Frugal Librarian #15: Incredible Bulk

August 11, 2009August 5, 2009 - Bill 1 Comment

This is not a health blog. Check here for the endless amounts of oatmeal benefits.

It’s funny how I used to view A.M. food as competition for coffee space. Now I wouldn’t know what to do without a trough of it on the passenger side floormat.

Steel cut oats have a whole slew of advantages, the most important of which, they taste absolutely nothing like the stuff that comes in the cardboard tube with the old man on it. They’re actually…awesome.

Here’s the frugal part. If you’re willing to pay what everyone else forks over, the lowest you’ll find in town is $3.20 a pound for a 24 oz. bag of Bob’s Red Mill. This is America, and middle America at that. We should be able to buy it by slow-moving-vehicle. After much Internet scouring, I feel foolish to admit the final stop was the QC’s own Greatest Grains store. For maximum chagrin, say the business name slower.

If you’re willing to buy them in silo-sized amounts, they knock the already attractive $1.49 down to $1.19 per pound. Use that savings to find yourself some big tupperware containers. With 25 pounds of “organic” horse feed in your closet, you’ll need it.

The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar

August 10, 2009July 31, 2009 - Ann 1 Comment

After their only child, 7-year-old Benny, dies unexpectedly of meningitis, Frank and Ellie Benton find their once perfect life in Ann Arbor empty and unbearable. When Frank is subsequently offered a new job in Girbaug, India, they grasp at the opportunity for a fresh start. Ellie adapts beautifully, volunteering as a counselor in a free clinic, and relishing in the vibrant color and boisterous activity that is India. Frank, on the other hand, struggles, never quite fitting in or understanding the vast cultural differences. He does, however, befriend a young boy, Ramesh, and becomes consumed with offering this child every opportunity, despite the father’s jealous objections. In the meantime, as Frank neglects his business, labor difficulties continue to fester into riot proportions.

As a ready, I could viscerally sense impending disaster, and even partially predict it. Still, I was caught unawares at the ending and left to marvel at this storyteller’s technique. The Weight of Heaven would make an excellent book club choice. As there are several issues with varying viewpoints presented, the book certainly promises to reap a wealth of healthy discussion.

Good Food on the Screen

August 7, 2009August 3, 2009 - Ann 2 Comments

The long anticipated movie Julie and Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, opens today and whatever the reviews, it’s sure to be filled with beautiful food. Based on the book Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, it follows the cooking adventures of a young woman who, in an attempt to bring some focus to her life, decides to make every recipe in Julia Child’s iconic Mastering the Art of French Cooking – in one year and all in her tiny kitchen.

This isn’t the first time food has been the centerpiece of a film. Take a look at these entries for more mouthwatering fun:

Big Night – An Italian restaurant on the brink of closing pulls out all the stops in one last attempt to keep the kitchen running.

Babette’s Feast – An unexpected windfall allows Babette to create a once-in-a-lifetime banquet for her longtime benefactors, a pious religious group that deny earthly pleasure.

Chocolat – When a mysterious single mother moves into a small French village and opens a chocolate shop, magic and controversy soon follow.

Sideways – Two best friends spend a week touring the California wine country, discovering passion, exploring their failures and searching for the perfect wine.

Like Water for Chocolate – In this romantic fantasy a couple is denied the chance to marry. To be near her, the young man marries her sister and she expresses her passion for him through her cooking.

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

August 6, 2009August 5, 2009 - Ann Leave a comment

Set in 1570 in northern Italy, Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant gives us a fascinating look inside the fictional convent of Santa Caterina. The typical image of a nunnery may be of silence and quiet contemplation, but within those walls there is a community with it’s own secrets, intrigues and power plays.

While many women entered the convent voluntarily either as a religious calling or a refuge from a demanding father or husband (in many ways, convents allowed women a level of independence they could never enjoy in the outside world with time to pursue their interests in art, literature, science and education), many were forced to take the veil. In Italy in the late 1500s, the price of a wedding dowry had become so high that most noble families could only afford to marry off one daughter; the only alternative for an unmarried daughter was the convent. When one of these women is sent to Santa Caterina against her will, her fierce determination to escape shakes the very foundation of the power structure within the convent, creating new alliances and seismic shifts in fundamental beliefs.

Dunant is an excellent storyteller, peopling her novel with fascinating, complex characters, from Suora Zuana the convent’s apothocary who takes the heartbroken and angry novice Serafina under her wing, to the Abbess whose power – and secrets – are challenged. Readers will quickly become immersed in the politics and customs of 16th century Italy. There is – perhaps surprisingly – a lot of action and many tense moments; this book is a page turner. And finally, at it’s very center, it’s a love story – fierce and steadfast against great odds.

Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber

August 5, 2009August 4, 2009 - Ann Leave a comment

Tart, cobbler, grunt, slump, crisp, crumble, betty, pandowdy, buckle, teacake, galette, fool, trifle and pie – all of the evocative names (some unique to different parts of the country), all meant for one thing – delicious fruit desserts. Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber collects some of the best of these simple and satisfying dishes in this charming book.

Recipes are arranged by season, so you can take advantage of the beautiful peaches, nectarines and apricots that are available now, open it again in the fall when the pears, apples and figs arrive and then again in the spring for ideas for strawberries, rhubarb and cherries. In addition to recipes for the more common fruits from blueberries to raspberries, some lesser-known fruits – huckleberries, currants, marionberries, plumcots and pluots – are also represented. Recipes are straightforward and unintimadating – even the beginner will find success. And what better way to take advantage of the changing seasons than with fresh fruit desserts?

Good Dog. Stay. by Anna Quindlen

August 4, 2009July 31, 2009 - Ann Leave a comment

Good Dog. Stay. by Pulitzer Prize winning author Anna Quindlen, is a delightful little book. It’s short, sad and sweet. Of its 82 pages, only 32 of them are text – the rest consists of expressive black and white photographs of adorable dogs gazing back at you with the liquid, loving eyes.

The book is also sad. The author reflects back on the life of her devoted black Labrador Retriever, Beau, who was part of her family for almost fifteen years. And yes, it does deal with the dreaded decision of having to put Beau down as his infirmities multiply and worsen. So keep your Kleenex handy, but your mind open. This is a tribute to all good dogs as well as an uncanny observationof what we humans can learn from our canine friends, fo what they can tell us withoug using words.

The book is also sweet – or bittersweet, to be more precise. It’s heartwarming, even humorous in parts. But the essence of the book is best expressed in its very last sentence, “Sometimes an old dog teaches you new tricks.” Recommended for dog lovers everywhere and perfectly appropriate for reading during these “dog days” of summer.

The Armchair Traveler – Train Stories

August 3, 2009July 27, 2009 - Lynn 1 Comment

Trains Those Stimulus dollars are raising the hopes of train-loving Quad-Citians; they are starting to dream of riding the rails to Chicago and Iowa City, and perhaps to even more exotic lands.

Trains are very cinematic and are excellent vehicles (ha!) to further the plot of mysteries and novels. In Falling in Love, DeNiro and Streep meet and, of course, fall in love, on a commuter train. The Station Agent, a great indie film, is about a loner who inherits a train depot. Against his will, he develops friendships with those he meets at his station.

Novels made into films include Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery , John Godey’s The Taking of Pelham 123 and Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train – turned into a wonderfully funny and creepy Hitchcock movie.

Here’s hoping you find love and romance rather than crime, terrorism and murder on your next train ride.

Come Celebrate with Us!

July 31, 2009July 27, 2009 - Ann Leave a comment

Eastern Your public library is growing to serve you better! Join us today, July 31, at the site of the new branch library located at 6000 Eastern Avenue (just past 53rd Street) for the Ground Breaking and Ceremonial Tree Planting! We’re super-excited about this new chapter in our story and look forward to opening the Eastern Branch library in summer 2010. Be sure to follow our progress on the Eastern Avenue Branch blog.

Please note, both the Main Library and the Fairmount Branch will be CLOSED on today, Friday July 31, until 1:00pm so that the staff can attend the ceremony. Both buildings will be open on Friday 1:00-5:30pm.

The Armchair Traveler – Do Travel Writers Have a Sense of Humor? Part II

July 30, 2009July 27, 2009 - Lynn Leave a comment

When you think “travel writer,” you usually think of someone like Paul Theroux or Bruce Chatwin. Not exactly laugh riots. In fact, they can be pretty grim. The more painful the journey and annoying their companions, the more they like it. The Great Railway Bazaar was Theroux’s first travel book and became a classic of the genre. He celebrates the hardship and minimizes the joy of travel – increasingly so, the further he goes along the Orient Express.

Theroux does excel in describing the people he meets in Europe and Asia – London to Afghanistan to India to Japan to Siberia. Ghost Train to the Eastern Star was a sequel of sorts, in which Theroux travels by train again to China, Vietnam, the former Soviet Union and sees the incredible changes 30 years have wrought.

Other masters of the travelogue as endurance test are Bruce Chatwin (In Patagonia) and Jonathan Raban. A British writer, Raban writes about the Mississippi River in Old Glory. (He irritated many locally with his depiction of Davenport).

So, if you find yourself in the midst of a very bad vacation, start writing – you may as well get something constructive out of it!

Christmas in July

July 29, 2009July 27, 2009 - Ann 1 Comment

No, we’re not trying to push the start of the Christmas season even earlier than it already is (Halloween is plenty early) We’re just reminding all crafters out there that if you’re going to make any presents this year, the best time to start making them is now. Handmade gifts are probably the nicest, most thoughtful gifts you can give, but they take time. Here are some great resources for ideas and inspiration.