Bit Off More Than She Could Chew, Maybe
A couple days ago a lady called the library and asked me to find a zucchini bread recipe—any zucchini bread recipe—and read it to her over the phone. Normally I would have suggested she come down to the library and peruse our extensive collection of cookbooks to find a recipe she liked, but we weren’t getting very many calls at the moment and I had a little time. So I Googled “zucchini bread”, found a recipe and read the whole thing to her, line by line. She thanked me and hung up the phone.
Today, a woman walked up to the reference desk and asked me for a zucchini bread recipe—any zucchini bread recipe… except she didn’t want it to “make too much.” The last recipe she had looked at didn’t work for her, because it yielded way too much zucchini bread for just one person! [Exclamation point hers.] I showed her the cookbook section and let her knock herself out.
I guess I don’t know for sure that both zucchini-bread-loving patrons are the same. But in any case, maybe I should have introduced the second patron to the magic that is halving a recipe. With MATH.
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August 3rd, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I remember a lesson (a full class day in fact) in high school home economics class in which we were taught how to halve a recipe. I was like, “Holy crap! You mean, if I put 1/2 the amount of stuff in, it only makes 1/2 the amount of finished product?”
The powers that be felt this actually needed explaining. A whole class period.
I guess they were right. *sigh*
Ethan´s last blog ..i(Tunes | Pod) deficiency or Deserves a Pizza #2
August 4th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I always wonderd what kind of questions people in librarys are asked.
You know zucchinie season is just starting. You might find this question becoming as rutine as “Wheres the bathroom?”
Betty Black´s last blog ..Open Windows
August 4th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Ethan, after working in a library (and tutoring for years) it will never again surprise me what some people need to have explained at length. Several times. *sigh*
Betty, we get asked all kinds of questions, crazy and sane, reasonable and unreasonable, coherent and incoherent. I guess that’s how I can love and loathe my job so fervently at the same time. :D
August 8th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Wait, MATH? What sort of trickery are you up to?
Truth be told, I get frightened sometimes when I halve or double a recipe. There’s always that little voice inside of me which says “Are you sure you didn’t screw it up?”
But, that is neither here nor there. I love the tales from your job.
Misty´s last blog ..In Which I Couldn’t Make This Up if I Tried
August 10th, 2009 at 10:06 am
That’s hilarious. Nice of you to oblige her though.
Gabrielle Valentine´s last blog ..These four foot long exotic bats just changed me forever, man. Made me feel way small and insignificant.