How Am I To Be…away from Turner Ballroom?

Argh!  Tonight is sure to be an awesome night of music at Turner Ballroom.  Ben Kweller is playing with fabulous opening act The Watson Twins.  Tickets are $18, and you should go!  Attentive Beer Spectacles readers may recall that The Watson Twins really made an impression when they were in town a few months ago with M.Ward.  Their album, Fire Songs, made my Top 10 for 2008. 

Unfortunately, I can’t go because: a) it’s not in the budget; b) I’ve just gotten over being sick so staying up late is a bad idea; and c) I may have to do some work tonight.

But you should go!  Because it will be awesome! 

I have been following both The Watson Twins and Ben Kweller on Twitter the last few days. It’s sad to read their updates about being in Wisconsin and know that I can’t go. By the way, if you feel like following me on Twitter, ye olde username is irishbrooke.

(Very) Belated Review: Chef’s Surprise at Sanford

Well, we (once again) fell into the rut of not blogging.  Since we know that you all love our wit and wisdom and have been sinking into a pit of despair in the wake of our virtual absence, we are (once again) making a blogging comeback.  So here it is: my belated review of our outing to Sanford.

To celebrate our first wedding anniversary, Craig and I made reservations at Chef Sanford DiMotto’s top-tier establishment, Sanford.  Sanford offers a seven-course chef’s choice tasting meal on weekdays, so we opted to go on our actual anniversary, a Monday.  Set in an East Side neighborhood near the site of Points East Pub, which hosted our post-wedding rock party, Sanford’s atmosphere is simple, modern, and inviting.  Upon our arrival, we were greeted by excellent service, which continued throughout the evening.  The restaurant no doubt has excellent service at all times, but I am sure our being the only table in the restaurant didn’t hurt.

We began the evening with an amuse-bouche, which is a small bite before the meal begins.  Sadly, I cannot recall what our amuse-bouche was, but you can rest assured that it was fabulous.  We then moved on to the seven courses.  All except the sixth were served with wine pairings.

First Course: American Sturgeon Caviar and Smoked Salmon, Buckwheat Dumplings, Scallion Cauliflower Craig enjoyed this course far more than I did.  While the dish was perfectly executed, I finally had to conclude that I simply do not like smoked salmon, but the buckwheat dumplings were warm and scrumptious.

Second Course: Lobster and Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli, Sage Brown Butter. I would never have thought to pair pumpkin with lobster, but somehow it worked.  It was rich without being heavy, and the pumpkin was perfect for winter.  It was paired with a demi-sec wine, which was the perfect complement to the dish and really brought out the toasty flavor.

Third Course: Grilled Sea Scallop and Octopus, Chorizo Stew. Count this as another “I never would’ve thought to do that” dish, which is why I’m not a chef of…anything.  Craig and I are Top Chef addicts, and for several weeks in a row, it seemed that scallops played a large part in each episode.  Well, now I know why.  I had never had a scallop like this – large, succulent, and perfectly cooked.  The octopus served with with the chorizo made the accompaniment a tad bit chewy, but the flavor was delicious.

Fourth Course: Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder with Seared Escarole, Burnt Orange Vinaigrette. Is there anything better than tender, slow-cooked pork?  I didn’t think so.  The orange sauce was warm and fruity and fabulous.

Fifth Course: Asian BBQ Striploin of Beef with Grilled Baby Bok Choy and Thai Green Curry Sauce. This dish was incredibly exciting.  I believe that this was the first time I’d ever had rare beef, and I am converted.  I have seen the light.  A good piece of beef should be eaten rare.  The curry sauce was not overly spicy, so it highlighted the flavor of the beef rather than masked it.

Sixth Course: Crave Brothers Sweet Cream Mascarpone with Poached Pear and Walnut Confit. This was described to us as a “transitional course” between the savory and the sweet, but if we hadn’t known a seventh course was coming, this would have made a fabulous dessert on its own.  Sweet, fruity, toasty, and best of all, it made use of local ingredients – yum!

Seventh Course: Bitter-Sweet Hawaiin Vintage Intentional Chocolate Tart. Funny story about this course: the waiter brought us a decorative plate to celebrate our anniversary. It had Happy 1st Anniversary written in caramel and was decorated with chocolate and raspberry sauce.  There were also some berries and whipped cream.  We expected that the dessert course was to follow it shortly, but it took longer than we expected.  So as we sat there, we began to wonder if that – the drizzling of sweet sauces and two dollops of whipped cream – was the dessert course.  By this time, we’ve also had five glasses of wine and are feeling pretty buzzed, so although it seemed odd, we figured the restaurant knew what it was doing.  Finally, our chocolate tarts arrived, and holy moly, was it the best chocolate I’ve ever had!  For over a month, I’ve been describing this chocolate tart as so good that it made me want to divorce Craig just so that I could marry the tart and have its little chocolate babies.  This course was served with port, which was another first for me.  The smooth, warm, spicy taste of it was the perfect complement to the chocolate.

Overall, our Sanford experience was top-notch.  The food was made with the finest of ingredients and artfully prepared.  Best of all, the servings were reasonable sizes; despite eating seven courses complete with wine pairings, we left full and satisfied but not stuffed and miserable.  At $85 per person for the chef’s surprise and $40 per person for the wine pairings (plus tax and tip for the excellent service), it is not a cheap night.  But if you have a special occasion, we highly recommend celebrating it with a meal at Sanford.

We’re Coming Home, Via Chicago

On the return trip. Currently passing through Muskogee, Oklahoma on the way to Springfield and St Louis MO, then Effingham then Momence. Tweets and pics can be found at the links in the last post.

Road Trippin’ Christmas

Happy Christmas all!

We’re currently driving from IL to Dallas to see Brooke’s family. We just entered Missouri from the southern tip of Illinois en route to Memphis then Little Rock then Texarkana then Dallas. Thanks to the wonders of technology you can follow along with us on both Twitter and Flickr.

Http://www.twitter.com/cfrizzell
Http://www.twitter.com/irishbrooke

(depending on who’s not driving)

Http://www.flickr.com/photos/cfrizzell

SNOW DAY!

Milwaukee County government is closed today, with the exception of essential personnel.  Since the county has not designated me “essential” – a designation I do not desire – I have a snow day!  My only venture outside today was a trip across the parking lot to take out the trash and then to help Craig dig out his car.  I plan to spend the remainder of the day inside, where it’s warm, hanging out with the kitties, doing a little work, and doing a little cleaning.  Copernicus spent about 10 seconds of pure joy in the snow before he decided he, too, preferred the warmth of inside.  So here’s a picture of a cat playing in snow taller than him:

I’ll sign a treaty supporting Kyoto…

Kyoto Japanese Restaurant, that is.

Tuesday night, we finally tried something that’s been on our to-eat list: SUSHI! Well, both Craig and I have had the mini rolls of cooked sushi available near the deli counter of the grocery store. But neither of us had ever had sushi in a restaurant or had any of the raw-fish dishes. That all changed after an outing organized by one of my co-workers to Kyoto restaurant at 7453 W. Layton Ave. in Greendale, for their Tuesday night all-you-can-eat special.

At $22.95, the all-you-can-eat deal costs a little more than we likely would have spent ordering off the menu, but it was worth it for the opportunity to try so many things. We had California rolls, rainbow rolls, spicy crab rolls, spicy tuna rolls, and numerous other items whose names I do not recall. We also had a number of pieces of sashimi, raw fish over a small bed of rice.

Of the sashimi, my favorite was the shrimp, but I also liked the salmon. My favorite sushi rolls were the spicy crab roll, which is cooked, and the spicy tuna roll, which is raw. Tuna was my favorite of the raw fish items we sampled, with salmon following behind it in second place. The only piece I truly disliked (and couldn’t finish) was the roll with raw squid. I’m glad I gave it a try, but the texture was far too slimy for my tastes. The green tea ice cream made for a light, refreshing end to the meal.

Despite its location in a strip shopping center just north of Southridge Mall, Kyoto’s interior is fairly non-strip-mall-esque. The service was sufficient, although the waitress certainly could have been more attentive to our tea mugs and water glasses. (And I would have appreciated not having tea dripped all over my plate.) The décor is simple. No flashy, tacky, cheap Chinese restaurant ambience going on here.

We would definitely go back, particularly if we were in the Southridge area and were looking for something other than the American-style chains in the area.  After tackling our first real sushi experience, Craig and I both craved sushi yesterday – him for lunch, and me for BREAKFAST! In fact, after dinner last night, we refrigerated the leftovers so that he can eat them for lunch tomorrow, and he commented that he was hoping there would be no leftovers so that he had an excuse to pick up some sushi for lunch. Next up, I really want to try Sake Tumi on Milwaukee Street and Nanakusa in the Third Ward.  Are there others we should try?  What are your favorite places for Japanese food and sushi?

I meant to take pictures of our food, but I was so engrossed in the sushi excitement that I forgot. Sorry.

Preparing for the Impending Hobo Depression

Yesterday, my friend Becky and I took an Introduction to Knitting class at Ruhama’s yarn shop in Whitefish Bay.  The class was $35, and it included a ball of yarn, a set of needles, a book, and the instructor’s wisdom and patience.  Class size is limited to 6, so you are guaranteed to have individualized attention.  Our instructor, Pat, was great.  She explained each step and then walked around the group to provide one-on-one help.  We learned about needle size and reading a gauge, and then we moved on to casting on, knitting, purling, and casting off.  One of our class members was even advanced enough to learn about ribbing (a combination of knit stitches and purl stitches).  Becky and I made lovely little practice swatches.  Here’s mine:

After the class, we strolled around the store to check out all they have offer.  The yarn selection is fabulous, with a huge variety of colors, textures, and materials.  I picked up two balls of this yarn, which I intend to use for a baby blanket for my infant neice:

They also have a variety of needles, books, and even ready-to-purchase knit items.  The staff is helpful and includes people of varying ages.  Knitting is not just for little old ladies anymore!  Ruhama’s has a number of classes listed on their website, ranging from intro classes designed for the beginner to advanced classes.  They also have an “open knitting” time on Wednesdays from 2 to 4 when they have a staff member dedicated to answering questions.  We were a little disappointed to find out that the only open knit time is during the workday, but you can walk in anytime and ask for help.  Loop Yarn Shop on Humboldt also has a number of classes available, including Knit 101, 102, and 103.  In fact, our original plan was to take Knit 101 at Loop, but the only date we could make this month had only one spot open.

I briefly learned to knit a few years ago, but I never progressed very far.  After putting it away for two years, I forgot what I was doing and very much needed the class.  I do really enjoy it, though, and I forsee myself spending a lot of time and money at Ruhama’s and Loop in the upcoming months.  I’d like to progress to the point where I can make my own sweaters, bags, hats, mittens, and maybe – just maybe – someday I can make a sweater dress.  It’s no secret that the economy is doing…not well, to put it nicely, so knowing how to make my own clothes seems like a useful skill.  I just hope that I improve enough to actually make my own clothes before we all become hobos and find ourselves eating beans from a tin can cooked over a trash-can fire.  Until then, I’ll have to keep working on my current practice swatch:

Cleaning up the blog

You may notice that we’ve cleaned up the sidebar quite a bit.  We’re going to keep it to just a Milwaukee-area blogroll. These blogs were stolen from the accidental wisconsinite’s blogroll, but we are always on the lookout for blogs focusing on Milwaukee and southeast Wisconsin!

Scrooge Will Make You Smile!

If you need something to put you in the Christmas mood, the Milwaukee Rep’s production of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol is just the thing!  Milwaukee’s own James Pickering plays everyone’s favorite curmudgeon, Ebeneezer Scrooge.  The rest of the cast is equally delightful, and the children are especially cute.

In light of the current economic climate, the values of the Cratchitt family – love, gratefulness, and family – seem even more poignant.  Of course, Dickens’ story is a timeless one, but a modern interpretation would be particularly relevant this year.

The Rep uses classic Christmas carols, such as “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “It Cam Upon a Midnight Clear,” and “O Come O Come Emmanuel” during the scene changes.  As sick as I get of the saccharine remakes of Christmas tunes I hear in most every store during December, I love traditional arrangements of classic Christmas carols.  It really added to the performance.  If you need a Christmas pick-me-up, consider supporting local theater by catching a performance.

One note: try to have some extra cash with you.  After the performance, some of the actors head out to the lobby to collect donations for a local charity that helps out children and families. (Unfortunately, the name is slipping my mind.)  We were out of cash, and there’s nothing quite like the guilt you feel after watching A Christmas Carol and then promptly NOT giving to charity!

A Christmas Classic

We haven’t had much of a Christmas mood around our household.  A lot of this is actually attributable to Copernicus and Einstein.  The cats are still quite young – Copernicus approximately 18 months, and Einstein approximately 8 1/2 months – and quite adept at destroying…well, anything.  Therefore, putting up a Christmas tree has the potential for disaster written all over it.

But tonight, we are getting in the Christmas spirit by taking in the Milwaukee Rep’s production of the classic A Christmas Carol at the Pabst Theater.  Performances continue through December 28, and you can buy tickets on the Rep’s website.  As a special treat, the website has a coupon you can print for $15 off your meal at Yaffa Lounge, just down the street.  I’ve never eaten dinner at Yaffa, but their drinks are great (with fabulous specials every day from 4 to 6:30), and the veggie platter appetizer is delicious. We considered Yaffa, but we are opting for the delicious cuisine at nearby Cubanitas instead.

After tonight, we just have present-wrapping and baking left to do. Before you know it, the big day will be here!  Happy Holidays!