Historic Needlework: Blackwork Needlecase

Let's Celebrate Chinese New Year with Barbara Sheridan

Design Your Own Family History Website

Pumpkin Felting

On Tuesday, September 9th, the Local History Room presented a workshop on how to felt wool using special needles. Our instructor Vicki Fleming, demonstrated the process required to felt wool then we all had the opportunity to make our own pumkin.

Vegetable Printing Workshop

On Tuesday, December 9th at 7 pm the Local History Room presented a workshop on Vegetable Printing. Participants learned how to design their own printing stamps out of vegetables and make their own wrapping paper using paint and vegetable stamps.

Genealogy Series: Home Sources For Family History Research

Join Art Sniffin, certified genealogist, on Saturday, November 8th at 10am as he discusses the strategies to unearth your family's hidden treasures, the need to revisit the past records you have found and how to use these valuable documents.

Historic Food: Cooking with Pumpkins

On Tuesday, October 21st at 7 pm Barbara Sheridan delighted her audience with a delicious recipe of Roasted Pumpkin with Shallots and Sage. For those who missed this demonstration, we have attached a copy of her recipe. Afterwards we had tea and some Pumpkin Bars for dessert.


Roasted Pumpkin With Shallots and Sage

1 medium sugar pumpkin (about 4 lbs.) peeled and seeded, cut into 2 inch chunks
4 shallots peeled and dquartered lenghtwise
3 tbs. olive oil
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
Coarse salt and ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450F
2. Divide pumpkin, shallots, oil and sae between two large rimmed baking sheets.
3. Season with salt and pepper and toss.
4. Roast until the pumpkin is tender, 30 to 35 minutes, tossing once and rotating sheets halfway through.
Per serving: 176 cal., 11.1 gram of fat, 4.1 gram of protein, 19.4 gram carbohydrate, 8.9 gram fiber
Serves 4

Robert's Tall Friend: A Play About The Fire Island Lighthouse: Monday, October 13th (Columbus Day)

You are invited to attend the theatrical production of "Robert's Tall Friend: A Story of the Fire Island Lighthouse". On Monday, October 13th (Columbus Day) at 2:30 -3:30 pm in the auditorium of the Brentwood Public Library. The whole family is invited!

Vivian Farrell serves as author, actress and producer of Robert's Tall Friend: A Story of the Fire Island Lighthouse, a captivating tale of a boy entranced by a lighthouse about to be demolished. Vivian skillfully creates suspenseful excitement as she becomes each character. This adaptation of her book, which was recently named the Official Book of Suffolk County, NY and is further enhanced by dramatic sound and special effects, is a great inspiration to environmentalists and preservationists young and old.

Historic Suffolk Fair

On Saturday, October 4th the Brentwood Local History Department attended the annual "Historic Suffolk Fair" held at Walt Whitman's Birthplace in Huntington. This fair is held during "Archives Week" to encourage visitors to use their local archives and historic rooms at public libraries for research. We had a tour of Walt Whitman's house given by one of the docents who portrays Walt Whitman. Visit their website http://www.waltwhitman.org/

Summer Pudding Demonstration

On Tuesday, August 5th Barbara Sheridan gave us a demonstration on how to make an old English Summer Pudding. Below is the recipe for this delightful dessert.
2 pints (5 to 6 cups) Berries
6 tbs. sugar
1 tb. Lemon juice
Pinch salt.
12 to 15 slices soft white bread

1. To make pudding
2. Line a large bowl with plastic wrap, leaving enough excess to fold over the top once filled.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine berries and sugar, cook until berries release juices but retain their shape and sugar dissoves, 2 or 3 minutes.
4. Transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly. Stir in the lemon juice and salt.
5. Cut off the crusts of the white bread.
6. Soak the bread in the berry mixture and then add some berry mixture to the bottom of the bowl.
7. Repeat until the bowl is filled withbread and fruit.
8. Press gently cover tightly with excess plastic wrap.
0. Weigh down the top of the pudding and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Modern Times Slide Show

View Album

Get your own

Teachers, the library has developed a new slide show on the history of Modern Times. If you are interested in using this for your classroom you can ask for a copy of the slide presentation by visiting the history room.

Do You Remember When...

On Monday, June 23 close to forty people attended our "Do You Remember When.." program and shared their favorite memory of Brentwood. The Local History Department served a high tea while many reminiscenced and renewed old friendships. Just click on the title, "Do You Remember When..." and you can see the rest of the pictures.

Historic Needlework Series: Sampler

On Thursday, June 19 the Local History Department presented a program on Cross Stitch Samplers. Dale Sokolow, Master Embroideress demonstrated how to make this beautiful sampler. The class had a lot of fun making their own sampler.