Today I ate a meal worm just for you, dear readers.
We went back to Faust Park to check out "BUZZ: Cook up a Cricket" at the Butterfly House. Today's event was to teach us about how bugs are an important protein source in other parts of the world.
Today they were cooking up crickets and meal worms. I thought I would be braver about the cricket than the meal worm, but as it turns out they were both teeny tiny. Battered and fried, you don't really taste "bug," which makes the sauce options even more entertaining.
Out in the main hall of the Butterfly House, they have all kinds of little bug habitats, including this enormous cockroach terrarium.
Jesse, for scale
Action Cam time! I was just trying to get a video of some butterflies, and it turned into unintentional comedy that had me laughing for the rest of the day. Keith is dedicated to his craft.
Admission to the Butterfly House is $6 for adults, $4 for children 3-12, and free for children under 2 and members of Missouri Botanical Garden. Check out their website for upcoming classes and other special events like this one.
This past weekend I actually went to my first mouse races, but you'll have to wait for my second mouse races to get a blog about it. Since I forgot my camera, this week I bring you my second annual VIRTUAL MUSEUMS blog. Not everyone can afford to run a brick and mortar museum, but the vast intertubes are accessible to all. Here are my best Virtual Museum finds of 2010.
1. The Vincent Price Exhibit - One man's amazing collection of Vincent Price memoribilia. As you know, I am a huge fan, and if there's one virtual museum I wish was brick and mortar, it's this one.
2. The Cyber Toaster Museum - I'm a big fan of toast, but I'm still surprised at how much time I spent looking at toasters in this museum. From the earliest models that will make you flinch at the sight of so much exposed metal, to the "country kitchen" geese toaster of the 80s, this museum will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the history of the toaster.
3. Museum of Intergalactic Art - I grinned like the nerd I am when I read the opening sentence of the museum guide. "The original conception of the museum came about due to the enormous amount of interest that was shown in the archeological findings of Professor Benjamin Carlton Harred in 2976 A.D." This museum is brought to you from the year 3008 AD.
4. International Society of Talking Clock Collectors - Proving that if more than two of something exist, someone collects it. Flip through the galleries and click on a picture to play the clock sound. Some even have video! The "potpourri" category is my favorite, but there are unusual clocks in every group. Be sure to check out the talking Last Supper clock in the Religiously Themed category.
5. Patently Absurd Inventions Archive - OK, this is technically an archive, not a museum, but I had to include it once I saw the Baby Cage. These are all real inventions with real patents, and the links include the real patent illustrations. Some of them are hilarious, some are just scary.
6. The Virtual Egyptian Museum - I gravitate towards the weird, but you should know that there are plenty of serious virtual museums out there, and this is a fantastic example. The "About Us" page does a great job of explaining the benefits of online museums, and the collections are divided into "Full Visit" and "Highlights," which is really handy if you don't have all day to "tour." I especially like that each piece had detailed descriptions, because there is nothing worse than an interesting piece at a "real" museum with nothing but a title/artist card next to it. Also, the Virtual Egyptian Museum has as many as 66 pictures for some pieces, so you can see the most minute details without worrying about setting off an alarm.
The real challenge in compiling this annual entry is finding virtual museums that are not an assault to the eyeballs. There are plenty of weird museums online, it's just that most of them were made with Geocities in 1998 and abandoned. Also, I see TONS of fantastic ideas that are nothing but broken links today. So, Virtual Toilet Paper Museum, maybe if you get with the times (hint: 2010) you might be included next year! And if anyone wants to relaunch the Turn of the Century Electrotherapy Museum, you have my email address.
Saturday afternoon, Robbie and Brent and I met up to learn about making maple syrup at the Maple Syrup Festival at Rockwoods Reservation in Wildwood, MO. Prior to this weekend, my knowledge of maple sap harvesting came entirely from Little House in the Big Woods, a book I read nearly every year, so I was very interested in seeing the process in closer detail.
Step 1: identify tree. Any maple tree will have sap you can make syrup from, but Sugar Maples have the highest sugar content and are therefore your best option. The easiest way to tell the difference is in the fall. Sugar Maple leaves turn yellow, while Red Maple leaves turn... red. Also remember W for Waffle: a maple leaf and the bud end of a branch make a W shape.
Also, you're going to need more than one tree for all your sugar and syrup needs. One gallon of syrup is made from FORTY GALLONS of sap, and the average tree produces five to fifteen gallons of sap per season. A group of maple trees is known as a Sugar Bush.
Step two: Tap your trees! Here at Rockwoods Reservation, they use plastic spiles, which I cannot find online, but they said that they create a smaller hole than the metal type. You can only use the hole you drill for one season, so a smaller hole means faster healing and a healthier tree! On the table above, below the hammer, you can see an old-fashioned wooden spile, like the kind Laura's Grandpa would have whittled. Only tap trees that are more than 10" in diameter.
Robbie pointed out that y'all might want an action shot of sap collecting. I'm sorry, but we laughed about this all day long. CC&G ACTION CAM! Don't blink or you'll miss it!
Above you see some kids trying straight maple sap. Now, why are we out here in February? Because the sap starts running after a thaw, when the tree is getting ready to bud. In Little House in the Big Woods, there was a "sugar snow," which is when there is a freeze after a thaw. This makes the tree hold back on producing leaves, so the sap runs longer. You want to tap your trees when the daytime temperatures are above freezing, and the nighttime temperature are below.
Step three: boil your sap. Sap is 97% water, so you have to evaporate that off to get the syrup. We were warned all day long that you MUST perform this action OUTDOORS. Boiling off all this water will make your wallpaper peel right off the walls (and mold, since there's sugar in that steam.)
Here's something like Grandpa's big pot out in the woods. As sap was collected, it was poured into the first pot, and then moved on down the row as the water boiled off. The third pot would be the boiled down syrup that became maple sugar.
Step four: finishing your syrup! The temperature determines the end product. For maple syrup, 219.2°F. For granulated maple sugar, you'll have to go up to 261.6°F.
And what's the one thing you remember from Little House in the Big Woods? Maple Sugar on Snow! For that you'll need snow and syrup heated to 235.4°F.
Pancakes with fresh maple syrup! Yay! As the lady dishing out the hot chocolate said, "Your tax dollars at work!" I approve of using my tax dollars in this fashion. I'd like to find more ways to enjoy my tax dollars. If you would, too, you can check out the Missouri Department of Conservation website for special events around the state. You can also get a FREE subscription to the Conservationist magazine, which I highly recommend.
Please keep in mind that I only hit the highlights in this post and this is not meant to be a step by step guide. If you are interested in making your own maple syrup, I recommend checking out a site such as the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association. Just remember the Missouri season is a month or so earlier than New England's!
Ah, Lamberts Cafe, Home of the Throwed Rolls (blog title courtesy of a tipsy gentleman in our section.) Driving 2 hours to eat lunch at Lamberts, which we do every couple years, was probably the biggest inspiration behind this blog (next to Meramec Caverns, of course.)
What, you think it's weird to spend half the day driving for some rolls and fried okra? Well, at least a dozen of my friends would disagree with you. That's why we have the adventures.
How about catfish, mashed taters and turnip greens? Actually, I'm not sure about the greens myself. I had chicken and dumplings, green beans and cottage cheese. Everything at Lamberts comes with two sides, plus all the "pass arounds" you can eat. Pass-arounds include the fried okra, macaroni and tomatoes, fried potatoes, black eyed peas, and of course, sorghum and apple butter for your THROWED ROLLS!
The first Lamberts was a tiny 9 stool diner in Sikeston, MO owned and operated by Earl Lambert and his wife Agnes. They moved to a larger building in 1981, and then to an even larger building in 1988. The second building is now a fireworks store.
In 1994 they opened a second location in Ozark, MO, which is between Springfield and Branson, and then a third in Foley, AL (near Gulf Shores) in 1996. I've met very few people who have been to all three, and most of them are my family.
The tradition of throwing rolls started back in the tiny cafe, which only held 50 people but always had more in line. Norm Lambert was passing rolls around and couldn't get to a guy in the corner, and the guy said, "Just throw the ____ thing!" These days one of the "pass-around" crew wheels the cart around and flings them halfway across the restaurant, as you can see from the video above.
Another tradition Lamberts is known for is their collection of license plates. You can leave yours behind or mail them, they're happy to take them. License plates line the walls throughout, and these days there are two HUGE dining rooms.
I'm afraid I'm short on pictures this time around. Next year I'll avoid scheduling an all day driving excursion the day after the Ramblers Rugby trivia night.
Lamberts Cafe is 2 hours from St Louis if you go to the Sikeston location, and about 20 miles outside of Branson if you go to the Ozark location. If you happen to find yourself in southern Alabama, Foley is less than 10 miles from Gulf Shores (a popular vacation destination for Missourians.) All three have the same great food and same great service! It's worth a little road trip!
, a book I read nearly every year, so I was very interested in seeing the process in closer detail.
