From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

This recipe was taken from this blog...http://make-happy.blogspot.com/2009/10/weekend-treat-chocolate-peanut-butter.html. Janette, a librarian here, made something quite similar only she took two whole little pretzels and smashed a dollop of the peanut butter mixture minus pretzels in between them and half dipped this in chocolate...It is modeled after Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream and I must admit...It's kind of amazing...

ENJOY!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls
1 1/2 C pretzels
1/2 C creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp butter, softened
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Crush pretzels into small bits. (I tried this first by bashing the pretzels in a baggie. Then I tried chopping them in a food processor. The results were mostly the same, though I felt I had more control with the baggie method.)
• In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and salt. Stir until all ingredients are completely blended and smooth.
• Add pretzel bits to peanut butter mixture and mix thoroughly.
• Add powdered sugar and, again, mix thoroughly. It should look like this:
• Prepare a chilling tray--a dinner plate covered with waxed paper works well.
• Take about a teaspoon of the peanut butter pretzel mixture into your fingers and gently pat it into a ball with your fingertips. (The powdered sugar will make the peanut butter less sticky, but it's still too sticky to roll well, hence the patting.)
• If the peanut butter starts sticking to your fingers, your fingers are too warm. Run your fingers under cold water for a minute to chill them, and begin rolling again.
• Place the peanut butter balls onto the plate. When you have rolled all the balls, place the entire plate into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
• After the peanut butter balls have chilled, prepare your chocolate. Pour the chocolate chips into a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. If needed, microwave for another 10 seconds and stir again. Continue until the chips are completely melted, which means they stir easily into smooth, fluid chocolate with no lumps.
• Place one peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate and gently roll it around with a fork until completely coated. Remove from the bowl with the fork and place back on the waxed paper plate. Repeat for all other balls.
• Once all the peanut butter balls are coated in chocolate, return the plate to the refrigerator and chill another 30 minutes.

When they're done, they should look like this:
This recipe makes approximately 22 balls. It is very easy to double, triple, quadruple this recipe. But unless I can count on sharing these with several people, I stick to small batches. :)


HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND 


ALL!! REMEMBER WE ARE CLOSED 


MONDAY IN OBSERVANCE OF THE 


HOLIDAY AND FROM NOW ON UNTIL


 LABOR DAY WEEKEND THE LIBRARY 


WILL BE CLOSED SUNDAYS!

Thoughts on a Thursday...

A good word to know...A Great Book to read by Veronica Roth...

in·sur·gent

   [in-sur-juhnt]  Show IPA

noun

1.

a person who rises in forcible opposition to lawful authority,especially a person who engages in armed resistance to agovernment or to the execution of its laws; rebel.

2.

a member of a section of a political party that revoltsagainst the methods or policies of the party.

adjective

3.

of or characteristic of an insurgent or insurgents.

4.

surging or rushing in: The insurgent waves battered the shore.

Book Trailer Monday

Here's one hero from 60 heroes in  the book Heroes for My Daughter by Brad Meltzer...

I dare you not to tear up! :)

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

Here's a yummy treat that Kate shared with us at staff meeting today....

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

Yield: 16 cookie bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Chocolate chip cookie bars with a layer of salted caramel. These gooey sweet and salty cookie bars are pretty much perfection!

Ingredients:

2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
10 ounces caramel candy squares, unwrapped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Sea salt, for sprinkling over caramel and bars

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 2-quart baking pan (which is an 11 X 7 pan-I used a glass Pyrex dish) with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the caramels and heavy cream. Microwave caramels on High until caramels are melted, stirring every 20 seconds. This will take about 2 minutes, depending on your microwave.

5. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Pour hot caramel over the cookie dough. Sprinkle caramel with sea salt. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough over the caramel and spread dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle the bars with additional sea salt.

6.Bake cookie bars for 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.

Thoughts on a Thursday...

Words of the day are so fun. Don't you think?

omphalos

   \ OM-fuh-luhs \  , noun;

1.

The central point.

2.

The navel; umbilicus.

3.

Greek Antiquity.  A stone in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, thought to mark the center of the earth.

What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday?

     Wow! Can you believe it's the 16th of May already? And it's Wednesday too! So, what's in your library bag this fine Wednesday in the middle of May? I am reading the sequel to Divergent by Veronica Roth. It's called Insurgent. It has taken a little bit to get going on this novel because I have just realized how fast I must read. I read Divergent, not even probably 6 months ago, and I forgot one of the most important parts! UGH! I had to go to wikipedia and read a plot summary so I could understand this new book! The flip side of this dilemma is that I can read books more than once and still always enjoy them :)!
      How do you read? Is it slowly and you soak up every word and nuance the author is throwing at you? Or do you skim to get the gist of what's going on? Or are you more like me and you just devour the books and want more, but shortly forget parts? However you read, the important thing is that you read.
     The end of school is fast approaching and I have been trying to come up with some fun books to keep my children interested in reading this summer. Right now, they are just so ready to be done with school for the year that they just want to vedge out. I can understand, can't you? A weekend like that sounds mighty fine about now. But, beyond that, I want them to really enjoy reading whatever interests them this summer and just love reading.
     My daughter just started the Hunger Games series, so that will last for a little while. It should also, hopefully, make for some interesting discussions around the dinner table. My middle son is another story. He finished reading one of the Little House on the Prairie books in school and got to celebrate with a Pioneer day of making butter, dressing in pioneer clothing and writing on slates. Perhaps something along these lines would be in order...My youngest son is in to Dr. Seuss, but not very in to re-reading stories we've heard already. Lucky for me, Dr. Seuss wrote a ton of books!
     What are your children reading? Ask them. Talk about their books and find out what they like. Share a book. Create memories that will last a lifetime this summer and start with: books.

"Read what you love and love what you read"

Book Trailer Monday

Jace and Clary here I come!!!

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

Since it's spring and since I love rhubarb, here's a recipe for you to try!!

Rhubarb Cobbler

Added by Ree on June 19, 2011 in Desserts, Fruit Desserts

Prep Time 15 Minutes Cook Time 35 Minutes

Servings 12

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• 4 cups Chopped Rhubarb
• 1-½ cup Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
• ½ teaspoons Almond Extract (optional)
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• ¼ cups Vegetable Shortening Or Lard
• ¼ cups Butter
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 1 whole Egg

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl, combine rhubarb, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, lemon juice, and almond extract if using. Stir and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and baking powder. Stir together. Add shortening and butter, then cut together with a pastry cutter.

Beat egg and milk together. Pour into flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined.

Pour rhubarb into a buttered baking dish. Tear off pinches of dough and drop it onto the surface of the fruit, creating a “cobbled” texture. Sprinkle additional sugar over the top.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Thoughts on a Thursday...

Here's www.dictionary.com's word for the day...

Word of the Day

Thursday, May 10, 2012

obtest

   \ ob-TEST \  , verb;

1.

To supplicate earnestly; beseech.

2.

To invoke as witness.

3.

To protest.

4.

To make supplication; beseech.

Here's a Book Trailer for you today on Tuesday!!

Here's the sequel to Divergent...Coming soon to our library!! Add your hold today!!

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

I go an e-mail the other day from a friend of mine with the tag line, You Need This! and included was  this recipe....

White Trash with Cake Batter

1 10 package of mini pretzels

5 cups one cereal (corn chex)

5 cups another cereal (wheat chex)

2 cups nuts (pecans!)

Bag of M&Ms

Pkg. almond bark

Some yellow cake batter mix

Combine dry ingredients.  (Minus the cake batter mix.)  

Microwave the almond bark just until smooth.  Pour over mixture and mix well.  Sprinkle occasionally with cake batter mix.  I probably used ¼ cup of cake batter mix.

Spread on cookie sheets to cool.  Store in airtight container. 

Yes, yes I do. Thank you very much!! Yummy!!!

What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday?

     Hello fellow readers!!! What'cha reading lately?? It's time for the latest edition of What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday!! I wanted to tell you all about our new website!!! The City and the Library have revamped our website!! It's beautiful and easy to use!! Hooray!! There is now a community calendar so you can go on and check out what's happening around the city on a given day and what's going on at the library too!! You should visit and tell us what you think!! http://www.waverlyia.com/library
     While you are there browsing the new site, don't forget to look for help with your reading needs!! I've put a section up called, "If you like"...this type of book, try these authors. You can find it by clicking on the Services tab at the top, then choose the different pages to find the type of books you want to read more like!! Or just go to...http://www.waverlyia.com/library/services/readeradvisory/if-you-like
If you would like to see more like this, genres or authors, just let me know and I'll work on it for you!!
     I also found another website that looked intriguing for help in finding more good books to read. It's aptly named http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com
     My favorite way to find new books to read is still word of mouth. When I hear someone really loving a book, it makes me want to try it. However, when I am picking books out for say my daughter or my mother in law, I use sites such as these to help guide me since I am not an avid reader in the novels they love!! They are helpful tools in finding something new to read. I am a believer in always having something by my bed to read. It's a sad thing to be without a book to read, you know.
     So, check out our new website. In particular, take a look at the" If You Like" section and find a new book to read. Like I always say, Read what you love and Love what you read!!


   

For Your Hunger Games Hangover...