The Adult Department at the Homewood Public Library currently hosts a monthly recipe club. Every month a new theme will be chosen and each attendee will make a dish based on that month’s theme.
Thus far, we have showcased everything from cookies to healthy favorites. You will not be assigned a feature cookbook to cook from. Instead, choose any cookbook and pick a recipe that represents the month’s theme. Put on your apron and cook like the culinary star you are in your own kitchen. We would love for you to share your masterpiece with the rest of us and invite you to try the other delicious dishes represented as well. Don’t forget to jot down or print off your recipe so one of our staff members can make copies and pass it around.
Don’t have a cookbook that is just right? We’ve got you covered! Come on in and select one of the many cookbooks we have on our very own shelves. Still can’t find what you want? A staff member will be happy to help you locate just the right book from one of our other 39 Jefferson County Library branches. We can have your cookbook sent and ready for pickup at the location of your choice.
The month of May boasts a Fiesta theme. Join us the evening of Thursday, May 4, to try some celebrate festive Cinco de Mayo with fiesta-style food and great conversation.
Need a little inspiration in the kitchen? Here are some of my picks for cooking a great Mexican or Tex-Mex dish. So break out your cast-iron (certainly not required, but I’m always looking for an excuse to cook with mine) and Fiesta your way to a Siesta!
Happy Cooking!
For a really ethnic experience, we keep it simple here with “Cooking the Mexican Way”.
Dewey Location: 641.5972 COR
More than Just cooking, “Cooking the Mexican Way” is also a a great source for Mexican history, culture and geography. I won’t say the recipes featured in this book are easy (have you ever tried making a tamale?) but that’s just the nature of this authentic beast. What this cookbook does deliver however, is taste. There is so much more to an authentic Mexican dish than the meat and cheese you are used to from chain restaurants, and within the pages of this book you are sure to get more. *Bonus* this book also features great low-fat and vegetarian recipes!
For economically delicious recipes, with tons of history in authentic recipes and photos “the Tex-Mex Cookbook” is the cookbook for you.
Dewey Location: 641.59 WAL
This cookbook has some really tasty recipes. Tex-Mex is a hybrid of Mexican food with an American spin. Some recipes you may have thought of as “authentic Mexican” but you’ll soon learn most of your favorite “Mexican” dishes are actually a result of the Mexican pioneers of the 16th century, introducing their food to Texas. Onto the 1890’s when favorite spices like Cumin and Garlic were introduced making our taco dinners tastier. Tex-Mex and Margarita’s, myth and authenticity, this book is busting through it all with a little guac on the side.
Fiesta is an art, and Rick Bayless certainly knows how to do it right! “Fiesta at Rick’s” is a cookbook all about celebrating food. Anyone hungry?
Dewey Location: 641.5972 BAY
This recipe book has all of my favorites; avocado, bacon, shrimp, steak….. oh my, I’m getting hungry just reminiscing. If you enjoy celebrating with friends and food, Rick Bayless never disappoints. You can eat fancy with a few of the Ceviche recipes highlighted, or if you’re feeling a little naughty, the Devilish Shrimp recipe will compliment those horns. Hands down, my favorite try from this book is the Wild Mushroom Queso Fundido found on page 130. I know here in the south we like our Rotel cheese dip for those Super Bowl get-togethers, but after making this in my cast iron dutch oven, I’ll never go back to Rotel again! Trust, this recipe is phenomenal.