Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit. 

There is an old joke that goes, “My mom was such a bad cook that growing up I thought the smoke alarm was the dinner bell.” Indeed, sometimes the only thing separating ok cooks from great ones is knowing when the food is done. New at the library is a cookbook to help aspiring chefs do just that. Done: A Cook’s Guide to Knowing when Food is Perfectly Cooked by James Peterson is a guide to all kinds of not only meats, but also sauces, vegetables and some sweet dishes. The guide starts out clearly defining each cooking method before moving on to various types of food. Each food type features clear, colorful photographs. A page of pictures is devoted to eight different types of eggs alone. The author is quick to point out that not too many actual cooking times are given in this book. Instead, Peterson recommends relying on all five of your senses to determine doneness in a dish. Red meat can often be determined better by touch than a factor of time and temperature. And chicken is done best when an internal temperature is taken, the juices look clear visually, and the dish smells done. Lest you think this book only covers items that you cook, there are also pictures and descriptions for whipping egg whites, homemade mayonnaise, and soft-ball sugar candy. But, unlike cooking, this book is clearly done when the reader reaches the handy index at the back.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus. This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”


Done: A Cooks Guide to Knowing when Food is Perfectly Cooked by James Peterson
ISBN: 9781452119632, 224 pages, color photographs
Adult Cookbooks (non-fiction)

Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit. 

Fans of Ree Drummond will know her as a blogger, cook, TV personality, and cookbook author.  But did you know she also has published a couple children’s books?  Charlie and the New Baby by Ree Drummond tells the story of Charlie, the ranch hound. Charlie likes his life on the ranch – the sunshine, the tummy rubs, bed at night on a pillow with a blanket, and lunch. Especially lunch. Ahhh… it’s good to be King of the Ranch, Charlie thinks. Then Mama comes back from the field with a little lost calf and all the kids gather around. Charlie thinks Mama will take great care of the calf with plenty of TLC, until the little calf is given a bottle, a bath, and tucked into Charlie’s bed and Charlie has to spend the night on the floor. When the little calf wakes Charlie up with a slurp in the morning, Charlie thinks things have gone far enough. But the situation turns out just fine later that morning, as the ink illustrations by Diane deGroat clearly show. And lest you think a children’s book is quite a departure from cooking, at the back of the book is a recipe for the classic breakfast egg-in-a-hole. If you like Charlie the ranch dog, the library has the first in this new series. Just ask at the front desk if you don’t know where to find it.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus. This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”

Charlie and the New Baby by Ree Drummond, illustrated by Diane deGroat
ISBN: 9780062297501, fully illustrated
Children's Picture Books

Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit. This week’s review is of a local author. 

In Search of Jeremy by Melodye Faith Hathaway was originally published as an e-book.  Now revised and republished in physical format, the library will have one copy to circulate, and one copy to stay in the Kansas and Genealogy room.

In 1977 Melody Coots was a young pregnant mother living with her husband and deaf toddler in Atchison, Kansas. She worked in town, but luckily had a friend who lived a few miles away in the country near Sumner, Kansas who would watch the young Jeremy. February 17 dawned as an unusually mild day, mild enough for the babysitter to let Jeremy and her own son out to play out back. At the back of the yard was a wooded, brambly area with a steep cliff, leading toward the Missouri river. Sometime in the afternoon, Jeremy and his playmate were separated. Jeremy couldn’t be found. The search stretched into the night, and the next day. The weather took a turn for the worst. The National Guard and even a search and rescue dog came in but eventually 5 days passed with no findings. No trace of Jeremy was ever found, but life went on for Melodye. The last half of the book tells of Melodye’s journey to let Jeremy go, even without a definite ending. This true story is heart wrenching but ultimately uplifting. 

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus. This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”

In Search of Jeremy by Melodye Faith Hathaway
ISBN: 9781492199359, 262 pages
Kansas Collection Memoir (Non-Fiction)

Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit.  For the next few weeks I’ll be focusing on titles that, while not newly published, are newly available at the Port Library.

Picture a hard working young man, climbing his way through a successful political fund raising company. His off and on again girlfriend is definitely on as his fiancé. They’ll be married in the spring at beautiful Sea Ranch, California. All the rooms are reserved and the guest list is finalized with friends coming overseas. Then, the wedding is called off.  The bride to be can’t do it.  What’s a guy to do? Well, for Franz Wisner, the answer is to take the non-refundable honeymoon. With his brother. Wisner’s memoir, Honeymoon with My Brother published in 2005, recounts the process Wisner went through after his called-off wedding, ultimately deciding to reconnect with the brother he’d barely spoken to in 10 years. After the brothers’ vacation the two returned home, but Franz’s job suddenly wasn’t so secure. There was a newfound wanderlust so Franz and his brother decided to put their lives on hold in the United States and travel Europe, Scandinavia, Africa and more. After two years the two returned home and Wisner began his memoir. Equal parts funny and touching, this book will certainly keep you glued to the pages from country to country.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus. Just follow Hersey Avenue north, and at the end of the North Campus drive look east to see the library. This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”

Honeymoon with my Brother by Franz Wisner
ISBN: 0312340842, 274 pages
Adult Biographies