55+ Connections: Week of 5/18/25
This is the 55+ Connections weekly update. If you would like to sign up to get more updates from the city go to northlibertyiowa.org/subscribe.
55+ Connections: Tuesday Gathering
Tuesday, May 20
10:30 AM
North Liberty Library – Meeting Room CD
It’s the time of the month for jigsaw puzzles! Bring a friend, we’ll bring the snacks and puzzles. We have puzzles of several sizes for this event, but almost all are under 300 pieces.
Join us each week for a social gathering full of activities and friendly conversation – board games, crafts, puzzles, book discussions, and more! No registration required. You can choose which events you would like to attend and are not obligated to go weeks when the activity is not of interest to you.
Disaster PrepWise
Tuesday, May 20
2 – 3:30 PM
Iowa City Senior Center – Room 302
Disaster PrepWise is a program designed to prepare you and your household for emergency situations like natural disasters, fires, and other disasters that need preparation. Register by calling the Senior Center at 319-356-5220 or by going online here.
Volunteers Needed for Tutoring with Kirkwood Secondary Programs
Thursdays, May 22 and 29
Iowa City Senior Center – Room 308
Looking for something rewarding to do? Want to make your community a better place? Become a volunteer tutor with Kirkwood Community College! The first session of this two-part series details the tutoring services offered to students in Kirkwood’s Secondary Programs, which include Adult English Language Instruction and High School Completion and Adult Literacy. The second session provides an orientation to being a tutor. The presenter is Lauren Keating. To attend, register by calling 319-356-5220 or going online here.
55+ Connections: Friday Lunch
Friday, May 23
11:30 AM
North Liberty Rec Center – Rooms 3&4
This week we will have food from China Garden for lunch. After lunch, Corrie Brase will give a presentation about the basics of Renaissance faires titled “Ye Olde Renaissance Festivals”.
Registration for lunch is $5 and required for all who attend lunch. Participants must register before noon on Thursday, May 22nd. Call the Rec Center to register (319)626-5716 or go online to your RecDesk Account and register yourself.
55+ Connections: Friday Meal Raffles
Thanks to a generous donor, we have 100 free meals to give away to participants of the 55+ Connections Friday Lunch! We have decided to hold raffles every week for the rest of 2025 to distribute these meals. Three names will be drawn weekly and the three winners will have the cost of lunch that day refunded to them. Anyone who is registered for lunch can participate, but you can’t win twice in one month. Our May 16th winners are: Kathy M., Arlene G, and George M.! Congrats!
Film Fridays & Free Popcorn
Friday, May 23
2 PM
Iowa City Senior Center
Come to the Senior Center to watch a movie and eat popcorn!
May 23rd movie: Emily the Criminal (2022)
Down on her luck and saddled with debt, Emily gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles, ultimately leading to deadly consequences.
Recipe of the Month
Once a month, there will be a new recipe included in this newsletter! It will be something fairly easy and nice to share with friends. If you would like to send in your recipes to be considered for Recipe of the Month, please email them to Corrie at [email protected] or bring them to the North Liberty Library front desk.
May’s recipe: Ridiculously Easy Lemon Raspberry Scones
(from the blog, The Cafe Sucre Farine)
Ingredients for scones (makes approximately 12):
1 cup heavy cream
8 tablespoons butter
2 cups all purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 lemon
½ cup fresh raspberries
Ingredients for glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk or half and half
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions:
Put 1 cup of heavy cream in the freezer for 15 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400 F. Microwave butter until fully melted and set aside.
Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and lemon zest.
Take the chilled heavy cream out of the freezer and pour it into the hot butter. Stir it until small clumps are formed (you can see these by stirring with a fork and lifting the fork out of the mixture).
Add the butter/cream to the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until flour is incorporated, but don’t stir too much. Batter should be thick.
Cut up raspberries and add the pieces to the batter. Gently fold them in until they are dispersed throughout the batter. Spray a spoon with cooking spray and scoop out balls of the batter onto the parchment lined baking sheet, two inches apart. Put the cookie sheet in the fridge for 20-30 minutes, but no more than an hour or they’ll dry out too much.
Once chilled, put the sheet in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to wire cooling rack.
For the glaze, whisk together the lemon juice, powdered sugar, and milk until smooth but spoonable. Drizzle over the scones, once they have cooled for 10 minutes or so. Wait until room temperature to eat.
Corrie’s notes: These were pretty easy to make! I used a cheese grater to zest my lemon and that worked out okay. I think these could honestly do with a little more lemon flavor (personal preference), so I added a bit more lemon juice to the glaze. It says to wait until they are cool to eat, and they do taste best that way, but they were really good hot out of the oven too, just don’t burn your tongue!
