South Brunswick Public Library Blog

Asparagus and Geometry

2012-02-17T16:20:00.002-05:00

Does the size and shape of a food influence the way it tastes? Most emphatically yes.

Think of the taste of a shredded carrot salad versus munching on a whole carrot...or enjoying a piece of thinly sliced steak versus chowing down on a big hunk cut from a 1 1/2 inch thick slab. Different textures, different taste experience.

This is the case with my favorite recipe this week, Raw Asparagus, Red Onion and Pecorino Salad from today's featured cookbook, Anne Burrell's Cook Like a Rock Star. More on that recipe later.

Now for the cookbook: Burrell has lots of ideas, but the book's directions are sometimes flawed and some of the food combinations don't always "work". I prepared four recipes from this cookbook: one was amazing, the second very good, the third and fourth had some serious problems.

Looking for something interesting to make with brussels sprouts to go along with a simple pan seared scallop meal, I thought Burrell's Frizzled Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Walnuts sounded promising. Having roasted whole brussels sprouts a few times this season, I thought this new recipe would be fun - first of all you had to pull apart each sprout into individual leaves, a preparation I've seen before but never done.

I used four cups of sprouts, doubling the recipe, and it took more than half an hour just to prepare the sprouts. This better be worth it, I thought, as I cored each sprout, then pressed each one down to "open" the leaves a little, and laboriously separated out each leaf.

The recipe tells you to saute red pepper and garlic, add pancetta and chopped walnuts and cook 5 minutes until the pancetta browns. What actually happened is that the walnuts browned way more quickly than the pancetta. Then you were supposed to add the leaves, salt them, cover the pan until the leaves wilted, and then uncover and brown the leaves for 8 - 10 minutes more. By this time, the walnuts were really dark brown and unfortunately gave an unpleasantly bitter taste to the dish.

Verdict - you could cook this dish differently to get a better result, but for me, the combination of the flavors of brussels sprouts, nuts and bacon did not enhance each other, and would not be worth repeating. Ditch that recipe: rating - poor.

For that same meal, I had a head of cauliflower I wanted to use up, so I made Burell's Spice-Roasted Cauliflower. This easy recipe was a lot more successful - spicy, exotic, delicious. The original recipe also calls for a pound of Jerusalem artichokes, but not having any, I made the recipe without them, although I used the full amount of spices anyway - I love spicy food! If you don't, consider halving the amount of spices.

Spice Roasted Cauliflower, adapted from Anne Burrell's Cook Like a Rock Star

one head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon cumin, freshly ground if possible
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon finely snipped chives, optional

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Line a half sheet pan with heavy duty foil. Mix together all the ingredients except the chives.

Roast the veggies for 20 minutes, stir, roast 20 more minutes, stir again, and then roast 5 or 10 minutes more until the florets are browned and tender. Serve sprinkled with the chives. Yum! I could eat these as a snack. Grade: very good.

While the above vegetable dishes were in the works, I had a few extra minutes, so for dessert I decided to try the Tarallucci with Salty Caramel. Anything with salty caramel appeals to me, so I had to try this recipe: butter cookies served with caramel dipping sauce on the side - what's not to love?

A lot, apparently. The cookie dough came together easily, but the directions called for putting the dough in a pastry bag and piping out wreath shaped cookies. This was a total no go: the batter was way too stiff to be able to piped out. Realizing this was essentially a spritz cookie dough, I put it into a cookie press and pressed it out into rounds. So far, so good.

On to the caramel. I've made caramel lots of times before, and it's not difficult. This recipe was different in that it called for the juice of a lemon - in my mind, a weird addition, adding a discordant note to the taste of the caramel. We ate the cookies - good, but not any better than any other butter cookie recipe - and threw away the caramel. We used some jarred caramel instead! I know, sacrilege. Grade? C, the cookie was good, but nothing special, and the caramel recipe was an F.

Last night I paged through the entire cookbook, and when I spied some asparagus in the produce drawer of my fridge this morning, I remembered this asparagus salad recipe and gave it a whirl. Recipe number 3: winner! This was to me a totally new take on this vegetable - served raw but sliced very thinly, the flavor was of freshness and vitality and very different from whole asparagus, either cooked or raw (the geometry angle).

And, unlike the ill fated brussels sprout recipe, it took all of 5 minutes to make, including slicing the veg and grating the cheese on a microplane. Give it a go - it's a taste of spring.

Raw Asparagus, Red Onion and Pecorino Salad adapted from Cook Like a Rock Star

1 bunch of asparagus, tough ends removed (can't beat Costco for fresh cheap asparagus right now)
1 small red onion, diced small
(variation: 1/2 of yellow onion, and 1/2 red pepper, diced small)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil to taste, 1/4 to 1/2 cup
1 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup microplaned Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Slice the asparagus thinly into rounds. Add to a medium bowl, and combine with the red onion (or onion and
pepper), the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Just before serving, stir in the cheese, saving a little to sprinkle decoratively on top.

So there it is, the winner of the lot. I give it an A for awesome. Hope you enjoy making this.

I enjoyed looking through this lavishly illustrated book, and Burrell's entertaining voice came across very clearly on the pages. But when I do try some of the other recipes from this cookbook (and I will) , I won't be surprised if other recipes need some tweaking.

It's fun to try out new cookbooks without the expense of buying them. Use the library and spice up your cooking tonight!

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Cheapskate and Library User

eLibraryNJ

2012-02-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

No matter which computer, eReader or mobile device you have you can download free eBooks and audiobooks today from the South Brunswick Public Library website. From our website just click on the 'Download audiobooks.eBooks' button. Read the few important notes on the next screen before clicking on the top link 'Click Here to Download'

You will enter the eLibraryNJ website. Click on 'Sign In' and select the 'Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium' as your library and then type your library barcode number and pin. Start searching for eBooks and audiobooks.

It's easy to get help in eLibraryNJ by clicking on the 'Help' link in the upper right. And the Information Services staff at South Brunswick Library are always happy to get you started and answer any questions that come up.

Contact: Mary Donne Head of Information Services

March Wednesday Wisdon TED Talks

2012-02-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Wednesday Wisdom TED talks scheduled for March 7, 2012 at 1:30 will continue exploring the Charter for Compassion and will relate to the Continuing Community Conversation Panel to be held this Sunday, March 11, 2012 in the library meeting room.

The TED talks that will be presented, and the description of each from the TED website at www.TED.org, are as follows:

Rabbi Jackie Tabick: The balancing act of compassion - While we all agree that compassion is a great idea, Rabbi Tabick acknowledges there are challenges to its execution. She explains how a careful balance of compassion and justice allows us to do good deeds, and keep our sanity.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati: The profound journey of compassion - Swami Dayananda Saraswati unravels the parallel paths of personal development and attaining true compassion. He walks us through each step of self-realization, from helpless infancy to the fearless act of caring for others.

Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf: Lose your ego, find your compassion - Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf combines the teachings of the Qur’an, the stories of Rumi, and the examples of Muhammad and Jesus, to demonstrate that only one obstacle stands between each of us and absolute compassion -- ourselves.

Karen Armstrong: Let's revive the Golden Rule - Weeks from the Charter for Compassion launch, Karen Armstrong looks at religion's role in the 21st century: Will its dogmas divide us? Or will it unite us for common good? She reviews the catalysts that can drive the world's faiths to rediscover the Golden Rule.

Join us as we explore this important topic.

African-American Spirituals as sung by Carlensha Grady

2012-02-13T13:59:00.000-05:00

This concert is part of the Daphne Powell Memorial Concert Series, hosted by the Friends of the South Brunswick Public Library.

Music can be a great way to see into the heart of any culture.
On Sunday, Feb. 26, the public is invited to enjoy a free concert of African-American spirituals in honor of Black History Month. It begins at 3 p.m. in the main meeting room of the South Brunswick Public Library.

Soprano Carlensha Grady will be the featured performer in this Daphne Powell Memorial Concert. She is a beautiful and talented young woman who clearly exudes the joy she feels when singing for an audience. Save a seat for me!

An accomplished singer of classical, jazz, and operatic music, Ms. Grady has performed in Carnegie Hall and the State Theater. She performs regularly at venues throughout New Jersey. Locally, she is the music teacher at Metuchen Christian Academy and soprano section leader at Nassau Presbyterian Church of Princeton.

The concert series was made possible by a grant awarded by the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission for $2,100, in conjunction with some matching funds from the Karma Foundation and the Friends of SBPL. The monies will support an expanded Daphne Powell concert series for nine concerts during 2012.

FYI: Black History Month is a national annual observance for remembrance of important African-American people and related events, beginning in 1926. Every February it is celebrated in the United States and Canada. The United Kingdom celebrates in the month of October.

Celebrate the Irish culture on March 25 with a free Daphne Powell Concert of traditional Irish music by McDermontt's Handy.

Other performances scheduled for 2012 concert series include:
April 29 - Jersey Follettes, an all-female vocal group; May 27 - Spook Handy: America’s Story through Folk Songs; Sept. 30 - Ken Lelen, a vintage guitarist performing songs from Frank Sinatra to Duke Ellington to Peggy Lee; Oct. 21 - Maggie Worsdale’s Caberet Show; and Nov. 18 - City Winds Trio, classical music.

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Shrimp Riddle

2012-02-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

What is: easy enough to make from ingredients you (could) have on hand, quick enough for a weeknight meal, but glorious enough for company?

Answer:

Pasta with Shrimp and Olive Sauce, from Todd English's new book, Cooking in Everyday English, The ABCs of Great Flavor at Home.

I challenge you to try some of the recipes from this beautifully illustrated book, and not pronounce them delicious. Todd English has numerous restaurants in Boston, New York, Vegas and studied not only at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, but served an apprenticeship in Italy, and it shows.

He knows how to amp up everyday favorites with a twist, all within reach of a home cook.

Forthwith, the recipe, whipped up by my daughter this past Sunday:

Pasta with Shrimp and Olive Sauce, adapted from Cooking in Everyday English

12 - 16 oz. fettuccine or spaghetti
10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (be generous)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 lbs. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (frozen, from Costco is good)
28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped (preferably Muir Glen brand)
2/3 cup loosely packed basil leaves, loosely packed and torn (would be lovely fresh, but if not, try 2 teaspoons dried plus 1/4 cup fresh parsley if you have it)
3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (essential)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
two 3.5 oz. containers black olive tapenade (we used Cat Cora's brand, available at Shop Rite)

Boil the pasta in a large amount of well salted water just until al dente. Save 1/2 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta, and put back in the warm pot.

While the pasta is cooking, saute the garlic in the olive oil over medium low heat in a large saute pan until very soft, about 10 minutes. Add the dried pepper, and cook another 5 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high, add half the shrimp, and saute until just pink. Remove the shrimp and add to the pasta. Saute the remaining shrimp until pink, add all the remaining ingredients, and then toss it all with the pasta. Add a bit of pasta cooking water if necessary to loosen the sauce.

My favorite pasta and shrimp dish for 20 years used to be Pierre Franey's with tomatoes, basil and feta: sorry Pierre, this is my new favorite.

This cookbook is on order for our Library, but until we receive it in, you can get it by putting a hold on it from other libraries in our Consortium. Either go online to sbpl.info or call us at the Information Desk 732-329-4000 ext. 7286 and we can get it for you.

And if you don't feel like cooking, you can try Todd English's ridiculously delicious food at the beautiful and gracious restaurant "ca va" at the Intercontinental Hotel in Times Square or at the Plaza Hotel's bustling Food Hall.

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Todd English Fan

Free Online Classes

2012-02-08T17:17:00.000-05:00

Did you know that the rate of growth in the medical billing and coding industry is expected to increase at a faster rate than most other occupations? Skilled medical billers and skilled coding technicians are in high demand. Your online training in billing and coding can help you find work in a variety of medical settings whether a private medical office or healthcare facility, a hospital or clinic, or even a claims examiner for insurance companies. If you're interested in learning a new career, or advance within your current career, or maybe learn new skills to start your own home business, taking courses in our online classrooms is a convenient way to start your education.

UniversalClass™ courses are a perfect fit for today's fast-paced and busy lifestyles. The classes require no special software or hardware. You can study on your own time without the hassle of commuting or arranging your work schedule and finding childcare.

UniversalClass™ offers over 50 courses in the category of Office Skills. If you’re interested in training for a new career, advancing within your current company, or just want to learn some new skills to stay competitive, our online courses can help. Taking an online course is such a convenient way to learn. You don't have to rearrange your work schedule or arrange for childcare, you can do your coursework when it works for you. Our courses are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and our professional instructors are there to grade your work and answer email questions.

Our skill-building courses include shorthand training, managing people, computer training from Excel to PowerPoint, terminology courses, project management, sexual harassment awareness training, courses to refresh your skills in grammar and punctuation, customer service training and so much more.

Just go the libraries website at http://www.sbpl.info/ and click on the databases link. Scroll down and click on Universal Class to start learning anything from job skills to cooking. Contact your library if you have any questions

Charter for Compassion

2012-02-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

There is a movement in this country to learn compassion for those around you, near and far. South Brunswick is joining this movement with a series of Cultural Community Conversations which was started by the Aging in Place Partnership, led by Jackie Rubel. The schools, local clergy and the library are joining in the conversation.

The initial call to get back to being compassionate toward others was expressed by author and historian Karen Armstrong. In 2008, she won a TED Prize which awards the recipient $100,000 and "one wish to change the world." Karen Armstrong's acceptance speach where she makes her wish can be heard on the TED Talks website at www.TED.org. The Wednesday Wisdom group heard this talk and several others who answered her call to "build this charter...to launch it and to propagate it until it becomes..." She goes on to conclude her talk saying, "I'd like to see it in every college, every church, every mosque, every synagogue in the world, so that people can look at their tradition, reclaim it, and make religion a source of peace in the world, which is can and should be."

In November 2009, the completed charter, that was compiled by the multi-faith, multi-national Council of Conscience, was unveiled to the world and 83,657 people have affirmed its message so far. You can read the Charter, learn more about it, its history, the council members who compliled it and ways that you can support it, at their website: http://charterforcompassion.org/site/. The basis of the Charter is very simple - it is the Golden Rule: "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

Please join us and the Aging in Place Partnership to spread the message of the Charter. Join the library Monday night bookclub on March 5 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the book The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Priscilla Warner. Come to the next Wednesday Wisdom program on March 7 at 1:30 where we will view and discuss four more TED Talks on the topic of compassion and join in the Continuing Cultural Conversation on The Faith Club and the Charter for Compassion to be held at the library on March 11, 2012 at 2:00. This conversation will be led by several religious leaders in our community.

Value Line Library Editions On-Line

2012-02-02T11:52:00.000-05:00

Your South Brunswick library card will give you access to Value Line's Library Editions On-line.

Go to the library's database page and scroll down to select the Value Line link. You will only need your library card barcode number. No password is required.

Value Line Investment Survey Online and Value Line Small and Mid-Cap Survey Online are powerful investment tools which include:

•Stock lookup to search for tickers and company names

•Industry lookup and search features

•Custom company reports

•Model portfolios

•“Quick Search” for Value Line rank changes

•“Real-Time” supplementary analyst reports

•Stock recap screen featuring quotes, news, option data, graphs, and Time & Salesv

•“Market Review” with index information on Dow Jones, S&P, CBOE, Russell, and NYSEv

•Value Line's Top 100 Ranked Stocks

You can start by using the 'Value Line Investment Education' section which will help you properly utilize their vast offerings. "How-to" guides and sample reports provide valuable information on using Value Line’s in-depth and professional research reports to help build your investment portfolio. Investing strategies and educational articles are easily accessible in this area, and help even seasoned investors to better understand the complex world of investments. In addition, Value Line's free, extensive investment terms glossary is at your disposal, should you need clarification in regard to financial terms.

Try it today! Contact the Information Desk if you need help.

Submitted by : Mary Donne Head of Information Services

Library Resources to Help You Make Good Consumer Decisions

2012-01-31T16:58:00.001-05:00

I'll bet everyone knows that the library subscribes to most Consumer Reports publications and perhaps many of you know that we keep a reference copy of many years of the magazine and the Buyer's Guide at the Information Desk for use at any time. There is an 8-year index of the items that have been rated at the back of the Buyer's Guide and a one year index at the back of each month's publication that make it handy to use the archives. But have you also thought about other consumer information that the library makes available that is not so obvious?

Under Databases, on our homepage at www.sbpl.info, we have links to indexes to a lot of publications like magazines and newspapers and most of them are full-text. One of the most complete is EBSCOHost or EBSCO Masterfile that provides full-text articles from over 1700 publications as far back as 1975. Doing a search about the item you are interested in getting reviews for can help you find information about things that CR has not reviewed or not reviewed lately. Other publications know how popular consumer information is and are frequently doing their version of the "ten best."

These database searches are great for making purchasing decisions about consumer goods, getting health information and doctor ratings, and getting travel information to name a few. All of this can be searched from home on our website. Remember to have your South Brunswick Library card handy; you will be asked to enter your barcode number to gain access to the databases. Happy hunting!

Information for Book Club Participants

2012-01-26T07:00:00.003-05:00

Did you know that the library has a special collection of books for book clubs to use? In the shelving unit, right across from the Information Desk, on the opposite side of the Summer Reading Books, is our Book Club collection of popular books for which we have multiple copies. If you belong to a book discussion group, this is one place where you may find books that the members might enjoy reading where multiple copies are easy to obtain. We have in the collection classics (ex: Madame Bovary by Flaubert), popular fiction (ex: Woman Warrior by Kingston), several non-fiction titles (ex.: A Season on the Brink) and even a book of poetry (The Essential Rumi) to name a few. Some of the titles have just been added to the collection and have only one or two copies - we are in the process of getting at least 10 copies of each of the approximately 140 titles, which we are pulling from the many donations we get for our Friends Book Sales.

Monroe Township Library also has Book Discussion Materials for loan. Monroe has multiple copies of selected book discussion titles that come in a canvas bag with discussion materials and questions included. These materials are circulated as one item. You can reserve these bags online through the library catalog, you can request that a librarian at the Information Desk place the hold for you or you can visit the Monroe Township Library with your South Brunswick Library Card and check out the bag in person. You can return the bag with all of the copies and discussion material to South Brunswick and we will see that they get back to Monroe. You can see the titles that are available in Monroe by doing an Advanced Search in the catalog of Monroe or All LMxAC Libraries and select "Book Discussion Materials" under TYPE. 58 titles are currently available in the Monroe collection.

If you are looking for some suggestions of good books for your book group, then take advantage of these resources!

Good Flicks You Might Have Missed…

2012-01-25T09:58:00.000-05:00

These are some favorites from the SBPL collection. Check them out and let me know what you think!
The Secret Lives of Dentists

Starring Campbell Scott, Hope Davis and Denis Leary

The Hurst's are a married couple who share a busy dental practice. David sees Dana with another man and is immediately certain she's having an affair. Slater, hilariously played by Dennis Leary, is a disgruntled patient of the Hursts who has gone public with his dissatisfaction. As he observes the growing tension in David and Dana's relationship, Slater begins offering his own kind of advice to David. (2002, rated R).

Lars and the Real Girl

Starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson.

Lars is a sweet but reclusive guy who thinks he's found the girl of his dreams in a life-sized doll named Bianca, whom he purchased on the Internet. On the advice of the local physician/psychologist, his family (and soon the entire town) humors his delusion in the hopes that it will run its course and he will return to reality. When Lars develops feelings for his attractive (and real-life) co-worker, he soon becomes lost in a love triangle.

(2008, rated PG-13).

Holy Smoke!

Starring Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel.

For those of you who liked The Piano…A cult deprogrammer is hired to free a young woman who has fallen under the influence of a religious guru while on a journey in India. Don’t miss the bizarre chemistry between Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel.

(1999, rated R).
By Jill Eisner, Senior Librarian
In Charge of the International Film Festival at SBPL

The Good, the Bad, and the Yummy: Halftime Favorites

2012-01-20T16:15:00.002-05:00

What's better than watching the game with your buds and enjoying some great food too? But how do you enjoy foods like unctuous, juicy, high calorie spareribs (the "bad") without looking like one of the linebackers?

Take a small portion and fill up on side dishes like Asian Coleslaw, (the "good") and a big, green salad (also "good"!). Have just a taste of dessert, but take a generous helping of fresh fruit, and then, of course, be sure to drink lots of water, tea or coffee along with your meal. I know, you've heard it before, but it really works.

These spareribs are really great with a crusty exterior and a moist, meaty interior, don't require you to be outside to grill them, and, other than a really long cooking time, are easy to prepare as well. Plan on making these about 6 hours ahead of your serving time. (The last hour is just resting the meat, so you can watch the game.)

Oven Roasted Spareribs adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
2 Tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 full racks of spareribs, 3 - 4 lbs.each (Costco's are great)
2 cups purchased BBQ sauce, plus extra to serve at the table (I like the smokiness of Jack Daniels Original, but if you prefer a predominately sweet sauce, try Sweet Baby Ray's)

Mix the first 5 ingredients together.

Cover two half sheet pans with heavy duty aluminum foil. (You'll thank me later when it's time to do the dishes.) Lay the ribs, meaty side up, on a wire rack on the sheet pans. If you need to, you can cut the racks in half to make them fit. Rub the ribs with the spice mixture on all sides. Cover loosely with foil, and let sit at room temp for an hour.

Now wrap the pans with the ribs tightly with the foil and roast in a preheated 300 degree oven for an hour. Switch the pans top to bottom, left to right every half hour to keep everything roasting evenly.

Take off the foil (and reserve it for later) and continue roasting for another hour.

Brush the meaty side of the ribs with the sauce and continue roasting for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the ribs are very tender when tested with a fork.

Finally, wrap each rack in the reserved foil, put them in a brown paper grocery bag, seal tightly, and let them rest for an hour at room temp - this step ensures the redistribution of juices in the ribs for a really succulent result.

Serve with extra sauce on the side...with plenty of napkins.

Asian Coleslaw adapted from The Instinct Diet by Susan B. Roberts

1/2 head of Napa cabbage
2 Tablespoons grated onion, or finely chopped shallots
1 Tablespoon shredded fresh basil, OR 1 tsp. dried basil
1 Tablespoon shredded fresh mint, OR 1 tsp. dried mint
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar OR any vinegar
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Quarter the cabbage, remove the core, and slice the cabbage very thinly. Whisk together the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, except the peanuts. Add the sliced cabbage and mix thoroughly with a rubber spatula. Garnish with the peanuts just before serving.

Check out the above books and more at our Library today...

Enjoy the game without guilt - and, Go Giants!

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Football Fan

New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center

2012-01-18T11:18:00.000-05:00

Residents with limited sight or reading disabilities may qualify for services from the New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center in Trenton.

They offer Braille, talking books (digital and cassettes), books in large print, periodicals, Audiovision (radio broadcasts of newspaper items and special interest programs, also available as an Internet streaming service), and equipment for playing recorded materials.

You may qualify for the specialized public library services if your ability to read is affected by:

A Vision Impairment

A Physical Impairment

A Reading Disability

These need to be certified by a doctor.

If you qualify you may register to become a member of the Talking Book and Braille Center by downloading and mailing an an application.

For information, contact the library at: The New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center, P.O. Box 501, Trenton, NJ 08625-0501, phone 1-800-792-8322 or visit the New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center web site, at http://njsltbbc.org.

You can find a link to the New Jersey State Library Talking Book and Braille Center on our database webpage.

Contact : Mary Donne, Head of Information Services

Carrot and Ginger Soup

2012-01-13T14:19:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm not only going to tell you that this soup has fantastic flavors and is company worthy, but that it also is easy to make and that I've used it as part of a diet plan where I've lost almost 20 pounds since Oct. 15th. How? It's part of The Instinct Diet by Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D., a book available in our Library.

This book and diet works for me because it has delicious recipes that satisfy the gourmet in me, it never leaves me hungry, I feel healthy, and I have chocolate, ice cream and bread on a regular basis. I love this diet!

Try this recipe - it's not only delicious and perfect for winter, but it's full of ginger which has hunger suppressing properties similar to that of capsaicin found in chili peppers.

Carrot and Ginger Soup, adapted from The Instinct Diet

1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 (or more) clove(s) garlic, coarsely chopped
2 pounds carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped, or grated in a food processor
1 piece of fresh ginger, about 1 1/2 inches long x 1 inch in diameter, peeled and finely chopped
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want this to be vegan)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup orange juice

Saute the onions and garlic in the butter and oil over low heat about 10 minutes.

Add all the rest of the ingredients except the OJ, and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

Use an immersion blender and blend the soup until pureed or transfer to a blender and blend in batches.

Add the OJ, and add more S and P if necessary. (I put a little parsley, pistachios, garlic and lemon on top for color!)

This keeps really well in the fridge or freezer. I put one cup portions in plastic containers for easy lunches with sandwiches and salads.

I served this for a ladies lunch in November together with a grilled shrimp over greens salad and everyone loved it! Hope you do too.

Try our Library for cookbooks with lots of ideas for healthy meals for the New Year.

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Oxymoronic Foodie Dieter

Scan to Scrapbook

2012-01-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

South Brunswick Public Library has a scanner you can use for free! Hopefully you have heard about that by now. Just come to the Information Desk. Sit down and scan whatever you need to email or save for personal correspondance or pleasure.

Many people have already come in and scanned family photos to use with Picasa Web Albums. This can be used as scapbooking or photo sharing software and it is free from Google. The library offers training on using Picasa. Check out our Event Calender for the next class or contact the Information Desk for a schedule.

Come in and use our free scanner for whatever your digital needs.
Contact : Mary Donne Head of Information Services

Job and Career Accelerator

2012-01-03T17:35:00.002-05:00

South Brunswick Public Library has a powerful online learning center available from our Careers Database webpage. Job and Career Accelerator from Learning Express combines everything you need for a successful job search into one easy-to-use online application.

This job-hunting system, provided by the NJ State Library, lets you :

Explore detailed information on over 1,000 different occupations
Match your interests and skills with the career that's best for you
Search over five million up-to-minute local and national job postings
Create professional resumes an cover letters
Practice and master interviewing skills
Get invaluable tips and advice every step of the way - from your initial search to accepting an offer
Conveniently organize and track your job-search progress allin one place.

Call 732-329-4000 x 7286 to schedule time with a South Brunswick Library Information Specialist to get help with creating a Job and Career Accelerator account and get an online tour.

Check out the Library's Event Calendar to find the date for our next Effective Resume Writing presentation. It is usually held the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 10:30 am.

For more help on starting to find a new job and for networking opportunities with other job seekers contact the Professional Service Group at your local One Stop Career Center. They offer an orientation Monday mornings for new job seekers. Call the New Brunswick group at (732) 418-3304 for more information.

Get Safe Investment Information from the NJ Bureau of Securties

2011-12-27T07:00:00.006-05:00

Several weeks ago we offered a program on Safe Investing provided by the New Jersey Bureau of Securities which is part of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Office of the Attorney General. The presenter left some information for us to share with the public, which you can find in a binder labeled “Investment Information” at the Information Desk, but I wanted to take a minute to summarize what the binder contains and what other information is available from the Bureau.

The first and foremost purpose of the presentation was to alert the public that this office exists and to let you know what services they perform to assist the residents of New Jersey to make wise and safe investments. In their literature, they say, “This is the government agency that regulates the sale of securities to and from the state and regulates those selling securities. The Bureau encourages investors to be cautious when investing since securities fraud takes new victims every day and the scams change as often as the headlines on the front page of the news.”

One of the fliers in the binder gives an overview of the Bureau and what information is available in their website at www.njsecurities.gov. There are some very useful investor education booklets that are free to print or download; a few examples of this information will be included in the binder for in-library use. These materials can help the consumer make safe and wise investments by revealing common methods employed by successful investors. These are some of the available titles: Five Keys to Investing Success, The Basics for Investing in Stocks, A Primer for Investing in Bonds, Mutual Finds: Maybe All You’ll Ever Need, Where to Invest Your College Money and Maximize Your Retirement Investments. They also have a booklet titled Getting Help With Your Investments that provides all the information you need to find and work with reputable brokers and financial advisers and a booklet that the speaker left for the public, The Essential Guide to Safe Investing.

Also on their website is an interactive online game appropriate for adults and kids called “Avoiding Investor Scams.” See how well you do at trying not to be ripped off by shady advisers by playing this entertaining and educational game.

The Bureau also provides free background information about those selling you securities. You can contact the Bureau at their toll-free number 1-866-I-Invest (1-866-446-8378) or email your questions to askbureauofsecurities@lps.state.nj.us. They caution consumers from getting pressured into investing or even giving out personal information about you and your current investments by agreeing to attend a Free Lunch Seminar. “According to AARP studies, over 6 million seniors over the age of 55 have attended Free Lunch Seminars over the past three years. And according to a study by the Investor Protection Trust, about 7.3 million Americans over the age of 65 have been victim to financial fraud – that breaks down to one out of five being victimized.” They remind you that investment scams come in many varieties and if something looks too good to be true, it probably is!

There is one final tip sheet (also included in the binder) that the Bureau has provided called “The Top Ten Investment Traps” that lists investments that you should probably avoid to insure that you don’t get scammed. Stop at the Information Desk next time you are at the library and review the useful information in the Binder labeled Investment Information. It could keep you from losing your savings by making poor choices or dealing with unscrupulous brokers.

You Should Be a Fan of Audiobooks

2011-12-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

If you have a long commute like I do, or if you are planning to take a long family car trip, you should take advantage of either the books-on-CD (or cassette) that we have to check out or go to the ListenNJ link on our webpage (www.sbpl.info/digitalaudiobooks.htm) to download additional titles. I have an hour drive each way to and from work and in order to avoid the inane conversation and the thousands of commercials on the radio, I have become a major fan of audiobooks. But being an avid audiobook user, you will find that you have a few other factors to consider when selecting your reading material.

Not only do I consider the author and subject of a book, but I also pay attention to the reader (or readers) of the story and the inclusion of special effects. I have over time come to recognize certain readers as brilliant and others as being less than adequate. And now that there are downloadable recordings of books, this becomes more important than ever.

There are about a dozen major publishers of audiobooks – Audible, Books-on-Tape, Brilliance Audio, Hachette Audio, HarperCollins, HighBridge, Listening Library, Penguin, Random House, Recorded Books, Simon and Schuster and Spoken Word. There are, of course, many more than these that publish audiobooks but these are the ones that we generally carry since they are available from our approved vendor. Most of the major publishers use theatrically trained actors, but I have recently heard that there are recordings of books in the public domain available that are read by a computer generated voice! I can’t imagine my telephone voicemail reading a book to me…ugh. I find the publishers that use actors as readers, of course, the most enjoyable, but not always. For instance, there is an actor that reads some mysteries that adopts a voice like the narrator of a “film noir” type B-movie that can be extremely irritating after just a few chapters.

I also have found that a book read by the author can be the kiss of death. Even though it is the author’s own words, they are often incapable of adding the inflections and modulations that are critical to an enjoyable “read.” The readers that I most admire are George Guidall, who reads for Recorded Books (see http://www.georgeguidall.com/) and Lisette Lecat, who reads the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith. George Guidall holds the record for having read the most unabridged books – over 900. Because he has this kind of clout, he gets to select just the books that he wants to read. Did you know that you can search in the catalog for your favorite reader by putting their name in as the author? In the case of George Guidall, this will bring up a list of books that sure to be enjoyable. But watch the number of disks – he just finished reading Don Quixote which is in two parts and is overall 35 discs that runs for over 40 hours. Even George Guidall’s skillful reading couldn’t coax me to complete that book. And it is wonderful to have someone like Lisette Lecat, with her exotic accent, pronounce all the Setswana words and place names in the Precious Ramotswe series. The reader of the HighBridge recording of The Secret Life of Bees, Jenna Lamia, is also a remarkable reader who is able to cover the entire range of accents, ages and nationalities of the characters and even sing the songs that are written in the story.

I don’t care for the recordings that use special effects, particularly when I am listening in my car. Popular added noises are gun shots and sirens, which can be very disconcerting when you are driving. I am also not a big fan of books where there are too many readers. I prefer the readers who are able to use a separate and distinct voice for each of the characters, like Jim Dale does masterfully in all of the Harry Potter books.

As to downloading audiobooks from ListenNJ for use in your car, your car stereo will have to be able to play what is stored on your iPod or other MP3 player. I don’t believe it is possible to burn a CD from your computer for use in your car, unless your car stereo is able to play MP3 files. I have seen people driving with their earbuds in, but that is not only dangerous, it is illegal - you need to be able to hear a siren or a horn. The newer cars are often equipped with either iPod docks or plug-ins to attach your mobile devices, but there are other adaptors you can purchase that will allow you to hear your downloaded music and books without having to actually replace your sound system. The simplest adaptor is one that plugs into a cassette player, if your car still has a cassette player! There is a great tutorial on the ListenNJ site as to how to download the proper format for your device. You just need your library card number and PIN and identify yourself as a patron of the “Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium (LMxAC).”

I hope that you give audiobooks a try. Yes, a lot of people think that this what their grandparents listen to, but in a recent review of audiobooks in Publisher’s Weekly, Parul Sehgal pointed out, “we turned to audiobooks for escapism and edification—and we got more than we bargained for. The industry took the business of entertaining us very seriously and readers turned in unforgettable performances.” Enjoy!

How to set achievable New Year's resolutions

2011-12-13T10:32:00.000-05:00

It is that time of year again when people look at what they accomplished this past year and try to set some goals to see if they can do things “better” in the New Year. Are you one of those people? I heard recently that only about 10% of us still do this! Maybe that is because, as part of our super achieving society, we try to set too many goals. Or maybe the goals we set are unrealistic.

Here are a few tips, to help you set some goals at the New Year or at any time of the year, that I learned from Christi Hegstad, Ph.D., from MAP Professional Development, Inc., a life coach who has a website at http://www.meaning-and-purpose.com/ I assume most people have heard about setting “S.M.A.R.T.” goals. [Doran, G. T. (1981). "There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives." Management Review, Volume 70, Issue 11(AMA FORUM), pp. 35-36.] This concept has been around since this article was written on 1981 and many people have quoted it, refined it, built on it and some have even rejected it. The five steps in setting S.M.A.R.T. goals are: 1) make your goals Specific, 2) make your goals Measurable, 3) make them Attainable or realistic, 4) make them Relevant and 5) set a Time frame in which to achieve them.

This is a lot to do when thinking about New Year’s resolutions but some thought along these lines is necessary if you are to achieve them and therefore, enjoy the success that such a task can give you. To make sure that you have good, achievable goals, you should start early. Don’t just pick a few vague ideas out of the back of your mind while partying on New Year’s Eve. Start now and make them realistic. First, you should prioritize. Look at where you are in life to determine what is important to you right now. Dr. Hegstad says to think about “what positive change would make the biggest difference in your life.”

Don’t set too many goals. Be specific about what you want to accomplish and make a time frame part of the specification of the goal. Make the goal measurable, attainable and relevant. For example, don’t just say you want to loose weight, say something like you will lose a pound a week until you have lost “x- number” of pounds. A goal phrased in this way is specific, measurable, realistically possible, high on your priority list (to make it relevant) and set in a time frame. Remember, you can’t improve all areas of your life at once. Pick the areas that are most important to you at this time in your life and know that you will get to the other aspects in time.

Once you have set two or three of these specific goals, make sure that you track your progress. Don’t make an easy goal unattainable by complicating the tracking progress. You don’t need to record specifics (unless you want to). Just marking in your calendar that you did what you set out to do in the time frame you set to do it in (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) is enough. But make sure that you are able to get an overall view of your progress so that you can make adjustments if necessary or bask in your success. Make it positive – put a smiley sticker in your calendar when the goal is met and see how many of those little reinforcements start to add up.

The final thing you can do to be successful is to get support for your efforts, either from a professional or from a trusted friend. “Make your goals public,” Dr. Hegstad advises, “so that someone else can helping you be successful.”

It has been said that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year for many because that is the day they realize that they have already broken their resolutions perhaps because they were made in haste without proper planning or thought, or they were too vague or perhaps they were too unrealistic from the outset. If you do your homework, you won’t set yourself up for failure; you will make the third Monday and every Monday thereafter a celebration, knowing that you are making a positive difference in your life!

Have a happy and healthy New Year!

'Help Now' from Brainfuse

2011-12-07T11:48:00.000-05:00

Get help with homework, create an online study group, learn a Microsoft Office software program, create a resume or study for the citizenship test.

The library's new "Help Now' service from Brainfuse is being offered on our webpage thanks to the generousity of the Library Foundation. The Foundation was started in 1996 by a group of individuals whose mission was the preservation and advancement of the Public Library in South Brunswick.

Here is what Brainfuse can offer you :

Homework Help: Enter the online classroom and receive live, online homework help from a Brainfuse tutor.

Skills-Building: The skills building service helps you master an academic concept through expert tutoring and state-aligned online lessons, HelpNow Skills Building has been designed for a variety of age groups and academic needs.

24/7 Help Center: Submit a homework question and a tutor will provide you with a response (usually within 24 hours).

Foreign Language Lab: The Foreign Language Center provides expert homework assistance and support for students who are learning a foreign language. Expert tutoring is currently offered for Spanish, and a host of helpful online resources for learning other languages is forthcoming.

Writing Lab: HelpNow offers two types of writing assistance:

Live Writing Assistance: Connect with an online tutor for expert writing assistance with our live help feature. Live help is particularly helpful during the initial stages of the writing process when you are working on the organizational and thematic features of your paper.

Intensive Writing Lab: For a more thorough analysis, simply select "Writing Lab" from the launch menu and submit your writing via our secure messaging feature. Within approximately 24 hours of submitting your paper, you will receive a detailed analysis of your paper in your message center inbox. Our writing experts are trained to focus their analysis on voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and organization.

STUDY TOOLS

Test Center: Visit the online assessment library to take practice standardized tests (SAT, ACT, GED and more) and practice subject specific tests, like math and science. Get results instantly and, if you choose, share your results with one of our tutors for a targeted skills building session.

Flashbulb -- Mobile friendly flashcards: Enjoy 24/7 access to an extensive library of online flashcard sets in hundreds of subjects. You can also create your own flashcards and multiple choice quizzes for efficient self-study on both computers and mobile devices.

What services are available for adult learners?

Our Adult Learning Center provides comprehensive academic support from trained adult education specialists in areas such as US Citizenship testing, resume and cover letter assistance, and core skills building including Microsoft Office help.

Find Brainfuse and many other valuable online resources on the library's website today!

For questions contact : Mary Donne Head of Information Services

Something's Fishy Around Here

2011-12-02T17:07:00.002-05:00

So my husband goes fishing whenever he can, and - sad but true, and the cause for much kidding - for the past two years he has not caught even a single keeper, much to my chagrin as a lover of fresh seafood.

But lo and behold, the other day: success! Stripers, nice ones, caught off the coast in our friend's boat. Was the secret that he took our youngest son along? Not sure.

But even better, he cooked the fillets up, using Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris cookbook. Delicious, low in fat, high in protein, and fresher than you can even imagine. Now I just need to figure out how to get to Paris sometime...

Roasted Striped Bass adapted from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 or 3 strips bacon, chopped up (2 oz.)
1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
1 28 oz. can diced plum tomatoes (I like Muir Glen brand, Fire Roasted or not)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp. regular salt)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 2 to 3 lb.striped bass fillet (or other thin white fish fillet)
1 lb. shelled and deveined large shrimp (I always keep a bag from Costco in the freezer - just thaw under cold running water for 10 minutes, and drain well)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the bacon and onion. Saute about 10 minutes, until the onion is soft but not browned. Add the garlic and saute another minute. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and wine, and simmer 5 more minutes.

Put the fish in a 13 x 9 inch glass pan. Season with salt and pepper. Strew the shrimp on top. Pour the sauce over all and bake about 20 to 30 minutes, until the shrimp is done and the fish flakes easily.

I have cooked a number of recipes from this book of Ina Garten's. The Croque Monsieur is great - a super grilled cheese and ham sandwich with bechamel sauce on top. We had it cut up small for snacks...it is really rich and fabulous - not for everyday consumption, but totally worth a splurge.

Get this book and others at our Library today - remember, if the book's not here, you can always put it on hold and pick it up when it comes in.

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Dreaming of being barefoot in Paris

Free Books for Kindle

2011-11-30T19:51:00.000-05:00

We have been helping many library patrons download e-books to their Kindle from the library's web site. It is a wonderful benefit of being a library member. You can even download kindle books without a Kindle. Here's how :

1. Go to library website www.sbpl.info

2. Click on the Download Audiobooks & eBooks button to the left of the screen.

3. Next page tells you that your library is Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium. You need to know your library card number, pin, Amazon Login and you need your Kindle WiFi turned on .

4. Click on Download link to enter ListenNJ.

Once in ListenNJ login to your Digital Media Account.

5. We suggest using the Advanced Search option. Set search to ‘Format - Kindle, Subject - of your choosing and then click on the Copies Available box if you do not want to wait.

6. Choose a Kindle Book from the search results and add to cart.

7. Proceed to check out, confirm and ‘Get Kindle Book’.

8. Log in to your Amazon Account with email and password when prompted.

9. Click on ‘My Library Book’ and select kindle name or kindle app.

10. The ListenNJ book should then appear on the Kindle or Kindle app. You may have to click on menu to see the list.

11. All ListenNJ/Overdrive kindle checkouts are managed on your Amazon account by clicking on ‘Manage My Kindle’.

12. Books titles are deleted from the Kindle itself from the title list. Highlight the title, click on the left directional arrow (delete command will appear) and then click on the center OK

To get help with this please contact the Information Desk.

Mary Donne, Head of Information Services

Thanksgiving in Paradise

2011-11-29T14:23:00.001-05:00

In one of my previous blogs on travel, I shared our dilemma about where to take a November vacation. Well, we just returned from Aruba, where we spent Thanksgiving week, and I can tell you that we made a great choice! Aruba advertises itself as "one happy island" and that is certainly true. The natives enjoy a high standard of living from the influx of tourist dollars which results in a happy population who are welcoming, friendly and helpful.

Brown Pelican

Aruba is a vacation paradise that caters to the American tourist. The country accepts American currency - in fact, the first and sometimes only prices given are the prices in US dollars - no money changing or conversions necessary! And the food ranges from American standards such as T.G.I. Fridays and Tony Romas to Brazilian, Dutch, Belgian, Caribbean, French, Japanese, Chinese and other interesting cuisines from around the world. There are too many good restaurants that you can't try them all! The best meal we had was in a restaurant at our resort called Le Petite Cafe which featured hot stone cooking at the table. Basically, they deliver the food raw, sitting on a (very) hot stone. The food is starting to cook (seer) as it arrives and the rest is up to you to heat to your desired doneness as you cut each bite. You get your meal prepared just the way you like it.

Iguana

The daily temperature tops out at around 89 degrees but there is almost always a breeze which makes being outdoors - sunbathing, shopping, dining or just walking around - more than tolerable. It is, however, only 12 degrees north of the equator (and 15 miles from Venezuela) so even on cloudy days, don't be fooled into thinking that the sun is other than strong, strong, strong! You really need to wear sunscreen (at least 30) at all times as you can get a burn even in the shade (and I can personally attest to that!) We did experience a few brief rain showers that cooled things off and kept the island lush and green but the showers quickly gave way to sun. We were told by the natives that the weather patterns over the past four to five years have changed enough to negate the adage that "it never rains in Aruba" - apparently there have even been whole months in the past few years where it has rained all day, every day for weeks at a time causing flooding and a lot of disgruntled vacationers. The "rainy" season is probably November, December and maybe a few weeks into January but there is really no difference between summer and winter or day and night for that matter.

The island has really only been developed for tourism since the last Venezuelan oil refinery closed in 1985, so most of the hotels and tourist areas are new and upscale and construction of new resorts is continuing at a moderate rate. Aruba, as well as other Caribbean islands, has definitely felt the effects of the recession in the US. There are many vacant stores and some over ambitious Venezuelan construction projects have been abandoned. It is the only blight that I saw on an otherwise beautiful island.

There are three main areas on the western side of the island where all of the "action" is located. The oldest "tourist" area is in the capital city, Oranjestad, near the marina where the cruise ships dock. The second area just to the north is called the low-rise hotel area which is located on Eagle Beach. The newest area is the high-rise hotel area on Palm Beach, to the north of Eagle Beach. To go between these areas, you should take a taxi, which are plentiful and inexpensive. There is a safe bus system that tourists use, but the bus stops everywhere making the journey long and tedious. However, once you are in one of the tourist areas, everything is in waking distance. And every area has a full selection of everything you need - restaurants, shopping, entertainment, casinos, night clubs, recreation opportunities, water sports, land tours, grocery shopping (and even Wendy's and McDonald's) - everything you need for a family vacation or a romantic get-away.

Most of the hotels are full resorts including access to the beach, pools, restaurants, a casino, a spa, gym, and activities for children, teens and adults. Many are timeshare properties that "rent" vacant units to guests. We stayed at the Playa Linda Beach Resort which is a timeshare property with one and two bedroom units with full kitchens and balconies all with an ocean view. There were many owners at this resort who have clearly been coming for years and know each other and the regular staff. The resort advertises itself as "your home away from home" and it certainly felt comfortable and safe.

Bananaquit

Water sports (snorkeling, fishing, scuba diving, parasailing, kite surfing, banana boat, tube and water skiing to name a few) and land adventures (horseback riding, trekking in three and four wheel ATVs, hiking) abound, but you can also just relax on the beach under a thatched "chickee" hut or beside the pool and catch up on your reading and napping, which is what we did almost every day. Watch out for lizards large (iguanas) and small (gecko like lizards of every shape and color) warming themselves on every rock and enjoy the beauty of the many exotic flowers and birds that are all around. We saw Brown Pelicans plunging head first into the sea to catch a tasty fish, watched Magnificent Frigatebirds soar high in the sky and enjoyed the song of the friendly Bananaquit as they visited the many tropical flowers in bloom everywhere and our table looking for juice or fruit.

Magnificent Frigatebird

At the newest mall (not quite done), there is a new bowling alley that features glow-in-the-dark nighttime bowling, popular with the teens and there is a surf simulator to give you the thrill of surfing of the safety of land. There are even cinemas that feature all the latest releases. We saw Johnny English with the ever zany Rowan Atkinson which was a scream and we saw it at half price on two-for-one Tuesday.

All-in-all, Aruba was everything that people say that it is...a great vacation spot...guaranteed.

Children's Book Flash Video On iPad from SBPL

2011-11-23T16:13:00.000-05:00

The South Brunswick Library website has two great online children's video book services that use flash video. They are Bookflix and Trueflix.

Bookflix is for grades K-3. It offers unlimited access to classic children's video storybooks that a child can read along with again and again.

TrueFlix™ is the only online resource that leverages the award-winning True Books content to help students hone literacy skills, build knowledge of subject-area content, and cultivate 21st Century skills through the inquiry process. It's intended audience is grades 3 thru 6.

To make a long story short for a long time we could not use these services on our iPad. South Brunswick school librarians were especially disappointed since the iPad is being used more and more in today's classroom.

The library recently demonstrated library apps on mobile devices. Jim Colquist attended this demonstration and he offered to explore ways we might be able to use Bookflix and Trueflix on an iPad.

Jim is now our most recent library hero. He emailed us to say that the browser Photon, available from the App Store for a small fee, allows users to view flash videos including Bookflix and Trueflix.

Here is what he shared :
************************************************************************

- download Photon browser from the app store

- navigate to South Brunswick Library's database link from photon

- BEFORE clicking Bookflix or Trueflix links....hit the lightning bolt icon on photon browser to put you in flash mode. This will reload the page. You need to do this on the database link, otherwise you will not be directed properly to the "TrueFlix (outside library) " "BookFlix (outside library)" when you click them.

- log in with library code and you will be able to use either site.

There are some minor limitations:

- paging down on the database link page is a little slow in flash mode...so takes a second to move down to the Trueflix link.

- the video can't be displayed full screen like most iPad video. But it does work and the audio plays.

************************************************************

Try this fix and start enjoying free, quality children's book videos from your library today on your iPad.

For more information on this article contact : Mary Donne Head of Information Services

I Found a Farm at the Library

2011-11-21T14:57:00.000-05:00

In these unstable economic times around the world a young American author named Jenna Woginrich is inspiring readers of her books, tweets, and blog posts to take charge. To learn to be more self-sufficient while being environmentally conscious. Jenna is no whiner. She is on her feet trying, making mistakes, and learning. You can occupy Wall Street if you want. No offense to the occupiers, but I admire someone like Jenna. She is truly a doer!

I discovered Jenna's first book while looking for recipes in the 640 section of the Library shelves. I happened to notice the title Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life. This immediately got my attention because anything about "handmade" is impressive to me. It means that someone has slowed down, taken time to be creative and clever, broke a sweat, taught themself something, saved money, and even helped the planet to boot. What's not to love?!

In her book she talks about how she started off as a young, single woman with a desk job and a city apartment who wanted to build a more self-sufficient lifestyle by learning homesteading skills. She didn't own land or have much practical experience beyond a few forays into knitting and soap-making. She did have a strong desire to opt out of what she saw as a consumer-driven culture. After moving to a rented farmhouse, she learned to raise chickens and bees, and to grow her own food. All the while supporting herself with a full-time job as a graphic artist.

Along the way, she learned that an abundance of enthusiasm and a willingness to experiment could make up for a lack of knowledge, and that reaching out to others for mentoring and guidance could help her reconnect with her community.

In the book I found simple sewing patterns and simplified recipes for pancakes, quiche, and bread among other ideas.

Made from Scratch shares the deep satisfaction Jenna found by learning to provide for herself. Her youthful (she is in her mid-20s) outlook is positive and humorous as she shares stories of her ups and downs with her two sled dogs (yes, she even taught herself how to drive a sled team!). In addition she talks about lessons learned to knit a sweater, play a guitar, make jam, even raise baby chicks.

Her voice is inspirational and encouraging as she goads readers to take small steps toward self-reliance as she does. For Jenna, it's about learning the simple skills most of us have forgotten, and finding joy in the process.

Since the printing of that first book, Jenna bought a small farm in upstate New York and continues to learn new things, such as training a pony to pull and playing a banjo. She is writing her fourth book now about how she has managed her first year as a property owner, part-time new farmer, and still full-time graphic artist.

Her story is less unique than you might think. Raised garden beds in Brooklyn backyards has taken on a kind of movement (search videos on You Tube). Upstate New Yorker farmers Josh and Brent of Beekman Farm have a book and now weekly TV show about their "conversion" from working for others to self-reliance on the farm.

One way Jenna has helped herself survive is by inviting readers of her blog to paid workshops in her home, where she shares her hard-won knowledge on a variety of topics. In March I am looking forward to attending her workshop on Urban Farming, a course for suburbanites like myself who want to be better backyard gardeners and canners for benefit of health and wallet.

To learn more about Jenna Woginrich and her homestead on Cold Antler Farm, just search in Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger, and of course, on the 640 shelf at your local library.

Chocolate Frosting and Food Snobs

2011-11-18T14:24:00.002-05:00

Chocolate Frosting and Food Snobs

Me? A food snob? Not really…I’ll admit, I do love the heirloom tomatoes and the baby white turnips and everything from the organic farm, but I’m not above using a cake mix in a pinch. But puh-lease do not use frosting from a can? Ever. It’s just not worth it – the calories, the effort, anything! It tastes artificial, grainy and bad, and furthermore, it’s too soft to decorate with too.

This week I made three desserts for staff birthdays. One was the Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake from The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn – just devil’s food cake mix, 21 oz. cherry pie filling, 2 eggs and ½ teaspoon of almond extract. Mix as usual and bake. I happen to have a 12 inch round cake pan (because I made my own wedding cake – I know, what was I thinking), so I made it in that instead of a 13 x 9 pan because I thought it would look more festive.

But the frosting, ahh the frosting…it was delicious. It was from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes. Rich, chocolatey, and decadent, but definitely not lo-cal and yes, a little time consuming. After all, it’s Martha, what do you expect?

Here follows two good chocolate frosting recipes: the aforementioned one from Martha, and the other from the America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook. The ATK recipe my daughter made for me for my birthday (I'm trying to lose a few pounds, especially before the holidays!), and it was really delicious, and, as she says, “insanely easy” and “more like 3 minutes”.

Five Minute Lowfat Chocolate Frosting, adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

3 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder – preferably Dutch processed*
7 Tablespoons 1 percent lowfat milk
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate (microwave it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a food processor, pulse the sugar and cocoa together until mixed. Add everything else. Process until smooth.
(130 calories per 2 Tablespoons.)

* Note: Dutch processed cocoa tastes better and blends better than regular cocoa powder – you can buy Dutch processed Rademaker unsweetened cocoa at Wegman’s, or Droste or Lindt from a gourmet store; failing that, use Hershey’s regular unsweetened cocoa powder.

And now for the full fat version:

Chocolate-Sour Cream Frosting, adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

8 oz. (2 cups) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder – Dutch processed (see note above)
¼ teaspoons salt
6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature (temp is very important here)
¾ stick (6 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temp
9 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted in a double boiler, and cooled for 20 minutes
¾ cup sour cream, room temperature

Sift together the dry ingredients – sugar, cocoa and salt.

Beat cream cheese and butter together at medium high speed in a mixer until pale and fluffy. On low speed, add the sugar mixture and mix thoroughly. Then add the cooled chocolate and the sour cream and beat on high until smooth. (Enjoy in moderation - ha!)

It’s hard not to like a chocolate cake with a great frosting. Be sure to err on the side of underbaking with a chocolate cake, though: 3 - 5 minutes less will do. A chocolate cake should not be dry.

And just between you and me - don’t tell anyone it’s from a mix!

(All of the above mentioned books are available in our Library.)

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Little White Liar

Learn Something New Today!

2011-11-16T10:38:00.000-05:00

South Brunswick Library in partnership with Recorded Books (Prince Frederick, MD), is pleased to announce the introduction of Universal Class Library Edition, a powerful new online continuing education service designed specifically for use by the patrons of public libraries.

Universal Class offers patrons a unique online education experience. With a growing catalog of over 540 courses, Universal Class is committed to providing only the most affordable and highest quality online training. Over 300,000 students around the world have benefited from Universal Class’ unique instructional technologies. With real instructors guiding the learning, engaging video-based lessons, a collaborative learning environment, graded lesson tests, certificates of achievement and Continuing Education Units available for selected courses, students enjoy an engaging and measurable learning experience that helps them master and document their educational goals.

Universal Class offers courses in Exercise and Fitness, Entrepreneurship, Arts and Music, Home and Garden Care, Knitting, Cooking, Computers and Technology, Health and Medicine, Homeschooling, Job Assistance, Law and Legal, Parenting and Family, Pet and Animal Care…plus 100’s more. Computer Basics, Microsoft Excel, Word, OutLook, Publisher, PowerPoint, Adobe Flash, Ebay, Photoshop, Quicken and even Keyboarding should prove very popular classes.

Details on Universal Class may be found on the library's database webpage or visiting or contacting us.

Financial Security seminar for Wednesday Wisdom Fifth Wednesday

2011-11-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

Mark November 30th at 1:30 on your calendar to come to the library and hear about ways to protect your finances and to make safe investing decisions. The program will be presented by representatives of the Department of Law and Public Safety, NJ Division of Consumer Affairs who are part of the Office of the Attorney General.

The presentation will be a frank discussion on safe investing practices and financial security given by the people who are part of the team that investigates securities fraud in the state.

The speaker will discuss topics like investor scams, types of fraud, understanding risk, investor rights, how to conduct background checks and how to recognize red flags that may indicate consumer fraud. Literature will be available that you can take home as reinforcement of what is presented in the seminar.

The goal of the Bureau of Securities is to help the consumer make informed investment decisions and not fall victim to the fraudulent or illegal scams.

Don't miss this important presentation. The Wednesday Wisdom program offers something of interest to adults every Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 in the library. Check our newsletter The Compass for the schedule of programs or visit www.sbpl.info/calendar/ for more information.

Defensive Driving Course Saves Money and Lives. Register by Nov. 15.

2011-11-10T16:49:00.000-05:00

An attitude adjustment could save your life.

Road rage, cell phones, decision-making, and attitude will be among the topics discussed in a two-day defensive driving course on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, Nov. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane in Monmouth Junction.

This is an official point & insurance reduction program that will benefit the Friends of the Library. Participation can save you points and money, but the lessons learned will certainly save lives.

“Drive with the attitude that everyone on the road is trying to kill you,” says Ret. Lt. Tom Chartoff, instructor and president of the Defensive Driving Institute of New Jersey. The driving program is offered by the Institute and taught by retired police academy driving instructors.

People need to be prepared to respond so there are no surprises, he explained. “Think ahead. Have a plan.”

The course is not intended to be a driver’s education course or a course for new drivers. Participants should have at least one year of driving experience. Ret. Lt. Chartoff marveled out how drivers are taught the skills at age 17 and then drive for the next 60 years or more without any required update.

Learning to be a better defensive driver is really about attitude and can make all the difference. The bottom line, says Ret. Lt. Chartoff, is that drivers need to “treat people on the road the way you would treat them face-to-face.”

The financial and points benefits of taking the course can include savings of as much as $100 per year and a 2-point reduction. Inform your automobile insurance company representative that you are enrolled in a National Safety Council course and ask for specific clarification about what point and cost reductions to anticipate.

“For the most part the course pays for itself.”

Pre-registration is required. See registration form for more details. Forms can be downloaded from the Library’s Nov. 29th calendar entry at www.sbpl.info/calendar. To participate just pick up a form from the Information Desk or online. Make checks payable to: The Friends of the S.B. Library. Send the completed form and check by Nov. 15 to: Chris Carbone, Friends of the Library, South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852. For more information, call 732-257-2967 or e-mail fixaticket@aol.com.

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Tues., Nov. 29

Defensive Driving Course: A two-day program on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 6 to 9:30 p.m.; and Wednesday, Nov. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane in Monmouth Junction. This is an official point & insurance reduction program that will benefit the Friends of the Library. This driving program is offered by the Defensive Driving Institute of New Jersey and taught by retired police lieutenant/police academy driving instructors. Participation will make you eligible for a point reduction and insurance discount. Pre-registration and advance payment required. The cost to attend is $55 or $65. The cost depends on your discount choice on registration form. See registration form for more details. Forms can be downloaded from the Nov. 29th calendar entry at www.sbpl.info/calendar. To participate just pick up a form from the Information Desk or online. Make checks payable to: The Friends of the S.B. Library. Send the completed form and check by Nov. 15 to: Chris Carbone, Friends of the Library, South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852. For more information, call 732-257-2967 or e-mail fixaticket@aol.com.

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Defensive Driving Course at SBPL Can Save You Money

An attitude adjustment could save your life.

Road rage, cell phones, decision-making, and attitude will be among the topics discussed in a two-day defensive driving course on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, Nov. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane in Monmouth Junction.

This is an official point & insurance reduction program that will benefit the Friends of the Library. Participation can save you points and money, but the lessons learned will certainly save lives.

“Drive with the attitude that everyone on the road is trying to kill you,” says Ret. Lt. Tom Chartoff, instructor and president of the Defensive Driving Institute of New Jersey. The driving program is offered by the Institute and taught by retired police academy driving instructors.

People need to be prepared to respond so there are no surprises, he explained. “Think ahead. Have a plan.”

The course is not intended to be a driver’s education course or a course for new drivers. Participants should have at least one year of driving experience. Ret. Lt. Chartoff marveled out how drivers are taught the skills at age 17 and then drive for the next 60 years or more without any required update.

Learning to be a better defensive driver is really about attitude and can make all the difference. The bottom line, says Ret. Lt. Chartoff, is that drivers need to “treat people on the road the way you would treat them face-to-face.”

The financial and points benefits of taking the course can include savings of as much as $100 per year and a 2-point reduction. Inform your automobile insurance company representative that you are enrolled in a National Safety Council course and ask for specific clarification about what point and cost reductions to anticipate.

“For the most part the course pays for itself.”

Pre-registration is required. See registration form for more details. Forms can be downloaded from the Library’s Nov. 29th calendar entry at www.sbpl.info/calendar. To participate just pick up a form from the Information Desk or online. Make checks payable to: The Friends of the S.B. Library. Send the completed form and check by Nov. 15 to: Chris Carbone, Friends of the Library, South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852. For more information, call 732-257-2967 or e-mail fixaticket@aol.com.

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Defensive Driving Course at SBPL Can Save You Money

Tues., Nov. 29

Defensive Driving Course: A two-day program on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 6 to 9:30 p.m.; and Wednesday, Nov. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane in Monmouth Junction. This is an official point & insurance reduction program that will benefit the Friends of the Library. This driving program is offered by the Defensive Driving Institute of New Jersey and taught by retired police lieutenant/police academy driving instructors. Participation will make you eligible for a point reduction and insurance discount. Pre-registration and advance payment required. The cost to attend is $55 or $65. The cost depends on your discount choice on registration form. See registration form for more details. Forms can be downloaded from the Nov. 29th calendar entry at www.sbpl.info/calendar. To participate just pick up a form from the Information Desk or online. Make checks payable to: The Friends of the S.B. Library. Send the completed form and check by Nov. 15 to: Chris Carbone, Friends of the Library, South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852. For more information, call 732-257-2967 or e-mail fixaticket@aol.com.

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Defensive Driving Course at SBPL Can Save You Money

An attitude adjustment could save your life.

Road rage, cell phones, decision-making, and attitude will be among the topics discussed in a two-day defensive driving course on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, Nov. 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane in Monmouth Junction.

This is an official point & insurance reduction program that will benefit the Friends of the Library. Participation can save you points and money, but the lessons learned will certainly save lives.

“Drive with the attitude that everyone on the road is trying to kill you,” says Ret. Lt. Tom Chartoff, instructor and president of the Defensive Driving Institute of New Jersey. The driving program is offered by the Institute and taught by retired police academy driving instructors.

People need to be prepared to respond so there are no surprises, he explained. “Think ahead. Have a plan.”

The course is not intended to be a driver’s education course or a course for new drivers. Participants should have at least one year of driving experience. Ret. Lt. Chartoff marveled out how drivers are taught the skills at age 17 and then drive for the next 60 years or more without any required update.

Learning to be a better defensive driver is really about attitude and can make all the difference. The bottom line, says Ret. Lt. Chartoff, is that drivers need to “treat people on the road the way you would treat them face-to-face.”

The financial and points benefits of taking the course can include savings of as much as $100 per year and a 2-point reduction. Inform your automobile insurance company representative that you are enrolled in a National Safety Council course and ask for specific clarification about what point and cost reductions to anticipate.

“For the most part the course pays for itself.”

Pre-registration is required. See registration form for more details. Forms can be downloaded from the Library’s Nov. 29th calendar entry at www.sbpl.info/calendar. To participate just pick up a form from the Information Desk or online. Make checks payable to: The Friends of the S.B. Library. Send the completed form and check by Nov. 15 to: Chris Carbone, Friends of the Library, South Brunswick Public Library, 110 Kingston Lane, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852. For more information, call 732-257-2967 or e-mail fixaticket@aol.com.

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Library Displays

2011-11-09T11:58:00.001-05:00

Did you notice the collection of Hindu Masks that were on display in the library in celebration of the Indian holiday of Diwali? This collection of paper mache masks are the creative work of local artist Rupal Patel of R P Studio here in Monmouth Junction. The collection includes masks of many of the Hindu deities.

The collection was placed on display as a way of introducing the concepts behind the Indian celebration of Diwali, which was October 26 this year. Diwali is one of the biggest festivals for Hindus, celebrated with great enthusiasm and happiness. The festival is celebrated for five continuous days, where the third day is celebrated as the main Diwali festival or 'Festival of lights.’ Different colorful varieties of fireworks are always associated with this festival. On this auspicious day, people light up diyas (clay oil lamps) and candles all around their house. It is a festival with such traditions as cleanliness, colorful Rangoli making, and social gatherings to exchange greetings and sharing sweets with loved ones.

In Hindi, Diwali means “Festival of Lights.” Diwali is not only the festival of lights but also marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year. The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. The lighting of the lamps is also a way for people to show thanks for the good things in their lives.

Rupal Patel will be exchanging her Diwali display for her son's collection of over 100 different kinds of elephants. Come and see this fabulous collection.

The library will soon make available an application that can be used by organizations or individuals who would like to create a display to be shown at the library for a maximum of one month, subject to approval of content and availability. Keep an eye out for this link on the library homepage at www.sbpl.info - coming soon.

Free Library Apps

2011-11-09T11:01:00.000-05:00

Did you know there are free library apps available to use with your mobile device?

Come to the Information Desk on Monday November 14 or Tuesday November 15 from 6-8:30 pm to learn more about them.

There are apps to download audiobooks, eBooks and magazine articles and to search the library's collections or check your account.

We will be demonstrating how to use the library's digital resources on mobile devices like the Ipad2, the Android Tablet, the Nook and the Kindle.

Mobile devices may use the library webpage or our mobile webpage to access our database resources like Rocket Language Learning, ValueLine Investment research, Learning Express test and job preparation material, and coming soon Universal Class offering continuing education classes on topics like music, cooking, computer technology and more. You will need your library card number to use these.

Bring your own device if you want help downloading our library apps. If you are unable to make this date please contact us to schedule time with a librarian to see these mobile devices and library apps.

Registration not required for this drop in event.

Wicked

2011-11-03T19:59:00.002-04:00

You know the witch's face on the Wicked Broadway show poster? That's pretty much the color of the green smoothie I made recently. Was it wicked? Why, no, it was rather good in fact.

Having heard some buzz about green smoothies this summer I decided to try one myself. I made my usual smoothie of a frozen banana, a handful of strawberries, a container of yogurt (any random flavor), and some OJ and then added some nice, freshly washed Swiss chard from the organic farm.

I took my first taste with trepidation - no different than normal! But I actually WANTED it to taste "green", so I kept adding chard until I could taste it. I probably added about a cup of chard in all: result? a sweet and creamy smoothie but with a a distinctly fresh, vegetal undertone, and yes, the color of Elphaba's face.

Green smoothies? Easy and nutritious. You can get a serving of green leafy vegetables without resorting to cooking at all.

It was in this spirit of experimentation that I picked up the Everything Green Smoothies Book, by Britt Brandon. Now here was an entire book devoted to green smoothies using either romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, or kale, plus all kinds of other diverse ingredients. Not sure how they would taste, but I was willing to try.

Here's a recipe I tried for a smoothie inspired by the Everything Green Smoothies Book, but this one didn't actually turn out to be that beautiful witchy green -

Chocolaty Dream
1 frozen banana
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup packed spring mix looseleaf lettuce
1 teaspoon sugar or sugar substitute

Blend until smooth.

Interesting, the color of a dark chocolate milkshake with little green bits in it. First taste, not bad, but I actually liked it better the more I drank it. And afterward? I was full for a long time, but in a good, healthy-feeling way. Cocoa powder has all those good antioxidants in it plus fiber, so it's actually good for you, whereas a dark chocolate bar is less so. Chocolate without the guilt!

I think you can pretty much interchange any of the green leafy veg from this book, and also substitute most any dairy product for another, so this book is more of a guideline than anything else. But I am going to branch out and try some of the other combinations from this book, maybe one with fresh spinach?

Now I just hope I don't turn green...

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Sometime Healthy Eater
Broadway Musical Enthusiast

Ask A Librarian From Home Or On The Go

2011-11-02T11:25:00.000-04:00

Now there are more ways than ever to ask a librarian at South Brunswick a question.

First, you can text us from your mobile phone at (732) 800-1394. Add us to your contacts and we will be that much easier to reach. We answer texts during library hours up until a half hour before closing.

Next, you can call the library while we are open at (732) 329-4000 x 7286. We can help you find the information you need from our extensive print and online resources.

Our new and improved Chat Service is available from http://www.sbpl.info/ by clicking on the Ask A Librarian link. Just click inside the Chat Box and type your question.We should get right back to you. You can use this Chat Service on most mobile devices since it uses Java and not Flash.

If you don't have time to chat, you can leave your email and your question in the Question Form on the Ask A Librarian webpage. We can get back to you by email with the information you need.

Ask A Librarian services are available from the Library's mobile webpage. Use that when you are away from your desktop.

Asking a librarian for information has never been easier! Try it today.

Hearing is Living; Don't Deprive Yourself

2011-10-25T07:00:00.004-04:00

Experts from Total Hearing Care in Monroe Township will give a FREE educational program on hearing, hearing loss and the importance of baseline hearing testing. In addition to the program, a free hearing screening will be offered to all attendees. The Program is scheduled for November 30, 2011 from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. in the Octagonal Program Room off the Children's Department (Program Room 2). They will have literature and information to give out, so registration is recommended so they can be sure to have enough to go around.
In the literature they sent ahead of the program, they included a few articles of interest. Did you know that symptoms of untreated hearing loss can mimic symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease? In fact, a 1996 study of memory disorders by the University of South Florida found that 94 percent of respondents suspected of having memory disorder actually suffered from untreated hearing loss. The study found strong evidence that hearing instrument use, combined with effective follow-up care, helped alleviate many of the symptoms commonly attributed to Alzheimer's Disease. Some of the symptoms that are present in both conditions are depression, anxiety, feelings of isolation or disorientation; reduced communication ability; reduced cognitive input; reduced mental scores; inappropriate psychosocial responses; denial, defensiveness and negativity and distrust and paranoia or distrust of other's motives.

Another article on hearing describes auditory deprivation that can occur if a hearing loss goes untreated for too long. Auditory deprivation is a decrease in an ear's ability to understand speech clearly and a crucial part of every hearing exam involves measurement of word discrimination. It is unclear whether auditory deprivation is reversible, so it is important to detect hearing loss in the early stages so that you can preserve word clarity with the use of hearing aids. the research supports the "use it or lose it" theory.

Come to the library on November 30th to hear about the latest findings in audiology research and get a FREE individual hearing screening, either at the end of the program or later in their Monroe offices.

Basically Mexican

2011-10-21T19:59:00.000-04:00

The very first time I had Mexican food, I made it myself. From scratch. Including the tortillas.

Why? Because, at 17 years old and coming from a background where the only ethnic foods I ever ate were pierogis or pizza, I had no idea you could buy tortillas pre-made at the store. So when one of my friends suggested that I make tacos for our group before we went out, I said okay.

I found a taco and tortilla recipe in an old all purpose cookbook my Mom had (was it the 1950's Good Housekeeping Cookbook? Wish I still had it...) and proceeded to make tortillas from water and cornmeal, and pressed them out as thin as I could with a rolling pin (not very), and then baked them on a cast iron skillet. Not bad, but certainly NOT what my high school friends expected or were used to.

Since then, I've eaten lots of different kinds of ethnic foods, some more, some less authentic, but I still enjoy making foods from scratch, even when they're readily available.

This week I made a supremely easy and delicious Fresh Tomatillo Salsa, from tomatillos we picked at Honey Brook Organic Farm - better than anything you can buy in a jar.

Two authors come to mind immediately when researching Mexican food: Diana Kennedy, and Rick Bayless.

Forthwith the recipe I adapted from Bayless' Mexican Everyday. I'm also going to try the Salsa Verde from From My Mexican Kitchen by Diana Kennedy - I've still got a lot of tomatillos! I highly recommend both of these authors and books.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

8 oz. tomatillos, (I used about 6, each about the size of a golf ball) papery husks removed, and rinsed
1 large garlic clove, quartered
1 jalapeno or other hot chiles, stemmed and quartered (or 5 more, if you're like my son)
1/2 cup cilantro
Salt

Blitz the garlic in a food processer first. Add the rest of the ingredients along with 1/4 cup water and process until chopped but not pureed. Serve with tortilla chips (don't have to be homemade!).

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Dilettante

Reference USA helps small business owners!

2011-10-19T15:42:00.000-04:00

Reference USA can help the small business entrepreneur!

Reference USA is the premier source of business and residential information for reference and research that can help the small business owner.

Using the U.S New Movers/Homeowners module users can find the names and addresses of people who have recently purchased homes in their area. These homeowners typically need a whole host of services/repairs that the small business entrepreneur can now directly market to and contact.

Another example of a useful data mining search is for a web designer to make a list of local companies that don’t have websites. The web designer can then tout the merits of a custom made website that can be created for the business owner

For more information contact the Information desk:

http://www.sbpl.info/home/askalibrarian.htm or (732) 329-4000 x 7286

More Organization Help from an Expert

2011-10-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Now that the weather is turning colder and the days are shorter, we will begin to spend more time indoors making it a good time to clear out some of the clutter and waste we have in our lives.

Sangita Patel of Kalakar Interiors, a life coach, interior decorator and professional organizer based in West Windsor will be here in the library on Tuesday, November 1, at 7:00 p.m. in the Meeting Room. Her presentation is titled The Magic of Thought Logic: Clearing and Connecting Your Mind-Space and Home-Space. According to Ms. Patel, “our body and our home are connected in many ways. Our home reflects who we are. In our homes, we need to plan, organize, and harmonize for a peaceful lifestyle. In our body, we need to have healthy intentions, attention to ourselves, and an active mindset to achieve our goals in life.” In her presentation, she will tell us how we can “customize and maximize our Mind-Space and Home-Space connection” so that we will be able to “deal with our yesterday, plan for today so tomorrow will be organized and harmonized.”

The South Brunswick De-Clutter Club requested that we bring in more speakers and organization professionals to talk about managing clutter; Ms. Patel will not only share her ideas of integrating your life and your surroundings to create harmony, but she will also give some pointers on maintaining a clutter-free life once we succeed at the process of clearing out.

Because we already have this de-clutter program scheduled in the first week of November, we will not have our regularly scheduled De-Clutter Club meeting on Thursday night, but there will be some information for the club members (and others who might want to join) on the December meeting and our donation project.

You can also read the blog for the De-Clutter Club at sbpldeclutterclub.blogspot.com

Good vs. Evil

2011-10-14T12:29:00.005-04:00

The bad me craves chocolate. The good me argues that dessert can be light and lower in calories.

Thus, this week’s recipes: Dark Chocolate Gelato, and Lemon Sorbetto. Both the good and bad news was that the Chocolate Gelato was so rich and dense and chocolately, it tasted like frozen chocolate ganache. And the Lemon Sorbetto? Divine - like the best fresh frozen lemonade.

For me, the Chocolate Gelato was just too much chocolate and not enough frozen-ness (is that a word?). I told my family it was so rich, they should cut it with something: so they went to town topping it with lots of whipped cream, pretzels, and what-have-you. They disagreed with me: they all loved it.

An unexpected plus - it was vegan, so my son’s girlfriend could have some as well – the chocolate intensity comes from dark dutched cocoa and dark chocolate, no milk involved.

A couple days later, I made the Lemon Sorbetto in my quest for the cold hit I was looking for. It was simplicity in itself. Boil water and sugar for a simple syrup. Add lemon juice and zest, cool overnight in the fridge. Churn. Freeze. Eat. Feel virtuous.

Dark Chocolate Gelato, adapted from The Perfect Scoop
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
6 Tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
6 oz. unsweetened bar chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk together over medium heat, the cream, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Heat until just boiling. Remove from heat. Whisk in the chopped chocolate until melted. Add the milk and vanilla. Blend 1 minute with an immersion blender or regular blender. Refrigerate overnight. Freeze in ice cream maker. Indulge.

Lemon Sorbetto, adapted from The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 cup fresh lemon juice, from about 6 lemons

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

Combine water and sugar in small saucepan, stir to dissolve, heat to boiling. Cool slightly, add lemon juice and zest. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.

Churn in ice cream maker. At this point the mixture will be too soft to scoop. Pack into container, and place in freezer for 2 hours or more. Enjoy. (Cute little sugar lemon decoration optional.)

Both The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto by F.W. Pearce are all around good go-to books for frozen desserts. The nice thing about finding a recipe in a book versus finding a recipe online, is that it is “browsing enabled” (my term), i.e., it’s easy to find lots of enticing recipes as you leaf through the book, maybe inspiring you along the way to try something you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

Find these books at our Library (– as soon as I return them! -) or tons of others on our shelves right now.

Diane Whitman

Reference Librarian,

Split Personality

Tablets! Tablets!

2011-10-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

It seems that the biggest new thing in technology these days are tablets. In case you don't know tablets are compact and very portable computers. Really more like a very big smartphone than a laptop. Many of us have heard of the brilliant iPad created by the late Steve Jobs, but there is also the Android tablet that offers some things that the iPad doesn't. Read about it here in Consumer Reports.

There are apps available for both that make using the South Brunswick resources easier like downloading and reading eBooks.

So, take two tablets and call me in the morning with your choice.
For more information, call 732-329-4000,ext. 7286.

by Randall Marsola
Network Librarian

2011-10-11T16:37:00.000-04:00

Those that attended the Author Dinner with Chris Grabenstein last Thursday had a great time! If you missed the event, we are sorry but suggest you put this event on your calendar for next October. The meal is always delicious and listening to an author talk about the writing process and their inspiration for their stories is always interesting and entertaining even if the writing style is not what you regularly read. Chris Grabenstein writes mystery stories for adults that are set on the Jersey Shore and are told with his wry sense of humor. He also writes a popular series for young adults. He has an impressive resume of places that he worked and things that he did before he decided to try writing full-time proving that you are never too late to try new experiences and take a different path.

The library supporters that attend this event, the trustees, the Foundation and the Friends as well as patrons and staff, are all bibliophiles and are always good company and great conversationalists. It is a fun opportunity to meet your neighbors and learn something new about what is going on at the library or in the literary world in some small way! We hope to see you all next October.

Coming later this month: the daytime book club meets on the second Wednesday of each month and is part of the Wednesday Wisdom series that promises something of interest to adults every Wednesday at 1:30 at the library. The reading group will be discussing Zeitoun by Dave Eggers on October 12 and on November 9 they will discuss Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The International Film that is being shown this month, on the evening of October 12 at 6:30 p.m. and again on Sunday, October 16 at 2:00 p.m., is Separate Lies starring Tom Wilkenson. The movie is from 2005 and is shown in English. Our Yoga classes continue with some time off for the upcoming Friends Book Sale which will be on October 22nd and 23rd. The third Wednesday Documentary Film Series will continue Nature's Most Amazing Events narrated by David Attenborough. This month's segment is "The Great Migration" about "the annual rains in the Serengeti which draws in the greatest concentration of large animals on the Earth." We have a SCORE business seminar on October 18 titled "The Art of Closing the Sale" and we have programs for the children, tweens and teens all month long to keep the whole family busy!

Check out our Event Calendar that can be accessed from our homepage at www.sbpl.info so that you don't miss a thing!

Balance

2011-10-07T10:54:00.004-04:00

Once again faced with a surfeit of tomatoes, I leafed through Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything for ideas and found an unassuming little recipe for Pasta all’Amatriciana.

Who knew that pasta and just a few basic ingredients could transform into a fabulous dish that was so much more than the sum of its parts? My daughter and I literally stopped talking just to eat and savor the meal – not a typical occurrence! The key was balance - the saltiness of the bacon, the sweetness of the onion, the brightness of the tomatoes, and what they now call the the fifth taste: "umami" or savoriness, the umami of the Parmesan cheese. Try this dish - it's simple and awesome.

Pasta all’Amatriciana adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

1/2 lb. flat long pasta (I didn’t happen to have any on hand, so I took manicotti and had my granddaughter smash it with a rolling pin – it was fine, good even)

1/4 pound of bacon, sliced into ½ inch x 1 inch pieces

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cups diced fresh tomatoes (use all the seeds and “gel”, that’s where there’s tons of flavor. Also, Bittman says you can substitute canned whole, then diced)

½ cup or more of freshly grated Parmesan cheese or pecorino Romano (use a microplane if you have one. PLEASE don’t use the green can of already grated cheese – it will go from amazing to meh.)

Freshly ground pepper

Boil a large pot of water for the pasta, salt heavily so it tastes briny.

In a large sauté pan, (I used my trusty 12 inch cast iron one), saute the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove and set aside. Add the onions and sauté over low heat until translucent and soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer gently for 5 minutes, or until the pasta is ready.

Toss the pasta in whenever the water boils, and cook until al dente. Dip out a half cup of pasta water just before draining the pasta.

Add the drained pasta to the saucepan, mix and simmer slowly a minute or two. Taste for salt and pepper. Strew with the crispy bacon, add a smidge of reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce, more if necessary. Fold in the cheese. Feast.

In Sunday’s New York Times, both How to Cook Everything, and The New Best Recipe from the Editors of Cook’s Illustrated were cited as being the replacements for the old standard The Joy of Cooking. I agree!

All of these titles are available in our Library – take them out and find something easy and wonderful – you won’t be sorry. Incidentally, the subtitle for Bittman’s How to Cook Everything is 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food - I’m betting with this book you can always find something tasty to make with what you have on hand. Bittman typically lists lots of variations.

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Wannabe Italian

Faith, Family and Forgiveness

2011-10-05T12:47:00.000-04:00

Jennifer Haigh's newest novel Faith is a compelling novel that delves into the lives of the McGanns, a devout Irish Catholic family living in Boston whose faith in both their religion and each other is called into question during the Catholic Church scandal. In 2002, members of the McGann family each day read of more and more priests accused of the horrible crime of molesting children and revelations surface that church hierarchy had been covering up the behavior of these priests. Despite the newspaper headlines, the McGann family is shocked when their brother, Father Arthur, is accused of inappropriate behavior with the grandson of the church's housekeeper. But this story is much more than just a novel about pedophile priests and irresponsible bishops and cardinals. Instead, it is a much deeper story about family and the ties that bind us and our loyalty to those we love. It is told from the perspective of Sheila McGann, the half sister to the accused priest who returns home to Boston to defend his brother and to find out what is the truth behind the accusations. His half brother has already declared him guilty without even speaking to him while his mother is in total self denial, not believing that there is even a slight possibility that her favorite son could be guilty.

The story is complicated, a lot of shades of gray, and there are many hidden family secrets that surface to help the readers understand the motivations of these complex characters. The book is suspenseful--even the reader does not know whether Father Arthur is guilty or not until the end. This family's lack of communication has contributed to the secrecy and the dysfunction of this blended family. The characters are very interesting and the writing is well done. I have read one of Haigh's previous novel and enjoyed it but this one really stands out. I plan to pick up her other two. If you enjoy books with strong character development and a hint of mystery, you'll be glad you read this newest release of Haigh's.

Wednesday Wisdom Series Features TED Talks

2011-10-04T16:26:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the second of our Wednesday Wisdom programs where we will be showing some "jaw-dropping" TED Talks.

TED, which stands for "Technology, Entertainment and Design," is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. The annual TED conferences, in Long Beach/Palm Springs and Edinburgh, bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less).

On TED.com, they make the best talks and performances from TED and partners available to the world, for free. More than 900 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week. Each month, the library selects three or four of these talks that total about an hour. We try to offer one talk from each of the TED themes - technology, entertainment and design - or talks that we think would be of interest to our Wednesday Wisdom audience.

Tomorrow the four talks are:

Julian Treasure: 5 Ways to Listen Better - In our louder and louder world, says sound expert Julian Treasure, "We are losing our listening." In this short, fascinating talk, Treasure shares five ways to re-tune your ears for conscious listening -- to other people and the world around you. (TEDGlobal2011 – July 2011 – 7:50)

Thandie Newton: Embracing Otherness, Embracing Myself - Actor Thandie Newton tells the story of finding her "otherness" -- first, as a child growing up in two distinct cultures, and then as an actor playing with many different selves. A warm, wise talk, fresh from stage at TEDGlobal 2011. (TEDGlobal2011 – July 2011 – 13:56)

Anna Deavere Smith: Four American Characters - Writer and actor Anna Deavere Smith gives life to author Studs Terkel, convict Paulette Jenkins, a Korean shopkeeper and a bull rider, excerpts from her solo show "On the Road: A Search for American Character." (TED2005 – Feb 2005 - 23:08)

Robert Hammond: Building a Park in the Sky - New York was planning to tear down the High Line, an abandoned elevated railroad in Manhattan, when Robert Hammond and a few friends suggested: Why not make it a park? He shares how it happened in this tale of local cultural activism. (TED2011 – March 2011 – 5:41)

Please join us to view these fascinating discussions and presentations on the large screen in the library.

Running With the Library

2011-10-03T13:23:00.000-04:00

Running fast is something I will probably never be capable of. I have accepted this fact. I am "a middle age," a former smoker, nutritionally challenged, have mild asthma, and am not gifted with athletic genes. However, I can always run better. In fact my 5K time improved at a race just this past weekend to just under 38 minutes. My secret weapon? The Library of course!

Most people might not think of the Library as a place to improve running time and endurance, but it is the best place to begin. We carry Runners World magazine, alongwith related publications such as Sports Illustrated and Shape, depending on your objectives.

Our shelves hold running related how-to books, biographies, and movies to inspire and instruct. You will find training tips and guides here by some of the greatest runners of all time.

Your running companions at the Library include the great Jeff Galloway, Kara Goucher, Amby Burfoot, Bart Yasso, Art Liberman, Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, and Hal Higdon. Your choice!

You will find the biographies in their own aisle next to the World Language section at SBPL. The running books are located in the Dewey section 796.4, specifically the bottom shelf of Stack 38.

And of course its all free with your Library card.

by Rosemary Gohd
SBPL staff member & weekend runner

Rocket Languages

2011-09-28T11:50:00.000-04:00

Rocket Languages is our new language learning service and it is good! It recently received the PC Magazine Editor’s Choice award for best product in the language learning category. Rocket recently added voice recognition/comparison to all their language products. They’ve created an amazingly fun and effective way to learn a new language.

New users register on at our website, www.sbpl.info , with their library barcode number and email. Registration is completed by making up a password and accepting terms. It is that simple.

Pick the language you want to learn. The choices are Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, American Sign Language, Spanish, Rocket Eigo (English course for Japanese speakers), Rocket Ingles (English course for Spanish Speakers).

I picked French hoping to communicate with new friends from France. I was impressed by the short lessons that have lots of practice. I was assured that it was never too late to start learning something new. This was nice to hear.

Rocket has great memory tips. One tip was to think in your new language. For “I am hungry” think “J’ ai faim” The idea is that by having these conversations in your head you get lots of practice without an audience. Great tip!

They also give good learning advice. “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes”

Reminds me of Miss Frizzle, the teacher from the ‘Magic School Bus’ television show. She advised her students to “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy.”

Rocket offers social networking to enhance learning. It is called ‘My Community’. It lets you post questions and comments to teachers, native speakers, and other Rocket Language Learners.

My first lessons were on meeting, greeting and eating. The Rocket teachers warn that you might experience “…a strange tingling sensation when you hear your first French word.” Forwarned, I was not overpowered by the newness of the sounds.

The conversations were clear, fun and done at just the right pace. They were short and effective with a lot of responses called for on my part. Each conversation may be repeated as many times as you need to pick up the pronunciation.

After a few days practice I was hopeful that I would be able to at least great my friends from France. I greeted them with “Salut. Comment ça va?” After that my mind went blank. "C'est la vie." Paris was not built in a day. I will definitely keep practicing and thinking in my new language. And then I will “Take chances, make mistakes and get messy”

Mary Donne
Head of Information Services

Help with What to Read Next

2011-09-27T16:52:00.001-04:00

Have you seen the librarian action figure? She has a real action move "push to shussh" where she raises her finger to her lips to shussh! The figure is modeled after Nancy Pearl, a librarian who retired from the Seattle Public Library, who is well known for her reader's guides, book reviews and creating the first "One City One Book" reading program. Her reader's advisory guides are worth consulting to find out how to determine what you enjoy reading and how to find more books that meet your specific reading preferences.

So far, she has published seven of these useful guides:

Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction 1978–1998, Libraries Unlimited, 1999, ISBN 1-56308-659-X

Now Read This II: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1990–2001, Libraries Unlimited, 2002, ISBN 1-56308-867-3

Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2003, ISBN 1-57061-381-8

More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2005, ISBN 1-57061-435-0

Book Crush: For Kids and Teens : Recommended Reading For Every Mood, Moment, and Interest, Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2007, ISBN 978-1570615009

And her most recent books:

Now Read This III: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 2002-2009, Libraries Unlimited, 2010, ISBN 978-1591585701

Book Lust To Go, Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers, Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2010, ISBN 978-1570616501

If you want to use these books and books like these to help you expand (or pinpoint) your reading selections, ask at the Information Desk; many are kept at the desk in the Ready Reference collection. Others can also be found on the shelves at 011.73. You can also use these kind of guides to read books set in specific locations, fiction that includes historic characters, and fiction about specific eras or points in history. There is even a reader's guide to the Best Thin Books for Teens.

Special Needs Programs at SBPL

2011-09-26T14:21:00.000-04:00

As frequently happens when one reaches out to help others, the giver gets something good in return. This has been the experience of the Library beginning in 2009. Buoyed by a grant from INFOLINK, the Eastern New Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, SBPL along with other area libraries committed themselves to developing programs targeting children affected by ASD (autism spectrum disorder).

While the money has long since been spent, special needs programming has now become a standard part of each week's agenda at SBPL, giving us an honored place in the lives of many new friends. It is estimated that about one in every 110 children (or 1% of all children in the United States) may have some form of ASD.

That first year really got the ball rolling for us. We connected with local and regional resources to offer parents and kids whatever we could including workshops, as well as fun and educational programs, many also included the siblings of children affected by ASD. Among the programs was an interactive music concert, Art Therapy, Creative Stacking, Read to a Therapy Dog, and even Yoga for Kids.

Some related program topics addressed other concerns such as diet and ADD/ADHD. In addition, Library staff created a how-to picture book about visiting the library. Copies were distributed for use in the Library of course, but also to the Township Health Department and to all of the special needs classes in the school district.

Well-attended programs showed that there was a need and desire for this kind of outreach outside of what was offered in schools. Library programs had the advantage of a community approach that brought the family together. But, enough about what we did. We are doing more today.

Our librarians are now regularly entering the special needs classrooms in the school district offering story times and cementing the Library-School connection.

The bi-monthly library newsletter The Compass includes a list of activities, usually scheduled on Wednesdays and Thursdays. These include the ever-popular Read to a Therapy Dog program, where a live dog trained to listen to young readers with and without special needs, comes into the library. We are also currently offering the Creative Craft program and Stories and Activities for Children with Special Needs and their Families. Efforts are continually made to juggle staffing to provide some evening programming for working parents.

The cherry on top if that these programs are offered free of charge. Library Registration is required for some of these programs so it is always a good idea to double-check with the Children's Department by calling (732)329-4000, ext. 7285. Special needs programs are now made possible with funds raised by the Friends of the Library. When you make a donation to the Friends, become a member, or make a purchase at a book sale or other Friend event you are helping to support library programming, including special needs. Thanks!

For more information on current special needs programs and on how you can help the Friends of the Library go to http://www.sbpl.info/ or call (732)329-4000, ext. 7286.

Empty Plates

2011-09-23T11:09:00.000-04:00

A few minutes after serving scoops of peach ice cream in sugar wafer bowls to my husband, daughter and son Thursday night, I looked up to see each one of them doing exactly the same thing: trying to scrape up any last bits from completely empty plates. I guess you liked it, I said.

It all started two days ago. I picked up a big basket of peaches from Pleasant Hill Farm in Jamesburg Wednesday afternoon on my way to work at the Library. Left the Library that night with three cookbooks in hand with ice cream recipes: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz, The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein, and The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto.

After perusing them all, I picked the Peach Ice Cream recipe from The Perfect Scoop. Since I knew from experience that any ice cream mixture has to be refrigerated overnight for the best results, (and don't forget the ice cream maker cylinder has to be frozen 24 hours in advance), I prepared the base Wednesday night. It didn't take much time or skill. Of course, the key ingredient is great peaches. Which I had.

The next day was easy. I grabbed the cooled peach base out of the fridge and the frozen cylinder from the freezer, poured in the mixture, hit the button, and 20 minutes later I had some beautiful, softly set, luscious, late summer peach ice cream.

After I ate (inhaled?) a scoop (the perfect lunch), I thought that the whole process was so easy and quick, maybe I should make some homemade cones? How hard could it be? And I'd always wanted to do it.

To my pleasant surprise, the sugar cone recipe I picked from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book worked like a charm. Easier than one might think. A caveat: on a humid day like yesterday, the cones and bowls softened a bit after a few hours. Might want to make them on a drier day, or else eat them immediately. They're so much fun to have though, I don't think your fellow ice cream eaters would mind if they were a little bit less than perfect.

Funnily enough, I used wooden blocks (well washed of course) from my granddaughter's toy basket to mold the cones. After making a batch, and having the seams come apart a little, I read The Perfect Scoop's recipe which recommended to press the mold down firmly on the seam to keep the cones from coming apart, and to pinch the bottom shut. Worked well. (Of course, you can always drop a mini marshmallow or two in the bottom of the cones to keep them from dripping, too.)

Peach Ice Cream, adapted from The Perfect Scoop

1 1/2 pounds ripe peaches (about 4 large)
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup sugar, (any kind, white, turbinado, brown)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
few drops fresh lemon juice

Peel the peaches, and cut into small pieces. Cook in medium saucepan with the water for about 8 minutes as you would applesauce, covered, stirring occasionally, until the peaches are tender. Remove from heat. Add the sugar of your choice (I used turbinado because I had some and I like it). Cool. Add the rest of the ingredients. Process or blend until just barely smooth. Chill overnight. Freeze in ice cream maker.

Oven Baked Sugar Cones adapted from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons, butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Beat the sugar and egg together in a mixer until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the butter, vanilla and milk. Sift the flour over the batter. Mix gently.

Line a half sheet pan or cookie sheet with a Silpat mat. Drop 1 1/2 Tablespoons of batter on the mat and spread out with an offset spatula to a 6 inch circle. Three fit easily on one sheet. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly browned. Immediately remove wafer with a spatula and shape over cone mold. Carefully press down flat on seam side and pinch bottom shut. Quickly repeat with remaining wafers. Then let cool a few minutes and unmold. This recipe makes about 12 cones. (Can also shape over the back of custard cups to make bowls.)

Even if you don't want to bother with the cones, do try the ice cream - it's so good! You can pick up an ice cream maker at a yard sale for about $10.00. The Cuisinart I have I got for Christmas, and sells for about fifty bucks, but you could probably get one on sale for forty. Ironic that I'm enjoying this ice cream maker now so long after the holidays. In fact, I did make coffee ice cream (my fave) right away in January, but I used a recipe where you had to cook the eggs and make a custard. Although the flavor was great, the texture was a little bizarre - despite straining the mix before freezing, the ice cream was a little, well, grainy.

Maybe that's advanced ice cream making - for my money, I'll stick with this non-custard recipe when the peaches are fresh and plentiful. After all, you can't argue with an empty plate.

There are so many great sounding recipes in the cookbooks I used, The Perfect Scoop and The Ultimate Ice Cream Book, I would recommend both books, even after having tried just one (excellent) recipe apiece. And if you do,will you let me know how it goes?

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Peach Lover

eBooks for the Kindle Is Here

2011-09-21T17:16:00.000-04:00

How-To Video on Library eBooks for Amazon® Kindle

Many South Brunswick Library patrons are already reading eBooks from the library on their desktop computers, eReaders and other mobile devices.

The good news is now out for Amazon Kindle users. You too can download eBooks with your South Brunswick Library card from our website. Just go to http://www.sbpl.info/.

Click on the 'Download Audiobooks & eBooks' button.

Read our helpful hints page. This includes the library name you will use in ListenNJ, "Libraries of Middlesex"

Then use the link 'Click here to download'.

You will be taken to our ListenNJ page.

Click on the 'Supported Devices' link and then click on the 'Software/Apps' link. This is where you will get information on the app you need to get Kindle Books from Overdrive. When you are done here go back to the ListenNJ window.

Click on the picture of the Kindle with the title "Now Available Library eBooks for Kindle".

You will see a list of the Kindle books in ListenNJ.

Use Advanced Search see Kindle books that are currently available if you do not want to wait for a book.
Please call the South Brunswick Library Information Desk for help with this feature. 732-329-4000 x 7286.

You may also read these Kindle eBooks on a PC, iPhone, Blackberry, iPad or Android. You will need an App which will be available at Amazon when you go to download the book.

Here is the help information from Amazon's webpage for this new service :

Visit the website of a U.S. library (http://www.sbpl.info/) that offers digital services from OverDrive.

Check out a Kindle book (library card required).

Click on "Get for Kindle." You will then be directed to Amazon.com to redeem your public library loan. You may be required to login to your Amazon.com account -- or create a new account -- if you're not already logged in.

Choose to read the book on your Kindle device, free reading app, or Kindle Cloud Reader.

Note: Public library books require an active Wi-Fi connection for wireless delivery to a Kindle device. Library books will not be delivered via your Kindle's 3G connection. If trying to send to a Kindle device and do not have an active Wi-Fi connection, you may instead choose to load your library book via USB. Both Mac and Windows users can manage Kindle content through a USB connection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I be notified before my public library book loan expires?

Yes. Three days before the end of the loan period, we will send a courtesy reminder e-mail about the loan expiration. Once the loan period has ended, an additional e-mail notification will be sent. Availability of books and length of loan are determined by your local library.

How do I view the status of my loan?

You can view the status of a public library book for Kindle from the Manage Your Kindle page. Click on the "+" symbol next to any title to view more details about any book that you've borrowed including the expiration date.

You can also access all of the materials that you currently have checked out on your library's OverDrive-powered website. Within your library's digital site, look for links to My Account, My Bookshelf, or something similar.

What happens to my notes and highlights after a loan expires?

You can always access their notes and highlights through kindle.amazon.com, even after a book expires. And if you check a book out again, or purchase it from Amazon.com all of your notes and highlights will appear in the book as before the loan expired.

Are public library books for Kindle available internationally?

At this time, public library books for Kindle are only available at U.S. libraries.

What Kindle devices can I read public library books on?

You can read borrowed Kindle books on any generation Kindle device or all free Kindle apps, as well as in your web browser with Kindle Cloud Reader. Public library books require an active Wi-Fi connection for wireless delivery to a Kindle device.

Library books will not be delivered via your Kindle's 3G connection. If trying to send to a Kindle device and do not have an active Wi-Fi connection, you may instead choose to load your library book via USB.

How do I send library books to my Kindle device or reading app?

Once a public library book has been redeemed, you can send it to any registered Kindle device or reading app from the Manage Your Kindle page. Public library books require an active Wi-Fi connection for wireless delivery to a Kindle device.

Library books will not be delivered via your Kindle's 3G connection. If trying to send to a Kindle device and do not have an active Wi-Fi connection, you may instead choose to load your library book via USB.

For more information, and to learn about transferring files to your Kindle, please see our Kindle Help page at: www.amazon.com/kindletransfer

Debut Novel Receives Rave Reviews

2011-09-21T11:22:00.000-04:00

Both mesmerizing and chilling is how I would describe the novel I chose to read this week, Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind. At the beginning of the novel, Dr. Jennifer White is being questioned for the murder of her best friend and neighbor, Amanda, who was found dead in her home with four fingers cut off with surgical precision. Since Dr. White is a former orthopedic surgeon, police believe she is the murderer or at least involved in some way.

But is that even possible? Dr. White is suffering from severe dementia and although she has moments of lucidity, there are many bad days when she doesn't even know who her children are or the caregiver who lives with her at her home. How could a person whose mind is disintegrating be capable of carrying out such a horrible crime and then be successful in covering up her tracks? The relationship with Amanda was a close one but not without heated arguments and difficulties that frienships endure. But what would be her motive?

Narrated by Dr. White, this book delves into the characters innermost feelings and her story is a tragic one. The reader understands what it is like for a highly intelligent surgeon to lose her faculties, to no longer be able to practice medicine, to make decisions regarding her future and where she will live. Introduced in this book are her two grown children, Mark and Fiona. Mark for the most part seems untrustworthy, especially when he stops by to visit his mother frequently with the motive of getting her to write him a check. Fiona is in charge of her mother's finances and seems more attentive to the true needs of her mother but even then, questions remain regarding their loyalty.

This book is part thriller, part family drama, and most important, a touching novel that allows readers some insight into the plight of those afflicated with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. It is a difficult read because of the subject matter especially for anyone who has a family member or friend suffering from dementia. However, I would still highly recommend this book...it is one of those books that stay with you for a long time.

Celebrate September

2011-09-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Summer Reading is over and we are still considering if we will continue the book review = prize drawing contest. It would work roughly the same way as over the summer – if you complete a book review of the books you read, you will be entered into a weekly contest, which would be a selection off the prize cart and at the end of a three month period, there would be a grand prize drawing for a Barnes and Noble gift card.

Today is Tuesday, September 20, 2011. It is the 263rd day of the year and there are 102 days remaining until 2012. Autumn officially arrives on Friday. The Cosby Show premiered on this day in 1984 and The Phil Silvers Show premiered on September 20, 1955. It is opening day of the United Nations General Assembly – this year being the 64th session and it is the opening day of the Parliament in the Netherlands, which is referred to as Prinsjesdag. Dr. Joyce Brothers was born on this day in 1928, Anne Meara in 1929 and Sophia Loren in 1934. September is an auspicious month. Happy AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Month, Atrial Fibrillation Month ADHD Month, Baby Safety Month, Backpack Safety America Month, Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Chile National Month, Fall Hat Month, Go Wild During California Wild Rice Month, Great American Low-Cholesterol, Low Fat Pizza Bake, Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month, Happy Cat Month, International People Skills Month, International Self-Awareness Month, International Strategic Thinking Month, Mold Awareness Month, National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, National Chicken Month, National Coupon Month, National DNA, Genomics and Stem Cell Education and Awareness Month, National Head Lice Prevention Month, National Home Furnishings Month, National Honey Month, National Mushroom Month, National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (by Presidential Proclamation), National Piano Month, National Preparedness Month, National Rice Month, National Sickle Cell Month, National Skin Care Awareness Month, One-on-one Month, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Pleasure Your Mate Month, Sea Cadet Month, September is Healthy Aging Month, Shameless Promotion Month, Sports and Home Eye Safety Month, Subliminal Communications Month, Update Your Resume Month, Whale Grains Month, Women’s Friendship Month, and World Animal Remembrance Month to one and all! This information comes from my favorite reference book, Chase’s Calendar of Events, published every year by the McGraw Hill Companies.

However, the most important association for September, since 1987, is that it is Library Card Sign-up Month!! This observance was launched to meet the challenge of then Secretary of Education William J. Bennett who said, “Let’s have a national campaign. Every child should obtain a library card – and use it.” If you or anyone in your family does not have a library card, what are you waiting for? The American Library Association reminds us that “It is the most important school supply of all” and you can get one FREE at your local library! Check out all the things we have to offer here at the South Brunswick Public Library on our webpage at www.sbpl.info and come see us soon!

Find Your Roots in the Library

2011-09-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

Two of my favorite interests are libraries and genealogy so it is a double whammy of satisfaction when one can combine with the other. While recently doing some family history research in England I found information at no less than four public libraries there. Luckily for my husband he likes golf and there was ample opportunity for that too.

Even an ocean away, the public library offered free and friendly guidance to help me along my research journey. You’ve got to love it! (I know, my friends tell me I'm a real party animal!)

While I was lucky enough to have gotten far enough into my research that I needed an airplane to continue the beginner can get a great start on family research right here at the South Brunswick Public Library. Before you pull out your credit card for paid online service such as from Ancestry.com, first stop by and see what you can find courtesy of the Library.

The most obvious place to begin is in the how-to family history research collection. Just look in the shelf area of Dewey 929.1. If you search the online catalog you'll notice 171 suggestions for "genealogy” related materials. Take your pick. This is an excellent first step and costs you nothing!

Another resource is our Local Archives Room and is best for someone who has some roots in South Brunswick or nearby areas. Thanks to our recent renovation, much of these local materials are now organized in the Local Archives Room, located in the rear of the building. It is a non-public area of the Library and librarian assistance is needed to pursue the items here.
These local materials have been collected for the past 20 years by Township Local Historian Ceil Leedom, a regular volunteer here.

In it are articles from local newspapers about important people who have either lived in South Brunswick or been associated with it in some way, as well as obituaries, and some wedding and engagement announcements. Some special items in the collection were donated by residents, such as a 1966-67 Valhalla Yearbook and research done by Janet Riemer for the USA’s Bicentennial. It is not a complete collection but it does include some great resources including an 1891 Middlesex County Directory.

The archives also include other helpful resources such as the History of Middlesex County series books, as well as dated area maps, church and cemetery information.

There is more local history information out on the public main floor of the Library, such as the New Jersey Collections. Some can be borrowed but other items can only be referenced while in the Library.

The New Jersey Collections contain information on historic properties, houses and even families…such as Van Liew, Winchester, Rowland, Van Dyke, Emmons, and Wetherhill. There is even a specialty collection on the doctors of Dayton and a Township history scrapbook created by school teacher Doris Curran.

If that isn’t enough for you we have shelves and shelves of microfilm of the New York Times newspaper, beginning in 1851 through December 2010. Perhaps you had a relative good (or bad) enough to get his name in the Times! We also have select local and regional newspapers on microfilm, but not as extensive a collection.

Whether your family's roots are local or not, our librarians can direct you to the right shelf or online database to help you along your road to discovery. Just ask!

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Celebrations from the Heart

2011-09-16T17:13:00.000-04:00

Cookbooks are great, but making a recipe that you've made numerous times trumps that. Today I made two desserts for a birthday celebration, Peach-Ginger Pie with Freshly Whipped Cream, from Rose Levy Beranbaum"s The Pie and Pastry Bible, and Chocolate Praline Cake, from Anne Byrn's The Cake Mix Doctor. But my coworker Mike baked the baklava from memory, and how can you beat that?

Mike and his baklava - before and after the ravenous hordes.

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Peach-Ginger Pie
adapted from The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Pastry cutouts with the birthday names piped in frosting.

8 cups of sliced peaches, peeled or not

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2 pinches salt

4 teaspoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons grated fresh lemon zest

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Decorative pie dough cutouts (use single crust premade dough or make your own)

Mix everything together (not the cutouts!). Pour into extra deep pie plate or casserole, or a glass 13" x 9" pan. Cover with foil, cut 1" slit in foil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes for the casserole, 35 minutes for 13x9 pan. The juices should be bubbling thickly and peaches will be tender when tested with a knife. (Place in the oven on a greased foil lined baking sheet to catch drips and keep your oven clean.)

Make pie dough cutouts: use any pie pastry dough (or premade), and roll out to 1/4 thickness. Cut into fun shapes - I used two different star cutters. Brush with milk, sprinkle very heavily with coarse sugar. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes or until golden. Cool.

Place on pie. Serve with whipped cream (see recipe below) or ice cream - and spoons.

Some notes for the Peach-Ginger Pie:

I ran out of light brown sugar, so I used half dark brown sugar and half white: since brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added, this substitution works just fine.

Forgot to buy fresh ginger at the store, but luckily my (ever resourceful!) daughter had frozen a piece of fresh ginger last month. Fetched it out of the freezer, peeled it by scraping off the skin with a teaspoon (much easier and less wasteful than using a knife), and grated it on a microplane - it turns out that ginger is actually easier to grate frozen than fresh.

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Chocolate Praline Cake adapted from The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn

3/4 cup chopped pecans

8 Tablespoons butter (1 stick)

Cake mix gone fancy.

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

Melt together butter, sugar and cream in saucepan. Pour evenly in two 9 inch cake pans.

Spread the chopped pecans over the sugar mixture.

One 18.5 oz. devil's food cake mix

1/2 cup oil

3 eggs

1 cup water

Prepare the cake mix as directed on package. Spread over praline mixture. Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes. Don't overbake chocolate cakes - bake until toothpick inserted in center has a lot of moist crumbs clinging to it, but no raw dough.

Put cake pans on racks to cool for 10 minutes. Then turn cakes out onto wire racks, praline side up. Cool.

Spread with Whipped Cream between layers and on top. (Or pipe it if you have decorating supplies...)

Whipped Cream

2 cups heavy or whipping cream

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar\

1 Teaspoon vanilla

1 packet Whip It, optional

Mix all together at low speed and increase to high until stiff peaks form. (For serving as an accompaniment to the pie, mix only until soft peaks form.)

Some notes for the Chocolate Praline Cake:

First off, if you want to decorate the cake with the whipped cream, double the recipe for the Sweetened Cream: use two cups, not one.

Second, don't follow Byrn's recipe and use 1/4 cup of sugar per cup of cream - too sweet. Instead follow Berenbaum's proportions of 1 Tablespoon of sugar per cup of cream plus 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Finally, you can buy a little envelope of powder at the store in the baking aisle of Wegman's called "Whip It". (Nothing to do with Devo, by the way.) - it just stabilizes the cream so it doesn't separate, and is especially good when decorating with whipped cream, or transporting a whipped cream dessert. It's made by Dr.Oetker, originally from Germany, the main ingredient is cornstarch. I always try to keep a packet or two on hand.
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When you don't have the old family recipes to rely on, try some of the cookbooks in our library. You might even find something better than "mom used to make"! And the baklava? - stay posted, we'll try to get that recipe for you soon..

The Cake Mix Doctor is in our Library. You can get the Pie and Pastry Bible from 12 of our member libraries: just place a hold online or at the Info desk. It takes about a week to get holds that are on the shelf from another library - a great service only 25 cents.

I found the inspiration for the styling of these desserts from several cookbooks in our Library. Come and check some new cookbooks out for ideas! It's fun and cheap - enjoy your weekend...and diet on the weekdays.

Diane Whitman

Reference Librarian

Amateur Baker

SBPL: Your Port In a Storm

2011-09-14T16:03:00.000-04:00

NJ 211 Hurricane Relief

Many people in South Brunswick were without power after Hurricane Irene. They came to South Brunswick Library to use computers or Wifi. They came to have a well lit and comfortable place to sit and read. They even came to charge their cell phones. We put out extra power strips and were happy to work with them to get what they needed during this difficult time. It was good to see that so many people knew the library would be there for them.

Now the library's webpage has a link that will get you the information that you need to apply for hurricane relief assistance. Click on the NJ 211 Hurricane Relief link above and then click on the Immediate Assitance - Local link on their webpage to find out what help is available and where to get it.

The Downside of Time Share Vacations

2011-09-13T11:21:00.000-04:00

It’s amazing how enticing time share marketers and sales people can make the idea of owning a time share and how disappointing the reality is. I’m not saying that I haven’t enjoyed all of the vacations we have taken through our timeshare (except that trip to St. Maarten I wrote about a few weeks ago), but the process of scheduling the vacations is far from ideal. We own a timeshare with one of the big hotel chain’s vacation club. This sounds ideal since you can earn “points” to be used in the club trough purchases made on an affiliated credit card and with stays at any of their extensive chain of hotels. They are also partnered with several other timeshare companies, expanding the choice of vacation destinations.

The problems my husband and I are having with this service is that we are almost too busy to take time for week long (or more) vacations, which is the best way to use the timeshare. This was actually why we were originally sold on the concept, because we thought if we had these vacations that we paid for over time, we would be compelled to take more time for ourselves. The reality is that to get the most out of the service, you really have to be able to determine well in advance when you will be available to take the time and where you want to go and you have to have some flexibility. Like the rest of the world these days, we are very last minute about making plans and by the time we determine that we can both get away at the same time and we decide on a location we want to go where the weather, etc. will be favorable, all the “good” places are unavailable. And if you don’t use the points you have paid for, you loose them!

We have to take a “nice” vacation by the end of this year or risk losing a substantial number of points and the only time we will be able to get off is around Thanksgiving. We want to go somewhere amazing since we are celebrating a significant anniversary but the problem is that travel in November is not an ideal time weather-wise (unless you are skiers). In November, almost half of the world is too cold or too wet and about half of the places where the weather is warm are too far to travel to with only one week off. We have settled on the Caribbean, but all of the resorts that are available at this time are “all inclusive” and the fees that are charged, per person, per day, to use their facilities, to drink like a fish and to eat in the same restaurant at the same location for 21 meals in a row are outrageously expensive even in the shoulder season. And of course, these fees are not part of the timeshare agreement!

And the reservation process for these vacations is far from easy, although the new online tools that they have added are certainly a big help. Ultimately, I think the best thing to do is to find someone “in the know” on the inside that you can call and have them take care of everything from hotel reservations to airfare and all of the extras. That person used to be called a travel agent…I wonder if there are travel agents that can work their magic with your timeshare? I suspect there is no money in it for them to bother…

Those who are best suited to take full advantage of this kind of travel club are active retirees…my husband and I only have 15 more years to go before we can enjoy our timeshare! Will we make it that long? Only time will tell.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month

2011-09-12T13:11:00.000-04:00

What is plastic, flat and rectangular, fits in your wallet, enables unlimited possibilities, yet no debt? A library card of course! All through September libraries across the country are reminding people of all the wonders granted by a little bit of plastic called a library card.

"There is no better complement to educational endeavors and

no better resource for affordable pleasures."

Having a library card gives the holder access to so much for so little that some call it the “smart card.”

In addition to the expected print materials, such as books and magazines, cardholders at South Brunswick Public Library can find us here seven days a week and can access many of our online services 24/7.

Cardholders can use the Internet, borrow music and movies, travel guides and maps, audio books, computer games, and popular magazines. They can even find a lot of that in several different foreign languages! Of course we also offer e-books and a host of other services for mobile devices. Just ask one of our professionals at the Information Desk for more details.

Many “eons” ago people thought of librarians as bookworms living a lonely life of quiet desperation. Not so! Today’s librarian is an information specialist worldly wise in all areas including electronic, print, and audio-visual. As our motto says, we are your “guide to discovery.”

For hundreds of more ideas on how to use your library card, just go onto our website www.sbpl.info. You’ll find connections to tutoring, job searches, online language learning, and career exploration just for starters!

Studies show that children who use the library do perform better in school and are more likely to continue to use the library as a source of lifetime learning. However, children can also checkout games, and other fun stuff.

Adults have some benefits too. We offer adult book clubs in the afternoon and the evening. We host numerous programs and clubs on topics including the international cinema, photography, de-cluttering, poetry, computer problems and basic skills, needle crafts, and so on!

The library is the place to meet like-minded individuals and pursue your passion.

Not sure how to begin? Just ask one of our librarians aka “guides” for help. How about finding a new job, learning basic computer skills and Facebook, losing weight, fixing your car, building a backyard deck, or managing your money?

Popular magazines? We’ve got ‘em! Information for new Americans? We’ve got that too!

Don’t forget our library also offers curbside service with our Bookmobile. For more information about all of our services, visit our website: www.sbpl.info.

The observance of Library Card Sign-up Month was launched in 1987 as a national campaign to ensure every child has a library card.

According to the American Library Association, an estimated two-thirds of all Americans already do have a library card. If you’re not one of them, pick yours up today. It’s easy.

SBPL requires a card to check out any materials. To get a card for yourself or child, please have some form of identification that shows your address, such as a driver’s license. First-time library cards are free. Apply for your card today on the Bookmobile or in the library at the Check-out Desk. For questions, call (732) 329-4000 ext. 7290.

This "Amnesia Thriller" Will Be Hard For the Reader to Forget

2011-09-12T12:03:00.000-04:00

Christine wakes up in an unfamiliar house, thinking she's twenty something years old, and having no recognition of the man asleep in the bed beside her. Trying to figure out what's going on, she discovers the woman staring back at her from the bathroom mirror is someone in her forties and the unrecognizable man turns out to be her husband, Ben. Thus begins the debut novel Before I Go To Sleep, by S.J. Watson. It is a terrifying situation to be in, learning upon waking that you have amnesia and can only recall some memories from before an accident that apparently caused this condition.

Every time Christine goes to sleep, her memories are erased and she awakes not knowing anything concrete about her past--no memories of falling in love with her husband, of her wedding day, or even where she went to college. It is a scarey premise for certain and as the reader, I could feel Christine's terror as she tried to piece together the few memories that would come to her and so afraid of what would happen when she went to sleep. You can also feel the pain and frustration of her husband who each day explains to Christine what has happened, an agonizing experience for him to be constantly reminded of the fact that the woman he loves doesn't even know who he is.

Christine received a phone call from her doctor who is helping her regain some of her memory. Each day he calls to remind her to continue writing in the journal she is keeping to record her memories. But are these memories accurate? And why does she have "Don't Trust Ben" in the journal?

I knew little of this novel before I started the book, only that the character had amnesia and would forget everything when she went to sleep. The premise certainly seemed like a unique one and the author was receiving rave reviews for his first novel. It was way more than I expected and it is one of those books that you want everyone to read so you can start talking about it--definitely book club material!

When I was about half way through the book I could not put it down. What I expected to be a novel about a woman with a strange type of amnesia, turned into more than that. It was an excellent psychological thriller that kept me reading until I finished the book. I was so anxious to find out what really was the story behind Christine--what had really caused this type of amnesia? Was her husband telling her the truth about her past or lies to protect her? Could he really be trusted or did he have some secrets hidden for some ulterior motive? So suspenseful, wonderfully written, and something completely different than I ever expected.

Run to the library to get this one! This "Amnesia Thriller" is one you will not soon forget.

Breakfast at the Beach

2011-09-09T12:51:00.000-04:00

Wouldn't you love to have breakfast with Giada de Laurentiis (of Food Network fame)? No? Then how about just eating her food? That's what we did Saturday, when we were at the beach with some dear friends.

I made Giada's Egg White Frittata with Lox and Arugula, from Giada at Home, a lovely cookbook that embodies the Italian philosophy that the ingredients star in the food, not the technique. Throw in a little California vibe, and that's Giada's cooking. Simplicity, freshness and brightness reign.

The frittata was light, with lemony and smoky notes from the salmon. With a bagel, and sliced yellow heirloom tomatoes, and with said friends and a sunny view of the bay from their kitchen window? Heaven.

We also enjoyed another winner from the same cookbook, Stuffed Baby Peppers (you can buy a big bag of mini red and yellow peppers at Costco), for an appetizer the next evening. Healthy, tasty and beautiful, this recipe was a hit with all ages. Thanks to my fellow blogger, who posts at glutenfreeblondie.blogspot.com, for making this recipe for all of us to enjoy this weekend.

Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing was up again this weekend when I made Green Cabbage Salad with Escabeche Dressing. The salad was especially good because the cabbage was fresh from the organic farm, but the real star was the dressing, an easy vinaigrette using fresh lime juice that was interesting and refreshing. It would be good on any light salad.

Egg-White Frittata with Lox and Arugula, adapted from Giada de Laurentiis, Giada at Home

8 egg whites, room temp
1/2 cup heavy cream
grated zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
6 oz. lox or smoked salmon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 or 3 oz. (2 packed cups) arugula
1 garlic clove, minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk egg whites until fluffy. Whisk in the cream, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped salmon.
Preheat an ovenproof, non-stick 10 inch skillet. Add the olive oil. Saute the arugula and garlic about 1 minute, stirring. The greens will wilt and collapse.
Add the egg mixture to the pan, and cook over medium heat without stirring, about 4 minutes.
Put the skillet in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes, until the frittata looks set.
Can serve from the pan, or slide out onto a platter.

Escabeche Dressing, adapted from Cooking in the Moment, by Andrea Reusing

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together all ingredients. Serve over chopped cabbage, carrots and radishes, or any greens.

Get some cookbooks at our Library, and get cooking. Let me know how it goes...

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Foodie

Adult Summer Reading Wrap-up

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

The Summer Reading Programs are all done now that it is September and Labor Day is behind us. There is however, one remnant of the summer that continues here at the library. Our South Brunswick Travels Photo Mural that features photographs of all of the places that our staff and our patrons have visited will be posted in the library through October and the prize drawing for a Shutterfly Gift Card will be held some time during the first week of October. If you have submitted a photo to the mural, you are entered into the drawing. And there is still time to submit your photos and be included on the mural and entered into the drawing. We are taking submittals of up to three photos through the end of September. You can drop off your photos on a CD at the Information Desk or you can send them to sbtravels2011@gmail.com as an email attachment.

The mural is posted on the display panels adjacent to the Check-Out Desk across the aisle from the Graphic Novel collection. The mural and all of the pictures of our travels will be up in the library through October, so stop by and see if you can identify all of the places that are pictured. The world map that hangs next to the mural has color dots that represent the places where people have traveled in person and sent in a picture and places that readers traveled in their easy chairs through the books that were read and recorded by submitting a Novel Destinations Entry Form.

In total, 39 adults participated in the summer reading program. Together they read a total of 217 books of which 105 were submitted with a review or rating. Thank you so much to those who participated and submitted a review. You can read the reviews in a blog called “What Should You Read Next” on our webpage at www.spbl.info under Adults. At the top of that page there are icons for the three blogs that are written by the library staff. You can also connect directly at sbreads2011.blogspot.com – if you don’t know what to read next, it can be a help to hear what others are reading and how they liked or disliked what they read. Of the seven readers who read more than 10 books, our most prolific reader submitted entries for 16 books and she wrote a review for all 16 books. There were 2 readers that read 15 books each, three that read 13 and one who read 12. That is 92 books or a little less that half of all the books submitted. I would say that there were at least 7 readers who had a relaxing summer traveling the world through the books they read.

We were thinking of continuing the same type of patron provided reader’s advisory service by extending the same program through the remainder of year. We would start the program in October with a new entry form to submit and continue to have weekly drawings from the submittals for the week with a grand prize drawing from all of the entries submitted at the end of three months on or around the first of the New Year. The blog would be continued and perhaps some reviews will be posted in the library in a book display or pasted into the book itself. I would love to hear if anyone is interested in continuing to provide your opinion of the books you are reading.

Remembrance of Things Past

2011-09-02T16:25:00.000-04:00

No, not Proust's madeleines. Squash and cake.

Let me explain. Haven't you eaten something wonderful in the past, and then wondered how you could make it again? It's in the pantheon of lost memories and lost recipes.

I remember the first time I ate zucchini. It was at a friend's house for dinner when I was 16. The rest of the dinner I don't remember, but I had this incredible meltingly creamy, cheesy, salty vegetable I had never had in my life before. I didn't even know what it was. My mother was of the Bird's Eye-vegetable-from-the -freezer mode during the '70's, and basically fresh vegetables at home for us were carrots, green beans and corn on the cob. It turns out it was zucchini simmered slowly and then with CheezWiz added, and I loved it.

Since then I've enjoyed zucchini and summer squashes in lots of (more sophisticated) ways. But this recipe I just tried from Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing, though infinitely better than that first taste, brought back that softly cooked, but not overcooked, custard-like texture and freshness that captured my imagination way back when. I used yellow globe squash and amethyst basil, but you can use any kind of each. My adapted version follows.

Slow Cooked Squash with Butter and Basil

2 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 - 4 cups yellow squash, in 1/2" cubes

10 leaves fresh basil, stacked, then rolled up like a cigar and thinly sliced ("chiffonade")

Melt 1 Tbl. butter in a skillet on low heat, stir in the onion and salt. Cover and cook on low for about 5 - 8 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the remaining butter and the squash cubes. Cook covered on low heat for 6 - 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash cubes are just soft but not mushy. Taste to be sure. Fold in the basil, mix until the basil wilts, and taste. Add more salt if necessary.

Now the cake. Again, I was 16, and had just arrived in Switzerland. We went back to a chaperone's house, and we hadn't eaten for hours. So our host whipped up this fresh cherry, eggy, fragrant cake, and we had it for dinner. Just cake, nothing else. And it was spectacular. For some reason, eggs and milk taste different in Europe, more flavorful, more 'real'. Did you know Switzerland is known for their fruit, especially cherries? - think Kirschwasser and Black Forest Cherry Cake.

I've never really found any recipe as good as that cake was, but I keep trying. This one, adapted below from The Greenmarket Cookbook by Joel Partraker and Joel Schwartz, was very good, even if it was not quite up to that first magical Swiss meal.

Satisfied customer.

This recipe uses strawberries (I know - they're out of season, but I happened to have a box in the fridge), but you could substitue any fresh stone fruit (peach, nectarine, plum) or berry and it would work. Quick, easy and delish.

Roasted Strawberry Clafouti

1 lb., or 3 - 4 cups strawberries, washed and hulled (or other berries, or stone fruit pitted and cut in large wedges)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

6 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup flour

confectioner's sugar for dusting

Optional: whipped cream or ice cream

Cover a sheet pan with foil. Coat the fruit with the sugar, place on the pan. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. This concentrates the flavor of the fruit, and reduces the wateriness.

Butter a 9 or 10" glass pie plate or casserole. With tongs, place the hot fruit in the dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together the next 6 ingredients until well blended. Sprinkle on the flour and mix just until combined. Carefully pour over the hot fruit in the dish.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve immediately or at room temperature. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve with a little whipped cream or ice cream.

I stayed in Switzerland with a family for 10 weeks that summer, and the mom often made fruit tarts baked in great flat sheet pans that covered half the table for lunch. Again, nothing else, just dessert for lunch. Some were made with plums, others apricots, all gluttony producing. I'm still searching for a recipe comparable to those fruit tarts from long ago...more on that another time...

Remember that Cooking in the Moment, and The Greenmarket Cookbook, and countless other cookbook titles are here in the Library waiting for you. If we don't have something you want, we can put in on hold and have it brought in in about a week's time from our other member libraries.

Try this hold feature especially for new books - even if we only have the book in our ordering process, you can put a hold on it and be the first person to take it out after we process it.

Enjoy cooking this weekend!

Leave it to the Golden Retriever!

2011-09-02T11:56:00.000-04:00

I don't consider myself an animal fanatic by any means, but there's just something something better about David Rosenfelt's mysteries when his dog Tara is involved...even in just a small way. Perhaps it is because Tara is a golden retriever and of course I'm partial to that breed, owning one myself. David Rosenfelt actually owns 27 of them and has a foundation with his wife that has rescued almost 4,000 animals and found them good, loving homes. You just have to love an author with that kind of heart. With the hurricane predicted last weekend, I thought it was the perfect time to curl up with a good mystery and Rosenfelt's One Dog Night did not disappoint.

With the wind howling outside, I was engaged in lawyer Andy Carpenter's latest case involving Noah Carpenter, a man accused of setting fire to a building with 26 people inside. All the evidence seemed to point to Noah and it seemed like it was a slam-dunk case for the prosecution. Andy was reluctant to get involved until he discovers that Noah was the previous owner of his dog Tara and loves Andy's dog as much as he does. Andy begins to think that perhaps there is more to the case and from there the story is filled with lots of twists and turns and keeps the reader in suspense right to the end. I love the humor of Andy, the New Jersey setting, and of course the golden retriever.

I have only read two other of Rosenfelt's series with Andy Carpenter and so I can't really say how this compares to the many books he's written with this character. But I did read Down to the Wire, a thriller of his that was a stand alone book and it was a major disappointment. Too far fetched to be believable and half way through the book I was ready to put it down. But happily Rosenfelt is back to writing what he knows as a native of Patterson, NJ himself.

SBPL Mobile

2011-08-31T16:30:00.000-04:00

SBPL Mobile Page
Check out the new SBPL Mobile web page. You will find it by visiting www.sbpl.info and clicking on the button SBPL Mobile.

Use this website from your mobile device when you want to find a book or check your account in our online catalog.

The library’s Events Calendar is on SBPL Mobile. Find events and register online.

You can also read the Compass, our bimonthly newsletter. Programs for adults, teens and children are here along with library news.

This SBPL Mobile gives you quick access to our downloadable eBooks and audiobooks. If you need help logging in or downloading call the Information Desk at 732-329-4000 x 7286.

SBPL Mobile has an easy link to all of our databases. They give you free access to magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, language learning and more.

Using your library on the go has never been easier.

Recap of Adult Summer Reading Party

2011-08-30T10:20:00.000-04:00

We had our end-of-summer party last Wednesday, August 24 for the Novel Destinations adult reading program. The party is sponsored every year by the Friends of the South Brunswick Public Library and we thank them for providing for a delicious lunch of sandwiches and salads from Pierre’s and for the grand prize for the drawing. Over lunch, those that attended discussed the books that they read over the summer and ones that they were looking forward to reading this fall. The Help and the movie tie-in were the most well-liked of the summer. There were travel brochures that had been brought by Kuller Class A Travel for our travelogue programs this summer laid out in the tables for decoration and for conversation. The patron’s travel plans were also a popular topic of discussion.

At about 2:00, everyone moved to the other side of the Meeting Room where the International Food Tasting was set-up. There were place mats at every seat that had a spot for five samples to be placed. The five black licorice samples were out at each place, ready to be sampled. A description of the history and uses for licorice were given and the five samples from Australia (sweet), Finland (sweet), Holland (salty), America (sweet) and Italy (bitter) were tasted. The Finish licorice made by Panda and sold in specialty shops like Bon Apetit and Delicious Orchards was thought by the majority to be the favorite with it’s subtle flavor and soft texture. There were ice water and apple slices served to clean the palate between bites. The next item to taste was milk chocolate. There are so many choices in chocolate from around the world that it was difficult to narrow the samples down to just five choices. There was Elite from Israel, Cadbury Dairy Milk from England (now made by Hershey), an America Hershey bar, Italian Venchi Puro Cioccolato al Latte Superiore and a Nestle bar which is Swiss chocolate. The consensus was that the Elite chocolate from Israel was the favorite with a smooth, creamy texture. Also, the Hershey bar was preferred over the Nestle bar.

The third samples were Swiss-style cheeses. The Swiss make a cheese they call Emmentaler that is the official “Swiss Cheese” and can only be made outside of Switzerland by agreement of the Emmentaler cheese producers in Switzerland. That was the first sample tried – the Swiss Emmentaler. The other Swiss-style cheeses made in other countries were Jarlsberg, made in Norway; Tilsit made in Germany; Danish Fontina and a harder cheese, Reblevega, made in Spain. Jalsberg was the favorite.

The final food sampled were crackers, a logical segue after the cheese. There were two kinds of crackers included, water crackers which are made of just flour and water and soda or saltine crackers that have shortening, leavening and baking soda. Our familiar crackers today are descendants of the pilot cakes, sea biscuits and military hardtack from the Civil War when flour and water were mixed and baked to form a nutritious and ready to eat food that is advantageous for travel because of its long shelf life. The selections for the tasting were Osem Deli crackers from Israel, Dare Vinta crackers from Canada that had a poppy seed flavoring, Nabisco Premium Saltines from the U.S., Carr’s Table Water Crackers from the UK and Yarra Valley Crackerthins water crackers from Australia. This was perhaps not a fair comparison in that the Canadian and Australian crackers had other flavorings added so naturally they were the favorite and second favorite of the five.

A tally of the books read over the summer was discussed – the most prolific reader submitted sixteen entry forms all with reviews. Of the patron’s that attended the party, the reader with the most entries had submitted 15 entry forms, also with reviews. You can read the reviews that the readers submitted on the summer reading blog that you can find at http://sbreads2011.blogspot.com/or from the link on our webpage at www.sbpl.info. The event ended with a drawing for the runner up prize (a pick from the prize card) and the grand prize (a Barnes and Noble gift card) won by two patrons who submitted entry forms throughout the summer.

Thanks to all who participated in the summer reading program this year. Don’t forget you can still submit your vacation photos for the mural to sbtravels2011@gmail.com through the month of September and the drawing for a Shutterfly gift card from those who submitted photos will be done early in October. The tentative theme for the 2012 summer reading program is about nighttime and the adult readers’ theme is “Between the Covers!” Look for information early 2012 and if you have any suggestions that might pertain to this theme, contact the programming person at outreach@sbpl.info.

Baking is My Downfall

2011-08-26T13:37:00.000-04:00

Someone should make me write: "I must not bake," a thousand times. Because when I bake, I eat. And since I (usually) only bake what I love, this is a real dilemma: how to bake without ending up looking like the Pillsbury dough boy.

Yesterday I took my 6 really, really ripe, half-way to black bananas (for maximum sweetness according to the recipe), and made Ultimate Banana Bread from Cook's Illustrated Magazine, July/August 2010. I have to say, it was good. And, I took the result to work today - no tempting leftovers calling my name.

Ultimate Banana Bread served in the lovely ambiance of our staff room.

Using any of the publications from Chris Kimball's America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated Magazine empire almost invariably produces a good result because of several things. First, they test exhaustively, second, they search for the absolute best flavor, and last, they provide meticulous directions.

Check out Baking Illustrated (all of the books in this blog are available in our Library). Some of our family's faves: cream biscuits and buttermilk biscuits, shortbread, pizza dough, pies - blueberry, peach and pumpkin, layer cakes - yellow, coconut and chocolate. Unfailingly delicious.

Besides coming out with a great product, what you find with these recipes, is that you are learning great technique along the way. Technique which you can then generalize to other, not so perfect recipes. So you can cook from an ordinary recipe in a women's magazine and you can "correct" gaps, and use techniques so that you can get a better result than you would have by just following the recipe as stated. An education in a book.

I love reliable cookbooks because certainty in cooking can be very comforting: you put in the work, you follow the directions, and you're rewarded with a positive result. Would that everything in life were that straightforward!

Other library cookbooks I know and love are The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book, Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible, and Ann Byrn's The Cake Mix Doctor.

ATK's Family Baking Book is similar to Baking Illustrated, but with many more recipes and less background info.

The Cake Bible is like a graduate course in baking: in fact Beranbaum has a PhD in food science, and wrote her dissertation on cake baking. Wondrous recipes, accessible if you have the time and patience, as well as a well appointed kitchen. Without exception all the recipes I have tried work perfectly, from the Cordon Rose Cream Cheesecake, to the homemade Classic Rolled Fondant for a wedding cake. This is the cookbook to turn to if you want to be creative and to impress.

At the other end of the difficulty spectrum is The Cake Mix Doctor. These recipes utilize cake mixes with various add-ins to make above average, and foolproof cakes with little time investment. Have tried many of these, notably the Chocolate Praline Cake, and Tennessee Jam Cake; just stay away from any of the bars or aptly named gooey cakes.

As Bryn rightly states, you can get away with a cake mix, but don't even try to use premade frosting. Just not worth the calories or effort.

Hope you make it to the Library before the coming hurricane to pick up some cookbooks...and hope we have power so that we can bake and cook to our heart's content during the impending rough weather!

Free eBooks and Audiobooks

2011-08-24T12:16:00.000-04:00

Do you listen to audiobooks while you cook? Maybe your commute to work is long and audiobooks make the trip more enjoyable. Are those eBook downloads costing too much? We have good news!

South Brunswick Public Library can provide you with free audiobooks and eBooks. Just visit the library’s web page, www.sbpl.info. Click on the ‘Download Audiobooks . eBooks’ button marked Overdrive.

Here you can read our hints for downloading or take the tutorial for searching ListenNJ powered by Overdrive. You will also learn to select Libraries of Middlesex when you are asked the name of your library. Have your library card number and PIN ready.

Next, click on the ‘Click Here To Download’ link at the top of this page. You will arrive at the ListenNJ Digital Download Site powered by Overdrive. The first time you visit please click on the links under ‘Software Downloads’.

Desktop computers, both Windows and Mac, will need to download Overdrive Media Console for audiobooks and Adobe Digital Editions for eBooks. Adobe will require an free Adobe Digital ID.

Nook users need to download books to a desktop computer first and then drag them to the Nook.

Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPad, or Windows Phone 7 can download the Overdrive Media Console software directly to their moble device to download both audiobooks and eBooks. After you have installed the software and downloaded your book it will open in your Overdrive Media Console software.

Please visit the library Information Desk or call 732-329-4000 x 7286 for help with any of this. Enjoy the books!

Travel Blues

2011-08-23T16:55:00.000-04:00

The airlines continue to complicate things by charging fees for every little thing - food, beverages, blankets, pillows, baggage handling, etc.! Some of the fees are unavoidable (I guess) and not the airlines company's fault (like the surcharge we all pay for security measures post 9/11 that come to about $12.00 per person), but others they are getting away with because we can't do much about it. We started down the slippery slope from the days when we enjoyed our travel experience including the transportation itself (pre-9/11), to having to grin and bear the awful experience that travel has become.

I have tried to figure out where all of the fees and taxes come from that are added to you airfare these days to see of there are ways to avoid the more costly ones, but that information is hidden in a lot of legalese and fine print. The only way you can get a breakdown of what you are being charged is to actually make a reservation! I wanted to book two round-trip tickets the other day and the airfare quoted was only about $300.00. As I proceeded to book the flight, I was suddenly faced with a charge of almost $1200.00 - almost 350% of the flight charge added on as "fees and taxes." This is getting ridiculous.

On my latest trip, I see how people are getting around the baggage handling charges. Some people who travel often have credit cards that are "attached" to an airline for which they are allowed at least one free bag per person. My husband and I have a Continental Airlines credit card issued by CHASE. But the more popular way of avoiding a checked luggage fee is they don't bother to check their bag and they bring clearly oversized bags through security all the way to the gate. Either in the waiting room before the plane to depart or as the flight is called and the staff person is scanning boarding passes, these bags get tagged with jetway check tickets and their suitcase, (or stroller or golf bag) are taken from the end of the jetway and stowed in the baggage compartment. Upon arrival at their destination, their bags are brought to them as they wait just outside the plane in the narrow jetway.

On this latest flight, I think the majority of the 90 passengers were standing waiting at the end of the jetway for a bag and only about 3 or 4 pieces of luggage came out on the luggage carousel later.
The secret to this is to have a bag that is not so large that someone questions you for bringing it down to the gate. It is often a smaller rolling bag that might fit into the overhead bin on some of the larger planes, but the front pockets are so over stuffed that the bag is far to thick (and heavy) to squeeze into the compartment. I think this started with items like strollers and wheelchairs that were needed to get a passenger or child to the gate and would be needed immediately upon arrival to get that passenger back out if the arrival airport, but "savvy" passengers have determined this is a good way to not only avoid the baggage handling charges, but to get their luggage early and not have to wait at the carousels for the three hundredth black bag to spit out of the shoot!

It surprises me that the airline and the luggage handlers agree to this. The process can only happen because a very strong luggage handler is willing to climb up and down a set of stairs with all of these extra bags!

Remember the "good old days" when you could go to the airport with your family and friends and all of you were welcome to go all the way to the gate to say your good-byes as you board the plane or continue visiting if the plane should be delayed? You didn't have to strip, be x-rayed, subject your luggage to search and keep track of all of your items that might be classified as "liquids!" Children who are ten years and younger have never had the pleasure of getting off the plane and having Grandma and Grandpa right there with their arms outstretched to welcome you! These are the little things we took for granted that we now pay extra for the privilege of not enjoying!

The World Inside SBPL

2011-08-22T13:00:00.000-04:00

The South Brunswick Public Library is probably one of the best first stops for anyone new to living in the United States.

This is true for at least a half dozen reasons. The first is obvious as soon as you walk through the front door and past the Checkout Desk. Our World Language Collection, located to the rear left of the Desk, includes shelves of books, magazines, movies, music, and instruction for anyone for whom English is a second language. The Collection currently includes about a dozen languages: Spanish, some Japanese and French, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, and numerous languages of India.

Available materials include fiction, non-fiction, and children's items. While its nice to have items in a native language a new resident also needs materials to study the English language and culture, especially if he or she is enrolled in an ESL (English As A Second Language) program or studying for a Citizenship Test (no piece of cake!)

Backing up the materials for reference and checkout are also support groups that meet regularly here at the Library: the ESL Class and the Conversation Class. The ESL class is led by a volunteer trained to lead the group. Participants much register at the Information Desk.

The Conversation Class does not require any registration and is an informal walk-in group. It is for people who already speak some English but want to develop their conversation skills in a social setting. Participants sometimes bring in mementos or photos to discuss with the others in the group.

In addition to Library materials on the shelves and the classes in our meeting rooms we also provide online resources for new Americans through our website. These resources, compiled by our librarians, include http://www.sbpl.info/links/ESLResources.htm as well as a set of links for citizenship and immigration topics at: http://www.sbpl.info/links/citizenship.htm.

So, please take note of our Library motto new Americans and know that the Library truly is your guide to discovery.

Tomato Time

2011-08-19T15:08:00.000-04:00

Real Jersey tomatoes are absolutely the best. Why isn’t there a show, Jersey Tomato, instead of Jersey Shore? Much truer to our state and better for you too.

This week I had, I don’t remember, must have been about 10 lbs. of tomatoes from Honey Brook Organic Farm. I also had the August 2011 issue of Bon Appetit (yes, you can get issues of Bon Appetit in our Library! Or you can find the recipes at www.epicurious.com). The following two recipes are on pages 90 and 91.

The Tomato and Cheddar Pie was great for family brunch with a fried egg and crisp bacon. It was also good reheated for an impromptu dinner one night, and then, later in the week, cut into small pieces and served as an appetizer before our main course of the Tomato and Crab Soup (which for us was Tomato and Shrimp Soup) for a family and friends dinner outside on the deck. Dessert was ice cream from Bent Spoon in Princeton - some of the amazing flavors: Corn and Bacon, Cointreau Cilantro, Black Raspberry and Anise Hyssop, and Basil.

Some tips for the Tomato and Cheddar Pie:
– If you don’t have buttermilk (I didn't), use 1 cup of milk to which you add 1 tablespoon of white, apple cider, or red vinegar, stir and let sit 10 minutes.
– This recipe makes way too much crust and filling for a regular 9 inch Pyrex pie pan. Do yourself a favor and use a larger baking dish for a better result.
– You don’t have to wait for the pie to cool before eating – we didn’t, we just dove in – that’s why the photo shows a piece missing – forgot to take the picture before we had our brunch!

The Tomato and Crab Soup caught my eye because instead of traditional flavors, it was a Thai inspired dish that included fish sauce (a.k.a. nam pla), lemongrass, and a Thai chile.

I never used lemongrass before – first to find it: Wegman’s had it – a pack of two tough and fibrous pale yellow green foot long stalks for $2.99.

Then, how to prepare it – I’d seen lemongrass used before on Top Chef. There they bruised the stalks with a chef’s knife. Being the worry wart that I am, I used a flat metal meat mallet to pound them flat instead – they immediately released a great smell – lemony and vegetal, wonderfully fragrant. Nice!

Other than the time it took to slice the lemongrass really finely, this recipe was a snap to prepare with a few adjustments:

– I used a Serrano chile because they didn’t have a Thai chiles at Wegman's, and Serranos are similar in heat profiles.
– I couldn’t find the crabmeat at Costco, so I grabbed a refrigerated container of their Lime Cilantro Shrimp (perfect!) and added it to the soup at the last minute.
– Didn’t bother with “pea tendrils” – seriously? where do you get those? – or the snow peas (just a garnish anyway).

Result – a very light citrus-y soup, with notes of orange, lime and yes, lemongrass. Easy and delicious, healthy tasting and perfect for summer. And about that fish sauce - that and lime juice are very trendy this season.

Especially love Bon Appetit, Cook's Illustrated and Martha Stewart Living magazine for their great recipes. Stop by our Library, get some mags, and get cooking!

Read the Book Then See the Movie!

2011-08-19T11:42:00.000-04:00

This week's dreary weather of rain and more rain is a perfect excuse to head to the local movie theaters. But be sure to stop by the South Brunswick Library along the way because many of this summer's movie releases (and some due out this fall) are based on some excellent novels. Afterwards, take a moment to comment on our blog and let us know which is better, the book or the movie?!

Two books I recently read when I heard the movies were going to be released was Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I decided to pick up de Rosnay's novel based on a friend's recommendation and now I'm spreading the word. It is a powerful, heart-wrenching story of the Jewish persecution in 1942 when the French police rounded up thousands of Jewish families and forced them to stay in the Velodrome d'Hiver under horrific conditions. There, men, women and children were separated from each other and sent to camps in France before being sent to Auschwitz and put to death.

De Rosnay's story jumps between two time periods--1942 and the present--in order to tell the the story of Sarah Strazynski, a 10-year-old who is rounded up to go to the Velodrome along with her mother and father and a journalist who is assigned to cover the anniversary of the "Round Up" many years later. When Sarah is taken away, she has no idea that anything bad is going to happen, particularly since it was their own French police who came for them. Not clearly understanding what her fate is likely going to be, she locks her brother in a secret cupboard to keep him safe, promising the four-year-old she would be back to save him. When she discovers what is actually happening, she know she needs to survive and somehow get back to Paris before it's too late.

Jump to present day France and the reader is introduced to Julia Jarmond, an American living in Paris and married to a Frenchman. She is assigned to write about the Vel d'Hiv for its upcoming anniversary and must admit she knows barely anything about this terrible time in French history. As she continues her research, she discovers that there is a connection between Sarah and her husband's family and Julia becomes all consumed in finding about what happened to this young girl? Could she actually have survived and if so, is she alive? What did her husband's relatives know about the Vel d'Hiv and young Sarah. While those around her caution her not to dig too much for the truth might be more than she can handle, Julia cannot let it go.

As a reader, I found this story so absorbing that I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it and look forward to seeing if the movie can compare to the book.

Way before news hit that they were making the book The Help into a movie, this title was hard to find in the library. The copies were flying off the shelf for months and months after its release. So this summer I finally got a copy and it was worth the wait. I recently read an article by Kathryn Stockett and she revealed this manuscript was rejected by sixty publishers before she got a yes! She was so devoted to getting this story told that despite the rejections, she kept editing and tweaking the manuscript until publisher number 61 accepted the book. Talk about coming full circle with the movie out with a stellar cast and now the book is hard to find on our library shelves again. This novel is about maids working in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960's for a group of white, wealthy women. They are treated so badly that the group of maids agree to secretly tell their story, despite the risk to themselves and their families. I found myself rushing through the end of this book to find out what happens to these characters, afraid of the consequences they may face for revealing how they are treated. I'm certainly glad the author was persistent enough not to give up on this manuscript!

A third movie due out in September with Sarah Jessica Parker is based on the novel by Allison Pearson, I Don't Know How She Does It. It's been a long time since I've read this book but I remember thoroughly enjoying it--a must read for every working mom! Kate Reddy juggles the life of mom and executive while trying not to fall apart doing it all. Funny and touching. (The movie trailer looks good too!)

Where to go on Vacation - a Tough Decision?

2011-08-16T10:52:00.000-04:00

My husband and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in November. Our dilemma is “where do you go in November for a Romantic getaway?” We actually travel every year around this time and although we don’t think we are big fans of a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, we have spent some amusing times looking for something resembling turkey all across Europe, New Zealand and South East Asia.

We are not really the kind of couple that would enjoy sitting on a beach for an entire week, although the thought of getting out of the dreary Northeast at the beginning of winter when all of the autumn color is gone but the whole winter still lies ahead, is a pretty enticing thought. I have used some of the information that Kuller/Class A Travel brought to the library at our last travelogue. There are some beautiful white (or pink) sand beaches in the Caribbean and along the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. We went to Cancun many years ago and made the arrow-straight drive to the famed Chichen Itza in the sweltering heat at that time, so Cancun seems like a “been there, done that” destination but perhaps further south in Cozamel or along the Mayan Rivera further south from there. I think there are some Mayan ruins besides Chichen Itza that we have not seen that we could use to break up the week of sun or in case there is a rainy day. You hear so many things in the news about it not being safe in Mexico lately that I think the resorts that were commercially developed specifically for tourism are the safe way to go.

We spent a week in St. Maartin about four years ago and didn’t find it to be the paradise that we expected. The hotel we stayed at was accessed by crossing the end of the runway at the airport and you couldn’t get anywhere on the island without crossing that road, twice. If you haven’t seen where the airport is in St. Maartin, you haven’t seen the most bizarre location for a runway. The planes land directly across a very appealing white sand beach and despite all of the huge warning signs about being burned by jet wash, people insist on sunbathing on the beach, even some topless women. When those jumbo jets come in for landing, you really think that they may not clear a standing person’s head. And the planes come in all day and all night. A hotel near the airport is no paradise! The hotel was also being converted to a time-share property so all of the pools were closed as was the casino and most of the restaurants. We did have a beautiful balcony that faced the ocean directly with a magnificent view that will most likely be gone by now with the renovation since windows with a direct view of the ocean are susceptible to severe damage in the storms that hit the islands.

We have always heard from others that Aruba is the best Caribbean Island. It seems also to be the most expensive! We have also heard that St. Lucia is the most green and lush of the islands, but it is also “an adventurer’s paradise” which reads to me that you have to have calves of steel to “hike” the trails and nerves of steel to ride the zip-lines. We remember the annoying buzzing sound that zip lines make for miles around from our recent trip to Alaska – it sounds like a swarm of bees coming around every two minutes or so – interspersed with screams of joy (and terror.)

We are also considering the Greek Isles; however, it appears that October 30 is the END of the season in Greece and most places close up on November 1st even thought the water and air temps are in the 70’s. We are looking at Crete since it is the southern most of the Greek Islands (hence the warmest later in the season) and there appears to be a large variety of white sand beaches and lots of interesting ancient history to explore. The question is, will there be any restaurants, car rentals or shops open?

How do you decide where to go on vacation each year? Does anyone have advice?

International Film Festival Never Ends!

2011-08-15T13:00:00.001-04:00

While the Summer International Film Festival will end this week it is by no means the end of free international film presentations at the Library! It's just not as often. The Summer program, which had its last showing on Aug. 17 with the Italian film Look At Me, offers a different film each week, twice. The rest of the year movie goers get a different film each month, twice. Times are always 2 p.m. on Sunday and 6:30p.m. on Wednesday. The movies are advertised as popular films from the country of origin. Every film has English subtitles, unless of course they from an English-speaking country. Refreshments from home are always welcome. Just keep it neat and not too noisey.

I thought I would give the festival a try recently and brought my teenaged daughter with me to see the Austrailian film Jindabyne. We brought a bag of popped kettlecorn, two bottled soft drinks, and some bagged candy - all the standard artillery for any movie fan. We did enjoy our experience but we also learned a few things to share that will enchance the experience of anyone who joins us next time.

Most importantly, the official start of the viewing is 6:30 p.m. SHARP on Wednesday nights! The doors to Meeting Room A/B open at 6:25 p.m. Timing is strict because some films run longer than others and the Library closes at 9 p.m. Period. We got there at 6:45 p.m. and had to slink in under the cover of darkness. We also had to very carefully open our popcorn bag but it still sounded as loud as a car crash to me as the audience was already hushed and watching the serious film. Don't be late!

Well, no one kicked us out or gave us the stink eye as far as I could tell, but I'll be early next time.

We settled into our seats with our snacks. We sat in the middle row, off to the right, near the room entrance. While not cinema sized, the screen is larger than your average large screen TV and is viewed easily from any seat in the room. Visability was excellent. Room temperature may be another issue. For whatever reason the temperature in this room can be very cool and you may want to bring along a light sweater. My mother told me I should always bring along a little sweater where ever I go in life anyway so I've already got the sweater whether I am at the Library or not. I think I may have been the only one in the room wearing a sweater, but I was comfortable.

The Fall International Film Festival begins on Sunday, Sept. 18 with a Portuguese film The House of Sand. Remember that when summer is over there is only one new movie a month, instead of each week. To read a short description of upcoming films, as well as details such as rating and length, you can click on this link

http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/br.cfm?re=995&title=nl_30_title.html&tem=template.html&url=nl_30_content.html&nlblurb=30

or go to our website http://www.sbpl.info to find the link there. The films in the Festival are usually for grownups, so please check the details of a particular movie before bringing along anyone under age 17.

In conclusion, my daughter (she is age 18) and I would give our experience two thumbs up. Not world travelers, we both got a kick out of seeing a film popular from a far off land that neither of us have ever visited. To some extent, its a virtual travel experience as you dip a toe into a different culture by way of the film. Most importantly, it's free fun!

If you would rather see an international film of your choice, in the privacy of your own home you can do that too, but you'll need to pay a dollar for a one-week rental. Just choose from the our extensive collection near the Checkout Desk. The rental fee helps the Library maintain as well as add to its selection of movies.

I hope I see you next month for House of Sand.

Foodie World

2011-08-12T17:09:00.000-04:00

Roasted deliciousness courtesy of the organic farm this week.

If you're not eating, cooking or food shopping, (or dreaming about food, which, I have to admit, happens to me on a regular basis), you can always read about food. Besides cookbooks, there is a whole world out there of great foodie books.

Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly comes to mind first. Irreverent, witty, utterly captivating as well as vicariously thrilling and (to me) a little scary, that sums up Bordain's life and books.

I also enjoyed his A Cook's Tour, about travelling around the world looking for the 'perfect meal'; The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps and Bones, ostensibly about using what's known as offal, but really just more of Bourdain's trenchant and funny experiences with cooking and eating, and Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food, which is billed as a sequel to Kitchen Confidential.

Medium Raw is flawed by a section which veers off into a rant about food chefs and misbegotten celebrity that, to me, seemed a little too insider-y and bad-humored, but on the whole, I still can't resist Bourdain's 'voice', and I'll read anything he writes - (just haven't read his novels, but I prefer non-fiction anyway).

Another food writer with brains and lots of food cred is Ruth Reichl, formerly New York Times restaurant critic and editor-in-chief of (now defunct) Gourmet magazine. Her first memoir, Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table had me laughing out loud recounting the terrible and actually dangerous meals her mom served - think food poisoning - and how she grew to appreciate great food from her boarding school days in Montreal to cooking in a commune in Berkeley, California.

I also loved her next two best selling books - Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table, her life in food and relationships, and Garlic and Sapphires: the Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, about her work reviewing restaurants for the NY Times (intense envy from me). Funny, literate, adventurous and down-to-earth - I would love to share a dinner table with either of these authors...but I guess I'll just have to settle for their books instead.

Other food books I've enjoyed in no particular order:

Blood, Bones and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton - new book by the chef/owner of Prune in NYC. Even if you're not a foodie, this book is so well written and evocative that fans of literate memoirs will enjoy this. (Ruefully hilarious: the section recounting her dread as an adult in visiting her mom whom she hasn't seen in years.)

Heat, by Bill Buford - food obsessed, and working in a restaurant kitchen, then traveling to Italy to apprentice to a master butcher (more interesting than it sounds - I read this twice, and I never read a book twice).

Knives at Dawn: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition, by Andrew Friedman - chef Timothy Collingsworth from the French Laundry competes in France in 2009 with support from Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, and Jerome Bocuse: overly detailed - yes, but this mirrors the minutiae and effort that goes into competing at this level.

The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation, by David Kamp - history of food trends and how they happen.

The Saucier's Apprentice: One Long Trip through the Great Cooking Schools of Europe, by Bob Spitz - mid-life crisis personal journey through cooking schools at age 50.

How to Pick a Peach: the Search for Flavor From Farm to Table, by Russ Parsons - how to select produce and some recipes to go with them.

Julie and Julia, by Julie Powell - the movie was fun, but so is the book. (Meryl Streep became Julia Child.)

or straight from the horse's mouth:

My Life in France, by Julia Child

And many more...including -

A Homemade Life, by Molly Wizenberg - when I started reading this book, I couldn't finish it, because it was so engaging and conversational that it made me mad that I hadn't written it myself. Someday I'll read the rest of it!

Leave me a comment if you have read any of these or any other foodie books that you've loved...

Thrillers with an Amish Twist

2011-08-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

Every summer, right before my beach trip to Cape Cod, I hound my fellow library colleagues about what titles I should bring along to read on vacation. It's my opportunity to try some new authors and to pick up some of the popular titles I've seem come across the Check Out Desk.

This year the first two titles I read were from a series by author Linda Castillo and the books did not disappoint. Set in the small town of Painters Mill, the series tell the story of Police Chief Kate Burkholder who gets the job mostly because she was Amish and the powers-that-be hope she'll be sensitive to the needs of the Amish who live in the community. While she may be understanding of the behavior of the Amish community, they do not trust "the English" and are frequently less than cooperative when called on to help solve the crimes that hit this rural town.

In Sworn to Silence, the first in the series, a serial killer strikes this quiet Ohio town. Could this be the same Slaughter House killer that terrified the community 16 years ago? As the body count rises, Kate struggles to keep a secret from her past that might be the key to solving these new horrific crimes. This is a real page turner and readers of thrillers/mysteries should give this one a try as long as you can stomach some graphic descriptions of the murder scenses. Kate is a really interesting character as is her love interest, a burnt out

cop sent in from the state to assist the female police chief in solving the murders. Equally as good, and a little less gruesome, is Breaking Silence. In the second of the series, Kate and her small police squad must respond to a series of a Amish hate crimes. When three Amish turn up dead on their farm, police must determine if this is a tragic accident or perhaps an escalated hate crime. Once again, really suspenseful and a quick read. Enjoyed this one as well.

I'll be picking up the third in the series soon!

Romantic Getaways, Destination Weddings and Honeymoons

2011-08-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, August 3, we had the second of our travelogues presented by Kuller/Class A Travel in Princeton. This presentation was on Romantic Getaways, which included Destination Weddings and Honeymoons. Trudy Dougherty, the co-owner of the agency said, “I think any place on or near water is romantic” so the presentation started with an overview of some beautiful beachside resorts in the Caribbean, Hawaii and the South China Sea. This included some spots in Aruba, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Hawaii, Fiji and Tahiti. There are also some remote and romantic destinations near Costa Maya, Mexico, on what is called the Mayan Riviera on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula south of Cancun. Most of these resorts are adults-only, all inclusive for food and beverages and some are also inclusive of the recreation (golf and tennis) and all water sports. All have luxury accommodations with amenities like Oceanside massages and relaxing spa treatments. The costs vary depending on the health of the local economy and the strength of our dollar against the local currency, thus Aruba, with its French influence is far pricier than Puerto Rico where the currency is American dollars and no passport is needed. Featured, also were some resorts a little closer to home such as Bermuda, Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and some lakeside resorts in Northern New Jersey and the Poconos!

Destination weddings were discussed including the ability to hold your wedding onboard a cruise ship while it is in port and those that are not traveling leave the ship after the wedding and before it sails and the newlyweds and their friends and family take off on their honeymoon cruise. Of course, a destination wedding on a beautiful, white sand beach on an island in the Caribbean would certainly be incredibly romantic!

The second part of the presentation was on romantic old-world luxury hotels in Europe particularly the grand opulence of some of the fine old hotels in Paris, Rome, Barcelona, and Vienna. Judith Wist, manager of the Princeton office of Kuller/Class A Travel, shared some information about vacations in these locations. Tours of Ireland with castle stays were also presented which would be perfect for the bride that always dreamed of her princess wedding!.

All of these locations, whether on an island or in a beautiful old European city would be perfect for a honeymoon! Whatever your idea for romance is, there is the perfect destination for you and your soul mate to find time for yourselves and each other!

The last of our travelogues is on Adventure Travel. The response to these programs so far has been pretty light and we are thinking about canceling the Adventure Travel program. Please register online for this program scheduled for Wednesday, August 17 if your are interested in attending so that we can determine if there will be a large enough audience to have the representatives from Kuller Travel come to the library with all of their brochures. The deadline for registration is Sunday, August 14 to give enough notice to the presenter about a cancellation.

Help Needed for Program Suggestions

2011-08-06T12:55:00.000-04:00

I am in charge of scheduling programs for adults here at the library. I need your help to find programs that are of interest to you - our patrons. We have had some successful programs that have attracted a large audience such as Jamie Novak's De-Cluttering Program and the How to Sell on eBay program that the Post Office gave but we have also had some programs where we have brought in an outside presenter and no one has attended. I would like to get feedback from our patrons on what kinds of programs they would like the library to offer.

We have had quite a few financial professionals come and talk on a variety of topics...are there some we haven't covered? We continue to have local medical personnel come and offer seminars on all kinds of aliments and treatments - are there others that you would like information about? We have a scrapbooking group that meets periodically in the library and a knitting and crocheting group that gathers on a weekly basis to create things in yarn! Are there other crafts that you have always wanted to try for which we might be able to find an instructor? Are there other interests you have that you think the library might help you explore? We are always looking for people to come in and share their own knowledge about either their vocation or their avocation. Do you have a unique hobby or collection you might like to share with your neighbors? Please let me know.

We are focusing this fall and into the spring on getting more crafting opportunities for adults and on finding other Professional Organizers to come in to give us more insight on the process of simplifying our lives. Do you have particular trouble areas our speakers should address? We have had requests in the past for science and history lectures, particularly World War II history, but we have had no luck in finding the resources to provide these lectures. We will be starting to use Internet resources this fall to offer discussions on intellectual topics and current issues. We are starting to show TED Talks during our Wednesday Wisdom lecture series which is offered on the first Wednesday of every month at 1:30 p.m. TED stands for Technology, Engineering and Design and the 900+ lectures that are collected and disseminated on the TED.com website are on those topics and more. There are other lecture series, like the one we showed last spring by Harvard Professor Michael Sandel on Justice, available from other universities around the world. There is a wealth of information on the Internet that we will try to make available to our patrons.

Please let us know what interests you, what areas of your life you could use some help with, what topics you would like to see covered and what resources you may like us to provide. We can't promise you that we will be able to make "all of your dreams come true." We have had some pretty deep budget cuts that will prevent us from paying for well-known performers and lecturers, but I suspect there are a lot of talented people that we can contact to provide the community a wide variety of opportunities to support life-long learning at the library.

Thank you for your help. Barbara Battles, Outreach Librarian outreach@sbpl.info

2011-08-05T14:12:00.000-04:00

Zucchinis Take Over the World

Is this what's going on in your garden at the moment?

Actually I don't have a vegetable garden, just flowers and herbs, but I do have a share in a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - and so I have weekly mountains of produce (see photo!).

Among other veg, the zucchinis have been arriving on a regular basis at our CSA farm and on my table. My go-to prep is grilled zucchini: cut zukes lengthwise into 1/4 inch planks, mix with olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper; then grill 2-3 minutes per side till just tender and stripe-y grill marks appear. Throw on some shreds of torn herbs - basil, tarragon, thyme or what have you.

Great hot as a side dish, also wonderful cold the next day in a wrap with hummus, Jersey tomatoes, lettuce. Add in a few bits of crumbled feta and some caramelized onions - heaven in a wrap.

So about that produce mountain. I gathered some promising cookbooks from the Library:

Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing
Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis
Cooking from the Farmer's Market from Williams Sonoma
and just for good measure
Just Married and Cooking.

Sure enough, my go-to grilled zucchini recipe was there in Cooking in the Moment: Broiled Baby Zucchini with Parmesan. Here they roast the zucchini in the oven (90 degree temps and up all last week? - no way I'm putting the oven on!) and then top with a bit of shaved Parm. Hmm, nothing new.

Decided to try the Grilled Zucchini with Mint, Chili Oil, and Toasted Pine Nuts. Toasted the pine nuts in my trusty 12" cast iron pan, sauteed the zucchini (nixed the grill) with olive oil, salt and pepper. Topped with the chili oil (cheated and used sriracha instead), the pine nuts, mint from my garden, and some Parmesan shavings. Result: delicious, but the zucchini from the farm was so fresh and wonderful, I kind of liked it better just sauteed? This would be a good recipe to jazz up a plain grilled chicken or shrimp dish.

Inspiration struck - I scrambled up some eggs and served them with the Grilled Zucchini to my sons, along with some Spicy Melon Salad with Peanuts and Mint from the day before. A great combination - creamy eggs, many-flavored zucchini, sweet/savory melon. Score!

Cleaned up and then saw I still had two zucchini left - made the Zucchini "Noodles" with Ricotta recipe. This was the all around winner - a new technique I never tried and amazing results. Thinly slice the zucchini with a vegetable peeler into strips - sounds tedious, but 2 zucchini only took me 4 minutes (I timed it). Saute olive oil, sliced garlic and a hot pepper a few minutes, add the strips and toss until wilted. Add a tomato, diced small. Cook another 2 minutes and: Magic! the zucchini looks exactly like wide egg noodles! How did that happen? Then added the 1/2 cup of mascarpone cheese (didn't have any ricotta on hand) and a cup of chopped basil. SO GOOD! My foodie friend Barb stopped by and she loved it too. Bonus - it's gluten free for her daughter, and it really does taste like fresh pasta.

Will definitely make this again.

Spicy Melon Salad - The recipe says to use a melon baller - too wasteful and time consuming; cubed up the yellow farm watermelon. This melon was so different - really sweet, and the rind was so tender, it tasted like a cucumber - I ate a slice skin and all. (Just one.) Cubed up some red watermelon, a cantaloupe from the farm.

Dressed it with a Thai marinade that included a jalapeno pepper (where do you get a fresh red Thai chili?), fresh lime juice, fish sauce, - for the salty component - sugar, and mint. Sounds strange, tastes bright, bold and fantastic.

So I only got as far as the melons and zucchini in tackling my produce mountain, and only tried recipes from Cooking in the Moment. But I can already tell that I love this cookbook, and the recipes are innovative and easy to execute.

Next, what to do with 10 pounds of (not plum) tomatoes...I have my eye on a recipe from Heart of the Artichoke for a gazpacho, and will report back soon.

What cookbook(s) do you use for your summer bounty of produce? Let me know!

Evanovich's Latest is More of the Same

2011-08-04T09:58:00.000-04:00

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Every summer Jersey readers are anxious to get their hands on the new release of Janet Evanovich’s latest release to follow the outrageous stunts of Stephanie Plum, the bounty hunter Jersey girl who can’t make up her mind whether to spend her nights with handsome Italian cop Joe Morelli or the more mysterious but still very sexy Ranger. The latest in this series, Smokin’ Seventeen, does deliver some very funny moments—the senior citizen who thinks he’s a vampire and a new curse from Grandma Bella. But after 17 books, the story line is getting a bit old and most readers I’ve spoken to are anxious to see some sort of resolution with Stephanie and her two men. It’s time to pick a guy already and get a life! Her later novels definitely aren’t as outrageously fun as her earlier novels. If you have never read her novels, definitely grab a copy of One For the Money or Two for the Dough and enjoy a great beach read. If you have read her other sixteen novels, not much new here except a few chuckles.

Read Magazines & News For Free

2011-08-03T14:59:00.000-04:00

South Brunswick Public Library’s website lets you read magazines and news for free.

Consumer Reports, Popular Mechanics, Electronics and Science are just some of the magazine titles available. Newspapers include New York Time, Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the AP Regional State Report for New Jersey.

Here is how you can read all of this from the comfort of your home.

Go to our web site www.sbpl.info. Click on Databases. Scroll down to EbscoHost and click on the link. Put in your library card number. No spaces. No Letters.

Click on the EbscoHost Web link, or on Ebsco Mobile after you have logged in.

Click on ‘MasterFile Premier’ if you want to see magazines, or, ‘Newspaper Source Plus’ if you want to read Newspapers. Now you can search by keywords for articles, or, you can browse magazine issues by title by clicking on the publications link at the top of the page.

iPod, iPhone and iPad users can download the EbscoHost app. for easy searching, reading and downloading . After you have downloaded the app you need to login from a browser using the directions given above. Choose the Ebsco Mobile link and click on ‘MasterFile Premier’. Then, click on the ‘New Ebschohost iPhone/iPod Application’ link. Fill in your email and you will be sent instructions on how to activate your EbscoHost app.

We hope you enjoy this library gem. If you need help using it please call the Information Desk at 732-329-4000 extension 7286.

Plan a Dream Vacation or Just Daydream Vacation

2011-08-02T14:38:00.000-04:00

We are offering some travel related programs this summer in keeping with the adult summer reading travel theme, “Novel Destinations.” Several of these programs are travel showcases that feature local travel agents who present vacation suggestions for cruises, family travel, adventure travel and romantic getaways.

The very informative Family Travel program was given on July 20 by Kuller Class A Travel in Princeton. They brought plenty of brochures on the tours and destinations they presented. Copies of the brochures are in a file at the Information Desk for browsing.

I case you don’t realize how a travel agent works; it costs you nothing as the traveler to get assistance from an agent. The agents’ fee is paid by the tour company, airline or hotel. If you book through the Internet without the use of a travel agent, the provider gets to keep the fee that they would have had to give to the agent and you are left with no one to contact in case of an emergency or a problem while you are away on your trip. Working through an agent gives you someone who will be on your side should you need to settle a dispute or take care of some special need.

I was very surprised at the wide variety of options there were for family travel and all of them are designed to make the most of your vacation time while saving you the hassle of worrying about all of the details. There are basically two different family vacation formats you can consider – there are packages where the whole family participates in the activities together with other families and packages where there are activities for the kids to do with other kids while the parents have time alone together to do what they want to do. The former are mostly travel to destinations where the family can learn about other cultures and experience new wonders while the later is usually on a cruise or at a resort where fun is the agenda for the kids and relaxation is what the adults are seeking. The first decision you should make is which type of vacation your family is up for at this time- in other words, do you want togetherness experience or is a little distance in order?

The family tours include destinations in China, Europe, North, Central and South America, and Africa. Imagine an African Safari with the family which includes visits to animal conservation laboratories and time with local children and their families; or a castle tour of Germany where you get to stay in an actual castle and the kids can dress up as Princesses or Knights. The tours to Italy include dining experiences including 'a make your own pizza' night and the Amazon tour includes riding a zip line through the canopy of a rain forest. There are all different levels of activity and experiences and several classes of travel which you can select which often determines the size of your group and the variety of excursions, but the thing that is true of all of these kinds of vacations is that all of the reservations, luggage handling, tipping, transportation, etc. is handled by someone else so you can just spend your time enjoying the sights with your family.

The all inclusive aspect to these vacations is true of the cruises and resorts as well, but the emphasis for the kids is not about learning something about the destination and its culture but rather about having fun. Many cruises now specialize in sports including climbing on rock walls, learning to surf in a wave pool, and there is even a ship that has a deck called ‘The Boardwalk’ that includes arcades and a carousel. And the resorts usually take advantage of the proximity of the ocean and offer water sports like wind sailing, parasailing, surfing and snorkeling. The programs for the kids are usually broken into age-appropriate groups with separate activities for the little ones, tweens and teens with separate playrooms, game rooms, recreation areas and even separate dance clubs for teens and tweens for hanging out and dancing in the evenings. One cruise line has developed a child’s playroom in conjunction with Fischer-Price and individual babysitters are often available for hire so that parents can enjoy dinner at one of the upscale restaurants that ships are now providing.

The selections are as varied as your imagination and working with a travel agent, you will be able to make sure that all of your dietary needs (even if your children are picky eaters) are met and all of your physical needs are accommodated particularly if you have anyone traveling with a disability. There is the right vacation solution for everyone just waiting for you to make a reservation. Our next travelogue is tomorrow - Wednesday, August 3 at 1:30 p.m. in the large Meeting Room. This week’s topic is Romantic Getaways – don’t miss it!

Grownups Get Special Attention Too!

2011-08-01T13:33:00.000-04:00

With all of the programs the Library offers for children, teens, and tweens a person might not notice that right there in the middle of the day in the middle of the week are 90 minutes just for grownups. It's called Wednesday Wisdom. Every Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. is "a program of interest just for adults."

It may be a lecture, a documentary film, a discussion about a play or book, or something completely different. Some programs are educational and informative and some are just for fun such as the sudoku class I recently attended on my lunch hour. The tips I learned were so simple and yet helped me to be much more successful than before. Thanks Barb!

During this summer the weekly Wisdom programs all complement the adults' Summer Reading Novel Destinations theme. One week I learned about the benefits of guided tours from a local travel agent. I am (thinking of ) planning a trip for my mother and I to Ireland in the near future. She is older and not very mobile. While I know I can get plenty of facts from the Internet, it was much more helpful and fun for me to actually meet and talk directly with an expert. I was able to explain my plan's particular challenges and get quick, to-the-point-of-the-matter answers on the spot from a friendly face.

In July Wisdom presented programs on digital photography, cruises, and vacation journaling and sketching. In August I'm hoping to use my lunch hour to hear from local vacation experts about romantic vacations and adventure vacations.

If you are able to attend one of these fun and informative travel-related programs, please do! It is time well spent. You are welcome to bring your lunch with you! If you can't make it we do have brochures and information from these travel programs available to peruse at the Information Desk. While visiting the Desk you will also notice the Book Review entry forms. Fill one out and submit it for a chance at our weekly prize drawing! Also, while at the Desk you can register for our International Food Tasting = the Wisdom program on Aug. 24. To register for the Tasting by phone, call 732-329-4000,ext. 7286.

Wednesday Wisdom will host this "Summer Slammer" and Open House (Grownups Only!) on Aug. 24 to mark the end of this year's Summer Reading for Adults. The Party will include food, fun and games, plus the International Food Tasting. Stop by the party and talk about what you read this summer. Participation in the Food Tasting does requires registration, but the party does not. See you there!

Remember, Summer Reading programs may be coming to a close but Wednesday Wisdom happens every week throughout the year. Every Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. To find out what's ahead, just check our bi-monthly Compass newsletter available in the Library and online at http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/sbpl/mweb/path202-1.html. Also, check the newsletter for other programs the Library offers for adults that might interest you. We have a variety of ongoing and changing new programs for adults at different days and times each week.

All Wednesday Wisdom programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Thanks Friends for making this and many other programs at the SBPL possible!

Cookbooks for Cheaters

2011-07-29T17:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, I admit it - I'm not that great a cook. I still need cookbooks! I'm not on Top Chef where they make everything off the top of their heads - how do they DO that? (Many hours in the kitchen, encyclopedic memory, experience tasting all kinds of cuisines, ability to think creatively under pressure, no problem!)

So how do we amateurs decide which cookbook to use?

You can buy one on impulse and perhaps suffer buyer's remorse or, how about this? Borrow it from our Library.

It's kind of like speed dating: you flip through the book quickly at the store and are smitten with a few eyecatching recipes, so you want to take it out for a first date. (This is where the Library comes in.) Check it out here (or place a hold on it,) take it home and cook a few recipes from it. If you absolutely love it and can't bear to give it up, then commit and buy it. Happily ever after!

If the book's not all you hoped, just know that it will be available from the Library if you ever want to take it out again.

For example, here are some cookbooks I love but don't want to buy (and that our Library owns):

All books by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa:

the original Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and the others -

BC Parties, BC Family Style, BC in Paris, BC at Home, BC Back to Basics, BC How Easy is That?

Each cookbook is lovely, but to me doesn't have enough recipes to justify the price of the book.

Ina's latest book, How Easy is That, aptly titled, has some recipes that are so simple they almost don't qualify as recipes. For example, Roasted Figs - Wrap halved figs with prosciutto, brush with olive oil, and bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Friends tried it this past weekend: warm, sweet/salty and delicious, but do you really need a recipe for that, or is it just directions?

My daughter and I also made the Crostini with Tuna Tapenade, this one was outstanding, with the whole being more than the sum of the parts - lemony and flavorful with kalamata olives. (Note - you could sub out the mascarpone cheese with either cream cheese or sour cream so you don't have to purchase 1/3 cup of expensive mascarpone.) Tuna and Hummus Sandwiches - also good, but just use good Italian tuna and a mustard vinaigrette with purchased hummus, serve them open faced on a toasted baguette and you're done. Don't need the cookbook.

A few weeks back, we tried the Watermelon and Arugula Salad. Savory watermelon salads are all the rage right now, and this one was good, not great. The best one I've made is a watermelon, tomato and kalamata olive salad but not sure where that recipe is right now. (I'll look it up! - said the Reference Librarian)

Also tried the Roasted Eggplant Caponata, which was very good, but I actually like Roasted Eggplant Spread from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style better and it was easier too - just roast everything in the oven and process.

These books are certainly attractive, photos styled simply but beautifully, and the recipes are really very good and perfect for summer entertaining and enjoying. Hope you come to our Library and take out these or other cookbooks, and let me know what you've made, good, bad or indifferent!