J’s Comments (group member since Dec 21, 2013)

J’s comments from the CPL's Book a Week Challenge group.

Welcome to another month of reading! Hopefully you have enjoyed the Cookbook Challenge thus far and are looking forward to the coming months! In preparation for February's challenge I have created links to our catalog so you may find plenty of new recipes to be inspired by.

February's theme: Chili, Chowder and Gumbo.

Guess what? National Chili day is February 25th, 2016. Learn more about the origins of chili here.

Click on the following links to visit our catalog:

Chili and Chowder

Gumbo

It is often hard to find books specifically titled Chili, Chowder or Gumbo but you can usually find recipes for these in cookbooks with these key terms in the title slow cooker, soup or stews.

I myself will be participating in a Chili/Chowda (I'm told this is how you say chowder if your from the North) cook off on February 6th and look forward to sharing my creations with you then.



By the way - my secret ingredient for Chili - A Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar.

Please tell us how you have enjoyed your cookbook category challenge theme this month. Be on the look out for our next topic and thread coming soon.

So for some reason I was unable to find my pictures of the Chicken and Broccoli I made - but - I found the Chicken Taco filling picture. These are what my daughter calls my amazing Chicken Tacos. They are simple to create and delicious.



Pan fry about 1 - 1 and 1/2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs and then shred them or cut them into chunks.

In the same pan saute diced onions and green bell pepper (1 small each) until almost tender.

Add 1 cup of frozen corn, cut up chicken, 1/2 a packet of Goya seasoning, and a little water. Stir it until the seasoning dissolves and simmer until the corn is tender.

Fill soft tacos with this yummy filling - add cheese, fold taco and place on a hot pan for a few seconds until the taco get warm and a little crisp. Flip the taco and do the same to the other side.

Tacos are then ready to eat.

I like to serve rice with these tacos and usually add the rest of the Goya Seasoning that I'm not going to use in the chicken filling to the water before the rice begins to bowl.

That sounds like an interesting dish. Let us know how it turns out. I was able to make a Chinese dish this month and will post pictures soon!

While I'm enjoying Cracking the Coconut it doesn't have many pictures. I find it essential for a cookbook to have pictures. So I may have to move onto a new one - with pictures that pique my interest in the recipes.

What about you? Do you look for cookbooks with pictures or are the recipes enough to entice you to try a new dish?

I have almost finished The Wicked Will Rise. I'm still working on Yes My Accent is Real, Cracking the Coconut, and I just started Unbelievable book 4 from the Pretty Little Liars Novels. Yesterday morning I finished Perfect - book 3 in the Pretty Little Liars series.

Think I have to find something new for this challenge - I just gave up on my Java for Dummies book - I am not the "dummies" this book was made for - plus I feel like I would do better with someone showing me

Food for thought:

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of Ethnic is - pertaining to or characteristic of a people, especially a group (ethnic group) sharing a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like.

Not sure what to read for our January Cookbook Category Challenge? Click a link and check out our shelves -

African Cooking

Caribbean Cooking

Chinese Cooking

French Cooking

German Cooking

Greek Cooking

Indian Cooking

Irish Cooking

Italian Cooking

Japanese Cooking

Latin American Cooking

Mediterranean Cooking

Mexican Cooking

Middle Eastern Cooking

Thai Cooking

Here is the code for using HTML in your post

<img width = "XXX" src = "YYY">

Replace "XXX" with the width that you want your image to be. I use 150-300 with goodreads - you don't want it to be too big.

Replace "YYY" with the URL (address) of the image you want to use. Remember that the photos must be your own - I usually upload my pictures to facebook or photobucket and then use the image url from there.

How to get the URL:

If you are using Google Chrome right click on the image and choose copy image address then paste it into the code above.

If you are using Internet Explorer then you will need to right click on the image and choose properties . A dialog box will appear - triple click on address(URL), right click and copy. From there you will paste the address into the code above.

Welcome Julie, what exciting news to have been given a new cookbook for Christmas! I'm looking forward to seeing what you pull from that as well as from other cookbooks you have on the home shelf.

Don't forget that we have a lovely selection of cookbooks here at the Chesapeake Public Library - stop by and see us.

I can't wait to post the recipes I try from my challenge for everyone to see! Please feel free to post your pictures of recipes created for the challenge here as well.
See how to do it here

Welcome Mildred! I look forward to seeing what you are reading and cooking.

Rekesha wrote: "I think I'll read Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library (020.92) by Don Borchert for this month's Dewey Challenge.

That looks interesting!

*Waves* - Hi Vivian and Jasmine! Looks like you are both off to a great start.

Let's see.... I just finished Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us and I'm currently reading The Wicked Will Rise, Java for Dummies With CDROM , Cracking the Coconut: Classic Thai Home Cooking, Perfect.



Good luck everyone with your 52 Book Pick Up challenge and any other challenges you partake in this year.

I am reading Java For Dummies 005.133

I'm only able to get through one chapter a night - it is interesting and boring at the same time :)

I'm not sure what my comfort zone is any more - not since I started trying new things all over - but I think I'm going with a biography of someone I've never heard of - that should be an interesting start - I will let you know who once I've picked it out.

Welcome Ann and Ingrid - I'm glad you are looking forward to the challenge.

Ann, I have loads of cookbooks on my shelf too - I am a collector of cookbooks and recipes - and yet I hardly ever cook anything from them. This year shall be different!

Ingrid, I can't get fried rice right... I have tried but it never turns out the same - I have yet to try egg drop soup. My daughter loves it so maybe I should pick up a book with an egg drop soup recipe in it.

YAY! It's a new year and I think it is a good year to try new food.

Let me start this mini challenge by saying I LOVE FOOD. So my plan for the new year is a Cookbook Category Challenge. Each month you can read a cookbook based on the month's theme. Try a new recipe from that cookbook and share it here, with all our 52 Book Pick Up buddies!

The theme for January is Ethnic foods - the library has a great collection of cookbooks that represent different cultures around the world. Pick one up and share the recipes you find amazing.

I have already picked up three interesting looking cookbooks for this challenge they are:



I am super excited to try a recipe from India: The Cookbook so that I might make a yummy dish to share with my best friend, whose husband comes from Nepal.

Have fun everyone - I seriously look forward to loads of cookbook recommendations. Happy reading and happy eating!

Ingrid wrote: "I made it to 32 books this year. Last year I read 52. I started off with a bang last year & plan to do the same this year, but not lose momentum. Ha ha. Happy New Year!"

You can do it! Good Luck and Happy New Year!

Julie wrote: "I did it! I just finished book number 52, now I just have to log almost all of them in the library system. :D"

Congrats Julie! That is exciting news.

I am currently reading The Wicked Will Rise, The White Rose, Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us, and Java for Dummies