25 in 2025 -- Try a New Food -- Santa Claus Melon

 We were discussing what we were going to bring to our July Tea Party Get together. I said I'd bring some melon as I saw that Piggly Wiggly had melons on sale and not just honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Different varieties of melon like Santa Claus or Hami Melon. I even did my research (okay looked each one on Google) and determined I wanted to try Hami, Canary, and Santa Claus Melon.

Before going to Piggly Wiggly, we went to Festival who has a great produce section. I saw that they had melons for 99 cents a pound including Santa Claus and Canary but no Hami melons. They had this cute little melon called a Lemon Melon. All of the melons came in various sizes and I liked they had some small ones. I was intrigued by it so I got the Lemon Melon. I was going to get the Santa Claus and Canary melon too but the hubby said Piggly Wiggly was going to be cheaper. 

We went to Piggly Wiggly and they had 4 melons.. one of each variety and they were larger than Festival melons of the same variety. I didn't even know what melon was what and there was no Hami melon. So back to Festival we went where I picked up a Santa Claus and Canary Melon.

All three melons were similar to a honeydew or cantaloupe. 

Santa Claus Melon is also called Christmas melon because it can last until Christmas due to long shelf life. It has a harder texture like honeydew and is definitely similar in color to honeydew. It definitely has more of a honeydew flavor. 

Canary Melon is has a more pear like texture but is more green in color than the Santa Claus Melon. It is definitely softer than the Santa Claus melon. This has a great taste like cantaloupe but hints of pineapple and/or banana. 

Lemon Melon is a hybrid melon from Japan that has skin like a cantaloupe but flesh more like honeydew. It is on the harder side when comparing the textures of the melons. Like it's name says, there is a hint of citrus with the honeydew flavor.

My preference is order: Canary, Lemon, Santa Claus. Erin preferred the Santa Claus melon and Janis really had no preference. I thought the Santa Claus tasted too much like Honeydew. I really like the unique flavor and texture of the Canary Melon. The Lemon one was surprisingly good in its own way.

I would get all three again but if I had to only choose one it definitely would be the canary melon. I am still waiting to try a Hami Melon. Maybe my next food adventure. 

If there is a melon sale going on, definitely move out of your comfort zone and try a new melon. You never know what you might end up loving (or hating). 

5274. Go to Cleo’s in Appleton

 After Danielle and I browsed the closing exhibit at the Trout, we decided we should get a drink. We debated between Dirty Snowballs at Cleo's or Limoncello at the Latin Fusion place. Since I was never to Cleo's, Dirty Snowballs it was. 

Cleo's Brown Beam is a cocktail lounge downtown Appleton famous for it's year round Christmas decor. It opens at 2 pm every day except Sunday when it is closed. Unlike most bars in Wisconsin no minors are allowed even with parents. 

Since it was a Friday, they also had Old Fashions on special. It was a toss up for me between the Dirty Snowball and an Old Fashion. I decided to go with the Dirty Snowball.

Cleo's dirty snowball is 1 part vodka, 2 crème de cacao and 2 parts coffee liqueur topped with a splash of cream. It was told it tasted like a boozy milkshake. It really did.

If I didn't know there was coffee liqueur in it, I would have not known. It was definitely good but not something I would probably order again. I would definitely do an old fashioned again.

The Christmas themed bar was just fun to hang out in. The Christmas lights made it nice and cozy. They had a nice collection of nutcrackers. 

It may have taken me 20 years to get to Cleo's but it was worth the wait. We said we should drag Janis with us next time. I may have to take Stacy in the future. 

If you have never been to Cleo's, you need to go and check it out. It is definitely a fun place to get drinks. 

Closing Exhibit at The Trout

 The Trout Museum of Art is moving from it's current location at the Houdini Plaza down the road near Lawrence University. Since they plan to open in the new location in October, they had to close the current location in order to pack everything up and move it down the road. They had a closing exhibit, free to the public. 

Since it was free, I wanted to go and I convinced Danielle to come with me. 

The final exhibit was called A Creative Place. It is, according the Trout Website "With a range of mediums, styles, and themes, this exhibition explores how local artists have responded to distinct cultural and environmental influences."

The exhibit was mainly paintings. A lot of them were boring -- small town America paintings. They are just not my type of art.

My favorite was the one that reminded me of Red from Shawshank Redemption. 

The random black circle was odd. I could do that.

The random cows were also a favorite even if the background was unusual.

I did like the statues even if they were completely random.

I kind of felt of place. It was full of artsy people most of them dressed up. We definitely were not dressed up. We browsed the exhibit navigating around people just chatting. I guess I am not cut out to rub elbows with art people. I will stick to baseball games.

I can't wait for the new museum to open. Stay tuned for another post later this year about the new Trout. 

7460. Have a Moscow mule

 I've always been interested in trying a Moscow Mule even before having a Kentucky Mule. I just didn't have any ginger beer. I had a bottle of apple pie vodka that I was dying to use. So I said we were having Moscow Mules for our October Gathering.

A Moscow Mule is vodka, ginger beer, and a twist of lime. I figured for fall the apple pie vodka would be perfect.

So when we were at Twiggs in May, I picked up a couple bottles of Ginger Beer with the intent of doing Moscow Mules. 

The Twigs, Apple Pie Vodka, and lime was really good... even when I put too much vodka in it. 

I also had a can of sparkling ginger beer from one of my book boxes. That one didn't work as well. I don't know if the extra carbonation threw the flavor off or if it Twigs was just that much better. Other comments from the book group had similar feelings about the sparking ginger beer so maybe it was just the type of ginger beer.

I have a bottle of ginger beer so we can have Moscow Mules at another gathering. I will have to find other uses for the Apple Pie Vodka as well. Stay tuned for other creative cocktails with the apple pie vodka.