Computer Konk-out leads to Culinary Craze

Okay, so it's been a frustrating day and you're looking for something different, like maybe a new life. Well unless you booted up your computer like I did today and found yourself in a time warp back to 2004 then maybe my day has been just a bit more stressful than yours. It appears that due to some glitch, anything I did on my computer at work after November of 2004 has been lost. Yeah, maybe I am ready for a new job, new career. Maybe something in the food business. If you've ever read any books by Ruth Riechl maybe you've thought the same thing.

Well the library does have a variety of books with a food theme. Fast Food, the latest addition of photographic fun by Saxton Freymann shows just how much fun you can have when you play with your food no matter what your mother used to say.

Those wanting a little more meat in their fiction should try Flavor of the Week by Tucker Shaw or My Saucy Stuffed Ravioli: the Life of Angelica Cookson Potts by Cherry Whytock. Angelica Cookson Potts is an English teacher setting of for a trip to Italy and stressing over relationships and getting into that vacation bikini. This can't be fiction, can it. It even includes recipes, very Diane Mott-Davidson.

Teens Cook: How to cook what you want to eat is a cookbook written by teens for teens. Authors Meghan and Jill Carle offer up some great advice on how to be more proficient in the kitchen with most of the recipes offering vegetarian options. Best yet, there are tons of good photos. What's a cookbook without pictures?

If you've watched Super Size Me (our copy is lost) then you might be looking for Fueling the Teen Machine by Ellen L. Shanley and Colleen A. Thompson. Both authors are registered dietitians and cover everything in this book from carbs to fast food.

Iron wok Jan! by Shinji Saijyo combines culinary capers and manga madness in one of the newer offerings in our Graphic Novel section. Imagine Iron Chef with a Japanese teen twist. You might even learn some vague, obscure food trivia while you're at it. We have volumes 1 through 3 but look for more soon.

Meanwhile if you've never read anything by Ruth Reichl, start with Tender at the bone : growing up at the table and finish off with Garlic and Sapphires. Well know for her restaurant reviews for the New York Times, Reichl realized early that she would never be the funniest or prettiest, but she knew the power of food. Hmmm...I bet she didn't let a computer malfunction ruin her day. Where's that cookbook? A chocolate cake does much toward absolving stress. (Ancient library proverb.) I get dibs on licking the bowl.