Diana Lamb

This year, Spring officially begins on March 19. In honor of the upcoming longer days, warmer temperatures, and spring garden veggies, Smiley Library is ready with new cookbooks filled with fresh recipes for now and the months ahead.

Back by popular demand, Jamie Oliver presents a second five-ingredients cookbook. This time, Jamie has gathered a collection of warm and inviting flavors from a much-loved region in “5 Ingredients Mediterranean.” Busy home cooks will appreciate that each recipe uses five simple ingredients, has a short list of instructions accompanied by a photo of the finished dish, and underneath, a small snapshot of each ingredient. In 20 minutes, sourdough bread, shrimp, garlic cloves, cannellini beans and harissa become a Tunisian bowl of harissa beans topped with garlicky shrimp and croutons. More sunny dishes include Lemon-Tzatziki Chicken, Moroccan-Inspired Pasta, Croatian Muscles, A Really French Salad, and Epic Tomato Bread. Puff Pastry is put to good use as a flaky holder for fresh lemon curd with raspberries and also as a bottom layer of an apple tart with apricot jam, almonds, and vanilla ice cream.

Ravinder Bhogal’s new cookbook, “Comfort and Joy,” showcases the variety of delicious flavors that can be found in vegetarian dishes. Sink your teeth into crispy nuggets of Korean Fried Cauliflower coated in a spicy chili sauce. Hot Cheese and Corn Dip with Jalapeno Relish can be served with toasted sourdough or tortilla chips. More tempting international recipes to try would be Green Goddess Dhal with Preserved Lemon, Baby Eggplant and New Potatoes cooked in a Sweet and Sour Nut Paste, plus Lasagna of Roasted Squash, Kale and Walnuts. For a refreshing dessert, Vegan Pina Colada Trifle with Tapioca Custard will cool your tongue after a spicy meal.

There is no shortage of delicious Asian umami flavors awaiting your taste buds inside the pages of “Oodles and Oodles of Vegan Noodles” by Cheynese Khachane. Creamy Coconut-Curry Ramen makes for a warm and comforting meal with just the right balance of spices. Other familiar noodle dishes you might enjoy are Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, and Vietnamese Pho. As the weather continues to heat up, Cheynese offers a selection of cold noodle soups and salads that are quick to make and fun to eat like Cold Noodle Soup with Kimchi, Cellophane Noodle Salad garnished with fresh tomato slices, and Cold Peanut Butter Noodles.

“Come Hungry” by Melissa Ben-Ishay is packed with easy-to-make meals centered around ingredients bursting with color, freshness, and flavor. Melissa gives us a bountiful selection of 21 different salads to put into rotation now and for the warmer months ahead. Consider sampling Joe’s Honey Chicken Salad with angel hair pasta, red peppers, and crispy air fryer chicken, Shaved (think ribbons) Carrot and Zucchini Salad, Green Goddess Salad, plus Supermarket Slaw with a quick dressing containing store-bought pesto and sour cream. To balance out all this fresh veggie goodness, do indulge your sweet tooth with some Cookies and Cream Icebox Cake, S’mores Fudge, or Peanut Butter Banana Bread.

Today is the last day of 2023 and what better way to celebrate the close of this year and welcome 2024 than indulging in a selection of our latest dessert books. Cheers!

“I’ll Bring the Cake” by Mandy Merriman presents 100 artistically decorated multi-tiered cakes for every occasion or just because. Many flavors are inspired by beverages, seasonal fruit, cookies, and candies. Some examples would be Shamrock Shake Cake with Vanilla Mint Buttercream, Horchata Cake, Circus Animal Cookie Cake, Lemon Blackberry Poppy Seed Cake, and Twix Cake. If you love all the flavors but not the three-tier fuss, Mandy’s recipes can be made using 9×13, Bundt, and cupcake pans. Best of all, every single creation begins with a box of cake mix!

Explore the delectable world of chocolate desserts from Italy within the pages of “The Chocolate Spoon.” Learn how to make authentic Italian treats such as Dulce de Leche Brownies, Cinnamon Cannoli with Ganache and Cocoa Beans, Chocolate Gelato, and Chocolate, Custard, and Raspberry “Tiramisu.” For fans of hot chocolate, do indulge in a cup of Bicerin which is a classic beverage made with espresso, dark chocolate, and whipped cream.

“Snacking Bakes” by Yossy Arefi is filled with easy small batch bakes to quickly satisfy your desire for something sweet to eat. One 8×8 or 9-inch round pan is what you need to bake Frosted Lemon-Lime Sugar Cookie Bars, Pink Cookie Bars, Mocha Banana Cake, Apricot Coconut Cake, and Chewy Cocoa Brownies. The cookie recipes yield from 12 Almond Thumbprints to 24 Chocolate Chip Crispy Rangers. Each cookie recipe can be baked all at once on one or two baking sheets. As a bonus, Yossy provides three Sundae Sauce recipes. These sauces, along with a scoop of ice cream, can turn a simple snacking bake into a fancy dessert.

For more delicious treats to make and share (or not), turn to “Butter, Flour, Sugar, Joy” by Danielle Kartes, Nancy Silverton’s “The Cookie That Changed My Life,” “Bake Your Heart Out” by Dan Langan, and “Baking Yesteryear” by B. Dylan Hollis.

We at Smiley Public Library wish you and yours a safe and very Happy New Year!

 

The season of holiday parties and celebrations has arrived! Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve will be here before you know it. Whether you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner for the first time or you are looking for a new appetizer recipe to bring to the office holiday party, Smiley Library can provide you with lots of entertaining ideas, tips, and recipes for an enjoyable holiday season.

First-time and veteran holiday gathering hosts will appreciate the wise advice and practical information given in the form of flow charts, timelines, check lists, and menu ideas designed to ease those pre-party jitters. Turn to “Eatertainment” by Sebastien and Sheila Centner, “The Dinner Party Project” by Natasha Feldman, and “Company” by Amy Thielen so you can reap the benefits of their expertise and enjoy your own party.

The holidays are a traditional time to bring out tried and true family recipes. There are certain dishes that must be present, otherwise the meal isn’t complete. For Miranda Lambert’s family, they look forward to having Nonnie’s Thanksgiving dressing, sweet potato casserole, giblet gravy, and pumpkin spice coffee creamer. Miranda shares these family treasures and many more recipes plus family stories in her new book, “Y’all Eat Yet?”

Fun, creative, easy to eat, and perfectly portioned bites are a few of the ways to describe a platter of appetizers. “Brilliant Bites” by Maegan Brown presents an array of 75 festive finger foods suitable for your next gathering. Some of her holiday-themed appetizers include noodle wrapped mummy meatballs, colorful monster cookie balls, no-bake pumpkin pie bites, Thanksgiving cracker bites that resemble turkeys and cornucopias, and chocolaty midnight kiss cookie bites coated in sparkling sugar.

If you grow summer vegetables or are a lucky recipient of garden produce, then definitely stop by Smiley Library and check out our latest crop of cookbooks for new recipes and meal ideas. Here is a sampling of what’s in store.

Chef, gardener, blogger, and author Luay Ghafari shares his passion for growing seasonal produce and creating tasty vegetable-forward recipes in his new book, “Seed to Table.” Chapter 3 is where you can find Luay’s recipes for Tomato Tart, Peach Panzanella-Style Salad, Pasta alla Norma, and several cocktails such as Paloma Picante. Chef Ghafari also includes tips and techniques for preserving your harvest to enjoy all year, like herb-infused salts, refrigerator pickles, and fermented hot sauces. Many of his recipes include a QR code so you can access further content from his website with your smart phone.

There’s nothing like the sweet, juicy flavor of a home-grown tomato. Summer is the peak season for harvesting, sharing, and enjoying this edible gem. “Simply Tomato” by Martha Holmberg features 100 tomato-centric recipes that can be savored all year long. Familiar dishes like caprese salad, classic tomato soup, and fried green tomatoes are joined by Ravioli in Brown-Butter Tomato Sauce, Pasta with No-Cook Tomato Sauce with Feta, Mint, and Parsley, Roasted Green Tomato Salsa, and Braised Beef Short Ribs with Tomato, Dried Porcini, and Red Wine.

In the third volume of “Magnolia Table,” Joanna Gaines encourages home cooks and bakers to slow down, savor, and enjoy the process of food preparation. Just like many restaurants, Joanna begins her book with bread. Warm from the oven varieties include Truffle Butter Rolls, French Bread, Garlic-Cilantro Naan, and Beer Bread. Fancy and casual main dishes like Seafood Paella, Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Tarragon Sauce, and Chicken Cordon Bleu, as well as Smash Burgers, Chili Pie with a Golden Cornbread Crust, and Cheesy Baked Ziti can fulfill most all of your dinner plans. Other notable dishes to try are Bananas Foster Pancakes, Chunky Blackberry Applesauce, Bacon Butternut Squash, and Peach Pie Trifles.

If one homemade cookie is good, then two must be better! Especially when they have buttercream frosting, ice cream, or chocolatey ganache in the middle. “Stuffed: The Sandwich Cookie Book” by Heather Mubarak gives us 65 delectable mix and match and filling recipes with color photos to tempt and delight dessert fans of all ages. A few of Heather’s swoon-worthy pairings include Candy Cane Shortbread with Peppermint Buttercream and White Chocolate Drizzle, Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Whipped Nutella Ganache, Brown Butter Toffee Walnut Cookies with Bourbon Ice Cream, and Gingerbread Cookies with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream.

May was Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month. We can go ahead and extend the celebration just a little bit longer with these cookbooks from Smiley Public Library.

Spanning the Indian and Pacific oceans is an archipelago of 17,000 islands known as Indonesia. Some familiar islands might be Bali, Java, and Sumatra. Chef and author Petty Pandean-Elliott gives us a culinary tour in her book, “The Indonesian Table.” With corn coming into season, do consider making Sweetcorn Fritters with Chilli and Tomato Sambal to go with barbecue burgers or steak. A familiar Indonesian dish is satay and one to try might be Pork Satay with Chilli, Ginger, and Lime. As a side dish, you can swap plain rice for Sweetcorn Rice, Turmeric Coconut Rice, or Village Fried Rice. Coconut Pudding with Palm Sugar Syrup and Roasted Cashews or Pineapple Biscuits would be a sweet ending to a tasty meal.

“6 Spices 60 Dishes” by Ruta Kahate gives home cooks an array of easy Indian fare to add new flavors to their everyday meals. The six spices Ruta features are asafetida, cayenne, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and turmeric. The majority of recipes are plant-based with many that are also Vegan and gluten-free. Pink Lentils with Kale is spiced with cumin seeds, asafetida, and turmeric and served over a bed of fluffy steamed rice. Other quick and fragrant choices are Indian Pineapple Curry, Tricolor Salad, and Golden Root Veggies Stir Fry. Meat lovers need not feel left out as Ruta has included a select number of egg, seafood, and meat dishes, too.

Grilled Shrimp and Mango Rice Paper Rolls, Spicy Oyster Mushroom and Lemongrass Stir-Fry, and Char Siu Roasted Cauliflower are a few of the tempting vegetable-forward dishes you’ll discover inside Andrea Nguyen’s latest cookbook, “Ever-Green Vietnamese.” Soups, salads, and sandwiches are well represented and include recipes for Fast Vegetarian Pho, Confetti Broccoli and Herb Slaw, plus Steamed Bahn Mi Lettuce Wraps. For a little something sweet, there’s Peanut and Sesame Candy, Vietnamese Mocha Cake, and refreshing Coconut-Coffee Pops.

Caution: Don’t look at this book on an empty stomach! If you do, you’ll be twice as hungry as before. “Did You Eat Yet?” by Ronnie Woo pays tribute to his Asian heritage and his American homeland by presenting many crave-able familiar foods with an Asian twist. Teriyaki Rib Eye and Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese combines crispy sourdough, and melted cheddar with slightly charred onions and thinly sliced steak in a homemade teriyaki glaze. More comfort food favorites are Red Curry Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Crispy Hot Honey Baked Chicken Wings, and Blistered Miso Butter Green Beans with Crispy Fried Onions. For breakfast or anytime, there’s Fluffy Baked Vanilla Souffle Pancakes topped with a dollop of butter and maple syrup.