When describing the smells of a library, people can find a myriad of words to describe the smell of new and old books alike, the scent of newspapers and magazines, or even the newness of the Stettler Public Library.
Words like “savory” and “sweet,” “spicy” and “yummy” are words that are less likely to come to mind, but for a group of people, once a month those words describe the library.
On Monday, Aug. 15, the newly formed Stettler Public Library Cookbook club met for its monthly meeting, turning the learning annex into a dining room for the potluck meal brought forward by its members.
This month’s theme, blogger recipes, had the library rich with smells of apples, beets, chicken, lemon and more, as each person gradually added to the table of food from which the group would make supper. From the homey bangers and mash made by Gordon Goodrich, who followed a recipe by Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, to a novel combination of apples, carrots and beets in a slaw, there was a wide variety of tastes and colours up for the sampling on Monday.
“I love cooking,” Kristin Sigglekow, who made the beet slaw, explained. “I love to try new things. It’s also a great way to meet people.”
Sigglekow, who has lived in Stettler for the past three months, is originally from Grand Prairie, but has been living for the past several years in Ecuador with her husband. Work brought them back to Canada.
Melody Richardson admitted she liked to try a bit of everything, even risking her tastebuds on foods she thinks she might not like — and that the discovery, so far, has been overwhelmingly positive.
“If I don’t like it, I try to get it down,” she added with a laugh.
The camaraderie amongst the group of about 10 was obvious, and while the numbers have varied, coordinator and library manager Mary Zazelenchuk, said this Monday had the smallest attendance thus far — but she’s not nervous.
“Once school starts and vacations are over, we’ll have more people again,” she said.
She won’t be there to see if those numbers climb again, though, as she’s turning control of the club to another library employee. There was a great deal of sad farewells at the club’s get-together as the group bade Zazelenchuk farewell. She leaves later this month to take on a new position of CEO at the High River library. Though everyone was sad she was going, the well-wishes were genuine and heartfelt.
The club will continue under the new club coordinator, Zazelenchuk said.
Members of the club can pick up a cookbook at the library in order to prepare for the coming meeting. Inside each book is a slip of paper that tells the reader what sort of item they should bring — dessert, salad, meat, et cetera. That way, the potluck provides a balanced array of foods, Zazelenchuk explained.
Each meeting has a theme — this one being bloggers, September being easy take-away lunches — that the members cook their potluck item to match.
Anyone of any age is welcome to join, and all they have to do is stop in at the library and pick up one of the cookbooks, Zazelenchuk said.