Friday, October 29, 2010

Celebrating a Natural Connection

Some of my fondest memories of my youth are associated with reading and eating. (I say youth because in those days I could combine these two joys with impunity).

It's therefore no surprise that I greeted the fall fundraiser, BookFeast, Read It and Eat, with more than a glimmer of recognition. A story walk that's combined with breakfast crepes! A master baker who writes cookbooks! Foodies who blog! The possibilities are endless.

I even found a blog entry that focused on the best and worst foods to eat while reading

Along with the events that comprise this fundraiser, we have some amazing books on display. One that I find most compelling is What I Eat, a series of photographs of  people and their basic diets.  Also available are such diverse treatments of food themes as Eat My Words: Reading Women's Lives through the Cookbooks They Wrote, What Einstein Told His Cook: Food Science Explained, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, My Year of Meats, and Confessions of a Closet Master Baker. Add to these titles those from our considerable collection of cookbooks and our subscriptions to Cook's and Bon Appetit, and you have just about everything you need to personalize this connection.  

Clearly there are lots of ways to bake this cake.The events take lots of forms, too:  Tuesday, Nov. 2 Jeffrey Hamelman talks about his life as a baker with King Arthur, with a lunch catered by King Arthur and Lisa Cadow. Thursday, Nov.4, Lucinda will lead kids and parents on a story walk with breakfast crepes to be prepared by Lisa Cadow. (Definitely an event for the Dawn Patrol, since it begins at 7:15 a.m. on the library lawn.) Friday night, Nov. 5 will be foodie-movie night in the Community Room, featuring Mostly Martha

And on we go, eventually heading for the Gala cocktail party Nov. 18, from 6-8, the piƩce de resistance, featuring both cocktails and hors d'oeuvres to die for.

In the meantime, don't be distressed if someone at the circulation desk tells you that the item you're checking out is restricted. It only means that you've won a chocolate doubloon from Champlain Chocolates.
That kind of restriction I could definitely live with.