The Ins and Outs of Holiday Entertaining

The holiday season is here which means you might be entertaining house guests from out of town or throwing a party for friends, family or coworkers.  If you are looking for some ideas on themes, foods or simple tips on making your party successful, look no further than the Frank L. Weyenberg Library.  We carry plenty of entertaining books, cookbooks and so on to make your Holiday Season successful and hopefully stress free.

Entertaining can be both fun and sometimes stressful.  However, with the right direction, it is possible to minimize the stress and enjoy just enjoy the time with friends and family.  Check out these books for tips and tricks:

Upcycling celebrations : a use-what-you-have guide to decorating, gift-giving & entertaining by Seo, Danny.
Cupcakes and cashmere : a guide for defining your style, reinventing your space, and entertaining with ease by Schuman, Emily.
Cornelia Guest's simple pleasures : healthy seasonal cooking and easy entertaining by Guest, Cornelia.
You're so invited : panic less, play more, and get your party on by Najafi, Cheryl.
Celebrate : a year of festivities for families and friends by Middleton, Pippa, 1983-

It seems like this time of year everyone is looking for that perfect recipe to make the holidays great.  Whether it is just a desert or a full course meal, playing with new recipes can be fun and rewarding.  Check out these Cook Books to try something new at your Holiday gathering:

Christmas with Paula Deen : recipes and stories from my favorite holiday by Deen, Paula H., 1947-
A Hanukkah holiday cookbook by Raabe, Emily.
Not your mother's slow cooker recipes for entertaining by Hensperger, Beth.
Cake pops : holidays by Bakerella.
Rachael Ray's big orange book : her favorite all-new 30-minute meals, veggie meals, holiday menus, dinners-for-one, kosher meals, rollover menus, and much, much more! by Ray, Rachael.
Vegan for the holidays : celebration feasts for Thanksgiving through New Year's Day by Allen, Zel.

Sometimes entertaining includes providing activities for your guests.  If you are looking to entertain your guests over a weekend you might be interested in borrowing these holiday movies taken from one of our earlier blog posts:
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Christmas Story
Frosty the Snowman
Home Alone
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
It’s a Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34^th Street
The Muppet Christmas Carol
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Polar Express
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
A White Christmas

**Image courtesy of Google Images.

Time Travel

When I moved to Wisconsin, I was told there was a time machine at the bank.  How cool—like an H.G. Wells novel, or perhaps Back to the Future?  Turns out it was a TYME machine, or for the non-natives, just an ATM.  However, time travel is possible in Wisconsin, but at the library, not the bank.

For example, you can travel to 1970s Cambodia with Vaddey Ratner in her book In the shadow of the banyan .  In this poignant novel, a young child relates the story of her family’s tragic experiences during the civil war in Cambodia.  Each of the members of the child’s extended family is expertly characterized, so that the reader comes to know and love them, just as the young protagonist clearly does.  The story parallels the author’s own life.

You can go to the 2008 Olympics with Shawn Johnson in her book Winning Balance:  what I’ve learned so far about love, faith, and living your dreams. 

You can visit pre-war and WWII France in Helen Gremillon’s The confidant.  This tale is full of twists and turns as the reader gradually discovers the truth of what transpired between the main characters.   When you’re done reading it, you’ll want to start reading it all over again to look for clues!

You can travel the globe in one of Ken Follett’s books.  In Fall of Giants, the reader is propelled from Russia to England, Germany and the United States, following the lives and fortunes of several inter-related families during WWI.  The family sagas are continued in the second book of the series, Winter of the World. 

Perhaps the greatest journey of all, travel To heaven and back:  a doctor’s extraordinary account of her death, heaven, angels and life again:  a true story by Mary C. Neal.  Can’t think of a better example of ‘travel through time and space’ than that!

Want to give gift of time travel to your children?

They could journey out west to Minnesota with young Almanzo Wilder and his family  (first introduced in the Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House” books) in a new novel by Heather Williams called Farmer Boy Goes West.

They could travel to 2008 Baghdad and meet Nouri and his cousin Talib in The white zone by Carolyn Marsden. Snow falls in that city for the first time in anyone’s living memory.  Will this new experience help the Sunnis and the Shiites forget that they hate each other?

Boys might want to travel down the St. Lawrence River in 1943 with 16-year-old Scott and his friend Adam in a riveting tale by Curtis Parkinson called Man Overboard! Or they might wish to take a train from Chicago to South Carolina, and then across the country to Oregon with 13-year-old Levi Battle as he searches for his father, a black paratrooper during WWII in Shelley Pearsall’s unforgettable tale  Jump into the sky.

Girls may wish to visit the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia in 1953 to meet Lydia Hawkins as she moves to a coal mine with her aunt and uncle in the novel Child of the mountains by Marilyn Sue Shank.

So be sure to visit the library, and enjoy your free time travel!

Photo courtesy of Google images

Tis the season...

The gathering of family and friends for Thanksgiving is behind us, but there are many more occasions for us to celebrate in December.  In just a few days there will by the celebration of Hanukkah.  During the Festival of Lights, many will come together to remember, to play games, and to celebrate these eight days with the traditional potato latkes as well as such delicacies as Tarragon Pea Soup, Sweet Potato and Pear Soup, Honey Turnips, Sauerbraten A La Nathan, Roast Goose with Chestnut and Apple Stuffing, Brisket with Burgandy-Orange Sauce, Sufganiot, and David Star Cookies.  All these recipes and many more are in the following books: The Jewish Holiday Kitchen, Divine Kosher Cuisine, Jewish Holiday Cooking, The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking, The World of Jewish Entertaining, and A Hanukkah Holiday Cookbook and in the DVD, Jacques Pepin’s Chanukah.

     In mentioning cookies, our next holiday comes to mind.  What would Christmas be without cookies?  In Christmas Cookies: A Holiday Cookbook, Cookie Cookbook: an inspiration for the season, and Very Merry Cookies, there are well over 200 recipes for you to try.  Many of our other books include cookie recipes as well as everything else you need to make this holiday bright: ideas to help with decorating inside and out, gift making and wrapping, special cooking for the holiday and plans for special gatherings.  The following books should help inspire you for the season: Sweet Christmas, The Best of Christmas at Home Cookbook, Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities, Victoria, 500 Christmas Ideas, Christmas With Paula Deen, I’m Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas, and Christmas From the Heart.

     Because this is such a busy time of the year any shortcuts are appreciated.  If you’d like to have a variety of cookies, but don’t have the time to bake 30 varieties, how about a cookie exchange?  You could start a new Christmas tradition by getting together with family and friends.  Each person that comes would bring an allotted amount of cookies, the exchange is made, and after a nice get together, everyone goes home with a great assortment of cookies.  All the ins and outs of a perfect cookie exchange as well as more cookie recipes are shown in the following books: Very Merry Cookie Party: how to plan and host a Christmas cookie exchange, The Great Christmas Cookie Swap Cookbook: 60 large batch recipes to bake and store, and The Christmas Cookie Cookbook: all the rules and delicious recipes to start your own holiday cookie club.

     There may be some of you who would love to make the traditional cookies, but can’t because of wheat allergies.  No problem.   In Gluten-free Baking for the Holidays and Gluten-free Christmas Cookies are all the gluten-free basics to help you create well over 100 varieties of cookies to help make your season merry.

     So however you celebrate the season, we at the Weyenberg Library wish you and yours a very special holiday season.

Picture courtesy of Easicat

      

     

The light between oceans

What would you do?  How would you react if you were in Tom and Izzy’s shoes? These are the questions everyone should ask themselves as you read M. L. Stedman’s new debut novel, The light between oceans.

It’s a novel set on a remote Australian island, where a childless couple live quietly running a lighthouse, until a boat carrying a baby washes ashore.

I found this book to be a fascinating story from page one.  It’s one you won’t want to put down.  It’s tragic as well as heart wrenching. You will become emotionally involved with the characters as they make their decision and try to live with the consequences.  If you like a book with a good moral dilemma this one’s for you.

If you are in a book club I highly recommend this book for your group.  Certainly there will be lots of discussion to follow.  Give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.

While you are waiting for Stedman’s book you may want to check out this similar title.

The snow child by Eowyn Ivey

A childless couple working a farm in the brutal landscape of 1920 Alaska discover a little girl living in the wilderness, with a red fox as a companion, and begin to love the strange, almost-supernatural child as their own.

If you enjoy stories that deal with moral issues you may want to look for these titles.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

March by Geraldine Brooks

The cider house rules by John Irving

Mudbound by Hilary Jordan

The god of small things by Arundhati Roy

The lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

The great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Additionally you may want to check out Jodi Picoult’s books as her books almost always deal with societal or moral issues. 

My sister’s keeper

Sing you home

Lone wolf

Picture perfect

Handle with care

If you would like further information about The light between oceans check out BookBrowse.com for reviews, excerpt, author biography and a reading group guide.

image courtesy of Google images

Holiday Classic Books & Movies

For me, the holidays are always a time of nostalgia.  It reminds me of the great classics to read and explore anew.  And with the cold weather, it is even more comforting to curl up with a tried and true book, a warm blanket over my feet, and a cup of hot chocolate in hand.  Here is a list of list of classic books to read and enjoy again.

Books
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The holidays are a time to gather with family and friends as well.  In my family, we watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer every year when it was aired on TV and later on would watch poor Ralphie in A Christmas Story.  My holiday season is not complete unless I have watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or A Christmas Story.  Here is a list of other classic holiday movies for you and your family to enjoy!

Movies

A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Christmas Story

Frosty the Snowman

Home Alone

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

It’s a Wonderful Life

Miracle on 34^th Street

The Muppet Christmas Carol

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

The Polar Express

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

A White Christmas

Happy Holidays!

****Image taken from Google Images.

Movember

Most everyone is aware of Breast Cancer awareness month in October, but are you aware of a similar initiative in November, dubbed Movember, that raises awareness for men’s health issues?  The movement was started in Australia and has quickly spread around the globe to the U.S.  According to their website, “During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo's, these men raise vital awareness and funds for men's health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives.”  While you may not be able to participate in growing a mustache for this year’s Movember, you can still donate to the cause at the website linked above.

Another great way to raise awareness about men’s health and other issues is by participating in International Men’s Day on November 19^th.  The purpose of this day is to promote positive male role models, celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, focus on men’s health, highlight discrimination against males, improve gender relations and equality, and create a safer and better world.  The theme this year is “Helping men and boys live longer, happier and healthier lives”.

Yet another way to get into the spirit of the month is to check out some books we have on Men’s health here at the library.  

Check out these titles:

The whole life prostate book : everything that every man-at every age-needs to know about maintaining optimal prostate health by Carter, H. Ballentine.
100 questions & answers about men's health : keeping you happy & healthy below the belt by Ellsworth, Pamela.
American Diabetes Association complete guide to diabetes
The men's health big book of 15 minute workouts by Yeager, Selene.
The Men's health big book of food & nutrition : your completely delicious guide to eating well, looking great, and staying lean for life! by Weber, Joel.

However you choose to recognize men’s health awareness this month be sure to be supportive of all the men in your life!

*Picture courtesy of Google Images

Checking out library e-books just got easier!

If you have an e-reader or a tablet, you may have downloaded library books from Wisconsin’s Digital Library using Overdrive.  The good news is that Barnes and Noble recently began offering the Overdrive app for free to Nook Color, Nook Tablet and Nook HD users.  Amazon followed suit, offering the app on Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD.  This means that users can now download library books directly onto their e-readers without first going to their computers.  Users simply go to the app store on their device, “purchase” the Overdrive app for free, choose “Get Books” from the menu, and follow the prompts.  For more detailed instructions for the Nook, click here.  For Kindle, click here (NOTE:  when using the Overdrive app you will want to choose EPUB  books rather than Kindle format books) .

Wisconsin’s Digital Library contains thousands of titles, including fiction and nonfiction, old classics as well as new releases, in both audio and print versions.

With the holidays coming up, you may want to check out a few e-cookbooks, such as Baking Artisan Bread:  10 expert formulas for baking better bread at home by Ciril Hitz, Vegan Holiday Kitchen:  more than 200 delicious, festive recipes for special occasions by Nava Atlas, or the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.

Want to curl up with a fiction title from the NYT Bestsellers list?  Try The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom, in which Father Time tries to teach earthlings the true meaning of time, or Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, about a beautiful woman who disappears on the morning of her fifth wedding anniversary, or the last in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons.

Several non-fiction titles from the NYT Bestsellers list are also available for e-readers including Unbroken, the amazing story by Laura Hillenbrand of a WWII airman who survives a plane crash, weeks adrift in a lifeboat, and capture by the Japanese.   Another tale of endurance is Cheryl Strayed’s Wild:  from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail.  On a lighter note, Gretchen Craft Rubin has written a second book with practical suggestions about how to be happy called Happier at Home:  kiss more, jump more, abandon a project, read Samuel Johnson and my other experiments in the practice of  everyday life.

Are you finding that the titles you want are all checked out? (even digital titles can only be checked out to one person at a time) Try browsing through the section called “Currently Available ebooks”.  Here are some I found at the time of this writing:  a wonderful  book  by Condoleeza Rice called Extraordinary, Ordinary People: a memoir of family, an adventure tale by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child called Thunderhead and the creepily suspenseful Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs.

Happy e-reading!

photo courtesy of Google images