOUR coffee table? 

Library Loot LXII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

I'm starting the new year with a nice, thick stack of books from the library--just how I like it. I got these several days ago and can't wait to dive in.

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

For the Group Read I'm hosting. Please join us!

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

January's Book Club pick. Have you read it or seen the movie?

Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman

I've flipped through all the recipes.. I want to make everything. Next I'm going to read every page.

I had been on the hold list for Rod Stewart's new Christmas CD, Merry Christmas, Baby at the library since around mid December and finally got the call the other day that it was in. I debated whether or not to I still wanted and then thought why the heck not.. it's Rod Stewart singing Christmas music! I really like the CD, by the way. Very soothing but fun at the same time.

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While I was at the library picking up the Christmas CD two weeks after I really wanted it, I decided to look for The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin--the book I'm considering reading for Joy's New Year's Resolution Reading Challenge, thanks to the idea by Vasilly (http://classicvasilly.wordpress.com/). I grabbed said book and then promptly proceeded to pull a whole bunch of books from the self help section into my arms, as well as some food & health related books and a cookbook in a different aisle. I'm pretty psyched to read through these books over the next couple weeks and hope they inspire me to live more fully, happily and healthfully in 2013. Here's what's in my stack:

Pictured above from top to bottom:

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff for Women by Kristine Carlson
A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen
A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Food Matters by Mark Bittman
This Is Why You're Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever) by Jackie Warner
Superfoods: The Healthiest Foods on the Planet by Tonia Reinhard

And finally...
A Year Of Pies by Ashely English

Because while I am all for thinking, living and eating for optimum health, I still plan LIVE. And therefore... eat pie. :)

Have you read any of these books?

Which, if any, of these books interest you?

Best of 2012 In the Kitchen

I stole the idea for this post from Beth F, the creator and host of the popular Weekend Cooking feature that can be found every Saturday morning on her blog Beth Fish Reads. Yesterday, Beth F posted a wonderful recap of her year in Weekend Cooking posts with a Best of 2012 Cookbooks, Drinks and Favorite Posts list. Check out her post and links to other Weekend Cooking posts HERE. I'm doing something similar here tonight.

NEW COOKING EXPERIENCES IN 2012: 
Unfortunately, I didn't keep a detailed journal of my new cooking and dining experiences in 2012, so I'm working this list from memory and my blog posts, the former of which isn't 100% reliable, I'm afraid. At least I have a new journal idea for 2013 now.. ;) Here's a list of the foods I made for the first time this year:

Lime curd 
Lime Curd {from homegrown limes!}, June 2. 2012
I made homemade lime curd using tiny limes that my husband brought home from his uncle's backyard in Texas while visiting there in April. It was really pretty easy to make and so delicious--refreshing with a sweet tart zing! I'll definitely make lemon, lime or other citrus curd in the future.

Meringues 
Chocolate-Peanut Meringues from Everyday Food Magazine, April 1. 2012
I made meringues from a recipe in a cooking magazine. They came out great. Again, so easy to make at home, even if the shape wasn't as nice as store bought meringues.

Home Canning Tomatoes, August 28. 2012
I got invited to partake in a day of canning vats of fresh tomatoes one day last August. What a neat experience! I came home with 2 1/2 cases of tomatoes in quart jars. I am down to one case already, which means I'm going to definitely run out before the winter is over. Lesson learned.. I need about 5 cases of tomatoes to last my family a whole year.

Pear butter 
Homemade Pear Butter The Lazy Girl's Way, October 28. 2012
I found an easy and delicious way to use up a plethora of over ripe pears, thanks to a recipe for making homemade pear butter in the oven from Farmgirl Fare blog.

Spätzle! 
German Cookery by Elizabeth Schuler [Cookbook], December 1, 2012
I made homemade spätzle for the first time--it was fun and everyone liked it. I might make it again sometime, but it won't take a spot on my regular menu, though. I thought the spätzle needed a lot of butter to give it a good flavor and that's just not how we eat on a regular basis.

Green Juicing! 
Drink Your Greens, March 17, 2012
Woot woot! Good Excellent health in a glass. I started green juicing in 2012 thanks to the Whole Living Action Plan in which I participated back in January. It's basically a food based detox to jump start your body back to a healthy digestive state. Anyway, green juicing is one of the habits that I took away from the cleanse and continued to do all year long. I'm officially hooked. The other awesome thing I took away from that cleanse was to break my addiction to caffeine. Very liberating and I don't get nearly as many migraines as I used to. I think I might have had 2-3 migraines all year whereas I used to have that many in one month. If you suffer migraines, you may want to consider giving up caffeine, too, to see if it helps you.

FAVORITE RECIPE POSTS: 
Best Homemade Pizza Dough, March 3, 2012 gets tons of hits. Over 1500 so far--which is a lot for my little ol' blog. I hope that means people are making my recipe. I just made it the other night!

My recipes for Vegan Basil Pesto, Vegan Arugula-Garlic Scape Pesto and Vegan Potato Leek Soup also get a lot of hits. I'd say there's a niche for vegan recipes out there.

FAVORITE COOKBOOKS: 
2012 Cookbooks.

Did you vote in the 2012 Readers Choice Awards on Goodreads this year? Most of the readers of my blog are fellow book bloggers, so chances are you did. Did you read a lot of the books from the fiction categories? I read a few and was otherwise familiar with many of the others across many genres. Surprisingly, it was the cookbook genre that I was most familiar with, having read SIX of the nominees, including the winning book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond. It was not my favorite book of those that I read. The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) is a wonderful, fun, down to earth voice in home cooking and her cookbook is nice, but not nearly as original or inspiring as the cookbooks below which I've also read this year. Three 2012 cookbooks that I read and adored this year are:

   

Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan (My vote in the readers choice awards)
The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila 
Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach

I highly recommend all three of these lovely, original and inspiring cookbooks. I hope you check them out. I'm still on the waiting list for The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman, also published in 2012. Any day now...

The Results of the 2012 Readers Choice Awards on Goodreads for Cookbooks

I must mention the following three 2011 publications that caught my attention in 2012, all of which I highly recommend.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer 
I LOVE ice cream in a scary big way and was intrigued by all the positive buzz this cookbook was getting, so I bought Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home cookbook earlier this year. I finally got around to making Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream in September and the results were amazing! Wow.. just wow. If you have an ice cream maker, you should really get this book.

The Newlywed Cookbook by Sarah Copeland
Gorgeous presentation, fantastic recipes--some classics, some twists on old favorites and many original creations that hopefully inspire couples to cook together. The narration is charming in a cozy sweet blissful newlywed way, although at times a little too sugar coated for me. Still.. I read every page and wanted to devour every recipe. Highly recommended.

Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr 
Although not really a cookbook, Crazy Sexy Diet does have recipes in it and it is all about healthy living and eating to be your healthiest and happiest, so I'm mentioning it in this post anyway. Kris Carr is SO positive and inspiring!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: 
Everyday Food Magazine will no longer in publication after the December 2012 issue. I've been subscribing to this magazine since June 2005 and still have every issue. I've loved it over the years and will miss it greatly. :(

Do you have anything on your Best of 2012 List from your kitchen? 

Did you try any new-to-you foods in 2012? 

A new favorite restaurant or cookbook?

Library Loot LXI

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

It's been a whole week since I last posted anything here. I didn't mean for that to happen! What started out as a small project to rearrange things in the living room to make room for the Christmas tree, I ended up organizing and purging things from my desk, a chest of drawers containing DVDs and CDs, the chest itself, and the coat and game closet. This little project took several days--not several hours like I originally anticipated. So I guess that's what I was doing when I wasn't blogging for a whole week. I have to say It sure feels good to have an emptier and tidier living room, but I sure fell far behind with things online. I'm looking forward to a relaxing week between Christmas and New Years!

I ran into the library to return some books last week and could not resist the lure of the new cookbooks shelf. I am on hold for the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook, for which I cannot wait, but grabbed these beauties to tide me over:

The Truck Food Cookbook: 
        150 Recipes and Ramblings from America's Best        Restaurants on Wheels 
        by John T. Edge 

Who doesn't love food truck food? I couldn't resist pulling this one off the shelf. I'm having fun flipping through the pages in a virtual tour of the countries best food trucks. So many familiar and unique, mouth watering recipes. Honestly, I won't likely make many of these recipes at home. They're generally the greasy, carb dense foods we all love and frankly, I think they'd taste so much better eaten on the streets! That's part of their appeal! At least now I'm inspired to seek out some food trucks in NYC the next time I'm there. At the top of my list is The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, because we all know how much I luurvve ice cream! (They have a shop, too!).

Soup of the Day: 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year 
       by Kate McMillan, photographed by Erin Kunkel 

Literally a recipe for soup for every day of the year. Monthly chapters start with a calendar and a recipe suggestion for each day. Many recipes follow the seasons making the most of seasonal produce, while plenty of them can be made any time of the year. Gorgeous photography rounds out the versatile offering of recipes that can be mastered by any level home cook.

I don't think there's a single recipe in this cookbook that didn't appeal to me. Most recipes call for chicken broth, but vegetable broth or in some cases, water, can easily be substituted for vegetarians. I personally prefer to cook without commercial stock, so I'd have to have a lot of homemade broth on hand to cook from this cookbook daily or even weekly. I hope to try or jot down a few recipes before I have to return the cookbook to the library!

True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure 
         by Andrew Weil, M.D. and Sam Fox 

The title says it all for this one. This cookbook's mission is to present the most delicious recipes made with fresh, quality ingredients that foster the health and well being of the diner. For someone like me who loves living and eating healthfully but also loves traditional, comforting foods and desserts(!), this cookbook is right up my alley. I'm still discovering all the recipes and essays this cookbook has to offer--it's definitely one worth several library renewals or even a permanent spot on my own bookshelf. The Chocolate Icebox Tart and Pomegranate Martini are just begging for a spot on my holiday menu!

Hope you check out these cookbooks!

What cookbooks have your attention right now?

Library Loot LX

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

If I haven't screwed up my roman numerals along the way, this is my 60th Library Loot post since I started participating in this meme in August 2009. I promise you I've been to the library way more times than 60 in that time span, though. Sometimes I go just to return something and then look but don't borrow. Sometimes I go with my daughters who borrow books but I don't. Sometimes my library loot post includes books from three different libraries that I've visited in a week's time. In any case, I've become a huge fan of looting libraries in the last few years and I don't plan on stopping!

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
I'm down to the wire with less than a month left to wrap up a few of my reading challenges for this year. I chose to read this book for the last requirement for the What's In A Name 5 Reading Challenge. I started reading it already and will likely finish it tomorrow. It's acclaimed by critics and even considered a modern classic, but I'm not exactly sure why yet.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami 
This is my second year participating in the Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge and this is the book I chose to read this year. (I'm participating at the one book level.) Last year I read after the quake: stories and liked it, but didn't feel it was quite enough to say I've really sampled Murakami's writing. I hope I like Sputnik Sweetheart!

Great Expectations: The Graphic Novel by Charles Dickens, 
       adapted by Jen Green
Go ahead and laugh at me for reading this classic novel in graphic novel format, but at least I'm reading original text and learning about a classic that I know nothing about and would probably not read otherwise. My motivation to read this one comes from the fact that my daughter is reading the novel in her high school lit class right now and I thought it would be fun to read it along with her. In my modified, short cut version, anyway. I highly recommend the Classical Comics line of graphic novels for reluctant high school readers or busy grown ups like me who want to be enlightened but don't have the time or interest to read the original novels.

Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis
I grabbed this one on the way out of the library the other night. This is the third book in the Lucky Harbor contemporary romance series. I read the first two a while back and while I'm not sure I want to continue with the series (there are at least five books now), I at least want to finish this one to complete the original trilogy. The first three books feature three sisters who have been reunited in Lucky Harbor after growing up separately who all find love and happily ever after as adults. This is Chole's story. If I don't finish this one by the end of the year, it will likely be one of my first few books of 2013.

Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan
I re-looted this great little cookbook on home preserving. I'm kind of hoping Santa brings me my own copy, but in any case, I wanted to check out Marisa's marmalade recipes because I'm thinking of making up a batch or two to give as Christmas gifts to friends. Let's see if I can make that happen.

Have you read any of these books? 

What are YOU reading from your library [or bookshelves]? 

Are you cramming to read any particular books to meet your 2012 Reading Challenge goals? 

Crazy for Christmas Cookies!

After hearing all about the annual Virtual Advent Tour hosted by Marg [The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader] and Kelly [The Written World] over the last couple of years, I finally decided to join in the merriment. Today's post is my contribution to the 2012 Virtual Advent Tour that just kicked off a few days ago. The idea behind the tour is for book bloggers to share anything they wish about the advent season with their fellow bloggers.. family or country traditions, recipes, books, movies, songs, anything at all, really. To learn more about the Virtual Advent Tour, the schedule of participants with links to their blogs, or to sign up yourself, visit the Virtual Advent Tour Blog HERE.

As you can guess from the title of this post, I am crazy for Christmas cookies. Ever since I can remember, my mother would bake dozens of Christmas cookies--at least five or more varieties and store them in decorative tins on the dining room table. We would eat them, of course, but my mom would also package sampler plates of cookies, wrapped in cellophane and tied with ribbon to gift to relatives, friends, neighbors, the mailman, the garbage collectors, teachers, crossing guards, and so on. She made a lot of cookies!

My mom practiced this Christmas cookie tradition after learning it from her own mother--my maternal grandmother whom I called Oma. My Oma baked traditional German cookies such as spritz, lebkuchen and linzer cookies. My mom baked those same cookies--except for the lebkuchen, and then some. She'd switch it up a bit every year but there was always spritz, linzer cookies, almond crescent cookies, chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, iced holiday cutout cookies. My brothers and I usually helped with the cutout cookies. So much fun!

From the first year that I had my own kitchen, I've been baking Christmas cookies for the holiday season as well. There may have been a year or two when I only managed to make one or two varieties, but I always baked some cookie for Christmas. Interestingly, the only cookie from my childhood that I consistently bake every year are spritz cookies. I wrote about my affection for spritz cookies last year, in which I include a recipe in this post HERE. I have been using the same cookie press for almost 20 years now and I think I'll just cry the day it fails me. I sure hope I don't jinx myself by even thinking of that happening.

I love cooking magazines probably just as much as I love cookbooks and I have acquired many many issues over the years. That can be a whole separate discussion, but the point here is that every December I pull out all the holiday issues of cooking magazines in my collection and pour over them for days and days and days and weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, deciding on the cookies that will make that year's list. I think planning the cookies is almost as much fun as baking them! But never as much fun as eating them. ;)

My holiday magazine collection includes:

Over a decade of December issues of Cooking Light magazines:

Holiday issues of Cooking Light magazine

Nearly a decade of December and Holiday issues of Everyday Food magazines:

December & Holiday issues of Everyday Food magazine

Several special Holiday publications from Martha Stewart Living:
These include decorating and homemade gift ideas and instructions. SO fun!

Holiday cookies {and homemade gifts} MS publications

One beloved copy of Holiday Baking by Cook's Illustrated magazine:
I subscribed to this magazine for a year or two--loved it. Very good for serious cooks who love reading about test kitchen processes and food science as much as they love cooking.

Holiday Baking special publication
from Cook's Illustrated

Several special Christmas Cookies publications from Better Homes and Gardens magazine:
SO many terrific cookie recipes and tips in these magazines. Also, instructions and templates for making Gingerbread Houses. I bought a new one [the red Holiday Baking one on top] just the other day because I want to make the gingerbread house inside it this year. :)

Christmas Cookies | Holiday Baking
Special publications from Better Homes & Gardens
magazine

I also have ONE Christmas Cookie cookbook that I absolutely LOVE. I have cooked many recipes from this cookbook of classic Christmas cookie recipes. That is, Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer-Becker and Ethan Becker. If you are passionate about Christmas cookies like I am, I highly recommend this cookbook. It's no longer available in print from the publisher, but look for it at your library or from used book sellers! This is becoming my trademark line lately, isn't it?


Nothing says Crazy for Christmas Cookies like my collection of cooking magazines, don't you think?

I also have a collection of Christmas craft books and cross-stitch patterns that rivals this collection of Holiday magazines...  ; )

Are you crazy for Christmas cookies, too?

What is your FAVORITE Christmas cookie?