A column about your Eden Valley Area Library
?ÄúThe most indispensable ingredient of all good home cooking: love for those you are cooking for.?Äù
~ Sophia Loren
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Ramadan: cooking together with family and friends can be quality time ?Äì unrushed, shared and meaningful. Here are some helpful hints to get you started. Schedule your time. We all have busy schedules, so make a date with your family to make something in the kitchen. Allow enough time. Learning a new skill takes time and everyone will have more fun if they don?Äôt feel rushed. Try something new. Pick a new food or cuisine to try and be adventurous. You might find a dish you all love. Most important, be willing to laugh. Kitchen disasters happen to even the best cooks. However, handling those disasters with humor will make everyone feel comfortable and turn a disaster into a fond memory.
We are fortunate in our community and in the Midwest to have some fine cooks. Eden Valley?Äôs long-time resident, Marvin Anderson, known for his church pickles is cooking holiday dinner for his wife and family which will include all the traditional foods as well as his homemade mincemeat pie and lefse. A life-long gardener, Marvin has many fruit trees, a large garden, and does lots of canning to share with others. He kindly donated jars of his famous canned pickles to the EVAL library fundraiser during Valley Daze last year.
Looking for recipes to add to your holiday celebration? Check out one of our new cookbooks, Make it Minnesotan: Sesquicentennial Cookbook by Clair Plank or Best of the Best from the Great Lakes Cookbook by Gwen McKee.
December is a great time to bake some holiday cookies. Bev Barrett, author of The Best of ?ÄúBaking With Bev?Äù has some helpful tips. When using cookie cutters dip the cutters into flour or powdered sugar and shake off excess before cutting. For chocolate dough, dip cutters in baking cocoa. And did you know that you could cover and refrigerate unbaked cookie dough for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 9 months? Looking for a new cookie recipe? Check the library shelves for 1001 Cookie Recipes or Christmas Cookies.
When the kitchen fun is over, settle back with a good book. Staying with the food theme, try ?ÄúKitchens of the Great Midwest,?Äù by J. Ryan Stradal or ?ÄúCereal Murders,?Äù by Diane Mott Davidson. For the younger reader we have ?ÄúPIE,?Äù by Sarah Weeks where the Pie Queen of Ipswitch passes away leaving her world-famous piecrust recipe to her cat? In Lisa Graff?Äôs ?ÄúA Tangle of Knots,?Äù you?Äôll meet 11-year-old Cady ?Äúan orphan with a phenomenal talent for cake baking.?Äù You can try one of the many cake recipes included.
The whole family will enjoy the picture book ?ÄúCook-a-Doodle-Doo!?Äù by Janet Stevens, complete with a strawberry shortcake recipe. Have a picky eater on your hands? Read ?ÄúSeven Silly Eaters,?Äù by Mary Ann Hoberman. Or for a fun animated film, check out ?ÄúRatatouille.?Äù
Until next month, enjoy the holidays and happy cooking!