6036. Make fresh squeezed orange juice

I was talking to my mom while she and my dad was in Arizona visiting my aunt and uncle and she said, "Too bad you don't like oranges. The orange tree is full of oranges and they need to be picked to have blossoms next year."

Image courtesy of Google

I was like but I could make fresh squeezed orange juice. 

My mom brought me 4 oranges, totaling over 5lbs, back from Arizona for orange juice.

By the time, I saw her though my fresh squeezed orange juice was more like 2 week old squeezed orange juice. And boy were those oranges ready to be squeezed.

I warmed up the oranges in the microwave to get the maximum juice out of them and squeezed...

and squeezed... 

Since these oranges were quite ripe, I also had a lot of pulp to dig out of my juicer..

... and strain the juice to get pulp free juice

I got a fair amount of juice out of my 4 oranges.. enough for a glass... 

After I chilled it over night, I poured me a glass.

BLECH!!!!

It was horrible. I am not a big orange juice drinker but at least I know that it should take like oranges. This tasted like absolutely nothing. It had no flavor or it tasted like old orange rinds. I took 2 sips and dumped the rest down the drain.

After talking to mom, she did say the orange she had in Arizona didn't really have any taste. I'm glad it wasn't just me. Maybe one day I'll get to make fresh off the tree orange juice that actually tastes like oranges.

3921. Go to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay

Back in January I found a Groupon deal for the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. I’ve always wanted to go and the hubby enjoyed model railroads as a kid (and still does). After confirming with the hubby that this was something he’d like to do, I scored two admissions to the museum for less than $10 – regular price is $10/person. Since March is a slow month for the hubby, we decided to pick a day in March and go. I worked it around my work schedule so I didn’t have to burn a day of PTO… I have more important things to use it on in summer

The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay is a museum of trains. There is 1 exhibit hall with the current display being dishes, a train gallery inside with about 10 train cars and engines, and a storage barn outside with more train cars and engines in need of repair. During the warmer months, there is also a train ride around the museum (which is $2 more a person). Honestly I was disappointed. I really thought there would be more exhibits and rooms to see.

The exhibit on China dishware was interesting… not at all what I would expect at a train museum. The China collection was comprised of dishes served on trains, boats, and planes throughout the years. Again train museum… not expecting dishes from the Titanic, Air Force One, the Hindenburg… or dishes at all. I have to admit that some of them were impressive and made me wish we still got real meals on actual China when we flew… not just a pack of peanuts and a cup of soda.

China from the Hindenburg

Presidential China

China from the White Star Line, quite possibly the 

stuff they had on the Titanic

After pursuing the dishes, we headed over to the train hall. This was cool. This is what I was expecting. TRAINS… Real Trains… Big Trains… Each train had its own story to tell. We were able to climb aboard most of the trains and see what they were like inside.

The showcase piece was Eisenhower’s train he used as commander of the European Theater in WWII. We were able to climb aboard his train and see how he traveled across Europe. Like most of trains we boarded, the aisles were narrow and the ceilings low. We almost had to walk at an angle at times to fit through the aisle and walkways without bumping into the sides.

Besides Eisenhower’s train, my other favorite train was the Big Boy Engine of the Union Pacific. Built to pull freight trains through the mountains of Utah and Wyoming, this engine was impressive. The wheels were almost as tall as I was. It could haul 32 tons of coal. There were no control panels just a series of dials that hopefully you knew what each one of them did.

The Big Boy

I'm just a few inches taller than the wheel

The Coal Bin

And these do what?

All Aboard!

There were several cabooses which after climbing aboard them I am no longer impressed by them. They just have a couple of seats in them and the platform out back.

Two different Cabooses

Inside the caboose

Probably the most impressive train was the Pullman cars. Not only did you get to see the impressive Pullmans but you also got to hear the story of Porters that worked on the train using a series of video screens.

A snowplow, a streetcar, and a honor train rounded out the collection.

We headed outside and checked out the trains out there. Most of them were in dire need of repair. They were still cool to see but because of the shape they were in, there were only a handful that you could actually climb aboard. One even only had the coils of the seats left in the engine. 

There was  also an old mail train. You could see where they sorted the mail and the pigeonholes and baskets for the different stops.

And an old dining car

Not to mention probably one only remaining Aerotrains

The hubby said to plan for 2 hours at the museum and if we weren’t the only people at the museum it might have taken the 2 hours but we were done in an hour. If you have kids, I’m sure you’ll be there more than an hour. For us we came, saw the trains, and went on our merry little way.

Yes it is definitely a place you need to visit but unless you have kids who nuts about trains or just really like museums, it’s almost one of those “been there, done that” type of places. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t see going back just to see the same thing again.

Painting Plates at the Library

Everyone kept telling me I needed to check out the new Kaukauna Library. It turns out that Kaukauna library is just as far as Neenah library or even the Little Chute Library. I thought it was more than 15 minutes from home. With the Kaukauna Library being relatively close, it gives me another library to enjoy adult programs at.

The first program that caught my eye was a spring canvas painting but that wasn't until April. then I saw plate painting.. Oh wait.. dang.. Like many adult programs it is during the day... HELLO.. I work.. I can't just take off because I want to paint plates. Weelll, it turns out I could take off to plate paints. The hubby and I wanted to go to the train museum in Green Bay and it wasn't open on Mondays, my preferred day off when working Saturday, so I planned on taking Wednesday off instead.

Since Danielle was off too, I registered both of us. It's always more fun with someone you know even though I suppose I could use opportunity to meet new people. She wanted to know the cost and I was like "Free... the best kind.. and since when do I library programs that aren't free??"

After entering the library from the basement and followed the signs upstairs, we attempted to find the plate painting. The sign said the board room but the board room was dark. While we were standing around figuring out our next move another lady showed up for plate painting. Danielle went to find out where plate painting was. The lady at the front desk directed us to a "back" corner of the library. Without signs or directions, I would never have guessed that it would have been in a corner... a very bright and sunny corner with high tables. It was actually a great place to meet. The set-up reminded me of a coffee shop.

I actually planned ahead and made a stencil of the Wisconsin "W" so my plate would go in my kitchen. I knew I couldn't freehand the "W". I just printed the "W" onto cardstock and cut it out with an Exacto Knife. The librarian was impressed.

Plate painting was really misleading. We didn't paint our plates. We used oil-based Sharpies to draw and color our plates. However, plate coloring doesn't sound all that interesting.

The process was quite simple.
1. Buy a plate at the Dollar Store
2. Clean the plate with an alcohol wipe
3. Draw a design on it with Oil-Based Sharpies
4. Bake your plate at 150 degrees for 30 minutes

If you make a mistake just wipe it off with the alcohol wipe. We were provide a packet with various designs it for inspiration but I already knew what I wanted to do.

After cleaning my plate, I used a thin black Sharpie to trace the "W".

Then I used a fat red sharpie and colored in the W. I really just kept tracing the "W" around and around until my lines started to meet and then I color the remaining parts.

The last step was to use a fat black to add the black shading on the W.

I think it took me 30 minutes or so to do.

Danielle made Gavin a "healthy" dinner plate that she found in the guide.

Once I got home I baked my plate at 170 degrees because that is the lowest my oven went for 30 minutes.

I really enjoyed this program. I like the crafty-type programs. It looks like Kaukauna offers a weekly crafting session for adults that kids are welcomed for. Once a month it looks like they offer a kid free event with some of them during the evening. I guess I will be adding Kaukauna Library to my bookmarks so I can stalk their calendar too.