Madison Elementary Pays Us a Visit

Back in 2008, a group of Madison Elementary School students visited a variety of businesses in the Stevens Point area. One of their stops was at the UWSP Bookstore and they made a video to document their visit. The video was produced, filmed, and edited by the students. It was made not too long after the DUC remodel so it was a good chance for us to show off all the big changes in the Bookstore.


Check out those awesome transistions! And listen to those catchy tunes!

US/TR Cookbook Part 3

More great recipes straight out of our homemade cookbook. Joy!

Appetizer:

Olive Dip

Ingredients:

6 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 T. liquid from salad olives

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped green salad olives

Instructions: Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise and mix well.  Add liquid from salad olives and mix. Fold in pecans and salad olives. Delicious served over Triscuit crackers.

- Recipe by Irene Krueger

Entree: 

Bethghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese 16 oz. can of spaghetti sauce 8 oz. container sour cream 1 onion, chopped 10 oz. box frozen chopped spinach Some shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

1. Sauté the onion; add the defrosted and drained spinach and the rest of the ingredients except the cheddar cheese. 
2. Serve over noodles. 
3. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

-         - Recipe by Beth Hladilek

Dessert:

Death By Chocolate

 

Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix 1 (12 oz.) carton Cool Whip 3 pkgs. Jell-O chocolate mousse 3 large Heath candy bars

Instructions: 

1. Bake brownies as directed on box.  Make mousse as directed.
2. Crumble brownies in bottom of pan. 
3. Add a layer of mousse, layer of Cool Whip, and a layer of crumbled Heath bars; repeat layers. 
4. Top with Cool Whip and candy bars.

- Recipe by Esther Kubley

Then and Now: Retro Reimagined

We have a lot of photo albums at the Bookstore that reach all the way back to the 1970's and up. It's fun seeing the old staff (the amazing fashion) and how the store used to look. When paging through one of the albums, we came across a real gem. A true diamond in the rough. The year was 1987. There was poofy hair. There were awesome sweatshirts. There were people holding phones.

1987 - Cords weren't going to slow them down.

I'm not really sure what is going on in this photo or why it exists, but here it is. Three employees, sporting sweet UWSP sweatshirts, awkwardly talking on phones right next to each other. I don't know if this is some basic promotional photo showing off their swag or if they were just really excited about phones. I don't care. It's just fantastic.

So fantastic that we got inspired to recreate this moment for the 21st century. Sure, we've all got cellphones now and we don't sell those nifty sweatshirts anymore. Doesn't mean we're any less snazzy!CHECK IT.

2012 - Still just as awkward.

Here's an awkward side-by-side in all of its awkwardly awkward glory:

YEAH PHONES

Painting with Steve Ross

I did a recent blog post on acrylic paints and understanding the different types. I made a little reference to Bob Ross at the end, beloved for his "Joy of Painting" series on PBS.

It turns out that his son, Steve Ross, followed in the footsteps of his father and is quite accomplished in the same style. A Youtube video of him appearing on "Joy of Painting" is getting pretty popular so I'd thought I'd share his skills (and mullet) with you.

The way he words things is... poetic to say the least. You'll see what I mean.

USTR Cookbook Part 2

Time for another round of delicious recipes straight out of our homemade cookbook. Woo!

Appetizer:

Liz's Famous Taco Dip

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese

Shredded cheese

8 oz. sour cream

Tomato, chopped

1 pkg. Taco Bell Original Taco Seasoning

Onion, chopped (optional)

Shredded lettuce Instructions:

1. Mix cream cheese, sour cream and seasoning together.
2. After thoroughly mixed, spread out nicely on a plate.
3. Layer lettuce, cheese, tomato and onion.
4. Enjoy with Barrel O’Fun Tortilla Chips.

- Recipe by Liz Reese

Entree: 

Beef Nacho Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef 1 T. chili powder 1 jar (12 oz.) chunky salsa 2 c. crushed tortilla chips, divided 1 c. frozen sweet corn, thawed and drained 2 c. (8 oz.) shredded Colby or Monterey ¾ c. Miracle Whip Dressing Jack cheese, divided

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Brown meat and drain. 
3. Stir in salsa, corn, dressing, and chili powder.
4. Layer ½ each of meat mixture, chips and cheese in 2-quart casserole.
5. Repeat layers. 
6. Bake 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
7. Top with shredded lettuce and chopped tomato, if desired.
8. Makes 6 Servings.

-         - Recipe by Kelly Anderson

Dessert:

Chocolate Tiramisu

 

Ingredients:

3 c. heavy cream ¾ c. coffee 1 c. chocolate chips ½ c. coffee flavored liqueur 1 - 3 oz. pkg. ladyfingers

Instructions: 

1. Heat cream until almost boiling.  Add chips and stir until smooth.  Chill until cool.
2. Whip chocolate cream until thickened.
3. Arrange ladyfingers in a 9x9-inch dish.
4. Stir coffee and liqueur together.
5. Poke holes in ladyfingers with fork, drizzle with half of coffee mixture and top with half of cream.
6. Repeat with another layer.  Top with grated cheese.
7. Refrigerate for 3-24 hrs.

- Recipe by Cindy Engstrom

Working with Acrylics

Fine art student or not, painting is a wonderful hobby to pass the time and express your creativity. Our store has a wide selection of painting supplies, one of the biggest in Point actually, and can help get you started on your road to artistic splendor.

Today I'd like to specifically focus on acrylic paint and all the different types and uses. One of our suppliers, Golden, has a great video demonstrating acrylics and what to expect from each kind.


We even carry their innovative "open" acrylics that work and feel much like oil paint while still being water based. Hopefully someday you'll be painting happy little trees with the best of 'em.