Substitutions while cooking and baking are the focus this week.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html

http://www.ourbestbites.com/

http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/SAVEURs-Favorite-Global-Food-Blogs?cmpid=hp102011

This week we have a random selection of science websites.

http://www.komando.com/

http://www.techdigest.tv/

http://flowingdata.com/

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/29/9805608-must-see-science-videos-of-2011

A small sample of native peoples' websites

http://www.ourmothertongues.org/Home.aspx

http://iamnotamascot.blogspot.com/

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/

http://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/

A website that is good for your brain. http://www.mentalfloss.com/

This website offers many, many kinds of advice for parents.

http://www.parenthacks.com/

Here's an interactive map of the world, and at the USA, with many kinds of information.

http://show.mappingworlds.com/world/?lang=EN

This site suggests some inexpensive gifts.

http://www.mydollarplan.com/inexpensive-experience-gifts/

An interesting look at many of the holidays found in December, and some really silly "holidays" to celebrate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/02/december-religious-holidays_n_1126507.html

Newspapers from here and there around the world are this weeks focus.

http://scottishnewspapers.com/ http://www.newspapers24.com/swedish-newspapers/index.html http://www.world-newspapers.com/norway.html http://www.mediatico.com/en/newspapers/europe/denmark/ http://www.w3newspapers.com/finland/

Christmas movies

http://blog.moviefone.com/2009/11/04/best-christmas-movies http://www.mahalo.com/best-christmas-movies/ http://christianity.about.com/od/christmas/tp/christmasmovies.htm

The focus this week is medical news.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

http://aap.org/

http://www.lifehappens.org/disability-insurance-needs-calculator/

PETS! Need we say more? Cats, Dogs, and Others (alphabetically).

http://www.cutepuppies.net/

http://www.thedailycute.com/

http://www.dailypets.co.uk/

http://pets-n-people.net/

http://www.pets-plus-people.com/

http://www.dailykitten.com/

http://cutepuppyworld.com/main/index.php/category/puppy-of-the-day-pictures/

http://lovemeow.com/

A fun site for crafts--and yes--the information is free.

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/halloween/index.shtml

If you have food allergies, this is the site to know!

http://www.foodallergy.org/

This site provides infornmation about the countries, as well as the food.

http://www.foodbycountry.com/

Pew Research is the place to go for interesting, unbiased information.

http://pewresearch.org/

Calculate something at this nifty website.

http://www.calculatewhat.com/

Websites about weather:

http://www.ncdc.naa.gov/oa/reports/billionz.html

http://americasclimatechoices.org/

http://climatewisconsin.org/

These are both art-related sites, and you may well find our local artists listed on these!

http://heritagepassage.com/

Both these sites are about nutrition.

http://www.wisconline.com/attractions/galleries.html

http://ods.od.nih.gov/ and http://nutritiondata.self.com/

These two are about money. Both have lots of useful, real-life information about using money and controlling where it goes.

http://beingfrugal.net/ and http://moneyning.com/

A great site about manliness--interesting, informative, and fun.

http://artofmanliness.com/category/so-you-want-my-job/

Check the list here to see what post offices are under study for closing by the USPS as a cost-saving measure.

http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/expandedaccess/states/wisconsin.htm

Not a dry-old-history site; a fun and interesting history site.

http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/

Try visiting the National Zoological Park online.

http://nationalzoo.si.edu

Here are amazing sand sculptures from both professionals and amateurs.

http://www.sandcastlecentral.com/

Healthy Home Gardening provides information about plants and gardening.

http://healthyhomegardening.com/index.php

The Library of Congress has old music recordings available to hear online at their wonderful Jukebox website. It is a great way to explore our national music heritage!

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox

Transportation for America lets you find out about the many ways we can travel, and check the condition of bridges in the USA.

http://t4america.org/

The Wisconsin Farm Center provides support to Wisconsin farmers and agribusinesses. Contact them for information about their many services. Farmers can contact the Farm Center toll-free at 1-800-942-2474, or by email.

http://datcp.wi.gov/Farms/Wisconsin_Farm_Center/index.aspx

If you want to plan a vacation, or just see what people do for fun, this is a wonderful website to visit.

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/american-festivals

The Lifehacker website offers advice and help on just about any subject that you might want for day-to-day living.

www.lifehacker.com

These two websites help stop unwanted mail and phone calls. You do have to send in personal information, and that this process takes some time. BOTH these sites are free--you do not have to pay to have this service done.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt063.shtm

http://www.directmail.com/

Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, St. Croix, and Rusk Counties: Local History Collections

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WI/subcollections/IndianheadLocHistAbout.html

A wonderful website that offers clear explanations about the difference between many different things.

http://www.differencebetween.net/

What's an "eggcorn?" Here's an example from the Eggcorn website: eavesdrop » eardrop

http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/

If you would like a short history of Halloween, try this link.

http://halloweenhistory.org/

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/halloween/index.shtml

Music history is the subject for this week.

http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/

http://musicandhistory.com/

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/december.htm

Here are places to exchange "unsable" gift cards.

Plastic Jungle www.plasticjungle.com
Trade your unwanted gift cards and electronic gift certificates for a credit to your PayPal account, an Amazon gift card, or a check.

Cardpool Gift Card Exchange www.cardpool.com
Cardpool will exchange a variety of gift cards for a certificate from Amazon, and, for some merchants, it will buy your unwanted gift cards electronically.

Gift Card Granny www.giftcardgranny.com
A master directory of brokers who buy and sell secondhand gift cards.