jaspers corner

My Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 02:12:00 +0000

Here it is, Lynette and all others who requested it. I have also sent it via e-mail.

Nancy’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I include my comments for my vegan ingredients. They may be found in any health food store or you can substitute your own versions (i.e. you can use brown sugar or white sugar or any margarine)
Note: I usually double the recipe - you will always want more cookies!!!

Pre- heat oven to 375°

1 ¾ cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup vegan margarine, softened (I use Smart Balance)
1 cup brown sugar (I use Sucanat, a natural sugar cane)
3 TBLS sugar (I use a lighter version like Florida Crystals, a natural sugar
cane)
1 egg equivalent (I use Ener-G Egg Replacer – 1 ½ tsp powder with 2 TBL
water to equal 1 egg)
2 tsp Kahlua (or vanilla)
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (many store brands are these days)

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the margarine with the sugars until well mixed and fluffy. I use a hand mixer for this.

Beat in the egg relacer and the Kahlua.

Add the flour mixture and beat until combined. I begin to use a wooden spoon after about ½ the flour mixture is added. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. OR - I make my cookies larger by forming them by hand.

Bake in your 375° oven for 8-10 minutes depending on the size of your cookie. If a crispier cookie is desired, bake for 10-12 minutes. Because I prefer to make a large cookie, I usually have them in for 10-11 minutes. Remember, when you take cookies out, they are VERY soft. Once cool, they hold together beautifully to make a chewy cookie!

Makes 15 small cookies, 12 large ones.

Let me know if you make them! Enjoy!

Ciao!

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:41:00 +0000

This class gets my vote for being the most fun while being the most practical. It has been one of my most collaborative classes - getting to see all your original projects made this experience all the more valuable as we really were able to learn from one another.

Jasper says, "well done!" (he is taking a nap now. I will join him soon).

Best of luck to everyone. Thank you, Steve.

A new blog and wiki...

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:38:00 +0000

Jasper is realizing his is not the only blog on the block!

I just wanted to give a link to my final assignment which is a new blog and accompanying wiki for Ocean County Home Schoolers. I hope to present this eventually to the Ocean County Library as an additional resource. Our motto there is "Connecting People, Building Community" and using this Web 2.0 technology for this purpose seems to be a good fit. This is still a work-in-progress but I wanted to get the link up there before I forgot!

MySpace adds more stress to my life...

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:08:00 +0000

As my relationship with all things 2.0 grows, I feel like the feed is burrowing deeper into my brain. Admittedly, I cannot see myself using MySpace to make virtual friends as I have more friends than I can manage to maintain a relationship with now (oh, and my family...what family...?) and I gave up trying to floss my teeth on a regular basis anyway. But here it is: http://myspace.com/nvscils598s07

Enjoying all the videos!

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:56:00 +0000

I don't know if everyone will read this but I want to say that I have totally enjoyed seeing everyone's videos, both educational and entertaining. We have a creative group here! Linking everything up properly has been a bit challenging for me, but once I get it down, infinite possibilities await.

How to Clip a Kitty's Nails

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 00:07:00 +0000

Jasper thought this would be an important educational video. I am sure I could have been more explicit, but he was a patient enough actor as it was!

How to Clip a Kitty's Nails

Here is the link to this on blip.tv (I would click that and not the "click to play" below. Like many other blip.tv links, this one "skips.")

Click To Play

The Mozart Tour

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 19:57:00 +0000

Here are some wonderful sites we visited in Salzburg and Vienna while accompanying our son and his choir on their singing tour this past June/July. See if you recognize any sites from the movie, "The Sound of Music!"

Or check it out on blip.tv - The Mozart Tour

Click To Play

Sites of Paris, City of Romance

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 01:00:00 +0000

Click To Play

Sites of Paris Slideshow

Sites of Paris

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:54:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sxZo6sgFGU

Thoughts on turning 50...

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:50:00 +0000

I am sitting here finishing up my homework for SSL and just saw that the clock is telling me I have 5 minutes to go as a 49 year old. This is a good place to be in life and classmates of my generation who read this will probably concur that life does just continues to get better. Yes, I could be out celebrating now, but a bit of that will happen in the next few days. I am very satisfied to be where I am at 50. A new career is beginning and I still have my career in art to balance me, my son is almost 16 and a really great kid that I am so proud of, my husband is supportive and puts up with me and thinks I am still hot in spite of what mirrors tell me. I don't worry about appearances as much, my confidence is better (well, except maybe in this class), I am alive. My five minutes are up, there is much to do and I am grateful that I can do it. Hey, if 50 is the new 30, I have lots of mileage left. Celebrate, everyone, wherever you are in life.

Cosette and Jasper

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:28:00 +0000

Here are Jasper and Cosette, typifying the differences between male and female cats - Cosette is the first up, very alert, and looking around for something to do...Jasper takes a quick bath and then is back down. Gravity and food are his good friends.

Flickr Arrives!

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:03:00 +0000

Check out some of my photos taken in class tonight that have just been added to my SCILS Flickr Set Slide Show. If anyone appears on here and decides they don't like their photo, just let me know!

Also, check out our SCILS class photos in a slideshow.

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 01:04:00 +0000

Librarything vs. Shelfari – imho...

I had not realized until I set out to compare these two virtual library sites that I already had a librarything account left from a workshop I took last year at the Ocean County Library (where I work). Since it has gathered dust for a year, I took this opportunity to actually begin stocking my virtual shelves!

I like the friendly interface on librarything and all its abundant possibilities. Taking the tour again refreshed my memory, and I have had fun playing with it. They give so many choices, and though I am a bit overwhelmed by them, I prefer this to Shelfari. Librarything is well organized and comprehensive in its explanations. I realize this could just be my personal aesthetic. Personally, I did not care for the design of Shelfari; when I went to explore I did not like being greeted by the personal icons which I found distracting. I am more about the books than about the people, and not interested in seeing who joined, when they joined, etc. I am sure that if I subscribed I might appreciate it more, but since one of these sites is enough, I will stick with Librarything, with all due respect to those who prefer Shelfari.

My Thoughts on Brown's chapter 5...

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:53:00 +0000

Okay, so I switched my chapters! Since I reported on chapter 8 last week, I offer chapter 5 for this week. It's good to mix things up a bit!

My thoughts on Brown...

OR...

Click To Play

Wikis Rock!

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:13:00 +0000

Come check out group two's wiki for Grove Art Online - we had a great team, totally overthought everything, but learned a lot (at least this immigrant did!). :)

Brain Fog

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:06:00 +0000

I am trying to finish up our homework assignment while home sick with a bad cold and as I am listening to the wonderful podcasts of my student colleagues I am feeling sicker as I realized I did my podcast on Brown's Chapter 8 as opposed to Chapter 5. And I was so thrilled that I even got it up and running! It is like getting all perfectly dressed up to go to a party and realizing you got the date wrong. I am going back to bed. :)

My Thoughts on Brown

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 04:29:00 +0000

My first solo flight into podcasting! Warning: I sound like a talking editorial.

Click To Play

Nancy is away...

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 02:42:00 +0000

Okay, Jasper here...so mom asked me to post to tell everyone she will not be blogging for a couple of days since she is away till Sunday .

My First Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 01:04:00 +0000

I sound so NPR.

Click To Play

Response to Info-Maniac...

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:43:00 +0000

Kim Garnick wrote on her blog Info-maniac:

Libraries need to be up-to-date on technology. If the library is using cutting-edge technology, then peoples' perceptions will change. The library then doesn't just have resources, it becomes a resource. You can't become obsolete, if you are always one step ahead.

So true...as I already responded to Kim, that as we rethink our purpose as librarians and the role that the library plays in many various communities, the public will better come to understand our purpose. I like that Kim said we are a resource. The library where I work is not only a great repository of information, it is also more of a community center now with programs, classes, a place to meet and socialize even (with the requisite coffee shop too!).

My Lesson from the Brown Reading, "The Social Life of Information"

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:18:00 +0000

(by Nancy - Jasper is sleeping next to me on all of my school papers and has not read the Brown article)

Information cannot exist in a vacuum; it needs to be understood within a particular context, which hopefully, leads us to knowledge. I could not help but be reminded of that ladder of wisdom we learned about in Organizing Information class: data leads to information which leads to knowledge which ultimately leads to wisdom. If we, as librarians, are “information specialists,” we must seriously consider what that means; what is our role in the accumulation of information and how it is shared with others? This kind of reading always leads to more questions for me (or is this just a hangover from critical question assignments of Human Information Behavior???)

Something else that Brown’s chapter on “Re-Education” reminded me of - the changes in educational structuring are being mirrored in libraries. We are moving towards the virtual library, the library of the digital age: live chat with a librarian, remote access to databases, e-books, etc. As in education, where technological advances do not signal the end of the college campus, in library services these advances do not signal the end of the physical library. This is its movement into another phase, one that allows us more options and adapts to the evolving needs of our society.

Pop Goes the Library, a recommended blog - by Nancy (Jasper is napping)

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 20:31:00 +0000

http://www.popgoesthelibrary.com/One of the blogs I rely on is Pop Goes the Library. Honestly, I am partial to this one as a few of the contributors are respected colleagues from the system where I work. That said, I find it a refreshing combination of both the fun and the professional; too often blogs can veer into either extreme. With a team of intelligent contributors, this blog provides up to date information for good reads, trends, opinions, all with a clearly pop culture slant (they unabashedly state "We love TV, music, the movies, comic books, anime, magazines, all things Net"). The linked blogs should also be checked out.

If librarians and libraries are to stay current with their patrons/society/culture, this type of blog is a must. (It certainly helps this library student stay somewhat on top of things while juggling grad school, work, family, life).

I also want to include a blog here from the Ocean County Library system for our teens called TAB Space (Teen Advisory Board), http://tabspace.wordpress.com/. We have 20 branches in our system and as you will see, some use this feature more than others. There is a faithful core of teens who use this and as word gets out of its existence the numbers will grow.

Jaspers Corner

noreply@blogger.com (nancy) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:33:00 +0000

Ha! I beat my sister in getting my own blog!

You may get the first combing of the morning, Cosette - but I have a BLOG!!!