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Happening
at the Crossroads
November 23,
2009
by Coggin
Heeringa
The
Collins Learning Center at Crossroads will be closed on Thanksgiving
Day so staff can enjoy their holiday dinner with family.
Ah,
Thanksgiving dinner. There’s the turkey, the corn, beans and squash,
the yeast rolls slathered with butter and the mashed potatoes with a
fist-sized lump of butter melting seductively.
Butter melting…
changing state from a solid into a liquid. Yummm. Melting is
interesting in that butter starts out as a fat-in-water emulsion (milk)
that ends up a solid-in-water emulsion. Butter simply seems like a
miracle.
Credit: Courtesy of Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage
Center, Pennsburg, Pa. This photo from the late 1800s shows the three
phases of butter making: turning the churn, stamping the completed
butter, and working the buttermilk out of the butter in a tub.
Credit:
Courtesy of Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center, Pennsburg, Pa.
This photo from the late 1800s shows the three phases of butter making:
turning the churn, stamping the completed butter, and working the
buttermilk out of the butter in a tub.
Because cream is less
dense than milk (one wonders why they call it heavy cream), it floats
to the top of a container of milk and can be skimmed off. Cream is
filled with tiny droplets of fat and when cream is cooled, the little
fat droplets get hard. The tiny lumps are covered with thin membranes,
but churning, shaking or whipping the cream causes the membranes to
burst, enabling the little lumps of fat to clump together. If you keep
churning or whipping the cream, clumps of fats combine with air bubbles
to make a foamy material aptly called, whipped cream (which happens to
be quite good on pumpkin pie!).
If churning continues, the
bubbles break and the liquid separates from the solids forming what we
call buttermilk. The little butter grains become bigger and bigger
clumps. When the fat clumps get big enough, they can be kneaded into a
smooth, yellowish solid which tastes just wonderful, especially if a
bit of salt is worked in.
The magic which takes place in the
kitchen is actually a combination of chemistry and physics. Many
concepts of physics can be introduced just by fooling around… I mean,
experimenting with ordinary objects and materials found in a kitchen.
“Kitchen
Physics” is the theme for the next Cross-generational Educational
Program to be held from 1:30 – 3:30 pm on Saturday, November 21.
Designed so one adult and one youth (aged 7-12) can learn together,
this class will focus on the science concepts which can be demonstrated
with everyday objects and materials found in a kitchen. It will include
several hands-on activities and some take-home items. Activities are
free, but pre-registration is required. Limit to 8 pairs of learners.
Call 920.746.5895 by Friday noon to register. No walk-ins will be
permitted.
Tuesday, December 1, at 7 pm the Door Peninsula
Astronomical Society invites the community to their December meeting at
the Stonecipher Astronomy Center at the Crossroads. The program “What
Is the Habitable Zone” will be presented by Dave Udell.
The
Friends of Crossroads will gather at the Collins Learning Center on
Wednesday, December 2, at 5:30 to Deck the Halls. After preparing the
learning center for the holidays, the Friends will hold a short
meeting, share merriment and holiday goodies. Visitors are encouraged.
Those
with cabin fever, will be happy to know that the trails at Crossroads
are free and open to the public. Dogs (on leash and under control) are
permitted.
Crossroads at Big Creek is a learning preserve
welcoming visitors of all ages to programs about science, history and
the environment. Trails are open to the public. The Collins Learning
Center , located at 2041 Michigan Street in Sturgeon Bay is open
2:00-5:00 daily, but will be closed on Thanksgiving.
Saturday, November 21, 1:30-3:30 pm
Cross-Gen Program: “Kitchen Physics”
Designed
so one adult and one youth (aged 7-12) can learn together, this class
will focus on the science concepts which can be demonstrated with
everyday objects and materials in found in a kitchen. Hands-on
activities and take-home items. Activities are free, but
pre-registration is required. Limit to 8 pairs of learners. Call
746-5895 by Friday noon to register. No walk-ins. Classes will be held
in the Collins Learning Center.
Tuesday, December 1, 7 pm
Door Peninsula Astronomical Society meeting
DPAS
nvites the community to their December meeting at the Stonecipher
Astronomy Center at the Crossroads. The program “What Is the Habitable
Zone” will be presented by Dave Udell. Refreshments. Please use the
Utah Street Entrance to Crossroads.
Wednesday, December 2, 5:30 pm
Friends of Crossroads Deck the Center Party
The
Friends of Crossroads will gather at the Collins Learning Center to
Deck the Halls. After preparing the learning center for the holidays,
the Friends will hold a short meeting, while sharing merriment and
holiday goodies. Visitors are encouraged. Collins Learning Center.
Many of
the Past News articles may be retrieved from this directory,
indexed and named in the following manner: 080101-news.htm
where
the first two numbers are the year, the second two the month and the
last two the date.
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