Another mom that has written a cookbook is Kate Workman. My guess is you have not heard of her. Well, you probably will soon. She is the editor in chief of the website cookstr.com She has two children and is constantly being asked “What’s for dinner?” Before I go any further, the name of her new cookbook is The Mom 100 cookbook: 100 recipes every mom needs in her back pocket. To be honest with you, I haven’t made anything from this cookbook as I just got to see it a couple of days ago. But from just looking at it, I really like that there is a great variety of recipes within the book. I found several salads I think my husband would like. There are some comfort food recipes and a soy ginger flank steak that I really want to try too. What is really nice is that for those with children, there is a sidebar by each recipe that tells you what your children can do to help prepare the recipe. So, if you need some recipes that your children will like as well as being very easy, be sure and check out the Pioneer Woman as well as the Mom 100 cookbook.  And be sure and check out the Cooking Neighborhood for other cookbooks that are easy to use with great recipes.

Don’t forget to register for Cooking by the Book book club for cookbook lovers. We will be discussing the Ina Garten cookbooks. Just come in and find a recipe, make it and bring your food that you made on Thursday, May 10th from 7:00-8:00 pm in the Anton Room. You can call me at 580-4540 if you have any questions about this book club or to register. Happy Cooking!!

Come check out Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s newest additions of books on the subject of home brewing and be sure to attend Let’s Make Beer on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 from 7pm–8pm in Marvin Auditorium 101BC.

The Oxford Companion to Beer by Garrett Oliver

The Oxford Companion to Beer by Garrett Oliver is a brand new book that was recently added to the library. I mostly reserved it to take home to my husband, a home brewer and beer enthusiast, and he just could not believe how massive it is! It seriously covers just about every subject you have ever wanted to know about beer and then some and would almost liken it to a beer encyclopedia. This will definitely be a book we refer to again and again as we delve deeper into the world of brewing.

Brewed Awakening: Behind the Beer and Brewers Leading the world’s Craft Brewing Revolution by Joshua M. Bernstein

Outside of being designed well, Brewed Awakenings is a great book full of nice photography that describes not only how to brew, but Bernstein also recommends different styles of beer and brands to try out while exploring the wide variety available. Let’s face it, it can be a little daunting, but this will help make it seem easier when trying your first stout (I’m told all the time my taste is odd or “manly!” I’m not sure what to think about that!). So you have the ingredients, different varieties, history, seasonal beers, different packaging, how to make your own, and then of course how to store and also enjoy your new discoveries all in one little package. I highly recommend checking this out from the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library!

 He Said Beer, She Said Wine by Sam Calagione and Marnie Old

Okay, this is not a brand new book now is it incredibly new to the collection, but what I love about it is the fact that it provides recipes and them gives pairings for both beer and wine. This would make a great source for a date night when you maybe want to try a little of both or perhaps your significant other really does not like beer. This is a great place to start! The photos really grab your attention and I like how the different sections are organized. Come grab this and see what you think!

If that is not enough for you, please come to Let’s Make Beer Tuesday April 24, 2012 7PM–8PM in Marvin Auditorium 101BC where local home brewers from the Greater Topeka Hall of Foamers come and talk to us about making beer! Share what types of beers you like to try and where in Topeka you find them. Leave a comment below – I would love to hear from you!

Deepak Chopra says in Grow Younger, Live Longer “…fresh foods enhance regeneration and vitality. For most foods, the less time between harvesting and consumption, the more energy and intelligence it provides.” Studies show the U.S. food industry is one of the biggest and most wasteful users of energy. About 80% of the energy used goes into processing, refrigeration and transportation, and these costs go into the price.

Small local farms are run by farmers living on the land and working to preserve it. They are less likely to aggressively treat their crops with strong chemicals and many farm organically. Much of the fruits and vegetables sold at local farmers markets are harvested the day before or even hours before. An added bonus, as Chef Emeril Lagasse says, is there’s no excess packaging to deal with and none of the little stickers to peel off.

What better way to enjoy these fresh offerings than by preparing mouth-watering dishes specifically designed for them. Here are just a few of the great cookbooks your library has to offer:

Emeril Lagasse’s book Farm to Fork Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh is his “guide to help you explore the great local bounty through fifteen flavorful chapters…” There’s a lot of terrific recipes like Lemon-Scented Blueberry Pancakes and Provencal-Style Stuffed Zucchini plus a chapter on canning and preserving so you can enjoy the goodness all year.

Then there is Fresh From the Farmer’s Market by Janet Fletcher a chef who honed her craft at Chez Panisse. Her book is divided into seasons to take advantage of what’s available when. Just a couple of her offerings are Tomato Salad with Corn and Basil and Pizza with Mozzarella and Arugula.

Of course what cookbook shelf would be complete without a book from Southern Living.  Their Farmers Market Cookbook offers recipes for every season along with shopping tips and a section on herbs.  How about Tasty Turkey Burgers With Herb-Grilled Vidalia Onion Rings or Warm Cranberry Brie.

There’s even a book from Tyler Florence about starting your infant, baby or toddler on fresh, healthy food. Start Fresh contains 60 recipes including Asparagus Puree and Banana, Pineapple and Avocado Pudding.

Come to the 5th annual Green Fair Saturday, April 21 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm for more tips and information about making your life greener.

Best in Show:

1st Runner-up:

Best Play on Words:

Most Likely to be Devoured:

Congratulations to the winners! You can see all the 2012 edible book entries on our Flickr page.

Thank you to all of our edible book artists, visitors, and voters. It’s audience participation that makes this event so much fun.

Also, a special thank you to Chef Mike Davis for his Thai Fruit Carving demonstration. If you didn’t get a chance to see him in action, check out this video taken by Jaime Meyers.

Want to participate next year? Mark your calendars for the 2013 Edible Book Festival on Friday, April 5, 2013.

While Northern California is known as “wine country”, the Midwest – even  Kansas – has wineries worth visiting. This blog features five noteworthy wineries in Kansas, all less than two hours from Topeka. The featured wineries would be a wonderful day trip for wine tasting, to see the production process of the winery, and enjoy one-of-a-kind gift shops.

Salina – Smoky Hill Vineyard and Winery

Smoky Hill Vineyard and Winery is the largest winery in Kansas. Located in Salina, Wichita, and Wilson, Smoky Hill Winery believes in helping people find the perfect wine for them based on foods that enhance the flavor of the wine. They have over two dozen reds, whites, and specialty wines. Online you can find a handy terminology page that will help sharpen your wine knowledge.
Enjoy wine tasting Monday through Saturday 10-6

Basehor – Holy-Field Vineyard and Winery

Located on 30 acres, Holy-Field Vineyard and Winery produce 7,000 gallons annually from their 10 variety of grapes. Holy-Field use Native American and French hybrid grapes in their wine. They hold events throughout the year including mystery dinner theater dinners and summer musical events.
Enjoy wine tasting Monday through Friday 10-6, Saturday 9:30-6, Sunday 12-6

Paxico – Wyldewood Cellars Winery

Wyldewood Cellars have created three different types of wine: fruit wines, native grape wines, and their award winning elderberry wine. In their gift shop they also sell their jellies, fudge, vinegars, and syrups they produce from the wines, as well as Kansas food products.
Enjoy wine tasting Monday through Saturday 8-6, Sunday 12-6

Eudora – Davenport Orchard Vineyard and Winery

Davenport Orchard started in 1997. They have several types of fruit wines, whites, reds, blush, and sparkling. They also have a Topeka outlet called Matrot Castle. Matrot Castle’s website offers different recipes to cook using their wines.

Eudora tasting room is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 4-7 and Saturday and Sunday 1-5.

The Matrot Castle tasting room is open Saturdays 11-6

Wamego – Oz Winery

Located in downtown Wamego, Oz Winery is not your typical, everyday winery.  Instead of your usual wine labels and titles, Oz Winery incorporates the Wizard of Oz into each wine they produce. They have several different types of wine: reds, whites, blush, dessert, and sparkling. They opened in 2007, and attract travelers all around to have a once in a lifetime wine tasting experience!

Enjoy wine tasting Monday through Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 12-5

Search the Catalog for Great Wine Related Books

 Kansas Guidebook for Explorers

The Ultimate Wine Companion

Exploring Wine

Unquenchable: A Great Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargin Wines

Wine for Dummies

Food and Wine Magazine

Been to a winery (Kansas or elsewhere) that was a fun experience? Please share, I’d love to hear from you!

On the menu were Blueberry Bumplings and Moose Juice. The translation: Orange Julius and Blueberry Muffins. Each child was given an apron of their choice. Boys chose the puppies or frogs, the girls were more into bunnies and kitties.

These kids were making Moose Juice with orange juice, orange sherbet, vanilla extract and banana. They were learning to follow a recipe, measure ingredients and operate a blender. The result was a healthy drink to enjoy while their Blueberry Bumplings were baking.

These girls are measuring their dry ingredients to put in their bowl of egg, cream and oil. To make their Blueberry Bumplings they learned to crack an egg, measure liquids and dry ingredients and use a mixer.

Kyla, wearing the puppy apron, has mixed her blueberries into her bumpling batter and is filling her muffin cups. Each person put their name on the muffin cups so they could claim their muffins after they were baked. There were even muffins to share with family members

Under Kathy’s supervision, all the eggs were cracked successfully. There were extra eggs available in case there was a catastrophe. Lena, Kathy and Gayle all agreed it was a fun, great program and are ready to do it again.

http://joythebaker.com/

I have been a follower of hers for a very long time. She has some mouthwatering recipes that will just knock your socks off. And the good thing is all of the recipes that I have tried worked. They have looked  just like the pictures that are on her blog.

Last year she posted that she was going to publish a cookbook. Boy, was I excited. I could hardly wait. But it seemed like it was just taking forever. But  the day finally came last week and her cookbook is now out for everyone to look at. A friend of mine bought a copy of it and I am so glad she is my friend. I got to take a peek at the recipes in it. There are some really really  good ones. And the one that I made first was the brownies that I used as the picture for this post.

Don’t they look good? I will tell you they were as good as they look. And easy too. The best part is that you don’t have to go out and buy a copy of the book. You just have to check it out here at the library. And be sure and check out the cooking neighborhood for all of your cookbook and recipe needs.

If you love to cook, you might want to check out the new cookbook club, Cooking by the Book. We will be talking and tasting the Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond April 12 at 7:00 pm in the Anton Room.  I hope to see you there and happy cooking.

How many of you remember the entertaining book that Martha Stewart wrote in the 1980s? I do, and I have that book in my collection of cookbooks. Well, she has come out with an update to that book called Martha’s Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations. And it is quite the book.

The first thing about this book is that it is huge. Both size and pages. But once you open it, the photography will knock your socks off. From the scrumptious food to the beautiful place settings (using a gravy boat as a flower vase – so neat!), this book is a treasure trove of ways to entertain.

From an informal breakfast to a lavish party, the book is organized around mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Holiday cooking is also included in this book.

I know I will never be able to entertain like Martha does. But I do know that I can cook and try out the recipes that are in this book, many of which haven’t appeared in her magazine or other books. And I have. The first recipe I made was the Blueberry Belgian Waffles. I like my waffles on the crunchy side and these were light and crunchy. It uses what most waffles recipes use, but it also has cornmeal in it. You also must fold the egg whites into the batter. That is what makes them so light. Serve this with a blueberry compote – so delicious.

Another recipe I tried was the Ham with the Currant Rosemary Glaze. At first that recipe didn’t sound very good, but the picture in the book looked very pretty. It calls for a ham, rosemary, lemon juice and currant jelly or jam. The guests I had at my house had brought me some currant jelly, so I gave it a try. It was delicious.

So, be sure and check out this new Martha Stewart book. Even if you think you have seen it all, you haven’t until you have seen this book.

Remember to check out the library’s Cooking Neighborhood for all your cookbook and recipe needs. If you need assistance with a recipe, be sure and click on Recipe Assistants. Fill out the form and the recipe assistants will try and help you find what you need.

Happy Cooking!!

Kathy and Diana’s rating: Excellent

Join the festivities starting at 5:30pm on Friday, April 6 in the Marvin Auditorium!

• The Festival is free and open to the public.
• All ages are welcome.
• Reserve your space by April 5 by calling the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery at 785-580-4515.
• Bring your completed edible book entries to the library on Friday, April 6 between 3 & 5:30pm.

Need ideas for your own edible book? See entries from previous festivals here.

Judith Fertig will be here March 22 from 7:00-8:30 in the Marvin Auditorium. She will talk about how to make your own cookbook and she will be selling and signing “Heartland: The Cookbook” too.

We hope you can get out to meet Judith Fertig. Oh, and give these cinnamon rolls a try. They really are easy and and absolutely scrumptious. Happy cooking!!

Cider-Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

1 batch No-Knead Clover Honey Dough (recipe below)
Unbleached all-purpose or bread flour, for dusting

Cinnamon Filling
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

To form the rolls, divide the dough in half with a serrated knife and a dough scraper. The remaining dough in the bowl will deflate somewhat. Transfer each dough portion to a floured surface and dust very lightly with flour. Flour your hands. Working the dough as little as possible and adding flour as necessary, roll each portion into a 12 x 8-inch rerctangle. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch perimeter. Starting with a short end, roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch cylinder with your hands. If the dough begins to stick to the surface, use the dough scraper to push the flour under the dough and scrape it up. With the dough scraper, slice each cylinder into 1-inch pieces.

Place the rolls, filling side up, in the prepared pan so that they are touching. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 25 to 27 minutes, or until browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the rolls registers at least 190 degrees. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the glaze, whisk the sugar and cider together in a small bowl. Drizzle or spoon the glaze over the rolls when they are cool.

Here is the recipe for the No-Knead Clover Honey Dough.

6 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons instant or bread machine yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons fine kosher salt
1 cup clover or other amber honey
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 large eggs
Warm water (about 100 degrees F)

Spoon the flour into a measuring cup, level with a knife or your finger, then dump the flour into a 16 cup mixing bowl.

Add the yeast and salt to the flour. Sir together with a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk. Mix the honey, oil and eggs together in a 4-cup measuring cup. Add enough warm water to reach the 4-cup mark and stir together. Pour the honey minture into the flour mixture, stir to combine, then beat for 40 strokes, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until  the dough form a lumpy, sticky mass.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature (72 degrees F) for 2 hours, or until the douogh has risen to about 2 inches below the rim of the bowl and has a spongelike appearance.

Use that day or place the dough, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before baking. If you like, write the date on the plastic wrap so you know the bake-by date for your dough.