Wisconsin – Page 5 – WISCONSIN FUN NEXT EXIT

Lasagna Mia!

This past Saturday at 12:01 a.m. I sat staring at these letters during a tight Scrabble match at the Weary Traveler:

On their own those letters have a lot of scoring potential- but having them all at once, not so much. I came in last. But that’s okay, I was too busy enjoying my Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, the banter with Dan and Dr. Hotbody and eavesdropping on the guy behind us who had a completely backwards and twisted definition for karma (No, I don’t think you acquire good karma by getting drunk before asking your co-workers to cover your shift for ‘personal reasons’ so that you can continue drinking.) After the tavern Dan and I listened to his Rick Danko record and then it was off to bed.

The next morning unable to sleep I grabbed the closest book to me which happened to be Eat, Pray, Love. I read this book a few summers ago and found the India praying section to be a bit long-winded, but I love reading about food so I opened up to Italy. I read about gelato, olives, asparagus, pasta, pastries and pizza and repressed Americans and before long I had to wake up Dan for a walk down to Batch Bakehouse where we purchased 12 dollars worth of baked goods, including a gruyre-filled croissant and one of the best scones that I have ever had in my life (it had walnuts, raisins and cinnamon glaze). From there we walked to the Willy Street Co-op to pick up ingredients for dinner- I had a hankering for lasagna. We bought whole milk ricotta! And 2% milk! And Nutella (still unopened and sitting on the shelf)! No repressed American here!

After a run, (do Italians believe in exercise?) I started dinner. I had intended to follow a recipe from my January issue of Bon Appetit. When I glanced at it I noticed that it was vegetarian and had swiss chard and mushrooms. When I sat down to read the actual entire recipe it lost me at ‘Turkish bay leaf.’ It might be time for me to admit that I don’t have a lot of patience for following recipes- this is always true for baking and sometimes true for cooking. I also realized that the recipe didn’t call for tomato sauce. What?! And they wanted me to blanch the swiss chard before sauteing it. I’m out. Let the creative process begin.

This is my adaptation of a recipe for lasagna loosely based on a recipe from Bon Appetit that wanted me to travel to Turkey in order to obtain a bay leaf. I call it, ‘Lasagna Pile,’ in honor of the fact that I have no clue how to evenly spread ricotta over the rough terrain that is all of the other ingredients (why don’t they keep lasagna noodles in 9′ by 13′ sheets?) and as an homage to the great song, ‘Dutch Pile’ by the Happy Schnapps Combo.

_______________________________________________

Lasagna Pile

serves 1-6, depending on if you plan on entertaining Clay Matthews

Béchamel sauce:

2 cups 2% milk

4 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Swiss chard, spinach and mushroom layers:

1 bunch Swiss chard

handful spinach

4 Tablespoons olive oil

1 1/3 cups chopped onion

1 large garlic clove, chopped, divided

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Coarse kosher salt

1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced

Lasagna:

8-10 whole wheat lasagna noodles

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese (preferably organic),

8 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

tomato sauce (I like Muir Glen)

For béchamel sauce:
Bring milk to simmer in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and whisk to blend. Cook 2 minutes, whisking almost constantly (do not let roux brown). Gradually whisk milk with bay leaf into roux. Add 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and nutmeg and bring to simmer. Cook until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon, whisking often, about 3 minutes.

For swiss chard and mushroom layers:
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, half of garlic, and crushed red pepper. Sauté until onion is tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in chard and spinach and season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium- high heat. Add mushrooms and remaining garlic. Sauté until mushrooms are brown and tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Season with coarse salt and pepper.

For lasagna:
Cook noodles in medium pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain.

Brush 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish with oil to coat. Spread 3 tablespoons béchamel sauce thinly over bottom of dish. Arrange 3 noodles in dish to cover bottom. Spoon some tomato sauce over the noodles. Spread half of chard mixture over pasta and sauce, then half of mushrooms. Drop half of ricotta over in dollops and spread in even layer (good luck with this). Sprinkle with half of Parmesan cheese; spread 3/4 cup béchamel over. Repeat layering with 3 noodles, sauce, remaining chard, mushrooms, ricotta, Parmesan, and 3/4 cup béchamel. Cover with 3 noodles and remaining béchamel. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover with foil. Let stand at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake lasagna covered 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until heated through and top is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

_______________________________________________

For photos of this recipe, please see Wordless Wednesday: Lasagna pile. I served the lasagna with a baguette from Batch Bakehouse, steamed kale, and red wine.

Bon appetit! And don’t forget to do something unrepressed this weekend!

You know it’s the Packers

Somewhere in the middle of all of this I realized that I have fallen in love with you, Green Bay Packers.

I grew up a sports fan, but I was more concerned with baseball and soccer. I distinctly remember listening at a young age to Robin Yount batting while Uecker called the game on the radio on a Easter Sunday as I sat eating pastel-colored candy corn. I remember the Brewers no-hitter in ’87 and my dad taking me for walks in ’84 while the beloved Chicago Cubs tried to make it to the World Series (he believed he was a jinx if he watched the games). But I don’t remember anything about the Packers. Growing up in Madison you can feel isolated from the rest of the state… Needless to say my first vivid memory of the Packers was when I was studying for an Algebra test in high school with my friend Adam, a giant Packer fan. I’m not sure of the circumstances (regular or post-season) but the Packers lost and Adam proceeced to jump up and run outside and moan defeatedly while rolling around in a snowbank. At that point I realized that this team must be worth caring about. Two years later came a Super Bowl victory and more rolling around in the snow by boys- but this time it was the thrill of victory that led them to the drifts. I watched the next year as the Packers lost the Super Bowl, and I’m pretty sure I was bummed. The next few years are hazy… Fast forward to 2003. The Packers were making a run for the playoffs but it was a longshot and depended on a number or factors. In the last game of the season the Packers had to win and the Vikings had to lose. It wasn’t looking good. I remember sitting on the couch unable to breath. The Packers won their game, but the Vikings were rolling against the Cardinals. My dad was on the computer with a slow internet connection trying to get the latest on the Vikings game- suddenly the t.v. came back from commercials and in some miraculous turn of events, the Cardinals had come back to win. The Packers were going to the playoffs. The phone rang. I knew it was going to be Dan (we were still just friends at the time) and all I could do was scream into the phone. No hello. No hi. No doubt. Just screaming. I knew it was over- there was no turning back- I had become as crazy as the rest of them. I was also moving to Wyoming in a few days.

The next few years I celebrated the victories and felt sorrow at the losses. I bragged about the loyalty of Packer fans to all of my new Patriot fans that I met while living in Wyoming. I sat in my loft on New Year’s Eve 2006 crying when Favre cried at the end of what I thought would be his last game. Back living in Wisconsin I cried my eyes out again when Favre retired the first time. You know what happened next. And now here we are. The Packers are in the Super Bowl in less than two hours. Rational or not, I will sit captivated on my couch watching the game. I will scream. I will pull my shirt over eyes, unable to watch. I will trip myself running around the house like a maniac. I might cry. My neighbor might think again that Dan and I are domestically abusing each other until he realizes that we are actually yelling about a Tramon Williams interception. It’s all fair game. And no matter what happens, you know it’s the Packers. And Packer fans, you know it’s us.

Laramie Peak, Wyoming- where Meagan, Dan and I screamed 'Go Pack Go' at the top of our lungs and wondered if Bengal fans would ever climb a mountain and yell 'Go Bengals'

Meagan and Derek's dogs with their Packer-colored casts

0112081737 — A magical evening at Lambeau Field when the Packers beat the Seahawks in the playoffs in a snowstorm

Dan and Clay Packer-Owl doing the Packer March, invented by Derek, a Packer owner, after a Packer victory at Bronco Stadium

Taco Friday: Roasted cauliflower and black beans

I have fallen in love with cauliflower.

Lately I have been putting it on a baking sheet, drizzling it with olive oil and roasting it in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or so. Right before serving I shake on sea salt and a couple of turns of freshly ground pepper. Yum.

Last Sunday night after the Packers won the NFC Championship, Dan and I took our now traditional ‘Packer March’ to the Laurel Tavern for a quick victory celebration. Upon returning home famished, we ordered my favorite take-out in town, Burrito Drive. I always get the same order (they even have it in the computer): Build your own tacos- flour tortillas, black beans, asadero cheese, red pickled onions, romaine lettuce, green salsa, and seasonal vegetable. When the delivery man arrived with our food, I squealed with delight to discover that the ‘seasonal vegetable’ was cauliflower.

After a Thursday night out at Alchemy for dinner and a couple of acoustic sets by Dan and Pat (Clovis Mann duo), Dan and I decided to have a mellow Friday evening at home. Inspired by my tacos from Burrito Drive, we made roasted cauliflower and black bean tacos. I can’t quite call this a recipe, more of an assembling of ingredients- just in case you want some suggestions, these are my favorite tortillas, fillings and toppings:

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas, Eden Black Beans and cheese

Red cabbage, avocado, onions, and yellow bell peppers

Sour cream, fresh Willy Street Co-op salsa and sriracha

I like to mash up the avocado with chopped onions and fill the tortilla with the veggies, shredded cheese, black beans (that have been heated up), and avocado mixture. On Friday we decided to assemble the tacos and then grill them in a non-stick pan:

Right before eating, pile on the sour cream and salsa (and hot sauce- if you are into the heat- which I am). Enjoy.

Happy Sunday.

Love letter, Part two

You light up my life, B.J. Raji

Yesterday this happened… and the heaviest man in the history of the NFL to score a touchdown in the playoffs was described as “prancing” around in the endzone. B.J. Raji, watching you run the football for a touchdown like a giant baby keeping candy away from a pesty kid on your block was one of the best moments of the season. And then you put your hands on your hips and shook your behind. And now the Packers are going to the Super Bowl. B.J. Raji, you light up my life.

In addition to lighting up my life, you and your ball club have been dominating my weekends lately, not that I’m complaining. But who’s got time to worry about a week’s worth of lunches when the Packers are playing in the NFC Championship? Not this fan. And so this is how I found myself in the predicament that I did today- no lunch for school and famished by the time I got home at 5:30. A stroke of desperation/ genius led me to a jar of peanut butter, a banana and a honey bear. I love this sandwich so much, but I often forget to make it for myself. In case you have forgotten how delicious it is, I wanted to remind you, too.

Take a couple of pieces of whole wheat bread, spread on some all-natural peanut butter, slice up half a banana and pour on the honey. Mmmmmm.

Luckily I had some leftover lentil soup in the fridge that Dan and I heated up for dinner that was made all the better by grating (Wisconsin) parmesan cheese on top. I served it with steamed kale that I doused in lemon juice and sriracha- this was a revelation. And a delicious loaf of country bread from the Madison Sourdough Company. Basking in the afterglow of the Packers’ victory, it was a fine winter dinner.

Go Pack Go.

From then on whenever I was a-going somewhere I was a-running-a

There is this great old story in our families’ mythology where my dad and his best friend were out at the Essen Haus in Madison and spied a couple who looked like they were less than thrilled to be there. Always quite gregarious, my dad’s friend approached the couple and asked them what was wrong. They replied that they had recently moved from Los Angeles and were having trouble adjusting. My dad’s friend exclaimed that they should get down on their knees and thank their lucky stars that they had gotten out of California and moved to Wisconsin. This is how I feel about having taken up running. Don’t get me wrong- there are days where I feel like I am running through mud, but tonight as I ran under a suspended pink sky over frozen Lake Wingra I felt like I could have kept running forever- much like Mr. Gump.

I think I went close to seven miles tonight and the only reason why I stopped when I did was because I knew that there were warm molasses cookies waiting for me at home. These are pretty much my favorite cookies in the world. My mom made them last year to share with friends but I’m pretty sure that we ended up hoarding them all.

____________________________________________

This recipe is from the November 2006 issue of Bon Appetit

Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

A pinch of cracked ground black pepper

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses (not blackstrap)

1 large egg

About 1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cracked pepper. Working with a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, if you have one, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until it is smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar and molasses and beat for 2 minutes or so to blend, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute more. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry indgredients, mixing until the flour and spices disappear. If some of the flour remains in the bottom of the bowl, avoid overbeating the dough and mix in the last of the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula. You’ll have a smooth, very soft dough.

Divide the dough in half, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and freeze for 30 minutes or chill for at least 1 hour. (You can refrigerate the dough for up to 4 days). Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the sugar in a small bowl. Working with one packet of dough at a time, break off 12 pieces and roll each piece into a smooth ball between your palms. One by one, roll the balls around in the bowl of sugar, then place them on the baking sheet. Dip the bottom of a glass into the sugar and use it to press down on the cookies until they are between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes*, or until the tops of the cookies feel set to the touch. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and, if the cookies have spread and are touching, use the edge of a metal spatula to separate them while they are hot. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to room temperature. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

*We only baked them for about 8 minutes

____________________________________________________

It’s taco night tonight and I plan on eating about three more cookies, at least. Let the festivities begin.

Next exit of fun: Mineral Point

If I seem a little distracted it’s because I can hear Dan standing outside the front door right now talking on his phone and he happens to have all of the fixins’ for tonight’s pizza. Today I have consumed very little (a banana and a piece of toast with peanut butter) and I just ran 3.77 miles at the gym (too cold to run outside today- boo), so needless to say, I’m slightly famished.

All is forgiven…. he just entered the house bearing two Sierra Nevada Celebration Ales, olives and news of Packers tickets for the last game of the regular season at Lambeau Field. Go Pack! On to the field trip….

This past Saturday Dan and I took a day trip to charming Mineral Point in southwest Wisconsin.

As a sign boasts upon your arrival into the town (not the one above!), Mineral Point is “twinned” with a village in Cornwall, England; Mineral Point, one of Wisconsin’s oldest cities, is very much like an English village. After the first European settlers came to Mineral Point in 1827, the discovery of lead in the area in the 1830s brought about a “mineral rush;” news of the lead reached Cornwall, England and many Cornish miners and their families began to arrive in Mineral Point. Today Mineral Point boasts a strong art community. Many of these artists and galleries are housed in the sandstone and limestone buildings built by the European settlers. (Do I sound too much like a tour guide now? I did half-fake my way through a job as a kayaking tour guide in Yellowstone for a couple of summers.) On to the awesome-ness that is Mineral Point.

Snowman outside of the General Store where we purchased spicy beer brittle

We were invited to visit Mineral Point by our new friends whom we met over the Thanksgiving weekend. Relatives of Dan’s bandmate, this family welcomed us warmly with open arms and we feel very lucky to have gotten to know them. Tim told us that a perfect time to come would be on Saturday so that we could experience the Gallery Night/ Candlelight shopping extravaganza. With the snow that we received overnight on Friday, the town definitely looked extra holiday-y! Our first stop was at the General Store on High Street where we purchased some locally-made spicy beer brittle (officially called “Fire in the Hole”). We devoured the whole package standing outside of the store on the sidewalk.

Next we stopped at La Bella Vita on Fountain Street. This store had beautiful yarns and knit hats and also vintage clothing and household items. Dan came this close to purchasing a kimono-style robe for lounging in during the Packers games (but, alas, it was not green and gold.)

After La Bella Vita we met up with our friends for a stroll about town…

And then we stopped at Cruise Inn for a beverage and tutorial from our friendly bartender on how to play an endearing (and somewhat addicting) dice game entitled, “6, 5, 4.”

Cruise Inn, where we learned how to play 6,5,4

By this time the town was aglow with luminaries and decorated lampposts as we made our way to our dinner destination, the Brewery Creek Inn.

Dan and I actually discovered this place on our own a couple of months back when we decided to go for a little joy ride. The food is delicious and it has a very lively- yet cozy-atmosphere. There is a walnut burger on the menu that will completely alter your universe if you have been looking for an alternative to the traditional cheeseburger.

Try the walnut burger at the Brewery Creek Inn: YUM

There are some incredible-sounding desserts on the menu at this place, too. I actually got to try a bite of a rich chocolate cake on my second visit to the Brewery Creek Inn (Saturday was my third) with my sister and her friends before the remainder of the cake was devoured by our friend’s hilarious and adorable two-year-old son (after eating the cake he entertained us for minutes by repeating, “Dog, dog, dog, dog…” before crashing from the sugar rush.) On my next visit I fully intend to devour a dessert myself.

After dinner we said our goodbyes, purchased one more package of spicy brittle (for breakfast), and hit the road. It was a lovely day.

Do yourself a favor and…

Want to know a secret? Sometimes at the end of a run I like to sprint down my neighbors’ street so that they think I run really fast. The best case scenario for this situation is that they are sitting out on their deck drinking beer so that they get to see me run really fast and then offer me a beer to replace my fluids. Once in awhile I lace up my running shoes just to sprint past their house a few times and try to get offered a free beer. No, that last part isn’t true.

On to the mac-n-cheese. The official title for this log entry is “Do yourself a favor and make this recipe for skillet macaroni and cheese immediately if not sooner.” It is soooooooooo crazy delicious!!!!!!! I found it on a New York Times website featuring vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes. It’s made with whole wheat pasta, broccoli and mushrooms and you can use skim or low-fat milk (I used 1% and it was super creamy) so it has some redeeming qualities in terms of health. Oh! And you use real butter so you can avoid that poisonous stuff that comes in the tub. So, there you go! It’s health food! I omitted the tarragon because a) I gave up looking for any on the sticky spice shelf above my stove after about 2 1/2 seconds and b) I know that I have heard of tarragon, but I don’t really know what tarragon is (Is that terrible? Am I missing out?). I figured that red chili pepper flakes would be the perfect substitution for the tarragon and I was right.

This photo does not give justice to how good this tastes

The amazing thing about this recipe is that I usually have to double or triple the sauce part of recipes in order to make dishes saucy enough for my taste. I love sauce. But this recipe actually satisfied my desire for sauciness (that is a strange-looking word) as it is written. I didn’t even add all of the milk because it seemed like it was going to be too much, but, in retrospect, I could have added it all. It says that this recipe provides 6 side-dish servings. All I can tell you is that Dan and I polished it all off in one sitting but I had been sprinting back and forth in front of my neighbors’ house in hopes that they would give me a beer. I accompanied the dish with a salad of delicious spinach greens (with olive oil and lemon juice) that I risked my sanity in obtaining at the indoor farmer’s market this past Saturday. Enjoy.

________________________________________

This is a recipe from the Health section of the New York Times website.

Skillet Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Mushrooms

This skillet-supper version of the classic is quicker and easier to make. This hearty comfort food easily functions as the main dish for vegetarians.

Ingredients

4 ounces grated Cheddar2 ounces finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or other hard cheese1 tablespoon unsalted butter1 small yellow onion, chopped

6 ounces cremini or white button mushrooms, sliced

3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

3 cups low-fat or fat-free milk

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon minced tarragon leaves or 2 teaspoons dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces dried whole-wheat pasta shells (not the large ones for stuffing), cooked and drained according to the package instructions

4 cups small broccoli florets, cooked in boiling water for 1 minute (broccoli can be added to the pasta during the last minute of cooking, then drained with the pasta in a colander)

Preparation

1. Mix the Cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a large, high-sided, oven-safe skillet. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid and it comes to a simmer, and then reduces by about two-thirds, about 5 minutes.

4. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables in the skillet. Stir well to coat.

5. Whisk in the milk in a steady, thin stream until creamy. Then whisk in the mustard, tarragon, salt and pepper. Continue whisking until the mixture starts to bubble and the liquid thickens, about 3 minutes.

6. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in three-quarters of the mixed cheeses until smooth. Then stir in the cooked pasta and broccoli.

7. Preheat the broiler after setting the rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source. Meanwhile, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the ingredients in the skillet. Set the skillet on the rack and broil until light browned and bubbling, about 5 minutes. (If your skillet has a plastic or wooden handle, make sure it sticks outside the oven, out from under the broiler, so the handle doesn’t melt.) Cool for 5 to 10 minutes before dishing up.

Yield: Makes six side-dish servings.

__________________________________________

Two signs today that a Wisconsin winter is on its way: I ran all the gas out of the mower this afternoon and alternate-side parking starts tonight. This means that I get to annoy my neighbors (not the ones with the beer) when their side of the street doesn’t get plowed because of my car. Oh joy. At least we have macaroni and cheese. Here are a few photos from last winter.

Snowman on our way to snow day beers at the Laurel, December 2009

Tonight I am cooking up a stir-fry with bok choy, broccoli, kale (it’s delicious), and garnishing with some parsley that I discovered going strong in the garden today as I ripped out the straw-like tomato and pepper plants from this summer. While wandering around Willy Street Co-op today I decided to make up a sauce with coconut milk, lime juice and probably some pepper flakes. I’m winging it. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Seeking spinach and scones in the cold November rain

We sat next to each other at the picnic table the other day. Me: Disheveled hair. Brown eyes. Aspiring writer. You: Nice laugh. Pizza lover. Prospective reader. Coffee?

EricaWading6jun08 — Wading in Lake Michigan, June 2008

And so it begins. Inspired by Molly Wizenberg of Orangette fame, I have decided to, as Molly wrote, “stick my neck out there” and hold myself accountable to something. With a Journalism degree in my pocket that was put on the back burner, I still crave the rush of seeing my name in the byline. While I used to fantasize about being the next Woodward or Bernstein, I then began to picture myself as Carrie Bradshaw, staring blissfully out of the open window of my walk-up apartment with a martini in my hand and a brilliant revelation at my fingertips. I now want to write children’s books, food articles and everything in between. I love to cook and take photos. I stopped eating meat (besides fish) one year, one month and three days ago. When it comes to pizza, I believe what my boyfriend, Dan, says and that olives are the new sausage. I love swimming with my family in a lake in Iowa in the late summer afternoon when the sun starts to hang lazily in the sky, ready for happy hour, not quite ready for bed.

On this site I hope to write about food, Wisconsin, road trips, music and the things that make me (and hopefully you) happy, like seeing dogs being driven around in bike trailers intended for children. Or blasting this song at exceedingly loud volumes. Let’s get this party started.

I woke up today to a gray and rainy morning desperately seeking spinach and scones. The last farmer’s market on the square was last weekend and so Dan and I begrudgingly (after retrieving coffees from EVP) drove downtown to go to the indoor market at the Monona Terrace (after parking the car we got to play with an eight-month old corgi). The indoor market is disorienting for many reasons, including the hallucinogenic orange carpeting, the fluorescent lighting and the fact that I no longer know where to find my favorite vendors. Dan managed to find the spinach man and after purchasing spinach and a rutabaga we fled the indoor market and escaped back into the cold and blustery day. I had my heart set on a scone from Lazy Jane’s Cafe but first we decided to stop by the memorial dedicated to Otis Redding whose plane crashed in Lake Monona in 1967. A million years ago- before Dan and I were dating- we attended a wedding at the Monona Terrace and a group of us left the reception to find the memorial and ceremonially pay our respects to Mr. Redding. This visit was a bit more brief. And sober.

And we were off to Lazy Jane’s where we sat upstairs- in the sweltering heat- and were joined by Stosh, who is visiting from Pittsburgh. I laughed as Dan and Stosh told stories about Ford’s Gym and nibbled at a lemon cream scone while we waited to hear the cooks downstairs yell my name throughout the cozy house-turned-cafe telling us that our food was ready. And when that happened, I devoured a curry tofu scramble with a side of some damn good potatoes. Yum.

And there you have it. My first entry. In the coming months I hope to share recipes, photographs, and tales of my adventures around Wisconsin. For now, sweet dreams.