Terroir Wisconsin: Eating Local pt 2

Aaaand we're back!

Didn't want to overload you there with too much information. Okay, Kim, you might say at this point, I now know why eating local is a good idea (and my local library has given me lots of other information also). But how, exactly, does one eat local? Well, I reply, it begins by eating with the seasons. I'd starve! you say. Not at all, what's available in late fall is generally available during the winter, and then there's canning, of course. Not to mention meat and dairy products are available year-round. Canning today isn't strictly necessary, and it's not a matter of life and death, but it does add variety to an otherwise rather regulated diet of apples and squash.

Places to get local food:

~Farmers' Markets
There are way more of these around than there used to be, since there was a serious dip in local food production between the Victory Gardens at the end of WW2 and the local food/foodie interest explosion of recent years. Between those times commercial agriculture has thrived and flourish and, to be quite honest, festered. Farmer's markets don't just have leafy greens, you know. They can have local meats, wines, honey, syrup, oils for cooking, spices, pastas, etc. Pretty much everything you need to stock a pantry, actually. :) A quick Google search will bring up what's available near you.

~Co-ops
Co-ops usually recieve local ingredients, although not everything, and not all the time. It's worth doing a bit a research to see what's available in your area. Then again, some local supermarkets may also carry what you're looking for, too. In Madison the Willy Street Co-op and Metcalfe's (sp?) are two examples.

~CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)
These are, as far as I understand it, sort of like doing a dedicated mail order of food. You sign up with a local farm for a period of anywhere from 3 months to 1 year, and every month/week or so (there are lots of choices). You pay the farmer up front, which is where the risk factor comes in, and then for the given period of time you can come and pick up your food at the drop-off point every few weeks. You get to meet your farmer, give direct feedback, make friends, exchange recipies, and in some places you can even volunteer to assist in the production of your own food or manning the drop-off tent. Be a part of the experience, in other words. You can always ask your local farms if they do CSAs, or if they're a meat farm, whether you can buy a whole/half/quarter of an animal the next time they butcher.

But don't take my advice, go out and find out for yourself! There are plenty of resources on the internet, as well as your local library, where you can discover the hidden possibilities of eating local.

Well, now we know why it's a great idea and where to get pantry-fodder. Some markets even take place in the winter-time and so do some CSA's, so you won't go completely hungry. :)

I've got lots more I'm learning, and a few things I looked into in person while Emmy and I were down at the Dane County Farmer's Market this weekend during our weekly pilgrimage to Fromagination, but I'll save those for next time.
Hope I've piqued your interest! Feel free to leave me a comment below and tell us what eating local is like where you come from!

xoxoxo
Kim & Emmy

Terroir Wisconsin: Eating Local

I want to talk about a couple things with you today, namely, the sudden well of interest I've discovered in myself as far as eating local is concerned. Given that I'm always naming off restaurants and other clues, I may as well just say that Emmy and I live in Madison, Wisconsin, USA (in case that wasn't already clear). For those of you who don't know, we're a few hours north of Chicago, bordered on the west by the mighty Mississippi River, the northwest by Lake Superior, and the east by Lake Michigan. We share state borders with (the non-mitten-shaped part) of Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. I confess I had to look most of this up (the correct spellings, actually), since I am a New Hampshire native, not a Wisconsinite.

What is terroir, you ask? Good question. Leda Meredith, in her 2010 The Locavore's Handbook: The Busy Person's Guide to Eating Local on a Budget she describes it as follows:

"But there is still something about the concept of 'what here tastes like' that intrigues me. Other places have tastes associated with them. If I say 'Italian food' to you, I bet something comes to mind immediately... Those are place names richly associated witht eh flavors, textures, and aromas connected to their cultures. Why shouldn't our place have a taste? You could say New York City tastes like bagls, or some other food that has become ubiquitous and traces its history to the diverse waves of immigration that came through our port. Those foods do belong in the 'what here tastes like' category, as does the magnificent array of cuisines from every part of the world that reflect how international our city is. But hose tastes do not offer a sensory hold on the agriculture of our region, the particular mineral makeup of our soil-what the French call terroir. I am still discovering what here tastes like."

What does Wisconsin taste like? Not just within a 100 miles of Madison, or even 250; what does Wisconsin taste like, from its shores to its rivers to its hills, the Driftless area, the Big Woods, the orchards of Door County? Can any of you, my hungry friends, tell me what "here" tastes like for you? Sweet, savory, meaty--what?

The question of Wisconsin's terroir came up several weeks ago while I was reading the feature article in that week's Isthmus, the city's weekly free newspaper. A gentleman from the area had, just this past summer, done an eating-local challenge for a whole month. What is an eating-local challenge you ask? It's where you set some serious ground rules, with a minor amount of flexibility built in, that for a certain period of time you will only eat foods made within a certain number of miles from where you live. For example:

The gentleman in the Isthmus' article lived in Madison, WI. His food range was 100 miles and his challenge lasted 1 month.

Leda Meredith, the woman I quoted above, lives in New York City, NY. Her food range was 250 miles and her challenge lasted 1 year.


But Kim, you say; firstly, that's unreasonable. What the heck am I supposed to eat? And secondly, why do it? What's the benefit, and what in pity's name am I going to eat when it snows 3-4 months (or more) out of the year?
Well, I reply, that's the question, isn't it? Let's explore those questions.


WHY:
Now, I'm not going to pretend that I've done a bunch of research on this or anything. I'm just starting to read up on how, since it sounds tasty I'm already sold on the why. To break it down, this is what I've gathered,

~Help the enviornment, a.
Most food in the USA is shipped an average of 1,500 miles or about 3,000 if you happen to live in a secluded area like the upper East Coast. If every family ate one exclusively organic-local meal every week, the potential savings per year for the country are in the billions of dollars. Gas is $3.50-$4 per gallon at the pump right now where I am, I shudder to think about how it's going to rise in the next couple of years. How much gas does one of those double or triple Mack trucks take? I thought so.

~Help the enviornment, b.
Pesticides! I know, I know. Who wants bugs in their food, right? But think about it, in commercial agriculture the bone I have to pick isn't about bugs, it's about poison. Do you want that stuff in your mouth (or your baby, if you're heading that route), your food, your groundwater, your air? Not to mention the run-off is highly toxic or that there's a lot of dirty business involved? (Food Inc anyone?) Buying local and organic cuts down on the demand for pesticides to be used, and it's better for you and the enviornment. Who knew? Check out your local library for more, if you're interested.

~Support small businesses!
Meredith brings up a great point about tax dollars going to farm subsidies that don't benefit smaller, family-owned businesses. So how do you change that when boycotts (and avoiding your taxes, yikes!) don't work anymore? (Avoiding your taxes might have worked for Henry David Thoreau, but it won't work for you, don't do it.)
The answer is to vote. Vote, vote, vote! Vote at the polls and with your fork. If you want to see a larger-scale change on the town or city level then feel free to approach your local town hall/office to see how you can campaign to make a difference. But other than that, remember how I said eating locally saves money? It does, and since you know supporting local farms will put money right back into the community, what better way to invest?
(As we used to say in my college town, "It's Keene to shop locally.")

~Great food :)
The food in your supermarket (the produce section, anyhow) has been bred specifically for hardiness and toughness, not really for flavor. Let me give you an example. Those blueberries you spy in January on the shelf, do they even taste like real blueberries? Compare that to the sweety-tartness of those tiny, wild mountain varieties you can pick yourself. Plus, produce in the supermarket has likely been several days in transit and there's no telling how many times it's been handled or by who. This is what makes diseases and recalls difficult today.
On the other hand food that you find at your local co-op, farmer's market, or get in your CSA share is much fresher (and with a higher nutrient content than their store varieties), possibly even picked that morning. Produce starts to lose its nutritional value the moment it's picked, so shortening the time it takes to get to your mouth/favorite preserving method makes for a tastier treat.


Okay, perhaps I've convinced you, gotten you interested a little, or you're certain I've gone off the deep end into Granola Hippie Land. Emmy promises, at my insistence, that she'll let me know if I ever need an Intervention. :)

Keen on learning more? I sure hope so! Pony on down to your local library to find out more about the benefits, and to check my facts, if you like.

This post is getting a bit long, so I'll split up my replies to those pesky questions. Be right back!
xoxoxo
Kim & Emmy

Only In Wisconsin

So yesterday, as Emmy and I made our weekly pilgrimage, one of the Fromagination employees, Gabriel, a new kid who's taller than any basketball player I've met and has just as much enthusiasm (just in the cheese department) was dressed up for Halloween as cheese. This may not seem like an enormous leap, given his chosen profession, but he had a foam wedge hat on, a full body yellow biking suit on, and a sticker on his cheek that proclaimed him as "Marieke Gouda", a delicious young cheese with lots of bold flavor.

We had great laughs about it and then Priscilla came around to help us, as usual. :)

Again, this post as two weeks' worth of food notes & cheese notes. There are several reasons for this, the first being that Emmy is changing jobs, so training at her first job and then going to work another shift at the job she's leaving has left us both a little ragged. The second being that I've suddenly hit on the Localvore/Locavore subject; more on that later.

For now, cheese from 10/21/12:

~Marieke Gouda, aged 6 years, cow
Very sharp, local, & deliciously crumbly. This is what we got. There was only a half a pound left, and I'm sorry to say this amazing cheese will never be made again. It was the only one of its kind is existence. When we've been eating this we've eaten it in tiny slivers about the size of your thumbnail. Wish I could save some for my folks for Thanksgiving, but I wager it'll be gone by them.

~Sottocenere al Tartufo, cow
Pale taste, with truffles in.

~Wensleydale w/ Cranberry (E's note, & her request to taste)
Sweet, almost a hint of spice. The sweetness is in the cheese itself, not just the cranberry.

Fromagination 10/27/12. This week I specifically as Priscilla for the most local cheeses possible since I've begun to research what it means to be Localvore in southern Wisconsin (Local-vore, literally, eating locally). Priscilla and I aren't natives to the state so it's hard for me to conjure up an immediate mental map when people mention places like Spring Green, Monroe, and others. She did try, though. Turns out the cheesemakers in the area produce a good amount of blue cheeses, as well as cow cheeses.

~Cocoa Cardona, goat, LaValle, WI
Smooth, creamy, rubbed w/ cocoa, slight hint of sweeter chocolate taste. (We purchased this.)

~Cambozola Black Label, cow, Germany
Cave-aged taste. mild blue. very like a brie in texture & creaminess. Tried w/ fig confit. :)

~Hook's Original Blue, cow, Mineral Point, WI
Very acidic, powerful blue.

~Rogue River, cow, California (I think? I'm not sure about its origins)
Intense blue, but not moldy, b/c wrapped in fig leaves & soaked in pear brandy. Tasted w/ pear confit, yum!

So we didn't quite meet our Wisconsin-only goal this week, but I have several stories I'll be posting later today, including our fondue adventure last week, our in-the-near-future breakfast adventure today (We'll be leaving shortly), and what I've been learning about eating local.

See you soon!
Kim & Emmy

Deep-Pan Pizza

Yes, we cook a lot.

This weekend we set out to make pizza. Not just any pizza, the pizza born in Chicago, deep-dish pizza. Did you know that when pizza is advertised in Madison, they advertise flat pizza as New York-style? Our recipie this week came from the Naked Chef's "Jamie's America", which we're currently working our way through. Per Jamie he says that deep-dish pizza was actually the way that the Italian immigrants protected the base of the pizza from the soot of the coal-fired ovens at the time. Who knew?

I won't reproduce the whole recipie here, as I'm sure you can find it yourself on the Food Network, Jamie's website, or just pop on down to your local bookstore. But I will say that I have never seen, or tasted, a better home-made tomato sauce.

~A swig of white wine vinegar (we used mango balsamic, but that's cuz we're cool cats like that)
~1 clove garlic, peels & end removed (I chopped mine into large chunks to make it easier on our dinky little food processor)
~A handful fresh basil leaves (make sure you wash them!)
~1 x 14oz can diced tomatoes
~salt & pepper to taste

To make: add to food processor (mine holds little more than 3 cups max, and it was the perfect size) & puree until smooth-ish. Have a taste & season carefully. Then blitz once more to combine salt & pepper. Season to taste & repeat until seasoning is to your liking. I will be using just this tomato sauce recipie again, especially if Emmy & I do the Eat Local Challenge next summer for putting on pasta. This recipie makes about 2.5 cups.

As for the pizza my only note of advice is that Jamie's recipe makes 2 pizzas. If you don't eat alot, you can get away with halving the recipie easily (just not the amount of yeast needed since those are pre-packaged anyway). You can also omit the fresh chilies if you like, though the dried chilies needed in the sausages are not very spicy when all it said and done.

See you next week for dun-dun-dun Fondue!
xoxoxo
~Kim

 

Dad's Apple Pie

As Hungry Girls we're about more than just eating out and tasting cheese. We make all our own food as much as we can and we're even tossing around the idea of a Local Food Challenge for next summer. Every week I make Southern Sausage Stew, a recipie I picked up from the Naked Chef's American cookbook. Brats, peppers, and stock, what could be better? Barely anything, as it turns out. I've been making that same recipie every week for almost 5-6 months combined, some in the spring, some this fall. But I'm the sort of person who doesn't need to switch around their food often.

So, seeing as how apple season was about to pass us by (Most of WI's apple crop didn't do so well this year, thanks to the drought), we saddled on up to the grocer's to gather some apple pie ingredients! My Dad taught me how to bake, and a great deal was learned from mistakes made in college. I never spent as much time in the kitchen with my Dad as I ought to have, but it turns out I've got the hidden Baking Gene from Dad's side of the family, so it all evens out in the end. Bread rises for me, pie crusts don't tear, and I've got the Sense for when dough is ready (pastry of bread). The following is the recipie Dad recieved from his mother, Nana.

Any changes or additions that I've made since will be in red, while everything copied from Dad's document will be in green. Here goes:

One double pie crust for a 10” pie top and bottom   Preparation Time: 15 minutes, one hour overall

FROM THE KITCHEN OF ROGER SIMMONS

Double Pie Crust

 INGREDIENTS:

 

ITEM	QTY	MEASURE
Water (or skim milk)	5	Tablespoons
Butter (or lard, Crisco, margarine)	1/2	Cup
Salt	1/2	Teaspoon
Flour	1-1/2	Cups

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

1.  Mix flour and salt together.

 

2.  Cut in the fat.  There are several ways to do this.  The easiest is to mix this in a food processor with the steel knives after you have sliced the butter into pats and distributed it throughout the flour salt mix.  Alternatively you can use a pastry cutter.  Or if you have neither of these you can use two sharp knives working against each other.  At the end of the cutting in process the flour/fat mixture should have the consistency of corn meal. I do this with my hands.

 

3.  Add the liquid to the flour/fat mixture.  If mixing by hand make a well in the flour and add exactly the amount of liquid and mix well with a fork.  If using a food processor switch to the mixing knives (usually a blunter plastic set) and add the liquid and then pulse just enough to combine. A fork works just as well.

4.  Divide the amount of dough in half.  Shape each half into a disk and then refrigerate the dough, covered in plastic wrap for one to two hours until chilled and firm.  You can then:

 

            a.  Proceed to the appropriate recipe.

 

            b.  Freeze.

2-5 hours is best, that way you can get the dough literally paper-thin and it won't tear. It may crack around the edges as it gets dry, though, so don't leave it too long. I wrap them in plastic while I go out & run errands. The dough is good to nibble on, too.

 

SOURCE:  My mother gave me this recipe in the mid-80’s as the base for apple pie or a quiche.  I believe that this recipe came out of a Betty Crocker cookbook from the 1950’s.

Easy, right? Of course, now on to the pie part! Tasting is encouraged!

One 10’ double crust Apple Pie   Preparation Time: 30 minutes, 90 minutes overall

FROM THE KITCHEN OF ROGER SIMMONS

 Apple Pie

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

ITEM	QTY	MEASURE
Pie Crust (double)	1
Apples (Large) (Cored, peeled and sliced)	7 - 8
Salt	1	Dash
Flour	1	Tablespoon
Sugar	1	Cup
Cinnamon	1	Teaspoon
Nutmeg	¼	Teaspoon

 DIRECTIONS:

 

1.  Rinse apples and then peel, slice and core them into a large mixing bowl.  I traditionally use Cortland Apples for this recipe as they get soft but not totally mushy like Macintosh nor will they still be crunchy like a Granny Smith.  Feel free to experiment. My theory on this is the tart-to-sweet ratio/content. The more tart the apple, the more likely its chemistry will keep it stiff and crunchy, the more sweet the apple, the more likely the chemistry in it will turn it to sugary mush. I experienced the mushyness this year with the Braeburn (I think) apples we chose. It looks like Cortland are a New England-centric variety, so I encourage you to ask your grocer/local apple-picking stand how to get the perfect consistency. Of course, picking them yourself is always best, and fun outing while the dough is setting in the fridge. :)

 

2.  Remove one pie dough package from the refrigerator.  Using a well floured board, roller and hands roll out the pie dough to cover the well of a 10” pie plate with approximately 1” hanging over on all sides.  Set aside.

 

3.  Mix dry ingredients together and then dump over the apples.  Mix well with a large spoon.  Place the apple mix into the pie plan gently so as not to tear the pie dough.  Pile higher in the center.  Set aside. Taste this. Give everyone you know a taste. DO IT.

 

4.  Remove the other pie dough package from the refrigerator.  Using a well floured board, roller and hands roll out the pie dough to cover the pie plate and apples with approximately 1” hanging over on all sides.  Working carefully drape the pie dough over the pie plate and apples.

 

5.  Trim the pie dough even with the edge of the pie plate. Work around the edge of the pie plate pinching the edges together.  Cut several vents in the center of the pie crust.  Bake at 400 degree F for 50 minutes.  To prevent the juices from over flowing onto the bottom of the oven place a baking pan underneath the pie plate. My pinching technique still sucks. But if you manage to get a very thin crust by leaving your dough in 2-5 hours or longer, DO NOT leave your pie in for the 50 minutes, the crust will be too thin and it will BURN. Make sure that after 30 minutes you are checking the pie frequently.

 

SOURCE:  My mother gave me this recipe in the mid-80’s.  It is a plain and delicious recipe that has always been praised.  Using butter to make the crust gives it extra flavor.

And now you know how to make pie, have fun!
xoxoxo
~Kim

 

Legal Cheese Limit

Once again, Emmy and I trekked through the rain and the remnants of the weekly Farmer's Market to reach Fromagination! I've noticed that I'm starting to drift over to the brie case, but that's no case (see what I did there?) for alarm. This post includes two week's worth of cheese, so put on your foam hats and break out those cutting boards!

Weekend of 10/6/12:

Maple Butter, cow
~Buttery,  smells like maple sugar crystals.

Marieke Golden, cow
~sharp, cheddary, full of crumbly flavor. (we purchased this last week)

Les Freres, cow
~Soft cheese, gentle & almost neautral brie-like taste.

Green Fields, cow
~aromatic, like a cousin of hte limberger.

Fantom Farm
~sharp & light, fresh w/ a little sweetness.

Apple-Smoke Cheddar, cow
~Like a campfire.

Grand Cru Surchoix Gruyere, aged 12 months, cow
~eaten w/ "Pear Honey & Ginger", mild & paired well w/ the preserves.

Emmy & I also tried Salted Almond Stone-Ground Chocolate (Mexican):
Powdery, breaks apart on the tongue like bullion. Rich like cocoa, unlike most chocolates. Not a milky creamy taste. Powders, then melts.

E's notes:

TIPS FOR DRINKING CHOCOLATE: (historical)

~Look on the back of Hershey's for a cocoa recipie. Cocoa, sugar, just enough water to wet, liquor. 1/4 cup sugar at the co-op. When you bit e into it, complex, leaves a clean aftertaste, doesn't coat your tongue.

~~~

And now everything from Fromag this week:

Brazos Brie, cow
~light & perfect w/ the pear preserves, cream & an elevated taste.

Bent River, cow
~slightly mushroomy, light & a little fragrant.

Bad Axe,
~Fresh, light.

Raspberry Sartori (we didn't try it this time, but we've had it before. Purchased.)
~sharp w/ a fruity kick like balsamic vinegar.

The Hungry Girls take Fromagination! See that lovely lady with the cheese board? That's Priscilla, our personal cheesemonger. Ken, the store's owner, took our photo this week and he even posted it to Fromagination's Facebook page. Wow! Thanks, Ken, you're awesome! We looooove cheese, although if any photos ever surface of us with those foam cheeseheads on, it might be time for an intervention.

That's all for now, but boy oh boy have we got an adventure planned for next weekend! Fondue, Hungry Friends, that's all I'm gonna say; Fondue.

See ya soon!
xoxoxo
Kim & Emmy

Unexpected Pancakes

Hey Hungry Friends, this is Emmy! You've probably seen my name mentioned here more than once, so I guess it's about time you heard from the other half of the Hungry Girls.

I had an unexpected surprise waiting for me when I woke up this past Friday morning. You see, Kim and I don't actually get to see as much of each other as we like. A lot of the time she's going to bed as I'm heading off to work or vice versa. The up side of this is that I get to wake up most mornings to my fiancee's voice rather than an alarm clock.

So imagine my surprise when I woke up to the smell of pancakes in addition to the usual morning coffee. On a whim Kim had decided to take the new frying pan for a whirl and cook pancakes. The only obstacle? We had no eggs in the house, and no syrup. Thus, eggless pancakes in a pastery glaze became the breakfast entree.

Fluffy Eggless Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoon butter

Then mix and griddle. For more detailed mixing instructions, feel free to follow the link to the original. This recipe makes about 8-10 pancakes.

On-the-Spot Pancake Glaze
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey
1/5-1/4 cup brown sugar

Melt butter in microwave, then combine with honey and brown sugar. When Kim made it she used three tablespoons of butter, but in hindsight we both agree it would be better with only two.

I'd never have guessed the pancakes were eggless if she hadn't told me, and they made a delightful change from my usual boxed cereal. So imagine my further surprise when Sadurday dawned and I woke--again!--to the smell of fresh pancakes. It turns out Kim wanted to compare the eggless recipe to a more traditional recipe (with real maple syrup) and see how they stacked up. (See what I did there? I made a food pun. Don't worry, it won't become a habit.)

Buttermilk Pancakes
(From "The Vermont Beekeeper's Cookbook")
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (we used 2%)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Beat egg slightly.
Add rest of ingredients.
Beat only until just blended, leaving batter a bit lumpy.
Cook as you would normally fix waffles or pancakes.
Yield: Twelve 3-inch pancakes or three waffles. (But seriously, who settles for three-inch pancakes? Go big or go home. Kim measured each out with a 1/4 cup measure an we wound up with a batch of eight.)

Comparing the two, the eggless definitely tasted different due to the cinnamon. They were also a good deal more sweet from the addition of sugar. Nonetheless, both were a little on the bland side, and Kim says she was a little surprised neither recipe called for any salt. The eggless pancakes also cooked up taller and lumpier than the buttermilk, and the batter was much thicker. However, something about the way the eggless batter set up caused it to cook to a deeper brown on the sides and around the edges.

In regards to the syrup vs. glaze, I personally prefer real maple syrup, but the glaze does well in a pinch and I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in need of something sweet to go on pancakes or waffles.

All in all, two eggcellent recipes (sorry, I couldn't resist another pun. I'll stop now.), whether you're aiming to surprise that special someone or just want something sweet in the morning. The only thing that would have made those pancakes better?

Bacon.

That Stinky Cheese

9/30/12 Sunday

Emmy and I were done our shopping and were just chilling out at home when I happened to pick up Madison's free paper, the Isthmus (meaning a pinched bridge of land between two bodies of water, in this case Lake Mendota to the north and Lake Monona to the south). One of the features articles that week was of Limberger cheese, that stinky one that people always say smells like old gym socks. Through the article we learned that the only place in the whole US that makes Limberger is in Monroe, WI.

"How fortunate that we live here!" I said to Emmy.

"I agree," she said, "let's go!"

So, on a whim and on the trail of good cheese, we threw all our other plans for the weekend out the window and piled into the car for the hour-long south-bound drive to Monroe. Instead of stopping at the creamery shoppe we chose a famous Swiss restaurant in Monroe that served the local Limberger, Baumgartner.

Baumgartner is Wisconsin's oldest cheese store, having opened in 1931! Old cheese-making utensils line the doorway and huge murals adorn the walls, picturing the task of farming and cheese-making. The Limberger itself was, surprisingly, delicious! A washed-rind cow's cheese. Very flavorful, with a bit more of a musky flavor that's usually indicative of sheep or goat's cheese. It had the texture of brie, but not the triple-cream or light brie variety. It was a great deal like the brand Petite Frere combined with a determined, aged brie.

The man who gave us the sample told us not to smell it beforehand, but I'm sorry I didn't, since I liked it so much, although we weren't rich enough to get a slice to take home at the time. Come to find out Fromagination also sells this cheese, good thing, too!

We ate out there, even though we'd just had mac&chz a little while ago at home.

K: Turkey Noodle Soup (small)
$3.95 w/ tip. Hearty and filling, but obviously store-bought thick stock. Lumpy, bland noodles, but turkey wasn't bad.

E: Chili Dog w/ pickle & thick slice of a brick cheese
The dog was good & hot. Chili had a slight jalapeno kick but it wasn't too spicy. Melted cheese worth the 75c extra. Chili also had some kind of beans & meat in. The hot dog was a real chicago frank, flavorful & with a color not unlike pastrami. Overall very good. Filling, too!

Aside from the Limberger, I'm afraid to say Emmy had more luck than I did on the food, again.

Next time!
xoxoxo
Kim

The Traveler's Hearth

Long time no see, folks!

Haha, just kidding. Emmy and I went hiking yesterday instead of hanging out at home as usual, so we didn't quite get to posting our notes. Now, I know Emmy wanted to write this one, but she's at work, and it's the next piece in my journal, so here it goes...

Now there's this building in Middleton, WI where we live, right next to Carr Valley Cheese. It's been vacant for the better part of the past 3 years or so, after the restaurant that had been there went under or moved away. This year in comes an establishment called The Traveler's Hearth, a restaurant that tries to combine gaming and eating. Not just table-top gaming, but board games, card games, dice, etc.

Sounds like fun, right?

The whole building was remodeled beautifully; the color contrast, the chique mosiac tiling, the little hidden statues/gaming pieces/model ships... Every detail, it seemed, had been carefully thought out. An employee even let us in 10 minutes early so we could look around. The downstairs had an order platform and dining area, while the upstairs had a cafe bar, quiet gaming area, kids gaming area, place where games were sold, and a place where games could be "rented" from a "game library".

Despite the setting, the menu was not extensive enough, and changes to the menu that had been made some time ago were not reflected. The cashier, while he had spunk and was very cheerful, was completely unprepared. He did not know the daily soups, the kitchen didn't know what the daily soups were going to be either, and he didn't have any pens for me to sign the bill with. The barrista was 30 minutes late, the had a skeleton staff even though the place had been open for several weeks already. The cashier didn't even know what was on the menu, and therefore couldn't make any reccomendations.

K: Tori Chiken Teriyaki
I can hardly describe how awful this was. Totally bland rice (not sure if white or brown, to be honest), mushrooms in the salad were not mentioned on the menu. The chicken was rubbery & undercooked, in fact, it pretty much tasted exactly like eating a bouncy ball (no salt or anything). There was no choice of dressing for the side salad, only a Creamy Balsamic still in its packet from Kraft (probably one of the most disgusting food factories in existence). The menu said the side veggies were going to be fresh, but they were limp, had obviously been cooked, and not in season as advertized. And the teriyaki sauce? So salty that it was, no lie, absolutely, completely, 100% inedible.

E's notes: Italian Chicken Pesto Panini w/ potato chips & pickle
Pickle didn't taste like any kind of pickle I've heard of. Best panini I've had in a while, but that's not saying much. meal brought out by 2 servers (for 3 plates only!) on lunch trays, which they weren't even sure if they should leave on the table or take away.

Sandwich comes w/ a choice of chips or apple, which was not on the menu. The place is set up in such a way that you expect table service, but instead you order, fill your drinks & clear your table as if it's a fast food joint or Panera Bread. They need to seriously decide whether it's a restaurant or fast food. Doesn't seem like the owners have had previous restaurant experience. Servers should use large round trays & tray jacks, and what self-respecting server can't carry 3 plates at once? The staff was all-male, should be some women. What passed for "sliders" served on "a" bun. Uniforms make staff look like janitors (gray-blue short-sleeved button up w/ logo patch & Traveler's Hearth patch but no name tag. If it's a cafe why do you have to order the food on one level & the coffee on another? No website to speak of. Feels like a game shop & a restaurant tried to team up and failed. The menu does not reflect the atmosphere they're trying to project.

All in all, a rather rotten place. We had about a thousand more nit-picky complaints but I'll leave you there. If they haven't improved in a month or so we're sending in an application on their behalf to Restaurant Impossible. Yeah, it was that bad. 1 out of 5.

9/29/12, 11am, Saturday.
K&E

Lunch @ Claddagh, Irish Pub

9/26/12 12:15pm

E: fish & chips
K: honey-glazed pork loin & guiness-onion soup & mac&chz side.

Server: Dave. New, doesn't know much.

Menu had Gaelic in it, very nice atmosphere. Can substitute sides, not getting cabbage now. Roof construction going on, was very loud & alarming. We sat next to a little stone chapel with tables in. Coasters are post cards with alcohol information on the back for the different UK brands served. Mine was "Ranger and E's was "Fat Tire". Stone floors :) really added to the Irish feeling.

The brown bread, on first inspection, seemed to be made of coffee cake, which was a little odd. Emmy says it might be a type of soda bread, but she's not sure. I've never had soda bread, so I'm afraid I can't vouch for that one, but I am quite a good baker, and it was easy to tell the "bread" had no yeast whatsoever.

Soup: deep, browny flavor, but all things aside quite bland.

Mac&Cheese: It had a so many bread crumbs layered on the top there was little-to-no way to get to the creamy noodles underneath without getting a mouthful of bland crumbs only.

E: Coleslaw was a little bland. Tartar sauce unusually good, though, & (E's handwritten notes) I'm not usually a fan of tartar sauce. Pub fries--pretty light, not too greasy. Light seasoing, still tasted like potato & retained a nice texture, which was nice for a change.

K: Whoa! Moist loin, mashed potatoes a little grainy but sauce & meat seasoning were amazing! I need to learn how to make this honey-whiskey glaze because it just blew me away!

Dessert: Galway Hooker
While I don't appreciate the name, it was strawberry ice cream, blueberrry creme brulee, & flourless chocolate cake. Emmy and I usually just have a virgin strawberry daiquiri to finish off our meals without over-stuffing ourselves, so we can have time to quietly digest, but the itty-bitty portions of the three pieces of the dessert made it just the right size. :)

I can't wait to come back to try the fish&chips!

xoxoxo
Kim & Emmy

Cheese Cheese Cheese!

The Dairyland State. The foam cheesehead. The place where "happy cows come from California" is just a far-off myth. The state, in fact, where if you so much as mention "Cabot" brand cheddar (and I swear this happened at least once) you get the "Tch, Wisconsin cheese is far superior" response. No lie.

Now, Emmy and I make a, literally, weekly pilgrimage to Fromagination, a cheesemonger shop on Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. They have cheeses from all over the state and around the world. Save for the brie case I must have sampled at least 85-90% of all the cheeses in there. I love cheese, my most favorite of all being Capriko and Cheddar. I go through phases of loving goat cheese, sheep cheese, sharp cheese, gouda, mild cheese, creamy cheese...you get the idea. My Blood Cheese Content (like blood alcohol content) is probably way, and I mean way, over the legal limit. (If there was such a thing, good thing there's not!)

Last weekend, 9/22/12, was our first visit to Fromagination after Hungry Girls' inception. So, I dragged my little blue notebook (and Emmy, of course) up to the Square for some cheese tasting. Samples, and the love of all that is cheese, is free! :) :) :) The notes, however, are a bit messy and brief, but this week's was much better.

Teahive (Emmy purchased this week)
~from Utah, v. aromatic & has a rather orange-y quality. Rubbed w/ black tea leaves, which give it its citrus-y flavor. Bergamot, reminicent of Earl Grey.

Bandaged Goat Cheddar
~More robust & sharp.

Van Sormon (which we purchased)
~Vanilla, sorgum & cinnamon. A v. xmas cheese. Good w/ pear preserves.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve, extra aged
~Grainy, sharp, v. cheddary & pow w/ flavor.

Alpine Renegade
~Smells like basement. Damp. Cow's cheese but smells very sheepy.  v. earthy.

Also we tried sausages from Underground Meats: Saucissson L'Ail
~garlic, fennel salami. Good even w/o crackers, not too peppery.

9/29/12 Saturday, Fromagination. On the search for a cheddar-type cheese this week.

Dunbarton Blue
~Cow, salty & cheddary, yet still a blue. v. peak, different from other weeks.

Mona
~Sharp, salty, cheddary. cow & sheep. (Next week?)

Cranberry Chipotle Cheddar
~Smokey paprika taste, cow, but not overwhelming.

Queso Quesedilla
~Cow, hot & peppery.

Widmer's Colby (which I purchased)
~Cow, mild, milky. perfect for crackers. (We had some Townhouse left over, which is why we made this selection.)

Pastoral
~a cheddary parmesean. rubbed w/ light paprika. Cow & sheep.

xoxoxo
~Kim