Twelve Days of Christmas

by Dr. Betty Middleton Rowan Public Library

The “Twelve Days of Christmas“ first was published in 1780 in England as a children’s book titled, “Mirth Without Mischief.” It appears to be a memory game where the first player would recite the first verse, with each of the following players repeating the previous verse and adding another one. The game soon became very popular at the Twelfth Night parties.

The Twelve Days of Christmas are not the 12 days before Christmas, but in most of the Western churches, are the 12 days beginning with Christmas and ending with the beginning of Epiphany (Jan. 6).  Some European and Scandinavian cultures also observe Jan. 6 as Little Christmas.

Each of the 12 days was celebrated with a feast in memory of a saint or event associated with the Christmas season and gifts were given on each of the 12 nights.  For some celebrants, Twelfth Night remains the biggest night for parties and gift-giving. Some households exchanged  gifts on the first night (Dec. 25) and the Twelfth Night (Jan. 5).

To fit into the feasting of the Twelve Days of Christmas, Rowan Public Library has a generous amount of material to fill all your needs.  It was difficult to narrow down the selection.

One on my favorites is “Debbie Macomber’s Christmas Cookbook“ by Debbie Macomber. Yes, this is the Debbie Macomber of Mrs. Miracle fame. She has a perfect collection of Christmas recipes that cover breakfast, appetizers, Christmas Tea, dinner, desserts and gifts. “Christmas with Martha Stewart Living: Classic Crafts and Recipes for the Holidays” by Martha Stewart, includes easy-to-make decorations, wreaths covered with berries and pinecones, fruitcake recipes and dinner from soup to fabulous desserts.

“Christmas with Paula Deen“ by Paula Deen. This is a collection of recipes from Paula’s most requested homemade gifts of food and impressive fare for Christmas dinner and holiday entertaining, along with stories from her favorite holiday.

“Making Great Gingerbread Houses” by Aaron Morgan offers templates and instructions for making cabins to castles, from lighthouses to tree houses. “Gingerbread Houses” by Christa Currie contains easy-to-follow instructions which show beginners the basic techniques and even how to add new ideas for door and windows.

Complete this adventure with “The Ultimate Handcrafted Christmas“ by Alan D. Gear, with 150 decorations, gifts, cards and cookies to make for a perfect Christmas, and “Wreaths around the House” by Deborah Morgenthal, with more than 80 distinctive wreaths to make, enjoy and give as gifts.

So enjoy the Twelve Days of Christmas and have yourself a merry Little Christmas.

Catch up on Your Reading

by Marissa Creamer Rowan Public Library

                We’re hustling, we’re bustling; we’re shopping, wrapping, baking and caroling. It’s the busiest time of the year! Before we know it, the holidays will have come and gone. What to do when the celebrations are over, the last sugar cookie is devoured, and the tree is left drying on the curb? Why, take some time to relax and catch up on your reading, of course. LibraryReads (www.libraryreads.org) has compiled a list of favorite titles from the past year; the top ten titles public library staff most enjoyed recommending in 2014. Make sure you haven’t missed any of these favorites:

                “The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry” by Gabrielle Zevin.  A curmudgeonly independent bookseller is struggling with the loss of his wife and declining sales at his shop when a mysterious package arrives that compels him to remake his life.

                “The Rosie Project” by Graeme Simsion. Don Tillman, a professor of genetics who has Asperger’s syndrome, has developed a lengthy questionnaire designed to help him find his perfect mate. When Don meets Rosie, who is everything he is not looking for in a mate, his ordered universe gets turned upside down.

                “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr. This finalist for the 2014 National Book Award tells the story of a blind French girl and a young German soldier, whose paths converge in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

                “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell.  Fan-fiction writer Cath struggles to survive on her own in her first year of college while avoiding a surly roommate, worrying about her fragile father, and finding love.

                “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt. The winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for fiction begins with an explosion at the Metropolitan Museum that kills young Theo’s mother. Taken in by a family friend, Theo becomes obsessed with a small painting that reminds him of his mother, leading him to the art underworld.

                “We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart. Spending the summers on her family’s private island off the coast of Massachusetts, Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer. This teen novel is full of love, lies, secrets, and a shocking twist you won’t see coming.

                “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel is another National Book Award finalist. An actor playing King Lear dies onstage just before the world as we know it dissolves. This dystopian novel examines the collapse of civilization and what makes life worth living. Do art, culture, and kindness have a place in a world that has lost everything?

                “One Plus One” by Jojo Moyes. A single mother trying to raise a bullied stepson and a mathlete daughter finds unexpected help in the form of an obnoxious tech millionaire.

                “Landline” by Rainbow Rowell. Seeking to repair her troubled marriage, Georgie finds a way to reconnect with the man her husband used to be. Can a yellow corded telephone really be a portal to the past?

“Longbourn” by Jo Baker is a retelling of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” from the servants’ perspective, as they go about their lives beneath the staircase of the Bennett home.

All of these titles are available at Rowan Public Library. Don’t miss out on LibraryReads’ favorite books of 2014!

Slow Cooking

 by Paul Birkhead Rowan Public Library

      Over 40 years ago, a cooking appliance debuted and set kitchens on fire around the world.  Well, maybe we should say it slow cooked them.  In the early 1960’s, a simple bean cooker produced by West Bend was a very popular item.  In 1971, another company, Rival, manufactured a device that would not only slow cook beans but other ingredients as well.  They called it a crock pot, it was a hit, and the rest is history.  Crock-pots remain popular today, and the brand name actually evolved over time into a generic name for that type of cooking.  If you are interested in slow cooking, Rowan Public Library has resources you just have to check out.
    One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals from Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Stockpot, and More is a new book from the editors of Martha Stewart Living and available at the library.  Beautiful photographs accompany easy-to-read recipes that you can use to prepare delicious home-cooked meals.  The best part for some is the simple clean up – just one pot!
    Are you a fan of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse?  If so, you’ll want to peruse his new book, Emeril’s Cooking with Power, where he showcases meal preparation using four countertop appliances; the slow cooker among them.  Delicious recipes to make using your slow cooker include: Sicilian Eggplant, Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, Barbecued Baby Back Ribs, and White Chocolate Pots de Crème.  Since it is Emeril, it almost goes without saying that there are several Creole and Cajun dishes to try as well.
    Fix-It and Forget-It New Cookbook, by Phyllis Pellman Good, is another resource you can find at the library.  It is filled with 250 tasty recipes to try in your slow cooker.  The title alone should remind you of one of the best qualities of a slow cooker.  You can be gone for hours at work, at the mall, or the ball field and come home to a hot, delicious meal.  With everyone’s hectic holiday schedules, who wouldn’t want to open their front door after a long day and be met by the aroma of Steak Stroganoff, Chiles Rellenos, or Hearty Beef Barley Soup?
    I knew if I walked through the periodical section of the library this time of year that I’d find an article about slow cooking touted on the front page of one of our magazines.  Sure enough, in the December 2014 issue of Mother Earth News, there is an article titled, “Homemade One-Pot Meals.”  Among the recipes mentioned are ones for Chicken and Dumplings, Short Ribs, and Shepherd’s Pie.  Want to investigate those recipes for yourself?  Come to the library and read through our issue.  Or better yet, go to www.rowanpubliclibrary.org and scroll to the bottom of our home page for a link to Zinio.  Through the library’s subscription to Zinio, all those with a library card can read a digital copy of Mother Earth News (or more than 60 other titles) for free on their own PC or tablet.
    Do you currently own a slow cooker and want to try some new recipes?  Are you new to cooking or don’t feel confident in your abilities?  Are the hectic days and early darkness of winter making you crave hot, home-cooked meals?  Or are you just seeking a good meal with easy clean-up afterwards?  If you said yes to any of those, head over to Rowan Public Library fast and prepare to cook slow.

Reflection

by Gretchen Beilfuss Witt Rowan Public Library

In Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, James’ parents encourage James to solve problems or dilemmas by “looking at it another way.”    He sometimes turns things upside-down in order to find a alternative solution.   Sometimes a little introspection is required.    The library has several newly acquired books that provide an opportunity for a little contemplation about a curious or controversial subject. In Jon Sweeney’s Inventing Hell: Dante, the Bible and Eternal Torment, he examines the evolution, at least of Western civilization’s view of hell.  In the biblical or Hebraic view of death, the body is merely placed in the dust of the ground and remains there.  There is no activity, little awareness and no punishment meted out to those who have passed on.   Ancient Greek and Roman cultures add a few concepts - the three-headed Cerberus, the select few who are tormented for specific crimes or the cheerful fields of Elysium for the elite.  Sweeney maintains that our current view of the tortures and punishments of hell were largely created by Dante Alighieri in his classic poem, The Inferno.   He explains the texts and ideas that Dante would have been exposed to; Dante’s political experiences and how they shaped his worldview.  Additionally Dante also borrows images from the Koran to describe the experiences of those souls condemned to one of the nine circles.  These descriptions are swiftly assimilated into Renaissance culture and repeated in other art forms.    A quick and interesting read, Inventing Hell makes the reader ponder how these ideas, once so avant-garde became a traditionally held view.

The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible by Jonathan Kirsch examines in detail some of the less known and perhaps even slighted stories found in the Bible of events and activities that might be viewed as scandalous.   These stories deal with adultery, incest, seduction, assassination, torture and murder.  They are stories that have systematically, both in Jewish tradition and Christian, been censored by well-meaning rabbis, priests and pastors as too shocking to be read or examined by the listening or reading public.  For example, some stories are just not used as texts to speak of in sermons and the like.  Others are made perplexing or veiled by a translation of the text that is confusing and used to disguise the actual activities in the story.  For instance, legs or feet, were often used as euphemisms for male genitalia by translators.  Kirsch brings these stories to life with vivid descriptions and translations of words that elucidate the potential meanings of some passages.  A thought provoking look an old standard.

            Karen Armstrong introduction of “Fields of Blood” asserts that the idea that religion is inherently violent is now taken for granted.  She takes issue with this and tracks the beginnings of humankind in its hunter-gatherer era through agrarian and urban cultures and examines how different stages lent themselves to escalations or changes in the acceptance of violent behavior.  Looking at cultural development from diverse countries like India and China as well as major religious traditions, she scrutinizes the political, national and ethnic ramifications of the interplay of religiosity and war.   Fields of Blood is her answer to what she feels is the “need to assess our situation accurately” that if we are to meet the challenges of our time and create a global society where all can live in mutual respect and peace, “we cannot afford oversimplified assumptions about the nature of religion or its role in the world.”  An excellent read designed for serious reflection.