Make Fall Fun with BPL
Ahhh....autumn in Brooklyn! Ideally the season means crunchy leaves, sugary apple cider donuts, and sunny walks through Prospect Park. I love to plan trips upstate for hiking and pumpkin picking and excitedly swap out my summer dresses and sandals for sweaters and boots. Unfortunately, a New York fall can also look like rain-soaked leaves and chilly weekends where you're better off staying inside instead of searching your closet for waterproof shoes. Luckily, the Library has tons of books and programs to carry us through the wind, chill, and precipitation so we can…
The Surprisingly Local Roots of Classic Thanksgiving Dishes
Laura, Center for Brooklyn History, Center for Brooklyn History
As I flipped through cookbooks for Thanksgiving prep, I encountered one that shifted my perception on our world and its history: The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley. Sherman is an Ogalala Lakota Sioux and James Beard Award-winning chef who runs Owamni, a highly esteemed Indigenous restaurant based in Minneapolis. His cookbook only uses ingredients native to the Americas, with a heavy emphasis on North American ingredients, such as trout, cranberries, duck, juniper, maple, wild rice and the three sisters. Notably, it does not use any European staples such as…
A Day of Mourning, Protest and Thanksgiving
No one knows when the "first" thanksgiving occurred. People have been giving thanks for as long as people have existed. Indigenous nations all over the world have celebrations of the harvest that come from very old traditions; for Native peoples, thanksgiving comes not once a year, but every day, for all the gifts of life. To refer to the harvest feast of 1621 as "The First Thanksgiving" disappears Indian peoples in the eyes of non-Native children. - Deconstructing the Myths of "The First Thanksgiving by Judy Dow (Abenaki), from A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in…
Books and Gratitude
I feel grateful for a lot of things in my life -- health, family, friends, being a librarian, my cat, tea, and the list goes on! I'm also grateful for books, especially these five. They have changed my life! Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe: Kobabe's beautiful graphic memoir helped me realize I'm non-binary! Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo: One of my favorite historical fiction novels by one of my favorite authors! Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian: A powerful novel set during the height of the AIDS epidemic in NYC. I cried so much! Sadie by Courtney Summers:…
A Few Thoughts on Gratitude
We are all going through a really rough time right now. Life is overwhelming and scary. Many of us won't get to celebrate Thanksgiving with our loved ones. Many of us have been directly affected by COVID-19. Many of us miss spending time with our friends and family, traveling, eating at a restaurant or cafe, and feeling safer. Nevertheless, we can still feel and express gratitude, or be thankful for what we DO have. I am grateful to have discovered and read these five books this year. They gave me hope and made me laugh, a lot. Want to check them out? Click on the…
#OwnVoices Tell Our Story
Peaceful Pilgrims escape the evils of England; neighborly ‘natives’ share their bounty with the new immigrants: a beautiful beginning to an even more beautiful country.... We are made familiar with such Thanksgiving mythology at an early age; hopefully we grow as familiar with the uncensored version by adulthood? Perhaps at some point, possibly on a college campus, we learn about the pox blankets, raping and pillaging, broken treaties and the disregard for sacred lands that amalgamate our complex history? And perhaps you've noticed, potentially in overdue acknowledgement…
Cooking for Crowds: Books to Cook This Season
It’s the time of year to dust off the roasting pans, serving platters, tofurky basters, pie plates, and anything else you might require to cook up a special meal to share with friends and family. Since moving to Brooklyn, I have become especially fond of holiday celebrations with friends and colleagues, as they tend to provide the most colorful array of foods and culinary experiences. I have enjoyed everything from rice and beans to sauerkraut to vegan cornbread during these spreads. It is to be acknowledged that what is considered a celebration or holiday food is largely subjective, and…