A feast of food-related reading

It seems that it starts with Halloween candy and lasts through the New Year’s Eve leftovers on New Year’s Day. All that delicious food ... yum.

Coming up is our biggest national feast. Thanksgiving is one of our few national holidays that is embraced by everyone. And though the history of colonist and Indian relations didn’t exactly improve, the fact is that in 1621, the Wampanoag tribe and the Plymouth colonists did share a feast.

In all likelihood, the food consisted of mostly roasted and highly spiced meat. And the feast was eaten with knives, spoons and fingers. The colonists would have thought of it as a dinner, but the Wampanoag did not eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They kept food cooking in pots all day and ate when they were hungry. Pretty much like we do with all the turkey leftovers. So we have something else to thank them for.

Obviously, our Thanksgiving feasts are much more complicated affairs. A feast with nothing but turkey just wouldn’t do. And though it’s a time of celebration, it can be more like a nightmare for the cook who has to prepare many dishes for many people.

When in doubt, or flurried, or just in need of some good ideas, turn to the library. If you came to the reference desk, they’d likely recommend some terrific new titles on holiday cooking.

If this is your first feast, don’t panic. There is “Thanksgiving 101: Celebrate America’s Favorite Holiday with America’s Thanksgiving Expert.” The “expert” is Rick Rodgers who claims that title because he is the traveling media spokesperson for Perdue Farms, one of the country’s largest turkey producers. The book is a useful and entertaining primer on turkey cooking, but he also writes about soup and nuts and what to do with leftovers.

“Al Roker’s Hassle-Free Holiday Cookbook: More than 125 Recipes for Family Celebrations All Year Long” by the beloved television personality will get you from Thanksgiving through New Year’s.

Domestic goddess Nigella Lawson has a scrumptious book, “Feast: Food That Celebrates Life.” And if you, or any of your guests, follow a diet opposite of the first pilgrims with their meals of meat, the world famous vegetarian Moosewood Restaurant collective offers “Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates: Festive Meals for Holidays and Special Occasions.” So enjoy the holidays. Life is to be celebrated. And remember, in the words of Chicago pundit Irv Kupcinet, “An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.”

The diet can wait a little.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public Library. For more information on the Central Library or any of the branches, please contact the Newport Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2, or www.newportbeachlibrary.org.