Monday, April 13, 2009

National Library Week Begins! Day 1 with Double-Ginger Sour Cream and Bundt Cake

Food Librarian - Double-Ginger Sour Cream and Bundt Cake with Ginger-Infused Strawberries
Double-Ginger Sour Cream Bundt Cake...with the Librarian Action Figure!

Let's celebrate National Library Week with some food, library facts, and giveaways!

Food Librarian - Double-Ginger Sour Cream and Bundt Cake with Ginger-Infused Strawberries

The "Food" in the Food Librarian today is the Double-Ginger Sour Cream and Bundt Cake with Ginger-Infused Strawberries that appeared in the April 2009 issue of Bon Appétit. Be sure to visit your library to read a bunch of magazines - free!

This recipe uses 1 cup of crystallized ginger - serious yummy! Sugar in the Raw coats the pan...but most of my sugar baked into the cake (bummer). Look at Bon Appetit's photo - it is quite pretty and shiny.

Here's the recipe. The cake is quite delightful and rich. It gingerific with three types of ginger: ground, crystallized and fresh!

The "Librarian" in the Food Librarian is the Librarian Action Figure! [I'll wait while you giggle]. It's made by the same company that presents us with the Lunch Lady, Jesus and Deluxe Jesus action figures. She's modeled after librarian Nancy Pearl who you may have heard on NPR dispensing reading recommendations. There is a button that lifts her arm in a "Shushing" motion...oh, the stereotype! (But I doubt there are many other occupations that have their own action figure...so I'm not complaining!)

Each day this week, I'll have a giveaway! I want to celebrate libraries and thank the readers of my little blog.

Day 1 Giveaway:

One lucky winner will receive:
a. Cool 3-tier mini-cake set with tray. This is a 4", 3", and 2" pan made by Southern California family-owned company, Parrish/Magic Line (purchased at Surfas)
b. Beaded Bookmark - Mark your favorite cookbook or novel with this bookmark handmade by the Food Librarian and friends!
c. Book bag - Stroll into your library with this super light bag from the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland! The library is very environmental because it's the ultimate reuse center!

Just leave a comment below (one entry per person) and I'll pick the winner from a hat. Deadline for all the giveaways this week: Monday, April 20, 2009 at midnight PDT. If your comment isn't linked to a blog where I can find you, please leave your email or check back on Tuesday, April 21st to see if you won. Shipping to U.S. addresses only (sorry, I'm buying all this stuff myself and international postage is too expensive).

Food Librarian - 3 Tier Cake Set Giveaway
Librarian Action Figure is not included. I borrowed all these from my co-workers! ;)

Food Librarian - Bookmark - Day 1Food Librarian - Giveaway during National Library Week
To enter the drawing, leave a comment. You don't have to write anything special...but if you want to tell me about your library or a library story, that would be fantastic! Don't forget to visit and support your local library! See you tomorrow from some Tuesdays with Dorie yum and more giveaways! thanks for coming by - mary the food librarian

123 comments:

  1. A nice cake! I love these miniature librarians... A pity I don't live in the US ;-P!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. What a nice idea!! Anyway, love this cake, I saw it and teared it out of the magazine as well.. Looks fantastic. Thanks for the chance.

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  3. Hi,

    This is such a coincidence! lol

    Last night I was watching “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” It was hilarious when Ian’s mum got the Bundt to the engagement party, I loved how they filled the hole in the cake.

    I also work in a library in London and we have one of those Librarian Action Figures one of my colleagues bought it in. Our one comes with a book trolley and a computer. Makes people smile every time they see it.

    I love your blog Food Librarian, keep up the good work.

    Hajera

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  4. That is hilarious! Love the action figure. As a family of readers we are big fans of the library and walk there as much as possible. :)

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  5. It's an army of shushing librarians! I love it. I was a librarian of a sort in college. Is that enough buttering up? (hee hee) Your cake has such a perfect texture and shape...it sounds delicious, but then again I get lots of great baking ideas from you. I finally bought some meyer lemons (I've never tried them!) to make the cake you made a week or so ago. (Oh wait, you said you were going to pull names out of a hat...sincere flattery not required.) :)

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  6. Yay! Happy National Library Week! I love the librarian action figure as well as the little stack of books. As I've mentioned on my blog many times, I'm a HUGE fan of my town library. Such a great way to try out cookbooks before buying them.

    Your cake looks wonderful!

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  7. Gosh I bet I would love this cake as I am a huge fan of all things ginger - unfortunately, nobody else in my family is so I'd be the only one eating it!

    The library action figures are adorable. :)

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  8. Have I mentioned how much I love your bundt cakes? Let's just say, I love them enough that I added *another* pan to my growing collection - full size bundt cakes here I come! Love the librarian action figure, I had a nun one growing up going to Catholic school :) It spat sparks, which was seriously awesome.

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  9. omg the action figures are hilarious. too funny. and the cake looks fab! wish i had a slice this morning!

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  10. Give aways always bring out the lurkers, and I'm one of them. I've been following your blog for some time and love your recipes. I love and support my local library, too. So pick me!

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  11. I love that you're celebrating National Library Week! I start working toward my MLS this summer, so needless to say I've gotten pretty excited about your site.

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  12. That cake looks awesome! Ha you made me laugh with that librarian in the cake :) I m not US resident just for you to note .

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  13. We have treats in our breakroom today, celebrating student employees.

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  14. Wow ! My first time here and I must say your website is great! Love your pictures. I am in awe of the library system here in the US. I did not see something like this in India where I grew up. I am glad something like a National Library week here. Very well deserved!

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  15. Your cake is super yummy. And that Disneyland bag is too cute.

    kellyward_44@hotmail.com

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  16. Cake looks tasty, and mini cake pans are adorable!

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  17. Oh another yummy bundt.Delicious...& with strawberries, pure nirvana. Will an address in the US do? If yes, then do count me in. Hope Easter was good!!

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  18. I love the librarian action figure!!!

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  19. I love ginger and bundt cakes are so pretty. Those action figures are funny! Happy National Library Week!

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  20. I would love the cake pans!!!

    LOL @ Librarian figurine. I love it!

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  21. I miss the days when librarians shushed! Our libraries here behave more like a Barnes and Noble bookstore - fortunately there's one quiet room where people of a certain age can congregate and silently remember the good ol days!

    The cake looks wonderful -

    Happy National Library Week!

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  22. The cake looks delicious as usual! And your post reminded me that I have been meaning to get to my local library to borrow some new cookbooks!

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  23. I love your blog & i think the cake looks amazing!

    I'm actually a messenger clerk at my local public library.. aka I get to put away all the books when they are returned and such. I wonder if we'll actually celebrate National Library Week.. I know I'll mention it at work when I go in!

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  24. What a cool giveaway! That bookmark is so beautiful. :) The cake looks AMAZING too...I love ginger, so it just looks delicious! And the library action figure is the perfect addition!

    My library memory is of the giant rainbow couches at the school where I did my undergrad (Oberlin College)...they were amazing...perfect for reading (or sleeping, I'll admit!). I go to UC Berkeley now for grad school, and while it has some great libraries--no rainbow couches! :(

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  26. Beautiful cake, I'm planning on making the cinnamon chocolate bundt cake. I would LOVe the cake pans, so unusual.

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  27. I love your blog! I am planning on making the chocolate cinnamon bundt cake when I get a chance. I would love to be picked for the cake pans, so unusual.

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  28. I could only wish we had National Library week here too! I'm glad you are celebrating it to the fullest :)
    All the best,
    fellow librarian Orit

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  29. The librarians action figures are so great!! and your cake looks delish :)

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  30. YAY for celebrating national library week! This is a remider from your friendly local librarian - please visit your local library! It's how we stay alive.

    And that cake looks delicious, btw.

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  31. Love the librarian action figure! I spend a lot of time at the library these days and the librarians really are my heroes a lot of the time.
    On to the bundt cake, I have that recipe marked in BA, I can't wait to try it. Yours looks fantastic!

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  32. I do miss the library and everyone, but we go to our local library a lot. Plus I have both of my action figures (the original and the deluxe which includes more accessories) displayed here at home, in their boxes of course :-) Happy NLW!

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  33. Happy library week! It's been a while, but when I first came to LA I used to spend quite a bit of time in the library.

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  34. Oooh cool giveaways! Happy Library Week! ;)

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  35. Happy Library Week!
    Those giveaway items look so cool! haha.

    But I do miss the public library; I spend most of my time studying at home or at my school libraries which are HUGE.

    -Nina

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  36. I've just stumbled upon your blog and am really enjoying it. I'm a big fan of the librarians figuringes-- with real shushing action!

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  37. the action figure is hilarious...i hope you have one sitting on your desk ;)

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  38. What a great recipe! And hooray for librarians and library week! My mother in law is a media specialist. I love librarians!!!

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  39. Love the blog, and libraries of course! :)

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  40. Oh how fun!!! Ok, the cake is great, but those action figures and the mini books totally rock!

    My favorite library is the one at my alma matter college. There was this little tourette type of thing on the top floor that almost no one knew about, with tall windows and a cushiony seat. I used to go there all the time to study or to just dream, looking out the windows onto the green trees, flowers, and all the people walking around. It just calmed me and inspired me when I needed it.

    There was also a whole floor of foreign language books. Old books with yellow pages, so old that some books had pages cut by a paper knife, dusty shelves, curious letters on the spines - just the way I liked it. I loved getting lost there for hours. Ahhh those memories of me growing up and finding myself are so prescious to me, I can't even tell you.

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  41. Mmm. Sour cream in cakes is really the best.

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  42. I'm a librarian that also loves cooking and baking. I have your blog on my RSS so I don't usually comment.

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  43. How sweet! Hope some people come in the library to visit and give YOU soomething! Your work is definitely appreciated.

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  44. love the librarian action figure!

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  45. You are so cute! I love the little action figures :-)

    Librarians rock!

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  46. The cake looks great! And my only library story is how excited I was to get my first card because you had to be able to sign your name in order to get one so I practiced a lot in order to be able to sign in cursive.

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  47. I work at a public library and ironically we are closed this week for installation of new carpet and additional shelving. Love your blog, BTW.

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  48. Ha, ha, ha! We have one of those librarian action figures. We laughed so hard when our friend gave it to my husband a few years ago. He lovingly displays it in his library. :)

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  49. Librarian humor! I love it. I bought my first bundt pan this weekend. I can't wait to use it.

    Your cake looks gorgeous!

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  50. HI! I just found you via...I forget! I have too much in my reader! It is good meet a fellow librarian. I would love to show my kids the "shushing" librarian since I am more of the "roaring" variety~it is never quiet in nmy stacks.

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  51. I live just a few blocks away from my local library. I try and walk down there every weekend. I've been checking out cookbooks, some fabulous stuff out there!

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  52. Love the blog! wish I had more time to bake myself.

    Diane and Lily

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  53. My aunt is a librarian. I'd like to get her one of those action figures :)

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  54. Great looking bundt cake!

    I love the action figures!

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  55. How cute is that? I'm laughing at the librarian action figure.

    I just took my boys to the downtown Cincinnati library this week for the first time. Boy, is it big! I've heard that Cincinnati Public Library is in the top 5 for number of books in the country. I'm pretty proud of that fact considering all the others were NYC, LA,and other much larger cities than ours. I guess I'm rambling here. Anyway, I'm not sure if I've mentioned my love of libraries before :)

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  56. This cake sounds amazing. I love the little librarian. :)

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  57. I love those figurines!!

    ptinaw at gmail.com

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  58. Yay for National Library Week - I love ginger and your cake looks fantastic. The ginger-infused strawberries sound super yummy too!

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  59. I want those cake pans so much. Maybe I'll feel inspired to cook.

    I love your blog!

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  60. Beautiful bundt! I love the tiny books! And the librarian action figure.

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  61. Everything looks DELICOUS! My library definitely needs a action figure in it! :)

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  62. I gotta try that cake - ginger's one of my faves.

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  63. I loveee the library!! My school has a huge science library where i spend most of my days studying. The cake looks delish and the mini pans- too cute!! :)

    quynhnvo(at)gmail(dot)com

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  64. I really like your blog. It gives me some great ideas. I want a librarian to put on my cake! Please enter me in the drawing.

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  65. Love the cake and what a fun giveaway!

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  66. Great pans and beautiful cakes! :)

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  67. What a great giveaway...I would love to learn to bake from scratch...that bundt cake looks devine!

    whitneyellen77@gmail.com

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  68. Okay. That action figure is awesome.

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  69. Those mini cake pans look adorable!

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  70. What a great way to celebrate library week! I, too, love miniature things, and those pans are adorable!

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  71. I am at the library at LEAST once a week picking up the latest arrivals from my lengthy list of holds (picked up seven this morning). This shushing librarian figure would suit me to a "T" though the cake pans make me swoon as well.

    Love your blog!

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  72. You go girl....hooray for librarians and libraries in general. I am a library stalker..I take my boys to the library in my town and the three libraries in surrounding towns for story hour and puppet shows...I am officially obsessed.

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  73. Wow, that is a lot of ginger.

    I worked as a page in the library during part of my junior and all of my senior year! Loved it but I've always been a lover of the written word. I couldn't tell you the last time I watched TV. More than likely it was a sporting event too.

    Thanks for chance to win some neat stuff!
    ~ingrid

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  74. Your bundt cake looks perfect and I love the librarian sticking out of the top.

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  75. Beautiful cake...I'm a huge ginger fan!

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  76. Yay for libraries and Tiny cake pans!

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  77. Oh my gosh - what an awesome giveaway. Thanks for the chance!
    Michelle
    http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/

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  78. My first memory is of my mother taking me to the public library and the smell of the magnolia trees that bloomed right outside of the library doors. To this day I associate the smell of magnolias with books.

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  79. I HEART my library and library card!
    I heart this cake as well.

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  80. Very cool to see how fellow librarians are having fun with food, blogs, and the Nancy Pearl Action figure.

    Keep on cooking!

    http://auntienettiesattic.blogspot.com/search/label/Shushing%20Librarian

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  81. How did you find that figurine? So cool!

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  82. Oh, libraries. Aside from having over 50 books out for my thesis (I'm a college senior) I now also have Nigella Lawson's "How to Be a Domestic Goddess" out. We'll see how much thesising I get done with that lying around...

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  83. when i see a bundt cake, i always think of "my big fat greek wedding" and the sad fact that her family was unfamiliar with the wonderful creation. :)

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  84. What great prizes! Happy Library Week.

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  85. Just bought some candied ginger- can't wait to try this

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  86. I ADORE Ginger - have no idea, why, but I just add it to everything. I can't wait to try that recipe, especially, taht I am now in sour-cream-added-cakes phase (it's great how cream is making cake fluffy and moist, yum!) hugs from Poland malgorzata.minta [at] dziennik . pl

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  87. Gah I could live and die in Surfas.

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  88. How nice that you are doing this.
    Cake looks very yummy!

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  89. I love these little pans! I'm always fascinated with your mini goods but never have pans to make them in!

    -Melissa G.

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  90. Giveaway-yay-yay! If you ever start a new blog I think it should be called "The Bundt Cake Librarian." :)

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  91. What a lovely way to celebrate National Library Week!

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  92. *sigh* I've always wanted to be a librarian!

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  93. I love any cake that has sour cream in it! I think it adds a little something special. Happy Library Week!

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  94. I love sour cream in cakes. Happy library week!

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  95. Those action figures are too much! Wonder if they make a Stay At Home Mom version?! Thanks for sharing them.

    Where on earth did you find these adorable little cake pans? And can I have them?

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  96. Yummy! So many good things. I think I need to run out and get a bundt pan!

    Yay for librarians! I have an 8 yr old and he is quickly becoming an avid reader like his mom, my 2 yr old too!

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  97. I saw this cake in that magazine too and really wanted to try it. It looks delicious. What a fun week!

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  98. Oh count me in too! I actually went to my local city library the other day for the first time in years, only to find out that it was closed for renovations!! Oh well...

    Mary

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  99. Will be making this cake ASAP as I looove anything with ginger.


    aznfdgrl@gmail.com

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  100. I have GOT to try this bundt cake. I love love love ginger. I made a pear-ginger-cranberry pie and it was divine.

    Any recommendations on a good bundt pan? I don't own one.

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  101. Love the cake, love the action figures. Love all of it!

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  102. Mini cake pans? My two girls would love them. Almost as much as they love the library. We could spend hours getting lost in a book. Love your blog!

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  103. Oh, wow. I really fancy those miniature cake pans. :]

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  104. Oh, the mini tier pans are wonderful. Thanks for all the giveaways - you can tell I read from the most recent back to the beginning of the week, right?
    Nancy

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  105. The mini cake pans remind me of a wedding cake! And the double-ginger cake...yummy!

    betheygreen@aol.com

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  106. This bundt cake sounds really good. What a lovely combo -- ginger + sour cream!

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  107. sounds soo good, looks even better!

    i love ginger ... my fav combo for desserts is ginger, pumpkin, and chocolate .. mmm

    gosh i have such fond memories of our local library back when i was kid. it was such a place of wonder and discovery!

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  108. sounds soo good, looks even better!

    i love ginger ... my fav combo for desserts is ginger, pumpkin, and chocolate .. mmm

    gosh i have such fond memories of our local library back when i was kid. it was such a place of wonder and discovery!

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  109. Love the action figures! I have Shakespeare ones myself :)

    unrealseal@yahoo.com

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  110. I love making bundt cakes, for some reason the shape makes me feel like im eating something healthier than normal cake lol

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  111. Hello. I work at a library for USC and am a huge trader joe's fan! I really enjoy reading your blog and your photos are great.

    thanks, diana

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  112. I've started taking my little ones to the library every three weeks (because that's how long we can keep the books), and was just thinking how much we need a reusable book bag!

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  113. That ginger bundt looks divine! I had no idea libraries had food magazines! I may just head over and find that recipe today...

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  114. That bundt cake looks divine. I'm a huge fan of ginger. And sour cream just does incredible things for baked goods!! By the way, my boyfriend's mom is a librarian and she has a ton of those precious action figures!! So cute!

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  115. I need to buy my own action librarian.

    Thanks!
    Laura

    happypillbug at gmail

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  116. Sure is a lot of baking! And it all looks so good!

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  117. I'm so bummed that I missed Library week! I'm so far behind with everything that I'm just now getting caught up with your posts. The cake looks fabulous--I love ginger.

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