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Food and Music are the Keys to Memory

Do I need help? I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time thinking and talking about food.

As I ponder the benefits of using Meyer lemons over your basic supermarket brand, I wonder at times what matters of consequence I could be contemplating instead - the pros and cons of health care, the meaning of life or perhaps why the sky is blue. But no, I would prefer to think about food. It is part of my genetic make-up - when planning family get-togethers, the first question any of my sisters asks is, "What can I bring?" (meaning food, of course…).

I think I have been obsessed with meal planning since I made my first dinner from the Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook - homemade "Shake and Bake-style chicken, a bunny salad (pears with cottage cheese tails) and molasses crinkles for dessert.

Food stimulates my sense memories - it is how I navigate my history. I even recollect visits from friends by what I served them for dinner - "Ah yes, I remember it well, that was the night of the roasted tomato and goat cheese appetizer." "No, I think you are wrong - I distinctly recall we had the porcini mushroom risotto."

Food is my memory trigger. It starts with the recollection of the meal, leads to remembered conversations - a shared laugh and a visual journey down memory lane. Food memories are how I orient myself. I even give directions in the Boston area using restaurants as my compass points - they are just around the corner from Redbones; they live half a block from Dali; you won't miss their place, they are right next to Rosie's Bakery.

Music is the other trigger for me - a familiar provocation for most. Rickie Lee Jones' "Chuck E.'s in Love" sends me to a spring day, hanging out on a dorm roof in my first shorts of the season. "Truckin" by the Grateful Dead brings me to Harvard square on a summer evening, listening to the street musicians. Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of your life)" has me back in an auditorium seat watching the Senior class video as my daughter graduated from high school. And it is not always your favorite songs that elicit the memories - "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas was my senior high class song. I am sure that is what made it pour that day.

There is nothing I like better than to invite friends over, try out a few new recipes and put on some of my favorite music. Here are two cookbooks I have recently admired and a few CD's that are worth checking out.

Cookbooks:

The Conscious Cook -Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change Your Life by Tal Ronnen - A vegan cookbook that puts protein at the center of the plate and creates satisfying meals for both meat-lover and vegetarian palates. 75 creative and diverse recipes accompanied by beautiful full-color photographs (and they taste good too!).

Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition by Barbara Lynch - A local girl, self-taught chef Barbara Lynch was raised in the projects of South Boston, where she ate mostly processed foods. She was introduced to cooking by her high school home economics teacher and fell in love with the craft. Since then, she's opened a cooking school, a cookbook store, a deli, a butcher shop and several award-winning restaurants including No. 9 Park. She has also given us this gorgeous cookbook filled with mouth-watering recipes including a few of her restaurants' signature dishes.

Music:

Theresa Andersson, Hummingbird, Go! - Raised in Sweden and based in New Orleans, Andersson got her start recording quirky harmonies in her kitchen. Influenced by both folk music and Motown, her voice is reminiscent of a contemporary Dusty Springfield.

Big Star, #1 Record and Radio City - With the untimely passing of Alex Chilton, it is time to look back at the pop band, Big Star - a cult-level band that followed Chilton's stint as the lead singer of the Box Tops. Big Star was said to combine elements of the Beatles, the Who, the Kinks and the Byrds. Bands like R.E.M., the Replacements and Wilco have helped Big Star to gain its mythic stature, citing the band as influential on their music (watch for these two CDs, soon to be in our collection).

XX, The XX - This young Indie quartet from London sings candidly about relationships and makes music that's simple and raw, but very captivating. I suspect that this is a band to watch.

Neil Young, Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House, 1968 - Neil Young was just 22 when he took the stage at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Mich. He was nervous and had to be coaxed from his hotel room. The concert was an intimate performance combining new material and familiar Buffalo Springfield tunes. Forty years had to pass before we could hear this concert in its entirety - but it was worth the wait.

Chelmsford Library Book Sale 2009

The annual Chelmsford Friends of the Library Book Sale starts on Friday, Sept. 25th.

2009 Book Sale Dates and Times

The sale will take place in the gym behind the Town Office building, 50 Billerica Road, Chelmsford [see a map].

Run by the Chelmsford Friends of the Library, the book sale is a significant source of funding for library programming, museum passes and many extras for Chelmsford patrons - the 2008 Book Sale brought in $29,744!

For more information, visit http://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org/friends/booksale.html or contact the Reference Desk at askus@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x211.

2009 Book Sale Coming Soon!

The annual Chelmsford Friends of the Library Book Sale is coming at the end of September!

The sale is a significant source of funding for library programming, museum passes and many extras for Chelmsford patrons - the 2008 Book Sale brought in $29,744! The community's support through donations and volunteer hours is greatly appreciated.

If you have books you'd like to donate to benefit the library, please use the drop box in front of the Yellow House by mid-September. After that, volunteers will be loading and setting up for the sale.

If you'd like to volunteer to help setup or work during the Book Sale, there are signup sheets on the center display inside the front door of the library. Lots of help is needed for the three days of the sale, as well as on Thursday, Sept. 24th to get everything set up.

2009 Book Sale Dates and Times

For more information, visit http://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org/friends/booksale.html or contact the Reference Desk at askus@mvlc.org or 978-256-5521 x211.

Donate to the Book Sale

The annual Chelmsford Friends of the Library Book Sale provides funding for almost all of the programming at the Chelmsford Library.

The majority of the books sold at the sale are books donated to the Library and the Friends. To make sure each book sale offers as many titles as possible, the Friends have scheduled drop-off days throughout the year. The full schedule is available on their website, and the summer dates are listed below:

The drop-off location is the Dutton House (the yellow house next to the main library). On these scheduled drop-off days, volunteers are available to help unload cars and handle large donations.

If you are unable to make one of the scheduled drop-offs, you can use the new Book Sale Donation box, located on the edge of the parking lot between the Library and the Dutton House. Or, if you are emptying a house or an estate and would like to donate a large collection of books, please contact the Friends directly to make special arrangements.

Pleasure Reading for Adults

This summer, we're encouraging adults to rediscover the pleasure and magic of reading!

Join the library’s staff for brown bag lunch series called "Now... It's Your Turn." While this program is aimed at baby boomers - you've worked hard, and now it's time to relax and enjoy yourself - it is open to everyone.

The lunch series will be at noon by the library's fireplace, and will feature book talks on both current and classic titles you can add to your summer reading list.

If you're looking for reading suggestions, check out the latest series bibliography or visit the library's Reading Room web page. Then, come to one of the lunches and enjoy talking about what you're reading.

For more information, visit the "Now... It's Your Turn webpage," or contact Mayleen Kelley (mkelley@mvlc.org) or Becky Herrmann (bherrmann@mvlc.org) at 978-256-5521.