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Cook the Book Club

Cook the Book Club text over bowl of food

Once per month, we host a cookbook club-meets-potluck event that always draws a crowd. Each member picks a recipe from the same book (voted on by the group) and they bring in the dish to share.

The result is a potluck with lots of talk about cooking and recipes and how to improve on them. And it's about community, getting to know our neighbors and making new friends, with an opportunity for many of our refugee and new American patrons to practice English with native speakers in a fun, social setting.

Books & Bites

Three people standing behind a table with food to prepare

Books & Bites, a delightful cooking demonstration presented by St. Johns County librarians, combines our love of literature and food. We take a popular title, book or TV show, and look at historical events that surround it. 

Topics have included "Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania," paired with the menu from the ship; "True Grit," paired with campfire cooking; and "Before We Were Yours," paired with Southern cuisine. We have offered the program since 2015.

Adulting 101

An uncertain graduate

You've waited all these years to finally be an adult — no one to tell you to do your homework, clean your room, what time to be home or to eat your peas. Now what?

Adulting 101 is your go-to program to learn the basics of being a responsible grown-up. Monthly programs begin in February and run through the summer. We kicked off the series with a program called Bare Essential Cooking.

The Great Brookie Bake-Off (Online)

Photo of mother and child decorating a cake.

Cooking and baking competition programs have been popular at our library for years, so when COVID-19 caused the library to close, I conceived a way to do it online via Zoom in the style of Netflix's "Nailed It."

Teams were asked to prepare two baked and cooled round layer cakes as well as the ingredients for chocolate icing. Participants wouldn't know what they were making until the Zoom competition began. The teams then found out they had to make a hedgehog cake using only what they had on hand! Lots of creativity ensued!

Nailed It / Failed It: Holiday Snacks Edition

Candy on a stick with marshmallows to look like a face.

This program was inspired by Netflix show "Nailed It!", which features amateur bakers trying to bake crazy cakes and treats.

Our program encouraged teen and tween participants to create decorative, fun snacks. Since the program was being held in December, we challenged them to make holiday-themed marshmallow pops: a reindeer, a Santa and a snowman.

Library Eats

Participants in the South Sioux City Library Eats program

Library Eats is open to all adults over 18 and combines the love of cooking with our library’s collection of cookbooks. Each month we showcase a different type of cooking, e.g. vegetarian, soups and stews, or gluten-free. This program is offered the second Thursday of every month and starts at 6:30 p.m. During various times throughout the year we offer specialty Library Eats programming run by volunteer guest cooks, in addition to our regular monthly sessions.

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