Wisconsin Vacations: Families Make Good Memories With A Tour Of Wisconsin Food

Vacation memories are often influenced by memories of food. If the food eaten on a vacation was consistently poor, the trip is less likely to be repeated. So what vacation food will create the best memories for families traveling in Wisconsin? For adult vacationers, let me recommend Wisconsin pan-fried lake fish, grilled bratwursts, and championship cheeses. Kids will smile with Wisconsin wieners, mild cheeses, ultra-rich ice cream, caramel apples, and cow pies (the candy).
Here's a vacation route I recommend to ensure that travelers of all ages find good food on a Wisconsin family vacation. I'll assume you'll be driving in from the south, most folks do. Just across the border from Illinois is Racine, WI. Racine was originally settled by Danes whose descendants still create God's gift to pastry, - the kringle. Kringles come with multiple filling choices. The pecan and almond are most popular, but the apple, raspberry, and cherry-cream cheese are favorites too. Be sure to pick up several kringles, because the further north you drive, the scarcer they'll become. In Milwaukee you'll find great food of any ethnic origin, so stay awhile and try them all. Be sure to drink the German beer, - you'll notice how good fresh beer is!
Continuing your drive northward you'll come to the Lake Winnebago area and Green Bay. Stop in neighboring Seymour, the Home of the Hamburger for a taste of history and good Wisconsin beef. In Door County you have to eat cherries!!!! And chocolate!!! Door County cherries set the national standard for tart cherry flavor. The gourmet chocolatiers deliver fantastic fudge! A stop in picturesque Door County will make everyone on the trip very happy.
As you continue the trip westward through the northern part of the state, be sure to pick up jugs of pure maple syrup. It takes nothing like its corn-syrup imitators in the discount food chains. At night have fun at the outdoor fish boils and for the road pack some smoked trout and salmon.
As you return southward through western and central Wisconsin, stop in the small towns and sample cheeses from the local dairies and meats from the local sausage shops. The variety of flavors will impress and spoil your palette. And along the way, be sure to pick up lots healthy snacks of Wisconsin sweetened dried cranberries, nuts, and gourmet popcorn.
And of course, when you get home and want to re-live fond memories of eating in Wisconsin, just click on Wisconsinmade.com and gourmet Wisconsin food will be delivered to your door.

Camping Food That Tastes Great And Is Easy To Cook

Camping might mean a bad night's sleep to some, but it doesn't have to mean bad food too. Sometimes food tastes best after a day in the great outdoors, that is unless it was bad food to begin with. Great food doesn't have to be prepared in a kitchen. The experienced camper can find simple foods that taste delicious, travel well, and require little to no time to prepare. Here's what Wisconsin campers recommend.
Let's start with dinner on the first night out. Whether by car, canoe, or foot, the first day of any camping trip is usually busy with travel. Upon arrival, tents must be pitched and supplies unpacked. The first night's camping dinner should be the easiest one to prepare. On this night, Wisconsinites often pull out the pre-cooked bratwursts. Bratwursts and wieners typically don't squash when transported in a backpack. Wrapped in bread or a bun, they don't require utensils to eat. A little mustard is a great compliment, but a sausage that tastes great to begin with can do without condiments.
Camping doesn't mean campers have to do without healthy vegetables. Campers just need veggies that don't need cooking. Pickled asparagus, green beans, mushrooms and Brussels sprouts provide low-carb, green nutrition and taste delicious. For easy, light-weight transport, seal the pickled vegetables into a Ziploc bag then insert this bag into a larger, Ziploc bag. Seal the outer bag with lots of air to serve as a cushion for the inner bag of veggies, - the method is akin to bubble-wrapping your side-dish. The light-weight bags can then be easily stuffed into a pack or cooler.
For dessert, pack cookies. No utensils needed to deliver great flavor and fun. Extra-special, decorated cookies will bring a smile to any reluctant campers in the group. Packed in tins, cookies will stay fresh, dry, and intact.
For breakfast, Wisconsin campers either go fast and light with high-energy breakfast bars, or do it up right with pancakes, Canadian bacon, and thick-sliced, applewood-smoked bacon cooked in a skillet over a campfire or on a Coleman stove. As long as grumpy-to-rise campers can get gourmet coffee with their breakfast, they won't be too particular about the rest of the menu.
Now, camping recommendations for the trail. Trail-mix is the obvious choice for the hiker or paddler. Nuts and dried fruit pack well and provide quick energy. Plus, neither squish nor leak like fresh fruit and they don't crumble like chips. Of course, they're also healthy. For easy lunches or late-afternoon snacks, break out some summer sausage and crackers. Summer sausage made from elk, venison, and buffalo is the leanest meat snack available. They're high-protein, low-carb food with great flavor. They pack well and only require a pocket-knife for slicing. Since summer sausages are cured meats, they are not as temperature sensitive as other meats and therefore can last a few days on the trail.
Just remember, great food makes happy memories. Even vacations on which everything goes wrong will be remembered with good humor and laughter if everyone ate terrific food along the way.

Tribute To Oscar Mayer - The Man Who Made Wisconsin Hot Dogs With Mustard An American Icon

This week Oscar G. Mayer died in Wisconsin. For most of his 95 years, Oscar G. Mayer was in the hot dog business started by his father and uncles in Chicago in the 1890's. The Mayers began the company selling their German-homeland inspired bockwurst, weisswurst and liverwurst sausages. But under the son's stewardship, the company became world famous for its Oscar Mayer hot dogs. Oscar Mayer moved to Madison, Wisconsin; became the state's largest private employer, and grew into a 1 billion dollar business. Through its strategic branding, ahead-of-its-time emphasis on food safety, and genius jingles, Oscar Mayer became a name sung in homes throughout the U.S.A. Generations of American parents have raised their children on Oscar Mayer hot dogs.
Young children typically start out enjoying their hot dogs plain, but then move on to squirting the hot dogs with ketchup, often LOTS of ketchup. But at picnics, sporting events, circuses, and side-walk sales, many adults are enjoying their hot dogs with mustard. Mustard is the traditional condiment for German sausages. Whether sweet, spicy, or hot, mustard best compliments the complex flavor of cured meats.
And just as Wisconsin is recognized for its frankfurters, it is also recognized for its mustards. Or at least there are those in Wisconsin who revere the fine taste of mustard. In fact, the nation's Mustard Museum is located here in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, and daily draws tourists to view the hundreds of mustards on display. Some mustards are relic jars from America's past, other jars are fresh and for sale in the museum gift store. And above them all are posters of happy people holding hot dogs slathered in mustard and having fun watching America's home-grown sport, baseball.
Baseball, apple pie, and hot dogs with mustard, - that's our culture. Good people having a good time, eating good food. Gotta' love it. Enjoy.

Wisconsin Bakes Rhubarb Pies And Now Rhubarb Kringles

Rhubarb is ready for picking! That rosy perennial plant adorning Wisconsin farms and suburban gardens is ripe for pies, cakes, muffins, and fools, (- the whipped kind), and now for kringles! Rhubarb kringle!!! How delicious is that?! At last the buttery, flaky pastry of Danish kringle is being layered with deliciously sweet and tart rhubarb. I mean kringle is great when flavored with pecans or raspberries. But now in early summer, RHUBARB kringle comes to our Wisconsin tables!!! Just in time for Father's Day!
Year's ago I baked a strawberry-rhubarb pie for my grandfather on Father's Day. He loved it and the two of us ate most of it in one sitting. Now every June I cut stalks from my garden's rhubarb plant and minutes later the stalks are baking in a pie. But with rhubarb kringle available, pies are passe. On to KRINGLE!
Oh, not that I'll be making a kringle myself. I'm not into spending three days making kringle pastry which will undoubtably be inferior to that of the southern-Wisconsin Danes. Yes, kringles are tricky and labor intensive! - Better to leave their baking to the professionals.
Problem is, Wisconsinites consider rhubarb one of those "seasonal" foods, like pumpkins and strawberries. Why we don't think bananas are seasonal I haven't a clue. I can only guess that because Wisconsin farms lack a banana season entirely the tropical fruit completely flummoxes us. But unfortunately Wisconsinites do have this sorry seasonal atttitude toward rhubarb. This means that we either have to eat an entire year's worth of rhubarb in one month and get so sick of it that we don't want it again until next June, or we can decide to enjoy rhubarb in moderation and then spend the next eleven months yearning for its return. This dilemma in the 21st century? Can't Wisconsin do better? You betcha'.
Our answer is kringle. True, rhubarb kringle is only available for purchase during the month of June, but kringle freezes WELL! So well in fact, that put a kringle in the freezer, gently re-heat it 6 months later, and December will feel like June, (well, as long as you crank the heat and draw the shades). What a surprise to family and friends: rhubarb kringle at Christmas!!! They'll either think you're nuts or incredibly clever. I say keep 'em guessing.
Click on the link to find the Wisconsin recipe for a delicious rhubarb crumble cake.

Menu Plan For A Graduation Party Uses Easy, Crowd-pleasing, Gourmet Foods

If you are reading this post, you are likely the parent of a soon-to-be-graduate. Congratulations. You have survived some of the most difficult years of parenthood. No doubt you have worried yourself to distraction regarding your graduate's grades, driving, and social activities. For years you have sacrificed peace of mind, sleep, money, and time. But the good news is that you are still here and sane enough to plan a graduation party.
So as you plan that graduation party, keep yourself in mind. It is definitely your party too! If you're throwing a backyard party, you'll be stressing about the weather. Keep the party menu easy so you won't worry about the food too. This means: Do not set yourself up to fry chicken for 50 people. Do not bake 5 dozen, homemade rolls the day before the party. Only bake your own graduation cake if you LOVE baking and have little else to do.
An easy main dish for a party crowd is a sliced ham or turkey breast. Make these popular, party standards special with gourmet mustards and cranberry relishes served on the side. Your guests can enjoy the meats sliced or on fresh rolls baked in someone else's kitchen. An impressive round of gourmet, WI cheese can serve as a meat alternative and as a sandwich addition. Young children who fuss about meat on their plates typically love nibbling on cheese.
Kids of course want chips and dips. That's easy. But for adults, remember the relish tray! It will add bite-sized greenery to the party table. Peeling broccoli and cutting carrots however, is too time-consuming to do on your big day. Instead, put out gourmet, pickled veggies; they're simple to serve, different, and healthy. Great food does come in jars when the jars come from Wisconsin.
On to the graduation desserts! Oder a custom-decorated cake. Ice cream on the side is great too. Or go extra-easy and put out no-mess, no-plates or forks required, graduation cookies. The gourmet cookies can carry the graduation message as well as a cake can. And everyone loves a great cookie!
See, delicious, gourmet, party food doesn't have to be complicated or fancy. Keep it simple, and you're practically guaranteed to have the fun graduation party you deserve.

Wisconsin Gourmets Participate In Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month

I'm passing on the news, - someone declared April is grilled cheese sandwich month. For this month only, preparing a grilled cheese sandwich is a national event. Cheese lovers are rushing to participate. Some will be grilling cheese in LA this Saturday at the 7th Annual National Grilled Cheese Invitational. Virtual participants with websites are sharing their designer-chef variations of the classic sandwich: American cheese melted between two pieces of fluffy, white bread. The nouveaux grilled cheese sandwiches are prepared with gourmet bakery breads, artisanal cheeses, and likely contain either fresh vegetables, a vegetable sauce, or both.
Possible variations are limited only by a chef's creativity.
Are YOU feeling creative? Want to join the fun? Ready to experiment? What grilled cheese creation can you concoct? Well, it all depends on what's in your cupboard. Here's what's in a Wisconsin gourmet's cupboard:
I'll start with the bread. No doubt, it's bakery fresh. Wisconsin gourmets like to choose breads with an ethnic character. For a grilled cheese sandwich, a likely choice is Swiss bread. It's a thick, crusty-crusted, white bread made with a hint of rye that is baked according to a traditional Swiss recipe. Swiss bread would give an appropriate nod to the grilled-cheese tradition while offering a hearty flavor and texture.
On to the cheese. Artisanal cheese for sure! Wisconsin has won so many national and international awards for its cheese over the past decades, that few Wisconsin gourmets regularly keep American cheese in their refrigerator crispers. More likely, they've got one or more prize-winning cheeses, any one of which would make an extraordinary grilled cheese sandwich. Which prize winning cheese you choose is just a matter of personal preference. For a mild flavor, a mild cheddar or colby or baby Swiss would be good. Colby blended with Monterey Jack adds some flavor complexity. One of my personal favorites is gouda cheese; it's slightly stronger flavor stands up well with its extra-rich creaminess. Of course, Havarti stands out in creaminess, and its delicious flavor would go well with the Swiss bread. Mozzarella cheese isn't used often in a grilled cheese sandwich, but how about award- winning goat milk mozzarella? Goat milk cheeses have a distinctly different flavor from cow milk cheeses, and have converted many a cow-milk cheese lover into a goat-milk cheese fan. Goat milk mozzarella makes an incredible veggie lasagna. Another championship cheese with bold flavor is buttermilk blue cheese. Some gourmets are pairing blue cheese with bacon in their grilled cheese sandwiches. Now that's a sandwich!
But to go the extra-creative mile, a Wisconsin gourmet will add some special sauce and veggies to a grilled cheese sandwich. Spinach artichoke dip or portabella mushroom salsa or dill mushrooms can make the traditional grilled cheese sandwich unrecognizable and elevate it from the kiddie menu to the wine bar's late-night menu.
With all these delicious possibilities we all may never eat American cheese on fluffy, white bread again. It's the passing of an era. On to the new American comfort food!
For the pulliest, cheesiest grilled cheese sandwich you can order at a restaurant, go to the Roxbury Tavern in Roxbury, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Restaurants Share Their Recipes In Madison Originals Cookbook

Madison, Wisconsin is increasingly becoming the place to dine when visiting the Upper Midwest. The capital city offers an extensive variety of ethnic and gourmet foods. While some Madison restaurants exemplify the latest in gourmet trends, others serve traditional Wisconsin fare that preserves and enhances Wisconsin's culinary heritage.
Now the Madison Originals Cookbook has been created to promote the Madison-area's diversity of restaurants and Wisconsin's vibrant culture. The cookbook features 101 recipes from 24 landmark restaurants. Each restaurant is independently-owned and contributes a unique culinary expression to the dining landscape. The cookbook's beautiful colorful photographs showcase the artistic care in which these restaurants create their signature dishes. Madison Originals offers recipes to please the full gamut of tastes. It contains recipes for gourmet cuisine served at Madison's up-scale dining establishments such as L'Etoile, The Harvest, Restaurant Muramoto, and Madison's premier seafood restaurant, The Blue Marlin. The book includes recipes from many family-favorite restaurants such as The Old Fashioned, Mexicali Rose, Lombardino's, and the Imperial Garden West, which has been voted Madison's Best Chinese Restaurant for the past 25 years. Madison Originals guides Madison newcomers to the finest local flavors in the city, and lets them re-create their dining experiences at home. With Madison Originals packed in their suitcases, out-of-town visitors returning home can continue to enjoy the tastes of Madison.

For a sample recipe from Madison's Admiralty Room at The Edgewater, visit Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food.

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.