Month: December 2021

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Baking for the Holidays

Baking for the Holidays

by Crystal Hicks, Collections Librarian

Cover of "Pastry Love" by Joanne Chang. The title in white cursive font is over a close up of toasted square pastries with figs in the middle, which are being dusted with sugar. The holidays have come around again, and for many people (myself included) that means baking. Due to busy schedules, my family’s holiday celebrations will be happening late this year, which gives me plenty of time to decide what I should bake for them. Should I bake my favorite chocolate cookies? Should I try a new cupcake recipe? Or should I go with a classic pie? Here are some of the cookbooks I’ll be perusing as I determine which desserts to bake for the holidays and into next year.

Sarah Kieffer’s aptly-named “Baking for the Holidays” is the obvious place to start. Bakes are divided up by occasion, starting with breakfast and going through all manner of desserts to make and share. Desserts include the usual winter flavors of mint, hot chocolate, and winter fruits like pears and cranberries. The best part of Kieffer’s book may be shortcuts for making fiddly doughs for croissants and Danishes, which place difficult pastries within the reach of less-experienced home bakers.

Dorie Greenspan quickly became one of my personal favorite bakers after I discovered the glorious tome “Dorie’s Cookies.” Her newest book, “Baking with Dorie,” continues to be a joy, with simple-yet-complex recipes that could be used for many occasions. Better yet, Greenspan frequently offers advice for different situations (like mixing by hand or with a stand mixer) and suggests ways to improvise and make the recipes your own. The hardest thing about baking from this book may be picking one recipe to get started with. I’ll be starting with her World Peace Cookies 2.0, an easier version of her classic chocolate cookies that are so good they could start world peace.

My go-to baking cookbook is “Pastry Love” by Joanne Chang, a book that boasts recipes for two of the best foods I’ve ever baked. As soon as I first made them, Apple Cider Sticky Buns seemed destined for a winter morning shared with family, and Chang’s recipe for Billionaire’s Shortbread is perfect to make in large batches for cookie exchanges. “Pastry Love” also includes recipes for desserts with traditional winter flavors like Eggnog Cheesecake with Gingerbread People, Peppermint Kisses, and Vanilla-Mint Marshmallows. If you’re an intermediate-level baker, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

The King Arthur Baking Company just updated their compendium of cookie recipes, “The Essential Cookie Companion,” which includes over 400 recipes for cookie goodness. Though this book doesn’t include full-color photographs of cookies, it more than makes up for that with the breadth and depth of information included. Not only are there hundreds of cookie recipes, but there’s information about gluten-free flours, high-altitude baking, and even how to package up your treats for sharing.

If pies are more your speed than cookies, Erin Jeanne McDowell’s “The Book on Pie” has you covered. Not only does McDowell love pie, but she has a gift for explaining and simplifying the science behind it. McDowell covers everything from troubleshooting dough problems to picking which kind of fat to use in a crust to determining how much dough you need for various sizes of pies. Truly, this book is a wonder for pie-baking enthusiasts!

            If there’s a young’un in your life, you may be planning on baking with them this holiday season. The Children’s Room has many cookbooks that can facilitate such efforts, but America’s Test Kitchen’s “The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs” would be my first choice. Not only does this book have easy recipes that are ideal for kids, but it also walks young bakers through the baking process with straightforward steps and photos of every recipe. Maybe best of all, there’s a pumpkin pie recipe that’s impossible to burn (it’s made with gelatin and chills to set).

Whenever your family celebrates this holiday season, I hope there are books and baked goods aplenty. And as always, we’ll be here for you in the new year, ready with books on all topics of interest to you and yours.

by Cassie Wefald Cassie Wefald No Comments

Picture Books of 2021

Picture Books of 2021

By Jennifer Bergen, Program and Youth Services Manager

Title of the Littlest Yak by Lu Fraser - featuring a group of Yak's standing in the snow with colorful hats. One in the front is very small. So many wonderful children’s picture books came out this year, some of them light-hearted, some serious, and some with amazing illustrations – all of them begging to be shared with a young person. Pre-readers depend on their grown-ups to spend time reading stories and delighting in them together, and reading aloud forms a strong bond as well. Here are some new books at the top of my list to share:

“Change Sings” by Amanda Gorman is just a beautiful book, from the colorful flowing illustrations by Loren Long to the lyrical poetry of the text. It follows one girl with a guitar who befriends a boy while they pick up trash in the neighborhood. With each page turn, more children are added. Each child is given an instrument to play along as they find ways to positively impact their environment and people around them. Gorman’s remarkable talents for composing poetry and inspiring others are both evident in this book which reminds us all that we can change our world.

“Chez Bob” by Bob Shea (we see what you did there, Bob!) will have your kids giggling from the start as a very lazy alligator named Bob plans to get his dinner without having to put in any work. How can he get delectable birdies to come to him? He decides to open a bird restaurant on his snout! This plan actually works, as birds flock to Chez Bob, “which is a real restaurant and not a trick,” Bob assures them. But, as Bob Shea says, this is “not a European picture book.” Violence is averted, and Bob is sure to steal your heart by the end.

“It Was Supposed to Be Sunny” by Samantha Cotterill is an important book to share with children about the strong emotions that come from disappointment. Part of the “Little Senses” series, Cotterill’s stories are helpful for “wonderfully sensitive kids,” including those on the autism spectrum. When Laila planned her birthday party, she had very distinct ideas about how it would go, including being outside in the sunshine and having a unicorn cake. She and her mother planned activities that suited Laila’s sensibilities, like not having balloons or a loud birthday song, and instead planning a sparkly craft and a “wish jar.” The book begins with a loud thunder boom, and Laila’s party doesn’t look like it will go right. She and her mother have to keep adjusting and finding solutions. This book is every bit as important for the parents as it is for the child to see how to work through frustrations and sadness, and find ways to still have fun!

“The Littlest Yak” by Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley is the perfect pick for the child who feels too small, too young, and too left out. Hindley’s extremely adorable-looking yaks do not make fun of little Gertie, but she feels left out just the same. “I’m a yak at the back who is stuck in her smallness, I want to grow UP and have greatness and tallness!” When an even tinier yak is stuck at the end of a narrow mountain ledge, only Gertie is small enough to climb up and save him. As Gertie’s mummy has said, bigness comes in different shapes and sizes. Being small is not so bad after all.

“It Fell from the Sky” by brothers Terry and Eric Fan will delight kids and adults with black and white detailed drawings of insects looking like they dropped out of Alice’s Wonderland. The only color is from a magical object that has dropped down from the sky for the ladybug, walking stick and grasshopper to analyze. What could this amazing, round, yellow and green object be? When the finely accessorized spider decides to take it as his own, he creates an exhibit where bugs must pay for a rare glimpse of the Wonder from the Sky. Part cautionary tale, part magical fantasy, the art and story will entice young listeners.

For more great recommendations, visit the library’s ReadMHK website (mhklibrary.org/readmhk) for book lists of new titles from 2021.

by Cassie Wefald Cassie Wefald No Comments

New YA by Debut Authors

New YA by Debut Authors
By Savannah Winkler, LIS Library Assistant

My life would be very different without young adult books. Starting in seventh grade, the stories I found in the teen area of my hometown public library shaped the remaining years of my childhood. From my cozy spot in the library’s bean bag chairs, I faced danger and made impossible choices with Katniss in “The Hunger Games” and learned about first loves with Hazel and Gus from “The Fault in Our Stars.” YA has changed significantly since then, and, despite being a handful of years into adulthood, I still find myself gravitating towards the new and inventive stories that current YA titles have to offer. Luckily, this year has brought us some fresh and exciting titles by debut authors.

Lauren Blackwood’s debut novel, “Within These Wicked Walls,” adds a fantastically gothic and Ethiopian-inspired twist to the classic story of “Jane Eyre.” Andromeda works as a debtera, a kind of exorcist responsible for cleansing houses of curses or malevolent energy. Faced with uncertainty and poverty, Andromeda does not hesitate when the privileged Magnus Rochester offers her a job. However, once she arrives at Thorne Manor, Andromeda soon realizes something even more sinister is lurking inside this lavish desert castle. Andromeda knows she should run, but her growing feelings for Magnus keep her from leaving while she still has the chance.

“Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun” by Jonny Garza Villa tells a more light-hearted story, but that doesn’t mean life is easy for protagonist Jules Luna. Jules wants nothing more than to get away from Corpus Christi, Texas, and the disapproving looks of those around him—especially his father. Jules plans to lay low and focus on getting into college, but one impulsive post on Twitter changes everything and reveals his secret to the world: he is gay. Jules must suddenly face the rejection and hurt he’s always feared, but he discovers he isn’t alone. Mat, an online crush from Los Angeles, reaches out to Jules when he needs it most. With the help of Mat and friends, Jules learns how live his life authentically and without reservations.

One of my most anticipated additions to the horror genre this year was Courtney Gould’s “The Dead and the Dark.” The lives of the two main characters, Logan and Ashley, could not be more different. Logan has traveled the country and chased ghosts with her dads as they host their popular paranormal TV show, “Paraspectors.” Ashley, on the other hand, has never known a world outside of her safe and predictable home in Snakebite, Oregon. Despite their differences, their lives intertwine when Logan’s dads decide to return to their hometown of Snakebite, but what is meant to be a short trip turns into an extended stay as young people begin to disappear and the town’s hidden secrets are slowly revealed.

On the back cover of “Not Here to Be Liked” by Michelle Quach, the book gives its readers a warning: this book contains an unlikable female character. High school junior Eliza Quan has never been concerned with her likability. She’s too busy turning out articles for her school’s newspaper and preparing for the upcoming election for editor in chief. Eliza assumes she is a shoo-in, until the charismatic but less-qualified Len DiMartile is elected instead. Eliza pours her frustrations into an essay that is meant only for herself, but when that essay is published online, she finds herself at the forefront of a feminist movement she never intended to start.

The library’s ReadMHK program continues this month with the topic new and shiny books. If you enjoy discovering new books or are looking to get some new titles for your “To Read” list, consider checking out our librarian-curated book lists on our website.

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