Spring biking!

Waaay back in June, we went biking around Lake Monona with brunch at Lazy Janes as the reward at the end...
Atmosphere - casual. I'm a sucker for places that still look & feel like the places that they were rennoavated from. In this case, a two-story house where the kitchen is on the first floor and seating on both floors.
Food - Soups, sandwiches, baked goods, coffee, tea. There are a good number of vegetarian options. I've never had anything I didn't like there. If you go on the weekend, you should know that they only serve breakfast foods.
Service - is fine, the people have always been friendly and cheery. You pay up front, they call your name when it's ready to pick up at the window, and you shoudl bus your own table when you're done. If you go on the weekend, be prepared to wait in a long line going out the front door....
Overall - Lazy Janes is a great place. I recommend it whether you walk or bike or drive there.... and I like it better on weekdays when it's less crowded.






I thought I had more pictures, but I can't find them at the moment.

Crazylegs 2008

Yesterday was the 2008 Crazylegs Classic, a Madison Tradition. Where else could you run 8K/walk 2 miles and then congregate to drink beer?

Witty, earthbane, K and I walked. All the others did the run. And they all came out with fabulous times! I think most of them did better than last year. I was happy because usually I stay behind to cook, but this year that was handled by Gypsy and Lucia (with muchas help from B&M, as always!). This year we also had enough people to form a team, and so we were The Alpha Contingent! We all sported t-shirts with this awesome design by Gypsy.

Now for the pictures of everyone after the race:

A record-setting 17,296 participants!

A close up of the backs of our group shirts:

Group picture #1:

Chowing down afterwards:

Our intrepid chefs:

Group picture #2:

The CRAZY picture:

The "look thoughtful" picture (changed by Lucia to "look thoughful or sexy"):

Fun times in all. Can't wait to do it again next year :)

the best place to spend the summer

I don't have a final answer for this one, but here are my thoughts:
1) Madison - clearly, given the joy of the lakes, the Union Terrace, Olbrich Gardens, concerts on the square, etc
2) Milwaukee - I am sure they do more in Milwaukee, but I could spend the entire summer doing festivals and beer gardens. that is reason enough to spend the summer there.
3) Madeleine Island/Apostle Islands - sure, we haven't been there in the summer, but something tells me that the joy of the fall is even more so in the summer.

Yet another East side Madison business I want to kiss

Along with Greg's Guitar Shop, my management company, my new mechanic, and the Best Hardware Store in the Wide World (Ace on Willy Street), I have added another business to my list of Over-the-Top Ridiculously Good Customer Service Providers Within Walking Distance of My House: Burnie's Rock Shop.

A couple years ago, I purchased the perfect pair of earrings. They're silver, dangly (but not too dangly) reversible teardrops with a golden brown amber stone on one side and a green amber stone on the other. They are absolutely beautiful in the light, perfectly proportional to moi, and they also match 95.5% of my primarily green and brown wardrobe. I absolutely love them. I'll post of photo this weekend. (I'm wearing them in my profile pic on my blog if you can't possibly wait to see them.)

Anyway, I lost the green amber stone from one of the earrings last September. I was sad. I took them in to Burnie's, where I bought them, because they've repaired silver rings, earrings, and chains for me multiple times before at reasonable prices. They said they would look for a matching stone and replace it for me. So they looked. And looked. And looked. I called them every month, and, every month, they apologized profusely that they couldn't find a matching stone and told me where they were looking and when the next gem show was where they might find one.

After six months, I was pretty much ready to give up and just ask for them back so I could at least wear the earring with the brown stone out. But, they called yesterday and said: No, we didn't find your stone. However, the designer that originally made the earring you bought came back through to show us her new stuff and we bought a couple pairs of earring just like yours. We will give you a replacement pair at no charge.

So, I went in, not quite believing that a) these replacement earrings could look like my favorite perfect+ pair, or b) they would give them to me for free. But, yup, they look like my favorite pair (perfect!) and they gave them to me for free (perfect!). I still can't exactly figure out why they gave them to me for free. I was the one who lost the stone, and I was planning to pay them for the new stone and repair costs. But, I guess they felt bad about not being able to fix them or something, so they didn't charge me. When she said, "No charge," I even asked, "Are you sure? Really?"

Have I mentioned lately that I lovelovelove where I live? Have I mentioned lately that this is impeding my attempts at rational, financially based decision making about which grad school to attend? But that's another story entirely.

Anyway, go to Burnie's. They have pretty things, including all kinds of rings that I want, even though I wear two of the same three every single day. And they are nice.

Restaurant Review - FlatTop Grill

I got denied on Monday trying to fly to Dayton. The connection from Milwaukee to Dayton would have been missed because of the delay from Madison to Milwaukee flight.

To console myself, R and I went shopping to buy things we have been needing, like a frying pan that isn't TERRIBLE. apparently our current ones are terrible and R was getting shrill about it. I insisted we buy quality, so we went to Macy's at Hilldale.

While we were out there we decided on dinner, and Flat Top Grill it was.
A group of us went there on New Year's Eve, so I was familiar but R had never been.

The schtick is this: you get a bowl and a salad bar style line to put things in bowl. cover with sauce and pick some meat. Then, you hand it over and they fry it all up on a big, get this, flat top grill! They then bring it back to you at your table.

Here are my opinions:
1) I can't give them any credit for my bowl being delicious... I put it all together.
2) there is a scary chance that my bowl could have been sucky... if I were the restaurant I wouldn't want to take this chance. People aren't likely to come back if their food sucked. even if it was their fault. (my issue with places like the Prime Quarter is the same - I am not qualified to properly cook an expensive steak.)
3) I think their drink selection sort of sucks. I had the Horny Monkey at New Years Eve (and sort of appalling with a banana sticking out the top) and it just wasn't very good. They only have about three other kinds of specialty drinks, no bourbon selection to speak of, and a limited bottle beer selection.
4) darn it, that bread is good. it is a fried, greasy flatbread. mmm.

Overall - the dinner is 12 bucks, and I assume this is primarily for the experience. One bowl is way more food than you probably need, but you can get unlimited for a dollar more.

I will go back, but once again, probably for the experience more than the food.

Contradancing

In other news, there is a contradancing event in Madison this week. I want to try contradancing one of these days. Unfortunately, I can't this weekend as I'm roaming in Illinois instead, but just in case you are looking for something new to try this weekend, here are the details:

Contra Dance
at the Grace Episcopal Church
on Saturday night (02/09/2008)
Starting @ 8:00pm
With caller Steve Pike & music by the Last Gaspe Band

Here's a short sumamry of Contradancing, since you probably aren't familiar with it:

Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) refers to several folk dance styles in which couples dance in two facing lines of indefinite length. Contra dances can be found around the world, though they are especially popular in the United States. Contra dance is also referred to as traditional New England folk dance.

ALthough my favorite definition is this one:

"A contra dance is like an amusement park ride we make for ourselves." --Unknown


And here's a link that can give you even more details. Also, if you go to YouTube and search for "contra dance" you'll find some videos. I thought about pre-screening some for you loyal readers, buuuut.... what's the fun of that?

Restaurant Reviews

This blog about Madison cuisine is making me feel bad. It is more complete and comprehensive than my posts and what I simply can not forgive: wittier.
It also includes pictures.
I feel bad inside.
Perhaps I will just link to theirs.
sigh.

Fresco Review

Fresco is located at the top of the Overture Center in downtown Madison. A group of us went there for Madison's Restaurant Week. (Folks that attended are also contributors to this blog, so it would be great if they contributed and heck, even contradicted me!)

Atmosphere - think modern. glass walls, interesting shapes for the bowls, clean lines, minimalist. This makes things pretty loud when the joint is hopping.

Food - most of us chose from the fixed price menu, but many were on their standard menu:

• the seared sashimi grade scallop was prepared well (and pretty delicious), but I felt the dish as a total lacked something - the polenta, sauce, bacon just weren't "there" for me.
• Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with Micro Grilled Cheese - just okay. Not a soup I was going to tell anyone about and the grilled cheese was a nice crusty french bread with cheddar, but once again, not that special.
• Salmon - the salmon was well prepared (moist, flakey and delicious), but it was just salmon with mashed potatoes. Once again, nothing extraordinary.
• Sheep's Milk Ricotta Cheese Gnocchi - this was the standout dish of the night for me. It was small, but outstanding. The gnocchi were light and fluffy, the sauce creamy and rich.
• Cinnamon Creme Brule - I don't know that there are a lot of crappy creme brules out there in the world and this was no exception to that rule.
• Beignets - Unlike Creme Brule - beignets are easy to fuck up. But, these were delicious! I haven't been to New Orleans, but I have had beignets at a restaurant in Chicago that could stop my heart. These were heart stoppers too. all light fluffiness with deliciousness.

Service - fairly good, except that she dropped a knife on my friend's head. but the waitress tried to make that right and she was appropriately upset about it.

Overall - there are a lot of fancy restaurants in Madison that would get my money before Fresco.

Ice skating in M-town!

Olbrich was closed due to thin ice on Monday but I can only hope that tonight's bitterly cold weather will re-open those skating rinks around town. I'm sure that there are a couple more in the Madison area that I'm forgetting... but if you are looking for a place to skate outdoors, try these places:

- Olbrich Park (east side)
- Tenney Park (near east side)
- Elver Park (west side)

Restaurant Review: Sophia's Bakery and Cafe

The posting on this blog has recently gone to shit. This isn't only my fault as there are like five other contributers, but still I feel a bit guilt as I am sure I am your favorite.
he he.

So, a quick review of a Madison restaurant to kick us back off with the posting.

Sophia's Bakery and Cafe- a group of us (not unlike the Sex and the City girls, but without a lot of sex...which reminds me of my very sad pledge to be harder to get in 08) went out for brunch last Sunday. Sophie's on East Johnson was our choice.
Atmosphere - if you are looking for that authentic east side thing, well, this is it. Apparently when it gets busy people just sit down at your table. And, it wouldn't have to get very busy to make this happen as the place is the size of my dining room and living room together, but with the kitchen taking up the entire living room part. However, for eclectic but not as crowded I prefer Lazy Jane's on Willy St.
Food - I got the mushroom omelette - good, little greasy, the sweet potatoes in the homestyle potatoes were a pleasant surprise. And an apple tart - pastry was salty and not as sweet as I would have liked. I ate the entire thing though...
Other got cherry crepes (just as decadent as they sound) and a black bean omelette that was surprising. It was hearty and tasty.
Overall - only open on Saturday and Sunday for brunch, quirky with interesting and good food.

Baseball, art, fried food, fundraiser, festival, oh my

What a full weekend!

Friday night was a Mallards game. There were cheesy games with cute kids, speculation on the hotness of "Te-te" (poor, poor man), accidental over-purchasing of beer, recollections of the glory days of high school softball, speculation on whether single women can apply to be host families for the players, and, oh yeah, a baseball game. The Mallards lost, but the game was fun. It's a good, low-key, cheap, kid-friendly fun night out.



I hope to go back. In a valiant search for karaoke, we followed the game with stops at two bars - one in a bowling alley and one on the side of the road between McFarland and Stoughton. The first bar had a mediocre country band instead of karaoke, and the other had shut down karaoke early because nobody showed up. Sadness ensued.

Saturday, we went to the Art Fairs On and Off the Square. There were many beautiful pieces, and Lucia and Loud came away with some great finds. (Photos, please?)

Saturday night, Kitty hosted the second annual Deep Fry Extravaganza. It was good and greeeaaaasssy! As always, the turkey was fabulous, as were the chicken and fish. Interesting newcomers this year were fried beef- an cheesestick combos (held together with a toothpick). Good, but the cheese in that batch and the subsequent tortilla chips all tasted pretty beefy. The fried summer squash was sweet and wonderful. The brownies and cherries were my favorite fried dessert items. The most refreshing deep-fried treat was the peppermint patties. What did everyone else love? We still haven't perfected the cookie dough. Among the deltas we've noted for next year are: advanced pre-fry freezing techniques for the dessert items, separate fryers for each food category or at least more well sequenced frying selections, and a greater variety of batter flavors and consistencies to better complement each item. Yes, we're that dedicated to deep-frying: we believe it's an art. Future business venture: the "You Bring It, We Fry It" food cart.

Today, I worked a shift at REAP's Pie Palooza fundraiser. We sold out tickets early. Though the wait was long, everyone came away satiated. As always, such good food!! I walked across the street to check out the Fete de Marquette festival afterward. The music had just started, so there wasn't much of a crowd yet. Folks who were there last night said the music was great, and many people were dancing. It's a new festival, so I don't think it's gotten the ooomph behind it that the other East Side festivals have yet.

Up next: A play at American Players' Theater in Spring Green and a canoe trip on the Wisconsin River.

Monona Wife Carry

I am better at posting about things that I am going to do rather than things I have done.

On July 4, we are going to the Monona Festival. Being that I now live in Monona, and it is within walking distance of my house, I am feeling very good about this. proud even.

One of the most exciting events planned: the Wife Carry.

She hangs upside down and holds on to his waist. He jumps over stuff and wades through water.

I can't wait until I get married.

If you get a chance, read the rules, they are very cute. http://www.mononafestival.com/PDF%20Files/Rules%20for%20Wife%20Carry%202007%20v1.0.pdf

In an odd coincidence, Wife Carry began in Finland.

Scenes from a Finnish Solstice

The Finnish Solstice party was last weekend.
We pumped it up on this blog. Honestly, I pumped it up in my head too.
It had to be good, right? Yep, it was.

Some images/memories that make me smile:

• 7-8 - Men's time in the Sauna (pronounced over the loudspeaker "Sow nah") - Attention folks, it is now 7pm and Men's time in the Sow-nah - after you come out there is a private screened porch and you can use the hose to cool off. at 8pm it will be women's time in the Sow-nah.


• we didn't stay for it, but 10-11 couples Sow-Nah time was highly anticipated.


• My favorite folks in the group to talk about other party attendees with: D and B (that should be me in the vacant chair in the background.
  

• At least four of those catty comments centered on the woman with the teal wide collared shirt without a bra who liked to lean over and stretch her arms backward. At the latter D had to make a choking sound to cover his... well, not sure what he was covering...


• Seemingly from the picture, D's first encounter with an apple tree:

• The Morris Dancers doing fertility routines. That is Fertility herself in the pink dress in the middle:

• And my favorite. The woman who brought the party. Can you see it? (click on the picture for an enlargement if you can't)

yes folks, that is right, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a 40oz can of Natural Light with her. Another 40oz can made an appearance next to a crockpot in the chow line, but I failed to get the picture.

Long Live the Finns! They really know how to throw a party.

Concerts on the Square

They are my favorite summer Madison event. 'Nuf said.

Finnish Solstice party

ooooo. Solstice.

when the day is the longest. oooooo.

how do you celebrate?

Frogs, Kitty and Lucia are rolling Finnish this year. We are going to a Finnish potluck bonfire.

yeah, totally random, I know.

leave it to Frogs to find this sort of craziness.

We are bringing beer (I am going to need some if some hippie chick is going to dance topless around the bonfire) and I think that Frogs is going to whip something up. I might make something or I might not. who knows.

the Finnish part has me thinking - what should I wear? What is the typical Finnish costume?

Well, I thought that was a good idea. then I googled it.

I am not wearing this:

for more information (a very informative site) on traditional Finnish Folk and Cultural costumes: http://www.kaiku.com/finncostume.html

Farmers' Market Foraging Dinners

This may be one of the most intensely fabulous summer things I've heard of yet. Combines several of my very favorite things: farmers' markets, seasonal food, creative cooking, and good eating. You meet at the farmers' market Saturday morning to shop and learn about buying what's in season, and then meet that night to eat dinner made almost entirely with those ingredients. I'm definitely doing this sometime this summer. Who's in?

Loud's birthday dinner

So, I believe that at Loud's birthday dinner, Lucia and I decided to post about the dinner we had, but I promptly forget which part of the resturant I was supposed to comment on. So I'm going to comment on everything :P

We went to Sardine's, which is FAB-U-LOUS. Go there and have dinner if you haven't yet, it was so good.

The main standout was a salad with duck meat and a poached egg on top (I forget the name of it - warm duck confit salad I believe). It's amazing! Whatever dressing/vinagrette they put on it makes it completely wonderful.

We also had a goat cheese appetizer which was good, and I had my first raw oyster. Amazing that I come from the east coast and eat my first east coast oyster in WI. It's pretty good, but I think only because the liquid stuff is really salty so you taste that instead of the oyster.....and I like salt. It's not very shellfish-ish.

Then I had the grilled trout. Decent, if a little dry for my taste.

For desert I think I was the only person who liked the grapefruit sorbet. I couldn't eat a whole bunch of it, but I loved that it was way tart.

The restuarant itself was cute - very open, but yet you didn't feel like you were eavesdropping on other diners. The bar was long and one whole wall is windows that looks out onto a small veranda and then the lake. The fiancé and I decided that one day we'll have to get reservations for a spot out there. Maybe when it gets warmer, since I'm always freaking cold.
Then we went to the Ivory Room. It's a piano bar, and while the woman who sings isn't fantabulous, the guy is great and the place is just cute. I loved it.

That inspired us to then head to the Kareoke Kid, where Hillary and I sang "Hanky Panky", just like old times.

It was, all in all, one of the most fun nights I've had in a while. I'm looking forward to 11frogs' birthday dinner, then that weekend is Fat Far up in Chippeawa Falls (I know I didn't spell that right). Basically, 6 of us will spend all of Father's Day floating down a river in inner tubes and drinking beer. Seeing as how that is totally Wisconsin, you can bet I'll be posting about that afterwards.

Brats on the brain

I admit, I went to Brat Fest more than once this weekend.
I couldn't help it.
Here is a picture of those that accompanied my first trip (except B&M):

Here is why I think the goal wasn't met this weekend: inconvenience of the Alliant Energy Center for the drop-by brat-buy. It is pretty impossible to run in and buy a bunch of brats for a huge crew of people (or for your next four meals...).


My advice, set up a drive thru brat booth. Put some high schoolers in charge of it. Send the cheerleaders around with mustard bottles. Have the drama group do saurkraut and the chess club do relish. Just seems a natural fit.

other photos and thoughts:
1) I caught B sucking his finger.


2) he wouldn't do it for the camera again. But, hey! what is that in the background of this photo?

3) close up of that interesting sight:

Are you guessing that it is a little girl with a bear backpack and the dad (or man with her) holding the very long leash like tail?

yes, you are right my friend. what an odd world we live in.

Long live festivals that celebrate meat!

Free and cheap summer events

As an unemployed Madison-lover, I felt compelled to compile a list of recommended cheap and free events I plan to take full advantage of this summer. The list was culled primarily from a section in the Isthmus last week.

* denotes 11frogs favorites.

Outdoor Music and Other Shows

Sundays

• free Mad City Ski Team shows (Law Park, east of Monona Terrace) - 6 p.m., May 27 to September 2.

Mondays

• free Warner Park Concert Series (Warner Park Shelter) - 6:15 p.m., June 11 to July 23, except not on July 2.

Tuesdays

• free Olbrich Gardens Concert Series (Olbrich Gardens) - 7 p.m., June 5 to July 31.
• free Lunchtime Live Concerts (Hamilton corner of Capitol Square) - noon, June 12 - July 31.

Wednesdays

• *free Concerts on the Square (Capitol Square) - 7 p.m., June 27 to August 2.
• free Jazz at 5 (100 block of State Street) - 5 p.m., August 8 to August 29

Thursdays

• free Cork n' Bottle String Band (Memorial Union Terrace) - 6 p.m.

Fridays

• cheap MMoCA Rooftop Cinema, screening of artsy short films on various themes (Overture Center rooftop garden), 9:30 p.m., June 8 - June 29.
• free Dane Dances, live concerts with dance-able ethnic music (Monona Terrace Rooftop, except Aug. 17 at the Memorial Union Terrace), 5-9:30 p.m., August 3 - August 31.

Almost every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night

• free Live music on the Memorial Union Terrace

June 23: free Blues Picnic (Warner Park
July 21: free Opera in the Park (Garner Park)

Festivals
June 9: Clean Lakes Festival (Warner Park)
June 7-10: Isthmus Jazz Festival (Memorial Union)
June 9-10: Marquette Waterfront Festival (Yahara Place Park)
June 16: Juneteenth Day, celebration of Afro-American heritage (Penn Park)
*June 16: 11frog's 30th Birthday Party ;)
June 30: Rhythm-n-Booms fireworks display (over Lake Mendota at Warner Park)
July 4: Fourth of July fireworks and festival (Elver Park)
July 13-15: Fete de Marquette (future Central Park site, 201 S. Ingersoll)
July 14-15: Art Fairs On and Off the Square
July 18-22: Dane County Fair
*July 21-22: Greekfest (Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, E. Wash)
July 28: Fiesta Hispana (Warner Park)
July 28: Atwood Summer Fest (uh, Atwood Ave.)
August 11: Savor the Summer Fest (Troy Gardens)
August 14-15: Hippie Christmas, a.k.a. Moving Day (Downtown)
*August 18-19: Sweet Corn Festival (Sun Prairie)

Other Summer Must-dos
A little less cheap, but fabulous enough to be well worth it.

• *Show at American Players Theater (Spring Green)
• Wisconsin winery tour
• Self-pick berries
• *Camping, both a car-camping trip and a backpacking trip
• Mallards game

Brat Fest: Let's keep it simple, people

Turns out the World's Largest Brat Fest wasn't quite as large this year: they missed the goal of selling 200,000 brats by quite a bit. As of the 5 o'clock news Monday evening, they hadn't quite reached 150,000, and that was about an hour before the event was closing. I think the lower numbers were due in part to the higher cost of $1.50/brat this year, compared to $1.00/brat in previous years. I really don't think the price increase is that big a deal, considering that proceeds go to charity and that this is the first price increase in 25 years.

More relevant to the apparent decline, in my opinion, is the fact that there's a whole lot more crap now. When Brat Fest was in the Hilldale parking lot (before the Hilldale parking lot became condo-, chain-restaurant-, and parking-ramp-filled), Bratfest was simple: a few too few tables, some loud local bands of questionable quality, and long lines of people anxiously awaiting their brats. Now, there are ferris wheels and much associated carny paraphernalia, a full slate of higher quality local bands, i-pod dancers (to fill the gap in the 'questionable quality entertainment' category), booths of sponsors and their attendant crap, etc., etc., etc. It's just too much and doesn't feel quite right.

Case in point: We attended Brat Fest on Friday evening and gave in to participate in selected carny crap, including a shooting-at-targets-with-water-guns game that resulted in our resident knight winning a horrific purple dog that happened to match his fiance's outfit. A lil' bit funny and a lil' bit freaky and a lil' bit much, similar to the belligerent and possibly drunk carny that bellered, "Yeah, if I were you I would ignore me, too!" as we tried to move past his game.

Despite all of the crap, the essense of the thing remains wonderful: brats and good mustard and good friends. We sat on a blanket on a cool early-summer evening to enjoy our respective sausage products, and it was lovely. Mmmmm!