New Year's resolutions

Do you make New Year's resolutions? What are your resolutions for 2011? Many people kick into "healthy mode" after the holidays with resolutions to eat better or to exercise five times a week. Since everyone makes these types of resolutions, I thought about other ideas. Funny resolutions. Out-of-the-ordinary resolutions. Just plain weird resolutions. Here is a list I brainstormed for myself:

• Make a daily attempt to insert the phrase "make haste" into normal conversation.
• Try a new recipe (not dessert!!) at least once a month.
• Walk backwards more often.
• Break out Cha Cha moves instead of walking.
• Write with my left hand 30 minutes a day so that by 2012 I will be ambidexterous.
• Come to think of it, I should probably practice my cursive handwriting 30 minutes a day, too, since my handwriting has evolved into a printing/cursive hybrid that is quite awful.
• Only read books told from the point of view of animals (The Art of Racing in the Rain, Animal Farm...)
• Learn sign language.
• Earn at least 9,000 points on all the songs featured in Wii game Just Dance.

Be a little crazy in formulating your resolutions for 2011 and share them in the Comments section!

Happy birthday, C.S. Lewis and Louisa May Alcott

The author of the popular Chronicles of Narnia series, C.S. Lewis, was born November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, was born November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Celebrate these authors' birthdays by checking out a book (or a movie based on a book) written by them!

C.S. Lewis

Chronicles of Narnia series
#1 The Magician's Nephew
#2 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
#3 The Horse and His Boy
#4 Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
#5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
#6 The Silver Chair
#7 The Last Battle

We own various editions and formats and many are located under JUV FICTION LEWIS or PB CLASSIC LEWIS. All 7 books included in The Chronicles of Narnia (PB CLASSIC LEWIS).To find any of the books or movies do a keyword search for "chronicles of narnia."

The latest Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is out in theaters December 10.

Louisa May Alcott

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving
JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

The movie An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, based on the short story

Little Women (1868-1869)
FICTION ALCOTT // JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

Little Women film adaptations : 1933 version starring Katharine Hepburn; 1949 version starring June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Janet Leigh; and the 1994 version starring Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Christian Bale, and Kirsten Dunst.

more books about the March family:
Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys (1871)
JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

Jo's Boys (1886)
FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

To find more writings, just do an author search for "Louisa May Alcott" in the catalog.

Recipes from the Harry Potter Movie Release Party

We had an excited group of 45 Harry Potter fans attend our Harry Potter Movie Release Party last Saturday. For the party I prepared some food and drinks that have been mentioned in the books as being served on the Hogwarts Express or in The Three Broomsticks. 


Pumpkin Cookies (with brown butter icing)
◊ Cookie recipe from Rosmerta's Recipes on MuggleNet
Icing recipe from the book Martha Stewart's Cupcakes ("Brown Butter Icing")







 
Rock Cakes
◊ Recipe from Rosmerta's Recipes on MuggleNet
This was the first time I've made this recipe, and I definitely didn't cut the butter into the flour enough, leaving the butter to run out of the cakes, which I'm guessing is the reason why they came out pretty flat. Oh well, at least they tasted good.

Cauldron Cakes
All I did was prepare one of my favorite cupcake recipes (Devil's food), turned the cupcakes upside down, and dipped them in a huge bowl of chocolate ganache glaze. Then I sprinkled some purple sugar on top of each to make a bubbling-potion effect. I also got the bubbling-potion effect in another way-- I have a set of three stackable cookie racks that I was using to place the cakes after I dipped them in the ganache. The glaze from the cakes on the top tier dripped down on top of the cakes in the lower tiers, which gave the appearance of a bubbling cauldron!

To bake the cupcakes I used silicone baking cups. I like using the baking cups because then you do not waste paper lining holders and they are easy to clean. Plus, they are perfect for making the cupcakes look like cauldrons -- if you use paper liners you'll have to remove each one by hand before you glaze them.

◊ Cupcake and chocolate ganache frosting recipes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Pumpkin Juice
◊ Recipe from BellaOnline.
I added some water to each batch because I thought it was a little too sweet. Very delicious, and a big hit with all the Harry Potter fans! We went through 3 pitchers at the party!


Butterbeer
(not able to take a picture due to the HP Madness at the party)
Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass and then top with a teaspoon of butterscotch syrup. Pour cold vanilla cream soda or club soda over the ice cream and stir.

I found several promising looking Butterbeer recipes from MuggleNet and other sources on the Internet, but decided to go for a simpler version of the recipes I'd run across. I'd originally hoped to make a warm version of Butterbeer, but it would have been too difficult to serve such a large group without having cooking capability at the library.

Accio Harry Potter fans!

If you're a fan of J.K. Rowling's books and the movies adapted from them, then be sure to join us on Saturday, November 13 as we celebrate the release of the upcoming movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Answer trivia questions, play games, win prizes, and eat fun foods that are mentioned in the books! You can register online or call the Information Desk at 847-428-3661 x 308. Muggles of all ages are welcome!

Have you read all the books? If you need to catch up, the library owns multiple copies of each of the seven books in the Harry Potter series. What about the movies? We have you covered on that, too. Click below for any of the books or movies.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Year 1)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Year 2)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Year 3)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Year 4)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Year 5)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Year 6)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Year 7)
Book

Photos from the Teen Horror Fest

Our zombies Antoine and Oliver got all spiffed up to attend the Teen Horror Fest last Saturday the 20th. Thirteen people attended and we had fun making masks, decorating chocolate chip cupcakes, and playing a word game. How many words can you make using the letters in "All Saints Eve" in one minute? For the word game we used old DVD cases and put letters inside the plastic... they look like giant Scrabble tiles! Oh, and I almost forgot several people decided to "zombie up." I'm not sure if this slang phrase has been used in other parts of the US, but at the Horror Fest it referred to dressing like a zombie and then taking pictures alongside that zombie. I love to zombie up! Anyway, check out how creative the teens were in how they decorated their masks and cupcakes. Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.

Antoine, an unnamed spirit, and Oliver	Oliver, always cool and collected--even when covered in buckets of blood.
Antoine's so stylish everyone would like to hold his hand and skip around! Ahem. Or maybe that's just me...
	"Yuck, Oliver! Your heart popped out of your chest!"
	Creating words using the letters from "All Saints Eve."

Waiting for the Horror Fest...

Zombie1: It's only Thursday? I feel like I've been waiting forever for the Teen Horror Fest!

Zombie2: I know! But at least we can hang out in the Teen area while we ponder how we will decorate our masks!

"Oooo, these Private novels have quite the boarding school drama! They will provide a welcome distraction!"

"Ah, reading about history shall pacify me until the great Teen Horror Fest on Saturday."

"Hmm... does reading a book make me look less creepy? I wonder..."

"Okay. Just because I'm wearing a creepy mask that doesn't mean people will find me, as a zombie, creepy. Maybe people don't realize that zombies have feelings, too. Well, most don't. Practically all of them don't, I guess. Maybe I'm the only exception. Does that make me a zombie outcast? Oh man, I'm a zombie outcast!"

"Well, I may as well get some work done before the epic Teen Horror Fest. Time to blog about how much I love the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World soundtrack."

The zombies are coming!

Zombies and people in creepy white masks have been sighted hanging around the library...

Antoine, from France, was an intellectual hanging out in Paris when a zombie bit him.

Oliver, an English gentleman, is quite nonchalant about the blood all over his face and hands.

Don't miss our Teen Horror Fest this Saturday, October 23 at 2:30 PM. You can decorate your own very creepy white mask and arrange zombies Antoine and Oliver into funny poses. We promise they will be dressed in time for the party. Plus we'll have food, games, and classic horror movies to watch.