Fundraiser for the Library?

I've been living in Greene County for almost 10 years now. I never quite know where I am, and now I see why -- whoever drew this county was a little tipsy. Slightly off-kilter. And having the Wright-Patt Air Force Base just confuses things further. Wherever I drive, I'm sure to end up in Beavercreek. When I merge onto I-70 I always remind myself: Dayton is West, Columbus is East.

So I try to do most of my traveling on foot or by bicycle. I stay in town whenever possible.

The other day I went to visit a neighbor. We had some business to contract, but she wanted me to come at 9 rather than 10. When I got there, I realized why.

She had baked a sweet bread to share with me over a cup of coffee.

In some ways, she reminds me of my grandmother -- ready to volunteer when called upon, living in a house filled with memories, and dipping into them occasionally to share.

In this case, the recipe was Lemon Yogurt Coffee Cake. She even had a xerox of the file card to give me when I expressed enthusiasm. (It was delicious -- especially because she toasted the slices in the toaster oven. Made it quite special.)

The best part, though, was the recipe card. Many people wouldn't recognize the homegrown effort of what was many years ago a fundraiser for the Greene County Libraries.

Typed recipe cards, reproduced and strung together with a shoestring. Yep, like a card catalogue. Very old school.

I have some ideas for how to modernize this recipe, but I haven't gotten to it yet -- we baked another Lemon Cheesecake (gluten-free this time) and have been reveling in it.

But the Lemon Yogurt Coffee Cake is next on my list of baked goods. And when I bake it, I'll think about the way libraries used to be. Card catalogues were awesome. In fact, when I visit the public library in St. Petersburg, Russia, I can lose myself in the card catalogue -- sometimes I don't even need to request the books.

Greene County library card catalogues ... no longer in use.