Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food

Grilled Bratwurst on Labor Day Weekend - A Madison, Wisconsin Tradition!

Eating grilled bratwursts on Labor Day weekend has been a Madison, Wisconsin tradition at least since 1983 when the first Bratfest charity fund-raiser took place in Hilldale's Metcalfe Sentry parking lot. In the 80's and 90's, the three-day bratfest was held twice a year, - over Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. Thus, Bratfest signified Madison's start and finish of our all too brief, Wisconsin summer. The charity event grew so popular it recently had to be relocated to the spacious grounds of Madison's Alliant Energy Center. Kid games and carnival rides joined the live bands and brats to make Bratfest a hugely successful festival. But making A LOT of something great takes A LOT of behind-the scenes work, -too much work in fact to do twice a year. So now Bratfest only rings in the summer on Memorial Day. If Wisconsinites want to party with their bratwursts they have to throw their own end-of-summer bashes. And that's just what we do.

Our family kicked-off Labor Day weekend early. Last night we grilled Klement's bratwursts. Yes, this is the brand of brats served at the 2008 Super Bowl. Our Green Bay Packers didn't make it to Gillete Stadium, but our brats did!  Recipes and methods for cooking bratwursts abound. And I chose the recipe out of the cookbook Drink Your Beer and Eat It Too!  Click on "Continued reading..." for the recipe.

Midwest Folklife Festival Celebrates Mulit-Cultural Art, Music and Food in Wisconsin!!

What fun we had at the Midwest Folklife Festival in Dodgeville, Wisconsin! The young-at-heart were dancing polkas, accompanied by three generations of musicians. 

Next the Southern Wisconsin Old Time Fiddlers' Association entertained the crowd. Inside the Farewell Hall we enjoyed Bosnian folk dancing.

Working up an appetite, we had our choice of the usual Wisconsin fare, brats, hot dogs, and pulled pork. But keeping to the festival's international theme, the treat of the afternoon was Italian ices loaded with fresh, pureed fruit!

Next we strolled through the Folk Village's fruit orchard, stopping to chat with artists under white, open-aired tents who were showing eager listeners how to create a variety of musical instruments and traditional crafts representing cultural heritages well-alive here in the Midwest. Tani Diakite played music from Mali for a young dancer and her family.  

Nearby, Ghana musician and instrument maker, Djam Vivie, gave impromptu drumming lessons.

We saw Ojibwe flute maker, Frank Montano, Norwegian hardanger fiddle-maker, Ron Poast, and Hmong instrument maker, Dang Yang. 

Recipe for Roasted Cheese-Stuffed Peppers: A Low-Carb, High-Protein Healthy Snack Kids Like

Roasted cheese-stuffed peppers is a happy, healthy way to stuff protein and a vegetable into kids who'd rather eat sugar. The recipe comes from the cookbook From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce. Here's the recipe:

• bell peppers
• low-fat cheese

"Using tongs or long-handled fork, hold whole pepper over open flame, turning occasionally, until skin blisters all around. Cool and peel off skin. Open pepper from top carefully; remove seeds and core. Fill with low-fat cheese, and pop in low oven until cheese melts and conforms to shape of pepper. Chill overnight. Slice pepper; serve with other vegetables or use in a sandwich. Makes any number of servings."

Roasting the peppers over a campfire or on a grill makes a fun party activity, but it's easier to roast them on a flat pan in the oven under the broiler. Set the broiler heat to high. Turn the peppers when the skin turns brown to black - after about 10 minutes. Continue to turn until the whole pepper is brown. Let the peppers cool. It's hard to remove the skin on a warm pepper. In fact, some people claim the skin comes off easiest if you freeze the peppers first.

I could only get one of the four peppers to keep its cylindrical shape when I removed the skin, stem, and seeds. But whether the pepper is shaped like a bowl or a plate makes no difference in taste.

I filled the peppers with my kids' favorite cheese: a combo of cheddar and Monterey jack. My kids also like brick cheese because of its mild flavor. The adult version of this recipe calls for a much spicier pepper, say a poblano, serrano, or jalapeno, and perhaps a cheese with more of a punch, say a pepper jack, blue cheese, or asiago.

It is helpful, although not critical, to let the cooked roasted cheese-stuffed peppers cool in the 'fridge overnight. They slice up easily after being chilled.

How To Make A Lattice Pie Crust Plus a Wisconsin Farm Recipe for Best Blueberry Pie!

Sometimes things that look hard to do are actually easy. So it is with making a lattice pie crust. My grandmother showed me how to weave a lattice crust when I was a child. Years later I forgot. Combining vague memories and problem-solving skills, I figured out how to make a lattice crust again. Here's how I make it:

Roll the pie dough out thin on a well-floured board or counter. Using a knife (I use a steak knife) cut the dough in strips. Lay the longest strip over the middle of the pie. Lay a 2nd strip perpendicular to and over the first strip. The two strips should look like a cross. 

Next, lay a 3rd and 4th strip on each side of (parallel to) the first strip, and crossing over the 2nd strip. Then lift half of the 1st strip and lay it back, folded in half over itself. Place a 5th strip parallel to the 2nd strip, and over the 3rd and 4th strips. Then re-extend the 1st strip so it now lays over the 5th strip.

Next, fold the 3rd and 4th strips back over on to themselves. Place a 6th strip, parallel to strips #5 and #2, and over the 1st strip. Then re-extend strips #3 and #4 so that they cross over strip #6.

Keep folding and unfolding alternate strips until you reach the rim of the pie plate.

Turn the pie around and repeat the folding and unfolding process as you add horizontal strips to the opposite side.

Next, turn the pie a quarter and add horizontal strips as you repeatedly fold and unfold the alternating perpendicular strips.

Turn the pie again, and add strips to the last quarter of the pie in the same weaving fashion you used for the other quarters.

Tricks to Keep in Shape when Selling Gourmet Food!- Wisconsin-made exercises for the office!

This instant you are probably seated at a computer. I am. And so are my co-workers, Katie, Vicki, and Nina. In fact, we've been sitting here all day. We "sell gourmet products made with pride and passion by Wisconsin artisans", but truth be told, our buts hurt. Perhaps it's a small price to pay for passion.

Work at a web store (Wisconsinmade.com) is like most desk jobs. We're paid to think and type. Some of us talk, - on the phone to customers mostly. Yes, ours are sedentary jobs, but we know tricks to keep in shape!

"Keep in shape? - YOU?! - You live in Wisconsin, - surrounded by cheese, brats, and beer? How can you sedentary Wisconsinites possibly stay fit?!" you exclaim.

True, our gourmet pleasures abound, - especially when the artists send us free samples, but none-the-less we usually eat healthfully. See - here's Katie's apple, and Nina is eating a peach.  Our snacks usually consist of fruits and nuts. (Admittedly, we all ate cake yesterday to celebrate Katie's birthday. But our sweets are treats, not daily fare.)

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To maintain work efficiency, we make FAST lunches. Our lunches start out in cardboard boxes in the office freezer, slip into the microwave, and land on the desk next to the mouse. True, they're not as tasty as the foods we sell, but as far as fast foods go, they're generally nutritionally-balanced.

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But the REAL trick to staying fit is exercise! Numerous websites list exercises you can do at your desk. And they're pretty much the same: stretch those arms, legs, and backs! Roll those shoulders and eyes!

But we at Wisconsinmade.com exercise to the beat of different drummers.

Wisconsin State Fair Exhibits The Best Foods, Products, Crafts, Art, and Animals Of Wisconsin!

"Have a cream puff for me!" was Katie's send-off as I left our Wisconsinmade office on Friday. Wisconsin cream puffs are perhaps THE signature item at the annual Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee. Lauren (8), Dave (5), Grandfather, and I easily found the cream puffs - they had their own pavilion. The purchase line was 50 people long, but moved fast in front of windows revealing smiling cream puff chefs sporting Holstein cow-patterned caps and squirting delicious white mounds of whipped cream on to sliced pastry puffs. We waved to them and they waved back, showing off their work. Every one was caught up in the excitement of this yearly Wisconsin tradition! 

Entering the huge Wisconsin Products Pavilion, we saw row after row of display booths showing off all the different kinds of foods Wisconsinites produce. We saw Wisconsin cranberries, cherries, honey, maple syrup, nuts, cheeses, ice cream, pizzas, sausages, meats, potatoes, candy, and more. Alice in Dairyland held center stage, quizzing her audience on which products came from which Wisconsin region.

In the Wisconsin Horticulture, Craft, and Culinary Pavilion we saw the fruits of Wisconsin hobbyists having fun. Amateurs pitted their talents against one another to compete for prizes in baking, cake decorating, gardening, sewing, quilting, leather-crafting, and wood-working. Truth be told, we saw nothing amateurish in their results. The creative ingenuity and skill demonstrated in each craft amazed us.

The competitions continued in the 6 livestock barns. Exotic and farm animals looked their best for the crowds and judges. Our family enjoyed the Rabbit and Poultry Palace. The children 'oohed' and 'aahed' over the velvety soft, cuddly rabbits. The exquisitely plumaged roosters, hens, turkeys, and doves impressed us too. The colorful patterns of feathers on these domestic birds made woodland birds look drab. So why do children's books feature poultry in such plain, solid colors? Let their illustrators go to the fair and they might depict animal characters in their true-life glory. These impressive animals were a tribute to Wisconsin breeders working with the myriad varieties of forms and colors nature offers.

And of course, we couldn't resist watching Wisconsinites play with their animals as well. No pig wrestling this time, but pig racing! And duck racing too! The crowd cheered for their favorites and rooted for the piglet swimming across the pool.   

Hiking With Kids - Fun Picnic Foods That Travel Well!

So, you want to hike in a beautiful park on a gorgeous summer day. Your kids want to hang around the house irritating each other. Your enthusiastic rally of "Let's go for a hike!" slams hard against groan walls. What to do? When in doubt, turn to food.

Yes, once again, the simplest solution is to make the food fun. Yummy, extra-special treat food enjoyed on a hike is not exactly a bribe. I think of it as a reward. After all, your kids are correct. That two hour-long hike uphill through a mosquito-infested, poison-ivy carpeted woods on a hot, sticky, breeze-less afternoon is a bit of a physical endurance challenge. And your exuberant declarations about fresh-air, woodland marvels, and good exercise make the hike all the more of an ordeal for your children. In such circumstances, it's best to keep your revelry to yourself and your knapsack full of foods your kids love. Here's what works for us.

#1: PIZZA! My kids' love cold pizza. And cheese pizza packs surprisingly well. It doesn't squish like peanut butter and jelly. It doesn't spoil like sandwiches lubricated with mayo. Plus, it looks appetizing over the long haul. Pizza sustains its integrity and appeal when the ordinary picnic fare of sandwiches disappoints.

#2: Naturally-wrapped fruit. Most kids like fruit, except when it is discolored or squished. A peach or plum with torn skin and sweet, oozing pulp that you and I might enjoy disgusts them. So it's safest to hike with fruits encased in their own tough skins. Grapefruit, oranges, and even apples fit the bill, but by the time summer comes, we Wisconsinites are sick of eating them. Bananas have a higher, year-round appeal, plus fairly tough skins. True, they can split and squish, but if packed on top of the rest of the food, they usually travel well.

In fact, squishing fruit isn't so much of a problem for us. Our difficulty lay with preventing melted ice water from saturating our lunch. You see, to get to that idyllic park, we have to pack our food in a cooler in the car and drive for an hour or so. Nothing is less appetizing after a long car ride than soggy snacks. Sure, we could invest in water-proof food containers, but we're a Ziploc family. Sometimes we double-bag as an extra precaution. But back to bananas, bananas are so well encased in their own protective skin, that they can be submerged in cool water for hours with no ill effects. Hooray for bananas.

Melons do well underwater too. Perhaps you don't want to hike uphill with a watermelon. Cantaloupes are smaller, honeydew, mid-range. I'm just saying, it's possible to happily hike with a cantaloupe in your backpack. After all, you're the exuberant one who needs extra exercise, right? Of course, you could slice the melon before hand into a Tupperware container. You could even toss in berries. The container keeps the fruit safe from water and squishing. But then consider how appetizing it will be for all of you to stick your dirty hands into the same container to fetch out the fruit. You know where your kids' hands have been, do you really want to eat fruit they've touched? Individual containers, spoons, bowls, -all are too cumbersome on a happy hike. No, better to just haul one melon and one Swiss army knife. Every one gets a slice at the top. Kids love to eat with their fingers and let juice dribble down their chins. This is fun to them. And they're eating fruit so it's O.K. with you.

But on to the secret weapon of hike-inducing foods, #3: Forbidden foods.

Raspberry Muffin Saves Woman! - 'R' Is For Recipe

"Don't shoot!" she cried. "I have them inside. They're fresh, warm and sweet, a raspberry treat. Just please lay that handgun aside."

He glared, "But I've come fer yer money, not yer raspberry dough, honey. Muffins are muffins like all others I've tried."

"But no, not so!" she wept as she crept to the kitchen where her muffins did lay. "Please, please, come see, and then you will know. You're far richer with these than with Uncle Sam's dough."

"Ha, ha!" he scoffed, as she held them aloft, they're sweet scent wafting up to his nose.

"Just one," she pleaded. The brute, he conceded, and bit a raspberry muffin in two.

His eyes miraculously softened. His jaw instantly slackened. The handgun dropped to the floor. "My, God! I'm reformed! I'm no longer torn between the law and an outlaw's passions. This muffin has shown me the right road before me. Oh, please give me one muffin more."

The sweet woman did, not a muffin she hid, but then she did sooo much more. With a bowl, tin and fork, she put him to work making raspberry muffins galore.

Know someone who needs reforming? Click on "continue reading..." for the recipe.

Notice: These raspberry muffins were produced in honor of "R-day". The letter 'R' has now been celebrated with rrrrroaring righteousness in our "teach-a-preschooler-his-alphabet" game. Furthermore, let it be known that "Q-day" quietly occurred with the boiling of quinoa pasta.