Community

NOTE: The Record is pleased to announce a recurring series featuring new books and program reminders for the Hemphill County Library. The library has a plethora of resources for children and adults of all ages. My motley crew of boys thoroughly enjoys our weekly treks there. Owen, my 3-year-old, enthusiastically pulls every Halloween-or Christmas-themed book from the shelves to “read to me” while my 1-year-old points at the fish or plays hide and seek with LEGOs. Thus far, we have successfully located all the missing pieces.

A few weeks before Halloween and many years ago, when I was still married to my former husband, he and I and a couple we knew all decided we would celebrate Halloween dressed as the Midwest. At the time, it seemed like a clever idea.

INGREDIENTS 3 cups white flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoons ground ginger 1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1-1/2 sticks butter 2 eggs 1-1/2 cup dark molasses 1-1/4 cup boiling water 1/2 cup diced pear 1 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger PREPARATION Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

I LOVE LITTLE free libraries. If you don’t have these in your neighborhood, they are little boxes that look like tiny houses—not much larger than a big birdhouse—with a glass door on the front and books inside. People leave books they have read and pick up books they want to read, and somehow, the whole thing seems to work out pretty well most of the time.