Campers’ Coleslaw
A few months ago, I found a new recipe for coleslaw, and I can’t get enough of it! It’s called Campers’ Coleslaw and it’s vinegar based. As long as I can remember, I’ve made coleslaw using a bottled, creamy dressing and precut, bagged slaw. It makes a nice coleslaw, but I was just tired of the same old thing. I used to really enjoy a sweet & sour coleslaw served at the Kruse and Muer restaurant in Lake Orion until they took if off their menu. For a while now, I’ve been on the lookout for a similar recipe I could make at home, and I finally found it!
My new favorite recipe comes courtesy of Taste of Home magazine. I signed up for daily emails from them, and this recipe came via an email. FYI, just a reminder that that you can read Taste of Home courtesy of the library. If you’re coming into the library, you can check out all the issues, except the current one, for at-home reading. You can also read this great cooking magazine digitally via Libby/Download Destination; the only thing required to access the plethora of magazines available online is your CIDL library card. 😊
Besides its deliciousness, one of the other best things about Campers’ Coleslaw is how quick and easy it is to prepare. The recipe calls for shredded cabbage, but I just chop it up quickly using my largest Santoku knife. The dressing takes about five minutes to prepare on the stove. I chop my cabbage while the dressing cools and then toss it together. So simple.
This recipe makes 12 servings so it’s a great dish to take to a potluck or event. When serving it to my small family, I normally cut the recipe down. I’ve cut the recipe in half, as well as in thirds, and it turns out great every time!
And now, I’m going to share the recipe with you. Enjoy!
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 medium head cabbage, shredded (about 10 cups)
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
WHAT YOU'LL DO
1. In a small saucepan, combine first five ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat; cool completely.
2. In a large bowl, toss vegetables with dressing. Refrigerate, covered, until cold. Serve with a slotted spoon.
Wow, only two steps in the directions! I told you it was easy to prepare. I really enjoy this coleslaw, and I hope you will as well.
Dreamland Burning
As I mentioned in a past blog post, I also contribute book reviews to the Adult Services page on our CIDL website, cidlibrary.org. I recently listened to the audiobook for Dreamland Burning, a really great story, and planned on sharing on our website via a book review. However, when I realized the book is in our Young Adult collection, I knew I wouldn’t review it on our adult page, as we usually try to promote adult books on the adult page. Makes sense, huh? 😊
But as I just said, this is a really great story, very timely in nature, and so I’m going to give it a quick shoutout here. Because in actuality, the story is one that people of all ages can appreciate and should find interesting, as it makes a tragic piece of little-known history come alive.
The focus of the book is the Tulsa race massacre, “That took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of White residents, many of them deputized and given weapons by city officials, attacked Black residents and burned businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma.” (Wikipedia) As the 100-year anniversary of this event is upon us right now, this story is indeed very timely.
The novel, written by Jennifer Latham, opens in present-day Tulsa, with the discovery of human bones beneath the floorboards of the Chase family’s guesthouse. The police have little interest in identifying the skeleton or determining how it got there, but 17-year-old Rowan and her best friend, James, feel compelled to investigate.
Nearly a century earlier, in 1921, 17-year-old William Tillman defies Tulsa’s Jim Crow laws by selling a Victrola to a black teenager, Joseph Goodhope. Will grows to respect Joseph and becomes fond of his irrepressible younger sister, Ruby. When the Ku Klux Klan starts rounding up black people and burning their homes and businesses, Will is forced to make difficult decisions.
Rowan and Will take turns narrating, their stories intertwining intriguingly as they unfold in parallel. Populated with vivid, relatable characters and structured to maximize mystery, tension, and dread, Latham’s novel provides a gripping education in the real-life horror story that was the Tulsa race riot. (Thank you to Publishers Weekly from where I pulled this book summary.)
This book is available at CIDL in the Young Adult fiction section. You can also borrow the audiobook via Overdrive/Libby. Rowan’s story is read by Pyeng Threadgill, while Luke Slattery reads Will’s story. Skilled readers both, their voices are very appropriate for their characters, and definitely helped to make the novel come alive to me.
A book of historical fiction of great significance to today’s current events, this one is very worthy of your time, and I hope you get a chance to read or listen to it.
Puzzle Giveaway!
Last, but not least, I have an offer for a free puzzle giveaway. Calling all Nancy Drew fans, this one’s for you! The puzzle features covers of Nancy Drew books over the years and decades. I was a huge fan of Nancy’s sleuthing growing up and read as many of her books as I could get my hands on. (Indeed, “sleuth” is a word I totally associate with Nancy Drew; I can’t say for certain, but I’d guess I probably never heard the word before reading my first Nancy Drew book.) I recognize so many of the covers from the books that I was reading in the late 60s, early 70s, which made this a really fun puzzle for me to put together.
And now I’d like to offer the puzzle to one of my readers. It is slightly used, having been put together one time, by myself. But it’s in great condition, and I’ll give it away, free, to the first person who reads this post and emails me at graib@cidlibrary.org. Pickup will be at the library. I’m waiting to hear from you! 😊
That’s it for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed the hodgepodge of offerings in this post; a little bit of something for everyone. I look forward to seeing you at the reference desk soon.
Take care!
