July 2016

The summer of 2016 has been my best summer yet. July was full of good food, hikes, and smiles. I couldn't ask for anything more.

P.s. More food posts coming soon.

Shrimp Pita from Paizi's Gyros

What is your favorite thing to eat at a fair? If your like me there's probably something you look forward to all year that you only eat at the fair. Maybe it's cream puffs, deep fried oreos, or chicken on a stick. For me, it's a gyro. Not just any gyro but one from my absolute favorite gyro stand, Paizi's gyros. They are more expensive but much larger than any other fair gyro I've ever seen. They aren't at every fair so I had to stop and get one when I saw them at the Washington County fair. This year I got the shrimp with extra everything, but the classic has never let me down. They have so many fresh veggies, meat, and sauce. Yum yum!

My month in summary: June 2016

It's been awhile since I posted a monthly summary, but June was so full of life that it deserved one. We've been spending our summer days taking day trips and enjoying the sushine. Layla's favorite moments have been swimming in the lake. Mine have been stopping to smell the flowers outside and eating out with the family. Mike just enjoys the drive to anywhere. So far this has been one of the best summers I've had. Let's hope July is just as good to us. ✌🌞

Northpoint Custard Stand

On Sunday we continued our scenic drive along Lake Michigan. This time heading South instead of North. We stopped at a few lakeside parks, then headed down through Mequon to admire all the beautiful homes and gardens. Eventually we found ourselves near Bradford beach in Milwaukee. By then Layla and I were getting hungry. So we stopped at the Northpoint Custard stand. We ate sandwiches and split a chocolate milkshake while we listened to the waves crash onto shore. There's really no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Wouldn't you agree?

Cedarburg Strawberry Festival

The whole family went to the Strawberry festival in Cedarburg on Saturday. It was our first time going. Mike was in the hospital last week because of his Crohns. So he just wanted to take a relaxing drive along Lake Michigan this weekend. The Strawberry Festival just happened to be on the way.
We didn't eat much while we were there. Partly because it was so hot, but mostly because Mike is on a liquid diet and I feel a little guilty enjoying great food while he is starving. We did try some great drinks though. My favorite was this Almond tea from From Scratch catering. At first, I was unsure how almond extract would taste in tea. Then I overhead a woman nearby exclaiming how good they are. So I got one for myself asap. It was so refreshing! The balance of almond flavor and fruity tea was the perfect thing to keep me hydrated while walking through the crowds.
Did you go to the Cedarburg Strawberry festival this year? What was the best thing you tried?

Sloppy Joes Saloon and Spoon

For Father's day Mike and I took our dads to Sloppy Joes Saloon and Spoon in Hubertus. On Saturdays their specials are steak and ribs. It was great. You better go there Asap if you're a meat eater.
Sloppy Joes a nice biker bar with a cozy patio perfect for lingering over drinks with friends. The beef tenderloin was melt in mouth phenomenal. Mike said it's the best he's ever had. The ribs taste as great as they look too. They also have lighter options like sandwiches and wraps on their menu, if you don't feel like gorging on meat. Either way, you'll be stuffed by the time you leave.
P.s. If you actually have room to try dessert, please let me know how the bread pudding is!

Gabriel's Taqueria

Tonight we went to Oconomowoc to get ice cream. We needed to feed  Layla a real dinner first, so we tried to go to the Italian deli. It was highly recommended by Mike's boss. But we got there just in time to watch a waitress flip the sign on the door to "closed". I was so disappointed!  Naturally, we needed somewhere else to grab a quick dinner.  That meant one of the local taco trucks. The only one open today was Gabriel's Taqueria. Mike always orders the chicken quesadilla. He says he likes they're good because the chicken is "nice and juicy". I can vouch for that because their chicken tacos were the best I've had in awhile. Some places just cook the meat until it's so dry! They don't serve guacamole but offered to put sliced avocado on my tacos instead. Which made me happy! Plus I just loved all the cilantro and lime.
If you're ever in Oconomowoc looking for a quick bite to eat stop at Gabriel's! Or, if you've been there before, tell me what I should try next!

The Dawg House Depot -- Lynxville, Wi

My husband, Mike, is a pretty spontaneous guy. He gets extremely restless if he has to spend the weekend at home. So for Memorial day weekend he wanted to go somewhere. Except Mike didn't really know where. All he told me was "maybe north, maybe west". It didn't surprise me at all. His adventurousness is something I love about him.
Anyway, we ended up taking another one of our scenic drives. A long one this time. On Saturday we drove over to La Crosse then down Highway 35 along the Wisconsin side of the Missippi river. We stopped at a few touristy shops throughout the morning. Then we started looking for an appealing place to buy lunch.
In my opinion a crowd around a little food stand is usually always a sign of great food. So, when we saw a moderate sized line outside the the Dawg House Depot in Lynxville we didn't need any additional convincing to stop. Mike ordered two chilli cheese dogs with a side of fried white cheddar curds. I chose the catfish tacos and had a side of the deep fried curds as well. 
We ate on the back patio overlooking the Mississippi. The river air smelled invigorating and our food matched the laid back atmosphere. Mike quickly gobbled up his curds and one of his hotdogs. Meanwhile, I savored the freshness of my fish tacos. After eating we lingered for a few minutes to watch boats go bye and trains pass on the nearby tracks before climbing back in the car and continuing on our way.

Burger Night at the Crafty Cow

For dinner we went to the Crafty cow in Oconomowoc, Wi. This place has been on my go to restaurant list for months. Ever since I saw their S'more burger on a friend's Facebook feed.
So today, when a couple of friends came over and they were thirsty for a beer from the Crafty Cow I jumped at the opportunity to go.
Their menu had many different burgers to choose from. The La Belle burger caught my attention immediately. I saw it as soon as I opened the menu and it was still my top contender even after reviewing the whole selection. It had Bacon, eggs, avocado, and even Cream cheese on it. The cream cheese is probably what captured and maintained my attention. It's just not something I've ever associated with a hamburger before. Have you?
Dont worry, It sounds like a lot of fat but I actually felt kind of healthy eating it. It didn't sit heavy in my stomach like some greasy burgers do. Besides, avocado and eggs are super good for you right?
Overall the Crafty cow was a worthy burger joint with a hipster atmosphere and adiquate service.  However I felt the prices were a tad high for a burger that didn't even come with french fries. My burger cost a little more than ten dollars. That's not crazy expensive for a gourmet burger but fries should be standard not an extra charge! Regardless, I'll be going back to try more burgers in the future.

Muscoda Morel Mushroom Festival

Did you know that Muscoda is the Morel mushroom capital of Wisconsin?
In May, they host an annual festival to celebrate that fact. Mike and I go every year. It's a small festival but there are plenty of fun things to see and do around town. This year we spent the most time at the craft fair. They had all sorts of Morel inspired decorations and plenty of the usual craft fair items as well. Mike bought me a sweatshirt and a super cute pair of tiny morel earrings. I'll post a photo of them on my instagram later to show you.
This year, the weather was colder than usual. So we spent the most of the day indoors. What better way to keep warm than with a Morel mushroom and leek burger from the Sportsman's lounge (and a cocktail or two). The burger was so juicy and the morels on top were prepared perfectly . The french fries were battered just the way I like them too. Honestly, I can't think of a more perfect meal to eat at a Morel mushroom festival. Go next year and try one!

The Barbecue Company

You know that restaurant you always drive by and want to try but you never actually stop there?
I drive by a lot of them but now I can actually cross one of them off my list.
Today, in between foraging for morel mushrooms, we stopped at the Barbecue company in Hartford, Wi. I've driven by it ever since it was a little roadside tent. But, like a hundred other places, I never remember to go there when I'm making dinner plans.
Today I tried the smokey pulled pork and bleu cheese cole slaw wrap. The meat itself was melt in your mouth delicious and the bleu cheese cole slaw stands apart from any other slaw I've had lately. In a good way, of course. Mac and cheese was my side and it was pretty good too but a little spicy.  I probably wouldn't get it again but that's just my personal preference (I like my mac mild).
We will definitely be stopping back in the future for a rack of ribs or to try the brisket sandwich.

Scoop Deville

I had to work the night of my birthday so Mike took off on Friday to celebrate with me. He took me to our favorite retro ice cream shop, Scoop Deville,  in Hartford. They always have so many delicious flavors to choose from. He had a chocolate shake and helped Layla with her Nerds ice cream. While I tried the mango lime sorbet on top of a scoop of lemon cheesecake in a vanilla waffle cone. They tasted so bright and summery.

The Open Door Coffeehouse

My birthday was last Wednesday. As a birthday treat, my mother and sister took me to a local coffee shop in Mayville called The Open Door Coffeehouse. They served great coffee and I loved the family friendly atmosphere. I was disappointed that they didn't have many food options. They serve a few baked goods but no sandwiches or anything like that. For me, a great coffee house needs both amazing coffee and delicious brunch food. Hopefully that improves in the future. Until then I will be stopping back for more delicious coffee and eating lunch elsewhere.

The Best Chicken Wings Ever.

The best chicken wings I've ever had are from Jonny Hammers in West Allis.  They have so many sauces to choose from and the wings themselves are GIANT! My favorites are the breaded orange ginger followed by garlic parmesan or spicy barbecue. **WARNING** the "Too hot for a normal person" sauce really Is too hot for a normal person. That said, try one if you're looking for a challange. I've had them and they have flavor besides the heat. The bar itself doesn't look like much upon first impression but they have a beautiful patio in back. Go there on a warm Saturday, sit outside near the trumpet vines and enjoy the $0.50 saturday wing special. I promise you won't be disappointed.

P.S. The wings do take awhile to make, but the long wait is worth it!

Giant Mozzarella Wraps From the Boat House

Close your eyes and imagine the perfect mozzarella wrap.
Now open your eyes.
I hope the wraps you pictured looked like these because the Boat house on Fox Lake makes the best mozzarella wraps. There has to be at least three gooey mozzarella sticks wrapped inside each wonton wrapper.  Mmmm...just thinking about them is making me hungry for more!

Chocolate Orange Scones

My Husband is fishing and the little one went to grandma's house for the day. So I'm snuggled up on the couch sipping English breakfast tea, eating yummy scones, and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Around Christmastime we received a large box of citrus fruits. Now, nearly a month later, I am so sick of eating oranges. Yet they are still overflowing out of my refrigerator. Since baking the perfect scones was one of my New Year's Resolutions, I decided to kill two birds with one 'scone' by making chocolate orange scones.
I scoured Pinterest for the perfect recipe, but none of them were quite what I was looking for. Most  of them used too many warm spices, or contained ingredients (like buttermilk) that I just didn't have on hand. I wanted to keep these scones simple. So I combined several recipes. They are some of the best things that I have ever baked. There's hints of orange and chocolate chips in every bite. Don't let the orange flavor scare you away from trying them. It's really really light. I promise that even if you don't like orange, you will like these scones.
Before you bake, you will want to plan ahead. One stick of butter needs to be frozen. Also, make sure you have all the ingredients. Just in case you used something up for holiday baking, and forgot to buy a replacement. Which happened to me. I ran out of baking powder and had to postpone scone baking  until after I could dash to the store (Major Bummer!).

Here's the Recipe,

Scone ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour
1/3 cup of sugar
1 frozen stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 medium oranges zested
4 oz sour cream
1/2 tsp salt

Glaze ingredients

1 Cup of powdered sugar
3 tbs melted butter
2 Tbs fresh orange juice (juice the zested oranges)
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Move oven rack to center
Preheat 400F


First combine the four, Sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder, soda, and salt in a large bowl. Zest the oranges over the top and mix it all evenly. After that comes the fun part, grate the frozen butter onto your dry ingredients. It might be a little hard so be careful!

Work in the butter with your hands. Then whisk the sour cream and egg together in a small bowl before adding it to the scone batter. Dig in and form the dough into one large ball. At first I was concerned that it didn't seem to be coming together like I predicted. After expressing my worry to Mike, he rolled up his sleeves to help. It turns out that the frozen butter just doesn't bind as quickly as thawed would. So squeezing it a little rougher doesn't hurt. Stop as soon as it's all combined and not sticky. Set the ball onto a large sheet of parchment paper, and flatten until 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Then slice it, like a pie, into eight equal triangles.

Transfer your triangle scones onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Remember to space them out.

Finally pop them in the preheated oven for about fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile, combine your melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and orange juice. 

When your scones are done in the oven, let them cool (and probably taste test one) before glazing.

Enjoy! 

Goals for 2016

Hello!
How are your New Year's resolutions going? Did you make any? I made two.

1) Go outside more.
This one is pretty self explanatory. I'm going to try to get outside every day. Weather permitting, of course.

2) Significantly improve my cooking and baking skills. I hope to master a lot of basic techniques this year. As well as several of my favorite restaurant and bakery foods like;

__ Dumplings

I fell in love with Jao Zi during my trip to China but have never made a succesful batch at home. I'm determined to change that in 2016.

__ Glazed Scones

I could have just said scones, but let's face it, all the best scones are glazed so they don't get too dry. Besides, does anyone actually mind an extra layer of sugar?

__ Croissants

Way more elegant than plain ole bread. When I bake croissants in 2016, you are going to envy all my future breakfasts and sandwiches. I guarantee it.

__ Pita Bread

Deceptively simple, Pitas are something I've already failed at once, years ago. This year, with the help of my flat griddle, I will succeed.

__Crepes

Savory crepes are my fave! What fillings do you like?

__Macarons
Yummy! Unless someone flies me to France so I can experience the world's best macarons, I will have to settle for making the best in Dodge County.

Those all are my most important goals in 2016. Progress is going well, so far. I've made time to go outside with the family every day. As well as baking a classic apple pie using a cookbook I got for Christmas.  The picture is below. Doesn't it look delicious? Hope all of your goals are going just as well!