HPL Blogs

Colin McMullan has a simple description of what his art entails, even though it encompasses many forms of expression.

“I make art in public spaces, and I do work that considers the moment in time and the world that I live in,” McMullan said.

He recently contributed a video to HPL’s virtual programming about urban maple syrup collection, an indigenous practice that settlers to New England absorbed. As is the case with most of his art, McMullan uses the everyday to talk about bigger issues.

“I wanted to think of some way to show how indigenous people are a really important presence in this place,” McMullan said. “They persist in our society and should be given their due.”

McMullan’s art often begins with collaborative social and public actions. He then reflects on those experiences in print, film and installations, according to his artistic statement. “I try to do stuff that serves a function in society,” he said.

His reflections manifest themselves in fascinating ways. For example, he gathered 100 people to construct a wooden boat, which then led to a discussion of the misuse of local waterways. He has ridden through Manhattan on a bike, projecting Chaplin films on his back, inspiring a spontaneous parade of viewers.

He has shot darkly comedic films for a series called Experimental Research on the Nonexistence of Borders, where he plays a field research scientist bent on showing that political borders don’t exist. This effort has taken him to the borders of Armenia and Turkey, and the borders the United States shares with Canada and Mexico.

Reading fuels McMullan’s artistic expression. For a long while, he tended towards experimental fiction (David Foster-Wallace is a favorite.) Now he’s finding that philosophy and cultural theory occupy his time.

His efforts often have a humorous underpinning, something he feels is intrinsic to the human experience. McMullan believes that finding a thread of levity in his work is a way of showing how we survive and thrive.

“It’s one of the things I’ve always loved about art, the ambiguity of it. It doesn’t always have to make sense or have to have a purpose that is clearly state and obvious,” McMullan said. “It’s about helping people see connections across differences and to see each other more.”

– By Steven Scarpa, Manager, Communications and Public Relations

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Lemony Greek Potatoes with Crispy Greek Chicken Thighs
From The Defined Dish: Healthy and Wholesome Weeknight Recipes
by Alex Snodgrass
TX737 .S647 2019 (Barbour Branch)

By Julie Styles

My colleague Irene, who manages the Barbour branch, recommended this recipe. It’s from a cookbook called The Defined Dish: Healthy and Wholesome Weeknight Recipes by Alex Snodgrass, which is available at the library, but unfortunately, for now, the library is not available to us. Fortunately, though, the recipe, Lemony Greek Potatoes with Crispy Greek Chicken Thighs, can be found on the Whole 30 website. For the uninitiated, Whole 30 is a healthy-eating plan that has you cut out certain yummy bad-for-you foods for 30 days so you can focus on healthy eating and following their “life-changing” rules.

While the website is informative and full of recipes, advice, and places to send your money, I wasn’t feeling the urge to change my life this week, and was much more inspired by The Defined Dish. So much so that I decided to buy an e-book copy. My motivation was not the restriction of some of my favorite indulgences, but by the incredible recipes it contains. There’s a whole chapter on tacos! There are also recipes for take-out favorites (Thai Basil Beef, Sichuan Chicken), Southern cuisine, Italian classics, soups, salads, kid food, a chapter called “Date-Night Dinners,” and so much more. Tons of healthy recipes and no rules? Yes, please! Maybe I’ll change my life when life gets back to normal.

The recipe is found in the chapter “A Taste of the Mediterranean” and looked tasty and easy. Chicken thighs are a wonderful thing. They’re affordable, easy to work with, and always come out juicy and flavorful. Unlike the overrated boneless, skinless chicken breast, thighs are much more forgiving when you cook them. You don’t have to yank them out of the oven the second they are done; you’ve got a bit of a time window before they become dry and overcooked. There’s not much you need to do with them, so they make the perfect protein for one of those sheet-pan dinners we keep hearing about. (This cookbook has at least six of them). I have my own favorite sheet-pan dinner: Sheet-Pan Chicken With Potatoes, Arugula and Garlic Yogurt, found on the NY Times Cooking website, which is truly incredible, but I was ready to try something new.

The recipe Irene suggested is similar, and a bit simpler (no marinating, no yogurt sauce to make, no leeks to clean and chop). The thighs are patted dry, drizzled with oil, and sprinkled with a paprika-based spice rub. Then they go in the oven. Easy-peasy. Alongside the chicken in the oven are some potato wedges that have been tossed with oregano, lemon, and chicken broth. This method was new to me, and I was a bit skeptical. I usually roast my potatoes with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper, so the extra liquids in this one concerned me. Would the potatoes truly roast or will they just stew in the juices? Will there be any crispy, charred bits? Bits are my favorite!

While this recipe couldn’t be any simpler, do pay attention to the timing. If you put the chicken in the oven too early, as I did, the potatoes won’t have the full hour to cook. Our potatoes came out with a wonderful lemony flavor and some crispy corners, but they were a bit firm; I think the last 20 minutes the recipe called for would have guaranteed softer, creamier potatoes with more brown, cripsy edges.

The chicken was perfect. Paprika can often seem like dark orange baby powder, especially if your jar has been sitting untouched in the pantry for the past year and a half. But our little tin of smoked paprika (don’t wuss out and use regular paprika, go get the smoky stuff—it’s worth it) had a perfectly respectable expiration date, and gave the chicken a deep, almost spicy layer of rich smoky flavor. The chicken was tender and juicy with crispy skin. With a bit of simple roasted broccoli, it became an ideal weeknight meal: do some minimal prep, stick it all in the oven, go enjoy a cocktail on the porch, and when the timer dings, you’re all set! And while I will never forsake my favorite harissa-and-leek covered sheet pan chicken, this new recipe will be a new regular in our rotation. I can’t wait to explore the rest of the book! I think I’ll start with tacos.

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Representatives from Imagineers  LLC and Hartford Public Library spend a moment on Zoom celebrating Imagineers’ generous grant to support youth technology. Clockwise from left, Senior Occupancy Specialist – Supervisor Tessa Murray, Director of Program Management Maria Stoute, Assistant Director Vincente Ithier, HPL Board president Gregory C. Davis and HPL President and CEO Bridget Quinn-Carey

Hartford Public Library will increase its programs and services to teens this summer through a generous grant from Imagineers LLC, a Connecticut-based housing services company that manages condominiums, rental property, and housing programs.

The $50,000 gift will specifically help the library’s Teen Services team’s effort to build a comprehensive creative arts, digital literacy and gaming program that will be implemented at the Downtown Library and then through YOUmedia at the Albany Library.

“The support from Imagineers will ensure that young people will have access to state of the art technology and software tools as well as expert guidance and mentoring to help them develop practical skills and foster their creativity. Budding artists and designers will be encouraged to pursue their dreams, enhance their portfolios and contribute to the community and the world. Thank you to Imagineers for investing in Hartford’s future,” said Bridget Quinn-Carey, HPL president and CEO.

“I want to thank our friends at Imagineers for their commitment and contribution to the Library. They are investing in the young people of our city, when we need it the most,” said Gregory C. Davis, president of the HPL Board of Directors.

“Imagineers is excited to support the Hartford Public Library and all the good work they do but especially during these times.  We are proud to be able to lend support to the valuable technology initiatives they have identified,” said Ken Schultz, president of Imagineers, LLC.

The $50,000 grant will fund two youth technology programs:

• The Library will purchase 12 laptops and load them with special creative, learning, and gaming software. The Library will also provide internet connectivity through Wi-Fi devices enabling students to use the laptops to complement our new Twitch channel and Discord App, as well as used to access educational resources and complete school assignments. The teen program is modeled on the Library’s successful Crossroads to Connectivity program geared for adult learners.
• There is great interest among young people in the use of digital photography equipment and access instruction on how to use the Adobe Creative Suite. The Library will purchase 10 Nikon D3500 digital camera and two D850s for instructional use. In addition, the Library will build a prime lens catalog for lending, use, and instruction, and have the ability to create Adobe accounts for anyone who takes a camera out on loan.

“This aligns with our goal of building a talent pool and potential career pipeline for the Digital Library Lab,” said Quinn-Carey, talking about one of the library’s new initiative, a one-stop imaging, digital archiving and photography service with a team that specializes in digitizing 2D materials and 3D artifacts.

For more information about Imagineers LLC, visit www.imagineersllc.com. For more information about Hartford Public Library, visit www.hplct.org.

– By Steven Scarpa, Manager, Communications and Public Relations

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It took Lael Marie Williams a trip to the morgue to find her way back to dance.

Williams, a 33-year-old Hartford resident, recently brought her enthusiasm for Afro-Caribbean dance to HPL’s virtual programming. “African dance is natural. When I say natural, it is the movement of everyday. Things that we all can do, that natural movements of the body,” Williams said. “There is so much structure in modern, ballet, and hip-hop.”

Lael’s mother, Anne Marie Williams, was one of the founders of K La Rue Arts-in Motion and because of that she grew up in classrooms and dance studios.

“She wanted to have a job where she could bring me with her,” Williams said. “My mom danced with me in her body. Basically its genetic.”

But like a lot of kids, Williams resisted what she grew up with. After the loss of friends to suicide and cancer, Williams decided to go in a completely different direction, studying mortuary science.

“It’s not as morbid as people think,” she said. “It was quite an adventure.”

What’s funny was, she had a knack for it. Williams studied the subject in college and actually had the opportunity to do some reconstruction, helping to give physical shape and distinction to the deceased.

“It gave me an appreciation for life,” Williams said.

It was a needed two-year detour to lead her back to her first love – the stage.

Williams started teaching at Downtown FootLights and Performing Arts Education Program. She seemed to be having an impact with students and her own artistic practice was growing in the fertile Hartford dance scene.

It is ultimately on stage, doing Afro-Caribbean and African dance, where Williams comes alive.

“When I am performing, that’s my element. God gave me a gift to engage the audience with me on the stage,” Williams said. “I am giving back everything they are giving me. It’s a circle.”

– By Steven Scarpa, Manager, Communications and Public Relations

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Parsnip Dumplings in Broth
From Plenty
by Yotam Ottolenghi
TX801 .O88 2011

by Julie Styles,

Have you been to the grocery store lately? Of course you have—there’s nowhere else to go. Pickings are slim. We’ve all seen the empty toilet paper shelves, but there’s a shortage on meat too. Rather than trying to get creative with the weird scary cuts, the Husband and I decided to consult one of our cookbooks: Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi. We were led to this cookbook after falling in love with another one: Jerusalem, written by Ottolenghi and his friend Sami Tamimi. The two chefs grew up in the city, but on opposite sides; Tamimi in the Arab east side, Ottolenghi in the Jewish west side. While different cultures don’t always mix politically, in this case, the recipes they create together make some of the best food I’ve ever had. Plenty is no exception. The recipes here are taken from the menu at Ottolenghi’s namesake restaurant in London, and are all vegetable-based. However, this is not a vegetarian cookbook. It celebrates vegetables, but not as an alternative to animal foods. It highlights vegetables because, when prepared by Ottolenghi, they shine in a world with or without meat.

The introduction of the book describes this philosophy much more eloquently than I can, but briefly, and it dives into the recipes quickly, which I appreciate. The chapters are divided into the different plants themselves: roots, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and so on. In addition to vegetables, it tackles beans, grains, pasta, and fruit in an assortment of over 120 recipes. There is definitely something for everyone. Some of these will make excellent side dishes, but so many of them stand on their own.

Parsnips

We selected something simple and light for our weeknight meal: Parsnip Dumplings in Broth. I adore parsnips, and have ever since I first tried them in my mid-thirties. My mom was a great cook, but dad was not adventurous, and so we stuck to the foods he knew as a kid. Fortunately for me, I don’t share his desire to avoid ingredients I wasn’t comfortable with. This has led me to discover a great number of comfort foods, ironically. One of those is parsnips. They look like pale carrots, and while they, too, are roots, their flavor is quite different. Not quite as sweet, their earthy, starchy flavor balances rich meaty roasts and clean, crisp salads wonderfully.

In this dish, they are the main event. They are cooked with potatoes until they are soft enough to mash, then elevated with some flour and egg to create light, airy dumplings. Served with a flavorful broth, they make a great meat-free meal.

Vegetable Broth

This is definitely homemade food. You won’t find these dumplings in the store, although you can buy premade broth. I strongly recommend you don’t, though. While you can find some high-quality, truly delicious chicken or beef broth, vegetable broth in a can or carton is about as exciting as ramen noodles without the salt-bomb flavor packet. And homemade vegetable broth couldn’t be easier. For this recipe, we cut up some carrot, celery, and onion along with garlic and celeriac. For the unfamiliar, celeriac is also known as celery root. Yep, the root of the celery plant, and it definitely looks like it should stay underground. It’s probably the ugliest thing in your produce department any time of year. It looks like the head of the Crypt Keeper. But seriously, get over it; it’s delicious. It, too, is starchy and earthy, with a hint of celery flavor. You just need to trim off the hairy tentacles and it looks a lot like a potato. The vegetables go into a big pot with some water and fresh herbs, then it all simmers for about 90 minutes, and voila! You have vegetable broth.

Wait…I forgot to mention the prunes! (I swear, I want you to make this dish, despite all the creepy and borderline gross-sounding items that go in it.) Along with the vegetables, you toss in a handful of prunes. It sounded weird to me, but I went for it.

As it turns out, the prunes do lend a great level of flavor. Not overly fruity, there’s just a tiny bit of sweetness and depth, almost like honey. It rounds out the vegetable flavor and makes the broth more interesting. For an extra boost, you could add a few dashes of soy sauce or some tomato paste.

Celeriac

The dumplings are a bit more complicated, but not much. After mashing the parsnip mixture, you press it through a ricer (which looks like a giant garlic press and is not used to make rice, go figure), which makes it incredibly smooth. It rests for a bit in the fridge, then gets scooped out into simmering water in little dumpling shapes. I used a small ice cream scoop for this, but a small spoon will work just fine. These don’t need to be perfect – rustic is the way to go here. They only cook for a few minutes, and they bounce to the surface just before they are done; it couldn’t be easier. Just make sure your water is at a true simmer. Mine was just below (hot water, no bubbles), and the dumplings, while fully cooked and quite yummy, had a slight raw-flour flavor to them.

Overall, it was a fantastic meal, and neither I nor my fellow carnivore husband longed for a steak afterwards. Plenty isn’t about just cooking vegetables. It’s about creating clever and unexpected combinations of ingredients that are too-often pushed to the side of the plate.

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi can be found in the library stacks using the call number TX801 .O88 2011. This recipe can also be found at https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/jan/06/foodanddrink.recipes2

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Hartford Public Library is taking its efforts at connectivity on the road with initiatives designed to increase Wi-Fi connectivity throughout Hartford.

“Our Library on Wheels is one of the resources that allows us the opportunity to creatively deliver service during crucial times like these,” said Leticia Cotto, HPL’s Customer Experience Officer.

The library has prioritized delivering Wi-FI hotspots to spaces where people are homebound and transitional living spaces without Wi-Fi access to provide connectivity for entertainment, to stay informed, and support distance learning.

HPL Wi-Fi spots have been delivered to

• Immanuel House (15 Woodlawn Street), an assisted living space for people 62 years old and older.
• Warming Center at Milner School (104 Vine Street). A City of Hartford-run refuge for people experiencing homelessness.

Other locations are being identified.

HPL’s Library on Wheels also functions as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.  Plans to use it as a Mobile Wi-Fi Hub strategically throughout the city are underway.

The deployment of the Library on Wheels to spread Wi-Fi access is just one of the innovative methods HPL is using to expand its outreach during the Covid-19 quarantine.

“If people can’t come to us, how do we go to them in a safe way and still meet needs?’ We see the importance of doing this kind of outreach because we recognize the need for Wi-Fi city wide and when we were open to the public, experienced a continued increase in our Wi-Fi usage systemwide,” Cotto said.

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Buttermilk Fried Chicken
From Ad Hoc at Home
by Thomas Keller
TX715 .K29 2009

By Julie Styles, Manager of Public Services, Central Branch

The world is bonkers right now. Everything has been disrupted in one way or another, and we all have our different ways of coping. Some of us are writing our first novel, some are spending hours making masks for their communities, some are relishing the extra time with their loved ones, some have started growing their own vegetables. I’m making fried chicken.

I don’t think it’s possible for any meat eater to not love fried chicken. I think the vegetarians love it to, they just might not realize it. The health nuts love it, too. They just won’t admit it. They say it’s “bad” for you. But how can pure joy and happiness ever be bad? Fried chicken is everything most of us have been told is unhealthy: it’s on the bone, it’s got skin, it’s breaded, it’s deep fried! The horror! But even if you believe all of that, it’s still worth it. Hassle, extra calories, giant mess, and painstaking process included, it’s still worth it. At least once in a while.

While the fast-food fried chicken sandwich debate rages out in the world, I am staying home a lot, so I decided to make homemade fried chicken. This pandemic has given me the time, the patience, and the right to do whatever I darn well please in my own kitchen. There’s no one here to judge me, and no one to disappoint if I fail miserably. (Well, there’s the husband, but he’s stuck with me for a while.)

The way I see it, if you’re going to make one of the most iconic and beloved staples of American food, you’d better find an expert to tell you how to do it. My pick is a controversial one: Thomas Keller. This choice isn’t scandalous because he isn’t a good enough cook. The issue is that he’s the most highbrow of all the brows. He’s King of uber-fancy restaurants, namely The French Laundry and Per Se, among others. His menus offer things topped with caviar and truffles, he gets his onions from Wales, and he spells it “boeuf.” A meal at one of these spots lasts hours and costs more than a luxury car payment.

But he’s got a down-home side too, which comes in handy in times like these, and he’s even published a cookbook highlighting it: Ad Hoc at Home. It’s named after a more casual restaurant he runs, and includes recipes like chocolate chip cookies, clam chowder, and yes, buttermilk fried chicken.

Don’t worry, he doesn’t try to jazz it up or use some goofy technique. It’s straightforward: brine chicken, bread chicken, fry chicken. Every ingredient is a common pantry staple; the least accessible item in the recipe is probably the “splatter screen.”

The first step in the recipe is to take a whole chicken and cut it up into 10 pieces. Let me stop you right there. Unless you are well-skilled in fowl butchery, leave this to the experts at the meat counter. You can even buy pre-cut packaged chicken, and if your favorite store has a butcher, by all means use them, and ask to have a whole chicken broken down for you. If you do decide to take on the bird yourself, be sure your knives are truly sharp. This is not the time to risk a trip to the hospital.

The chicken hangs out in a brine for “12 hours…no longer,” and the brine needs to be boiled, then chilled before you can use it, so be sure to do some planning before getting started. We made the brine first thing in the morning (which for us was around 9:30), then tucked the chicken pieces into it around noon. If you want to get the full 12 hours of brining, I suggest making the brine the night before, then getting up ridiculously early to get the chicken in. The next step freaked us out a bit, but we went for it: after taking the chicken out of the brine, you rinse it, pat it dry, and let it sit on the counter for an hour and a half. While this goes against everything we ever learned about food safety (and with almost 20 years of restaurant experience between us, we learned a lot), we trusted King Keller, and lived to tell the tale.

Alright already, let’s fry. The process for frying the chicken is pretty standard: you set up a little station of shallow dishes, the first with a flour and seasoning mixture, buttermilk and seasoning in the second, and more of the flour mix in the third. The double-flour business is the key to super crispy, shatter-y fried chicken. And seasoning each step ensures that your chicken won’t taste like it’s covered in shredded cardboard and grease. Keller’s recipe is well written; it outlines each step in the process, which takes a bit of coordination. Be sure to read through it all before you begin—you’ll thank me later. If you’ve never fried your proteins before, invest in a meat thermometer. You really need to be aware of the oil temperature (which will fluctuate) throughout the process, and later you’ll need to check the chicken’s internal temperature. Overcooked chicken is dry and disappointing, undercooked chicken is gross and can be deadly.

While a few of our pieces were slightly overdone, for the most part it came out heavenly. The chicken was juicy and flavorful, and so crispy and craggy it looked like it had been covered in corn flakes. The husband made some incredible slow-cooked green beans to go with it, but any sides will be great–the chicken will overshadow it all anyway. So, go forth, and make yourself some fried chicken. And make a lot. It’s just as amazing the next day, reheated in a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes, or eaten cold straight out of the fridge.

Until you can get this amazing, and approachable, cookbook from the library, head over to the D’Artagnan website, where they provide the recipe, and will also try to sell you a fancy, really expensive chicken.

– 30 –

Fay Taylor took a short vacation to the Poconos with her husband Charles back in 1989. It was going to be restful – just a few days away from her home in Windsor. On her second day, Fay went out horseback riding and suffered a fall.

She broke her back, damaging her spinal cord.

“Doctors weren’t sure I would walk again,” she said.

Not only would Taylor recover, she would go on to write a 2008 memoir called “Steel” about her efforts to regain her health. “I wanted to show triumph over adversity,” Taylor said.

Taylor, 73, recently did a virtual author talk for Hartford Public Library.

Taylor kept a journal during her arduous recovery period, a time when she had to learn how to walk all over again. “I did it to pass the time,” she said.

What started as a distraction ended up a necessity. Taylor found that writing down her story was helping her to heal in ways she didn’t expect. While Taylor had done some stories for local newspapers, she had not published a long work at the time of her injury.

“Steel” was born of pain, but Taylor believed it was important to tell her tale, to talk about the love and unconditional support she got from her family.

Taylor isn’t 100 percent healthy. She never will be. But she doesn’t dwell on her injury or let it color her as a person. As she said, accidents happen to people all the time – Fay just happened to be one of them.“A lot of people say that it is because of my attitude, that I am a happy, laughing person. That helped me to heal,” Taylor said.

By Steven Scarpa, Manager, Communications and Public Relations

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Work on the foundations and footings for the new Park Library, located on Park Street, will begin next week.

That project will take about six weeks, said Mark Parrino, HPL’s Director of Facilities Operations.

Once the foundations and footings are complete – “getting out of the ground,” as Parrino described it – the steel structure of the building will be assembled.

Without any delays from weather or the Covid-19 virus, that process could begin sometime in June.

The expected opening date is scheduled for May or June of 2021.

The new 13,000 square foot facility will replace the current 2,500 square foot storefront on Park Avenue. The new library will have a walk-in café, learning lab, community room, and a shared space for stacks, reading, and teen programs.

- By Steve Scarpa, Manager, Communications and Public Relations