Still playing catchup with the last few radio shows. Apologies to everyone from webgurl.
On the 16th December's show
GREAT HINT NO 2# Hot days, cool libraries! When the mercury is over 35, nothing could be more pleasant than an armchair, a good book or magazine to read, WiFi or internet close at hand, and it's all free. This is also an ideal time to explore family history resources. Check out the extensive collection at Ringwood Library, access
Ancestry or
Find My Past from any of the library PC's, or book onto a dedicated Genealogy computer, available at most branches. Computers can be booked for up to 3 hours for family history research.
To stay up-to-date with family history resources, check out or subscribe to the Family History Newsletter, available from our webpage. We also like to let you know of interesting up coming events run by the AIGS (Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies) and GSV (Genealogical Society of Victoria) The AIGS is running a very interesting talk on Sunday 21st of February from 2pm Two speakers will give advice on
'Preparing for your research trip to Britain : England, Wales and Scotland'. If you are interested in this talk, check details on the website
www.aigs.org.au.
On the 23rd December's show
At this time of year we often catch up with family we haven't seen for a while. If there are very young children in the midst of all our celebrations, reading a picture book to them is a lovely way of establishing a rapport. Pia had some delightful new picture books today, including
Eleventh Sheep by Kyle Mewburn illustrated by Claire Richards. It is the story of Sian, a young girl, counts sheep to help her get to sleep. She counts from one to ten while the poor old eleventh sheep waits patiently just out of sight for her to count just one more. Then one night the eleventh sheep can wait no longer. It leaps in, unbidden, and much fun follows.
Bubble trouble by Margaret Mahy and illustrated by Polly Dunbar is about a girl who blows a magic bubble around her baby brother that carries him off, causing havoc until sibling love wins over rivalry. An hilarious tongue twister.
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld is a clever use of a simple line drawing which could either be a duck or a rabbit. There is lovely humour and a lot to make this worth re-reading many times.
Don't lose Pigley, Wibbly Pig! by Mick Inkpen is a story we are all familiar with...when a child loses a much-loved toy, nothing can replace it! And our dear little Wibbly Pig soon learns his lesson!
For teenage readers, the first two of a series by Suzanne Collins,
Hunger games and
Hunger games : cathcing fire are rivetting reading. Katniss Everdeen is a survivor. She has to be; she's representing her District in the 74th Hunger Games in the Capitol, the heart of Panem, a new land that rose from the ruins of a post-apocalyptic North America. To punish citizens for an early rebellion, the rulers require each district to provide one girl and one boy, 24 in all, to fight like gladiators in a futuristic arena. The sequel is about the continuing trials and tribulations of the main characters. It is difficult however to speak about this book without giving away the events of the first book.
Music today was from
Come out swinging, a double CD of many great artists and classic songs.
On the 30th December's show
Food, glorious food, have you eaten too much of it? It's oh-so-easy to over indulge during the festive season, to the point where boiling an egg seems unnecessary. However, you
will feel excited about food again some day soon, and to inspire you, I have some wonderful cook books to recommend. The books I like best are the ones which tell you a bit about the author, and some background to the recipes too. Someone who comes accross on the page as well as he does on dvd is Jamie Oliver.
Jamie's dinners aims to give you easy, inexpensive and creative ways to feed your family, and lots of great tips on how to simplify your cooking. You can find all his dvd's and books in our collection, and they are lots of fun. Mary Moody has given her book
The long table : my love affair with food the full autobiographical treatment. She has mixed great recipes with gorgeous photos and recollections of her childhood, bringing up her children, living in France, and life on a farm in New South Wales.
For some interesting new takes on food, try
The Produce Chef in which Matt Clark has taken a lot of unusual ingredients, particularly Australian wild foods, and created fascinating combinations. I am still doubtful about oysters with Red Bull granita, but you can't be sure unless you try. From simple recipes for 'Bush tomato sauce' to sophisticated 'Lemon Myrtle smoked chicken turkish sandwich with mango dressing' the book is full of stimulating ideas.
The great Aussie Bloke's cookbook takes a different tack, which is that blokes want to cook food that "tastes great, makes him look good and doesn't take all day". I like the sound of that myself. With a lot of practical (and humourous advice) Kim Terakes covers 'Leaving home', 'Food to watch the footy with', 'Kids cooking' and much more.
Finally,
The food of Australia, with contributions from many wll known chefs, but simple enough to cook at home. Contributions from Maggie Beer, Bill Marchetti, Tetsuya Wakuda and many more are definitely inspiring.
There are hundreds of wonderful dvds in the collection, such as
The cook and the chef,
Masterchef Australia, and Stefano De Pieri's
Gondola on the Murray; and if you enjoy just reading about food, you can't go past anything by Ruth Reichl, Elizabeth David or Jeffrey Steingarten.
Music today was from
Cruising stations with the Royal Australian Navy Band
--- lesley
