Tuesday June 11, 2013: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Join hot dog scholar Bruce Kraig and photographer Patty Carroll for a fascinating and colorful look at the history, people, decor, and venues that make up hot dog culture and what it says about our country! Their 2012 book "Man Bites Dog: Hot Dog Culture In America" will be for sale and the event includes a book signing as well as hot dog tastings from a local Ann Arbor venue!

James Beard was a renowned American chef who introduced French cuisine and gourmet cooking to America. Called the "Dean of American cookery” by the New York Times in 1954, his foundation's awards are likened to the 'Oscars' of the culinary world. Just some of the award categories include best cookbooks (in various subcategories), chefs, & tv and radio cooking shows. The awards are voted on by culinary professionals & the full list can be found here. Below are some of the highlights:

Cookbook of the Year: Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America- delicious food from the many countries that comprise Latin America

Baking and dessert: Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza- From acclaimed Portland baker, Ken Forkish, comes this popular book about how to make the perfect bread

Focus on health: The New Way to Cook Light: Fresh Food & Bold Flavors for Today’s Home Cook- More than 400 recipes for healthy eating

General cooking: Canal House Cooks Every Day- Recipes inspired by the authors' blog, Canal House Cooks Lunch, by home cooks for home cooks

International: Jerusalem: A Cookbook- 120 recipes that highlight the flavors of Jerusalem

Vegetable focused & Vegetarian- Roots: The definitive compendium with more than 225 recipes- one more reason to love your veggies!

Monday May 20, 2013: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Malletts Creek Branch: Program Room AB

Coming this summer, Go! Ice Cream will start a new mobile business biking adventure in and around Ypsilanti!

Learn a bit about proprietor, Rob Hess, and his adventurous variety of local, hand-made, exotic and unusual ice creams. Learn how to make your own fruit popsicles. You could start your own all-natural popsicle stand and become a frozen dessert mogul too!

The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) has awarded the following books (see full list here):

Cookbook of the Year & Best International Cookbook: Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi: 120 recipes that highlight the flavors of Jerusalem

Best American Cookbook: Hiroko’s American Kitchen: Cooking with Japanese Flavors: how to combine Japanese cooking flavors with Western style fare

Baking: Savory or Sweet: Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza: must-have baking guide to breads and pizzas providing the techniques and equipment advice to make them

Chefs and Restaurants cookbook: Vietnamese Home Cooking by Charles Phan, the award-winning chef from San Francisco's Slanted Door restaurant presents his life story along with a guide to making delicious Vietnamese food

Culinary History: The Cookbook Library: Four Centuries of the Cooks, Writers, and Recipes That Made the Modern Cookbook, tasting their way through centuries of cookbooks and recipes they have been collecting for 45 years, authors Anne Willan and her husband Mark Cherniavsky provide a fascinating history of cooking & cookbooks, lore, and of course recipes from as far back as medieval times

Culinary Travel:Burma: Rivers of Flavor: Burma is opening its doors and this book is a wonderful introduction its culinary marvels

First Book: The Julia Child Award: Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deborah Perelman: if you aren't familiar with the author's blog, go to it and see why this book is so popular

Food Matters: Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics: well-researched and written for the average joe, the science behind what a calorie is and much more

Literary Food Writing:Yes, Chef: A Memoir: life of chef, Marcus Samuelsson, from humble beginnings as an orphan to world-renowned chef

One of my favorite scents is lavender and with spring planting upon us, I turned to the Lavender Lover's Handbook, for inspiration. Lavender not only smells intoxicating, the flowers are gorgeous, and it can be used in a variety of recipes. From flower arranging to wreath making to cooking, this book provides the information needed to utilize lavender in many ways and in a variety of forms. The author also describes the different varieties of lavender, as well as how to grow and maintain them in abundance. The author should know, she has a 5-acre farm in Oregon with some 5000 lavender plants. It is open to the public and has the romantic name of Lavender at Stonegate. The library owns several other books on lavender, like Lavender : the grower's guide and Lavender : how to grow and use the fragrant herb I also have just heard about the Michigan Lavender Festival in Armada that takes place in July! A rewarding summer sipping sweet lavender lemonade!

It's Veg Week! Ann Arbor Veg Week 2013 is brought to you by VegMichigan, the state’s largest vegetarian organization promoting awareness of the health, environmental, and ethical benefits of a plant-based diet. The campaign encourages people to take the 7-day pledge and eat vegan or vegetarian for a week, and features a variety of events around the community.

Things kick off tonight at Downtown Home & Garden with special guests John Salley & Ann Arbor Mayor John Heiftje. There are special events happening every day this week, including a viewing of the Award-Winning Documentary Vegucated at the Downtown Library on Tuesday. Local restaurants are also featuring special vegan dishes this week! Be sure to check the schedule to see what's happening where. It’s a great week for seasoned vegans and vegetarians and for those who are pondering a plant-based diet to give it a whirl and ask questions.

And to cap it all off, the library has a ton of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks to entice you with yummy recipes beyond this week.

Thursday March 14, 2013: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

AADL joins with The Performance Network Theatre for a delightful evening of Boston lore and cooking tips with the return of Boston television stars and heirloom cooking experts Marilynn and Sheila Brass. This event is designed to give colorful insight into the food and lore of Boston - the setting for the Performance Network's March production of the play, "Good People”.

Boston's Brass Sisters are cookbook authors, television personalities and culinary historians. They also won a Throwdown on the Food Network with Bobby Flay (with their heirloom recipe for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake)! Their cookbook, "Heirloom Baking” also received a James Beard nomination in the Dessert and Baking Category. This event will include a book signing and books will be for sale.

Long winter blues got you down? Cheer yourself up by baking a pie and celebrating Great American Pie Month! Check out these delicious books from our collection!

Vegan Pie in the Sky: 75 Out-of-This-World Recipes for Pies, Tarts, Cobblers & More
America's Best Pies: Nearly 200 Recipes You'll Love
Martha Stewart's New Pies & Tarts : 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites
Tart It Up! : Sweet & Savory Tarts & Pies
Mrs. Rowe's Little Book of Southern Pies
A Year of Pies: A Seasonal Tour of Home Baked Pies
Killer Pies: Delicious Recipes from North America's Favorite Restaurants

Are you confused about what to eat? Many people are. One person who is not confused is Jacques Pepin. As you can see from the title of his newest cookbook, Essential Pepin: 700 Favorites from My Life in Food, there are a lot of things he likes to eat, and he hopes you will too, and there is no fear in him. Sugar, chocolate, gluten, grains, red meat, salt, butter, wine, fruit, shellfish: bring it all on! He cooks like he learned to growing up in France, at his family’s restaurant. His exuberance about cooking and his pure enjoyment of food is refreshingly captured in the companion dvd series of the same name.

Watching Jacques cook is pure fun. Though he has lived in the US for ages, and speaks perfect English, he is so French. And he is an expert. With knives flashing (sharp ones at that), and one dish in the oven and two on the stove, he is masterful in the kitchen. Food obeys him. Sauces hold together and omelets flip and onions practically chop themselves. (How does he do that? I have a feeling taking notes doesn't help.) He is always sipping the ubiquitous glass of wine, a la Julia, and carrying on an amusing narrative while he creates his numerous, delectable dishes. He exhorts all cooks, all fear aside, to have a love affair with good food. His motto: “Happy cooking!”.