Cooks and Culture Club

By now all of you know that I'm a sucker for library programs.. especially craft nights and cooking ones. Author visits are great too. History events can be interesting. Little Chute Library started a new club this month. It's called  Cooks and Culture Club. 

The Cooks and Culture Club will focus on one of the different cultures that help settle the Little Chute/Fox Valley area. They said we will explore local culture every month as we learn about their history and try an authentic dish. Sounds good to me.. History and Food.

This month was France. To be honest I forgot we had a slight French Influence in the area. Jean Nicolet was the first person to reach Green Bay and travel as far south as possibly Lake Winnebago. The Grignons in Kaukauna were French settlers as well. Again I totally forgot about that despite visiting the Grignon Mansion a few year back. The history portion was definitely interesting. \

Since we learned about the French influence in the area, it only made sense we were going to have crepes. Wine would have been good but since the event was not 21+, that would probably not be a great idea. 

We all got to make our own crepe. Since I've made crepes a few times, I had no qualms at going first knowing the first crepe never turns out. Like usual my crepe was not even close to being perfect. I had trouble flipping it and was not perfectly round. Oh well. 

Toppings were minimal. There was ice cream syrups, Nutella, bananas, and lemon and sugar. Lemon sugar is a traditional French. I went with both syrups and the lemon sugar. Lemon sugar was definitely interesting. I'm not used to a tart crepe but I can see why the French like it. It is kind of addictive.

Besides tasty treats and a bit of history, we also all got our own aprons to take home and bring back each class. It is the perfect apron as it is only the bottom half of the apron which is exactly where I need to cover. My thighs get filthy when I bake. I can't wait to use it at home.

We also get a different button each month to add to our aprons. 

I hope this club keeps going after the first couple of months. It is a great program. It gets people out of the house especially in the winter. Next month is Dutch and I can't wait to see what treat we get to try. 

6880. Make Italian Cream Sodas

 I had my first Italian Cream Soda 20 years ago when the coffee shop opened in the library at Carroll. I introduced the hubby to them at Bucca's many years ago. If we see them on the menu, we will order them. Globe coffee at the Plaza in Neenah has them on their menu. However, I wanted to try to make them myself. A college friend and I said we'd get together during the pandemic and make them. We never did. 

When my mom asked me last week, if I had a use for half and half cream. I said, I sure do. The hubby looked at my quizzically until I told him we can make Italian cream sodas. When we went grocery shopping we picked up club soda and flavored syrup at Walmart.

An Italian cream soda is a basic mixed drink recipe. I ended up using one I found on Pinterest. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Club Soda
• 3 T Flavored Syrup -- We used coconut. You can mix flavors just don't exceed 3 T total
• 1 T half and half cream
• Ice cubes

Steps

1. Add the ice cubes to a glass

2. Add Club Soda to glass

3. Add Flavored Syrup

4. Add half and half cream

Take a picture of the pretty layers before stirring. Since we were using coconut we didn't get the pretty layers.

Enjoy.

You can also make them without the cream and then it's just an Italian Soda.

My first sip and I thought I was back in the library at Carroll. 

We decided we want to get more flavors -- raspberry, peach, cherry. Oh the possibilities. 

These will definitely be made again..

23 in 2023

For the second year in a row, I did not do very well at my 22 in 2022 list last year. I think I managed to do 5 things and one closed without really telling us so I couldn't even attempt to do it. Unlike last year where I moved everything over that I did not do last year to this year's list, I took things off that I know probably would not get done and made a lot more vague goals instead of very specific ones. Let's see how I do this year. I did keep a couple on the list that I really want try to get done some day.

Here goes nothing... Anything bold is a carry over from previous years

1. Explore Lions Den
2. Explore Wilderness Park
3. Walk/bike at least 30 miles every month or 360 miles in 2023
4. Discover at least one new coffee shop/cafe
5. Chase at least one waterfall
6. Go to short story night at Lion Tale's Brewing Company
7. Go to Mile to Music -- This almost happened last year but timing didn't work.
8. Follow the Fox Trail through Appleton
9. Go to Copper Rock Coffee Shop
10. Bike at least 10 miles -- My bike was having issues last year and I didn't want to venture too far from home in case of a flat tire. Hopefully this year, I won't run into those issues.
11. Go to Cedar Valley Cheese
12. Walk the new walking bridge in Appleton
13. Go to the Dirty Bookstore in Appleton
14. Discover at least one new donut shop somewhere in the country
15. Try stuffed chicken wings from Mai's Deli
16. Do at least one art/craft project a month
17. Go to Sweet Liar in Menasha
18. Try at least one new recipe
19. Discover at least one new restaurant
20. Attempt to see a manatee
21. Discover at least 1 new brewery
22. Discover at least 1 new winery
23. Make Italian Cream Sodas