Blog Posts by Subject: Food

I had the honor of meeting Marlene Koch, author of the cookbook: Eat More of What You Love, at the Book Expo America event held this June at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. Marlene was all smiles as I told her how much I appreciate the publishing of this cookbook because not only does it reduce the length of time in the kitchen but substitutes the unnecessary calories from our daily diet. As she autographed my personal copy, I promised her that my next blog recipe would be from her book. So Marlene, this one is for you!

The following post was written by guest blogger Vanna Valdez, Benefits Outreach Worker, NYC Hunger Free Communities Consortium.

The New York City Hunger Free Communities Consortium (NYCHFCC) is a collaboration of New York City’s leading anti-hunger, nutrition, and aging organizations (AARP Foundation, City Harvest, Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC, Food Bank for NYC, Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, NYC Coalition Against Hunger, NYC Department for the Aging, Public Health Solutions, and United Way of New York City). This project works towards the creation of a hunger free New York City, with a particular focus on aiding the especially vulnerable  

Have you ever had a slice of cake or pie for lunch? I hate to admit it, but it is a guilty pleasure that I have partaken in numerous times.

Red Velvet, German Chocolate, Lemon Meringue and Strawberry/Rhubarb are just a few of my favorites. Next time you have lunch, have dessert first. The children in your life will get a kick out of mixing up the menu.

The first time I made my own cheese, it was a revelation. It was so simple and easy, it was ridiculous to me that I had spent years buying it at the store like everyone else.

With the upcoming NYPL exhibit Lunch Hour NYC on the horizon, we can look forward to an in-depth look at the world of cafeterias, Automats, workers' lunches, lunch at home (including tenements), school and charity lunches, and power lunches too. Kids will get a glimpse of lunch in all its myriad forms, and we've whipped together a booklist of lunch-related titles they'll really enjoy. Today, let's examine one of those books for kids on the younger end of the scale. Have a toddler or preschooler who won't touch their food? Introduce them to this omnivorous rodent with tummy filling on his mind in Denise Fleming's magnificent (and strikingly beautiful) Lunch.

As you might have noticed, the transcription queue has been fairly text-heavy lately. The Hotels Commodore, Astor, Mc Alpin, and Pierre are well-represented, and the sheer number of dishes on each of their menus can quickly fatigue one's fingers.

With the upcoming NYPL exhibit Lunch Hour NYC on the horizon, we can look forward to an in-depth look at the world of cafeterias, Automats, workers' lunches, lunch at home (including tenements), school and charity lunches, and power lunches too. Kids will get a glimpse of lunch in all its myriad forms, and we've whipped together a booklist of lunch-related titles they'll really enjoy. Today, let's examine one of those books and we may as well begin with that most horrorific of all lunch-related themes: school cafeteria food! [insert dramatic music here]

If you are a huge fan of The Hunger Games Trilogy like I am, then The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook should be your next read. This book is filled with some of the most amazing dishes described within each novel (including Catching Fire and Mockingjay).

It's hard to believe, but a year ago this week the New York Public Library launched What's on the Menu?!

Two days in from our very first Tweet, we had 1,000 dishes transcribed. As of this writing, we have 866,636 dishes dishes transcribed and we're not done yet.

George M. Rommel, an early twentieth century animal husbandman and farm expert, was not one to shy away from novel solutions to agricultural challenges in America. In 1905, he championed the import from Bermuda of a breed of “woolless” sheep to address America’s “alarming appetite for lamb” (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/5/1905). And he was always on the lookout for potential new uses for leftovers from agricultural enterprises. It should not, therefore, come as a surprise that his book on agricultural refuse industries, Farm Products in Industry, was printed on paper made from cornstalks and bound with boards made from cottonseed 

The cuisine of North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia) was influenced by the many peoples who settled there: African, Islamic, Arab, Berber, Ottoman, French, Italian and Spanish. It has its roots in the beginning of civilization itself.

I stumbled upon this amazing recipe combo of beef and ramen noodles from the book:

Taste of Home: Busy Family Favorites

Welcome to Read it, Make it, Write it, a Mid-Manhattan Library cooking blog showing some of the most amazing cookbooks available at The New York Public Library and the endless variety of healthy and delicious recipes right at your fingertips, for free!

The goal is simple: I pick a cookbook of my interest from the Library's collections, research the recipe and its ingredients, make the dish, eat it (which is my absolute favorite part), and finally — write about it.

Jefferson Market Library, in an effort to offer substantive courses that teach the subjects you want to learn, is thrilled to offer its Spring Semester! Each course offers multiple sessions so students can build their knowledge as the course advances, class by class, guided by an experienced professor! And it's all free! Take a look:

An orange Crock Pot™ was a familiar presence in my kitchen in the 70s and 80s, a parental wedding present displaced by the microwave as the decade progressed. I had no idea the slow cooker was back until my youngest sister handed me a lightweight modern version on my last visit home. "You'll use it all the time, trust me," she said, already on her way out the door to her next engagement.

Welcome back to the second week of December’s Reader’s Den. For many Americans, New Yorkers included, the first images of the Lower East Side are that of the Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century. Many of these images of poverty, clotheslines, and pushcarts come from movies, television, literature, or family histories. In her book 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement by Jane Ziegelman, the author creates for the reader a story where one can almost imagine themselves in that time period with the bustle of crowded streets, the smells of the pushcarts and shops, and what was happening in the 

Welcome to the December edition of the Reader’s Den! For the month of December, we will read 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement by Jane Ziegelman.

Cooking is a very stressful situation that I do my best to avoid. I always get really excited and anxious when I decide to cook, but halfway through the process every burner on the stove is on, bowls, plates, and utensils have piled up on the counter, and all I’ve ended up making is a bowl of spaghetti for one. But as Thanksgiving rolls around my mother always asks the dreaded question, "What are you making?" I’m beginning to think that she regrets asking this question because the extent of my culinary assistance on Thanksgiving Day is opening up a can of cranberry sauce and plopping it into the fine china.

Are you looking for a healthy, flavorful, whole foods approach to cooking? Wherever you are on the vegan to meat-eating spectrum, Indian food offers a wide variety of tastes, colors, and textures guaranteed to appeal to every palate.