National Library Week Day 3 with Barefoot Contessa's Strawberry Country Cake

Barefoot Contessa's (California) Strawberry Country Cake

Raindrops on roses.
Brown paper bags tied up with string.
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes.

Favorite Things. Rock.

It's Day 3 of my week long celebration of National Library Week! Today, it's all about favorite things!

Up first, California Strawberries! They are delicious, delicious, delicious and the first sign of the soon-to-come onslaught of stone fruits and other lovely summer delights! Strawberries have always been my favorite!

This is the Barefoot Contessa's Strawberry Country Cake. It's Cake (my favorite). It's Strawberries (oh yes). It's Whipped Cream (come on, who doesn't love fresh whipped cream!?!)

You can find the recipe here on the FoodNetwork website. It makes two cakes and you freeze one for later in the summer!

One of my favorite shows is America's Best Dance Crew on MTV! Congrats Los Angeles Quest Crew! Not that I'm a hip hop dancer (remember, I have so little rhythm I can't do the rhythm method), I found myself txting in votes along with 14-year old kid next door. Sigh. One day I'll act my age.

People, check out that Head Spin!! These b-girl librarians are krumping, popping, locking, and gliding to a mix of Lady Gaga and Ne-Yo (you just can't see it in this photo :) Please note that the Librarian Action Figure don't do much action. Nothing moves on her except her arms...in order to do a Shushing motion!


It's National Library Week! All this week, I'm highlighting a library thing. Today, it's movies and music. I know some adults haven't been to their library since they were kids and think libraries only have books...but many libraries have current DVDs and music CDs in their collections. Sometimes you might have to wait a bit if there is a queue, but the check outs are often free or less than a rental store. In our current economic situation, libraries may be able to entertain you with movies, books, and music!

To celebrate Day 3 of National Library Week, I'm giving away the following to one lucky winner:

a. The Food Librarian's Favorite Things from Trader Joe's
b. Handmade beaded bookmark (designed by my friend Julie!)
c. Disneyland book bag (carry all your library books, DVDs and CDs in this cool bag)
d. $10 Starbucks gift card...okay, is this a bit of regifting or "sharing"? Ever 56 days or so, I donate a pint of blood at my local hospital and receive a Thank You $5 Starbucks giftcard. I don't drink coffee and the Starbucks near my work has closed...so I don't go often. I know Starbucks is a "favorite thing" of many people out there so I thought I would pass these along!

This is a crazy assortment of MY favorite Trader Joe's stuff. I love the whole store and unfortunately can't send you the refrigerated Mocha yogurt, goat cheese, thin spinach pizza, mochi ice cream and so much more. Included: Mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups (addicting), Japanese ginger cookies (soooo yummy), my favorite pretzel sticks, lemon curd (easier than making it from scratch and you can't see how many yolks you are eating), dark chocolate bars, chile spiced dried mango, tomato and roasted red pepper soup (I can live on this), and my new (childhood memory) favorite: Trader Joe's O's. (Librarian Action Figure not included)

To enter the Day 3 Giveaway, simply leave a comment below (one entry per person) and I'll pick the winner from a hat. Deadline: Monday, April 20, 2009 at midnight PDT. If your comment isn't linked to a blog where I can find you, please leave your email or check back on Tuesday, April 21st to see if you won. Shipping to U.S. addresses only.

Enter the Day 1 Giveaway for mini-cake pans and Day 2 Giveaway for mini-loaf pans, bookmark and bag. Deadline is also Monday, April 20, 2009! Coming up tomorrow...more miniature stuff giveaways!