MommyPoppins - Get More Out of Life With Kids

Hi All,

Today's blog entry talks about MommyPoppins.  It bills itself as 'Getting More Out of Life With Kids'.


Users can use the site as a way to find things to do with kids based on Age, Area, Things to Do and Family Fun.  The Activity Guide link on the site has links for a wide variety of things to do - including, but not limited to - Birthday Parties, Classes/Enrichment, Crafts/Recipes, Free Activities, Museums, Parent Talk, Shows, STEM, Summer Activities, Theme/Water Parks and more.

Just who is MommyPoppins though? Indeed, click on this link to find a bit more about them...spoiler alert though - there isn't that much info on the page...

There are also links to Camps & Classes, Parties links to Trips. At the top of the page is a link to search the site.  There are also links to Connect with MommyPoppins, a Directory, and a Calendar.


Before you starting clicking on any link that you think is important you'll need to click on your region at the top left side of the homepage.  Once you do that you are free to roam!

I found the Calendar link especially useful. Pick a day and the vents that are available appear on the screen.  Links are available to that particular event!  Links by Age are interesting to visit as well. 

On 7/24/17 when I wrote this blog entry there were article on 'Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlors Long Island Kids Will Love, Summer Day Tirp for Long Island Families  and and article on Long Island Aquarium Exhibits.

Users can signup for the MommyPoppins newsleter by clicking on this link.

Finally, just as another example of the utility of the site, the link for Family Fun had the following information on 7/24/17: Guide to Indoor Play Spaces for Kids, Museum/Art Guide to Kids.

Articles are dated and an author is listed - and the authors name is linked.   One of the better parts of the site are the tabs at the top of each article.  Basically these tabs are like subject headings for the topics that the article deals with.  One such article that I clicked on was titled 12 Places Where LI Kids Can Learn and Have Fun in the Hamptons and North Fork.

Other useful links on the site include This Week in Long Island, July Go List and Neighborhood Guides (can choose between Nassau Suffolk and the East End.

Listed tabs at the top of the page for the article included Classes/Enrichment, Family Travel, Farm/U Pick Up, Museums, Shows, Visitors Guide and more.  Talk about comprehensive lists and topics!

Enjoy the site and the links!

Regards,
Stu

Old Farmer's Almanac

Hi All,

The Old Farmer's Almanac.  It's old - the first issue was published way back in 1792! And it is an almanac!  Click on this link to visit the The Old Farmer's Almanac website.

So, what does the site include you ask?  It has lots of juicy nuggets on topics as varies as tide tables, sunrise/sunset charts, recipes, forecasts and much, much more.

Click on the following links to learn more about TOFA take on that topic: Weather, Astronomy, Gardening, Calendar, Food, and Advice.

Best known for its weather advice and forecasts, the link to Weather enables users to enter a location by city, state or zip code. 

A four day weather forecast is also shown.  But wait, there's more! Complete 7 day weather forecasts are available as if the long range weather forecast.   Weather history is available - which is a rarity on the web these days.

Long Range weather information is available for various regions around the United States.  For example,  the weather report for the Atlantic Corridor can be found here.

Free newsletters are also available from the TOFA. Topics include the Almanac Weekly Companion, The Almanac.com General Store, Almanac Recipe Box  and the Great Almanac Giveaway. 

The TOFA Gardening link has a myriad of links and vital information for gardeners of all stripes.  For example there is a gardening question of the day, a planting calendar, a link to gardening articles, growing guides to vegetables and more, a section on garden pests and disease and links to gardening for beginners.  

What a site - now we know why The Old Farmer's Almanac has been around since 1792.  Its filled with useful, timely information!

Enjoy the site.

Regards,
Stu

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

CCC Recipes....Read on For More!

Hi All,

I don't know about you, but one of the single best things in the world is a chocolate chip cookie (hence the aforementioned acronym 'ccc' = chocolate chip cookie). I don't care if it 95 degrees outside or if it 25 degrees outside. Any time is a good time for a chocolate chip cookie. They are one of the better things in life.

Combine with a glass of cold milk and well, it takes many people back to their youth and after school snacks. Ah yes...the good old days.

So...I've search the web and found a few good sites for CCC's! Enjoy!


Click on this link for Food.com's version of the world's best chocolate chip cookie. Note that the ingredients are simple and the user comments are really, really special. Yum.

Click here for a really good book that the library owns on chocolate chip cookies. The title is '101 Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies'! Double yum. Click here for a few reviews from Amazon.com of this book.

You also might want to click here for a link to the library card catalog where I did the search, 'chocolate chip cookies'. From 'The Well.com' comes this entry entitled, 'What Makes a Great Chocolate Chip cookie? Indeed -I'll be the taste tester!!!

Finally, click here for another link to 'How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies' link from Mahalo.com....

Enjoy the cookies and don't forget the milk!

Stu

Friend the library on Facebook and follow us on Twitter - you'll be happy you did!

Holidays Cookies For Everyone!

Hi All,

Do you like cookies? Do you also like the holiday season? What would happen if I could combine these two interests into one great event? Yep, I bet your mouth is watering and you just can't wait!
Well, click here and you'll be rewarded with the 12 Days of Cookies Countdown from the Food Network! Woohoo! FYI, you can get the whole series emailed to your email inbox.

Oh, and by the way, click here for a link to the library card catalog. What's the subject of the link you ask? It is a list of holiday cookie recipes that the Farmingdale PL has in its collection! And remember that the library is under renovation...so if you don't find a book, ask a librarian and we'll be sure to look upstairs for the book you are interested in!

Happy munching.

Stu

PS: Friend the library on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.com

The Thanksgiving Day Entry

Hi All,

Well, we all know that Thanksgiving Day is on Thursday. I can't resist blogging about the gobblers (turkeys). It is just to easy and well, fun!

This might be a somewhat long blog entry since I want to discuss some links related to the history of Thanksgiving, recipes and some humor nuggest regarding the holiday. Hold on to your turkey and away we go!

Click here for a brief history of Thanksgiving, courtesy of the History Channel. Click here for a more comprehensive T-day site from a more entertaining link.

So now that you know all there is to know about Thanksgiving, what are you going to serve on the big day? Click here to find some recipes T-day turkey recipes from Allrecipes.com. Click here to see the Foodtv network link - this link has deserts, side dishes, appetizers and much more! Woohoo! Time to chow down folks!

I wanted to make this entry a bit lighter and more entertaining than some others that I've posted. Click here for a link to Turkey humor/jokes. Seriously. You'll enjoy this!

Now, fresh from Google Images are turkey comics/jokes.

Got kids coming over to your T-day festivities and don't know how to occupy them? Well, maybe the'll watch some football, but if they don't (or get tired of watching the games) click here for some ideas and games to play with the kids. You can also click here for more games for kids on Thanksgiving.

Finally, click here to find out about the various football games this coming Thanksgiving Day. The information on the games comes from Yahoo! Sports.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone - and thank you for reading the blog!

Stu

Friend the library on Facebook by clicking here and/or follow us on Twitter!

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