Trending Now Books

Meals in a Jar: Quick and Easy, Just-Add-Water, Homemade Recipes  by Julie Languille

9781612431635

Published Date: 3/19/13

22 checkouts in 11 months

Trending Book Titles

Hands down one of my favorite parts of being a librarian is collection development. Collection Development is something that I take very seriously and I try to find titles that I know my patrons will love. I can’t help but feel proud when one of the titles I ordered is constantly being checked out. I feel like I have done my job and I am the best librarian in the world (I have a tendency to let this euphoric feeling go to my head…or ego.) Since I am bursting with pride, I thought I would try to spotlight some of the titles that have been big hits. Remember, I am the Reference Librarian so these titles will be nonfiction.

Cookbooks are beyond popular at my branch. Being in a small Southern town, cooking is an art form here. A recent big trend is paleo cooking. In my first few months here (I started in November 2012) there was a steady demand for anything related to paleo. We had absolutely nothing on it, so I order a 5 or 6 titles. Over the last year, these titles have stayed constantly checked out. Paleo Slow Cooker by Arsy Vartanian  has been the title with the most circulations. In the past 12 months it has checked out 20 times. I didn’t even see it for at least 6 months because it had a good size hold list. 

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

I do not know where you live, but if you are anywhere near the South you know that we have been having some crazy weather. Seriously? Snow. We don’t handle that well at all. Part of my southern nature is to cook when there is a crisis, which means my DVR is loaded down with a plethora of cooking shows.  All this snow has been making me yearn for casseroles and hearty meals that could feed us for days if we ever got snowed in. Seems a little paranoid, but I believe in being prepared for the worst. And to a Southerner, there is nothing worse than snow.

Someone in the family loves the snow though!

One cooking show has really gobbled up my time and that is Ree Drummond’s The Pioneer Woman. I find her recipes simple and down-home. I love that the ingredients are usually on hand and aren’t all that fancy. The more I watch her show, the more I have become interested in her life (not stalker like though). They live on a sprawling ranch far away from civilization. She is constantly explaining all their chores and the hardwork that her, her husband Ladd, and their 4 kids do on a daily basis. Makes me happy I live where I live.

A good friend recommend her biography, The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Her selling point? “It reads like a romance!” Instead of focusing on how she became a successful blogger, tv host, and cookbook author, Drummond tells the story of how she met and fell madly and deeply in love with her husband Ladd, who she pens as Marlboro Man.

Though she might come off a little prepared on her TV show, Drummond does a wonderful job expressing humor, heartbreak, and most important love in her book. From the first few pages I knew I was in for a real treat. I was surprised to find out that it really did read like a romance novel. There was laughter, sorrow, and a fire. Overall, this book was about finding a love so deep that it will make your world turn completely upside down. This book had me laughing out loud (many many times) and it just made my heart happy. After reading about the intensity of the love she and her Marlboro Man shared, it only made me appreciate the love I have.

Sappy moment over. If you are a fan of cooking (the recipes from her love story are included) and romance, then check out The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

Recipe: Roasted Parmesan Broccoli

I have been trying to experiment more with my cooking by trying new recipes with different ingredients. Broccoli is a staple in my house. My BF is a picky eater (though he denies it) and broccoli is one of the 4 vegetables he will eat. Usually I just serve it steamed with a little butter and some pepper (or Mrs. Dash). Simple enough.

A few weeks ago I was doing my some grocery shopping in Publix when I tried one of their Aprons Simple Meals (you know the ones they cook in the store and put all the ingredients right there for you to buy). The sample was of fish and scallop saute with roasted parmesan broccoli.

The fish was decent, but I knew that BF wouldn't eat the fish so I didn't even entertain the idea of cooking it. But I liked the broccoli so I grabbed the recipe card threw it into the black hole that is my purse. Fast forward about 2 months later when I am forced to clean out my purse. I almost threw the recipe card away when I remembered the broccoli. I decide to save it from the trash and actually try it.

Here is the recipe: 
Ingredients
Aluminum foil
1 bunch fresh broccoli (3-4 stalks), halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Asiago peppercorn dressing
3/4 cup refrigerated Italian cheese bread crumb mix

Prep

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Line baking sheet with foil.
• Cut 2-inches off bottom of each stalk; cut stalks in half lengthwise.

Steps

1. Place broccoli on baking sheet; drizzle with oil. Bake 10 minutes.
2. Turn broccoli; bake 13-15 more minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork.
3. Spread dressing over broccoli; sprinkle with bread crumb mix. Bake 1-2 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve.

CALORIES (per 1/4 recipe) 160kcal; FAT 10g; CHOL 10mg; SODIUM 290mg; CARB 13g; FIBER 4g; PROTEIN 6g; VIT A 40%; VIT C 130%; CALC 15%; IRON 6%

When I cook, I prefer people tell me the name brands...mainly so I know I am buying the right thing. With the Asiago peppercorn dressing, I found Marie's version in the produce section and let me tell you how amazing this dressing is. It is beyond delicious and I can't wait to find more recipes to incorporate it into. 

Now when it came to finding the refrigerated Italian Cheese Bread Crumb mix, I figured I found need some assistance from an employee. I had no idea what this was. I rarely branch out from staple ingredients with cooking, so I didn't have a clue what I was looking for. I went to the cheese section and if it was a snake it would have bit me. I had never heard of the Kraft Fresh Takes, which is a special blend of cheese and bread crumbs that can spice up your cooking.

Now on to the actual cooking part. I'm not a big fan of the stalks on broccoli so I didn't leave as much as Publix recommended. Also, watch your time on the broccoli. I found that the recommended time at the 425 temperature wasn't right for me. The broccoli easily started to burn. Next time I will lower the temperature and cook it longer. 

Still looks delicious right? Well because it is! The asiago peppercorn dressing really brought everything together. And let me tell you, this broccoli is better the 2nd day! 

Let's talk about food...

Usually I just post about books...occasionally movies and television, but 90% of my posts are book related.

So I am going to change it up. Let's talk about food....especially all the food I cooked this weekend.

First, let me tell you about cooking in my family. I am a southerner and when we cook dinner there are usually 4 to 5 side items. I have even seen my maternal grandmother have 7 sides once at a meal. Growing up though, my mother didn't do much cooking. She fixed dinner every night, but she mainly threw things together. She only gets recipes out at Thanksgiving or Christmas...and that's only if we aren't going to my grandparents. After my parents divorced, she said she just lost all interest in cooking. One of her biggest regrets she says is that she didn't teach me or my sister how to cook.

In the last 2 or 3 years, my grandmother and I have done nothing but share recipes. We call each other at least once a week and share different recipes we have found, were given, or thought might work well. I love it.

I can't stick to a recipe though. I am constantly adding different ingredients. Turns out my paternal grandmother does this as well. I never thought much about it until my mom pointed out that I never make a recipe the same way.

I don't do a lot of cooking or experimenting. I wish I did more, but the grocery store is my downfall. I always spend way too much money in there. I use to do all my cooking on Sunday and portion up tupperware containers with food for each day. This kept me from running to the store really quickly and instantly spending $20 or $30. This method worked great for me!

Since BF moved in I have found that the food I would cook on Sunday to last me an entire week would be gone by Tuesday or Wednesday. Where I could make one chicken breast last for two meals, he could easily eat 2 chicken breast for one meal. It has taken me a while to get use to this. Fortunately, he does fend for himself a lot when it comes to food. Whereas I rarely purchase fast food, he routinely orders food on his way to work or after. He also has a tendency to forget about leftovers. He has no problem eating them...he just forgets that they are in there.

Ok, now for some recipes. On Saturday I did some major cooking, which I probably shouldn't have done since I was going to the Greek Food Festival that afternoon. I have been inspired by Adventures in Life, Love, Librarianship's Eat All the Food challenge. The goal is to utilize the food already in your pantry before going out to by more. I wanted to find a recipe for chicken in a crockpot, but I wanted to use ingredients that I knew wouldn't get used everyday. I searched through some cookbooks at my house when I found one for Chicken in Honey Sauce.

From the book, Crock-pot: The Original Slow Cooker, 3 books in 1.

Chicken in Honey Sauce
 Ingredients

• 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt, pepper
• 2 cups honey
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• sesame seeds

1. Place chicken in crockpot, season with salt and pepper.

2. Combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil and garlic in medium bowl. Pour over chicken. Cover; cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

3. Garnish with sesame seeds before servings. 

Why I picked this recipe: 

1. I had all the ingredients (except sesame seeds, which I omitted)

2. It would give me the chance to use the soy sauce and ketchup (both which I hate) up.

What I changed:

Remember how I said I couldn't follow a recipe? Well I can't.

I realized that I only had 1 1/2 cup of honey instead of 2. I decided to add some honey mustard dressing to the mix, along with a little honey bbq sauce. Don't ask my why. I just thought this might be a good combination and they were in the fridge. That's how I roll. 

I didn't have sesame seeds so I decided to top the chicken off with a little mozz. cheese.

The chicken came out good, but with a little too much of a soy sauce taste for me. I would cut down on the amount of soy sauce (unless you really like it). Boyfriend seemed to like it a lot and it was very easy to make. 

I made squash croquettes and a spinach and tortellini casserole to go along with it. I will post those recipes later on this week.