TSCPL | Guides (all)

Tech Tuesdays at the Library - Twitter

2009-11-10T16:01:39+00:00

This week's Tech Tuesday video focuses on Twitter, at www.twitter.com. What is Twitter, what it does, and how and why you might want to use it…

This week's Tech Tuesday video focuses on Twitter, at www.twitter.com. What is Twitter, what it does, and how and why you might want to use it.

Want to get your feet wet with Twitter, but you're not sure who to follow? here are some organizations and people you can start out following to see what it's all about:

Library Twitter accounts:

Local government:

Local news:

So - hope this gets you started with Twitter. And let me know - do YOU use Twitter? If so, how are you using it? Let me know in the comments!

Official Launch of Jobs and Careers Neighborhood

2009-11-09T20:11:13+00:00

We will officially launch our new Jobs and Careers Neighborhood on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. The Jobs and Careers Neighborhood is an area in the Library's west wing dedicated to resources for anyone seeking a job, changing jobs, exploring careers, or dealing with job-related issues in a current job. We have a lot of print materials available to check out, as well as two public computers dedicated exclusively to job and career exploration. Also, our Reference collection on these topics has been moved into this area so there will always be available job-and-career-related print materials to consult.

In My Kitchen-PW

2009-11-04T20:01:32+00:00

What is PW? Well, PW stands for the Pioneer Woman and she has written a cookbook that is in our catalog now. If you are not familiar with the Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond), she has an award winning blog that showcases her delicious recipes, her family and her life on their ranch in Oklahoma.

The cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, colorfully illustrates some of her best recipes from her blog. What is so interesting about this cookbook is that Drummond did it by herself. From the photography to the editing, no assistants were used in the publication of this book

If you are interested in some real comfort food with ingredients that are available in any grocery store, take a look at this cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Her recipes are easy and everything I have tried has come out perfectly. The penne with shrimp as well as the chocolate sheet cake are amazing. Take a look, try out a recipe and let me know what you think. Happy cooking.

Tech Tuesdays: New Video Series at the Library

2009-11-04T01:26:48+00:00

The library has a new video series - welcome to Tech Tuesdays!

The library has a new video series - welcome to Tech Tuesdays! There are a few goals with this series:

To introduce some of you to cool tools at the library
To show you some tools, services, and websites your friendly librarians use
To give you ideas and tips on using tools you're already familiar with

Let's get started! This first video shows some tools I use pretty much every day to stay connected with other technology librarians.

What tools do YOU use? At work or at home? Let me know!

You can write a novel this November

2009-10-29T19:10:37+00:00

To do great important tasks, two things are necessary: a plan and not quite enough time. —Unknown

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

Kickoff Event is 2-3 pm, Saturday, October 31, Millennium Café

The challenge: to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

That’s an average of 1,667 words/day.

Writing begins November 1 and ends November 30 .

No exceptions.

To do great important tasks, two things are necessary: a plan and not quite enough time. —Unknown

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

The challenge: to write 50,000 words in 30 days

That’s an average of 1,667 words/day.

The only thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality.

The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Writing begins November 1 and ends November 30

No exceptions

Register today at www.NaNoWriMo.org set your region to Kansas :: Topeka. Check the Topeka forums for more local events and encouragement.

Share your enthusiasm with other writers to stay on track with your daily word count!

Read the official guide to National Novel Writing Month: No Plot? No Problem! A low-sterss, high velocity guide to writing a novel in 30 days by NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty

KICKOFF EVENTS
How to Write a Novel in 30 Days Fun and helpful advice from former participants, plus official swag (stickers) from NaNo headquarters and other inspiring goodies to get you through the month.

2-3 pm, Saturday, October 31, Millennium Café

For questions or more information, email Lissa Staley, Topeka's NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison using this form.

The history of food - try your hand at some historic recipes

2009-10-29T18:53:16+00:00

I've recently become interested in the history of food - why have we eaten certain foods at certain times in our American and world history, and what does it all mean?

Happily, our library carries a number of titles that answer these and other questions.

In the time before Thanksgiving and other holidays it's a good idea to take a look back and reminisce about the reasons behind some of our culinary choices.

Here are some recommendations:

Fast and feast : food in medieval society by Bridget Ann Henisch
Food in history by Reay Tannahill
Eating in America : a history by Waverley Lewis Root
Food : a culinary history from antiquity to the present by Jean Louis Flandrin
The Cambridge World History of Food by Kenneth Kiple
Near a Thousand Tables: A History of Food by Felipe Fernandez-Arnesto
Around the Roman Table by Patrick Faas
Moveable Feasts by Gregory McNamee

I'm also very interested in this website (I plan on trying some recipes myself), and you may enjoy it as well - Four Pounds Flour.

Seed Cake for Halloween

2009-10-26T13:56:49+00:00

When I think of Halloween I think of pumpkins and candy and chocolate cake with orange frosting. But in the UK county of Warwickshire people traditionally eat seed cake on Halloween. We had a request for a recipe for seed cake and we found several. The first one comes from www.godecookery.com/goderec/grec29.htm

Seed Cake

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup cracked wheat flour
1 pkg. yeast
1/8 cup warm (100 degrees) ale
4 oz. (1 stick) sweet butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 tbs. seed (crushed anise, or caraway, or coriander, or cardamom)
1/2 - 1 cup milk

Sift together the flours and salt; set aside in large bowl. Dissolve yeast in warm ale, along with the 1/8 tsp. of the flour mixture. Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and seeds. Make a well in the flour and add the dissolved yeast. Fold flour into yeast mixture, then flold in the butter. Slowly beat in enouogh milk to make a smooth, thick batter. Pour batter into an 8 inch rouond greased cake pan. Bake in the middle of the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the certer comes out clean. Let cool slightly before turning onto a cake rack.

Here is another recipe that looked really interesting. It came from www.sunshinerecipes.com/scottishseedcake.shtml

Scottish Seed Cake Ingredients

3 Eggs
pinch of salt
4 oz. butter
1/3 pint milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup almonds chopped
1/2 cup mixed peel chopped

Grease a ring cake tin and line the bottom with greased paper. Cream butter and sugar and gradually abeat in the well whisked eggs. Sift flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt and stir in caraway seeds. Then add the chopped peel and nuts to the creamed mixture. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Place in prepared cake tin and bake the Scottish Seed Cake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

I would assume that like the other cake you would let the cake cool slightly before turning it out on a cake rack.

Both of these cakes do not call for frosting but if you wanted to I would think you could. A powdered sugar glaze might work on either one.

Here are some other links to other recipes for seed cake. You might want to take a look at all of them before deciding.

http://www.foodfunandfacts.com/carawayseedcake.html

http://www.recipezaar.com/Irish-Caraway-Seed-Cake-114189

So, for Halloween if you want to try something new, try one of these seed cake recipes and let us know what you think. And as always, let your recipe assistants help you find the recipes that you need. Happy cooking and Happy Halloween!!

Home Depot Accepting Applications for Building Healthy Communities Grant Program

2009-10-23T16:55:34+00:00

The Home Depot's Building Healthy Communities Grant Program awards grants of up to $2,500 to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, public schools, and tax-exempt public service agencies in the United States that are using the power of volunteers to improve the physical health of their community. Grants are made in the form of Home Depot gift cards for the purchase or tools or materials.

Grants are for community improvement projects that include activities such as construction or refurbishment of affordable or transitional housing; building, rebuilding, painting, refurbishing, and/or improving energy efficiency and sustainability; and landscaping, planting of native trees, community facility improvements, and the development and/or improvement of green spaces. Grants must support work completed by community volunteers in the U.S.

Only registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, tax-exempt public schools, and tax-exempt public agencies in the U.S. are eligible to apply.

All applicants are required to pass an eligibility quiz before being considered for a grant. Visit the Home Depot Web site here for complete program information and eligibility quiz.

The deadline to apply is December 15, 2009.

A Topeka Room Primer…

2009-10-22T21:59:01+00:00

Have you been in the Topeka Room? If you have not been in there, you are in for a treat. It is a room filled with antique pieces, artwork, and an ever-growing collection of books and media by and about Topeka authors and Kansas authors. Also, the collection features Topeka history, Kansas history, and Shawnee County history. Additionally, our Genealogy collection is housed within the Topeka Room. The Topeka Room also houses all of our Topeka newspaper microfilm holdings, including both the Topeka State Journal and the Topeka Daily Capital. The Topeka newspaper microfilm covers everything from the present day all the way back to 1879.

If all goes well, this blog will begin a series of posts highlighting various items in the Topeka Room collection. This post will introduce the Topeka Room's large collection of high school yearbooks. We have yearbooks for most of the Topeka-area high schools, including an extensive collection of yearbooks from Topeka High School, as well as Washburn Rural and Seaman, among others. We also have a collection of yearbooks from Washburn University. In addition to having numerous high school yearbooks, we also have some junior high yearbooks and a handful of alumni directories. Stop by and see us in the Topeka Room, and we can show you where these materials are shelved. The Topeka Room is open the same hours as the main library, and the collections can be used freely within the Topeka Room.

We look forward to seeing you!

Investments = Rewards

2009-10-22T16:10:29+00:00

The cost of medications for preventable health problems might serve as motivation to make those lifestyle changes now.

A friend of mine, I'll call her Bernie, recently estimated the projected cost of her medications after retirement. Alarmed at the impact on a fixed and reduced income, she was motivated to investigate the local fitness clubs with the goal of eliminating her need for prescriptions.

She chose to contract with a personal trainer and meet with a dietician. Her regimen includes weight training workouts 3-4 times per week interspersed with a simple walk around the exercise area after each set of repetitions due to her limited aerobic capacity. The dietician prescribed a diet of five small meals per day from a wide selection of foods utilizing reasonable portion control.

After 2 1/2 months on the program, Bernie has decreased her diabetes and acid reflux medications by half. She has lost 29 pounds without hunger and is capable of adding exercises to her repertoire including some that her lack of flexibility had prevented. Progress and increased vitality are motivators. A decrease in cholesterol and blood pressure medications at her next check up would be a step toward realizing her goal.

Accepting the guidance of a personal trainer has made all the difference according to Bernie. They have developed a relationship which requires accountability on the part of the client and the trainer. "Even though he is young, he knows what he is doing", she says.

Encouraging stories like Bernie's illustrate how a commitment to a lifestyle change can afford significant results both in regard to health and finances. Might we all be more mindful of our individual and collective responsibilities in light of the cost of care and the state of the economy?