From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     Here's my go-to recipe for lemonade stand goodies!! In fact, I made 3 batches for our garage sale/lemonade stand this weekend!

Prep Time: 60 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 Bag of Old Dutch Puffcorn

1 Cup of Butter (Not Margarine)

1 1/4 Cups of Brown Sugar

2/3 Cup of Light Corn Syrup

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 250°F.
• Combine butter, brown sugar, and light corn syrup in a 2 quart sauce pan.
• Cook on medium heat until mixture has melted.
• Once mixture has melted add the baking soda. (Note: This will cause the mixture to foam)
• In a large roaster pan pour Old Dutch Puffcorn and pour caramel mixture over the Old Dutch Puffcornand stir until mixed.
• Place in oven for 45 minutes, stirring at least every 10-15 minutes.
• Remove from oven, pour on wax paper and break apart.
• Let cool and ENJOY!

Recipe Variations

• For a scrumptious addition to this already delicious recipe drizzle melted chocolate over the mixture after you remove it from the oven!

ENJOY!!!!!

What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday?...

     Hi Reading Friends!! It's Wednesday and it's Beautiful!!!! And we here at the library have some exciting things going on this summer! We have our Summer Reading Programs all set to begin the day after school gets out, June 4th! And this year we have added a Middle School Program AND an Adult Reading Program to keep you interested and Reading all summer long.
     The Middle School Program, Beneath the Surface,  is the same as the Teen Summer Program just held at an earlier time...Stop in and pick up a brochure or visit our facebook page and print your own. And don't forget to grab a brochure for the Children's Summer Reading program, Dig Into Reading,  for the younger ones in your family! A special twist this year is the chance to come in and read to a dog!! Call to reserve your time!
     The Adult Summer Reading Program, Uncover a Good Book,  will be similar to last year's Blind Date with a book program that we put on. You will stop in and pick a card that you "peel to reveal" the title of your first book to read. All of the books you are choosing from come from staff recommendations! We know they are good. After you have read it and completed a mini review, you are eligible for a prize. You can do this for up to 5 prizes. Prizes include, extra days movie rental, $$ off of a fine, Pizza Ranch Pizza Coupons, Free coffee/tea, Free coupon for the Friends Book Sale room!! Handouts are being made as we speak, so pick one up or check our facebook and get excited about reading this summer!
   

Book Trailer Monday....

     This book has been recommended to me over and over. Yet again, today a patron told me what a great series it was!! Maybe, I should finally try it...What do you think?

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

    When I saw this recipe today, it made me think of my mother in law. Iced coffee is her latest guilty pleasure. Here's a recipe to try for yourselves...

Perfect Iced Coffee

Prep Time:

 8 Hours

 

Cook Time:

 

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 24

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound Ground Coffee (good, Rich Roast)
• 8 quarts Cold Water
•  Half-and-half (healthy Splash Per Serving)
•  Sweetened Condensed Milk (2-3 Tablespoons Per Serving)
•  Note: Can Use Skim Milk, 2% Milk, Whole Milk, Sugar, Artificial Sweeteners, Syrups...adapt To Your Liking!

Preparation Instructions

(Adapted from Imbibe Magazine)

In a large container, mix ground coffee with water. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature eight hours or overnight.

Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth and set over a pitcher or other container. Pour coffee/water mixture through the strainer, allowing all liquid to run through. Discard grounds.

Place coffee liquid in the fridge and allow to cool. Use as needed.

To make iced coffee, pack a glass full of ice cubes. Fill glass 2/3 full with coffee liquid. Add healthy splash of half-and-half. Add 2-3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (can use plain sugar instead) and stir to combine. Taste and adjust half-and-half and/or sweetened condensed milk as needed.

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Book Trailer Monday...

     I found this book in my box already checked out to me with a note..."Read it. You'll Like It."

And I totally do...

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     In honor of Cinco de Mayo and the fact that I just LOVE Mexican food anyway, here's one to try this weekend!

Oven Baked fajita

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into strips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish.
In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt.
Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.


Of course, it wouldn't be complete without guacamole!!
Here's my own recipe....

Guacamole

1 or 2 avocados, scraped into a bowl and mashed with a fork
tomatoes, diced small, amount to your taste. (I like plenty of tomato, but my husband likes fewer. We compromise.)
1/4 onion, diced small
around 3 tsp. garlic, again to your taste (if you don't like garlic, don't add as much. We love it!!)
couple squirts lemon juice
a pinch of salt
Cilantro, fresh or dried (I shake plenty of this in because it's one of my favorite flavors)

Stir it all together and adjust to your tastes. Then eat with Doritos!! The cheesier the better!!!


ENJOY AND HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!

What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday? Tuesday Edition.

     I know that it's really Tuesday, but we are going to pretend it's Wednesday and I am going to talk about what's in my library bag this week. I just finished reading first Delirium and then Pandemonium. I really enjoyed Delirium, but didn't care for the ending, so Pandemonium was kind of hard to get in to, but get into it I did and then was flabbergasted by the ending of that one!! Now, I am patiently (impatiently) waiting on the third one. I hate being on a hold list!!!
     So, one of my coworkers suggested I read Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, another YA dystopian type selection. I was skeptical because I've been having a really hard time with YA novels lately. They all seem to have such a slow start. Slow, as in, I want to put it down and try another one through 50 to 100 pages, slow! I have been diligent, but it really irks me that I have to. If it's a good book, which it usually turns out to be pretty good (at least good enough to read the next in the series), then why oh why does it have to start sooo s l o w l y?! This really drives me crazy. If you are a great author and you produce a great book, it should be great all the way through, not just at the end. This leads me back to the book I am currently reading, Shatter Me. This novel hooked me from the very first page. And it kept going and going and going. I love it!
     First of all, it's different. It seems like every other YA book out right now is dystopian. Pretty soon, they all start to bleed together and sound the same. They're very predictable.  This one, however,  is about a girl whose touch is lethal, so she is thrown into an asylum and never comes into contact with anybody. She starts to think she is insane and her thoughts repeat themselves in the writing over over over, which makes reading quite interesting, too. As the story unravels, you are captivated by her as a character and the way her life is unfolding in the society that has drastically changed since she has been locked away. I can't put it down. Of course, I am on yet another hold list for the second in the series, Unravel me. Of. Course. But, I am anxiously awaiting this one because I know it will start with a bang and keep me on the edge of my seat the whole time! If you like YA and dystopian novels at all, I highly recommend this series.