Summer Sipping

The Minnesota multitype directors met earlier this week in St. Paul. Several of us met the evening before the quarterly meeting for dinner and conversation at the Big Bowl in the Rosedale mall. We enjoyed some great food as well as some very good homemade ginger ale. The last time we met there, I enjoyed the ginger ale (even though it wasn't Vernor's) so much that I went home and looked for a recipe to make it myself. I told the group about it this week and they expressed interest in having the recipe shared with them since it turned out to be so simple.

So here it is:

Simple Syrup for Ginger Ale

3/4 cup sliced ginger (no need to peel it)

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

Sparkling water and ice to taste
Lemon or lime for garnish

Combine the ginger, water, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to

a boil over moderate heat. Lower the heat, simmer for 10 minutes,

then let cool to room temperature. Strain and keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. To serve, put ginger syrup to taste (about 2 Tbs
per serving) in a glass and add sparkling water and ice. Garnish
with lemon or lime slices. Makes about 16 servings.

I've absentmindedly reversed the sugar and water measurements and that turned out fine as well, so if you wanted to decrease the amount of sugar in your homemade drink you could use 1 cup of sugar to 2 cups of water; it isn't quite as syrupy, but it still makes an excellent sipping drink even if it isn't Vernor's.

If you don't know what Vernor's is, you didn't grow up in Michigan. I even found a photo on Flickr.

Playing with Images Again

Inspired by JD's blog where she cartoonized some beautiful roses, I decided to try cartoonizing Miss Kitty and another photo to see how they might turn out. Miss Kitty isn't really easy to see, but the teapot photo showed more of the result. These two were done quickly, but I'll have to keep this app in mind and experiment more to see what it can do with other photos.

Get with the 2.0 Program, Any 2.0 program...

School Library Journal is jumping on the 2.0 bandwagon with a program beginning on July 21, 2008. Their program, titled "All Together Now: A 2.0 Learning Experience," is bringing in a big gun (Michael Stephens) to guide the experience. So if you've resisted joining either of the 23 Things on a Stick opportunities, here's another chance to try some of those 2.0 applications as part of a group. More information will be forthcoming on the School Library Journal website.

Celebrate Independence Day

Fireworks, parades, picnics, barbecues..however you choose to celebrate it's all about the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.