A tastier way to not die...

I recently obtained a copy of Grace Cheetham's "Simply Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free" cookbook.  As I do with all cookbooks, I immediately flipped through the pages to look at the pictures.  The first thing I notice, besides the decadent looking cake on the first page, are the symbols next to every recipe.  The symbols tell you what recipes are gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, dairy-free, egg-free, yeast-free, seed-free or vegetarian.  Many of the recipes have a lot if not all of those symbols of them, which surprised me since they look so delicious!

About a month ago I developed unexplained hives.  We thought it may be gluten, so I stopped eating gluten and the hives lessened but did not go away completely.  Now I am on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet since we are trying to rule out dairy as well.  This book is really helping to mix up my diet a bit!  What a frustrating way to live without books like this one to help.

The introduction of this book in itself was extremely helpful.  It talks about different types of foods that you can use as alternatives to what you're used to...such as almonds instead of flour or milk.  I know, it sounds crazy, but I'm hooked on almond milk now!  It's amazing in gluten-free rice chex cereal when just want a quick bowl and works amazingly in recipes without anyone being the wiser.

As in all cookbooks, there are some recipes that I will probably avoid forever because of their ingredients or  because they look too hard to accomplish, or simply because the food doesn't appeal to me, but this weekend I'd love to try making a gluten-free, dairy-free dessert for Mother's Day so we can all eat it...even me!  This is the book I'll turn too.

I cook with BEER!

I recently obtained "The American Craft Beer Cookbook: 150 Recipes from Your Favorite Brewpubs and Breweries" by John Holl.  My boyfriend and I are big fans of microbrews and I recently discovered cooking with beer.  Okay, so I have one crock pot recipe where I throw some stout in a stew, but it's pretty amazing.  

Either way, I was excited to combine my love of food and my boyfriend's love of beer and my love of trying new recipes with this book!  

First thing, the introduction makes me want to go out to dinner with the author.  I refuse to give anything away, but trust me on this one...he gave a few suggestions on food and beer pairings and I have drank enough beers and eaten enough food to know...or guess...the combos sound yummy!  Although, I'm not a fan of IPA, but I bet it goes well with Thai food.  That's all I'll say.

Beer for breakfast?  BUT OF COURSE!  It isn't just for hungover college kids anymore.  There are actually coffee stouts that I may or may not have had at breakfast time...and I know of a bacon beer that may have been consumed by a friend of mine at breakfast a time or two.  It's very in, and highly recommended...especially for the sake of the first section of this yummy book!  A whole breakfast section.  

There are sandwiches and dinners, desserts and slow cooker recipes (my favorites).  Some are complicated and some are so simple it seems too simple.  Some even have suggested beer pairings on the page.  Throughout the book there are little facts and stories about beer around the country.  Go through and read the whole thing at once or wait until you get to that recipe and read that page then, it's up to you.  No matter how you decide to use this book, every beer lover must own it!

Don't Diet, Eat Right!

I recently read Lowri Turner's "The S Factor Diet: The Happiest Way to Lose Weight - Drop a Dress Size in 2 Weeks"...which just might be true had I actually tried the diet part of the book.  Okay, Okay, I KNOW!  It's not a 'diet', it is a lifestyle change, I get it.  But, in all honesty, what working parent has time to spend 30 minutes (and that's the least amount of time) preparing every meal?  Some of the ingredients that go into these meals are difficult to find if you aren't used to looking for fresh ingredients.  If you aren't the best cook, you may also find this diet difficult to follow since everything you will eat for the rest of you life is in this book if you want to stay fit and thin.

With all of that being said, if you are a good cook, with time, and like to discover new and interesting recipes, but need to lose weight...this just may be the diet for you.  It promises quick results while teaching you why you are gaining weight after you answer a few questions about your weight gain and personality.  The author explains the science behind it all, but in terms we understand.  The author also struggled with her weight and now runs weight loss clinics, so she understands what a struggle it really is.

So, there it is.  Not for me, but probably for someone.  If you try the diet, I'd love to know how it went...and I'd LOVE to try the Lamb shanks if anyone makes them.  

Dinand Library is on facebook!

Dinand Library is on Facebook and THIS is the QR code to take you there!

I bet I can tell you something you didn't know about Google!

(every link in this blog is different and will help you navigate through the activities...if you right click and open each on in a new tab or window it will be easier to come back to this page)
Do you recognize it the logo? Of course you do. If you go to the site and type define: google you will find that it is actually a verb. Go ahead, do it. Then, when you are done looking up random words, because I know you will, come back because there is so much more I have to show you!

Ready? So, now you know that Google is much more than a verb. You know that it is a dictionary. Did you also know that it is a calculator? That's right. Type in Square root of and then pick any random number and you will have an answer...and if you look above the answer in gray letters, you will see just about how long it took to get that answer.

square root(876878) = 936.417642

It took 0.25 seconds for GOOGLE to calculate...much quicker than I could! That works with any math problem...go ahead, try it...again, you can come back and learn more.

You can get stock quotes, sports scores, sunrise and sunset times, currency conversion, flight tracking and so much more without going off of the Google site!

One of my favorite features is weather! You just type in weather your town, your state and without having to wait for any maps to load, you have a five day forecast for your area right there on the google site. Fast. Easy. FAST! For so long I have been waiting for my local news channel to load then I'd click on weekend outlook or five day or something...I'd have half my make-up on before it was up and running. Today? 0.24 seconds...Google said so!

Want to know the time in London? time London ...Google tells you! Need to know the population in Connecticut? Okay. Population CT ...Google tells you!

There are a lot more things that Google can do, but if I told you everything you'd be here all day reading.

Google also has products that people can use to make life easier. I'm going to tell you a few of my favorites and let you explore the rest on your own.

First there is Google Maps. I use Google maps often. I own a GPS, but I still like to go to Google Maps first to check out the routes and the street views if it's unfamiliar territory. If you've never used Google Maps before, you should check it out. You can get directions to just about anywhere in the world. I have a fun assignment if you'd like to do some hands on Google Mapping:

Head over to Google Maps and click on "get directions." Then in the A field type in Japan and in the B field type in China. Now scroll down to direction #42...make sure you bring one of THOSE along or you'll never get to China from where you are!

Seriously, though, if you zoom way in on the map by clicking on the plus sign, you will see real pictures of buildings and streets. Sometimes you can see cars and people if you get close enough, which is street view. Play around. Google maps can be very helpful!

Another favorite in my house is Google Earth. This is actually satellite images as opposed to street pictures. I'm not going to go into detail about it, but you should know that you need to download it onto your computer and it takes up a bit of space. BUT if you have a child who is into Geography at all, they will LOVE this! We discovered it years ago at the Boston Museum of Science and my son still looks at it...and it's ever changing which makes it stay interesting. I just found out that it now goes down into the ocean and explores shipwrecks...I wonder if my son knows that yet?

The last thing I'm going to tell you about is actually related to my line of work. I figure I should talk about at least ONE book related thing. Google Books. You can search books just like you search the web. Whether you're doing research for a term paper or simply searching for a new book that may interest you, you can put in the topic that you're looking for and do a book search. Once upon a time, most books were available to read fully on Google Books. Now most books only have a few pages available to view, but some still can be read in full. This is usually a copyright issue. However, these books are usually available for purchase through Amazon.com or your local library...which Google will tell you all of that information right there as you are viewing the book. Google actually goes one step further and tells you if the book is available in YOUR local library or where the closest library is. You can always get books through Interlibrary Loan if your library provides that service...ask your librarian about ILL. (shameless plug)

Google really has so much more that I would have to spend an entire week talking about every product they own and everything you could do and I still couldn't tell you everything. I'm sure I don't know everything nor could I possibly utilize everything that Google has to offer. However, Google, the verb, the search engine, the dictionary, and so much more, sure has made my life easier. I hope you find something here that helps...or that at least made it a little more fun!

I love my new Kindle...and my job (and I'm not just saying that)

I should probably start every blog by saying, "I love my job." Although, if you are working in a library in the year 2011 you probably say the same thing many days too. (Although, we all have days we'd like to go home early, I'm aware) Today's "I love my job" is brought to you by the letter e (specifically ereaders) and by the number...okay, there's no number unless you want to talk price and the Kindle is now down to $113 if you don't mind a tiny little ad on the screen...and I don't.

Let me start at the beginning. Mother's day the four children came into the bedroom with a gift hours after already giving me hugs and homemade cards. I opened the gift and cried. NOT because it was a Kindle that I had wanted, but because I didn't expect it AT ALL!!! My better half does not read novels and would never buy anything he didn't think was practical. He would also never buy anything without doing any research online for months about it. July. This was when I started talking about Kindle VS Nook VS everything else. He was sneaky about it and had friends post random links on facebook to which I had no opinion. I hadn't decided which I wanted either. I had it narrowed down to Kindle VS Nook. I wasn't wasting money...I was simply buying bigger purses to carry bigger books. Okay, maybe I WAS wasting money.

You may want to grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, this is going to be long. I'm excited. I tend to write a lot when I'm excited.

I was reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov from the library when I received my Kindle. I'm into fashion, and this book has a distant influence on some fashion right now so I did some research as to why. Then I became interested in the author and how he wrote this novel in English himself though it wasn't his first language, etc. (yes, I recommend it in small doses. I'm having trouble finishing it, though, since the main character is a child molester.) I bought it immediately on my Kindle and within 30 seconds was reading it! EASY! In the waiting room at the doctor,I have the Kindle...while my daughter is in dance class,I have the kindle...during lunch at work, I have the Kindle! That's why I wanted the Kindle.

But wait! There's more!

Then yesterday I go to a seminar called "eReaderpalooza!" I must have looked like a kid in a candy store. I'm a geek. I'll be the first to admit it. This stuff is very exciting to me. Tell me what geeky piece of technology is coming out next and my mind goes in a million directions. Technology fascinates me. THAT is why I love this job! They start out with statistics, of course...we're librarians!!! Blah blah blah...then they start to talk about free books and how to get free stuff for the kindle. WHAT???

First up was netgalley.com, now, this isn't just "come get free books." No, I wouldn't be excited about just free books...well, maybe a little... These are titles that big name publishers, like Harper Collins, and small publishers alike, gather to find people who know books (like librarians, bookstores, bloggers, etc.) to review their books. They give you their ebooks as long as they think you're worthy of them, you review them and as long as you hold up your end of the bargain you'll stay on board. I signed up for the service this morning so that I could write about it in this blog. I requested a book entitled "Jackie O On the Couch" as soon as I signed up, along with five other books. Within ten minutes I was accepted to receive the item. It was sent to me on my Kindle in an email and, because Kindle takes a bit to accept email, with 30 minutes I had the item in PDF form on my Kindle to read! I now have three of the six books on my Kindle.

So, how does this all fit into the wonderful world of the library? There are so many ways. Libraries can put ebooks on their ereaders and lend the ereaders out like they do their regular collection. If they're running out of shelf space but want to add to their collection. If they want to put their summer reading on ereaders. Academic libraries could put all the available books on professors syllabi...okay, maybe not text books, since those may break the bank, but any other books or PDFs supplied by the professor. Which brings me to another idea. Reserves. Professors love putting things on reserves. Maybe Academic libraries have Reserve holdings on Kindles or nooks or on apps available for download on your iPhone, iPod or iPad? I think that may be another topic for another blog for another day. I'm completely exhausted (and totally intrigued) just thinking about the possibilities.

I am definitely going to be writing more about this, but that cup of coffee I spoke about earlier that you should be drinking is sounding good right about now...and that job I said that I love so much is definitely being neglected.

I will leave you with this link that was just sent to me in an email that I will be checking out after my lunch break.

iPhones and Kindles and smartphones...OH MY!

I attended the Handheld librarian conference January 17th & 18th at Worcester public library. I was very excited to have my phone with web access so I could tweet during the conference. Did you know that more people in the US own a mobile phone than a toaster? That was one of the fun statistics they started with...makes you think, doesn't it? People aren't just using their phones to talk anymore. Actually, I believe people are texting more than talking these days. I know I am. In fact, Worcester Public Library has text to reference. You text your question to their text number and they answer it for you! Ingenious! There were a few libraries at the conference that mentioned having this feature. However, not all questions are created equal. Sometimes people text questions that really aren't reference, like "Who is Taylor Swift dating?" They use the text to reference like they'd use google if they had internet access.

The first speaker, Tom Peters, said "lose the reference desk and the reference schedule." This had everyone up in arms. No one seemed to want to listen to what he said. I understood where he was coming from, though. Maybe because I'm not a reference librarian? The reference desk is NOT where patrons want their questions answered. I never did when I was a student. I would either ask another student or figure it out on my own. If I could have gone online or on my cell phone for the answer at any time of day or night, I would have, but, alas, I was in school before the internet was used regularly. I didn't even have a computer in my dorm room!

Then we started talking about eBooks. The eBook phenom is very intriguing to me. Not only do I think it is very cool that you can carry a few books around in your purse without it getting too cumbersome, but I also think the technology behind the eBook is smart. People are always looking for the newest technology. If you like books, then you'll always read them whether they're on a kindle or on paper. However, if you only like technology the eBook may be the only way to get you to read a book!

The day before the conference Kindle came out with an app on iTunes for the iPhone. These apps also work on the iPod Touch. I was so fascinated with all the app and iPhone talk that I went out and bought an iPod touch over the weekend. I cannot picture reading an entire book on the iPod Touch. It's just not big enough. However, on day two of the conference I had a migraine. Guess what? There's an app for that! http://www.cellphonehi.com/iphone-3g/iphone-app-to-help-migraine-sufferers/

I will be blogging more about this conference once I can review the other material online. The speakers I went to see were more interested in what we were already doing in our libraries to get mobile and less interested in teaching us how to use the newest technologies out there. They had a lot of questions for us. It felt like we were being surveyed more than informed.