Traveling Cupcake: Milwaukee Day Trip (Sneak Preview)

Well, for the life of me, I can't get the "Read More" or "Continue Reading" to work for me and I've got waaaay too many photos too post. So for now, until Broccoli and his magic HTML powers return from holiday, here's a tiny preview of my day trip to Milwaukee last Saturday. S. had the brilliant idea to take Amtrak and get out of town for the day and head up north, only an hour and a half away, to Milwaukee! I had never been and had wanted to check out the Milwaukee Art Museum ever since Calatrava put his mark on it. I had also heard from many friends that there were some great spots to dine and drink at. We managed to squeeze in three of the recommends 2 in the awesome Third Ward neighborhood: Water Buffalo (pre-museum snack while dining on the riverwalk), Harbor House (post-museum and pre-dinner Spotted Cow beers) and Milwaukee Ale House (dinner before heading back on the train to Chicago). The beers above (photo credit to S. and his iPhone), we happily enjoyed in the amazing sunny and warm weather from the top terrace of the Milwaukee Ale House overlooking the river. Stay tuned...

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Bar food at home

You know how on every episode of  a Nigella (Lawson, like you needed to ask!) show, she sneaks down in the middle of the night to have a bite of some delectable leftover in her fridge? This calamari could be that midnight snack for me; I guess I over-estimated how much two people could eat. Crispy, light, and so easy to make, the batter is just cornstarch, semolina and Old Bay seasoning (paprika, if you can't find Old Bay) sizzled to perfection in grapeseed oil but peanut oil's also a good option. Tonight we had it with garlic mayo for dipping, edamame and Beau's, an organic local beer I picked up while visiting friends in Ottawa last weekend. Happy hour at home!

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Do Not Mix

The Beer Bistro has an amazing selection of Beer from around the world. With so many choices, what are the odds I would pick the two you should never have back-to-back – Delerium and Muadite. The glasses come with their own subtle warning – dancing pink elephants and grinning demons. I made it home, but not in a straight line.

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Almond Joy

Its 11pm and the only snack I have in the house are some stale almonds from Sobeys that I've been munching on for days while cursing Sobeys for selling me stale almonds. I can almost understand how in the olden days people would make the trip back to grocery store to return their food. Instead, I was inspired by wanting-a-snack-at-11PM-and-having-nothing in-the-house-but-stale-almonds-creative and remembered my recent time in Spain and how good the almonds were, and searched how to do it in one of my Tapas books. I didn't even think about cooking the almonds, but you can and they're good and perfect for an 11pm snack. Next time I will just stock up on blanched almonds instead of doing the 'blanching' myself, but I suggest doing the whole thing yourself for the first time, its pretty satisfying and in comparison to cracking sunlower seeds, its way more satisfying for what you get. Spanish salted almonds -- take almonds and boil them for 4 minutes, drop in cold water for 1 min. Then take each one between your fingers and pinch the skin off, those little fuckers slide right out. Drop on a baking sheet and coat with olive oil and bake on 350 for 20 minutes. After, cover with paprika and sea salt for a tasty snack. The next time you do it, just get blanched almonds and throw them right into the oven instead of boiling. They're good with the late night Stiegel.

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Versus: Lamb burger

The first versus challenge. The recipe Greek Lamb Burgers combines all the things you love. Lamb, mint, feta and spinach. It's key to get the right bun, something that won't rip the roof of your mouth to shreds.

First up: Broccoli's burger with a side of yam fries, and an ice cold glass of Peroni.

Versus: Prosecco's burger with a side of sweet potato fries and roasted broccoli.

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