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.

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     These were in the break room today...

MMMMMMM!!!!!!

Salted Caramel Brownies
Recipe from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust. Copyright (c) 2012 by Ina Garten. By Arrangement with Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc. for Food Network Magazine

Prep Time:25 minInactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time:35 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
12 large brownies

Ingredients
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounces plus 6 ounces Hershey's semisweet chocolate chips
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee granules, such as Nescafe
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5 to 6 ounces good caramel sauce, such as Fran's
2 to 3 teaspoons flaked sea salt, such as Maldon
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 x 12 x 1 1/2-inch baking pan.

Melt the butter, 8 ounces of the chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate together in a medium bowl set over simmering water. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature (see note below).

In a medium bowl, sift together 1/2 cup of the flour, the baking powder, and salt and add to the chocolate mixture. Toss the remaining 6 ounces of chocolate chips and the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour in a medium bowl and add them to the chocolate mixture. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Don't overbake!

As soon as the brownies are out of the oven, place the jar of caramel sauce without the lid in a microwave and heat just until it's pourable. Stir until smooth. Drizzle the caramel evenly over the hot brownies and sprinkle with the sea salt. Cool completely and cut into 12 bars.

Note: You'll want to find true caramel sauce rather than dulce de leche, which has a lot of milk or cream added. Fran's can be ordered at franschocolates.com.

It is very important to allow the batter to cool before adding the chocolate chips, or the chips will melt and ruin the brownies.

Book Trailer Monday...

     The much anticipated sequel to The Selection is finally here!!!! I can't wait to read it, but since I am number 5 on the list I'll have to content myself with all the reviews and little tidbits I can glean until it is my turn.

     Watch this video and it'll make you want to read not only The Selection, but The Elite as well, even if she is a little over the top.

     Enjoy!

Baconfest is finally here!! The big finale is tonight from 5-8 p.m. at the 4-H building on the Fairgrounds!! Come out and support our Friends of the Waverly Public Library and enjoy everything BACON!! You don't want to miss it!
     As a sweet ending to my bacon recipe streak, I thought I'd include a bacon dessert...

The Bacon Milkshake

Sure, fast food joints makes them. But they're not as good as the homemade version.

With this recipe, you don't need to go through the drive-thru.

Ingredients: (For 4 servings)

Get a pound of bacon!

1/2 Cup of Whole Milk (Skim or low-fat if you so desire.)

2 1/2 tablespoons of Maple Syrup (the darker, the better for syrupy goodness).

1 teaspoon of salt

9 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream (this you can vary on how creamy and Vanilla-y you want it).

Whipped Cream (as an option, but we strongly adhere to using it because it's extra delicious with it).

Create! Fry or microwave that bacon. We don't care how you cook it; you just need to get lots of that delicious bacon fat. You really won't be using the bacon strips, but they're fun to eat, aren't they? Collect all the fat in a bowl/cup and set it aside. You want the fat cooled a little- still in liquid form but not piping hot. Do whatever you want with the bacon. Eat it, store it, use it as a mustache; create a likeness of Kevin Bacon with some crumbled pieces or use them for swordplay... we don't care. Just don't throw it away!
Put the milk, maple syrup, salt, and ice cream in the blender. Now gather 4 Tablespoons of the bacon fat and pour it into the mix. Blend it up! Pulse it on a lower setting. You will have to occasionally push down the mixture into the blades to get it fully blended. (Obviously when the blender is off!) Continue the transition between blending and pushing down until it's all blended into an even, delicious mixture.

When it's done, pour it into glasses and top with whipped cream if you so wish. Crumble up some bacon and garnish the whipped cream with the pieces. Get a straw... Pretty sure you know how to take it from there!

Go forth and EAT BACON!:)

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

     NOTE  : It is no longer Wednesday, but it is still raining! I have been struggling getting this to you in a timely manner, so I thought I'd post this one anyway, even though it is a day late.:)
     Here we are, it's Wednesday again. And it's raining again!! Looks to me like a good day to read a good book! Have you read any lately? What's in your library bag this Wacky Wednesday?

     Did you know that it's National Poetry Month? Are you a poetry reader? Typically, I am not, except when I read to my children. Sometimes, when there isn't time for a long story, we'll read a few poems before bed. Inevitably, however, a few poems turns into lots of poems and reading them ends up taking longer than the story would have in the first place!:) We read things like Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, and a collection of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as our go to poems. 

     Some definite favorites include:

Sick by Shel Silverstein

Sick

“I cannot go to school today,”

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I’m going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox.

And there’s one more—that’s seventeen,

And don’t you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut, my eyes are blue—

It might be instamatic flue.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,

I’m sure that my left leg is broken—

My hips hurt when I move my chin,

My belly button’s caving in,

My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained,

My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.

My nose is cold, my toes are numb,

I have a silver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,

I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow’s bent, my spine ain’t straight,

My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my hart is—what?

What’s that? What’s that you say?

You say today is… Saturday?

G’bye, I’m going out to play!”

And....

"The Little Turtle"

There was a little turtle.
He lived in a box.
He swam in a puddle.
He climbed on the rocks.

He snapped at a mosquito.
He snapped at a flea.
He snapped at a minnow.
And he snapped at me.

He caught the mosquito.
He caught the flea.
He caught the minnow.
But he didn't catch me.

 Author: Vachel Lindsay - 1879-1931

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

Robert Frost

One more funny one by Shel Silverstein....

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout

Would not take the garbage out!

She’d scour the pots and scrape the pans,

Candy the yams and spice the hams,

And though her daddy would scream and shout,

She simply would not take the garbage out.

And so it piled up to the ceilings:

Coffee grounds, potato peelings,

Brown bananas, rotten peas,

Chunks of sour cottage cheese.

It filled the can, it covered the floor,

It cracked the window and blocked the door

With bacon rinds and chicken bones,

Drippy ends of ice cream cones,

Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,

Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,

Pizza crusts and withered greens,

Soggy beans and tangerines,

Crusts of black burned buttered toast,

Gristly bits of beefy roasts…

The garbage rolled on down the hall,

It raised the roof it broke the wall…

Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,

Globes of gooey bubble gum.

Cellophane from green baloney,

Rubbery blubbery macaroni,

Peanut butter caked and dry,

Curdled milk and crust of pie,

Moldy melons, dried-up mustard,

Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,

Cold french fried and rancid meat,

Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.

At last the garbage reached so high

That finally it touched the sky.

And all the neighbors moved away,

And none of her friends would come to play.

And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,

“OK, I’ll take the garbage out!”

But then, of course, it was too late…

The garbage reached across the state,

From New York to the Golden Gate.

And there, in the garbage she did hate,

Poor Sarah met an awful fate,

That I cannot right now relate

Because the hour is much too late.

But children, remember Sarah Stout

And always take the garbage out!

Share some poetry with your children today! 

Book Trailer Monday...

     I was cataloging books this morning and this one came across my desk. It looked interesting, yet completely out of my regular reading. See what you think. This lady and her daughter wrote a book about her experiences with living with monkeys in the Colombian jungle. Hard to believe,  yet intriguing.

Bacon again?! Why Not??!!

Here's a bacon funny that I read on Pinterest...

Roses are red.
Bacon is red.
Poems are hard.
Bacon.

Here's another recipe. Simple, but oh so yummy!

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Rated: Submitted By: JILL1018 Photo By: My4boys Prep Time: 45 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes Servings: 16

"Time consuming but it is well worth it! The brown sugar and bacon grease combine beautifully and give such a great taste."

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound sliced bacon, cut into thirds 1 (14 ounce) package beef cocktail

wieners 3/4 cup brown sugar, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.	Refrigerate 2/3 of the bacon until needed. It is easier to wrap the wieners with cold bacon. Wrap each cocktail wiener with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar generously over all.
3.	Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the sugar is bubbly. To serve, place the wieners in a slow cooker and keep on the low setting.

Here's one for all the guys...(my husband actually made this one New Year's Day just for fun!)

Bacon Explosion!

By Sharlene~W on February 01, 2009

Photo by Sharlene~W

3 Reviews

• 
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins
• Servings: 8

About This Recipe

"My husband sent me this recipe with a note reading, "You know I HAVE to make this." It is quickly making the internet and tv rounds and I saw it the next day on Good Morning America. It is from the BBQ Addicts website. You can see photos of the process at http://www.bbqaddicts.com/bacon-explosion.html I posted for your Superbowl eating pleasure (but you may not want to see the calorie count)."

Ingredients

• 2 lbs thick cut bacon
• 2 lbs Italian sausage
• 3/4 cup barbecue sauce ( your favorite)
• 3 tablespoons barbecue seasoning ( your favorite rub, recommended Bad Byron's Butt Rub, Rendezvous Famous Seasoning, or Steven Raichlen)

Directions

1. To kick off the construction of this pork medley you’ll need to create a 5x5 bacon weave. If the strips you’re using aren’t wide enough to span 5x5 inches, then you may need to use a few extra slices to fill out the pattern. Just make sure your weave is tight and that you end up with a nice square shape to work with.
2. The next step is to add some barbecue seasoning on top of your bacon weave. (BBQ Addict recommends Bad Byron's Butt Rub, Rendezvous Famous Seasoning, or Steven Raichlen's All-Purpose Rub).
3. Now that you’re pork is well seasoned, it’s time to add more pork. Take two pounds of Italian sausage and layer it directly on top of your bacon weave. Be sure to press the sausage to the outer edges of the bacon creating a patty that is the same thickness all the way across. Most grocery stores carry loose sausage, so just pick out one you like.
4. Next up is bacon layer number two. Take the remaining bacon slices and fry them up the same way you would for breakfast. If you like soft bacon, make it soft. If you like crunchy bacon, make it crunchy.
5. Since this is a barbecue recipe, we need to add another layer of barbecue flavor. Take your favorite sauce and drizzle it all over the top of the bacon pieces. (BBQ Addict recommends Burnt Finger BBQ’s homemade competition sauce). Once you’ve sauced the bacon, sprinkle on some more of the barbecue seasoning you used on the bacon weave.

Don't forget Baconfest Next Friday, April 19th!!
Bacon Bacon Bacon!!

Book Trailer Monday...

Here's the latest book I'm in to...Remember to watch the trailer twice...it's interactive and you must see both sides of the question! Cool!

From Our Recipe Box to Yours....

     I'm still stuck on Bacon and Baconfest is coming Friday, April 19th!!! So, here you go...

Chicken Bombs
from Dishing With Leslie

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts-makes 10 bombs:@)
5 jalapenos, sliced in half lengthwise and cleaned
20 slices bacon
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 C colby jack or cheddar cheese, shredded
S&P to taste
1 C BBQ sauce-I used Sweet Baby Ray's

Slice chicken breasts in half (like a hamburger bun), place between wax paper and pound until it's 1/4" thick.
Season with S&P.
Mix the two cheeses together and smear about 1 Tblsp into each pepper half (just use up the cheese between all of the peppers).
Place the pepper on the chicken breast and wrap it up as best you can. I suggest placing the pepper cheese side down so it gets completely covered by the chicken.
Wrap each chicken breast completely with two pieces of bacon. Start at one end, wrap half the breast and finish the second half with the other piece of bacon.
Cook on a preheated 350 degree grill over indirect heat for 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Turn every 5 minutes and baste with BBQ sauce each time you turn it.
For oven: Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Baste a couple times and finish under the broiler to set the BBQ sauce. **I suggest a 400 degree oven and no BBQ sauce for the first 20 minutes, turning once to help cook the bacon. Then reduce heat to 375, change pans to loose some of the bacon fat (if you don't have a broiler pan), cover in BBQ sauce and finish baking.