Wake Up And Smell The Coffee!

Monday morning. The bedside alarm rings. You groan, slap the button, roll over, and feel the guilt. You know you should be in the shower right now. But instead you pull the covers over your head. It's the oldest trick that never works - you think that if you can't see them, then they can't see you. And you're right, for a time. Nobody's looking for you, yet. But in just one hour, you'll have to be in the office, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to work - work - work!

So exactly how is this miracle of human metamorphosis going to happen? Is there a magic spell, a pretty, pink pill? No, something better. Something that not only catapults you out of slumberland, but jolts you with explosive enthusiasm for all of the day's glorious possibilities. AND this something tastes TERRIFIC! What is it?

COFFEE

Yes, that delicious, brown brew. The elixir of the ages. The remedy for the soul's ennui.

What?!!! You don't like coffee? You never drink the stuff? Oh, how sad. What a shame. A life not fully lived. How could this oversight have happened?

But don't despair. All is not lost, yet. You have friends in Wisconsin. Friends who care about coffee; friends you care about you. And their names are Pete and Jeff Berres, - the two brothers who ARE Berres Brothers Coffee in Watertown, Wisconsin. The Berres brothers have followed in their dad's footsteps, expanded his coffee business, and now seek out the world's finest coffee beans, roast them fresh in small batches, and offer them for sale. Right now Jeff has to handle the business solo because Pete is serving in Iraq. Pete sends word home to his family that he misses them and is eager to return to roasting coffee. In return, his family sends him their love, and packets of coffee to tied him over. (Talk about not looking forward to work on a Monday morning. Yours could be a Monday in Baghdad.)

The Berres family has a large following of coffee enthusiasts. It's not just their friends who swear that the Berres Brothers' coffee brews up into THE best cup of coffee. Complete strangers order their coffee beans, again and again. A morning wouldn't shape up right without it.

Pete and Jeff sell their regular roasts, organic and flavored beans through Wisconsinmade.com so no one need ever face a Monday work morning with body-aching dread. Berres Brothers coffee IS Wisconsin's economic stimulus package.

Wisconsin Cheese Goes to Kabul - but the cows stay home

Today Nina at Wisconsinmade.com received an e-mail from a very happy U.S. soldier who received A Taste of Wisconsin Cheese Gift Box in Kabul, Afghanistan. She reported that the gourmet cheeses had arrived in excellent shape just in time for Valentine's day and had made her so happy to have received such a delicious taste of home.
The gourmet cheeses were crafted and the gift box assembled by Monroe, Wisconsin cheese-maker, Roth Kase, Inc. Roth Kase consistently wins national and international cheese competitions. They are world famous for their buttermilk blue cheese made in a traditional Swiss style.

I'm not certain however if the source cows producing the award-winning cheeses are Swiss dairy cows. On the gift box, they appear to be Holsteins. But these pictures may reflect marketing more than reality. Non-Wisconsinites easily recognize a cow if it's black and white. But solid tan? Could that be a stocky horse? I doubt the breed of cow matters too much. The important factor is that all of the cows donating their milk to Roth Kase's cheeses are Wisconsin cows. Roth Kase is an equal opportunity employer of Wisconsinites, be they cows or people.

Of course technique matters in cheese-making, but the secret ingredient in gourmet cheese is the grass which the cows consume. Wisconsin IS THE dairy state because of our succulent grass. It's true. Ask any dairy farmer, cheese maker, or farm woman. They'll tell you the same. Savory in texture and flavor, Wisconsin grass is preferred by the gourmet cows who produce the highest-quality milk used in Wisconsin's world-championship-winning cheeses.

In the pictures I've seen of Afghanistan, I didn't see much lush, long, green grass. Perhaps the omission of grass was just the photographer's oversight. But if their artful pictures reflect reality, then I think it best that our Wisconsin cows stay home. We'll feed them well here and turn their milk into cheese which Wisconsinmade.com will ship overseas. That way, everyone in the world gets to eat a variety of fine cheeses while Wisconsin nurtures its valuable state resources - our stately cows.

(Picture of boy with cow supplied by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. Picture of cheese supplied by Wisconsinmade.com)

Click on Edible Antics to read an interview with top-producing, Wisconsin cows.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies Say Happy Valentine's Day the Healthy Way

Cranberry oatmeal cookies have suddenly become a new Valentine's Day tradition for us. Last year, a mother in my daughter's class made them for the 2nd grader's Valentine's Day party. She attached a baggy containing two cookies to each child's Valentine. The children loved the cookies because they tasted so yummy. We parents loved them because they were so nutritious. Each cookie was packed with whole oats, cranberries and apricots. They contained minimal white sugar.
This year, I'm making cranberry oatmeal cookies for the 3rd graders. But the twist is the recipe is a bit different. No apricots in this year's cookies. Instead they have tiny, chopped pecans. There are so many more cranberry oatmeal cookie recipes to try. I'm sure I'll be able to find enough different recipes to get both children through elementary school.


Here's the link for cranberry oatmeal cookie recipe with pecans.

Here is the link for the cranberry oatmeal cookie recipe with apricots. The link is to a side page called Cooking With The ABC's which is part of my blog Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food.

Whichever cranberry oatmeal cookie recipe I use, I've learned that the secret ingredient is the cranberries. The cookies taste best when I use really good cranberries. My personal favorite cranberries are grown by the Urban family on their farm in central Wisconsin. Their cranberries are extra plump and sweet compared to supermarket sweetened, dried cranberries. I order the Urban's cranberries through Wisconsinmade.com.