Cooking Light.com

Hi All,

We all do it.  We do it three times a day that is - at least. Some more, some less.  What am I talking about you ask?  Eating of course!  And healthy eating is a great start to living a healthy, happy, active life.  Which is why I want to introduce an interesting, entertaining and healthy website: CookingLight.com.

When you click on the link above you go to the site  - which has plenty of information on Food, Nutrition, Healthy Living, Let's Cook, Diet, Meal Planner, the Cooking Light Blog, Videos and the Cooking Light Community (where you can visit like minded people and talk about food). 

CookingLight.com has a LOT to offer folks who use the site!  One section that I wanted to highlight and discuss from the site is the Let's Cook section.  This section has links to Recipes, Links to Recipes in Spanish and a whole bunch of food related videos.

Finally, the site has a link to ChooseMyPlate.gov - a USDA website that serves as a reminder to help consumers make healthier food choices...

Enjoy the links and recipes and the sensible cooking advice!

Regards,
Stu

Let's Get Cooking

Hi All,

Cookbooks are one of the most popular subjects that we order in the library.  With the prices of cookbooks averaging roughly $25-$35 readers can see why we order so many cookbook titles - it can be expensive for an armchair cook to buy all the cookbooks he/she would like to.

So....the library comes to the rescue.  Did you know that we have basic cookbooks and cookbooks on topics as varied as Italian cooking, Chinese cooking, German cooking, gluten free cooking, heart-healthy cooking, low calorie cooking, crockpot cooking and many, many other categories of cooking.

Yum.

Click on this link to help you evaluate whether or not the cookbook that you have in your hand is a good one (well written, unbiased, pictures, correct recipes, no typos...).  AKA,  click the link to figure out what makes for a good cookbook - at least according to professional cookbook readers. Notice that the link comes from Publishers Weekly - one of the best known book review journals in the world.

Click on this link for another viewpoint on what makes for a good cookbook.  Notice that this link comes from Gourmet.com!!!

Click on this link for a subject search in the library card catalog for the phrase 'cookbooks' - and limited to those cookbooks in the Farmingdale Public Library.  Books were sorted so that the newest cookbooks are shown at the top of the results - the oldest are at the bottom.

And finally, click on this link to learn more about our Laotian Summer Cooking program scheduled for Tuesday, June 17th at 7pm.  Online registration begins on June 3rd for Farmingdale residents. 

Enjoy the links and the cookbooks and the program!

Regards,
Stu

Thanksgiving 2013

Hi All,

Today is the day that I post my annual 'Thanksgiving' entry.  It's an interesting one.  Here goes...

What makes a great Thanksgiving dinner? Great question - glad you asked.  Click on this link from NJ.com entitled, 'Poll: What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?'  Well, it seems like Turkey (big surprise) is the winner - along with sides like stuffing, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.  Yum!  I'm getting hungry! Click on any of the links above for recipe related information - trust me, you'll really, really like it. And you'll find other recipes that are just as good with a simple click of the mouse!  Click on this link for a short course on the history of Thanksgiving foods. (from the Buffalo - New York - News)

Okay, so now that you have the recipes for Thanksgiving 2013, how are you going to cook and bake and serve all that food?  Indeed, click on this link from ivillage and your Thanksgiving Day will, in all likelihood, run smoother and give you less stress.

Oh, and if it seems like you spent a bit less this year on Thanksgiving Dinner, you probably did.  Click here for the lowdown on the lower prices of Turkey Day!

Click here for some images of Thanksgiving Dinner courtesy of Bing Images - notice I'm not using Google Images this time?  Yep - I wanted to mix it up and doing something a bit different.  Notice how juicy and tender the turkeys look? Scrumptious! Absolutely delectable!

So...football is a tradition on Thanksgiving as well.  Click here to find a list of the games being played (and the times) on Thanksgiving Day 2013.  Wow - that's a full schedule!  My faves...Packers, Raiders and Steelers (go Big Ben).  Games start at 12:30pm, 4:30pm and 8:30pm on FOX, CBS, and NBC.

And if you have a whole passel of toddlers (or just a few), you might want to keep them busy during the game - and dinner.  How in the world can you do that, you ask?  Easy...click on this link from Bing.  I did a search for 'easy Thanksgiving Crafts'.  Hey, at least you tried to keep the little tykes busy! Okay, okay, here's another link to keep the young ones busy with some crafts!

Finally, click on this link to get the full story about the first Thanksgiving - courtesy of Wikipedia the link is very, very interesting. Here's another link that discusses Thanksgiving - courtesy of Plimouth.org; which is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliations program.  Heck, you might just learn something new about one of the most American of holidays!

Enjoy the holiday and drive safely!

Regards,
Stu

Top Chef - Everything You Need to Know In One Place

Hi All,

Now I'm not living under a rock and I've heard about the tv show called, 'Top Chef'. Wow, I never realized how popular the show is and how much information about the show is available on the internet. I should have known better.

So...with the holidays having passed a few weeks ago, perhaps some of us 'regular cooks' (okay, home gamers who just happen to like to cook and make a decent meal for ourselves) want to pick up a few tips from master chefs. And possibly be entertained to boot. With that in mind, here is the 'Everything Top Chef' entry. Enjoy the links.

Click here to find the Wikipedia entry for 'Top Chef'. Interesting article and lots of sub links for all you super big Top Chef fans out there. The entry is organized by show format, season, special episodes, spin-offs, Reception and Awards and a References link to the show. Quite the good summary of the show.

On a somewhat lighter side, if you visit 'Top Chef.com' you link to a food related website - but not actually a link to the television show itself.

If you do want to go to the Top Chef website, click here. FYI it is from the Bravo website.

Want to find out what the All-Time Favorite Contestants of Top Chef are? You know the drill...click on this link and you'll get your fav's.

Want to see the 'Best of the Best'? Click this link for the Top Chef All Stars Episode from TVGuide.com

As if all these links aren't enough, click here to find a Google search where I searched, 'Top Chef Blogs'. What does the search give as results you ask? I was trying to find blogs that discussed various aspects, episodes, chefs, etc of Top Chef. Enjoy the links and maybe even a recipe?

Finally, if you want one last link, click her for a list of the so-called 'Top 20 Chefs of All-Time, click here (from Egullett.com - how can you resist a website with that name?)

Enjoy the culinary delights that you have waiting for you.

Happy holidays!

Stu

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Crock Pot Recipe Websites

Hi All,

Fall is here and in keeping with the last few blog entries I'm going to write about something Fall related. This time I'll talk about crock pot recipes. Don't know what a crock pot is (and if you don't, you're missing some really, really good meals - yum!) Click here for crock pot basics.

Click here for some outrageously good - and simple - crock pot recipes.


Click here for links to crock pot recipes from AllRecipes.com - which is a great food website unto itself.

In the market for a crock pot or just want to try a crock pot? Click here for crock pot review from ConsumerSearch.

Click here for some simple advice for buying a crock pot.

Youtube isn't just for silly pet tricks anymore. Click here for crock pot recipe videos from Youtube. Yum.

Finally, click here to see the results (photos) of some really awesome crock pot recipes. This is making my mouth water!

Regards and happy crock potting.
Stu