Wisconsin Love Affair #2: Hook's 15-Year Cheddar

I hit a giant and stupid wall of writer's block just a little while ago, while at the same time being unable to figure out how to transfer some pictures from my Google+ affected Picasa account to my stupid desktop. So annoying. It was a really frustrating moment, so instead of throwing my computer on the ground and screaming, I decided to stop myself and close that blog window. Totally not worth it.

Disclaimer: Before I decided to chill the hell out, I angrily deleted my stupid Google+ profile and my Picasa albums were once again perfect and usable. Stupid Google+. What's the point? I actually like facebook. Yesterday an old co-worker found a stray dog near her house and posted a picture, then a few of us in the neighborhood reposted, and THEN the dog's owner saw it and went and got his dog back! Internet! FACEBOOK! Tomorrow, I probably won't care, but for now, giant sucks to Google+ and applause for facebook.

Anyhow. Instead of making myself crazy by trying to finish the other thing I was writing, I decided to take a break...by posting a blog. Whaaaa?! Relax - it's another blog of food pictures. You should be used to this by now. For Christmas this year, my lovely boyfriend got me some beautiful, thoughtful, and amazing gifts. As we were exchanging a couple of days before Christmas, he confessed that he was nervous he'd gotten me too many food-related gifts. Immediately after, he handed me these:

That would be ice wine and Hook's 15-year cheddar cheese, made right here in Wisconsin. Holy crap, boyfriend. Holy crap.

You should definitely take the time to read about both the wine and the cheese, because they're both very unique and wonderful, and I've been talking about them for months, apparently (maybe I was subtly hinting at what I wanted as a gift, eh?). Honestly, I haven't tried the wine yet, but I have tried the cheese. Oh lord, have I tried the cheese. Andy and I rang in the popular holiday of December 31st at midnight by opening the cheese and sampling some. And it was amazing.

He cuts things very carefully.








We ate it plain, off the cutting board. Andy went through a lot of emotions, including disbelief...

"I need a rest..."

And, finally, peacefulness.
I think he nearly cried at one point. I just kept repeating "I'm so happy! I'm SO happy!" By the by, he's wearing his swimming trunks because it was really hot in my apartment.

What a bunch of nerds, eh?

Ireland #1: We Are Home

I wrote a ton in Ireland and Italy, and although I wasn't able to publish any blogs because of the lack of technology, I saved 'em all up in a notebook and will publish them over the next couple of weeks.

Perfect timing is rolling up to Burke St. (after a 7 hour flight followed by a 2 hour layover followed by a 2 hour flight followed by a 2 1/2 hour drive) and within seconds of stepping out of the car, hearing a familiar voice screaming "Lou!" (my mom's name in Ireland, pronounced like LEW). "Cuz! Hey cuz!" It's Ian, wonderful cousin Ian, who is getting married in five days. He is accompanied by two men who are each carrying a bag of freshly fried chips and cradling them to their chests as if they were holding babies. The three are trashed, smiling and laughing, and a beautiful sight for my bleary, dry, and yes, sore eyes. So happy these guys were here to meet us.

Ian embraces me and lifts me off the ground as he launches into his lightning-fast and often hard to understand exclamations about how he's nearly shitting himself about the upcoming wedding. He offers to help with our bags, and he and his friends go ahead and carry our suitcases up the narrow staircase of my great-grandmothers house; 13 steps to the second floor, 13 more to the third, on a staircase no wider than 2 1/2 feet. I hear MJ (who I will soon learn is "the funny one") shouting "how many fecking floors does this fecking house have?!" He nicknames it Fawlty Towers.

At this point, it's about 12:15 am and we hear a knock on the window of the first floor living room. It's Ian's father, my uncle Michael, who "heard something" (i.e. his son screaming in the street) from his house three doors up the road. Everybody is chatting, laughing, hugging, offering tea. MJ asks if we need a trip to the pub. I look around at the bright faces and smiles and I feel my heart surge - I know we are home.

This is Ian. Love you, Cuz!


Aaaaannnd this is MJ and Christie, the bag-carriers:

New Glarus Two Women: Our First Ever Joint Blog

Recognize these two? No, you say? Oh, that's just us, Sarah and Reem, out for some beers at the New Glarus Brewery on a beautiful, sunny day. If you've met us before, you probably know that we cause quite a scene wherever we go, and today was no different. In fact, we were such a hit today at the brewery that they created and named a beer after us! It's called, duh, Two Women. Two fine women, I might add!
We found ourselves in the Tasting Room of the New Glarus Brewery. As you can see, there were a lot of white people here.
Thanks for setting the stage, Reem. In the tasting room we each got a wrist band with 3 tickets attached, each for a "taste". Quite a deal - $3.50 for 3-3oz. glasses. And you get to keep the glass!
Our first sample was Cabin Fever, a honey Bock. It is brewed with Wisconsin barley along with European hops. I found it to be a light, crisp, pleasant lager. Reem noted, "The mouthfeel is nosy. I detect hints of honey and Bock."
Here we have Sarah looking adorable and knowledgeable, taking notes on the various beers we sampled.
And here's me, being a total jerk.
Like I said before, New Glarus Two Women. I imagine this is the moment at which the official brewers decided they needed to document this magnificent day by way of alcohol. Good choice, brewers!
Here we are 'sitting in our storm, drinking a toast to the slim chance of love's recovery'. Whoops, there may have been some Indigo Girls on at some point. Anyways, our next selection was Moon Man- a Pale Ale, and Fat Squirrel - a nut brown ale.
The Moon Man was delicious. New Glarus's description is funny - the "bold blend of five hops flirt obligingly with the smooth malty backside". But it's true!! Hey Sarah - THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!!!
I suppose I'm being pensive about this one. And enjoying its tasty citrus hops and well-balanced character.
There they are! Moon Man on the left, Fat Squirrel on the right.
Reem was not so much a fan of the Fat Squirrel. Me neither. Generally brown ales are a little boring to me. It had a strong caramel maltiness to it; and is described as having hazelnut notes.
But, as Reem wrote, "Sarah said all this stuff about hazelnuts and caramel. So I was expecting dessert. I was thusly surprised and disappointed to discover that it just tasted like beer."

Okay, so our last two were the Golden Ale: R & D Edition and the Wisconsin Belgian Red Cherry Ale. The Golden Ale was a limited edition, but you can get the cherry one anytime. Sarah wrote about the ale: "slightly strong, soap-y, spices." Well, at least I think she wrote that; her writing is atrocious! JK, guys. We're still BFF. Here's what I wrote: "It smells like one thing and tastes like a different thing. Also, I didn't think about soap until Sarah said 'soap,' so now all I can taste is soap. Thanks a lot, Sarah."
The cherry ale, on the other hand, was pretty delicious and completely non-soapy! Sarah's words: "Gorgeous. Red head. Cherries. Tart. Friendship." I couldn't agree more, Sarah! My words: "Now you're talkin'! Sarah is being a TOTAL nerd right now. Oh man."
After enjoying our samples we explored the brewery. They had bowls of hops and malts. One could smell and touch. Perhaps even taste, if one was to be that bold.
Reem smelling the nuggets of hop goodness.
The outside of the brewery is real pretty.
There was a beer store. We made some purchases.
There were also some funny signs up around the brewery. You know, about things like yeast. And there were some cute gentlemen working. We noticed that Sarah was really interested in the beers and I was really interested in the BOYS! Am I right, gals?!?!?!
Giant bottle cap! Wah Wah.
This is a true fact.

Overall, this was a fun visit to a fantastic Wisconsin brewery. And yes we scored the beers.

Sarah: Reem:

Cabin Fever: B Cabin Fever: Pass (at least it didn't fail)

Moon Man: A Moon Man: A+++

Fat Squirrel: B- Fat Squirrel: F-

Golden Ale: C Golden Ale: F-

WI Belgian Red: A+ WI Belgian Red: A++++

Hey 2010, You Were Pretty Great.

Almost Nude Year, eh? Usually I do this whole Year in Review thing at the end of the year - or, I guess, in the beginning of the next year because I'm a slacker at times. In the past, I've filled out a survey of questions, as well as going through my goals/thoughts from the previous year and assessing where I'm at with them. Man, that all seems so boring to me right now! Frankly, 2010 was an effing good year. I say that despite tragedy, sadness, scariness, health stuff, funerals, hospitals, and very anxious drives between states, among other things. Really, the year was quite tumultuous. But nevertheless, there was some really good stuff this year. Stuff that makes me feel better and happier and healthier than I have in my entire life. Stuff that I feel confident will continue in the coming new year.

But let's not get too serious here. Going in to all that would require hours and patience and probably some booze. And frankly, I have some houseguests and a lot of things to eat and drink, so let's not do that. Instead, let's look at the year in pictures. Here are some glimpses of some of my favorite moments of this past year:

New Years 2009 - 2010. So smart. Until all the booze froze.

Madison skyline, taken by Helen. I've come to love it so much.

Trip to Florida with my oldest friends, Gina and Sherin, and their husbands. Husbands are great when they love your best friends as much as they do.

Dipping my feet in the water; necessary for a mid-Jauary-suffering Wisconsinite.

Dad makes juice while Father Paddy cuts bread. Much love to these two men.

First daffodils of the year.

Genia cooks me a beautiful dinner.

Meeting the parents in Milwaukee. Doing nothing more than walking around and taking pictures and laughing.

Emil and Mladenka visit Wisconsin and we go to Devil's Lake.

Remembering Love in New Orleans.

Genia and Helen with Smokey Johnson. Total OG.

The grand opening of the National Mustard Museum with Lynn and Jess. We met the "Duchesse" herself!

Emil and I on our sibling date. He takes me to eat what I think was the best sandwich ever. Seriously, like ranked #1. This is a big deal. His was called Hide the Salami. Please ask him about it.

Alex comes to visit. We spend time with caterpillars and Dr. Evermore. He's a gentle soul, this Alex, believe it or not.

Visiting Sarah in Michigan. We happened upon an Orchid Festival. Of course.

Mom cooked a lovely dinner and we ate in the backyard surrounded by trees and birds and love. And vegetables!

Sampling chocolates at David Bacco with Lia. This was before they changed their name to "DB Infusions." DB, eh?

On a walk with Genia near Lake Monona, watching waterskiers.

Darwin Day and the Procession of the Species with Anna. Smiling giant puppets.

Cooking with fresh food from the farmer's markets this summer.

Sweet talking a bouncer at a meat and cheese tasting with Emil and the rest of the family. I'm getting way better at sweet talking.

After seeing Trombone Shorty at La Fete de Marquette with Genia this summer. This was one of those epic nights of which you cannot share all the details. But I will tell you that we danced for a zillion hours and ate tacos and at the end of the night, there were beautiful fake eyelashes on my bathroom mirror. Actually, they're still there!

Nordicfest in Decorah, Iowa with Anna and JB. This ice cream is made with some sort of special crystals that makes it more delicious. Seriously.

Annd and JB at Seed Savers Exchange, being adorable.


This is right after I got my new fake tooth! I'll spare Emil and not put up the picture where you see my broken tooth. But it's a good one.

Visiting Sara in Atlanta for 9 days. Mostly we did things that involved animals. We drove an hour and a half to see a zedonk (yes, half-zebra, half-donkey) and found this friend along the way.

The Atlanta aquarium is a remarkable, beautiful place. I definitely cried twice at this part. We saw whale sharks eat! I mean, they opened their mouths and ate, and everything was amazing.

Besides the animals, though, we also looked cute and went out a lot. With Layla!

Aaaaand...we dipped popsicales in vodka. Chocolate popsicles in whipped cream-flavored vodka, to be specific. And to be awesome.

Sarah came to visit Madison and we hung out with Cody. Brunch at Marigold Kitchen.

I saw the love of my life, Nick Urata, and Devotchka in Chicago with Mladenka. They still shake me. Best band ever.

Attending Sara's big event in DC. So proud of my sister - she speaks to hundreds of people and gets her point across eloquently and professionally, with just the right touch of loveliness in there. No wonder she's the big boss, eh?

Photobombing with Dad. We've always had fun, but this year I think we had the most fun together.

Mom and my two aunts dancing with Jiddu at Thanksgiving. Such a treat and honor to see Jiddu in good form, dancing.

Oh hey, did you know Emil got engaged? Here we are at his engagement party, helping him calm down by doing sibling shots. Two was the magic number.

Jiddu shows love for Mladenka. Welcome to the family, M!

Aww, love! I'm so excited for these two!

Dad and I did about zero shoveling on this day, but we did have a shovel/broom fight. Okay, I'll admit. It was fake and we were just posing for pictures. And I was still in my pajamas. But come on now, we're great!

The clan at Christmas. So lucky to have all these crazies as my family.

My wonderful BFF Sarah at the Botanic Gardens. Isn't she pretty?!

Replica of the Chicago Skyline, made only from plants.

My mom had the fantastic idea of going over to the Gardens right before it got dark, and we got to see everything all lit up and magical. My mom is totally the best ever!

Leaving the gardens. P.S. I love christmas lights. It was such a lovely year! I'm hoping for more loveliness next year, and for the amazing things that surrounded me to extend to others. I'm hoping for the continued family, friends, peace, positivity, and light(s) in my life, and the same in yours. Because it's been really wonderful so far.