'Cheese Country' aka Wisconsin

The next day while spending the first daylight hours in Wisconsin we drove out of Madison. The first stop we made was because we thought Tom-Tom was pointing us to a Cracker Barrel, but it turns out he wanted us to turn around and go to the last town. So, already being off the interstate we decided to stop anyway, at a little cheese shop.

We went in and bought some cheese (and chees-y gifts, hehehe), took some pictures with Bessie the cow and took a little break from the drive. After the cheese shop we drove down to a small family restaurant to grab some breakfast before driving again.

On the way across we made our way to the Wisconsin Dells and couldn't help stopping to play some mini golf! Don't ask Tim about the results, he's still a bit sore about being beat by a girl! Hehehe. :)


The road from there led us across the Mississippi and into Minnesota, over to a relative that Mom wanted us to meet. It was Ruth Ellen and she lived in Austin, MN (the home of the SPAM museum). We unfortunately got there too late to attend the SPAM museum but got there with just enough time to get to know Ruth Ellen. Ruth Ellen knew my Grandfather's family while he was growing up, he used to wear her dresses while great-grandpa was starting the Mayo clinic in MN.

After leaving Mary Ellen's house we made our way up to Minneapolis/St. Paul to meet up with a fellow CIA grad I haven't seen in over 5 years. He, Alex, had just returned home three days prior from bumming and bicycling all over Asia for the past year! Oh, so jealous!

We did a bit of restaurant/bar hopping around the area and met some of his friends in the area. Later in the evening we left and got a hotel room in the area on the way out of town, for a quick egress in the morning.

Outside of Bloomington...really?

...You mean we're not going back...? We really made it out of Bloomington? I was out. Free. I could live my life again. Whew. The first night we made it to Madison, Wisconsin. Neither of us had been to Wisconsin and were both pleasantly surprised at how nice it was there. Madison is a very nice little city on a lake.

Using the Tom-Tom that Tim's parents had graciously sent him for this trip we navigated to a restaurant called Harvest, recommended by Alan. It's a small restaurant using non other than local, sustainable ingredients like most all restaurants these days. It was a great dinner. Maybe it was because of the company, or the fact that it was Saturday and I wasn't working, or maybe it was the good food but I had a really nice time.

After that dinner I finally started to realize that Tim was there to drive with me back to Oregon. It was hitting me. We weren't just going away for the weekend to turn around and go back to Bloomington... It was all starting to sink in. We had an ADVENTURE ahead of us! WOOHOO!! Oregon here we come. A week of driving wherever we wanted to go - so long as we didn't get sick of each other along the way! :) hehehehe.




Oh yeah...Bacon. Hehehe. Dave sent a slab of bacon back with us to my Dad because he knew how much he loved his bacon. So, we decided to play a little game with Bacon. That's his name 'Bacon', got really creative with that one. Here's the plan: we were going to dress him up and take pictures of him crossing the country, sending various pictures to Dave as Bacon traveled. Kind of like the Expedia gnome. ;) Hehehe. Here's where I would add that "I'm such a dork". But Tim willingly played along so I'm going to have to say that we are both pretty strange. :)

Indiana in the Rear View Mirror

So my time had come to leave Indiana. The west coast, the ocean, and the mountians had been pulling me back since I had arrived in the dead-flat, ocean-less Mid West. Tim arrived on Thursday, November 8th (!) so I went up to Indy to pick him up, he didn't know I was coming and he was nicely surprised. ;)

That night we got all dressed up for fun and went to dinner at Tallent. The next day we packed up, went to the Chocolate Moose (a Bloomington must for any visitors) one last time, ran some errands, (had way too much fun in the Walmart camping/survival section) then later went out with Alan and Emily. On Saturday, we woke early and met Alan, Dave, and Krissy at the Farmer's Market and from there we headed back to Tallent to cook some breakfast.

Dave and Krissy cooked while Tim, Alan, and myself sat and talked. Breakfast was great and it was really good to have all of us together for a send off breakfast. But, we didn't have too long to dilly-dally because the car still needed to be packed up.

So Tim and I said our goodbyes and went on our way, packed up the car. Threw out what wouldn't fit in the back of my Subaru, and we were on our way. I needed to get out of Indiana. It was not a good place for me. When we were leaving I was having feelings of regret. Regrets that I was doing the wrong thing, giving up on a job. But, Tim kept reminding me just how much it was running me down and had changed who I was in just three months time. Imagine what I would be like after the year I was supposed to stay.

The further we got from Bloomington, the better I got...

Stag's Leap Tasting Dinner - December 5th

Restaurant Tallent is teaming with Stag's Leap to do a tasting of wine and food on December 5th. Anyone interested should contact and sign up, the cost is onlny $80 for a 6 course, wine paired, wonderful dinner. This is the planned menu for the evening.

Restaurant Tallent and
Stag's Leap Winery Dinner
December 5, 2007


Hors d' Oeuvres at 6:30
Stag's Leap Winery Amparo Rose, Napa, 2006


Lemon, Black Pepper, and Peekytoe Crab Risotto
Stag's Leap Winery Viognier, Napa, 2006


Pancetta Wrapped Rabbit Loin with Truffled Rabbit Cannelloni
and Wild Mushroom Ragout
Stag's Leap Winery Merlot, Napa, 2004


Pan Roasted Pacific Coast Sturgeon with Braised Pork Belly and
Black Currant Sauce
Stag's Leap "The Leap" Cabernet, Napa, 2002


Spice Crusted Elk Loin with Braised Elk and Fingerling Potato Hash,
Brussel Sprouts and Chestnuts, Foie Gras Bordelaise
Stag's Leap Petite Syrah, Napa, 2004


Tarte Tropezienne with Citrus and Vanilla
Beringer "Nightingale", Napa, 2003

Barton Seaver, Watching Over The Kitchen...

So Barton, in his race for 'rock and roll' status, in the food industry is now in Henkel's adds. The add was brought to my attention by Dave who brought in the magazine it was in. I posted the picture up near Dave's station for his inspiration (and as a joke). Barton moved his way to the paper towel dispenser where one of the kitchen staff decided to write "He's Dreamy" and little hearts all around. I couldn't help taking a picture of the Barton that looks over our kitchen for all of our continued inspiration.

Soup Tasting

Dave was in the Soup Tasting event at the Bloomington Farmer's Market this weekend. It was an event sponsored by Slow Food, free to those who want to stop and taste some seasonal soups from local restaurant chefs. Our soup was made from local chestnuts, all scored and peeled by our kitchen's hands. :) We peeled them all and froze them in anticipation for this event.

Our soup was a Chestnut and Pancetta (House-Made) Soup with Persimmon Bread Croutons

We had so many people asking for the recipe, but we just really have a method of how it was done.

Pancetta - rendered and pulled out for crispy garnish
Onions, Carrots, Parsnips and Chestnuts - cooked in the pancetta fat
Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic, Shallot - added for flavor
Apple Cider, Brown Duck Stock, Water - liquid it was cooked in
The soup was then cooked for about 45 minutes, pureed, passed through a fine mesh sieve. Then finished with a little heavy cream.

The croutons were pan fried in local farm butter. The bread was made with local persimmons that we again, passed our selves during the season and froze the puree.

Just so people didn't think this was in anyway vegetarian Dave wore his "Meat is Neat" shirt. :)

Daily Specials #7

November 1-2, 2007:

Amuse Bouche:
Beef Carpaccio, Caramelized Onions, Creole Mustard Sauce on a Crostini


Vegetarian Entree:
Saffron Braised Fennel and Leeks (Braised in Veg. Stock and Saffron), White Bean Puree Ravioli, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (braising liquid puree with roasted red peppers)


Fish Entree:
Pan Roasted Barramundi, Rabbit and Black Trumpet Ragu, Bacon Vinaigrette