NYS Library Blog

Happy New Year from the NYS Library! We will be closed on Wednesday, January 1. Please read on for tips and suggestions for exploring our always available online resources! 

Register for an Upcoming Public Program  

Plan your next visit to the NYS Library! Our events calendar is filling up for 2025, with onsite and virtual events from library staff and our trusted partners. 

Explore collections and resources 24/7

• Search for books and other materials in the NYS Library catalog  
• Explore the Digital Collections  
• Search one of the many NOVELny databases available to all New Yorkers!    

Looking for more information? Check out the full list of NYS Library Electronic Resources. 

Document Your 2024: Contribute to the Historical Record with the Personal History Initiative

The experiences of all New Yorkers make up the foundation of our state's history. The goal of the NYS Personal History Initiative is to help New Yorkers tell their stories, and the NYS Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections (MSC) unit encourages all New Yorkers to document their community’s history and experiences.

Share Your Story!

Our seventeenth Family History Recipe comes from Natalie and is for Grandma Slama's Irish Soda Bread!

Natalie didn’t have too much to share about this recipe other than it came from her grandma. 

This is an easy recipe to make, not too many ingredients and easy directions – mix together and bake! Natalie served this with thick pats of butter. Taste Tester Jamie was ready to devour this bread. She did a speedy sniff test then went straight in for a bite. Jamie had time for a quick, pleased grin before taking her next bite!  

Recipe: Grandma Slama's Irish Soda Bread

Submitted by Natalie.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 extra large egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups milk
• Raisins to taste
• Caraway seeds to taste

Directions:

• Mix together and bake in a buttered cast iron skillet at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
  
   

The NYS Library will be closed on Wednesday, December 25, for the Christmas holiday. Don’t forget that you can still access tons of great information on the NYS Library website. Read on for tips and suggestions!  

Explore collections and resources 24/7

• Search for books and other materials in the NYS Library catalog
• Explore the Digital Collections
• Search one of the many NOVELny databases available to all New Yorkers!

Looking for more information? Check out the full list of NYS Library Electronic Resources.   

Contribute to the Historical Record with the Personal History Initiative  

The experiences of all New Yorkers make up the foundation of our state's history. The goal of the NYS Personal History Initiative is to help New Yorkers tell their stories, and the NYS Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections (MSC) unit encourages all New Yorkers to document their community’s history and experiences.   

Share Your Story!

Register for an Upcoming Public Program  

Plan your next visit to the NYS Library! Our events calendar is always being updated with both onsite and virtual events from library staff and our trusted partners.   

The sixteenth recipe in this series of Family History Recipes comes from Sharon. She brought in Grace Phillips' Pickles! 

According to Sharon, “This recipe came from my mother-in-law, Grace Phillips, who was an excellent cook and made all kinds of awesome dishes… I absolutely love pickles so I started making them for myself and my family, and I still make and give them as gifts around the holidays – they are always a big hit.”

While at first it seemed odd to us to take kosher dill pickles and add them to a sweet pickle mixture, the end results were wonderful! Following the obligatory sniff test, Taste Tester Jesse was ready to give these a chance. After a thoughtful chew, he was all smiles and proclaimed these a delicious treat!

Recipe: Grace Phillips' Pickles

This recipe came from my mother-in-law, Grace Phillips, who was an excellent cook and made all kinds of awesome dishes. I always thought this pickle recipe was a bit unusual, but I don’t know where she originally got it from.  She would often make the pickles in double batches and give me a jar to take home when we’d visit my in-laws.  I absolutely love pickles so I started making them for myself and my family, and I still make and give them as gifts around the holidays – they are always a big hit. - Sharon 

You will need: 1 quart (32 0unces) Kosher Dill pickles

Drain pickles thoroughly; discard juice but keep the jar.  Slice pickles into 1-inch slices and place into a bowl. 

In a separate bowl, mix the following (mixture will be like a paste when combined):

• 2 cups of sugar
• ½ teaspoon celery seed
• ½ teaspoon mustard seed
• ¼ cup white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. pickling spice

Start to place pickles back into the jar, alternating layers of pickles and the pickling spice mixture.  Shake well and refrigerate, shaking several times a day for a couple of days until all the sugar dissolves. Then they are ready to eat and enjoy!

A Holiday Reading

The NYS Library, in partnership with the NYS Museum, invites you to celebrate the magic of the season with a special holiday storytime and read-aloud of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas! This cherished holiday poem will come to life as you explore the fascinating history of the poem with a rare treat—a display of the original 201-year-old Troy Daily Sentinel featuring the first-ever printing of this iconic piece of literature, courtesy of the NYS Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections.

This event will take place in the NYS Museum’s Adirondack Hall on Saturday, December 21, at 11 AM. After the reading, young visitors can channel their holiday spirit by writing letters to Santa at a festive letter-writing station. Don’t miss this enchanting event for all ages, blending storytelling, history, and holiday cheer! Please visit our events calendar for more information. 

A Historic Treasure

The Troy Daily Sentinel will be on display in the Cultural Education Center from Friday, December 20 through Friday, December 27, 2024. 

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas") was originally published in the Troy Sentinel, on December 23, 1823. It appeared without attribution and would do so for the next fourteen years as it made its swift and merry way around the world.

The poem underwent several edits between 1823 and 1844. Most of these involved relatively minor changes to punctuation, typography, and spelling (thro/through, sprung/sprang, peddler/pedlar, etc.). Some more telling alterations had to do with a couple of reindeer names, which changed from "Dunder and Blixem" (Dutch for thunder and lightning) to "Donder and Blixen," and eventually to the German "Donder and Blitzen." 

…and a Mystery!

The poem has often been credited to Clement Clarke Moore, a wealthy New York City professor. However, there is a growing belief that instead, it may have been written by Major Henry Livingston, Jr., a Dutch land surveyor from Poughkeepsie, NY.

In New-York Book of Poetry, in 1837, Charles Fenno Hoffman identified his friend Clement Moore as the author of this now widely circulated and beloved holiday poem. In 1844, Moore included it in an anthology of his own, referring to it as his long-ago "trifle"—a thing he hadn't cared to acknowledge before, but would happily do so now.

Henry Livingston died in 1828, just five years after the poem first appeared in the Troy newspaper. Livingston never claimed authorship. By the turn of the century, members of the Livingston clan had begun to publicly insist that he was the one who had actually written it, citing family lore and other potential evidence.

Our fifteenth Family History Recipe comes from Owen and is for Cucumber Tsukemono. Owen was also the chef of last week’s recipe, Chicken Hekka, so be sure to check that out! 

Owen got this recipe from his Great Uncle Charlie. He said that this recipe “comes from my grandmother’s mother” and was a staple his uncle would make for family gatherings! 

Tsukemono is the name for a Japanese pickling technique. Simple to make and as spicy as you’d like to make them, Owen’s recipe was big hit! Taste Tester Jamie loved this side dish and gave them a happy thumbs up! 

Recipe: Cucumber Tsukemono 

Chicken Hekka was a recipe from my Great Uncle Charlie, on my father’s Japanese-Hawaiian side. The Cucumber Tsukemono comes from my grandmother’s mother. According to my grandmother, Chicken Hekka and Cucumber Tsukemono were my uncle’s staples of any family gathering. He would be cooking with his electric skillet and two cans of beer; one for himself, and one for the dish. - Owen 

Step One Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers (English cucumbers would be good)
• 1 ½ cup water
• 3-6 Tbsp salt

Step One Directions:

• Bring water and salt to a boil. Slice cucumber to ¼” thickness. Cover with saltwater brine for 1 ½ hours. Drain and rinse. 

Step Two Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup water 
• ¼ cup vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp MSG
• Garlic
• Ginger, grated
• Crushed red pepper 

Step Two Directions:

• Bring water, vinegar, and sugar to a boil and cool. Put sliced cucumbers in a jar. Add few slices of garlic, ginger, and peppers. 
• Pour vinegar brine over cucumber to cover. Refrigerate. May be eaten same night.

The fourteenth recipe in this series of Family History Recipes comes from Owen. He brought in Chicken Hekka! 
According to Owen, “Chicken Hekka was a recipe from my Great Uncle Charlie, on my father’s Japanese-Hawaiian side.” It was his “uncle’s staple of any family gathering.”

This dish made the whole office smell amazing! Fragrant and delicious, with crunchy veggies and noodles that trapped the flavors of the dish, chicken hekka was a hit with all of us. Taste Tester Jamie was eager to dive in and got a large first bite. Even before she finished chewing, Jamie said how wonderful it was. This dish earned a big thumbs up! 

Recipe: Chicken Hekka

Chicken Hekka was a recipe from my Great Uncle Charlie, on my father’s Japanese-Hawaiian side. The Cucumber Tsukemono comes from my grandmother’s mother. According to my grandmother, Chicken Hekka and Cucumber Tsukemono were my uncle’s staples of any family gathering. He would be cooking with his electric skillet and two cans of beer; one for himself, and one for the dish. - Owen 

Ingredients:

• 1½ lb boneless, skinless chicken
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup soy sauce
• ¾ cup mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
• 2 tablespoons salad oil
• 2-inch piece ginger root, grated
• 3 medium carrots, julienne
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 can (14 oz) shredded bamboo shoots, drained
• ½ lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch watercress, cut into 2-inch lengths
• 8 oz pkg long rice noodles, soaked and cut into 2-inch lengths

Directions:

• Slice chicken into serving pieces.
• Combine sugar, soy sauce, and mirin.
• In a skillet or wok, heat oil to medium high.
• Squeeze juice from grated ginger into wok.
• Add ginger and stir fry until brown; discard ginger fibers.
• Add chicken and stir-fry over high heat.
• Add soy sauce mixture and cook for 2 more minutes.
• Add vegetables, one at a time, and stir-fry after each addition.
• Add long rice noodles and cook for 3 more minutes, or until done.

(Adapted from Chicken Hekka | Hawaiian Electric)
 

Images clockwise from top left: Izzy Moyer and Sai Keshav Sasanapuri set up MISHA; Manuscripts and Special Collections lead librarian PJ Nastasi selects a document; details are finalized; the final result is that writing in the burned margins of the document is now more visible.

On August 15th, the Cultural Education Center hosted two Rochester Institute of Technology students as they demonstrated new imaging technology to representatives of the NYS Library, Archives, and Museum.  

Izzy Moyer (Museum Studies) and Sai Keshav Sasanapuri (Computer Science) spent the day using MISHA—Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts—to take photographs of invisible or hard-to-see marks on items ranging from burned colonial records to a watermark on a military decree, to a faded label on a kettle.  

MISHA is able to accomplish this by using multiple LEDs to shine different wavelengths of light onto objects, taking a photograph each time, and then stacking the photographs into one large composite image that can be processed to bring out what can’t be seen under normal lighting conditions.