Beyond the Reference Desk

Reading Nooks for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:30:00 +0000

Apartment Therapy featured "A Nook of One's Own: Kids' Reading Nooks" today.

It's an adorable selection of reading spaces for kids.

Image Source:

Thrifty Decor Chick via Apartment Therapy (Image: Thrifty Decor Chick)

It brought back memories of me hiding in my closet with pillows and blankets and a book light. That was my nook and I loved it. I had a bookshelf in my closet, so obviously, that was the ideal reading space, right? (I eventually moved up to a bean bag chair in the corner of my bedroom. I had a small closet and as I grew, I needed more leg room. *smiles*)

Did you have a favorite reading nook as a kid?

Under the bed or desk?

In a treehouse?

I'd love to hear about your favorite spaces. :)

Fall Morning in Buffalo

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:47:00 +0000

I walked outside this morning to this:

It doesn't get much better than that.

My newest instruction session prop

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:20:00 +0000

I came across this someeecard created by Grammar Girl:

The image was created to go along with her recent "How Do You Tell If Something is True" episode. (It's an episode that instruction librarians will surely enjoy!)

When I saw the image above I immediately thought that it would be a great tool for a future library instruction session. It can be placed on an overhead and then students can be asked for their comments on it. If I predict correctly, then I believe it will be a great segway to discussion about the Web vs library databases as well as evaluation of sources.

What other tools do you use to have students start the conversation about information literacy topics?

Guess who is coming to Buffalo?!

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Steve Martin!

UB announced the line-up for the 2012-2013 Distinguished Speaker Series today and my heart fluttered when I saw Steve Martin on the list. Of course, there are many other awesome individuals making their way to Buffalo including:

David Brooks (editor, commentator)
Laura Bush (former First Lady -- and librarian!)
Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS)
Walter Mosley (author)
Steven Pinker (psychologist)

...but, Steve Martin? The thought of being in the same room as him just makes me giddy. :)

I can't wait until April!

Fun book-related links

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:44:00 +0000

While at the reference desk this afternoon, I decided to do a little brushing up on my readers' advisory skills. While perusing some blogs and web sites, I came across these fun book-related links:

#CheeseLit hashtag on Twitter

http://hashtags.org/cheeselit
Take a classic or bestselling book and change the title to include a cheese in it!

#VeggieLit hashtag on Twitter

http://hashtags.org/veggielit
The same as #CheeseLit, but with vegetables! This is the hashtag that brought #CheeseLit to life.

Underground New York Public Library
http://undergroundnewyorkpubliclibrary.com/
Not affiliated with the NYPL, this site showcases pictures of people reading while commuting. Be sure to note how many are reading PRINT books!

Do you have any other fun book-related links to share? If so, please do leave them in the comments below!

Nook for Web and FREE BOOKS!

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:02:00 +0000

Attention Nook reading friends! Barnes and Noble is offering SIX FREE bestselling ebooks if you try the new Nook for Web service. The titles include:

The Vow by Kim Carpentar
Perfect Island Giveaways by Patricia Schultz
Sex and the City by Candice Bushnell
Map of Bones by James Rollins
The Boxcar Children Summer Special by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Brave by Tennant Redbank

When you go to the page below, click on the book, log-in to your account, and then click the "Nook Book $0.00" button in the upper right hand corner. It will then download to your Nook Library for future reading. (You have to do this for each book.) Offer ends 7/26!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook-for-web/379003594

PS: Nook for Web is pretty sweet. It allows you to read books from your Nook Library through a Web browser. Perfect for those times when you forgot your Nook or smartphone (with Nook app)!

The horrible, no good, very bad day.

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:42:00 +0000

Has anyone seen my lawn furniture?

The picture above was taken just last week in my front yard. I spent hours scrubbing it clean and then staining it to look all pretty and new again. It was really pretty. I planned on spending lots of hours sipping iced tea and reading a book while sitting in it this summer.

My plans have been shattered thanks to someone who took my furniture from my yard this morning. Two gorgeous Adirondack chairs, a table, and a foot rest. These were gifted to me and I'm devastated that they've been taken from me. Have you ever had something stolen from you? It's one of the worst feelings in the world. I'm trying to be optimistic that they'll be returned. I've already posted to Craigslist, Twitter, and Facebook. During my lunch break today I plan to file a police report. (They won't let you do that over the phone and I had to get to work.)

If you see my furniture, please let me know. If you know any local garbage pickers, please ask if they may have taken it on accident? They can drop it off where they found it. No questions asked. I really just want my furniture back. :(

In the Kitchen: BBQ Pulled Pork

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:54:00 +0000

I've been wanting to try a pulled pork recipe for awhile now, but just kept putting it off for some reason. However, thanks to Pinterest, the same recipe kept popping up over and over and I finally decided to take the plunge. (Plus, it totally helped that pork tenderloins were buy one get one free last week at the grocery store.)

The recipe that I used was the Slow Cooker Pulled Pork recipe posted by "Livie's Mammy" on Allrecipes.com. I love slow cooker recipes on the weekends because they are easy to throw together in the morning and then you have the rest of the day to yourself. (And you get to enjoy the delicious aromas throughout your house all day long, too!)

This recipe was SUPER easy to prepare. It consists of three ingredients: 2 lb. pork tenderloin, a bottle of root beer, and a bottle of barbeque sauce. You throw the pork and root beer in the slow cooker for 7 hours, then drain it, add the barbeque sauce and serve! I bought fancy kaiser rolls and served it on those with a side of vegetables. It was delicious and since there are only two of us, we also had leftovers for lunch the next few days. Yum!

Pinterest and Academia: ACRL Webcast

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:17:00 +0000

For those of you interested in using Pinterest in academic libraries, be sure to check out Joe Murphy's Pinterest for Academia: ACRL Webcast slides from earlier today. There are a lot of excellent ideas all rolled into one presentation!

Acrl webcast pinterest for academics

View more presentations from Joe Murphy

My 30 Day Shred Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:55:00 +0000

In my previous post, I explained that I have decided to begin my journey to healthy living with Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred workout. In addition to this workout, I will be tracking my diet with the online tools available at Sparkpeople.com. I've had great success with this tool in the past; it helps me to watch my calories and make sure that I'm eating the right amount of calories, carbs, fat, and protein each day.

My 30 Day Shred Challenge

Day 0 (4/20): I cleaned up an area of the basement and set up a television, DVD player, yoga mat, and a variety of free weights (3 lb, 5 lb, 8 lb, and 10 lb).

Day 1 (4/21): I started with level one and payed extra attention to Jillian as she gave pointers on how to prevent injuries with each exercise. Each level has 3 circuits which contain a mix of abs, cardio and strength movements. The abs and strength movements had me yelling at the television throughout the entire workout. At one point, I yelled to my boyfriend "I think she's trying to kill me!". He reminded me that I choose to do this, the woman on the television isn't forcing me to. Circuit one was tough; by circuit two, I was sweating, panting, and ready to be done. By circuit three I almost cried during the bicycle crunches. I can't believe I challenged myself to 29 more days of this!

Day 2 (4/22): I woke up SO sore. The spots that had the most soreness were my armpits, thighs, and calves. (I didn't even know your armpits could hurt in this way!) I could barely go up and down stairs. It was not a pretty sight. However, I was not quitting after one day! I put the DVD on and worked my way through. I reminded myself that I wasn't in pain, I was just sore -- because I am so out of shape. :\

Day 3 (4/23): Still sore. My armpits are better, but stairs are still a challenge. However, I made it through the workout again -- AND I felt like my bicycle crunches were a little bit easier! (Don't take that as the workout getting easier -- it's definitely still a beast!)

Day 4 (4/24): I woke up feeling great! Most of the soreness has passed now. The workout is still a challenge though. I ended up sweaty and out of breath around the beginning of circuit two, as I have the other days. One thing that is driving me crazy is when Jillian insists that there are "just a few more!" reps of an exercise when in reality, it turns out to be like *seven*. Not cool, Jillian. Not cool at all. Overall though, my energy level is definitely improving throughout the day. I think this might be working....

Day 5 (4/25): I finished the first half of level one this morning! Woo hoo! It's still a challenge, but I can tell that it's getting a little bit easier. Those bicycle crunches still kill me, though! Also, my arms are getting a workout. Washing my hair this morning was a challenge, as I felt the soreness in my upper arms. No pain, no gain, though!

Day 6 (4/26): I hit the snooze button twice and laid in bed for a bit wondering why I committed myself to 30 days (!!) of this program. In the end, I thought about how much stronger and more fit I've been feeling these past few days and decided to force myself to complete the 30DS before work. It was not pretty, but I finished the entire workout with no stopping. (PS: I still hate bicycle crunches.)

Day 7 (4/27): I almost let life get in the way of completing my workout today! However, with two hours left to spare in the day, I put on my workout clothes and hit up the basement for day 7! Now it's time to hit the shower, put on some PJs and go to bed knowing that I am still keeping up with my challenge! :)

Days 8 & 9 (4/28-29): I have sad news to report: I didn't complete my 30DS this weekend. I'm a bit bummed about it. We spent the weekend heavily spring cleaning and moving from our guest bedroom to our master bedroom...and, well...I failed and totally let life get in the way of my workouts. I wonder if Jillian will accept housecleaning and heavy lifting (moving queen and full size mattresses and box springs from the first to second floor of our house!) as a workout?? And of course this happened after I posted about how I didn't let life get in the way on day 7! Grrrr.

Day 10 (4/30): Woke up early and completed my workout. I was tired from all of the furniture moving and housecleaning this weekend, but I still got up and put myself back on the 30DS bandwagon! I'm going to try and fit in two extra workouts sometime this week to make up for days 8 and 9. *fingers crossed*

Day 11 (5/1): I moved up to level 2 today. What a beast! There are a lot of lunge exercises in this level and I am finding them *very* challenging. I was a sweaty, panting mess by the time the 20 minutes was over. It was definitely a tough, but effective workout this morning!

Day 12 (5/2): Finished day 2, level 2 today. The plank twists at the end did me in. Halfway through I dropped to the floor and finished with crunches. :\

Day 13 (5/3): My knees were sore most of the day. I'm not sure if it was something in the workout, or something that I did while moving furniture and other large objects around our house over the past few days. But, I took the day off to be safe. I did fit in a lot of walking and lifting though!

Days 14 & 15 & 16: (5/4-6): My knees were very sore, so I ended up taking a few days off. Instead, I fit in a workout with heavy spring cleaning and yard work. It's not the same, but I really couldn't risk hurting my knees any more. I think my mistake was trying to do level 2 at the advanced level. It really put a lot of pressure on my knees. When I start up again, I'll be trying it at the beginner level instead.

Day 17 (5/7): Although my left knee was still bothering me, I did get back into 30DS this morning. I completed level 2 by doing the beginner moves and it was SO MUCH BETTER. The workout was still tough and I still broke a sweat, but it put much less strain on my knees which is great!

Day 18 (5/8): Just finished my workout at level 2 again and feel great! The walkout pushups were actually EASIER today. (Who thought I would ever be able to say that?!) My left knee is still bothering me and I really felt it during jumping jacks and jump rope. I wasn't sure what to do in replace of these exercises so I just put most of my weight on the right side. (Probably a poor idea.) I might jump on our stationary bike during these if the pain keeps up.

Day 19 (5/9): Level 2 is loaded with various exercises done in the plank position, which I'm finding very challenging. I usually end up dropping to my knees for a 2 second break (at least once) during each plank exercise. I'm not sure if I am positioning myself the wrong way for the plank or if it really just is SUPER DUPER HARD. I might set my camera up to catch my image and compare it to the girls in the video. I'd hate to have injuries because of poor format -- something that could be corrected easily. Anywho...day 19 workout is complete!

Day 20 (5/10): I finished level 2 this morning! Although the plank position is still a beast and I haven't perfected it, I'm going to move on to level 3 tomorrow. Only 10 more days!

Day 21 (5/11): I started level 3 this morning! I wasn't sure what to expect. To be honest, I was a little nervous! It turns out that it's tough, but my favorite level so far! It is a lot of ab work and a lot of incorporation of weights -- even in cardio movements. I stuck to most of the beginner moves, but my challenge will be to move up to the advanced moves by the time I hit day 30. 9 more days! :)

Day 22 (5/12): Completed my workout and since it was a weekend and I had a bit more time after, I also went for a 3 mile walk. I am feeling great and definitely noticing more definition in my muscles. I took some measurements this week and discovered that I've lost some inches! Yay for 30DS results!

Day 23 (5/13): Not a very good day. I ate too much at a Mother's Day cookout and failed to fit in my 30DS.

Day 24 (5/14): After experiencing some horrible upper and lower back pain the previous night, I ended up resting most of the day and then fitting in a workout after dinner when I was feeling much better. I completed level 1 and level 3 back-to-back, both at the beginner moves only. (It's my first time doing two workouts in the same day, so it will be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow. After a horrible healthy living day on Sunday, I was determined to fit in some sort of make-up workout.)

Day 25 (5/15): Woke up bright and early and hit up the basement for another day of level 3! I am still doing most of the moves at beginner level, but definitely noticing myself getting stronger. I *might* just be able to do a plank position off of my knees by day 30. We'll see... :)

Day 26 (5/16): Not only did I complete level 3 this morning, but I also followed it up with level 2! Three weeks ago I never would have thought that I could complete two sessions back-to-back. I was feeling incredibly strong throughout the entire 40 minutes, but still consistently staying with beginner movements to be sure not to injure myself again. It was a great workout and a great start to the day! (PS: Plank position is still terribly difficult, but oblique twists in level 2 were actually a little bit easier!)

Day 27 (5/17): Busy day, no workout. I'm just going to double-up in the morning to make up for it.

Day 28 (5/18): Woke up early to fit in two levels. I started with level 3 and then finished off with level 1. The bicycle crunches in level 1 are still awful, but I'm doing better at them. The plank poses in level 3 are still tough, but even those are getting a little, teeny, tiny bit easier. I actually completed the mountain climbers this morning and only had to stop twice for a 2-3 second break. (Usually I stop WAY more than that -- like every other step-touch movement!)

Day 29 (5/19): Completed workout 3.

Day 30 (5/20): Final day! Completed workout 3. Plank poses are still tough, but I made it through!

Final thoughts:

In 30 days, I completed 26 out of 30 workouts. I was going to make-up the few that I missed, but due to an upcoming vacation that was going to involve a lot of physical activity, I decided to take a few rest days. I ended up losing 2 pounds and 1.5 inches during 30DS. I felt much stronger and more fit upon the end of the 30 days. I was hoping for better results in regards to weight loss and inches, but it was a good start to a fitness routine. I'm going to continue to workout and I'm going to try much harder when it comes to eating healthy. Although I was doing well in that area in the final two weeks, I didn't have a strong start. (This could be why my results are not the best.) Overall, I recommend the video, but I also recommend that anyone who is looking for results really try hard to eat healthy. Healthy living does not come from just working out or just eating healthy -- it's a combination of both that gives you the best results. (Now I just need to follow my own advice!) :)

Getting Fit with Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:55:00 +0000

I quit my gym membership last month. I've had a gym membership since December 2003. That gym membership helped me go from an overweight size 18 to a slender size 4. However, sometime around mid-2009, I began to hit a plateau. I continued going to the gym every weekday, but I just wasn't into it. Actually, after moving and having to switch gyms in fall of 2007, I started to lose the momentum. I just didn't feel at home at the new gym. I kept going, but at the same time, I had a lot of changes going on in my life and failed to keep my healthy eating up with my workouts. So, in the end, I ended up gaining 25 pounds back from my original weight loss. It's not an end of the world weight gain, but it did make me go out and buy bigger clothes.

I have also noticed that I do not have the energy that I used to. On the weekends, I want to spend my time on the couch watching television when I used to be out enjoying visits with friends and family or spending a few hours at the gym. I'm exhausted ALL OF THE TIME. I started to think about when I wasn't exhausted and what I was doing differently during a time that I was full of energy and happiness. It turns out that my happy years were when I worked out regularly and ate healthy. So, I've decided to get myself back into shape. No excuses! I'm trying to do this without a gym membership since that hasn't been working for me anyways the past few years. I'm challenging myself to eat healthy and workout regularly at home for the next 30 days (and hopefully well after that, but were starting off with baby steps here!).

To do this, I've dusted off an old copy of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred (30DS). The 30DS is a 20-minute circuit training workout consisting of abs, strength, and cardio exercises. The workout begins with a warm-up and ends with a cool-down. 30DS consists of three levels, which you complete over a period of 30 days. Some people workout everyday for 30 days, but others choose to do 30DS every other day and mixing in another form of cardio on the other days. In my challenge, I will be completing 30 consecutive days. I will workout on each level for 10 days. If you are interested in following along on my progress, I'll be reporting in daily on this page: My 30 Day Shred Challenge. (Note: I started the program on Saturday, so I've just finished day four this morning.)

Why did I choose the 30 Day Shred?

I wanted something that didn't take up a lot of time (e.g.: p90x program)
I wanted to see if it's possible to get fit without paying high costs of a gym membership
I wanted to have more energy and feel more toned
I want my pants to fit again :)

Why am I sticking with the 30 Day Shred?

I searched the Web for "30 day shred results" and was impressed and inspired by others
After only a few days into the program, I have already noticed improvements in my energy and fitness levels

Day four is done, only 26 more days to go! :) Join me on my journey at: My 30 Day Shred Challenge.

In the Kitchen: Banana Crumb Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:34:00 +0000

For months, I've been collecting bananas in my freezer to make some banana bread. I ended up collecting way too many over-ripe bananas and in addition to banana bread (which was delicious!) I also had to come up with something else to bake. A little bit of perusing the Interwebs solved that problem!

Let me introduce you to banana crumb muffins:

Don't they look delicious?! They were. I served them at Easter Sunday brunch and everyone gobbled them up and asked for the recipe. If you like bananas, you do not want to miss out on these muffins! They are easy to make, taste delicious, and your house will smell so yummy as they bake in the oven.

Banana Crumb Muffins, posted by Lisa Kreft on allrecipes.com:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-crumb-muffins/

Enjoy!

In the Kitchen: Meal Planning 101

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:00:00 +0000

I plan most of our meals, as I'm obsessed with having a schedule for everything. On most Saturday mornings, you'll find me curled up on the couch with a recipe book or two, my iPad, and our refrigerator menu whiteboard. I pick out a meal for each day of the week and use that to write my grocery list for Sunday.

This has worked out really well for us. There is no more "what should we have for dinner" or "ugh. I don't have this ingredient in the house." When we get home from work each day, we have a dinner plan and all ingredients on hand. It's a great thing!

If you are interested in starting a menu board, there are a lot of great (and super cute!) ideas on Pinterest! For now, we'll be sticking to our good ol' whiteboard, but for others, you might want to browse around. (Search tip: search for "meal boards" for the most relevant results.)

Happy meal planning!

Promoting Leisure Reading: Bulletin Boards

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:17:00 +0000

It's a well-known fact that if you display a book cover on a bulletin board, the circulation for that particular title typically goes up. We currently have a bulletin board outside of the library that I work in that we use to put covers up from new books that arrive. Most of these titles are non-fiction, but the books circulate whenever they are showcased on the bulletin board. I'd like to find a way to market the leisure reading titles within our collection. (We purchase leisure reading titles, but they do not have a specific location - they are just integrated with the general collection.) Since we do not have a browsable leisure reading collection, I think the book cover display could help increase circulation.

Anyways, while browsing the web for bulletin board ideas, I've decided to start collecting my thoughts on Pinterest. If you're interested in following along, check out my Bulletin Board Ideas at: http://pinterest.com/bschu1022/bulletin-board-ideas/. The board is brand new, but I expect it to grow as I continue pinning ideas.

Question for fellow academic librarians: What types of bulletin boards do you have in your library?
I can find tons of examples for bulletin boards in public and school libraries, but not as many for academic settings. Do you use bulletin boards? Have you seen great examples in other academic libraries? Do you use bulletin boards in locations outside of the library? (e.g.: dorms, student union, etc.)

Please share your thoughts in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from you! :)

Reverse image searching with Google

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Do you ever find an image online and wonder where the original source for it was or who/what the image is of? Well, there is a way to try and figure that information out. To do so, complete the following steps:

Open two browser* windows side-by-side. Keep your image open on one and on the other...
...open Google Image search (http://images.google.com/).

Next, click on your image and drag and drop it into the Google Image search box.

Voila! Your result list should include the various web pages where your image can be found and identified.

(This trick is handy for finding pins on Pinterest that do not properly link to the original source. It may take a little digging, but out of the result list you should be able to eventually track down the original source.)

Note: The image above was originally found on Sunset.com. You can get your very own garden chicken coop at Kippen House. Now if only my town let us keep chickens in our yards. :)

*Google Image search does not work in most versions of Internet Explorer. If you're having problems, try using Firefox or Chrome instead.

Wrapping up February (and some notes on teaching)

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Happy first day of March! I don't know about all of you, but February was very busy for me!

I had quite a few teaching requests and many of which were new types of classes that I had not taught to before. I was honored by all of the faculty members who invited me into their classes during the past few weeks. I met a lot of great people and learned a lot about the different types of learning that happens throughout campus. I met with two seminars full of students working on undergraduate research projects. I also met with a group of students who are finishing up their undergraduate work and preparing for doctoral studies. In addition, I worked with a fairly large group of students who are spending the semester learning about how to prepare for work and employment after college. The mixture of learning styles and types of library instruction needed for each group kept me on my toes throughout the month of February. I even learned a few new things, as I had reference questions that I had not dealt with before. The instructors all seemed very pleased with the classes and I was just as tickled pink to work with each of them and their groups of students. It was a really great month of collaboration!

In addition to the above, I also taught a number of Advanced Writing (ENG 201) classes. I teach these regularly throughout the year. The classes are full of freshman through senior level students, some with library experience, but many whom have never stepped foot in an academic library before. This semester though, teaching to these students has been different. Typically, you can hold the attention of some students, but you can't keep them all on track. (They tend to fall asleep, play with their smart phones, or check-in on Facebook.) However, every single class I taught this semester seemed to not only stay on track, but also grasped the concepts that I was teaching. I always start my classes off with a topic that I write on the board and then ask for the students to help me identify keywords and synonyms. This gets them off of the computer for a bit and into a conversation. The next thing I do, is move to our catalog and then teach one database before letting them go off to work on their own research topics. I was so excited as I walked around the room while they were doing their own research. I saw students writing lists of their keywords, using boolean operators (correctly!), and truncating! ALL. ON. THEIR. OWN. They were even moving into other databases besides Academic Search Complete (the one I demonstrate in class). I must have looked silly walking the room of each class with a huge grin on my face, but boy oh boy was it a good feeling! I can't tell you how many times I walked throughout the classroom this semester yelling "I see a lot of good search strategies being used!". There are too many to count! I can, however, tell you that the feeling I had at the end of each class was awesome.*

Overall, although February was a very busy and exhausting month, it was also really great and I wouldn't trade the experiences that I had for anything. Who doesn't like floating on "librarian cloud 9" for an entire month? :)

*Note: I really have no idea why my classes went so well this semester. I taught the same way I always do. I think sometimes you have really great classes and other times the not so great classes. I just happened to luck out with a lot of really attentive, hard-working students this semester. :)

In the Kitchen: Spaghetti Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:42:00 +0000

A month or two ago, my love sent me an email with nothing but the subject heading "spaghetti bread" and a link. The link went to this recipe:

Rhodes' Braided Spaghetti Bread

http://rhodesbread.com/recipes/view/2067

I took this as a subtle hint that he wanted us to try this recipe soon.

So, this weekend we finally gave it a shot.

The verdict? A keeper!

The ingredients were readily available at the grocery store and although the process was a little time consuming, it wasn't too bad. Although, we prefer homemade sauce in our house, I cheated and used jar. (This is actually becoming a habit since we both work long days.)

The part that I found most difficult in the recipe, was when I had to slice the dough and braid it. My slices were a bit too short and thin, so I need to work on that for next time.

Otherwise, the recipe was pretty easy and we both enjoyed it very much. I served it with a side of sauce and plan to add some ground beef or sausage to it next time.

Overall, though, spaghetti bread was a winner on our dinner table and we'll probably be seeing it again in the future!

Vintage Valentines

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Source: riptheskull on Flickr, CC BY-NO 2.0

One of my favorite things to do during the month of February is to read the history of St. Valentine's Day and browse the Web for vintage valentines. I just love the designs and sayings on the historic love notes. I wish they still made them as humorous and special as they were in the past.

Are you interested in browsing vintage valentine collections? Here are two of my favorite places to go:

WVU Libraries Vintage Valentines (Digital Collection):

http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/exhibits/valentine/

Flickr Vintage Valentine Group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/57139674@N00/

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

In the Kitchen: My Battle With Royal Icing

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:51:00 +0000

As promised, here are some pictures of the Superbowl cookies I worked on this weekend.

To be honest, I'm not very pleased with how they turned out. I baked the cut-outs Saturday morning and made the frosting in the afternoon. I made a batch of royal icing and decided that I would first frost all of the referee shirts white. After I was finished, I would move on to frosting the footballs brown and then finish off with the black icing lines on the shirts and white on the footballs.

Ugh.

This was not a good idea.

I ended up having 62 cookies to frost and by the time I finished the white on the shirts my hand was killing me. Also, I noticed that the brown and black icings were drying up since it was taking me forever to frost 62 white shirts. So, in the end, the brown on the footballs went on when it was not the correct consistency (notice how not smooth they are in the picture above?). The black frosting was also drying up and kept clogging up the tip as I was trying to pipe it out.

It was a very messy, not-so-happy situation.

Oh, and when I got to the point where I had to add the whites to the footballs? Yeah, I totally ran out of frosting. So, for the first time ever, I ran to Michael's and purchased a container of Wilton Cookie Icing. I'm a bit ashamed of doing this, but my hand was so sore and I was so cranky, that I just wasn't in the mood to make anymore frosting, fill any more piping bags, or deal with any more decorating.

So, that was my weekend baking experience.

On the plus side, the cookies did taste good. I just need to stop being such a perfectionist when it comes to my decorating. I've only just begun using royal icing and I need to remember that I still haven't jumped that learning curve. Can someone keep reminding me that? Because I tend to forget it after I spent an entire day playing "I want to be a cookie decorator when I grow up." ;)

Superbowl Baking!

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:19:00 +0000

I picked up some new cookie cutters last weekend in anticipation of making some fun football related cookies for the Superbowl this weekend.

I just mixed a batch of cookie dough to refrigerate overnight.

In the morning I'll be making little footballs and referee shirts for the big game on Sunday!

I sketched some ideas out on paper earlier this week and have my designs and frosting colors planned out. I'm looking forward to a few hours of decorating tomorrow afternoon. I'll post pictures of the final cookies sometime next week!

In the Kitchen: Fresh Fast Food Weeknight Meals

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:10:00 +0000

For Christmas this year, my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law gifted me with a copy of Cooking Light's Fresh Fast Food Weeknight Meals cookbook. I've had this book on my wishlist for quite awhile due to the fact that it was full of quick and easy meals made with fresh ingredients. (It's difficult to come up with healthy meals to make on weeknights.)

In the past month, I've cooked three recipes from the book and each one was a hit at dinner! So far we've tried: Cowboy Flank Steak, Barbeque Chicken, and Southern Camp Stew -- which I've featured below. If you're looking for a book of recipes that use 5 or less ingredients and cook in less than 15 minutes, then this is a book that you should check out. I am looking forward to trying many more of the dishes published as the year goes on!

Southern Camp Stew from "Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals"

Free full-length movies on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:02:00 +0000

I don't know how I missed this memo, but I thought I'd share in case some of you are just as out of the loop as I am. Apparently, YouTube features full-length movies -- for FREE. You can find comedies, dramas, documentaries, sci-fi, and more. I was perusing the offerings and there are some pretty good films listed. (Groundhog Day is available; how awesome is that?!)

To access the free movies, go to Youtube.com and click on MOVIES:

Next, click on the ALL CATEGORIES drop-down menu and select FREE MOVIES:

Enjoy!

Antidotes for the Publish or Perish Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:50:00 +0000

As you may guess, all things tenure-track have been on my mind lately (actually for awhile, but even more so lately). I was grateful for the Faculty Focus post this morning written by Mark J. Cooper, PhD. "Antidotes for the Publish or Perish Syndrome" has some great words of advice and I recommend it to any of you who are tenure-track. Some of my favorite quotes from the post:

"The faculty member who fails to teach outside the four walls of a university classroom closes too many teachable doors. Teaching and scholarly production are inseparable."

"It is the dispositions of the scholar that make or break the scholarship. Most faculty members hired have the knowledge and skills to successfully publish. Fewer have the dispositions to publish. In other words, talent is necessary but not sufficient. There must also be passion, initiative, persistence, perseverance, focus, determination, tenacity and the list goes on and on."

Read the post in its entirety at:
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/antidotes-for-the-publish-or-perish-syndrome/

Welcome back, booknerd!

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

One of my very good friends, b, is back to blogging at booknerd.

She started the blog in January 2007 and frequently updated it with her witty, snarky book reviews. Her reviews are heart-felt, honest and if necessary, full of adult-like vocabulary. (I don't swear on the Internets, so I live vicariously through her!) As she brings her blog back to life this month, she's incorporating some additional types of content, such as her new endeavor of writing a novel.

I'd highly recommend that you stop by and dig into the archives as well as indulge in one of her recent posts, The Importance of Writing Space, where she shares an awesome web site that lets you peak into the writing spaces of a variety of authors. (It's an incredible site and you discover people writing in the tiniest and most interesting places!)

Enjoy, friends! And welcome back, b! Your fans have missed you!

Beyond the Reference Desk

Reading Nooks for Kids

Fall Morning in Buffalo

My newest instruction session prop

Guess who is coming to Buffalo?!

Fun book-related links

Nook for Web and FREE BOOKS!

The horrible, no good, very bad day.

In the Kitchen: BBQ Pulled Pork

Pinterest and Academia: ACRL Webcast

My 30 Day Shred Challenge

My 30 Day Shred Challenge

Getting Fit with Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred

In the Kitchen: Banana Crumb Muffins

In the Kitchen: Meal Planning 101

Promoting Leisure Reading: Bulletin Boards

Reverse image searching with Google

Wrapping up February (and some notes on teaching)

In the Kitchen: Spaghetti Bread

Vintage Valentines

In the Kitchen: My Battle With Royal Icing

Superbowl Baking!

In the Kitchen: Fresh Fast Food Weeknight Meals

Free full-length movies on YouTube

Antidotes for the Publish or Perish Syndrome

Suggested reading for new academic librarians

Welcome back, booknerd!