Madison Restaurant Review: Jacs Dining and Tap House

Jacs Mac & Cheese

We took a trip out to Madison, Wisconsin to visit some local friends and taste some of the local fare.  Madison has no shortage of great restaurants, and Jacs Dining and Tap House is no exception.

 

Below are the menu items that we tried:

• ROASTED BEET SALAD: Red beet, chèvre, red onion, walnut, mixed greens, balsamic vinaigrette, baguette
• BOURBON BURGER: Grilled Strauss Farms ground beef, bacon, muenster, fried onions, tomato, romaine, sweet bourbon aioli, ciabatta
• SMOKED SALMON BLT: Cherrywood-smoked bacon, smoked salmon, romaine, tomato, classic aioli, Texas wheat
• FRITES: Hand-cut French fries, classic aioli, with the sauce trio: cranberry mayo, sage aioli & house BBQ
• PHEASANT FLATBREAD: Smoked pheasant, wild mushrooms, leek, parmesan
• MOULES ET FRITES: Prince Edward Island mussels, baguette, Garlic-Chardonnay sauce
• MAC & CHEESE: Jones Dairy Farm ham, bacon, Swiss and Cheddar cheese, parmesan bread crumbs

Everything was delicious!  In addition, this was a "top 5" mac and cheese performance for me.  The noodles cheese, and crispy breadcrumb toppings were all great, and ham and bacon always help.

 

There are also delicious craft cocktails and gluten-free menu options for the booze hounds and celiacs of the world.

 

Make this a stop on your list for casual food in Madison, and not terribly far from Camp Randall in case you are in town for a football game.  On Wisconsin!

I'm Not a Cheerleader, I'm a Mascot.

Via photos.uc.wisc.edu 

Someone at work recently told me that some ladies were discussing me and they commented that I must have been a cheerleader previously. I understand why they would think that on account of my incessant smiling and ongoing effort to raise the energy in the room.  However, this is not an accurate assumption.  No disrespect to any current or former cheerleaders, but it just has never been my thing personally.  I would, however, give my right arm to be a mascot.

Mascots are hilarious and fascinating, and basically one-person theater shows.  Mascots even go to mascot camp to learn how to walk, cry, fight, and basically be awesome.  Check out this clip from Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel:

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKlbjMPXKdA

 

I have been in love with mascots for years.  Milwaukee Brewers sausage races, mascot soccer games, or watching Bucky beat up the visiting team mascot has been a way of life.  I would be most happy to cheer on the team (not unlike a cheerleader) but do that in between expressing my emotions mascot-style rather than in between some high kicks.

 

Mascots bring such joy, don't they?  Here is a fun Big 10 mascot video to make your day:

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxhIhHv8oIM

 

So please, don't consider me a cheerleader... I am a mascot at heart.  On Wisconsin!

 







Milwaukee Restauranting: Meritage Review

Via http://meritage.us

We recently tried Meritage for the first time, a "new American" cuisine restaurant in the Washington Heights area of Milwaukee that has been open since 2007.  After I responded to the question of "What do you feel like tonight" with a careful response of "American fusion," the hubs did some research to find a lesser known restaurant of that type that we hadn't actually been to yet.

Meritage is led by Chef Jen Kelly (a less common female chef) who has held chef positions at several other Milwaukee restaurants after originating in California.  The Meritage menu focuses on local, but particularly seasonal ingredients.  The menu available was full of fall inspired dishes with kale, spinach, apples, pears, and cider.  Here is what we ordered:

 

Roasted Pear and Fennel Crostini: Buttermilk blue cheese, pears, fennel and shallots on crostini with red wine rosemary reduction.  Good flavor, but since crostini is so hard to eat in a clean manner anyways, I would have liked to have had the toppings sliced a bit smaller.

 

Fried Chicken and Waffles: Potato waffle with fried chicken, spicy coleslaw and red pepper jelly. In-cred-I-ble!  Best dish we had all night.  The flavor was incredible in the chicken, the waffle wasn't too sweet and the slaw really balanced the dish out.  I would totally go back and order three of these.

Fried Chicken and Waffles
Via yelp review

 

Toasted Farro Salad: Autumnal vegetables and toasted faro with maple syrup apple cider vinaigrette, walnuts and asiago cheese.  This was a very "fall feeling" dish, and a good vegetarian option with healthy ingredients, so it was not heavy at all.

 

Braised Pork Shoulder: Pork shoulder braised in apple cider and milk with sage rice and sautéed spinach (from the specials).  I thought the milk and cider sauce was delicious, but we would have liked it just slightly thicker.  The rice and spinach had good flavor, and the pork was very tender.

Click here to check out the Meritage menu.

 

Other restaurant thoughts:

Pro: Quality wine list and craft cocktail menu

Pro: Attentive service from the entire house staff

Con: Ambiance and décor were underwhelming, bland, and seemed less fancy than the food

The experience overall was very good, but the décor in the restaurant seemed unfocused and uneven compared to the food.  Luckily, I was too busy going nuts about the fried chicken and waffles to spend too much time noticing.

Across the street from the restaurant is a Valentine coffee shop (one of Milwaukee's best micro roasters) and a gelato shop that looks amazing as well if you are looking to round out your Washington Heights night out!

Bottom line? We would go back for the chicken and waffles, the cocktail menu and wine, and for all the other things on the menu that look great but we didn't get to try.

The "Burger Challenge" Trifecta

The time finally came for us to complete the burger challenge.  Milwaukeeans all know about the epic "Food Wars" TV show battle between Sobelman's and AJ Bombers for the best burger in town.  We decided to do some research for ourselves, and throw in another local underdog favorite, Oscar's.  Here are our findings from comparing the burgers, sides, and overall experience at all three restaurants famed for their "best" burgers.

AJ Bombers: The new guys (and Food Wars winner)
+ Cute menus that are dry-erase for ordering
- Peanut shells on the ground

We ordered a burger with cheese and bacon, with the Bomber sauce on the side, and a side of cheese curds since that was the recommendation as a favorite side from a few staff members.  As a side note, we will have to go back and get the burger with peanut butter on it, but for the sake of the integrity of the experiment, we decided to keep our burger choices more "apples to apples."

Sobelman's: The heavy favorite
+ Best sweet potato fries ever
- Bloody Mary was nothing special

 Now, South-siders and Marquette University grads tend to favor Sobelman's, but I have never taken their opinions as gold, so why start now?  We ordered the Sobelman, which has three kinds of cheese, jalapenos, and some other toppings, and sweet potato fries.  I also tried the Bloody Mary because it is supposed to be a big deal.  Lots of good toppings, but the drink is totally average. (Best Bloody Mary in MKE = The Wicked Hop)

Oscar's: The underdog
+ Indiana Jones pinball machine
- Lack of specialty drinks

We ordered the "Big O" and the Aloha burgers, and they came with garlic parmesan fries.  I normally love pinball, but I instead eavesdropped on a bunch of guys complaining about their HR people (is this how people complain about me?)  Jason felt the bun was best, but I felt like the bun ratio was a little too high.  Another plus? Bendy straws.

Overall scoring:
We differed on our scores as to how the burgers ranked.  Our method is very scientific, obviously.  The total score is an average of our two overall scores.  Jason picks Oscar's as the winner, and I prefer AJ Bombers.  Overall, our averages still come out to Oscar's being the winner, but I am still skeptical...

 

So there you have it.  The only thing that we have proven is that the age old argument of the best burger will go on, since we can't even decide amongst us.  If nothing else, we got to see more of our great town.

Fall in Wisconsin can teach us a hell of a lesson

Forget summer with all of the bugs and the sunburn.  The best part about Wisconsin is the fall.  And yes, the winters are often pretty unfortunate, but there would be no fall if the world wasn't preparing for winter so that makes it worth it.

There are so many great things about fall (ref: post about caramel apples), but as we were walking outside today for an unseasonably warm and perfect fall day, it occurred to me why I like the colorful trees so much.  The obvious reason why everyone likes the fall colors is it is beautiful to watch the green trees turn into an array of bright colors.  The even better part of that story, is that those are the trees' true colors.

The real story, is that the trees are stuck being green all of the time but during fall, their authentic true colors come out.  And we all love to see their real and unique color patterns.  What a nice lesson for our own loves taught in nature.  It is a poetic reminder about how much better we can be when we settle into our own true selves, being authentic and comfortable with our colors.

Until next year, when the trees all turn into conformist assholes wearing green next spring.  I'm just kidding - without the summer of green, the colors of fall would lose their allure.  Without dark, we wouldn't appreciate the light.

How leaves show their true colors - a science lesson

Where would you take your guests in your home town?

Via blog.wisconsinlodging.org

Here is a fun game to play.  I have been asking myself and others this question: If you had friends coming in to town for three days, where would you take them to eat to get them good food but a quintessential city experience?  As we debated about Milwaukee destinations, the hubs and I decided that this was still a bit too wide open, so I tried to think of the different experiences I would want to have during that time.  I would want a great breakfast/brunch, a good lunch, and if there were three dinners, a low end, medium, and higher end restaurant.  And maybe some sweets, or some drinks? Here is what we came up with for Milwaukee.

Breakfast/Brunch: Blue's Egg

Image by Jeff Beutner via Expressmilwaukee.com

Sweet or savory, you cannot go wrong at this place.  Make sure you get some stuffed browns (hash browns done right), and enjoy some Valentine coffee, one of the many awesome Milwaukee based roasters.  Honorable mention to Maxie's Southern Comfort, their sister restaurant, for dinner.


Lunch: Milwaukee Public Market

Via milwaukeepublicmarket.org

You can get all types of food here, or just look at the big fish case, or wander aimlessly.  I personally like to sit at the counter of the Margarita Paradise Mexican restaurant, get some salads to go from Aladdin, a Middle Eastern restaurant, and end my trip with a glass of wine at Thief Wine Bar.


Dinner ($): Rustico

Via rusticopizzeria.com

This is some delicious pizza you can enjoy with some classic exposed cream city brick walls and a taste of the Historic Third Ward.  This pizza tastes amazing even when you are sober, which cannot be said for every pizza place as you edge closer to campus.


Dinner ($$): Crazy Water

Via expressmilwaukee.com

As an American fusion restaurant with perhaps some French bistro-like roots, the menu is always comfortable and flavorful.  We are still waiting for an episode on the Cooking Channel filmed at Crazy Water on which we were interviewed.  If you are lucky and have only two people, you might get the little bar nook table.


Dinner ($$$); Lake Park Bistro

Via onmilwaukee.com

Part of the Bartolotta restaurant dynasty in Milwaukee, this is a great setting for a very nice dinner that doesn't feel too steakhouse-y or supper club-y.  Fancy chic, and always fantastic classically prepared dishes.  And the service is impeccable.  I couldn't decide between the chocolate mousse and the crème brulee, so the waiter brought me both.


Sweets: Rocket Baby Bakery

So Milwaukee-cool in the older part of Wauwatosa (North Avenue).  Bread, pastries, and the most vibrant selection of colorful macarons ever.


Drinks: The Safe House, and The Nomad
For touristy fun, go to the Safe House, a hidden spy lair that is unmarked, and you need a password to get in.  I am not going to tell you the password, that is what the Internet is for.

For casual dive bar fun, hit up Brady Street starting at the Nomad.  In true Milwaukee style, you can get the "Prix Fixe," which consists of a shot of Jameson, a can of Pabst, and a cigarette for the bargain price of $5.


Other Cities?
Blog readers, share what you would do differently for a tour of Milwaukee, or share a few from your city. Madison, WI?  Twin Cities? Chicago? Baltimore/DC? San Francisco?  Sharing is caring.

Enjoy your own city, and love where you live.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. And invites diabetes.

It's here!  Caramel apple season is here!  This kicks off my incredibly ridiculous fall habit of eating, oh, say, one caramel apple a day.  There, I said it.  And it is on the internet so it must be true.

Here is the making of a quality caramel apple:

1. Green apples: Normally they are too sour, but this is a critical balance to the caramel.
2. Jimmies: You can get them covered in all sorts of toppings, but I tend to eat only one kind - caramel with jimmies.  I don't eat nuts, and some of the chocolate ones are too much.
3. Good caramel: I don't make them at home because it is messy, but please, don't get the kind with those sheets that fold over the apple.  That's gross.

Where do I get such a large quantity of caramel apples?  I will tell you, but do me a solid and don't buy them out before I get there.

1. Amy's Gourmet Apples: Based in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, these are the absolute best apples that exist.  If you live far away though, don't fret because you can buy them online.  I can't eat these every day because I would have to start donating plasma just to afford it.  But they are totally worth the money.
2. Pick 'n Save: A much more affordable option for a daily apple, but still quite delicious.  I once trolled around the produce department for 45 minutes waiting for the guy to start hand dipping the apples on a Sunday morning.  I am sure the loss prevention people had me pegged for a creeper.  At another Pick 'n Save near my work, I had to start diversifying my route after I interrogated the guy about what time and how often he makes the apples, and then he said, "Hey, you're the caramel apple lady!" a few weeks later after he had seen me clean them out of the jimmied apples for a few weeks straight.
3. Local orchards: Buyer beware, you have to ask questions regarding the type of apple they use, it is not usually green apples.  And, if you plan to buy in bulk like I do, test one before to buy many.

Now that you know my dirty little fall secret, you can join in too.  You also know what sort of currency I accept for bribes.  Whatever, I don't apologize for it at all.  I only do it for like, three months out of the year.

Race Day part II: "I really rocked that half-mile when Ke$ha was playing..."

Race day is here, and we rocked it.  It was good weather, a good pace (this is a relative statement), and good tunes.  It is always a motivating and humbling experience to run a race as a normal person.  It is incredible to see all of the real runners who ran a half-marathon in less time than I ran 6 miles, and I am also amazed at the number of people who are less prepared to run a 10-K than I am.  Both are helpful motivators. 

I am a slow runner, so I always pick a few people out of the crowd that I am running near and race them.  Good news, I beat all of my fake competitors.  I was not so lucky at the last Brewers' race that I ran where I was actually beat by a real racing sausage, the Hot Dog.  Today was a nice day and a great route to run - we ran through Miller Valley and Miller Park, which is a route that you normally don't get to run and certainly not without traffic.

Let's talk about race day "Do's and Don'ts" based on my observations today.  Do wear exciting colors, people are mostly drawn to neon yellow (the kind that the cows, my running buddies, like).  Do have funny signs if you are in the crowd cheering people on, we love that.  Don't have three different flavors or Gatorade strapped around your belt for a six mile run, you'll just have to pee.  I wanted to do a top ten cool running shoes blog, but the hubs convinced me that it was creepy to walk around and ask people if I could take a picture of their shoes.

The best moment(s) of the run was first when the hubs started running really fast, and I was like, "WTF?" and ran to keep up.  This phenomenon was explained later with the quote, "I really rocked that half-mile when Ke$ha was playing."  It all began to make sense.

All in all, a worthy project for us to train and run the race. Now let's eat some of that leftover spaghetti.

Race Day part I: Pasta for me, the hubs, and 30 of our closest friends.

Race Day eve is here, and it already has been entertaining.

In preparation for the hubs and I running the Brewers' 10-K tomorrow, we are doing the standard pre-game routine: Pick up the race packets, eat our body weight in pasta, and finalize outfits and playlists.  I asked my husband if he picked out what he was wearing, and we was like, "Um, shorts? And a t-shirt?"  Bo-ring.

 

I go to pick up the packets, and make a few key observations.  First, if the lack of traffic control at packet pick-up is any indicator for the race, I am a little concerned.  Second, I got to drive behind this guy, who I could safely assume was going where I was going:

 

 

The walk to the packet pick-up was oddly long.  As I was walking I thought, well, it is for a half-marathon race so what is an extra half mile?  Well played, Brewers, well played.  While I was walking this guy totally speeds past me...walking.  Good thing that I am just running for fun because he can walk faster than I run.

 

When I got home, the hubs had made enough pasta to feed ourselves and 30 of our closest friends.  Except, it's just us.  It was delicious, and I can't wait to eat it through next Thursday.  Finally, I check the weather to make a final decision on the race day outfit, and spruce up my playlist.  Bright colors (obvi), and some bitchin' new dubstep.  At least I will look legit right up until I start running, and take a pasta-coma nap after 4 miles.

 

Wish us luck!

Milwaukee Restauranting: Wolf Peach review

Via www.wolf-peach.com

The hubs and I like to try different restaurants in the city, and I also like to pass on this information to others so you can make educated decisions for your dining experience.  Our most recent stop was at Wolf Peach restaurant near Brewers' Hill in Milwaukee, located in the old Roots restaurant location.

The décor and food is described as "rustic European," and the service style is "como viene" where they basically bring out the food as soon as it is ready, and all dishes are meant to be shared in a communal fashion.

Here is what we ordered:

• Watermelon Salad: Watermelon salad, mizuna, feta, pistachios, coriander & brown butter vinaigrette
• Fried Broccoli: Fried broccoli, parmesan, pickled jalapeño aioli
• Hawaiian Blue Marlin Sashimi: Sashimi of Hawaiian blue marlin, banana peppers, garlic oil, cilantro, grilled peaches
• Pork Sausage Wood-Fired Pizza: Pork sausage, tomatoes, mozzarella, onions, fennel, pecorino, fennel pollen

For dessert, we tried the chocolate polenta cake with salted caramel ice cream and caramel sauce and the zucchini bread french toast with a sort of fruit compote.  Both were delicious as well.  To see the full Wolf Peach menu, click here.

Overall, the food and the craft cocktails were very good, but overall the service bothered me.  The servers were nice, but there were a few key details that detracted from the experience.  First, they neglected to bring out new plates with every dish that they brought out, nor did they notice that this was an issue so I had to ask for new plates.  For example, my little plate covered in marlin sashimi and olive oil was not the appropriate spot for my pizza.  Also, I didn't like the t-shirts the servers were wearing, and they almost felt too casual.  I know that sounds minor, but we both actually picked up on the weirdness of it so I know it was not just me!  I would also note that the volume level was somewhat loud in the dining room.

I would certainly go back, but I don't feel the need to do so.  I miss Roots a little bit.

Granola-munchers unite: Pike Lake state park trails

Since it was the first day of fall here in Wisconsin (i.e. 59 degrees in July), trail hiking seemed like the perfect Saturday activity.  Preparing for the day meant long sleeves, bottled water, sunglasses, running shoes, tunes, and delicious earthy snacks.  I prefer the Simply Trail variety by Archer Farms, in a smiley face container of course.

Today's destination for the hubs and I was the brown trail at Pike Lake state park near Slinger, WI.  We felt a little bad for driving there since it is so close, but figured it was our civic duty to fork over the money for a state park pass anyways.  As we got started on the trail jogging, I couldn't help but imagine that I looked like a felt like a character from the Troop Beverly Hills movie:

Via zeebox.com

My other thought was, "I can't wait to find out which one of us takes a digger first."  It was not me.  I told the hubs that I was laughing "with" him, not at him.  The red spot in the middle is where he bit it.

One of the high points of the Pike Lake trails (pun intended) is the nice lookout tower on the top of Powder Hill.   You can see the lake (below), farms, the countryside, and Holy Hill in the horizon.  I hope my butt looks better after all of those stairs.

After a mid-trail break to rehydrate, make fun of high schoolers, and eat some trail mix, we continued on our path.  At this point the landscape was looking eerily like the Hunger Games (maybe we were just getting tired) and we kept each other amused by me shouting at the hubs, "That's nightlock, Peeta!" and by him doing his usual interpretive dance hand movements to whatever rap music he is listening to on his iPod.  For example, giving "toot toot" and "beep beep" hand motions for "Remix to Ignition" by R. Kelly.  I like to try and guess what  he is listening to by his interpretive dance hand motions.  Since I like to soundtrack my life, I felt like my usual running playlist was not a fit for the woodsy nature I was in, so today's hike was soundtracked by Bon Iver's self-titled second album.

Via treeswingers.com

Finally we made it back to the car after some slight detouring, as apparently we have a difficult time following colored stakes.  We decided that we wouldn't last long on Survivor with our lack of direction and my interest in eating snacks every 45 minutes, and mostly because we couldn't find our way out of a paper bag.  Ah tired legs, it's nap time.

The best of macaroni and cheese: Milwaukee edition

Honeypie mac and cheese, photo by Benny Sieu, via JS Online

I have always loved mac and cheese as my favorite food since I was a kid, and I am so glad that it is fashionable for restaurants to have mac and cheese on the menu.  As a result, I have eaten mac and cheese at every restaurant I have been to that serves it.  And there are a lot of them.

Here are a few tips for you if you are out on a similar mission to try all of the delicious mac and cheese in the world.  First, if it is on the kids menu, don’t bother.  Kids menu is code for they don’t care what it tastes like, so order something else.  Second, the noodles have to be cooked correctly as in not overcooked.  Finally, the best mac and cheeses usually have some or all of the following components:

·         Cheddar or another strong flavored cheese: Blue cheese, sharp cheddar, and gouda are all options.  Too many mac and cheeses don’t make the cut because the cheese does not have enough flavor.

·         Creamy base sauce: A good béchamel sauce is critical.  Stop serving me just cheese and noodles, it doesn’t work.

·         Bread crumbs: The textural difference with some seasoned bread crumbs really brings the dish together, does it not?

Here are a few of my favorites from around the city of Milwaukee.  Try them out when you are around town, and please, tell me of any new ones you come across!

Triskele’s – This is one of the more popular responses when people in Milwaukee are asked about the best mac and cheese.  They offer build-your-own mac and cheese, so if it isn’t as good as you hope, it is probably your own fault.

Honeypie – My favorite one, I think (pictured above).  It is hard to say without trying them all side by side, but it is amazing.  It has many of the success factors in mac and cheese, like cheddar, a cheesy base sauce, bacon, and crispy bread crumbs.

 

Comet – Beefy or add ham and peas, or of course bacon.  Everything at Comet is incredible, and available with bacon.  Plus, I love the cute owners.

Smoke Shack – Best side dish ever with the best BBQ meat ever.  Go early in the afternoon so that you don’t miss out on the best options on the menu, because they run out.  And don’t wear silk or other clothes that are ruined once you spill barbeque sauce on yourself.

Balzac – I know not everyone might agree with me, but this is a winning dish at Balzac.  Get some wine, some mac and cheese, and plan to hang for a while because the service is mediocre.

Ginger Tapas Bar – Rosemary mac and cheese is a good choice from the tapas menu here, and add chicken if you are wild like that.  Make sure you also get one of their delicious cocktails.

Ian’s Pizza – Mac and cheese pizza is a carb addict’s drug.  Even better at 1:00 a.m., but still delicious sober.  This is not the case for all pizza.  Good for both Milwaukee and Madison late might outings.

Running: Not meant for sausage legs

 

So, no, I am not naturally a runner.  I naturally have little sausage legs that don't move very fast.  Nevertheless, I am not someone to miss out on something because I don't think the sausage legs can keep up, I just have to work harder.

In line with my only real addiction (i.e. overbooking my time), I decided a few summers ago that since I had just switched positions at work, was working on school and planning a wedding, naturally that was the best time to train for a half-marathon.  Sausage legs, activate!

I started training by my house, which is a lovely place to run, and made good friends with the dairy cows and the farmer that I run by every day.  He makes a point to stop what he is doing every time and give me a big long wave.  The cows really like it when I wear yellow, they always start following me when I wear that color.  As the distances started getting longer though, and hills are like kryptonite to me, I discovered that I couldn't really run further than about 6 miles without being eaten alive by the hills of the kettle moraine landscape.  I forgot to mention that I REFUSE to run the same area more than twice, once going and once returning.  I can only do it if I trick myself that I am only running 2-3 miles (out), and then just have to go home (back).

I trained my long runs on the exact trail my race would be on, the Eisenbahn state trail in West Bend, which is nice but I did miss the cows.  At any rate, it was nice on race day that I knew what I was heading towards.

 

I discovered that although I am not really built for running, it was an important part of my day to clear my head, work through a problem, get out some frustration, or just go visit my bovine friends.  Luckily, I have some runner friends, and they always helped provide some motivation.  I made the most incredible running playlist that even matched up with my walk breaks and included a song that reminded me of every friend who was a runner so that it motivated me when it came on (e.g. see soundtracking your life).  I have no idea what my race time was for the half-marathon, but I felt great the entire time, which was the only goal.

 

My husband and I signed up for a 10k this summer finally, which is not as long of a distance, but still requires some attention to training so I don't die the minute the running course hands me an incline any bigger than my driveway.  Since I never run in a really great routine without a commitment for a race, I am enjoying getting back on the road regularly to run and clear my head.  The cows missed me.



Weekenders: Summer weekend bucket list

Everybody is working for the weekend, particularly the sunny, summer ones that are currently upon us.  Here are my very best ideas for a summer weekend bucket list.

• Brunch: Don't go too early, because it is the weekend and going early would just qualify it as breakfast.  Make sure there is good coffee and plenty of time to sit, hopefully on a patio with bistro chairs.  Le Reve, Café Benelux, and Blue's Egg are my favorites, but here is a full list.
• Farmers' market: I like to buy vegetables that I never make at home normally so that I am forced to do something with them.  Like, beets.  Find one around Milwaukee here.
• State parks: Wisconsin state parks and trails are awesome, as all of you granola-munchers out there can confirm.  Check out some ideas from this recent Milwaukee Magazine article - Best Trails.
• Camp fires:  I prefer to make fancy s'mores, like strawberry and banana, nutella, or peanut butter chocolate.  Make sure you get those giant marshmallows that are better served on a double graham cracker.  Patience is a virtue for those monsters.
• Pools and boats:  Make new friends that have pools and boats.  No explanation needed, you know what to do.  You supply the beer, they supply the fun.
• Go country:  Pull out your inner redneck, put on a funny outfit, and do something country.  Such as visit the race speedway, or a country music festival complete with camping.  Then, tuck those denim shorts back in the closet for another year, because that is probably enough.  The phrase is "a little bit country," not a lot, so keep it classy.
• Summer beer flight:  Try all the tasty summer ales before they are gone for another winter!  Sam Adams Summer Ale, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, Lakefront Brewery Wisconsinite, and PBR in a brown paper bag.  Let's be real... the PBR is a year-round delight.

Drink Wisconsinbly

 

Ahh, summer.  The best time of year in Wisconsin where there are always outdoor festivals where local denizens find any reason at all to wander around and drink beer in the streets.  However, the locals know that there is more to do than just Summerfest in town.  Here are a few of my favorites if you are looking for something to do.

• June, Locust Street Festival of Music and Art: This street festival is in one of the most colorful neighborhoods of Milwaukee in River West and includes an amazing 1.8k beer run with beer instead of water to rehydrate and a great selection of reggae, blues, brass band, and other eclectic music.  Check out the casual side of MKE.

• July, Bastille Days: Complete with beignets, mimes, and a fun 5k night run called "Storm the Bastille."  Best food and unique music in the city on Cathedral Square in downtown Milwaukee.  We prefer to dress as Frenchmen before running through the streets.

• August, Lebowski Fest Milwaukee: This is a festival that actually is available across the country, and I am so excited to try it for the first time this year in August.  Where else can you get a movie screening, bowling, and white Russians all in one place?  Exactly.

Poster by Bill Green

While these are some unique favorites, there are amazing festivals for nearly every local ethnicity and church in the area.  If you just want some good local food and music, you can find a festival any weekend!  For more information on some MKE festivals, click here: Milwaukee Festival Guide, 2013