{"id":168623,"date":"2025-04-25T09:41:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T13:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=168623"},"modified":"2025-05-12T08:48:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T12:48:04","slug":"from-page-to-palette-campus-community-delights-in-edible-books-festival-treats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2025\/04\/25\/from-page-to-palette-campus-community-delights-in-edible-books-festival-treats\/","title":{"rendered":"From page to palate, the Edible Books Festival is a community treat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At noon on a recent Friday, a few dozen biblio-foodies in Ladd Library put down their pencils and picked up their plates to sample literary treats like \u201cLime and Punishment by Fyodor Donut-oyevsky\u201d \u2014 chocolate donuts topped with mint and lime frosting \u2014 one of 11 entries in this year\u2019s Edible Books Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the world, Edible Books events originated about a quarter century ago; the Bates version arrived three years ago, a brainchild of Grey McGloon \u201921, a library assistant for access services who started the event to foster post-COVID community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Biblio-foodies
Biblio-foodies gathered in the library\u2019s lobby on April 4 for the fourth annual Bates Edible Books Festival. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“And also to remind people that a library is welcome to everyone,\u201d said McGloon, who contributed the whimsical \u201cLime and Punishment.\u201d \u201cIt also gets people just out of their normal schedule to be baking something kind of silly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s entrants interpreted the assignment in various ways. Some recreated book covers, while others materialized fictional treats, and others still saw an opportunity for jokes and word play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Staffenski, associate director of culinary and retail operations and executive chef, joined the festival as a judge. The cuisinier took his time making his edible assessments, meandering between tables and sampling the creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From
From left, Carina Plettenbacher, Raluca Cernahoschi, and Jakub Kazecki pause to consider the edible recreation of the children’s book Llama Llama Red Pajama, created by Sam Gamber \u201925. Cernahoschi and Kazecki are associate professors of German, and Plettenbacher is a Fulbright teaching assistant in German for 2024\u201325. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m using my palette,\u201d Staffenski quipped, when asked how he was applying his culinary expertise to the day\u2019s work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Gamber \u201925 of Marlborough, Mass., used the event to share childhood nostalgia, creating a cake inspired by the children\u2019s book Llama Llama Red Pajama<\/em> by Anna Dewdney, which she fondly remembers her mom reading to her as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entry, which won Most Comedic, comprised a red velvet cake enclosed in a graham cracker frame and topped with colorful fondant, effectively mimicking a bed covered in a quilt. Sitting up beneath the quilt, seeming to defy gravity, was the titular llama \u2014 sculpted from Rice Krispies Treats, coated in fondant, and anchored by wire \u2014 its head hovering several inches above the bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sam
Sam Gamber \u201925 of Marlborough, Mass., took Most Comedic for a cake inspired by the children\u2019s book Llama Llama Red Pajama. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere’s one wire holding up the pillow and then another holding up his neck,\u201d Gamber said. \u201cAnd then other than that, it’s just Rice Krispies and prayer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Down the table from Donut-oyevsky, library assistant Hannah Dawkins offered hexagonal slices of a hive-shaped honey cake inspired by The Hobbit<\/em> \u2014 a nod to the shapeshifting, bee-loving character whose guests enjoy the same treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just like seeing everyone come together and share food. It’s a great sense of community,\u201d Dawkins said. \u201cEveryone’s so happy. It’s a lot of fun. I like to see all the creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hannah
Hannah Dawkins, a library assistant for access services, welcomes attendees to the Edible Books Festival. Awaiting their duties are event judges, from left, library staff Aidan Bergeron \u201927 and Zeke Sturgeon joined by Michael Staffenski, executive chef for Dining Services. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dre Gager, associate director in the Office of Institutional Research, Analysis, and Planning, took home Most Creative for her oceanic cake inspired by Life of Pi<\/em> by Yann Martel. Beneath its blue-frosted exterior and adorning chocolate flying fish, the cake\u2019s interior was orange and black striped, representing the coat of the bengal tiger at the center of Life of Pi<\/em>\u2019s story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s just so fun to see all these people coming together over something that is just fun and joyful,\u201d Gager said. \u201cIt just feels really good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bates academic program was represented by Edible Books regular Cheryl Stephenson, a visiting lecturer in Russian, and her advanced Russian students. They won People\u2019s Favorite for their cake inspired by a play they\u2019ve been studying, Anton Chekhov\u2019s The Seagull<\/em>, chosen by Stephenson partly because it was being staged in Schaeffer Theatre in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Under
Under the watchful gaze of the library’s Uncle Johnny Stanton portrait, Ilyas Bashir \u201925 (left) of Auburn, Maine, and Eli Toffel \u201925 of Brookline, Mass., sample entries at the Edible Books Festival on April 4. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re really trying to engage with the text from a bunch of different angles, and this one is super delicious, and we love, too, an event that has staff together with faculty and students,\u201d Stephenson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephenson provided a lightly frosted cake and decorations \u2014 including coconut flakes, pretzels, and chocolate chips \u2014 for the students, who then created the final design. They ended up with a miniature, delicious recreation of the Russian countryside staged in The Seagull<\/em>: green coconut flakes covering the cake mimicked grass, blue gel frosting formed the play\u2019s iconic lake, and a small stage of pretzel logs rested atop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for incorporating the symbolic bird at the center of The Seagull<\/em>, the students took some creative liberty. Because a seagull famously dies during the play, the students veered away from literal depictions of the bird for appetite\u2019s sake, opting instead to frost the lake in the shape of a seagull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Michael
Michael Staffenski, executive chef of Dining Services and an Edible Books judge, takes a taste test of a sugar-fueled spectacle by Perrin Lumbert, interlibrary loan assistant, that pays homage to the book Maximalism, a celebration of lavish, eclectic, and exuberant interior design. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stephenson enjoys finding unique, creative ways for her students to engage with the coursework; they also created a puppet show based off of The Seagull<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s a really cool way to end the experience of reading a piece of literature and then seeing how many different ways you can expand on it,\u201d said George Miller \u201925 of Savannah, Ga.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few dozen biblio-foodies in Ladd Library put down their pencils and picked up their plates to sample literary treats, including \u201cLime and Punishment by Fyodor Donut-oyevsky.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1827,"featured_media":168622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":168619,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1827"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168623"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168990,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168623\/revisions\/168990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}