Book Club and Scottish Shortbread Cookies

Layla will be two in December and we had the bad habit of laying her down to sleep with a bottle. Then, last week, we stopped cold turkey. She has been a little irritable ever since. Bedtime isn't a struggle but nap time is not going so well. The first few days she didn't nap at all. Now she whines for nearly an hour before briefly falling asleep.  The loss of nap time and my concurrent hour of peace and quiet are the main reasons new blog posts are overdue. It's too hard to focus with a stubborn toddler yelling in the backround. Even now I can hear her calling. "Bye, bye" she says, "see ya," "night, night."
I've been meaning to tell all of you about the book club I started. It's call "Books with a Side of Bacon" a book club for ladies who brunch. You can check out the Facebook page if you're interested in joining. Our October book was "Outlander " by Diana Gabaldon. A time travel romance set in the Scottish highlands. It inspired my sister and I to bake our own Scottish treats. Scottland isn't exactly known for their cuisine so we settled for  simple, three ingredient, Scottish shortbread cookies.
They were so easy to make and I couldn't stop eating them. I must have gobbled atleast five throughout the day. I am so infatuated with shortbead that I'm going to make more simple ones to eat, with coffee, for breakfast and definitely baking a couple of chocolatey, nutty versions for the upcoming holidays. Stay tuned for more updates on other shortbread variations.

Amy's Gourmet Apples - Cedarburg, WI

Amy's Candy Kitchen in Cedarburg creates the best caramel apples ever. Like ever, ever. Sure they sell just about every other kind of gourmet candy too, but your eyes probably won't look past the giant apples lounging in the display window. My favorite kind is the dark chocolate sea salt (bottom right). Other flavors pictured are dark chocolate pistachio (bottom left) and triple chocolate dunked caramel (top middle). Amy's makes other amazing flavor combinations too. They vary from a simple caramel coated apple, all the way to dark-chocolate dunked caramel apples dusted with Aztec chili powder.  What kind of toppings would you try?

Yellowbellies food truck - Cedarburg, Wi

Yellowbellies food truck was parked right down the street from the french bakery in Cedarburg. There are no food trucks near where my sister and I live so we couldn't pass up the food truck allure of Yellowbellies rotisserie chicken sandwiches. Rachelle and I split their most popular sandwich, the O.C. (original chicken). It had shredded rotisserie chicken, bacon, aged cheddar cheese, and an awesome bacon aoili. Their seasoned fries were phenomenal, as well. Half an order was all it took to fill me up. Next time, I'm looking forward to trying either "The Mess" or their Thai chicken sandwich, or maybe both if I share. Which kind would you try?

Boulangerie du Monde - Cedarburg, WI

Last Friday, I spent a relaxing day in Cedarburg with my sister, Rachelle. We started by grabbing breakfast from Boulangerie du Monde. I picked out a spinach feta croissant for Layla and a gibassier for myself. Rachelle selected a variety of french macarons to try.
The spinach feta croissant was so buttery and flakey. The spinach feta filling was well balanced and there was just enough of it to satisfy. In contrast, the gibassier had a sweet, anise-orange flavor. It made me wish I had a mug of hot coffee to go with it.
The macarons, on the other hand, tasted less than magnificent. They were a complete let down, in fact. For starters, they were much smaller (almost mini) than any macarons I've ever seen before. Which made the price, $1.50 each, seem a little steep for their adorable size. But the price would have been worth it had they actually tasted good. Truthfully, I've had fresher tasting macarons from boxes they sell in the frozen foods aisle. We will think twice before buying macarons here again but I'll definitely go back to get more croissants and gibassiers, and to try other new goodies.

Oktoberfest in New Glarus

Last weekend Mike and I went to an "Oktoberfest" themed housewarming party in New Glarus. We slipped away  after dinner, to explore the larger Oktoberfest festivities going on downtown.
First we stopped at the Limburger stand. Where burly men, dressed like traditional Swiss women, persuaded me to try their notoriously stinky cheese. It smelled like nasty feet, but tasted surprisingly mild and creamy.
Next we got ice cream. Layla had her favorite, mint chocolate chip. While I tried two, new-to-me flavors. One flavor called "The Exhausted Parent" was the first to catch my eye. It's bourbon-spiked coffee flavor and dark chocolate chunks certainly lived up to this ice cream's name.
The second flavor, called "This  $&@! Just Got Serious" was my personal favorite. The salted caramel and crunchy cashews were a seriously great combination. If I could, I'd go back and buy the whole bucket.
We listened to an awesome band for a few minutes, but soon it was time to go. I can't wait to go back again next year. See you there!

Pine Hill Orchard

If ice cream is the best dessert of summer then caramel apples are the favorite treat in fall. Seriously, fall is the only time that I actually eat an apple a day. Only when they are smothered in caramel, of course! 
On the way home from the Art Farm, last weekend, we stopped at Pine Hill Orchard, to pick some apples up. Their road side stand has definitely upgraded. The first time I was there, They sold apples from small, portable tent. Recently, their stand has become such a hit that they built a permanent building and offer space to other vendors for more tents next to the apple building.
After sampling Pine Hill's cider and fruit, we purchase a few caramel apples.  I got plain caramel. The kids had "dirt cake" style apples, which were caramel apples rolled in oreo crumbs and topped with a gummy worm. It was hard for any of us to resist eating them in the car.
Tell me, what are your favorite caramel apples. Do you like them plain and simple like me or with nuts, sprinkles, or maybe even Oreos?

Holy Hill Art Farm

A few times a year, the Holy Hill Art Farm hosts a small craft fair hidden at the end of a long driveway. It's easily missed because the name deceptively implies that it's located closer to the Holy Hill basilica than it actually is. Despite that, the drive was pleasant because of the beautiful,  woodsy Kettle Moraine roads.
After arrival, it didn't take Mike and I long to find quality snacks. He picked out apple butter, smoked trout, and molasses cookies. We've only tried the later, so far. The  molasses cookies were from Wild Flour bakery in South Milwaukee. They were fairly large and had a well balanced flavor. The molasses wasn't heavy or overpowering like some molasses  cookies tend to get. We saved them for later to enjoy during the packer game.
I also bought Cinnamon Plum tea from the Spice and Tea exchange in Mequon. At first, I was unsure if the cinnamon or licorice would be too strong. But I'm sipping some right now and it's clear that I had nothing to worry about. The spicey, fruity blend is  perfect for fall. The package recommends mulling it into cider but I don't  have cider so that's going to have to wait until tomorrow.
My two favorite buys of the day had to be the pecan praline caramels and pumpkin seed toffee we got. My sweet tooth couldn't resist Cream City Caramel's large selection. We sampled their basic vanilla caramel. Then purchased a bag of pecan praline caramels, intending to save them as an occasional snack. We all know that didn't  happen though. It's only  three days later and the bag is already empty. Can you could blame me, though? Cream City Caramels made some of the best caramel I have ever had. The pecan praline had just enough nuts to give the caramel a nice crunch while still retaining its ideal chewyness.
The toffee, while made by a different confectionery, was equally as good. The brand, Sweet P's Pantry, offered so much variety at a price that's worth it. I selected their white chocolate coated, pumpkin seed toffee. The toffee, itself, had a hint of sweet fall spices but not a gross, "chemically" flavor. Additionally, the white chocolate wasn't too sweet and there was a good balance of nutty seeds throughout. Such a good balance, in fact, that I refused to share even when asked.
All together, we bought molasses cookies, apple butter, smoked trout, caramels, toffee, and tea. You can see our complete haul in a photo below.  According to their website, The Holy Hill Art Farm is open again on October 17th and 18th. So go and check it out for yourself!