Midwest Eats

Vacation food is always a good blog topic, and this trip to Wisconsin is no exception.

First let me say, that Wisconsin exceeded my expectations in many ways.  I now have a great appreciation for "America's Dairyland." * Wisconsin cheese is awesome!  We went on vacation with another family (the fabulous Ratties)  and there were nine of us total.  Well, eight of us were eating regular food, Sean wasn't up for it yet.  :)  So we did a little grocery shopping and the first thing to take me by surprise is the cheese selection at the deli counter.  Wow!!  And my friend said that their selection was limited! 

Two more "Wisconsin and Midwest" things that I experienced was Cheese Curds, and Culver's.  Cheese curds....I don't know what I was thinking that they were but essentially they taste like mozzarella sticks.  Sometimes they surprise you and instead of mozzarella it's cheddar.  Culver's is a burger and frozen custard joint native to the Midwest.  Their burgers are fantastic, and I really enjoyed my frozen custard.  Brian however, did not enjoy his as much since I brought him home some and it was more of a milkshake, it had melted so much. 

But the best things that I tried were in Lake Geneva.  We went to "The Newport of the Midwest" for a day and grabbed a quick bite to eat before getting on a ferry to see the sights that Lake Geneva had to offer.  I got a "Chicago Style" hot dog:  dog and bun, mustard, relish, onion, spicy peppers, pickle, tomatoes and celery salt.  I thought that it seemed like a lot of stuff to pile onto a dog, so I got mine without tomato.  WOW!!!!  The relish is this atomic-green color, and the peppers certainly are spicy!  The only thing I would change about it is to chop up the pickle and peppers so that it was easier to eat.  And next time, I'll be sure to eat it with tomatoes.  So good!  Our friend Scott said that in the Midwest, it's all about the Chicago Dog.  All the convenience stores and restuarants have the fixings to make an official Chicago Dog!

The other thing was an ice cream shop voted "Wisconsin's Best" for 33 years at the Wisconsin State Fair.  They had so many unique flavors of ice cream.  I settled on the "Fat Elvis" which is banana ice cream with a peanut butter ripple and chocolate chips.  Ahhhhh......a delicious way to end the day.

All in all, I loved Wisconsin.  But if I lived there, I'd have a serious issue:  too much good food!!!!!

*and for it being America's Dairyland, for all the farmland that I saw in Wisconsin, I didn't see even one cow.  Where are they hiding them??  :)