Last weekend was a whirlwind of fabulous foodiness (or was it foody fabulousness?) here in Madison. Friday night was the Food for Thought Forum with Dan Barber, Leah Caplan, and Scott Williams. Here's a good summary in the Capital Times. Intangibles-wise, I found it an odd mix of personalities, as Dan is definitely a sarcastic New Yorker, Leah is a dry-humored, tell-it-like-it-is kinda gal, and Scott is about a sweet and earnest as anyone I’ve ever heard. Slight oddness in the Q&A part, but a good mix.
Saturday was the Food for Thought festival. I went to set up at 6 a.m. Despite a few glitches with non-functioning electricity for the sound system and a temporarily lost tent, everything went smooth as silk. The weather was fall-tasticly cool, and there was a steady crowd all day. Most of the exhibitors were happily busy throughout. I heard Cooking with the Stars was hilarious, though I didn’t get to see any of it. All of our volunteers were supahstars,and we got some good media coverage. My info tent spiel got shorter and shorter as the day went on, but it was a fun, exhausting, productive day.
After a nice nap, B&M and I attended the Slow Food RAFT picnic, which has a goal of celebrating-to-save some of our country’s native and heirloom food varieties – from produce to animal breeds. The menu featured some of these varieties from all over the country, including American Plains Bison over polenta (my favorite of the night!), a Mulefoot pork sandwich, an amazing wild rice and apple side, marrow fat bean salad with Door County cherries (my second favorite), fabulous Pleasant Ridge cheese, panna cotta, and hickory nut caramels with sea salt. Wow. We ate so much. So, what did we do next? Go to Cocoliquot for wine and chocolates, of course. What a meal!
Sunday consisted of a trip to the Willy Street Fair, where the infamous parade-o-various-ridiculousnesses passed us by several times and we had kettle corn. We also took a leisurely bike ride around the lake. And, across town, some more canning fabulousness that I hope we'll all get to sample.
Even though temperatures are back to summerlike this week, the air has imperceptibly and firmly flipped the switch to fall. I’ve had my first Bailey’s-n-cocoa in honor of the season. Here’s to many more fall-tastic weekends before winter sets in.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Advertising
This is sort of cheating, as I'm blogging about things that are upcoming, instead of reviewing wonderful Wisconsin things already done. But, these things are wonderful, and several of them are very, very important to me. So, check 'em out, and join me if you can!
- REAP Food for Thought Festival, this Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14-15. An annual celebration of, homage to, and teaching moment about all that is good and great about local, sustainable eating. Come to the forum Friday night or the festival Saturday morning. I'll be at the info tent at the top of the King Street on Saturday from 6 a.m. on - stop by and say 'hi'!
- Eat Local Challenge, September 14-23. Take a challenge to eat at least 10 percent of your food from local sources for a week. Piece of cake! If you sign up and need any help meeting your goal, just send me an email, and I guarantee we can get you to 25% with very little trouble at all, no matter what your current eating habits are.
- Slow Food's RAFT Picnic, September 15. Experience Wisconsin food heritage with a delicious meal of heirloom variety crops and animal products prepared by Madison's top chefs. (This is my reward meal for work on the Food for Thought Festival. B&M and I are going - let me know if you're interested in tickets. I'm sure they will sell out before the event.)
- REAP's Local Night Out, September 27. Eat at a restaurant that is committed to using locally sourced food in their menus. This year's event is also a kick-off for the charter members of the Buy Fresh, Buy Local program, meaning that the restaurants are not only serving locally sourced menus on the night of the event, but have also committed to increasing their use of local goods throughout the year. I'll obviously be going to one of the restaurants that night - just let me know if you want to join me and which restaurant you'd like to visit.
- MACSAC's Bike the Barns Tour de CSA, September 29. Come enjoy the crisp fall air and scenery, experience the glory that is our local CSA system, help raise money to support underprivileged families who want to eat local produce, and, of course, eat some amazing food.
- ALNC's Pipers in the Prairie Event, October 6. This major fundraising event for children's environmental education programs features a prairie burn, bagpipers, scotch tastings, and appetizer goodies. As a fundraising event, tickets are $75 apiece or $150 per family. Or, you can let me know if you want to volunteer and go for free ;)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Recommended
While no weekend activities can compete with Lucia's canning extravaganza (61 pounds of tomatoes - utterly insane), I have a few recommendations from the past week.
- Fish fry at Avenue Bar. I went there for fish during Lent last year, and we went back last Friday for the benefit of a friendly visitor from the South. They offer boiled and fried options, with the fried cod having won multiple "best of" awards. The reputation is deserved. The atmosphere is appropriately Wisconsin supperclub kitschy, as well. There is always a crowd on weekend - make reservations or go early.
- Community gardens. Saturday morning, I rode my bike 20 miles on the annual Bike Tour of Community Gardens sponsored by the Community Action Coalition. This summer's Wednesday Latino Garden program took place in the Marlborough Park garden. That's where the tour ended up this year, so it was exciting to join in. The gardens are beautiful, and there is a real sense of community there. No matter where you live in Madison, there is one near your house. Go take a stroll through sometime before harvest ends. You'll see people from many different countries, vegetables you've never heard of before, and kids who don't have a lot of access to open space running around and doing manual labor with their families or playing with their friends. Fabulous. As a bonus, I got to ride my bike next to Mayor Dave and translate for him at our Evenstart garden. He is Midwestern nice, as advertised.
- Orton Park Festival. Yet another Eastside festival with the usual assortment of food, beer, good music, and fabulous people-watching. The performance by Cycropia aerial dance theater was ... interesting. There were a few numbers, particularly an athletic throwing-about on trapeze by two men that was amazing. But, there was also much birds-on-stilts 'BRAWKKING' during the ten-minute breaks between each number, much blocking of views by annoying children or their kneeling parents, and some less impressive acts. On balance, I feel that the experience would be better in a theater with proper sightlines, lighting, and equipment and without the abrupt juxtaposition of Interpretive Art to beer-and-blues-bands. There is only one more festival left this year - the Willy Street Fair September 15-16. I will have attended all of the festivals except the Atwood one this year. Next year I will get my act together and bat 1.000.
- Mirror Lake State Park. Due to planning negligence on my part, backpacking adventures were cancelled this weekend. We went hiking as a sad substitute. We eschewed perennial favorite, and probably very crowded, Devil's Lake for its near neighbor Mirror Lake. Mirror Lake has some nice hiking/skiing/mountain biking trails, a tannin-filled lake, and apparently a lot of camping spaces. It lacked the physical challenge of lugging up Devil's Lake bluffs, as well as the views verging on grandeur, but it was a lovely, pleasant place to hike for an afternoon. Also, it's close by and I think we ran into maybe two people on the trails the whole time, rather than playing dodge-hiker like you do on weekends at Devil's Lake.
- Jada's Soul Food. I had a meeting off of South Park Street last night, and a couple of people mentioned this place. I'd heard glowing reviews before and felt not at all like cooking, so I stopped by on my way home to get takeout. The place is not fancy - a few fold-out tables and chairs covered with plastic tablecloths ala church dinner, a pool table with "No Profanity" and "No Gambling" signs displayed by the cue rack, and some, well, soulful music on the CD player. The man who took my order was incredibly polite. It took 15 minutes to cook the chicken, but OMG was it worth it. I'm a notorious chicken-avoider, but I wasn't quite up for catfish or chitlins yet. (If I'm going to eat meat, it's got to be on par with bacon or it ain't worth it.) Enter the best chicken I've ever had. Seriously. Still blazing hot when I got home, I devoured it. Fabulous batter, juicy, juicy, juicy on the inside. The mac-and-cheese side was also excellent, though it got to be a little rich at the end. This may have been due to my general excessive fullness. The greens were OK, but bland. Throw some bacon fat in there and you'd have yourself some mean greens. The next time I have a rich food/grease craving/bad day, I'm going here. And only eating half of my meal at a sitting so I don't spend the rest of the night in a digestive stupor. Yummm!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Canning Chronicles - Pressure Canning
As mentioned last week, I bought a pressure canner at Farm and Fleet. So this weekend I was going to get down to business and use it!
The problem was I only had about 10 tomatoes from my own 3 tomato plants:
My backup, Rick's garden, was hit hard by the heavy rains and resulting tomato splitting. This meant not much of a harvest there.
I found a pick your own vegetables farm: http://www.thetreefarm.org/
Rick and I went together. It was AMAZING! There is no reason to feel guilty ever again that I don't grow enough of my own vegetables. In fact, there was a lot of guilt about the amount of veggies going bad in the field.
I had a great time. Rick had a great time. Possibly too much of a good time. The receipt says we bought:
Tomatoes: 61 lbs, Cabbage 12 lbs, Cucumbers 6 lbs, Hot peppers 6lbs, 4 eggplants, 1 Bittermelon (anyone know what this is or what to do with it???) and then something I can't identify on the receipt: HOTY 11.3 lbs.
Besides being a bear to carry up the stairs into the kitchen (why can't I figure out how to make the dogs into pack animals?), ummm, what in the world was I thinking... 61lbs of tomatoes!
Rick and I spent Saturday evening doing the exact same thing over and over and over:
1) wash tomatoes
2) blanch tomatoes in boiling water
3) plunge tomatoes into ice water (note for you want to be canners: you need a lot of ice. If you run out of ice, those frozen ice packs do just fine. If those all get defrosted on you, then feel free to use the multicolored plastic ice that came with your summer cocktail mixing set.)
4) peel tomatoes and core them
5) chop tomatoes
6) cook tomatoes into a sauce
Some pictures from our processing night:
Sunday - ah, the easy part, right? canning.
Here is what I did - (after going to Farm and Fleet to get 2 more cases of jars, 5 gallons of cider vinegar, a Tide sized box of canning salt, mustard seed and dill seed)
1) start sterilizing jars in dishwasher
2) start huge vat of boiling water
3) clean cucumbers for pickles (those buggers get real dirty)
4) set all clean cans out on "canning station" table
4.5) feel good about how beautiful everything is in my kitchen
5) start heating up all the tomato sauces, salsas and stewed tomatoes from yesterday
5.5) remember that I have two cantelope that MUST be "processed" somehow today
6) get a bit overwhelmed at number of things on the counter!
7) cut cantelope, spread on baking sheet and put in freezer
8) cut up all the cucumbers, stuff into jars
8.5) get distressed about number of jars of cucumbers. There are two more jars than planned for! I fear some cucumbers aren't going to make it into the promised land of pickledom.
Once the cantelope departed into the freezer, and the sauces were boiling it was time to get started. Soon, the table of clean jars turned into this:
Notice that George and Deuce have morphed into vigilant jar herding dogs. They have rounded these all up into a tight pack. Only one was lost in the night to a poor seal.
At this point in the evening I am very proud of myself. and exhausted.
The most beautiful picture and yet the most depressing still awaits. The remaining bounty:
this is all still sitting on my table. I was too tired to do anything with them...oh, and my original tomatoes on the porch are still out there too! eek.
The final haul:
6 P and 1 Q of dill pickles
3 Q of spaghetti sauce
9 P of salsa (4 mild and 5 spicy)-all yellow
8 Q of stewed tomatoes (and 1 pint of lonely leftovers from each pot :)
3 Ziploc bags of frozen cantelope
The casualties: 1 broken glass jar, 1 quart jar of pickles had to be thrown away (lack of dill seed, never doing that again!),
Leftovers: more salt and cider vinegar than I know what to do with, all those vegetables on the table, hot peppers (Rick is going to make a sauce of some sort. I was pretty exasperated as he picked 6 lbs of tiny little hot peppers, I wasn't going to delve too far into what his plans were for them), and then of course the mysterious 11lbs of HOTY.
Final call- Fun, very fun. But could be enhanced by breaking it out over a couple more days, and including wine and some friends to entertain me.
The problem was I only had about 10 tomatoes from my own 3 tomato plants:
My backup, Rick's garden, was hit hard by the heavy rains and resulting tomato splitting. This meant not much of a harvest there.
I found a pick your own vegetables farm: http://www.thetreefarm.org/
Rick and I went together. It was AMAZING! There is no reason to feel guilty ever again that I don't grow enough of my own vegetables. In fact, there was a lot of guilt about the amount of veggies going bad in the field.
I had a great time. Rick had a great time. Possibly too much of a good time. The receipt says we bought:
Tomatoes: 61 lbs, Cabbage 12 lbs, Cucumbers 6 lbs, Hot peppers 6lbs, 4 eggplants, 1 Bittermelon (anyone know what this is or what to do with it???) and then something I can't identify on the receipt: HOTY 11.3 lbs.
Besides being a bear to carry up the stairs into the kitchen (why can't I figure out how to make the dogs into pack animals?), ummm, what in the world was I thinking... 61lbs of tomatoes!
Rick and I spent Saturday evening doing the exact same thing over and over and over:
1) wash tomatoes
2) blanch tomatoes in boiling water
3) plunge tomatoes into ice water (note for you want to be canners: you need a lot of ice. If you run out of ice, those frozen ice packs do just fine. If those all get defrosted on you, then feel free to use the multicolored plastic ice that came with your summer cocktail mixing set.)
4) peel tomatoes and core them
5) chop tomatoes
6) cook tomatoes into a sauce
Some pictures from our processing night:
Sunday - ah, the easy part, right? canning.
Here is what I did - (after going to Farm and Fleet to get 2 more cases of jars, 5 gallons of cider vinegar, a Tide sized box of canning salt, mustard seed and dill seed)
1) start sterilizing jars in dishwasher
2) start huge vat of boiling water
3) clean cucumbers for pickles (those buggers get real dirty)
4) set all clean cans out on "canning station" table
4.5) feel good about how beautiful everything is in my kitchen
5) start heating up all the tomato sauces, salsas and stewed tomatoes from yesterday
5.5) remember that I have two cantelope that MUST be "processed" somehow today
6) get a bit overwhelmed at number of things on the counter!
7) cut cantelope, spread on baking sheet and put in freezer
8) cut up all the cucumbers, stuff into jars
8.5) get distressed about number of jars of cucumbers. There are two more jars than planned for! I fear some cucumbers aren't going to make it into the promised land of pickledom.
Once the cantelope departed into the freezer, and the sauces were boiling it was time to get started. Soon, the table of clean jars turned into this:
Notice that George and Deuce have morphed into vigilant jar herding dogs. They have rounded these all up into a tight pack. Only one was lost in the night to a poor seal.
At this point in the evening I am very proud of myself. and exhausted.
The most beautiful picture and yet the most depressing still awaits. The remaining bounty:
this is all still sitting on my table. I was too tired to do anything with them...oh, and my original tomatoes on the porch are still out there too! eek.
The final haul:
6 P and 1 Q of dill pickles
3 Q of spaghetti sauce
9 P of salsa (4 mild and 5 spicy)-all yellow
8 Q of stewed tomatoes (and 1 pint of lonely leftovers from each pot :)
3 Ziploc bags of frozen cantelope
The casualties: 1 broken glass jar, 1 quart jar of pickles had to be thrown away (lack of dill seed, never doing that again!),
Leftovers: more salt and cider vinegar than I know what to do with, all those vegetables on the table, hot peppers (Rick is going to make a sauce of some sort. I was pretty exasperated as he picked 6 lbs of tiny little hot peppers, I wasn't going to delve too far into what his plans were for them), and then of course the mysterious 11lbs of HOTY.
Final call- Fun, very fun. But could be enhanced by breaking it out over a couple more days, and including wine and some friends to entertain me.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Canning - it is the hippest old woman thing to do since knitting
I couldn't have written the canning post half as good as 11Frogs. It was a masterpiece.
However, I will tell you that I spent the week telling everyone at my customer site about how I was canning this weekend and would be doing it next weekend too. They were a bit surprised I think. (I am a real ball buster at work...)
I also experienced this bizarre high all week from the knowledge that I stored food for the winter. My insides get all squishy and I get a little wild eyed thinking about what I will do with my pressure canner this weekend. I may or may not be a giant squirrel.
I even woke up in the middle of the night in my hotel room this week worried that because I put oil in my recipe my canning would be ruined (as I read another recipe that strongly warned against it). But, I looked up the recipe and it said oil so I am fine.
Domesticity is cool. If the country's infrastructure is destroyed I feel confident that I can live off the land. (with the help of a close by Farm and Fleet store).
However, I will tell you that I spent the week telling everyone at my customer site about how I was canning this weekend and would be doing it next weekend too. They were a bit surprised I think. (I am a real ball buster at work...)
I also experienced this bizarre high all week from the knowledge that I stored food for the winter. My insides get all squishy and I get a little wild eyed thinking about what I will do with my pressure canner this weekend. I may or may not be a giant squirrel.
I even woke up in the middle of the night in my hotel room this week worried that because I put oil in my recipe my canning would be ruined (as I read another recipe that strongly warned against it). But, I looked up the recipe and it said oil so I am fine.
Domesticity is cool. If the country's infrastructure is destroyed I feel confident that I can live off the land. (with the help of a close by Farm and Fleet store).
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Kind of exactly the opposite of roaming
More like very tightly gripping the very essence of home and this moment of summer, grinding it all up, boiling the hell out of it, and sealing it in a jar to enjoy next winter. Or next Tuesday, as the case may be. Ni modo. The moral of the story is: We took up canning, and it's awesome.
Two weeks ago when I went home to meet the babies, I helped my aunt (the one who has a garden measuring in acres and can feed 200+ people with no problem) can salsa and pickles. I also snapped a five gallon bucket of beans - the big ones for garlic-pickled beans (yum!) and the small ones for canning. Lessons:
And so Saturday morning found Wintergypsy and I foraging tomatoes, hot peppers, a buttload of basil, tomatillos, and a stray eggplant and squash or two from our CSA farm and the quickly overgrowing garden from the program I volunteered at this summer. Lucia foraged from her and a friend's backyard and the farmers' market.
This was my starting supply o' produce. Ridiculous.
Two weeks ago when I went home to meet the babies, I helped my aunt (the one who has a garden measuring in acres and can feed 200+ people with no problem) can salsa and pickles. I also snapped a five gallon bucket of beans - the big ones for garlic-pickled beans (yum!) and the small ones for canning. Lessons:
- My aunt is goddess-like in the food realm and makes the best refrigerator pickles EVER.
- The canning process itself is very easy. Basically, you just boil some jars of food.
- Getting food ready to put in the jars is a whole lotta work and a ginormous pain in the ass.
And so Saturday morning found Wintergypsy and I foraging tomatoes, hot peppers, a buttload of basil, tomatillos, and a stray eggplant and squash or two from our CSA farm and the quickly overgrowing garden from the program I volunteered at this summer. Lucia foraged from her and a friend's backyard and the farmers' market.
This was my starting supply o' produce. Ridiculous.
Sunday morning, we each slaved over our respective stoves. I made tomato salsa, green tomatillo salsa, and spaghetti sauce. This took me about four hours of chopping and boiling. Lucia make spaghetti sauce and cherry tomato salsa. Wintergypsy made tomato salsa, spaghetti sauce, and some pesto (for eating/freezing, not canning). Spaghetti sauce takes FOREVER to cook down.
We then gathered at my house to encase the food in jars. In typical Lucia fashion, there was none of this halfway, try-it-out, used, borrowed b.s. for her. Oh, no, she took the Farm & Fleet canning section by storm and bought a canning kettle, pressure canner, and sundry jars, lids and canning tools. The lil' magnet jobby-do for picking the lids out of the boiling water was the cutest.
We sanitized (well, mostly) jars and lids, heated our food back up, and popped several batches in the canner. 15-20 minutes for salsas, 30-35 minutes for spaghetti sauce. With our expected organizational glitches in the timing of the various heatings and fillings and sanitizing, particularly the "sanitize" cycle on my dishwasher, this took us nearly 4 hours.
After the ladies left, I proceeded to make a buttload of pesto. The limiting reagent turned out to be the cheese.
2-1/2 hours later - a full 11 hours after I started cooking - I had a bowl full of green gold. And that was without the several hours of work the ladies saved me earlier by picking all my basil off the plants for me. Yeesh.
It may not look like much, but the final results of all our efforts looked like a masterpiece to me:
And my reward meal of sweet cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and pesto, which was so summerly sublime I almost cried.
Lucia is making the leap from water bath canning into pressure canning this weekend. The adventure continues ...
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sweet Corn
It was raining. It was muddy. It was 58 degrees. It was not enough to stop four girls from getting their fill of sweet corn and cheap beer.
Once again, the Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Festival proved worth the drive (especially since it's so much closer for me in my new house). Who doesn't love getting their own corn, having it hand rolled in butter my teenage girls, and salting it from a giant tree of salt shakers?
Since I didn't get any pictures (if I had, I'm not sure anyone would've felt they missed out), so in memory, here are some shots from last year:
Once again, the Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Festival proved worth the drive (especially since it's so much closer for me in my new house). Who doesn't love getting their own corn, having it hand rolled in butter my teenage girls, and salting it from a giant tree of salt shakers?
Since I didn't get any pictures (if I had, I'm not sure anyone would've felt they missed out), so in memory, here are some shots from last year:
This time, however, we did add a stop to a local Sun Prairie dive on the way out of town. Can't recall the name of the bar, but they had a rockin' jukebox and made great Old Fashions. Mmmmm, Brandy....
Monday, August 13, 2007
a blog for Kitty to check out
http://empresseve.com/
I have decided that when I feel like crap I will find something on the internet that makes me laugh.
for instance this morning, when I am so sick I am taking a sick day and missing a flight to my second home, and yet staying awake (albeit moaning audibly) for two work calls. The first one at 730am, the jerks organizing the call never gave any call in info and then didn't bother calling me either. then, my 8am with a customer... it is 30 minutes later and still no call despite emails and VMs. sigh.
So, I found the blog above. It reminds me very strongly of Kitty, in fact, I think that she needs to get on the website redesign, as her current one is not at all "her".
The line that made me laugh:
So, there I was, bored with nothing to do when a guy sits next to me and busts out a portable DVD player. I couldn’t see what movie he put into the player, but I knew one thing: Someone sits next to me with a portable DVD player, then I hope they want some company, cuz I’m watching what they’re watching.
I have decided that when I feel like crap I will find something on the internet that makes me laugh.
for instance this morning, when I am so sick I am taking a sick day and missing a flight to my second home, and yet staying awake (albeit moaning audibly) for two work calls. The first one at 730am, the jerks organizing the call never gave any call in info and then didn't bother calling me either. then, my 8am with a customer... it is 30 minutes later and still no call despite emails and VMs. sigh.
So, I found the blog above. It reminds me very strongly of Kitty, in fact, I think that she needs to get on the website redesign, as her current one is not at all "her".
The line that made me laugh:
So, there I was, bored with nothing to do when a guy sits next to me and busts out a portable DVD player. I couldn’t see what movie he put into the player, but I knew one thing: Someone sits next to me with a portable DVD player, then I hope they want some company, cuz I’m watching what they’re watching.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Canoe Trip, cont.
More pictures from the Great Wisconsin River Canoe Trip of 2007.
The whole crew, sans moi. Funny how disposable cameras don't come with little timers.
You can't get much more relaxed than this.
Cherry pit spitting contest, featuring Honeyweiss.
MEAT!!!
We fought the sun, and the sun won.
There are also several hilarious pictures of the Divine Miss M in various states of undress mid-river, but one mustn't post photos of one's female friends in their skivvies on the Internet, however amusing they may be.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Kickapoo Country Fair
A few of us trekked out to La Farge this weekend for the Kickapoo Country Fair, which was organized by Organic Valley. Full disclosure: I'm a big Organic Valley fan, partly because I eat a lot of their food, partly because my aunt and uncle are Organic Valley producers, and partly because I think they have been one of the major pushers of Wisconsin leading the way in organic agriculture in the past decade. The fair was on the grounds of their headquarters.
As always with sustainable agriculture events in this state, the fair drew a fascinating mix of ol' fashioned farmers, foodie/yuppies like ourselves, hippies, and the various dashed combos of the above (hippie-farmers, yuppie-hippies, yuppie-farmers, foodie-hippies, etc.). It would be very easy to do a rural sociology thesis on the interactions among these strange bedfellows. What do the farmers think of the yuppies with their literary events and "Child Nurturing Tent"? What do the yuppies really think of the farmers - not just the barefoot, liberal, college-educated ones, but the old school, church-going, many-children-having, high-waisted-Lee-jean-wearing, manual-laboring, fifth-generation-on-this-land ones who are mostly in organics because the milk check is bigger? And what does anyone really think about the dude with the sketchy dreadlocked beard that could have been housing several species of rodent? This odd conglomeration is either a brief blip of artificial togetherness that will fade as the food-eating public outgrows the current "green" fad, or it is the nascent networking of a new social order that will move all of us away from a culture and an agriculture of consumerism and degradation to one of respect, sustainability, and community that I believe all of these disparate groups are so diligently searching for. I'm betting my career and my future children on the latter. One can hope.
There was a breakfast, farm and headquarter tours, nature walks, kids' activities, a workshop series, and a whole lot of other things we didn't participate in. We did, however, check out the information and vendor booths (my favorite: the goat cheese fudge + history lesson on the round barns of Vernon County), gaze at antique tractors and other history displays, see the rather paltry animal barn, and eat pretty much every type of food they offered. Our submissions to the suggestions box for next year: more food and some cows to pet.
We saw keynote speaker Jean Feraca, host of NPR's Here on Earth. She addressed the importance of the family table as the center of children's education about food, family, nutrition, civility, and many other topics whose mastery would help the next generation solve problems as diverse as childhood obesity, farm worker rights, and environmental degradation. It was a good talk, if a bit repetitive. Ms. Feraca has many good points, though her speaking style is an acquired taste due to her tendency to sometimes come across as a bit like Janice on Friends.
The true highlight of the day was a reading by Michael Perry, author of Population: 485 and Truck: A Love Story. I previously expounded on his lyrical greatness, and he did not disappoint in person. I laughed and I cried and I enjoyed shutting my eyes just to listen to the rhythm. Wow. He has three main qualities that I envy and seek to emulate:
As always with sustainable agriculture events in this state, the fair drew a fascinating mix of ol' fashioned farmers, foodie/yuppies like ourselves, hippies, and the various dashed combos of the above (hippie-farmers, yuppie-hippies, yuppie-farmers, foodie-hippies, etc.). It would be very easy to do a rural sociology thesis on the interactions among these strange bedfellows. What do the farmers think of the yuppies with their literary events and "Child Nurturing Tent"? What do the yuppies really think of the farmers - not just the barefoot, liberal, college-educated ones, but the old school, church-going, many-children-having, high-waisted-Lee-jean-wearing, manual-laboring, fifth-generation-on-this-land ones who are mostly in organics because the milk check is bigger? And what does anyone really think about the dude with the sketchy dreadlocked beard that could have been housing several species of rodent? This odd conglomeration is either a brief blip of artificial togetherness that will fade as the food-eating public outgrows the current "green" fad, or it is the nascent networking of a new social order that will move all of us away from a culture and an agriculture of consumerism and degradation to one of respect, sustainability, and community that I believe all of these disparate groups are so diligently searching for. I'm betting my career and my future children on the latter. One can hope.
There was a breakfast, farm and headquarter tours, nature walks, kids' activities, a workshop series, and a whole lot of other things we didn't participate in. We did, however, check out the information and vendor booths (my favorite: the goat cheese fudge + history lesson on the round barns of Vernon County), gaze at antique tractors and other history displays, see the rather paltry animal barn, and eat pretty much every type of food they offered. Our submissions to the suggestions box for next year: more food and some cows to pet.
We saw keynote speaker Jean Feraca, host of NPR's Here on Earth. She addressed the importance of the family table as the center of children's education about food, family, nutrition, civility, and many other topics whose mastery would help the next generation solve problems as diverse as childhood obesity, farm worker rights, and environmental degradation. It was a good talk, if a bit repetitive. Ms. Feraca has many good points, though her speaking style is an acquired taste due to her tendency to sometimes come across as a bit like Janice on Friends.
The true highlight of the day was a reading by Michael Perry, author of Population: 485 and Truck: A Love Story. I previously expounded on his lyrical greatness, and he did not disappoint in person. I laughed and I cried and I enjoyed shutting my eyes just to listen to the rhythm. Wow. He has three main qualities that I envy and seek to emulate:
- He straddles multiple worlds with grace.
- He can write sentiment without sap.
- He is utterly hilarious.
Play at American Players Theatre
A couple of weeks ago, we went to see Merchant of Venice at the American Players Theatre in Spring Green. APT is an outdoor amphitheater in the woods. It had been a few years since I saw a play there. I'm honestly not a spectacular judge of classic Shakespearean acting, as long as it's not utterly horrific a la Keanu Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing. (The mere mention sends me into convulsions. We read the play and then watched the movie in English senior year. ~Shudder~) To my amateur eyes, this production was very good, particularly the last act. As with performances of all kinds, comprehension and appreciation improved after the intermission drinks. We ordered tickets early and got them for $23 apiece. Normal ticket prices are somewhere in the $35-41+ range. When night falls, the fireflies go sparkly and other, less flashy bugs flit through the lights. If you're not into Shakespeare, APT might not trip your trigger. But, if you like seeing plays at all, this is about as good of a venue as you can get.
Wisconsin in the summer ...
... is truly a fabulous place. On Friday, Witty decided that, after reading many descriptions of summer beers, she needed to try some of them. So, I lit the tiki torches, got some beer of my own and some chips and salsa, and turned on a great 80s radio station on my deck. She came over along with Lucia and Vavra and we chilled out there till 11 p.m., drinking interesting beers and enjoying the wonderful weather.
On Saturday, Loud had the great idea of having a beer tasting evening with a theme - all WI beers, all one type of beer, etc. Of course, we'd have to give them all snooty wine-like descriptions too. I think that would be fun. I may be hosting one towards the end of summer, depending on how everything shakes out.
On Saturday, Loud had the great idea of having a beer tasting evening with a theme - all WI beers, all one type of beer, etc. Of course, we'd have to give them all snooty wine-like descriptions too. I think that would be fun. I may be hosting one towards the end of summer, depending on how everything shakes out.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Canoe trip down the WI River
Last weekend we spent 2 days on the beautiful WI river doing mainly two things - drinking and eating.
I think there was also some paddling involved, but not much :)
And now pictures! Thanks to loud for telling me how to upload them a couple of weeks ago. Without her this post would not have been possible :)
Each day started off with our 9am morning constitutional: 
Picture most likely to end up on a tourist brochure (of B&M):
The scenery: 
Some of our motley crew:
Me, looking goofy after a full day of drinking:
It was a really fun time, however I was glad to get home on the second day to have the use of running water and indoor plumbing so I could wash all the sand off and to use sunburn soothing stuff since all of us are apparently incompetent when it comes to putting sunscreeen on our entire body. We more prefer the red/white spotted look. There were some pretty funky designs. Too bad they weren't intentional ;)
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Second Annual Deep Fry Extravaganza
Yes, it's officially an annual thing now. Let me see if I can remember everything we had this year:
Turkey (so damn good), chicken, fish (best batter award for this stuff), squash, cheese curds, pizza, mushrooms, onions, cherries, peppermint patties, twix, cookie dough, brownie bites, apples, beef/cheese stick combo, cheese-stuffed jalapenos, cheese and rice balls (yummy!), tortillas with salsa.........did I forget anything?
My faves: turkey, squash, onions, fish, mushrooms, cheese and rice balls, and snickers.
Lessions learned (in addition to the good points already discussed by Witty and Lucia):
1) Food should spent less time in the holding area. They should go straight from staging to the deep fryer. The more the things sit around, the more batter drips off.
2) More batters are needed, and they need to be a bit crispier and stick better
3) Have less stuff. Or, at least, a smaller quantity if we still want to have the same amount of variety.
4) Being around the deep fryer to see things in action is essential.
However, the snicker's bites worked a lot better than last year. Tiki torches kept the bugs away, and a general good time was had by all. Most people cleared out by midnight or so, and I think we finally went to bed at 2am. Pretty much the only cleanup that was needed was doing about 4 loads of dishes, which makes me very happy.
However, last night I was definitely feeling a salad for dinner, and my fridge contains lots of leftover chicken and fish. I also have some leftovers that didn't get fried and various containers that I don't think are mine. Let me know if they're yours and when you want to get them :P
Sadly, I don't think I have any pictures, but Lucia painted a pretty good one with the docker's-commerical-without-the-acutal-dockers reference.........even though I never would have come up with that :)
Oh, and Ding convinced me to go browse wedding dresses at a cute store in Verona with her when she goes to pick up her dress in a few weeks. I do beleive I was already feeling the effects of beer + having eaten no food all day when I agreed to this.
Turkey (so damn good), chicken, fish (best batter award for this stuff), squash, cheese curds, pizza, mushrooms, onions, cherries, peppermint patties, twix, cookie dough, brownie bites, apples, beef/cheese stick combo, cheese-stuffed jalapenos, cheese and rice balls (yummy!), tortillas with salsa.........did I forget anything?
My faves: turkey, squash, onions, fish, mushrooms, cheese and rice balls, and snickers.
Lessions learned (in addition to the good points already discussed by Witty and Lucia):
1) Food should spent less time in the holding area. They should go straight from staging to the deep fryer. The more the things sit around, the more batter drips off.
2) More batters are needed, and they need to be a bit crispier and stick better
3) Have less stuff. Or, at least, a smaller quantity if we still want to have the same amount of variety.
4) Being around the deep fryer to see things in action is essential.
However, the snicker's bites worked a lot better than last year. Tiki torches kept the bugs away, and a general good time was had by all. Most people cleared out by midnight or so, and I think we finally went to bed at 2am. Pretty much the only cleanup that was needed was doing about 4 loads of dishes, which makes me very happy.
However, last night I was definitely feeling a salad for dinner, and my fridge contains lots of leftover chicken and fish. I also have some leftovers that didn't get fried and various containers that I don't think are mine. Let me know if they're yours and when you want to get them :P
Sadly, I don't think I have any pictures, but Lucia painted a pretty good one with the docker's-commerical-without-the-acutal-dockers reference.........even though I never would have come up with that :)
Oh, and Ding convinced me to go browse wedding dresses at a cute store in Verona with her when she goes to pick up her dress in a few weeks. I do beleive I was already feeling the effects of beer + having eaten no food all day when I agreed to this.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
It was a good weekend
Friday - Mallards game. Frogs did a good job, but I need to refute a few points. There was absolutely NO "accidental" purchase of too many beers. We purposefully took advantage of an unexpected 2 for 1 offer that happened while we were sitting close to the line.
Te-te - should be pronounced Tay-tay. And it was a great nickname for Vincente. He was our favorite player on the other team.
I feel incredibly cheated by our lack of karaoke for the night. I suspect that next Friday night I will try to sweet talk someone into going to the Doghouse for some free drinks (as promised by the karaoke man) and the karaoke man all to ourselves.
One of the best quotes of the night - as we pull up to Beck's bar (gosh, bar review is a whole 'nother review I should do) - is Loud spotting pickups, motorcycles and the general trashiness of the bar, telling us "I think that my people are different than Lucia's people." Ah, my people. They were there in full force.
The Art Fair on the Square was fun! I bought two woodcut prints, one of a coffeepot and the other of a bottle of Whiskey and a rocks glass full. I have put them up on the wall in my kitchen already, and have titled the grouping - Subsistence Living.
I will have to post pictures later as I am too lazy to do it now.
My thoughts on deep fat fry night -
1) I am blown away by how great it is to be an adult with such a great group of friends. We aren't beautiful, but it seems like we live a Dockers commercial. We get together (piling 20 or so people on Kitty's deck) drink beer out of bottles, smile, laugh, eat some good food, and enjoy late afternoons that descend into cool nights.
Okay, the Dockers commercial never includes dual deep fryers. We have to make it 'sconnie somehow.
2) My mother was wrong. Fried brownies are good.
3) I was amazed at the success of the pizza. It was awesome.
4) Future parties should include more variations on the pizza theme, different batter or even breading options, and I think that we have to make one more charge at the cookie dough (perhaps just not a standard dough, maybe some differences in the composition ... like less butter).
5) I am guessing that every food stuff I see from now on will be evaluated for possible fry party fodder.
Te-te - should be pronounced Tay-tay. And it was a great nickname for Vincente. He was our favorite player on the other team.
I feel incredibly cheated by our lack of karaoke for the night. I suspect that next Friday night I will try to sweet talk someone into going to the Doghouse for some free drinks (as promised by the karaoke man) and the karaoke man all to ourselves.
One of the best quotes of the night - as we pull up to Beck's bar (gosh, bar review is a whole 'nother review I should do) - is Loud spotting pickups, motorcycles and the general trashiness of the bar, telling us "I think that my people are different than Lucia's people." Ah, my people. They were there in full force.
The Art Fair on the Square was fun! I bought two woodcut prints, one of a coffeepot and the other of a bottle of Whiskey and a rocks glass full. I have put them up on the wall in my kitchen already, and have titled the grouping - Subsistence Living.
I will have to post pictures later as I am too lazy to do it now.
My thoughts on deep fat fry night -
1) I am blown away by how great it is to be an adult with such a great group of friends. We aren't beautiful, but it seems like we live a Dockers commercial. We get together (piling 20 or so people on Kitty's deck) drink beer out of bottles, smile, laugh, eat some good food, and enjoy late afternoons that descend into cool nights.
Okay, the Dockers commercial never includes dual deep fryers. We have to make it 'sconnie somehow.
2) My mother was wrong. Fried brownies are good.
3) I was amazed at the success of the pizza. It was awesome.
4) Future parties should include more variations on the pizza theme, different batter or even breading options, and I think that we have to make one more charge at the cookie dough (perhaps just not a standard dough, maybe some differences in the composition ... like less butter).
5) I am guessing that every food stuff I see from now on will be evaluated for possible fry party fodder.
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.
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.
a brief shopping tour in Madison
Furniture Shopping - here are some of your options and my opinions:
Steinhafels - a great classic. I feel that this can't be beat for high quality and a classic to conservative selection. Many 8 way hand tied pieces, lots of warranties on frame, mechanics, fabric, etc. You can customize most of the furniture with different fabrics. Their sales seem a bit lame, but regular. The furniture is some of the more expensive in Madison. cookies and coffee in the showroom.
American - furniture, but also sells appliances and tvs. I find the selection to be... well, lower end looking, but their stuff seems pretty study and affordable. I bought my mattress set and entertainment center there. they are doing fine as of right now. - overall, gives me a bachelor man vibe.
Ashley- without a question, cheap. But, the quality is not bad and durability impressive for such inexpensive furniture. No options though, what you see is what you get. My leather couch is from Ashley, 700 bucks. good deal for something that I plan on moving to the basement before long anyhow. I have had it for a year or two and it isn't broken, the seats aren't sagging, and no leather damage.
Twisted Twig - umm, you know those people that get a theme idea for a room and go completely literal with it? Yeah, these people did it with the cabin thing. If you want an "Up North" room, head here. I only found one thing that I could even picture in my home:
Century House - This store focuses on Scandanavian furniture. If that style will work in your house, then you should definitely head over. Their stuff is beautiful. There is also an adorable Century House gift shop next door. Seems like a great place to head when you need a birthday present.
Don's Home Furniture - This store focuses nearly completely on wood furniture. Not a huge upholstered selection. But, their stuff all has the maker indicated and seems of very high quality. I found a couple dressers that I wanted, but it is a bit expensive, so nothing has made its way into my home yet.
If you have suggestions for stores for me to review, please comment and I will make every effort to visit and write them up here.
Steinhafels - a great classic. I feel that this can't be beat for high quality and a classic to conservative selection. Many 8 way hand tied pieces, lots of warranties on frame, mechanics, fabric, etc. You can customize most of the furniture with different fabrics. Their sales seem a bit lame, but regular. The furniture is some of the more expensive in Madison. cookies and coffee in the showroom.
American - furniture, but also sells appliances and tvs. I find the selection to be... well, lower end looking, but their stuff seems pretty study and affordable. I bought my mattress set and entertainment center there. they are doing fine as of right now. - overall, gives me a bachelor man vibe.
Ashley- without a question, cheap. But, the quality is not bad and durability impressive for such inexpensive furniture. No options though, what you see is what you get. My leather couch is from Ashley, 700 bucks. good deal for something that I plan on moving to the basement before long anyhow. I have had it for a year or two and it isn't broken, the seats aren't sagging, and no leather damage.
Twisted Twig - umm, you know those people that get a theme idea for a room and go completely literal with it? Yeah, these people did it with the cabin thing. If you want an "Up North" room, head here. I only found one thing that I could even picture in my home:Century House - This store focuses on Scandanavian furniture. If that style will work in your house, then you should definitely head over. Their stuff is beautiful. There is also an adorable Century House gift shop next door. Seems like a great place to head when you need a birthday present.
Don's Home Furniture - This store focuses nearly completely on wood furniture. Not a huge upholstered selection. But, their stuff all has the maker indicated and seems of very high quality. I found a couple dressers that I wanted, but it is a bit expensive, so nothing has made its way into my home yet.
If you have suggestions for stores for me to review, please comment and I will make every effort to visit and write them up here.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The most common Summer Things
For those of us from Wisconsin or other points within driving distance, much of the summer is spent going to those huge family weddings that Kitty just cannot understand and family reunions. These events are pretty fantastic, even better than the festivals, camping, etc., for me. However, I do recommend experiencing them in moderation. As with good chocolate, they can become cloyingly sweet after too much.
Edit: Yet another fabulous family reunion - not in Wisconsin, but definitely full of the Wisconsin spirit with all that humidity and beer!
Edit: Yet another fabulous family reunion - not in Wisconsin, but definitely full of the Wisconsin spirit with all that humidity and beer!
Monday, July 9, 2007
Getting caught in the rain
Going to the beer tent at the Monona 4th of July festival is a good idea. Not wearing a rain coat or bringing an umbrella to the beer tent while its raining is a not so good idea.
Lucia, Loud, and I decided to go to the beer tent July 3rd after a couple of stressful days at work. Hooray for the holiday! By the time we were ready to head over to join in on the festivities, it was raining rather heavily. Loud and I did not think ahead and bring an umbrella or even a garbage bag to protect our luckily dark colored cotton clothes. Lucia planned ahead and was nice and dry in her lovely rain coat.
We looked like we just got out of the shower when we arrived at the beer tent. Although, we were soaked our spirits weren't dampened. We indulged in a few cheap beers, had some laughs, and waited for Lucia to bring the car close by before Loud and I left the tent. The beer tent definitely always equals a good time.
Lucia, Loud, and I decided to go to the beer tent July 3rd after a couple of stressful days at work. Hooray for the holiday! By the time we were ready to head over to join in on the festivities, it was raining rather heavily. Loud and I did not think ahead and bring an umbrella or even a garbage bag to protect our luckily dark colored cotton clothes. Lucia planned ahead and was nice and dry in her lovely rain coat.
We looked like we just got out of the shower when we arrived at the beer tent. Although, we were soaked our spirits weren't dampened. We indulged in a few cheap beers, had some laughs, and waited for Lucia to bring the car close by before Loud and I left the tent. The beer tent definitely always equals a good time.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Raising Cane's!
Ok, this is a little sad. It's the middle of summer (well, nearly), and this is my first blog. Actually, it's my first blog EVER, so that's very exciting. So not sad at all, I guess. Although, I did make an attempt once after hours at work...I was never able to get things working right. (Blogger technical issues FAQ -- you lie!)
The title of my this post is Raising Cane's, which I first heard about in Sioux Falls, SD on a business trip from a co-worker from Lousiana. This is a fast food franschise that basically only serves fried chicken fingers. If I remember the story right, it started off as a business school project, but didn't make the grade. The professor failed the project, but the founders went on to start up the first ever Cane's, which is now a successful franschise.
I mostly thought these were in the South...as the person who was telling me about this is from the South and speaks with a twang. (Actually, Raising Cane's was just a smaller part of a rather lengthy conversation on fried chicken. God love the Foodies!) I'm not a big on fast food...actually, i really dislike it in general (except for In and Out, which deserves a whole other post on its own)...and I absolutely DETEST most chicken (exceptions include fried chicken, and chicken cooked by my mom or fiance), so I was a little skeptical about the place.
Amazingly, one of my best friends, we'll call her HighHeels, luvs fried chicken fingers and she lives near a Cane's in MN. (She used to love the weird spongy fried "chicken" fingers from the movie theater we frequented in college...ick. Oh, and she likes the "chicken" rings from White Castle...double ick). HighHeels claimed that these are really good...but, with the recommendation from my southern friend, I was willing to give this a shot, so we went and ate.
AND THEY WERE AWESOME! THEY WERE THE BEST CHICKEN FINGERS I'VE EVER HAD! Hot, fresh, really juicy...so juicy, with a light batter, and not too salty. The special sauce was really good too! According to the website (http://www.raisingcanes.com/), the chicken is never frozen...so it's got to be somewhat local, right? I feel kinda bad posting here about an experience that I didn't even have in WI, and so out of line with the whole local foods, farmers' market, organic feel of the rest of the blog. Don't get me wrong, I'm into that stuff too! But this was just so good! God! I'm craving them already. The crinkle cut fries were awesome too! 98% of the time, crinkle cut fries are soggy...but Cane's were as crisp and delightful as I could hope for.
God, I liked these fingers so much, that I've even thought about opening up a store. Not the first time I've considered joining a franschise...the first time was when I went to my first Oberweis store...which is all about local, organic food...I highly recommend checking them out.(http://www.oberweisdairy.com/web/default.asp).
Anyways, as soon as I got back home to WI, I had to tell my fiance (the B of B&M) all about it. In a strange twist of fate, it turns out that some of his old childhood friends have a friend who opened up a Cane's in Vegas. They are definitely eating there during the next Dudes Vegas trip in Aug.
OMG!!! I just had a thought! I can probably get B to make chicken fingers for the Deep Fry party. Oh yeah!!!! Woot!!!
If you think I'm nuts because I just wrote a whole post on chicken fingers...just wait. I haven't even delved into my Madison eats yet...you can look forward to learning more about Arbat's next time!
The title of my this post is Raising Cane's, which I first heard about in Sioux Falls, SD on a business trip from a co-worker from Lousiana. This is a fast food franschise that basically only serves fried chicken fingers. If I remember the story right, it started off as a business school project, but didn't make the grade. The professor failed the project, but the founders went on to start up the first ever Cane's, which is now a successful franschise.
I mostly thought these were in the South...as the person who was telling me about this is from the South and speaks with a twang. (Actually, Raising Cane's was just a smaller part of a rather lengthy conversation on fried chicken. God love the Foodies!) I'm not a big on fast food...actually, i really dislike it in general (except for In and Out, which deserves a whole other post on its own)...and I absolutely DETEST most chicken (exceptions include fried chicken, and chicken cooked by my mom or fiance), so I was a little skeptical about the place.
Amazingly, one of my best friends, we'll call her HighHeels, luvs fried chicken fingers and she lives near a Cane's in MN. (She used to love the weird spongy fried "chicken" fingers from the movie theater we frequented in college...ick. Oh, and she likes the "chicken" rings from White Castle...double ick). HighHeels claimed that these are really good...but, with the recommendation from my southern friend, I was willing to give this a shot, so we went and ate.
AND THEY WERE AWESOME! THEY WERE THE BEST CHICKEN FINGERS I'VE EVER HAD! Hot, fresh, really juicy...so juicy, with a light batter, and not too salty. The special sauce was really good too! According to the website (http://www.raisingcanes.com/), the chicken is never frozen...so it's got to be somewhat local, right? I feel kinda bad posting here about an experience that I didn't even have in WI, and so out of line with the whole local foods, farmers' market, organic feel of the rest of the blog. Don't get me wrong, I'm into that stuff too! But this was just so good! God! I'm craving them already. The crinkle cut fries were awesome too! 98% of the time, crinkle cut fries are soggy...but Cane's were as crisp and delightful as I could hope for.
God, I liked these fingers so much, that I've even thought about opening up a store. Not the first time I've considered joining a franschise...the first time was when I went to my first Oberweis store...which is all about local, organic food...I highly recommend checking them out.(http://www.oberweisdairy.com/web/default.asp).
Anyways, as soon as I got back home to WI, I had to tell my fiance (the B of B&M) all about it. In a strange twist of fate, it turns out that some of his old childhood friends have a friend who opened up a Cane's in Vegas. They are definitely eating there during the next Dudes Vegas trip in Aug.
OMG!!! I just had a thought! I can probably get B to make chicken fingers for the Deep Fry party. Oh yeah!!!! Woot!!!
If you think I'm nuts because I just wrote a whole post on chicken fingers...just wait. I haven't even delved into my Madison eats yet...you can look forward to learning more about Arbat's next time!
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