Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food

Danish Kringle - Top Selling Gourmet Gift

Our top selling gourmet gifts, such as our Danish Kringle, make the perfect gift for all occasions. Whether it’s a birthday or anniversary gift, a thank you gift, a housewarming or hostess gift, a sympathy gift or just a gourmet treat for you or your family you can’t go wrong with our Danish Kringle. 

A kringle is an exquisite coffee-cake made of many feather light layers of Danish pastry, filled with choice pecans, almond paste, or a variety of homemade fruit fillings. The pastry itself, requires a minimum of three days preparation. Layer upon layer of golden Wisconsin creamery butter is folded and rolled into the pastry dough. The result is a deliciously rich, yet feather-light and flaky pastry.  Danish Kringle flavors include Pecan, Raspberry, Cherry, Apple, Blueberry, or Almond. Each Kringle serves 8-12 people. Danish Kringles can be frozen for 5-6 months. Kringles are oval and measure 10.5 x 13 in. To find all our Danish Kringle, visit our Kringle store on Wisconsinmade.com.

Our top selling gourmet gifts are selected based on volume of orders and also number of positive reviews.  Our customers say it better than we can so here is what our customers have to say about our Danish Kringle:

“The recipient was very pleased and called me to say how fresh and delicious they were. They totally enjoyed them and I was totally pleased. Great gift.” Tony

“Very good. Fresh as if just out of the oven.”  Dorothy

“My family just loves these! So when I'm ordering gifts, I have to order one of these for us! What a treat!!” Laurie

 

The Beer and Cheese Festival: Wisconsin Winter Fun with Pretzel Necklaces!

The Isthmus Beer and Cheese Festival happens every January in Madison, Wisconsin. I'm a little late, but I had such a fun time I absolutely must write about it! I'll also share my tips for what to do before, during, and after the beer cheese fest!

Before

Make pretzel necklaces. This was my first visit to the beer and cheese festival, but my friend and Wisconsinmade.com coworker Hannah had been before. She insisted that we make pretzel necklaces. Serious beer and cheese fest attendees know that pretzel necklaces are convenient for cleansing your pallet in between beer samples, but more importantly, a salty snack.  A warning from an experienced pretzel necklace wearer- don't try to hug anyone while wearing your pretzel necklace or your pretzels will end up in pieces on the floor!

Eat something! Yes, there are plenty of cheese samples, and even a few food vendors to buy snacks from, but there is even more beer to taste, so don't leave the house unless you've had enough to eat.

 

King Cakes Wisconsin Style: Kringle King Cakes

Have you heard of King Cakes? Well, what about Kringle King Cakes? In Louisiana, Mardi Gras season and King Cakes go hand in hand. This special cake honors the three wise men who bore gifts for the Christ Child after Christmas. Mardi Gras season traditionally begins 47 days prior to Easter Sunday. So this year it will be celebrated starting sometime around February 12. Inside each king cake is a tiny baby (generally plastic) and whoever gets the slice of cake with the baby is asked to host the next King Cake party. What a fun tradition!

In Wisconsin, instead of the traditional king cakes we have Kringle King Cakes.

The Kringle King Cake is decorated in official Mardi Gras colors – green stands for faith,gold represents power, and purple means justice. The Kringle King cake is made using kringle pasty (feather light layers of Danish pastry) with a moist cream cheese filling. Enclosed with each cake are three strands of colorful Mardi Gras beads, a plastic baby and the King Cake story. Enjoy a little bit of New Orleans straight from Wisconsin.

Want to make your Mardi Gras party even more Wisconsin-y? Try this crock pot recipe for gumbo with bratwurst.

Signature Recipes- To Share or Not to Share?

This week I had some friends over for dinner and I made my signature pizza recipe. I didn’t come up with the recipe but whenever I have a dinner party this is one of the first recipes I want to make.  The pizza has fig spread, prosciutto and arugula, and it’s not a combination my guests eat everyday, so it’s sort of my secret culinary weapon. After enjoying this amazing pizza my friend asks me “Can I get the recipe? Or is it a secret?” I told her I don’t believe in keeping recipes a secret and we debated the pros and cons of sharing recipes. I thought this would make an awesome blog post, so here we are!

 

 

Door County Ski Weekend - Food and Friends

We are heading to Door County in January for a weekend ski trip.  It is 20 degrees in Wisconsin today. There is very little snow left on the ground from the big snow storm we had over a month ago. It rained earlier this month and much of the snow is gone now. And there are no significant snow predictions in the next week. We have our cross county ski trip planned up in Door County, with three other couples, but I am afraid we will not be doing much skiing. So what to do?  Lets see…we will probably do some hiking, eating, shopping, eating, reading, eating, talking, sightseeing, restauranting and oh! did I say eating?

Yes, eating and sharing food with friends is so much fun. Here are some goodies we are taking to share.   Cheese, sausage and crackers for sure. 

They would be disappointed if we did not supply the cheese and sausage given our connection to Wisconsinmade.com where Cheese is King.  Each couple picks a meal to serve.  Rick and I are going to bring a breakfast to share. We are going to serve  Quiche, croussants and fruit. There will be a couple extra meals that no one is assigned to so we will just have to go out restauranting.     

Door County here we come! I am looking forward to this short weekend trip to Door County to spend some time with our good friends and of course to get some exercise.  Yeah right!! 

Best Foods To Eat During a Wisconsin Winter

Wisconsin is lovely in January! Ok, not really. It's actually miserably cold, grey and dreary. But Wisconsinites must look at the bright side of Wisconsin winters or the abominable snow man will get us.

What is the bright side of a Wisconsin winter? Having an excuse to cook a comforting meal and enjoy a relaxing night on the couch under the blankets. Here are some ideas for foods to enjoy while you hibernate until March... or maybe April.

13 Madison Foods to Eat in 2013

A new year means new good eats, and there's no shortage of tasty Madison foods to enjoy in Wisconsin's capital city.  Eating every awesome dish in Madison is impossible, so here are my top 13 Madison foods to enjoy in 2013.

1. Brat Fry at Bavaria Sausage Kitchen- On Wednesdays and Saturdays in the summer Bavaria Sausage Kitchen hosts a brat fry. For $5 you can get chips, a drink and an authentic German bratwurst in a crusty bun with your choice of toppings. Belly up to a picnic table and enjoy the glories of living in Wisconsin! (Click continue reading for 12 more!)
 

 

Tips for Feeding Your House Guests

I spent my holidays as a guest at two different houses. One hostess in particular was amazing. In the blink of an eye she could prepare a big pot of chili or clean the entire kitchen. I took mental notes to try and figure out how she kept us all happy and full, and here are some tips I hope to take advantage of next time I have a house full of people.

Leave little bowls of munchies out.  Nuts, M&Ms, trail mix, anything that is easy to munch on while watching TV or cuddling up with a book. This will keep your guests satisfied between meals.Wisconsin hostesses will love this gourmet cranberry trail mix.

Have a coffee maker that pleases everyone. Since this was a ski vacation I had frequent cravings for hot beverages. The Keurig machine saved the day since we didn't have to boil water on the stove for every cup of tea or cocoa. Our hostess had every variety of K-Cups so we could enjoy whatever drink we wanted in no time at all.

Two words: double dishwashers. Ok, so this isn't the easiest tip in the world since it involves major kitchen appliances and possibly even some construction, but holy moly, I love two dishwashers! Think about it- while one is running, you can fill up the other one. Since you don't have to unload as often, you can just take the dishes out of dishwasher one as you need them. By the time dishwasher two is full and done running, dishwasher one is mostly empty since you've been grabbing dishes out of it. This makes hosting especially easy because there is always a "dirty" dishwasher for guests to load their own dishes in.

Make a big pot of something comforting. One misconception about soup or chili is that you have to let it simmer all day. Wrong! There are plenty of short cut recipes out there that just involve dumping some cans in a pot and the results are amazing.  My favorite cookbook is the Soup Bible. It's full of fast recipes with simple ingredients.

Don't be afraid to order pizza. If cooking and cleaning up after a house full of people becomes overwhelming, pick up the phone and order some pizza!

Best Wisconsin Recipes from Edible Antics in 2012

The year is almost over and I'm reminiscing about the best Wisconsin recipes from Edible Antics in 2012. Here are four of my favorites: Grammy's Beet Pickled Eggs, Breakfast Bratritos, Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and the Discount Double Chicken Quesadilla. 

Grammy's Beet Pickled Eggs- Pickled eggs in a clear brine are a popular food item on Wisconsinmade.com, but I'm used to seeing the red tinted beet pickled eggs made by my grandma. Growing up I didn't like them but she always made them for my Dad. I recently gave them another chance with my grown up taste buds and wow! They are amazing! Now Dad and I fight over them, and I often make them at home. Check out the recipe so you can too. 

Breakfast Bratritos- I'm proud of this one since it is an original recipe with a fun name. I used to be a cereal for breakfast kind of girl, but once my friend told me eggs for breakfast give her a big energy boost I decided to try it, and now I can't start my day without the incredible egg. Since I don't always have time to make omelets from scratch I'm always looking for easy ways to get in my eggs, and making these burritos ahead of time gives me the perfect grab and go breakfast! 

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich - I have tried recipes for buffalo chicken tacos, pizza, chili... but 2012 was the year of teh buffalo chicken sandwich. This creation involves chicken breast, buffalo sauce, butter and ranch dressing mix. Dump the ingredients in the crockpot and forget it. After several hours you can shred the chicken and use it to make sandwiches. Get creative with the toppings- try red onion, avocado, and plenty of Wisconsin blue cheese! 

Discount Double Chicken Quesadilla - This video was sent to me by a Packer fan and I thought it was so hilarious I had to share. Don't take my word for it, here is the video: 

Food Trends of 2013

We dodged the apocalypse! What a relief! Now I can stop stock piling supplies and go back to doing what I normally do around this time every year; thinking about what food trends might be in store for the year ahead. Last year I predicted that pie and hot dogs would be the popular foods of 2012. I nailed it on the hot dog guess (Christmas hot dogs anyone?) and the fact that I attended a pie party proves that I was on the right track with that one too. With the success of last year's predictions under my belt, I shall gaze into the foodie crystal ball and share with you my predictions for 2013. 

Alternative Meats - Raise your hand if you're bored of chicken, beef and pork! No one? Well ok, I'll never be bored of those meats either but I do like to try something different occasionally. I'm a frequent diner at the Great Dane Brewpub in Madison and lately I've been ordering the buffalo burger. It's leaner than beef and more flavorful. I also happen to know a buffalo farmer, and he says that people are becoming more and more curious about the buffalo and elk meats that he sells. Find out more about Terri's Elk and Bison Ranch in this blog post from a couple of weeks ago. 

Food That Tastes Like Cocktails- I love cocktails, I love food, so why don't we put them together more often? I've been seeing more and more of this, and I think it will blow up in 2013. A local business in Madison called Spirit of Wisconsin makes candies, salsas, jams and more using spirits from Yahara Bay Distillery. These make fabulous gifts for your foodie or drinkie friends! I also recently found a recipe for Old Fashioned bread pudding. No, not old fashioned like your grandma, Old Fashioned like Wisconsin's favorite drink!  

Oreo Truffles and Variations- How long have Oreo Truffles been around? They first came into my life when I got some in the office cookie exchange last year and I think I've eaten about 1,000 of them since then. I've also created a Pinterest board where I collect all the truffle recipes I can find since I am that obsessed. My enthusiam for truffles alone will ensure truffles become a popular food trend in 2013. 

 Pickled Foods-  The New York Times recently reported about the trend of pickled foods in Brooklyn. That's been going on here in Wisconsin for awhile now. In fact, as you know I work for a gourmet food store and pickled foods are insanely popular! Pickled eggs, pickled herring, and pickled sausages fly off the shelf year round. Find out more about the artisan pickled food trend in my blog post from last year. I think this trend will spread to the rest of the USA in 2013.

What foods do you think will be popular in 2013?