Family, summer - and cake!

We celebrated Jake's 16th birthday yesterday. It seems not that long ago that Gabi and I were in Togo, getting ready to head back to the states, and Gabi got word from her brother that he and Jen were new, proud parents of a wonderful baby boy.

Now this baby boy is much taller than I am and plotting the means to buy a car with $635 and no plans of how to pay the insurance. So very sixteen.

So the whole family came together yesterday, and it was a wonderful thing. At one point I was in the house and looked out at the scene: Gabi playing lawn games with the kids, Jen, Nick, and both grandmothers sitting at the garden table laden with chips and cherries, talking like old friends. I've been thinking too much about my family of birth lately, and that moment crystalized for me just how good and precious the heart-family can be.

As dusk and mosquito-time neared, we headed indoors for cake. Ah, cake. I made, per Jake's request, German Chocolate Cake. It was named, in case you don't know, not because it has any Germanic heritage but due to the name of it's creator: an Englishman named Samuel German. In 1852, Mr. German created the cake as a showpiece for Baker's Chocolate (for more on the story, go here).

But Jake has recently returned from a five-week trip to Germany and Switzerland, and so it seemed only fitting to make this particular cake.

Yesterday was the first time I'd made German Chocolate, and it turned out lovely. I've seen (and tasted) homemade versions where the frosting was made with evaporate or sweetened condensed milk (I think that's the version on the Baker's Sweet Chocolate package). I was never too impressed. Leave it to Bon Appetit to come up with a version that lifts the bar. The frosting has a true caramel flavor that melds beautifully with the coconut and nuts (the original BA recipe called for macadamia nuts, but I used the more traditional pecans).

So, here's to heart-family, summer days and, of course, good cake. Nothing better than a real good cake to celebrate the blessings of a real good day.

*****

German Chocolate Cake

from The Bon Appetit Cookbook, edited by Barbara Fairchild, © 2006

CAKE

½ cup water

1 4-ounce package sweet baking chocolate, chopped

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 large eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

pinch cream of tartar

FROSTING

1 ½ cups (packed) golden brown sugar

1 cup whipping cream

¼ cup whole milk

4 large egg yolks, beaten to blend

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or macadamia nuts, lightly toasted

FOR CAKE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 3 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 ½-inch sides. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment. Bring ½ cup water to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter un large bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add chocolate mixture and vanilla; mix until blended. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating well after each addition. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter in two additions.

Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks. Remove parchment; cool completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and store at room temperature.)

FOR FROSTING

Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan and whisk until blended. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens to consistency of caramel sauce and coats spoon, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Remove from heat. Stir in coconut and pecans/macadamia nuts. Let frosting stand at room temperature until cool and spreadable, about 1 ½ hours. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Sarah Haskins: Laundry

Yak Rack & a Pomatini

We spent part of the day today making a (ka)yak rack for the truck, the idea being that when we go on longer trips, we can take the kayaks, bikes, coolers, and luggage all in the truck. For short kayaking excursions, we can still just throw the kayaks in the back of the truck and strap down. But this will be great for Madeline Island next month, Duluth in September, etc. Gabi's brother, Nick, helped us build the yak rack. It ended up costing under a hundred dollars for hardware and new tie-downs ~ we had enough 2x6's and 2x4's in the garage from previous projects that we didn't have to buy any lumber.

Also, when not in the truck the yak rack stays in the back of the garage as kayak storage. We've been hanging the boats from rafter hooks, and while that's fine for short term it can warp them if done too long. They'll stay much happier this way.


After finishing the rack and doing a dry run with the tie-downs we made dinner for the family: grilled fajitas. Basically, I grilled the onions, peppers, chicken and flank steak on my fabulous new grill and then we brought it all indoors (it's been raining most of the day! yeah!) and gobbled it up.

After Nick and the kids left, we hung out a little while with Nancy and Gabi's mom, and I made pomatinis (recipe follows). Seriously yummy. My new cocktail of choice. Try one! They're especially good on a warm summer day ~ which today was not. Did I mention that today, June 6, we had to bundle up in jeans and sweatshirts, and we even turned the heat back on!! Unbelievable! But at least it's raining.

***

Brandi's Pomatini (Pomegranate Martini)

3 ounces pomegranite juice
1 1/2 ounces Grey Goose or other "top shelf" vodka*
3/4 ounces simple syrup**
juice from 1/2 lime
6 ice cubes

Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker. Shake well and pour into desired glass.

*We've had these with both cheaper vodka and Grey Goose, and there is a very definite difference. Cheaper vodka has a slightly bitter aftertaste that clashes with the fruitiness of the juice.
** Simple syrup: mix equal parts water and sugar (I like organic or turbinado best). Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Boil gently for two minutes and cool.

Ah, the smell of iris in the morning

It was, according to MPR, the third-driest May in recorded history for our area. That means that some areas of the garden are looking a little stunted: the hydrangea are small, astilbe are struggling, and even some of the weeds look a little anemic. The south lawn is already browning.

However, the iris seem to love the dry, mostly cool weather. We've got varieties blooming this year that we haven't seen in years. Vanity has buds! So does Black Tie Affair. This is even more surprising when you consider that the spring got away from me this year and I never fed/fertilized the yard.

So, first pics of this year's lovely iris display:

Empty Nest Syndrome

We're smiling like happy mommas... the robins have fledged!

About a month ago a robin started nesting on the gutter just next to our porch. Since then, we've watched with baited breath as she weathered windstorms, Rosie's insistent curiosity (and our own) and finally hatched three little robins. Then the parents spent hours bringing them earthworms (we are so proud of our lush, organic yard with so much food for robins!!), until finally we knew the nest could not take too much more.

Today I came home from work to find the nest empty. I went outside and found one intrepid baby surveying the yard from the top of a garden light. I took a quick pic with my phone then ran in for the camera. When I came back out he'd moved to the keyhole garden, and then onto an iris. Love that picture!

Looking back at our Robin-journey:

May 8th: It seemed like such a crazy place to park a nest.

May 29: Momma does not like us sneaking peeks.

May 31st: They've officially outgrown the nest.

Summing it up ~ MToaS Evaluation

I'm doing the happy dance now. I know that the deadline for finishing More Things on a Stick was extended into June, but I really wanted to finish by today. And so I did. Yeah me. Now I can go back and play more with some of the things I learned, not to mention returning to a more personal tone with the blog. I'm happy about that, too.

(Just in time for my birthday on Saturday! Forty!! I've been making ice cream. I decided, it's my birthday and if I want homemade ice cream and brownies, then that's what I'll have.) 

So, as for More Things on a Stick:

Again, I find myself wanting to stand on a mountaintop and shout out to fellow library staff: DO IT. I think there is just so much in current web technologies that could be useful to us and our patrons. Again, I am frustrated by the inertia that seems to happen when trying to keep up with something that, by its very nature, changes so much and so often that it cannot really be kept up with. It takes a lot of effort and time to not just learn about these technologies and programs, but also to use them enough to reach enough of a comfort level to use them in the public eye where any typos, mis-uses, and misunderstandings will be out there for everyone from our neighbors to our supervisors to our mothers to see. Eek.

So, I keep hoping that we will reach the tipping point with some of these ideas. At GRRL a few things have really caught on. Ironically, one of the Web 2.0 tools that has crossed the barrier from geek- to general-use is not one that I've seen covered in either 23 Things or More Things. It's SurveyMonkey. In a word, fabulously useful.

Again, I really like the way that the Things program is set up. I like that its designers don't (seem to) have any strict assumptions about what kinds of web tools will be useful for people working in a library setting. So we get to manipulate photos, try our hand at Twitter, learn about on-line money management tools. All of these things will be useful to some participants and useless to others. I like that Things staff throw it all out there and trust participants to decide.

That said, I do think that there was too much emphasis put on Twitter, and I would like to have seen something exploring strengths and weaknesses of alternative search engines, especially Wolfram Alpha. [Okay, that was a joke. Look here or here.]

So, good job. I hope we can do this again next year!

Web Junction (MToaS 46)

I admit, I tend to forget about Web Junction. I signed up for it even before the first 23 Things on a Stick, so I've been a member for a while. But I've actually used it very little. However, when prompted to go back I do find interesting things ~ mostly in the area of courses. I've taken a couple of Web Junction courses online and found them to be pretty good. The webinar on Social Software and the Rural Library looks like an interesting one.

I think, for me, part of the problem with these kinds of discussion boards is simply finding the time to use them. Perhaps it's a matter of making it be part of my day or week ~ create time to do it until it becomes a habit. But so far this has been a hurdle that I haven't quite managed to jump over. Intellectually, I love the idea of having a resource for Minnesota librarians to use to communicate about topics relevant to our work, help us keep abreast of changes in technology, legalities, etc., bring up new ideas about ways to reach and reach out to our communities. I want there to be something exactly like WebJunction. And there is. So why is it so difficult to fit it into my working life?

In a moment of overload I found this ShelfCheck toon by the inimitable Poesygalore. It sort of sums it up.

by poesygalore | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Head in the Clouds (MToaS 45)

After reading some of the recommended readings on cloud computing I did some more research into this brave new world of data collection. It's a fascinating thing.

Yes, I do many things "in the cloud." Google docs, wikis, online banking, etc. etc. It's useful and, generally speaking, for anything you could want to do (ie. write a letter or report) there is someone out there who has figured out an easy way to let you do it, often for free. The hardest part sometimes is simply sifting through all the different kinds of applications, widgets, etc. to figure out which one you want to use.

Oh, and remembering your passwords and usernames.

I also think it's interesting to see how online storage is becoming the new way to think about protecting your valuable information. Create an online library of all your books, DVDs and CDs, upload all your photos, scan and make PDF's of all your important documents and store them in the cloud, and if your house burns down or gets busted up by a tornado then at least you can recover these things. Strange how making something virtual somehow makes it more secure against loss.

Of course, security concerns still linger. What if someone hacks into your data? What if the company you're using suddenly vanishes from the Internet-o-sphere? What if a glitch "out there" affects my ability to create something right here?

In the spirit of the thing, I found a listing by GoGrid CEO John Keagy about the future of cloud computing. GoGrid is one of many companies that are set up not so much for individuals but for companies, with the idea being that the organization uses GoGrid for information storage instead of worrying about servers and on-site storage (what happens, I wonder, to IT departments then? Do they get smaller or larger with cloud storage?). Regardless, without further ado, ten predictions for cloud computing in 2009:

1. Asking “is the Enterprise ready for the Cloud” will be analogized to “the Internet is a fad”
2. There will be some Cloud security breaches that will become super high profile
3. Questioning the security of the Cloud will become less vogue
4. The demand on companies to develop Cloud strategies will be likened to Y2K certification
5. Cloud strategies will be proven to be more important than Y2K certification
6. SAN storage will not emerge as being relevant to Cloud Computing
7. NoHardware.com will illuminate the spirit of the Cloud movement
8. RackSpace stock will claw back to $10.00
9. Al Gore will announce he invented Cloud Computing
10. Cloud Computing will (fill in the blank, for example, ...be the silver bullet to slow or stop the recession? ...enable companies to maintain profitability? ...bring government into the 21st century?)

I think it's interesting, cool, and could be a real boon to libraries, both in terms of productivity with wikis, GoogleDocs, etc., and in the archival sense of scanning and saving books, art, oral histories, etc.

Brave new world and a little CYA for the old one. Could be an all-around good thing.

***

Pic credits: Image: 'Sunny Side Up' www.flickr.com/photos/74122471@N00/233472093

Cloud Computing

by chezbrandi | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Money Tools (MToaS 44)

This Thing could not have come at a better time. As of yesterday, I am no longer the treasurer for St. Cloud OUT, a small community group that, among other things, puts on a GLBTA Film Festival every year. As I was thinking about how best to hand over the checkbook after four years as treasurer, I was stumped. I had the checkbook information on Quicken, but what if the next treasurer doesn't have access to the program? How best to handle the transfer of checkbook and responsibilities?

When I came on board as treasurer four years ago, the books were a mess. Yes, all the records had been kept, but messily so. It took me a couple of months to figure out what was what, and even then there were a couple of things that I looked at, pondered, and finally gave up on. What I want, as someone who's put years into a small, sometimes fragile, very worthwhile community organization, is a way to make leadership transitions smooth and provide the checks and balances to make sure that the funds are being handled properly.

Mint.com and ClearCheckbook both look like reasonable ways to answer this question. My concern with Mint.com is that our bank is not included in their on-line service (ReadWriteWeb complains that only large banks are included, and why is that when this could be such a boon to smaller banks?). I couldn't find a way to manually upload information, but perhaps I'll look again. What I like about Mint.com, if the bank is included, is that (from the sounds of it) transaction information is automatically uploaded and e-mailed out to one or two accounts. No one needs to find the time to manually do the job - and we all know how hard it is go get to those "little" jobs, especially when it's a volunteer duty and not our real work.

This sounds like such a good idea for community groups and non-profits. In my experience, few of us have treasurers with professional accounting experience. Greater transparency and checks and balances (ie. the account transaction e-mails go to both Treasurer and Chair) would only help the fiscal health of the organization.

Makes me want to stand on a mountaintop and shout it out to all FOL groups. Makes me want to change banks so that we can use Mint.com.

ClearCheckbook also looks like a useful option. You don't have to rely on the bank being part of their system, you can manually upload information (although, when I tried uploading my Quicken file it turned all the dates since Feb. 2002 to Jan. 1, 1970. That was aggravating!). Again, lots of options. I have a meeting scheduled Monday to sit down with the new Treasurer and Chair, and I plan to show them both Mint and ClearCheckbook and recommend that we go with one or the other.

As to the other links on this Thing: some more useful than others, of course. It was nice to find out that I was correct about which gas stations had the lowest prices in our area. I loved MadCity Chickens (love those Madison folks!). Made me wistful. I grew up on a small hobby farm with lots of chickens, goats, horses, etc. I love the big brown hens, and have often thought it would be fun to have a few (even if I can't eat the eggs). They're just such pleasant and silly creatures (the hens, roosters are awful!). I must admit tho, the Eglu pic above made me laugh out loud! Smart, inventive, but all I could think when I saw it was, "Yeah, that'd be the home of yuppy chickens!!"

***

Speaking of the economy and chickens... I couldn't stop myself from looking at the price of the Eglu that's pictured at the top. $995. Holds "up to" 10 chickens. Oh my, oh my. That is not the hobby farm I grew up on!!

Online TV and Video

I adore Hulu, and have been using it since I discovered it during 23 Things on a Stick. I admit that I most appreciate it when I'm sick ~ I curl up in bed with my itty-bitty laptop snuggled under the covers with me and watch sci-fi channel re-runs. It's great. I also know some people who have cut costs by dropping their cable and now catch all their TV online. It makes sense.

In fact, I watch a lot of TV online. If I miss an episode of one of my favorite programs ~ because of a TiVo glitch or because I didn't discover it in time to add to TiVo ~ I go online to find the episode.

It's been interesting to see how TV networks are adjusting to this trend. They make money by selling the full season DVD's, so I'm seeing more and more shows where the episodes are only available on Hulu for a limited time. After that, you need to catch it on re-runs ... or hope that your local library forks over the money for the DVD.

I haven't taken part in the video sharing opportunities, although that might be more interesting to me if I had a Facebook or similar account. I don't. I can't bring myself to want to, even if I can see how it would be interesting to hook into groups with similar interests to make new discoveries. In spite of this, I don't feel left out. I have friends who don't watch TV at all, yet they're bright, articulate, interesting and informed. Imagine it.

Another thing of note: a recent Time magazine article about The Mentalist described it as so old fashioned (it has definite nods to Columbo) that you couldn't even watch episodes online. The only way to see Jane catch the bad guys is to watch it on television. However, CBS execs aren't completely ignoring the Internet-TV phenomenon ~ you can watch teasers/trailers online!

Music and More (MToaS 42)

I love the opportunities for discovering music online. I've been a huge fan of Pandora for a while, and am getting to know Last.fm thanks to the MToaS prompting. There are some things I really like about both programs.

Pandora is great about bringing forward artists who have not found wide release, and I find the program easier and more intuitive than last.fm. However, Pandora playlists have a tendency to "bleed" into each other. I have very eclectic music tastes, but that doesn't mean I like to listen to everything all together. I like Counting Crows and Katie Melua equally, but I don't want them playing one after the other. 

A couple of days' sampling suggests that last.fm does a better job of keeping distinct voices separate.

By the same token, Pandora seems to recommend based on the sound of a piece much more than the genre that the artist is identified with. Last.fm seems to group more by genre. I guess it depends on which way of grouping a listener prefers.

What I love about both is the ability to discover new artists, voices, sounds. I've discovered lots of great songs through Pandora. I expect I will with last.fm. 

I do really like that last.fm gives me information like artist bio, tour dates, etc., and that I can play an artist's song on demand.

As for Internet radio, I love it, and have enjoyed it for a while. I really like WFUV out of New York and Live Ireland out of Dublin. Both have great songlists. My favorite source for finding new Internet radio stations is actually the easiest: iTunes. It's all built right into the iMac system and couldn't be easier (same is true for subscribing to podcasts, another thing I love about iTunes).

Mashup your life (MToaS 41)

I've been trying out lifestream.fm for a few days now. I can see where it would be useful to folks who are linked in to social networks like Twitter, Facebook, etc, as well as using Delicious on a regular basis. For me, I ended up with a listing of the music I listened to on Last.fm and my Blogger posts. 

What was interesting was scrolling over the over 60 program icons linked up to Lifestream. Even worse, I recognized less than a quarter of them. Now, just when I'm starting to feel exhausted and ready to be done with MToaS, I'm introduced to a new system that leads me to ask, "What the heck is Mister Wong?"

I do, however, see more usability for Lifestream for those who are plugged into the social aspects of the web ~ and me, I keep looking for the productivity. I doubt that I'll continue with Lifestream after I finish with MToaS. 

What I will do is go figure out what Mister Wong is. And Plazes. And Qik. And...

Knock out Gnocchi

Jane and Nancy came over for dinner last night and I made this fabulous gnocchi dish that I found in EatingWell Magazine. I couldn't find my actual magazine, but fortunately I did find the recipe on-line. I made a couple of adjustments (added sun-dried tomatoes, used unseasoned tomatoes and added my own basil and oregano seasoning). It's great. I was told that it should be in next year's cookbook ~ in the meantime, I'll put it here.

This is such a great recipe: it is very easy to cook (even after a couple of glasses of wine), goes down like true comfort food, and after the prep work is done it comes together very quickly. I prepped everything ahead of time and then, after appetizers were finished, cooked the dish while Jane, Nancy and Gabi hung out with me in the kitchen, laughing, drinking wine and telling stories. It was a lovely evening.

A few small points to make about the recipe (especially after reading the comments left on the site): First, be sure to use shelf-stable gnocchi, not dried or frozen. Shelf-stable means that it comes in a plastic vacuum pack and isn't dried. This is important.

Secondly, the original recipe suggests that you could use spinach in place of the chard. I haven't tried it, but my instinct would recommend against it. Spinach is too mild and breaks down too much when cooked, and you need something with enough flavor and substance to stand up to the rest of the ingredients, in both flavor and texture. 

Which brings me to the cheese: if you can, I'd highly recommend using good Parmesan that you grate yourself. I've made it with pre-grated cheese ~ and "better quality" cheese in the refrigerated section at that ~ but the flavor loss shows. A few of the reviews on the web site criticized the recipe for having a bland flavor. Boxed and/or pre-shredded Parmesan cheese, spinach, or frozen/dried gnocchi that has to be parboiled before skillet frying will all contribute blandness instead of flavor. 

Skillet Gnocchi with Chard & White Beans

From EatingWell Magazine, Jan/Feb 2009

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oil from oil-packed sun dried tomatoes

1 16-ounce package shelf-stable gnocchi

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4-5 sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup water

6 cups cleaned, chopped chard leaves (about 1 small bunch)

1 15-ounce can petite-diced tomatoes, juice included

1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add gnocchi and cook, stirring often, until plumped and starting to brown, 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

2. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and the onion to the pan and cook, stirring, over medium heat, for 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and water. Cover and cook until the onion is soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add chard and cook, stirring, until starting to wilt, 1-2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans, basil, oregano and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Stir in the gnocchi and sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and cook until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, about 3 minutes.

***

Pic credits: I did not take the above pic (although my dish did turn out just this pretty. The pic is from the EatingWell web site.

Mashup the Web (MToaS 40)

Okay, not sure I'll ever use this again, but Polyvore was interesting. Sort of like putting together a wishlist, except more immediately gratifying.

I looked at Pandora.FM, signed up and all, but it didn't have some of my favorite artists (Over the Rhine and Wailin' Jennys were no-shows, but it did have Hem). Also investigated Lunchbox and Wheel of Food, the latter especially is just silly fun. It seems that Lunchbox only adds restaurants with reviews, so their selection (at least for St. Cloud) was limited. Still interesting. Definitely makes me think that if I owned a restaurant (or other small business) I'd be looking for these kinds of mashups as alternative advertising opportunities. Is there a mashup for "cheap family entertainment" to which libraries could be added? I tried to find one, but didn't (admittedly, I'm running on caffeine right now... and sputtering a little, too.)

I tried Visual Headlines, but it took forever to load and I got bored...

Another odd one: Let Me Google That For You. Not sure what the purpose of that is, but, again, interesting. Crime Reports was frustrating because there are so few cities included.

So, in the end, I spent a little time playing with Polyvore. It was super easy and fun. I can so easily imagine my niece and at least a couple of my nephews (the fifteen and thirteen year olds, especially) having way too much fun making visual wishlists with this one. I was happy to see how easy it was to customize Polyvore and add my own objects of interest... their overly fashionista selection wasn't grabbing my interest.

I've just thought of another idea for Polyvore: lately I've been periodically yearning for a dog. Perhaps to dissuade me from that I should make a collage of all the plunder I'd need to buy if we did get Mia (my lovely Gabi said, so innocently, "Let's just go to the Humane Society and take a look," and like a fool I said, "Okay."). It would be a reality check!

Really Good Cookies

Tomorrow is the annual Bake & Book Sale for the Royalton Friends of the Library. Our friends are the best ~ few but feisty! ~ and provide funds every year for the prize books, craft supplies, and other things we need for the Summer Reading Program. Don't know what we'd do without them.

For the bake sale, I'm making the Giant Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Martha Stewart's Cookies, (c) 2008.  A mere test-drive with the library copy was not enough to satisfy me, so I purchased the book a couple of weeks ago. There are many recipes that look frankly amazing, but this is the only one I've tried so far. I made these cookies last week for a get-together at Jane's house. Had a few technical difficulties (the result of distraction on my part, not glitches in the recipe), but the cookies that cooked properly were really, really good. I'm thinking they'll be a great addition for the bake sale.

Giant Chocolate Sugar Cookies

From the cookbook description: "These oversize sweets don't need any mix-ins or frostings ~ their bold chocolate flavor says it all. In addition to butter, this recipe calls for melted vegetable shortening, which produces an unbeatable texture." I would add this: the cookies have a much more intense flavor after cooking than before. The dough is a little bland; the cookies brilliant. 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (or 1/2 cup unsalted butter) melted and cooled

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl. 

2. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in melted shortening (or butter). Add egg and vanilla; mix until creamy. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

3. Using a 2 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 4 inches apart. Bake until edges are firm, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Digital Storytelling (MToaS 39)

Another fun one. I can definitely see how this would be applicable to library work. I loved the history pages about Laura Wilson on escrapbooking. What a great way to make history come alive and feel accessible to kids! Hooray! 

Just yesterday I was talking with my supervisor about how exciting the non-fiction publishing world is right now. More and more, non-fiction writers are jumping clear of the restraints of academia and bringing the layperson fun, intriguing, exasperating, amazing and generally fantastic stories about what has brought us ~ as people, communities, societies ~ to this crazy place we are today. I think these tools (MToaS 38, 39, etc) can be part of that trend. Very, very cool.

For many of us, I suspect that the biggest obstacle to embracing these tools in the workplace will be getting our respective organizations ~ schools, public and private libraries, etc. ~ on board. It's not as simple as getting a great idea about how we, as individuals with a techy-geeky bent (okay, maybe I'm just speaking for myself) could utilize Web 2.0 tools to advertise/celebrate programs and the work we're doing, it's also a matter of having our respective administrations jump on board and say "Yes! Go for it!" Even if they want to encourage us, there may be a whole gamut of obstacles that need to be overcome first, as well as issues of politics/funding/staffing/etc. that may take priority for their attention.

I ended up using Scrapblog [note: the link on MToaS page doesn't work]. It was ridiculously easy to figure out. I used a video that I made a while ago on my sweet iMac. It was already uploaded on YouTube, so a very simple matter to go grab it, add some funness and then easy-peasy posting onto Blogger. The way these tools are integrating makes it very easy to manipulate data of whatever format and spend the precious brain cells on creativity rather than figuring out the logistics of specific programs. Nice.

***

Oh, and lastly: I'm really enjoying Skitch. (My apologies to the Windows users out there.) I took a pic of a robin who's built a nest on the gutters just outside our porch window. She's gotten used to us gazing at her. Doesn't even do more than glare when Rosie starts chattering at her. (We do pull a curtain across the window to give her more privacy.) We can't wait to see the little robin-lings that will hopefully be coming.

Scrapblog sample

Screencasting (MToaS 38)

Okay, I think I've found the MToaS equivalent to GoogleDocs. I love screencasting. Bit of a learning curve here: the screencast below doesn't look as good on YouTube as it did on ScreenCast, so I need to rethink the screen size. Other than that (and my messy narration) I'm pleased with it. 

I've done three or four training Power Points for work as part of different GRRL teams. Screencasts could be a great addition to those.

Also, I really like Skitch. Too bad it's Mac only. It is so much easier to use than the Windows-based print-screen command. I spent hours doing screen shots for the power point I made for our Internet for Seniors training... Skitch would have cut that time considerably. 

The obvious problem, however, is the Mac vs. PC thing.

Regardless, thanks MToaS folks. These are great tools!

New DVDs @ GRRL

Playing with Pics (MToaS 37)

First, true confession: I'm the one who brings a camera along to a birthday party, leaves it in the car, and then, when the party is over, as I'm heaving my tired self into the driver's seat (purse, keys, water bottle, over shirt and ball cap spilling out of my hands) spontaneously shouts out "dammit!" when I see the camera case on the floor by the back seat.

In other words, I don't have many pics that I would want to upload onto Flickr, on the off chance that someone might actually look.

My sister Sherri is a brilliant photographer. She's sent us pics of her sons (I have the cutest nephews known to aunti-kind), panoramas of the high plains where she lives, close-ups of flowers and bees... all gorgeous shots. She's really an artist. Me, not so much. I'm more pragmatic than gifted when it comes to photos.

That said, it was fun to mosey around these picture sites. My Animoto experiment is below (the nicest thing about it might have been the ease with which it uploaded into Blogger). I did make a photo collage using Collagr (and some garden pics I uploaded last year for 23 Things). But, you know, it just really wasn't that interesting.

I did use Tiltshift to make the top pic of my cat Rosie a tad more interesting. I also used roflbot to create the captions. (I tried to use CaptionBubble but it wouldn't work for me. I'm wondering if there is a Mac vs. PC issue?)

So, all cool stuff. But I can't help wondering about the limitations.

We had a staff meeting today and learned that there are very stringent copyright rules for the Summer Reading Program graphics, wording, etc. So can we use these tools with any of them? I'd guess no.

We also have new branch pages for the GRRL web site (great new site) but I'm not sure whether we'll be able to add pictures or java script to our pages.

My lovely Gabi is a teacher, and I share many of these tools with her. But she's discovered that she can't use many of them for teaching because she can't access them from school. The school district has set such stringent limits on types of websites that can be accessed from school computers ~ including teacher's computers ~ that many of these great tools are little more than fun/cool/pretty things to think about.

That said, I do see lots of opportunities here. Just got to muddle a little more about how to actually put them to use.

Animoto Experiment

Generating Some Fun (MToaS 36)

 

I love the poem by ee cummings, In Just Spring, and so I used the Wordle image generator to make a wordle of the poem. Very fun. These are silly things, but they are rewarding and entertaining too. For one thing, each of us who writes these blogs is hoping that someone else will read them. Adding wee bits of entertainment can help.

If we write blogs for our libraries, or have branch home pages (as GRRL will very soon!) these might be fun things to add as well. So while they are silly on the one hand, I think they can be useful as well. 

I've also thought these would be great fun for publicizing and promoting programs. I love the idea of making READ posters with library staff, community members, etc. Also, the newspaper article generator was great fun, as was the dictionary entry generator. I can think of many ways that we could use these tools to make our programs, blogs, web pages, etc. much more entertaining, and therefore to generate more interest in what we're doing.

I tried making the comics. Made one on MakebeliefsComix that I liked well enough,  but couldn't export it. Then I remade it on ToonDoo. First I used the regular embedding and couldn't figure out how to resize it to make it fit the screen. The second time, I embedded as Flash code and that worked better. So, fun, but more cumbersome than I would have expected. All the same, it is very gratifying for me to see my story made visual!

***

Update (an hour later): Made another comic; it went faster/better. Also, stumbled upon the comics by poesygalore do check her out! Her stuff is too funny!

by chezbrandi | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Can I Catalog My Book Sites? (MToaS 35)

Okay, first off, I love Library Thing. It's so cool, and I've discovered some great reads there by following the keyword links into other collections. It's one of my favorite Things from the first 23 Things session.

And now, I discover all these new ones! Just as cool. And, as always, it's just nice to realize that there are oodles of us who get so excited about books. About stories. Such things inspire me.

I love the idea of Reading Trails, but was disappointed to find none of my last four favorite books read. Not one. Not sure if this says more about Reading Trails (its number of users of just the type) or me! In contrast, Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan has 118 other readers on Library Thing. So, while I like the idea of Reading Trails, I think I'll stick with Library Thing for now. (BTW: Phenomenal book!)

It is great fun to discover new books by finding out what folks who loved the book you read have also read. That's what makes Library Thing so useful (aside from the cataloging function) and Reading Trails seems to do that same thing in a slightly different way. I finally did find a trail to follow, through Gaiman's Graveyard Book (loved that one, too). That led me to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which only had 6 intersections. That makes me wonder just how much the site is used.

I am most pleased with the Readers Advisory sites. RA is a challenge for me. I have had some great RA days, making parents and kids very happy with my knowledge of juvenile and YA fantasy ("What? You haven't tried The Last Apprentice series yet? What are you waiting for? Oh, you must, it is SO GOOD!!") I'm good at international fiction as well ("Finding Nouf, by Zoe Ferraris, is a stunning work with great insights into Saudi Arabian gender, class, and tribal distinctions. Brilliant!")

But when a patron tells me she's read all the books by Nora Roberts and wants to know where to look next, I have to rely on what I see my other patrons reading. I've checked out, checked in, shelved and relocated numerous books by Nora Roberts (as NR or as JD Robb), but I've yet to read a single word she's written. I appreciate any site that helps me find new authors for patrons to try.

I've been using What's Next for a few years. In fact, when an update to our staff website resulted in a broken link to What's Next, I must admit to sending a semi-hysterical e-mail to our IT staff. They fixed it quickly, as always. But this site is so good and useful for figuring out what book is next in a series. It's especially useful with authors like WEB Griffin who are simultaneously writing two or three series, so you can't rely on publication dates to figure out which books go with which series.

I will be bookmarking What Should I Read Next and BookStumpers. These look like really great and useful sites. BookStumpers was very fun to browse, if only for the queries by readers: they show such passion, nostalgia and general fondness for the written word. Really fun to get to share that.

Thanks MToaS team!

***

Pic Credits: "Graffiti Bridge" at www.flickr.com/photos/49503087439@N01/105087819

Can I Google a reference librarian? (MToaS34)

I've been thinking a lot about this issue lately, and not just because of MToaS prompting. Is the function of reference librarians, or at least staff who sit at the reference desk, still relevant? My immediate answer is, "Of course!" But then I have to add, "Just maybe not in the same way we/they used to be."

I've been trying to keep track of the questions that I get asked that could be called "reference." Of course there is the annual inundation of third-graders looking for books on Beethoven. I don't know why the teacher doesn't say, "pick a famous person," or "pick a famous composer." Nope. The whole class does the same subject and my two juvenile biographies and the one circulating "B" encyclopedia get checked out right away, and every

one else needs to put something on hold. This happens every year.

And there are have been patrons who've asked for books about grieving, building bird houses, making good bread, buying a used car. 

But none of these questions take more than a moment to answer. They don't cause me to flex my "reference muscles." (One question, at the SCPL reference desk did, and that was about US troop levels abroad) The questions that make me feel like I'm really stretching are all on technology. Specifically, Web 2.0 technology.

 What is Twitter?

Is Twitter the same as instant messaging?

Is is safe to be "friends" (on a social networking site) with someone you don't know?

How do I get this picture of me from my cell phone onto Yahoo personals?

How do I know which web sites are secure?

I know I'm not the only one who gets questions like these. Yes, lots of our patrons can ~ and do! ~ bypass us and turn to the Internet for answers to their questions. But there are many left on the sidelines, watching this social and technological sea-change occur and feeling more and more stranded. Before we start bemoaning our presumed obsolescence we should take a moment to contemplate how these neighbors and patrons are feeling. And then get busy learning and teaching.

I was talking the other day with some other staff people about the difficulty of getting more people involved with 23 Things, or More Things. I know it takes time. I know life gets in the way of this online studying. I understand that for some people, the blogging aspect is hugely intimidating. In spite of all this, I think we need to keep urging our fellow library staff ~ at all levels ~ to learn about and grow more comfortable with web technologies. 

In an age when many of our patrons can google their questions, and will turn to wikipedia for answers, we need to stay cognizant of the disparity in our communities between the web-proficient and the patrons who picture only a rodent when you say the word "mouse." Our jobs are no less relevant today than they were before Google. They've just changed a bit here and there, and we need to keep up. 

***

Pic credits: "Twitter Logo Map 09",  www.flickr.com/photos/82298325@N00/3346248321. and "Questions Answered" at www.flickr.com/photos/45082883@N00/223839049

Fishers and films

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've blogged. Life jumped up and smacked me, what can I say? There's been good, bad and the ugly, and the sublimely beautiful too. And, as always, I've drafted the blog entries in my head, then the days and weekends end and I'm too exhausted from the busy, distracting work of living to actually take the time to sit and write. It's too bad. There have been some really good drafts in my head.

The weekend of April 10 when we decided to go south in search of open water -- the lakes up here were still frozen over and the rivers running too wild to float. So we took the weekend off of work, we threw the kayaks in the back of the truck, and we headed to Red Wing. It was fabulous. We floated on the Vermillion Slough, the water so high that we parked a half a mile before the parking lot and then floated the rest of the way. The picture of Gabi above is in the parking lot -- and about three feet of water. While there we saw several Bald Eagles, one in a nest, as well as a fisher (aka North American marten) which was quite fun. We feel very fortunate for that, since they are supposed to be very shy animals.

I first saw the fisher in the water, trolling around some fallen logs that were swamped with high water. Then, he saw me and skedaddled, running for the nearest standing tree. He climbed up it very quickly, looking both awkward and elegant (and noisier than I would have expected) and then stopped about twenty-five feet up, in the vee of some branches. From there he peeked out watching us, and seemed to be as curious about us as we were about him.

Then, two weekends ago was the 8th Annual St. Cloud GLBTA Film Festival, and like every year before it was nail-biting mayhem at times and nerve wracking, sit and wait to see who shows up at others. The films were awesome. We had a great film-screening committee and they did a great job. Unfortunately, the turnout was much lower than we'd hoped.

This is the second year that our turnout has been down. This year was the lowest we've had. I can't help wondering if, in an era of Logo network, Brokeback Mountain, and Ellen with not only a highly rated talk show but also her full-page Covergirl spreads, that maybe GLBT film fests just aren't needed as much anymore. We're not starved for lack of mainstream images of ourselves. The popular culture and media landscape is so phenomenally different than it was even ten years ago. It's good, but I'm starting to wonder how and if our little film festival will survive.

***

Pic info: Gabi in the kayak taken by me. The fisher is from the wikipedia entry on fishers, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal).

Catching the Travel Bug (MToaS 33)

I love the options for Travel 2.0! The blogs are fun, and interesting. I love My Kugelhopf! I was thrilled to see that the writer, Kerrin Rousett, is writing from Zurich. And showcasing chocolate. Very yummy.

We're planning to go to Europe next summer. We'd love to go this year, but we're not sure that will happen, what with paying off our fantastic new energy efficient windows. We are saving a lot on heat this horrid winter, but not two plane-tickets-worth.

I've been a big fan of the travel site reviews for a while. We used a few different sites when planning our trip to Lake Tahoe last year, and it was so helpful. I can't now remember which site we used, but because of the online reviews posted by real guests we were able to find a great little cabin, clean but cheap, right on the lake and near where we wanted to be. I went back and wrote my own review after we got back from our trip, figuring I should give kudos where they were due.

My one problem with these sites is that I suspect that for every 500 to a thousand happy guests, perhaps one will write a review. That means that small towns typically don't have any reviews. Even small cities like St. Cloud will only have a few reviews. However, if a person is traveling to a new big city or tourist destination, these sites are brilliant!

Pic Info: Hey, I took this one! Lake Tahoe, from the Nevada side looking toward Sugar Pine Point State Park.

Vermeer Tour (Google Maps)

View Larger Map

(I couldn't figure out how to keep the map at a wider view, so minimize greatly to see what I was actually doing with this.)

I blew way too much time playing with Google maps. This is serious fun, and I can imagine lots of possibilities... from making maps of library service areas and points of interest to planning vacations, to commemorating a favorite meandering weekend with your Sweetie. This was very fun.

I loved the ability to add pics, URLs and other things to the maps, although I didn't do as much of that as I could have. I'll go back and fine-tune this map later, because some day I really do want to take this trip. I find Vermeer's work to be so profound, sensual and compelling... I would love to meet these works in person.

More Twitter (MToaS31)

Forgive me, MoreThings Folks. I know you are trying hard to get us up to speed with the latest and best web technologies, but, I just cannot get excited about Twitter. I'm not sending Tweets. I'm not following anyone. I just can't bring myself to do it, not even to be a good sport for your sakes.

I am, however, thoroughly bemused by Twitter as a social phenomenon. I found this article on Mashable.com that says that Twitter is not only growing at 1,382%, but Facebook is changing its format in order to stay competitive against Twitter's growing popularity. 

So, it seems I will be drug, kicking and screaming, into the Twittersphere. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. 

Gabi and I were talking about Twitter on Monday while we were not kayaking. She said that she could see Twitter being really useful if you lived in a city or on campus, and you wanted to go out for dinner, and so instead of e-mailing or calling all your friends you just send out a Tweet saying, "I'll be at Joe's Cafe at 6. Join me."

From a library perspective, I can see the potential in sending out Tweets about programs, author visits, interesting items in the collection, etc. 

However, my library patrons are the one group who I have not heard talking about Twitter. I've heard co-workers, friends, news personalities... Jon Stewart does a fabulous mock-up, see below... but not the good folks who come to visit my particular library. 

Right now, throughout GRRL, we are offering beginning Internet training for seniors. And when I say beginning, I mean "Here's your spacebar. This is a mouse." And even though the majority of my patrons are not at that level, they are surely not interested in Twitter, either. 

Perhaps this is simply the issue for small, rural libraries. I'm trying to be a good sport with the MToaS program, but I simply can't see how Twitter is relevant for the people who come to my library.

Pic Attribution:Image: 'Rubber duckies.... one last image'  www.flickr.com/photos/43078695@N00/307506216

My Stalker just Grunted on my Twitter

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Twitter Frenzy

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer