just say no

i know i am beyond passionate about this topic, but the importance of this particular subject cannot be downplayed. this is critical. we need to take control of our food supply NOW, before it is too late. even if you do not buy organic and have no plans to, you must understand the legislature that is threatening to take away that choice, and to force unresearched and harmful un-foods upon us.

i don't expect everyone to become a champion of local, organic, and beyond organic farming. but i cannot stand ignorance. it is the irresponsibility of ignorance that allows monsanto and others to foist this poison on our population. EDUCATE YOURSELF!

please watch this video.

then please TAKE ACTION and contact your congressmen and senators.

more information on GMOs and their harmful effects:

Monsanto's GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure

Failure to Yield: their investigation into the biotechnology industry's claims that GM will produce higher yields

GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health

GMOs are killing the Bees

Gone to Seed: investigation into contamination of traditional seeds by Genetically Engineered crops

Patent for a Pig

Killing off our farmers

Union Of Concerned Scientists have some excellent reports and resources

maxie's southern comfort: take two

last night, after bryan and i went to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum (which we highly recommend seeing, by the way), we headed over to Maxie's Southern Comfort for dinner and a drink. sadly, our experience was not as good as my last one.

as before, the service was great. the staff is quick, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu. the hostess (or is she the manager?) knows her job is to make everyone feel like they know you there, and she does her job very, very well (and none of it seems forced). she absolutely adds extra points to the whole experience.

we sat in the upstairs lounge for a few minutes while we waited for a table, and ordered drinks. i ordered the maker's mark mint julep, and bryan ordered the bloody mary. my julep had a lot of mint in it, but it wasn't muddled at all, so it didn't taste at all minty. but i really didn't mind much, since i love bourbon. god, i really love bourbon. it's just so dang yummy. anyways. bryan enjoyed his bloody mary quite a bit as well.

when we got to our table, we immediately were presented with corn bread and whipped butter (which has a hint of... orange?... in it). not shabby, but mine is better. mine is pretty rockin', though, so it's kind of an unfair comparison. (bryan says the only place to get better cornbread than mine is daddy d'z, and they have a secret recipe, and we're pretty sure they don't bake their bread, but rather somehow cook it just near the smoker through, perhaps, magic. that stuff is like candy, at least in my memory.)

one of the appetizer specials that evening was chicken chips - fried chicken skin, as made famous by Top Chef contestant Kevin Gillespie. when bryan saw kevin do it, he immediately wanted to try it. his version didn't come out quite right, but we later found the recipe, though we haven't tried recreating it at home again yet. so when we had the opportunity to try it last night, of course we had to. yummy. not quite as good as rendered pork fat, but really, what is? they served the chicken chips with some kind of sweet, thick vinaigrette-y type of sauce, which didn't do much for me. bryan was on cloud 9 though. (and on the way out, the hostess was joking that the chicken chips were good for you, and don't worry about the fat... she obviously doesn't know us. we have no problems with fat, thank you very much. i'll hide pork fat from my dinner guests and eat it myself, i'm that possessive and mean.)

sadly, our entrees were far less delicious. they weren't bad, they were just... not fully there.

bryan had the Pulled Pork Plate: eastern north carolina-style, creamy slaw, bbq beans. while the pork was very tender and nicely smokey, they either forgot to put the vinegar sauce on, or aren't too clear on how to make a vinegar sauce. there was no sweet, no hot, no vinegar tang. the pork was, well, watery. like it had been sitting in a steam tray full of water. which, it probably was, and we understand why, but... there's a better way to serve that. the creamy slaw wasn't very good either. the sauce just lacked flavor, completely. and the cabbage tasted a little old. i understand it's january in wisconsin, it's probably cold storage cabbage, but then, come up with a better option to dress it. bryan did enjoy the beans, however. he also ordered a side of their maple collard greens. if you've ever seen a raw collard green leaf, you know those suckers have to be cooked a looooong time. they are tough. i'm pretty sure you cold thatch a roof with raw collards. unfortunately, these were not cooked long enough, and were still a little too tough. and the the maple, though seemingly a good idea, didn't work, bryan said.

i ordered the Blackened Catfish Po'Boy w/ tartar sauce. it came with cajun fries (seasoned waffle fries). blackened fish is usually coated in a heavy seasoning - the spices are what blacken. while there was blackened something on the fish, i'm not sure it was spices. the fish just completely lacked flavor. it was tender, it was moist - but it was flavorless. as was the tartar sauce (mayo mixed with pickle, red pepper, and capers) - all you could taste was mayo. i'd much rather have a traditional remoulade. there were tomatoes on the sandwich, which is a traditional addition, but really - tomatoes, in wisconsin in january? just leave them off. we won't miss them. the fries were good - very nicely seasoned, which just highlighted the lack of flavor in the sandwich. i didn't eat 2/3 of the sandwich. there was just no point. i like to think i make a mean po'boy, so maybe i was over critical, but i don't think i was (bryan validated that the fish just had zero flavor - which is just so odd for anything blackened!).

we got everything wrapped up to go, hoping we may be able to salvage the leftovers at home.

i'm not ready to give up on this place yet. the beef brisket was really good last time, and i'm willing to try a few more things on the menu. i'm fully willing to admit that maybe i just want to like this place. maybe i just want a place that reminds me of atlanta. maybe i just want more of that beef brisket. if anything, i can at least count on getting a nice glass of bourbon there.

anthony bourdain: LIVE

when bryan and i learned tony bourdain would be coming to milwaukee, we knew we had to see him. we've been fans since a cook's tour, we watch no reservations, count his les halles cookbook among our favorites (steak frites and pork roast in milk, need i say more?), and of course own kitchen confidential, a cook's tour, and the nasty bits. in our house, he is referred to simply as "tony". (much in the way julia child is simply "julia". shut up, we're totally on a first name basis with our idols cum imagined mentors). this is all to say - we're big fans.

so last night we took ourselves downtown to the riverside theater to see him. i've been to a good number of shows in my time, to see people i consider myself a die hard fan of. but there are very few people who have given me chills and taken my breath away to see walk out on stage (eddie izzard is one; probably the first time i saw ani difranco, and absolutely nick cave). i wasn't expecting it with tony bourdain, but it happened. he is someone i greatly respect for his cooking, for how this travels shape a unique and inspiring world view, and for his writing, the tool with which he inspires.

we had some initial sound problems, but 3 or 4 microphones later, we were well on our way into a good show. he spoke about traveling, about eating, about family. he made fun of rachel ray, the food network, and sandra lee. he is a very entertaining speaker, and it is obvious that he regards his success with no small amount of humility and thankfulness.

he did speak very briefly about organics/sustainable farming. he has said in the past, in writing, that he doesn't care where it comes from or how it was grown - as long as it tastes good, he'll be eating it. and he still believes that to a certain degree. but he did say that in the past few years, he has learned more about the way our food is grown and raised, and that he no longer feels one can responsibly ignore what is happening with the food supply in our country. i got the impression he felt it was less important to eat local/organic, as it is incredulous that our food supply may be making us sick. his point was that he should be able to walk into a grocery store and not be afraid to buy anything. that what we are sold as food should only be food. and that it should be affordable. so i think we have the same end goal, perhaps slightly different paths. though he did freely admit that his daughter eats nothing but organic.

after his talk, he took some questions from the audience, the majority of which were wasted on really lame questions (about 5 girls asked if he would go out drinking with them after the show).

after the show, bryan and i stopped in john hawks pub for some extremely disappointing cocktails. we ducked in there since it was next to the theater, and bryan had previously enjoyed a nice lunch there. it's a rather depressing pub - bright fluorescent lights, no ambiance. bryan had a watered down martini, and i had an overly sweet and altogether terrible bourbon old fashioned. that's what we get for being lame and not knowing any good dive bars downtown.

restaurant review: Maxie's Southern Comfort

dad took me to Maxie's Southern Comfort for my birthday dinner. this is another place bryan and i have been wanting to try, but never got around to.

the first thing to know about this place is that they don't accept reservations for parties under 8 people. they do, however, have a "wait list" - you can call up to 30 minutes in advance to put your name in. if you're old like me, that's not a problem when eating dinner before 6:30pm, though. i had called around 6 and arrived shortly before 6:30 and were seated immediately. most tables were empty. it did fill up by the time we left around 8pm, however.

dad and i both had the bbq beef brisket special. smoked beef brisket with bbq sauce; french fries (which i dipped in cajun mayo); baked beans (which i sub'd out for their white cheddar mac n cheese); and a winter greens salad with fresh corn, tomatoes, and red onions. holy lord. i don't know if the brisket was just that good, or if i just miss Rolling Bones that much, but i almost cried with that first bite of brisket. tender, smokey, covered in sauce as tangy as i like it - it was perfect. i subsequently ate way too much of it. the fries were great too - quite obviously real potatoes, and so nice dipped into the spicy cajun mayo. the mac n cheese was probably the only disappointing part of the meal. i like my cheddar to have a bit of a bite, and this had none. the sauce was a little gloppy as well - a bit too heavy on the roux. the salad was fine; nothing special, and it felt a little disconnected from the meal flavor wise. for dessert i had the marquis cake, which is chocolate cake with chocolate mousse layers and chocolate ganache frosting. sadly, it sounds a lot better than it was - in reality, it was pretty flavorless.

bryan was lucky enough that i had *plenty* of leftovers, even after stuffing myself silly. i can't wait to go back here with bryan.

restaurant review: Ristorante Bartolotta

bryan took me to Ristorante Bartolotta for my birthday. we had been wanting to go for some time, so we were thrilled to finally do so. we've been to Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro in the past, so we had high expectations. for the most part, they did not disappoint.

we started with the Carpaccio di Manzo alla Veneta (Hand-sliced beef tenderloin with arugula, shaved red onion,curls of Grana Padano, capers and Venetian aioli). since it is raw beef, i had a few moments where i had a hard time with the texture, but the flavors were great, and the beef was very tender.

i then had the Misticanza di Campo salad (Chef mix of bitter sweet field greens and seasonal vegetables with a light drizzle of vinegar, olive oil and Sicilian sea salt from Trapani), which was simple but a nice salad.

we shared an order of the Ravioli di Magro al Burro Nociola Tartufato (House made ravioli filled with truffled-ricotta and spinach, topped with Grana and brown butter). this was absolutely the star of the meal for me. so good in every way. i want more.

bryan had the Grigliata Mista di Mare (A seaside style assortment of grilled seafood; shrimp, scallops, baby octopus, mussels and our fish of the day, with spinach, lemon and olive oil). it was a massive amount of seafood! bryan liked it very much.

i had the Braciola di Maiale al Marsala (Grilled bone-in pork chop with sauteed mushrooms, roasted potatoes and Marsala wine pan sauce). i was a little disappointed in this. the sauce was over salted, so was unpleasant because of the saltiness, but it also over powered the mushrooms because of it. i think the pork chop could have been a little more rare for me, but it wasn't bad. the potatoes were a little underdone for my tastes. not horrible overall, but disappointing to me.

we managed to squeeze in tiramisu for dessert before heading over to Cafe Hollander for some belgian beers.

of course, the service was excellent.

we'll definitely be back. i'd like to try another meal before passing final judgment on the place. i'd like to take hannah in the summer for a pasta course. i think she'd very much enjoy that.

shout out: booze and chocolate from the burp blog

big thanks to the fredrichs for the delicious brandy soaked chocolate covered cherries. angels sang and time stopped, so they were a perfect interlude to a lovely saturday afternoon! bryan will bring you some special treats at the next market on the 9th. :)

food project: homemade marshmallows

one thing bryan and i like to do each year is food gifts for christmas, so i decided to make marshmallows. hannah and i had made some last year, and they were freakin' phenomenal - rich, creamy, fluffy - 10,000x better than store bought.

this year, i used this recipe (and for those of you without a candy thermometer, look at the 2nd recipe on the page, near the bottom, on the right).

the basic concept is unflavored gelatin and water:


mixed with a cooked mixture of sugar, corn syrup, and water:


and beaten until hugely fluffy (my only real advice to you during this process is do not smell the mixture until it is white and fluffy. trust me.). you can add vanilla (i upped the amount called for in the recipe to 2 1/2 tsp). spread it in a prepared pan (lined with oiled foil or plastic wrap).


once they've had a few hours to set, dump them out onto powdered sugar and cut; roll each one in powdered sugar. this is very sticky business (literally - these things are insanely sticky). my recommendation is to use kitchen shears to snip them into strips, then roll the strips in powdered sugar, then cut them into cubes. it took me about 90 minutes of painfully tedious cutting before i figured out rolling the whole strips in the sugar made things go way faster.


i also made peppermint ones, with peppermint extract (i used 1 tsp vanilla and 1 - 1/2 tsp peppermint). oh yeah, i know that sounds good in hot chocolate, right?! i wanted them to not be plain white like the others, so i mixed red food coloring into a small bit of the marshmallows, then swirled that into the white.



and that's it! it's really simple. and so delicious. so all you lucky folks out there who are receiving a package in the mail from us - open it, quickly. there are marshmallows in there!