christmas – Ara Library Blog

Library Hours over the Summer

We are slowly getting closer to the end of the academic year and with the end of study we will have some changes to our opening hours.

Here are our hours of operation from December 2022 through February 2023:

We will be closed from 24th December to 9th January in line with the rest of the Institute. For all of January 2023 we will only open from 8am to 5 pm Monday to Friday. Our term time hours will resume from Tuesday 7th February 2023.

Please note that all of our online resources will remain available right through this period.

Festive Season individual Cherry Pies

Continuing with recipes for the festive season…one of the things I like to make at Christmas are Cherry Pies. Cherry pie was a staple dessert when I was a child as my family comes from the United States. I have made Cherry Pies many times and I have recipes for both large pies to share and individual pies.

The recipe below is for easy individual cherry pies. These are very simple to make as they use commercial puff pastry sheets for the crust. These pies can be baked and eaten cold or served hot preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Use commercial puff pastry sheets as the crust…

The cherry pastry pies turn a beautiful golden brown as they bake. Before going into the oven, brush them with a little egg wash, which gives the tops a beautiful sheen. A sprinkle of coarse sugar adds a little sparkle.

Cover the pie filling and crimp the edges…

Ingredients

This recipe is for 6 individual pies but you can double the ingredients for 12.

Crust

1 box or 4 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator
egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 2 teaspoons milk
coarse sugar for garnish

Filling

1 and 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 and 1/2 Tablespoons room temperature water
2 and 1/4 cups (500g) commercial pitted cherries or fresh cherries, pitted and stemmed. I like to use the jars of cherries by Delmaine and available at supermarkets.
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the filling: Mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until combined and milky. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine the cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, cook over medium heat until the cherries begin to release their juices– about 4-6 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixture, then bring to a boil while stirring often. Once boiling, remove from heat then stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool completely at room temperature. The filling can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. On a lightly floured surface, lay out one pastry sheet. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut sheet into 6 rectangles. 3 of these rectangles will be the bottom pastry pie crust, 3 will be the top. Transfer the 3 bottom rectangles to the prepared baking sheet. (Make sure there will room for all 6 pies– if not, use a second baking sheet.) Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the bottom rectangles with the egg wash. Spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of cooled cherry mixture onto each of the 3 bottom rectangles. Place the top rectangles over the cherry filling, lining up the edges as best you can. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal shut. Repeat this entire step with 2nd pastry sheet so you have a total of 6 pies. Slice 2-3 slits in the tops for air vents (use a super sharp knife to do that).
Brush the tops of the pastry pies with egg wash, then sprinkle with coarse sugar. Chill the pies in the refrigerator for at least 25 minutes or up to 1 day.
During the last few minutes of chill time, preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
Bake the pastry pies for 30-35 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Make sure to rotate the baking sheet once or twice during bake time. Remove pies from the oven and allow to cool on the pan or serve hot with a sprinkle of icing sugar on top and cream or ice cream on the side.
Wrap cold leftover pastry pies up tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

The finished Cherry Pies ready for serving…

Feel free to make these for your loved ones this Christmas…they are delicious!!!

Easy Asian Style Baked Chicken Drums

Brought to you by Leonard Yeo from the Learning Services.

The festive season is here again! Thinking of cooking something new for everyone to enjoy? Try my secret recipe 🙂

Ingredients

1 kg chicken drums
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons crushed black pepper
4 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Sesame oil
Coriander leaves

Method

Rinse and cut deep lengthwise gashes into each drum (this enhances marination)
Place drums in a large mixing bowl
Add oyster sauce, minced garlic and crushed black pepper. Mix well
Add cooking oil and mix well
Marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. Overnight marination makes it perfect 🙂
Baking instructions:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (Fan bake setting)
Spread drums in a lined baking pan
Bake for 25 minutes
Turn the drums over and bake for another 20 minutes
Check to ensure the drums are thoroughly cooked. (The above cooking times are estimates due to differences in drum size and ovens).
Add sesame oil and coriander leaves Serve with rice.

Library opening hours for Christmas 2020/2021

The Christmas holiday season and the end of the academic year are upon us. As a part of the holiday break over December and January our hours of operation will be changing.

For the period Monday 7th December 2019 -Tuesday the 9th February 2021 the Library will observe the following hours:

Library opening hours for December 2020-February 2021

Please note we will be closed on Monday the 8th February for the Waitangi Day celebration. Our normal hours of operation will resume on Tuesday 9th February 2020.

From all of us at the Library we wish you a safe and happy Summer break and we look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Christmas holiday hours 2019/2020

The Christmas holiday season and the end of the academic year are upon us. As a part of the holiday break over December and January our hours of operation will be changing.

For the period Monday 16th December 2019 -Sunday 26th January 2020 the Library will observe the following hours:

Xmas2020

Our normal hours of operation will resume on Monday 3rd February 2020. Please note we will be closed on Thursday the 6th February for Waitangi Day.

From all of us at the Library we wish you a safe and happy Summer break.

Happy Holidays

The end of 2017 is not far away so we would like to wish you all the best for the holiday season. Enjoy spending time with your friends and family, and find some time to relax and read a good book. All Ara campuses (and this includes all libraries) will be closed on friday 22nd December at 1pm. We will reopen on monday January 8th at 8am.

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Happy holiday

Christmas tree

Ara Libraries are closed for the holiday period from 1pm today (Thursday) until 8am Wednesday 4th January. All campuses will also be closed for this period: see our website for more details.

Remember, our electronic resources are still available – check out the subject guides to find some relevant to your topic.

If you’re at a loose end, check out the Campus life blog for some holiday break ideas.

We hope you have a safe and happy holiday, and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Happy Holidays – Ngā mihi o te tau ki ā koutou katoa

The Library will be closed along with all of CPIT from Wednesday afternoon 23rd December and will reopen Tuesday morning the 5th January 2016.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone an enjoyable, happy and safe holiday, and we look forward to seeing you in 2016 as CPIT Aoraki.

Let it snow, let it sn… Wait – what?

‘Tis the season of seasonally inappropriate Christmas songs! It looks like we might be having a beautiful sunny Christmas day (fingers crossed), so next time you hear ‘Let it snow’, ‘White Christmas’, or ‘Frosty the Snowman’, have a little snigger with me.

The library will be closing at 1pm tomorrow (Tuesday 23rd December), and we will reopen at 8 am on Monday 5th January.

We hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

See you in 2015!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Over the next few days I am looking forward to plonking myself down in front of the box with a glass of wine and a mince-pie to enjoy some festive flicks to get me in the mood for some Christmas cheer. You may notice there are fair few children’s movies in this list, but I always find Christmas brings out the big kid that hides inside us for most of the year.

Again this list is in no particular order and, unlike my music selection, I have too many movies to choose from and can’t bring myself to omit any of them! Last blog of the year so have an amazing Christmas and we will see you in the New Year rearing to go!

13. Miracle on 34th Street (1994/1947)

I find the 1994 a bit saccharine and I have never seen the 1947 version, but always good to remind us what it’s all about.

12. Love Actually (2003)

One for the girlies…

11. It’s a Wonderful Life

I have a terrible confession….I have never seen all of this film. However, I have just found the entire film on You Tube, so guess what I’m doing tonight!