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How I Became a Bacon Snob
When most people think of the farmer’s market, they think about its midsummer bounty: the fresh cut flowers, the fragrant herbs, the rainbow of summer vegetables. I, too, adore the height of summer. I hoard and preserve tomatoes for sauce, strawberries for baking, and giant vats of pesto for pasta. But last Saturday, during my first trip to the Dane County Winter Farmer’s Market, I realized that some of my favorite market treasures are available year-round. Here’s what I bought last week: Jordanal Farms. This place has turned me into a bacon snob. No, “bacon snob” is not an oxymoron. If you have ever tasted Jordanal Farms’ nitrate-free, pasture-raised bacon,…
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Celebrating Local Farmers
Yesterday when I checked my mailbox, I saw the winter edition of Edible Madison magazine nestled among the usual holiday ads and credit card applications. I was excited not only to curl up with the magazine and feast on food-related articles, but also to take a peek at the finished product of the feature I wrote about John and Dorothy Priske of Fountain Prairie Inn and Farms. To write the article, I had a great time hanging out with the Priskes on a fall Saturday at the Dane County Farmer’s Market, where they sell grass-fed beef and pork. I also drove out to their beautiful farm in Fall River, Wisconsin,…
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Green Beer
No, I’m not talking about the dyed stuff you drink on St. Patty’s Day. I’m blogging today about the benefits of buying locally-sourced and locally-brewed beer, over at Wisconsin Public Television’s Engage Wisconsin website. Luckily, where I live in Wisconsin, we have a lot of good options. You probably do, too. What are your favorite local beers where you live?
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Rock Star-Worthy Looks
Stars put on a great show on Friday night at the Barrymore, complete with multicolored lights, bubbles, and a keyboard kazoo. And guitarist and vocalist Amy Millan wore sequins, just like the last time I saw her. If I were a rock star, I would wear sequins every night. Seeing all of the beautiful young things in the audience in their carefully-selected concert clothes got me thinking about (what else?) fashion. Here are some rock star-worthy looks from three of my favorite style bloggers. I’d be happy to wear any of the following ensembles to a show. What the three looks have in common is that they all involve at…
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Guest Blogging on Green Living
Today and every Thursday for the next 10 weeks I’m guest blogging over at Wisconsin Public Television’s Engage Wisconsin site. The focus of my recurring column will be “green living” for the urban dweller. Today’s post is on the growing trend of front-yard vegetable gardening. Along with other Engage Wisconsin bloggers, I hope to raise awareness of what Wisconsin residents are doing to live more sustainably in ways that don’t involve granola or hugging trees.
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Tee Time
My husband prides himself on his collection of bizarre t-shirts. His standards are strict. They have to be soft and they have to fit well. They can’t be from Urban Outfitters. Oh, and did I mention he doesn’t like to shop? So unless I want to see him wearing the same t-shirt every weekend–the one from his kickball team 10 years ago that says “Kick Me in the Junk”–I have to try, from time to time, to point him in the direction of sources for new t-shirt purchases. Thank God for Etsy. In a recent search for not-too-scratchy, not-too-big, sufficiently unique t-shirts, I came upon a local Madison Etsy seller,…
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Yarn Bombing
Check out this extra-cozy bus shelter on State Street that some UW-Madison design students created with local knitters, to coincide with Gallery Night. Have you ever seen a more cheerful place to catch the bus? Happy Friday, everyone. Have a cozy weekend.
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The Fall Colors of the Farmers’ Market
When some people think of fall colors, they envision a coach bus full of tourists snapping photos at changing foliage. When I hear the words “fall colors,” I think about the many hues of the farmers’ market at this time of year. Pinks, greens, and striated reds peeking out from a bag full of apples. Carnival squash with its emerald and orange-dappled skin. The defiant gold of a sunflower, determined to make me smile even as the cold weather comes.
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Willy St. Fair: Be Anything but Ordinary
The motto of the Williamson-Marquette neighborhood on Madison’s east side is “A Place for All People.” Nothing proves that motto better than our annual free-for-all, the Willy Street Fair. We’ve got robots for peace. We’ve got the Wacky Wheeler (see photo). We’ve got a cadillac that shoots giant bubbles from a tuba. We’ve got stiltwalkers and unicyclists galore. Come one, come all, and bring your kids and your dog. Just don’t be ordinary. Because being ordinary is the only way you won’t fit in. Photos courtesy of Connor Sabatino.
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Don’t Hate Them Because They’re Ugly
If you ever see someone crawling on the sidewalk underneath the tables at the farmers’ market, that person would be me. In late summer and early fall, I will be close to the ground, digging through the boxes of ugly tomatoes that aren’t perfect enough to put on display. You know the tomatoes I’m talking about–the squishy, cracked, bruised, or misshapen ones. Farmers usually sell them for about 50 cents a pound at this time of year. Most people will take one glance at these ugly tomatoes and walk on by. I ask you to reserve judgment, because ugly tomatoes are perfect for one of my favorite tomato recipes: Bruschetta…
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