Monday, February 21, 2011

Cooking is an excellent pastime, but eating is even better!

Cooking is an excellent pastime that can be done solo, with your family or with a significant other at any time of the year - and, generally, despite any crazy weather formations that may be developing. Cooking can be an indoor activity or an outdoor sport (depending on your level of expertise). And who doesn't love to eat year around?  The primary thing you need is a good recipe.

Here are some new cookbooks to hit our shelves:

The essential New York Times cook book : classic recipes for a new century by Amanda Hesser (641.5 HES)

Nigella kitchen : recipes from the heart of the home by Nigella Lawson (641.5 LAW)

Around my French table : more than 300 recipes from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan (641.5944 GRE)

My Calabria : rustic family cooking from Italy's undiscovered south by Rosetta Costantino (641.5945 COS)

Not on the shelf?  Not a problem. Visit our online catalog to place them on reserve. While there, do a search for cookbooks to see what other yummy trouble you can get yourself into.

Happy Cooking!  (And Eating!!!)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Bang, Clunk, Smack, Whirrrrrrrr....

If you stop by the library over the next while, you may hear some interesting noises creeping up from the basement. While our crew in the Pennsylvania Room can be rather lively, the noises are not a wild conga party. Instead what you are hearing are the sounds of our basement being renovated! It happens. We reach a certain point in our being when we need a little work done to freshen us up. Several years ago, the upper floors received a huge make-over. Now the basement is taking a turn and finding its moment to shine. We are hoping to upload photos daily to our album on Facebook showing you the progress being made.

So, if you walk in the library and hear a sound that reminds you of the dentists office, don't panic!  We promise that no dental practices have moved in.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Go Steelers!

While the countdown is winding down to kick-off for the biggest game in football, Steeler Nation is winding up in anxious excitement and preparation.

Will the Steelers walk away with their 7th Lombardi Trophy? We certainly hope so!

Either way, when this game is over and the lights go out in Cowboy Stadium, another season will come to a close. Steeler fans take heart as the Ligonier Valley Library has DVDs on past Superbowl wins plus a huge collection of books on the Pittsburgh Steelers (and even on a few of those other teams).

Time to run!  Have to get the hotdogs and sauerkraut cooking in time for the game.  Oh, and the snacks out.


Enjoy the game!

 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Anniversaries

Friday, January 28th was the 25th Anniversary of the ill-fated Challenger flight. Which reminds us that while most of the anniversaries we celebrate are joyous occasions, there are also several sadder occasions that we acknowledge each year. These anniversaries make us stop in our tracks and think or reflect back.

It was supposed to be a great moment in space flight history. The Challenger flight was different as the first non-astronaut, school teacher Christa McAuliffe, would be on board. I was 16 when it took place. There were news reports and stories about Mrs. McAuliffe as she trained for her flight. She was the best kind of celebrity. A normal person doing the extraordinary. How awesome it would have been to be her. I also remember watching the flight live on TV, and the shock of watching as the shuttle exploded and broke apart. I believe all of America stop breathing for several seconds, until the collective feeling of horrible grief hit. We felt grief for the lives just lost and for their families, who had to go on without them. We talked about it in school, and I recall one of my teachers asking us what we would do if such an opportunity arose. Knowing the incredible dangers involved, would we do what Mrs. McAuliffe did? I was among those who said with absolute certainty that they would. One can't help wondering what Christa McAuliffe would have done had she a premonition of what might happen. Would she still have boarded the shuttle? We'll never know, but I'm sure she would not have wanted to leave her family. Yet I can't help thinking that she would have stepped on board. Just as astronauts still do to this day, hoping their explorations will help us learn more about our world and that which surrounds us. As Mr. Gene Roddenberry wrote, "to boldly go where no man has gone before."

Next time you go outside, take a moment to look toward the sky, and think of all the men and women who have bravely taken that leap and who continue to do so. May their journeys never be made in vein.