Food, Food, Food | Friday Night Fun

So it's a fun Friday night in Stockton.  I am taking a fellow librarian out to dinner for her birthday.  I asked her where she wants to go and she announced that we will be going to "our place" which translates to Centrale.  Centrale just changed menus for the winter and I am so excited to get a gander at it.  If you haven't had a chance to go there, go there.  I am pretty loyal to the Miracle Mile and eating at locally owned restaurants.

Speaking of which, I noticed that The Ave (also on the Miracle Mile) is having an 80's event tonight.  They encourage you to dress for that decade.  I remember that decade all too well since I was in high school and college then.  I had a bad perm (more than once) and did indeed do the Jane Fonda workout.  (That may have been the last decade that I did regular exercise.) 

Here are some fun books that you might enjoy reading about the 1980's

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Pat Benatar

Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family and Finding the Perfect Lipstick by Molly Ringwald

Food, Food, Food | Meet Mr. Burt Reynolds

So my blog is about food, but I am going to bore you with stories about my dogs from time to time so I thought I might introduce them to you. 

Burt Reynolds, the human

My oldest dog is a sweet, fat, Border Collie mix named Mr.  Burt Reynolds.  He recently turned 7.  He lives with me and two female dogs that you will meet in the future.  He has had many other girlfriends as he is aptly named.  His favorite activities include sleeping, eating, sleeping, kissing me, sleeping and what we call basically: “Reynolds-ing.”  The “Reynolds-ing” primarily includes him barking and destroying my living room window sills. 

This dog talk has made me wonder what you pet owners do for food for your animals?   I buy food but one of my good friends makes food for her dog.  We have books at the library for people who want recipes for food for their dogs.  I am hardly capable of cooking for myself and my imagined dinner partner  George Clooney. 

Check these out:

• The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog by Wendy Volhard
• Earl Mindell’s Nutrition and Health for Dogs by, not surprisingly, Earl Mindell.

Something else to remember in case reading about Mr. Burt Reynolds has made you wonder about the movie star he shares a name with is our Biography Database: Biography in Context.  It’s a great place to learn things like Burt’s middle name (Leon) and about how many movies and television shows he’s been in (a lot!) 

See you next week when you will read about the adventures of one Mazie Reynolds.  (My dogs share a surname that is not my own.)

Picture courtesy of Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride

4 Kids | It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

It's dark outside. The wind is howling. Trees brush up against the house. A thump. A bump. It's late. You're scared. BOO!

Just wanted to get you in the mood for some great mystery reading; after all, Halloween is just around the corner! Join me as we pay a visit to some of SSJCPL staff's favorite mystery books for kids.

There's a dollhouse with a weird ghostly light. The dolls in the dollhouse move around when no one is watching. That's not all! The dollhouse holds a secret....a deadly secret that hasn't been talked about in years. And that secret has to do with a murder that happened many years ago. Not only is this one of my all-time favorite mysteries, but my colleague John also recommends it. The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright. Read it!

 

Two SSJCPL ladies, Peach and Christine, recommend this one. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. So there are sixteen people invited to the reading of a very strange will of the very rich Samuel W. Westing. They could become millionaires, depending on how they play the game. All they have to do is find the answer -- but the answer to what? Are you confused? I am.  But I just checked out a copy of this book and am going to figure it out. Join me. Check it out, read it, and tell me what you think!

Today's final mystery recommendation comes from my friend Suzanne. It's Howliday Inn by James Howe. This is the sequel to my favorite book, Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery. There are plenty of strange things going on at Chateau Bow Wow, the place where Chester and Harold are boarded....they're animals, by the way....when the Monroe family goes on vacation. Read it and help Chester and Harold figure out what happened to Louise the French dog. And what is all that howling at night? A fun mystery for young readers!



So there you have it. Some great mysteries, recommended by SSJCPL staff, to get you into the Halloween mood! Read them and let me know what you think!

Food, Food, Food! ? Vegetarian???

Without meaning to, I sort of gave up meat this week.  The last time I had any meat was last Friday evening.  I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I've started eating spaghetti with Alfredo and red sauce in a beautiful mixture with cheese for dinner rather than focusing on the lack of meat.  I am not sure how long this will last, but the weight loss is welcome and the massive amount of carbs help me sleep through the night.  The three dogs that each want to be in bed and pressed up to the same spot on my side are not as helpful. 

Tonight I am going to try something new in my vegetarian world- rice with bbq sauce, cheese and sour cream.  As I type that I realize that what I really am is addicted to carbs and dairy.  I suppose there are worse addictions.

I just grabbed this book: Vegetarian Cooking Around the World and I am certainly interested in sampling something called “Butter Cookies.”  I’d actually just like any cookie with butter spread on top of it, as long as there aren't raisins in it.  What a waste of a perfectly good grape!  Also, this book reminded me that if I stay a vegetarian, I bet I can have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a lot more often than I normally do!  Oh and grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.  Suddenly, I don’t miss meat at all!

Food, Food, Food! | Cooking Competitions on Television: How Your Library Can Assist You with This Obsession

I find myself compulsively watching cooking competitions on television.  My dogs watch with me, although that could have more to do with their interest in cuddling with me than the content on the telly.  I watch every Top Chef version, Hell’s Kitchen, Master Chef and anything else I stumble upon.  The competition aspect is critical because as one friend pointed out; “If weather could figure out how to compete Peaches would watch The Weather Channel.”  It’s true.  I am very seldom going to make anything I watch someone make, let alone eat it, especially if anything like kale or pretty much anything green is going to be in it. 

Many of the world’s famous chefs have cookbooks that we keep in our libraries.  (I love that there are so many famous chefs now.   People have heard of chefs besides Julia Child and Alice Waters.)  I am going to share a list of some books both about competitive eating/cooking and by chefs who are on tv.

Some cooking from television's favorite chefs that the library carries are: 

Emeril's TV Dinners  by Emeril Lagasse

Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone by Curtis Stone

The Naked Chef Takes Off by Jamie Oliver

Food, Food, Food!! | Cookbook Friday

This blog will be dedicated to the celebration of food, glorious food.   There may be some fun drink and restaurant chatter, too.   When your name is “Peaches,” you have to write about food.  I AM food!  I not exactly a foodie, because I am as finicky an eater as your average 8 year old but I do love to read and talk about food.

Initially I want to remind all of you that every library in this system has a terrific collection of cookbooks.  The primary call number for cookbooks is 641.  (You can always ask a librarian to show the section to you.)   I want to highlight some cookbooks for children in this blog, because we have some terrific ones!

First I want to highlight one of my favorite food books for children; It’s Disgusting and We Ate it! True Food Facts From Around the World and Throughout History.  By James Solheim.  Here’s a fun fact that is in fact, disgusting:

“From the mushrooms on your pizza and the yeast in its crust to the mildew behind the sink, fungi are everywhere.  In fact, there are millions of fungi in your house that you never even say ‘hi’ to!  You breathe them in every breath, and they grow in your food.”

Fun cookbooks based on Children’s Books:

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz

The Winnie-the-Pooh Cookbook by Virginia H. Ellison

The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene

See you next week, unless you frequent Centrale on the Miracle Mile in which case you will probably see me sooner.