An Interview with Susan Fish and a Book Giveaway

Susan Fish, hanging out in Ithaca, NY.

So -- how many of you bought the Kindle edition of Ithaca after reading our last post?

If you did, and you've started reading, you'll probably enjoy this interview we did with the author, Susan Fish.

But, even if you didn't, you'll want to keep reading. Not only is Ms. Fish pretty interesting, but she was also generous enough to share one of her favorite fall recipes!

And hey - if you're still looking for a copy of her book, we're doing a giveaway for one at the end of this post.

What inspired the storyline in the book?
I visited the town of Ithaca, New York in the summer of 2011 and saw a number of small signs that said ‘No Fracking.’ Months later, curious, I looked up the term and discovered that the lush farmlands, orchards and vineyards of Ithaca and the Finger Lakes region sat on the gas-rich Marcellus Shale, and that there were proposals to ‘frack’ the land to address our petroleum addiction. There was—and is—significant grassroots opposition to this action. At the same time, New York State had been hit hard by the 2008 recession, with many family farms at risk of foreclosure: selling drilling rights was a tempting proposition that led to deep soul searching for many.

Another factor that inspired this book was my fascination with the simple power of simple food in bringing people together.

Is there a specific individual who inspired the character of Daisy?
Years ago, I knew a woman whose professor-husband dropped dead in a faculty meeting, as Daisy's did, and like Daisy, she faced the challenge of figuring out who she was at midlife in a radical new way. But I wasn't privy to how she did it so I really only borrowed the barest of bones. I started writing this book while walking my dog around our neighborhood, along streets where there were a lot of 1960s bungalows.

As we walked in the early evenings, I could see into the kitchen and living room windows of many houses. One house had a collection of china figurines lined up in the window, while another had all sorts of unironic, kitschy knick-knacks, and I began to think about the stuff we accumulate over the course of our lives, the stuff that tells our stories but that also sometimes holds us back. Originally, I imagined a story about two women who had been living together platonically for years, coming to terms with past relationships and the things they had held onto. I've known several such "couples" but these two were invented. As I wrote the story, I began to realize that it really was one woman's story to tell.

What made you decide to integrate food into the theme of the book? Why soup?
I've known some people who host a weekly community supper, and I've actually wanted to do this myself for a long time, but I have kids who need to be chauffeured places most nights, so it's never actually become something I've practised.

In my earliest draft of the book, on the very first page, Daisy says to the reader, "The Wednesday suppers were a sort of lifeline for me." I knew early on that Daisy had been someone who opened her home up on a regular basis, to an unknown number of people. Given that this wasn't a dinner party where numbers were assured, I figured it had to be soup she served--because soup can always be stretched to serve a few more people.

You developed a number of soup recipes to go with the book. What was that journey like?
I love to cook. Until a few years ago, I was someone who pulled out cookbooks, made a weekly menu and shopped accordingly. Then one of my kids developed food intolerances and I learned to substitute and improvise. This skill stood me in good stead when it came to developing recipes for this book. Each of the chapter has a soup as a title. I made each one up myself and then later figured out the recipe for it. (The recipes aren't included in the book, but I am releasing them one a week this fall--on Wednesdays, of course--on my blog susanfishwrites.wordpress.com).

Even after a few years of cooking by instinct, this was challenging. For one thing, I needed to measure, in order to be able to replicate the recipe again later. For another, how original could a recipe for soup really be? My notes were quickly splattered as I needed to keep pencil and paper handy as I cooked.

There were a few duds. There was one glorious soup—Apple-Cheddar-Onion—that I was never able to replicate again after I ate pretty much the entire batch singlehandedly. Sometimes I looked up a variety of recipes to get a kind of baseline for the idea of the soup. I was interested for that every single soup I had invented in the course of writing the book, there was a recipe somewhere online. Sometimes others’ recipes were no help at all.

My character Daisy had planned a Pepper Pot Soup the week before Christmas: in her (my) mind, this was a soup with chopped red and green peppers and a spicy broth. As it turned out, a true Pepper Pot soup is a Jamaican recipe with chunks of beef, sweet potato and okra, with hot spicy peppers added as seasoning. Daisy and I were on our own with our idea for that soup.

You mentioned that you love to cook. What's your favorite recipe? And why?
That's almost like asking which one is my favorite child...and in both cases the answer is "depends on the day." :) One of my favorites is a recipe I memorized from a magazine in a bookstore. It's a great fall pasta dish.

You roast cherry tomatoes and a head of cauliflower (cut into florets) with lots of garlic, finely chopped bacon (or pancetta), slivered fresh sage leaves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir occasionally and roast until everything is somewhat carmelized. Serve with pasta, baby spinach or arugula, and fresh parmesan.   Why is it my favorite? Just because it's delicious.

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For your chance to win your very own copy of "Ithaca," please read the instructions below. Be sure to leave a comment for each entry (and leave your email address if you don't have it listed on your blog/contact info). Please note that this contest is limited to readers in the United States & Canada. Contest ends 10/18/14 at NOON (CST).

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):

• Tell us what YOUR favorite soup is -- and why.

Extra entries – please leave a comment for each additional entry, letting us know you completed it

• Give us a "like" on Facebook! (or let us know that you already like us)
• Follow @Burp_blog on Twitter (or let us know that you already follow us)
• Use the following text to tweet about this giveaway (please leave a link to your tweet in the comments for credit): Win a copy of "Ithaca" @Burp_blog: Ends 10/18/14 #giveaway

NOTE: 

The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Facebook on or before October 19, 2014. The winner will be emailed separately to arrange for mailing of the book.

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Susan Fish, who provided us with the books for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP!

Ithaca: A Book About Soup and Fracking

You know we've got a thing about soup, right?

After all, we host our annual Soup Nights. And we've even been featured in a BOOK about Soup Nights.

Well, I've also got a thing about novels. And writers.

I respect them so much. After all, it takes a great deal of imagination and talent to create characters that seem real to the reader and a storyline that makes someone want to keep reading.

So, it's kind of interesting that -- few weeks ago -- we happened to connect with an author who wrote a novel that revolves around soup.

Well, kind of.

The name of the book is Ithaca -- and each of the chapters in the book has a "soup" themed title, which corresponds to the various dishes that the main character, Daisy, serves during her weekly Wednesday night dinners.

We love the plot description that Janet Sketchly gives over at GoodReads:

Ithaca is a coming-of-age story—for a 59-year-old woman. Daisy Turner's husband, Arthur, was a professor at Cornell University. She typed his notes and kept his home. And made soup for a crowd every Wednesday.

They married young, and Daisy found fulfillment as a wife and mother. Now her son works overseas, and she's a widow. And most of her friends are really Arthur's friends.
She finds herself developing a friendship with a man who is slowly losing his wife to illness, and with a young woman who's an environmental activist. Daisy surprises herself—and her son—by signing up for a university course to learn about fracking. She doesn't know what it is, but the protest signs are everywhere, and she'd like to learn.

The book is about finding identity after experiencing loss. And it's something each one of us can probably relate to on one level or another.

If you're interested, we noticed you can get a copy of Ithaca for Kindle right now on Amazon for $3.19 (and no, we don't get paid anything if you buy it). But, if you're more of a hard-copy sortofa person, you should stay tuned.

We're actually going to be doing a giveaway of the book over the weekend. But, for now, we'll leave you with this excerpt where Daisy talks about her Wednesday night soup suppers:

I should explain about Wednesday nights. It started when Arthur was new at the university, new and assigned grad students. It had been my idea for him to get to know his students outside of school, off campus. I had suggested they come over for supper. And so they did and so they devoured the food I made them. And no one suspected how young I was. We invited them back and soon it became a standing date in our calendar. They brought their girlfriends and then their wives. Sometimes Arthur’s colleagues would come too. When Nick was a toddler, he loved having the students over, loved the energy of the house.

Eventually it drifted away from any affiliation with the school and it just became Wednesday night. I made pots and pots of soup, a different kind each week. I stocked up on bowls and spoons at garage sales and estate sales, mix-matched bowls. You might get a bone china bowl or a wobbly earthenware bowl made in someone’s pottery craze.

©BURP!

Five Spice Carrot Soup: Winter Inspiration

It's that time of the year.

Spring is official -- and yet, here in the Midwest, we haven't quite moved officially into any semblance of a "growing season."  And yet, I can just taste all of the deliciously fresh spring greens that will soon be coming out of the cold frames and greenhouses.  I'm starting to get a taste for that first obnoxiously delicious batch of truly local asparagus that's just bursting with

In the meantime, it seems we're stuck with the root vegetables.

I shouldn't malign those hearty vegetables whose veracity allows them to withstand even the initial bite of Wisconsin winter weather, and whose thick skin allows them to submit gracefully to the challenges of storage in cellars, produce drawers, and basements.

But, I must admit that I get tired of them.  By the time March rolls around, I'm tired of eating produce from last fall. I want something fresh and green.

Fortunately, just when I'm about to give up hope, I always seem to be apt to stumble upon awesome recipes like this one that give me the courage to persist a little bit longer.

Inspired by a recipe sent over to me by Rachel from Healthy Food Whole Life, and a bin of vegetables obtained from the great people over at Fresh Picks, a delivery service that offers year-round delivery of a wide range of local and organic vegetables, I made this recipe for the first time in February for one of our annual Soup Night events.

It's sweet and lively, thanks to the rich combination of carrots and sweet potatoes, with just the right amount of spice from a dash of Chinese five spice powder, which offers up a series of complex notes from cinnamon to fennel to star anise.

Although a garnish certainly would have made the photo prettier, this is the sort of soup that holds its own, and needs very little in the way of embellishment -- though a scattering of something crunchy would only enhance its silky charms.

Five Spice Carrot Soup

©BURP!

Super Bowls: Buffalo Chicken Chili

I'll admit it. We're not really football people.

But, that doesn't mean we don't know great game day fare when we see it.  In fact, we've been known to throw a mean Super Bowl party... with an emphasis on Puppy Bowl and commercial watching, of course.

But even so...  it's really all about the food anyhow. Isn't it?

Since the Super Bowl tends to fall at one of the coldest times of the year, it's a great time for soup. And chili always seems to be a perennial favorite for parties. But, you don't need to make the same old boring recipe.

Creamy blue cheese, crisp celery, succulent chicken, and a nice hot sauce kick. These are the things that make the buffalo wing a perennial favorite. But, deep fried wings aren’t exactly every day fare.

This recipe pulls together all the flavors you love from buffalo chicken wings into a nourishing soup that’s perfect for a weeknight meal or an afternoon of watching football (or commercials) with friends. 

A topping of chopped celery and creamy Gorgonzola cheese gives the soup texture and an added layer of flavor. If you’re not a blue cheese lover (though we encourage you to give it another try), sub out the Gorgonzola for Feta cheese or Queso Fresco.  

For even more of that "chicken wing" feel, use shredded roasted chicken added toward the end of cooking instead of the ground chicken.  

Buffalo Chicken Chili

©BURP!

The Best of Burp! 2012

 Difficult to believe we're coming to the end of another great year. As it gets to be this time, we always find ourselves looking back, reflecting, and planning for what's ahead -- and that includes a whole new look for 2013. We've been working with a friend and very talented graphic designer, Noel Tanner, to revamp our logo and give the site a bit of a new look in 2013.  If you want a preview, check out our new icon on Facebook. Otherwise, just stay tuned.

In the meantime, we'd like to thank you for your readership, your comments, and your feedback. Burp! wouldn't couldn't exist without you!

As a thanks to all of you, we figured we'd share the top 12 posts on Burp! from 2012 (in order of popularity) ... just in case you missed them.

Top 12 Posts of 2012
These are in order of popularity, # 1 being the most popular post.

1. Crockpot Turkey Meatloaf and Lessons Learned
2. Sweet and Spicy Butter Roasted Chickpeas
3. Roasted Radishes with Tarragon Butter
4. Kicking off Grilled Cheese Month: Melthouse Bistro
5. St. Patrick's Day Recipes
6. No Fuss Spiral Sliced Ham with Pineapple Chutney
7. Coffee Rubbed Ribeye with Chipotle Butter
8. Wonton Crisps - Four Ways
9. Roasted Cauliflower with Rosemary Browned Butter
10. Uses for Sumac: Za'atar Potatoes
11. Easy Baked Chimichangas
12. Creamed Celeriac Soup with Potatoes, Sausage, and Kale 
    

Share in the Comments

As always, we're always listening and open to your feedback.  What was YOUR favorite post? What would you like to see more of in 2013?

©BURP! 

Pumpkin Beer Cheese Soup

Halloween might be over, but pumpkin season is just beginning as far as I'm concerned.

That delicious orange flesh is just screaming to be used in pies, pastas, enchiladas, oatmeal, soups, stews, breads, and desserts. The seeds are screaming to be toasted for snacks and deliciously crunchy garnishes.  And, since we're in Wisconsin, we'll be looking forward to pairing pumpkin with beer every chance we get.

Take this delicious seasonal soup, for instance.

Warming, creamy, and filled with beta-carotene, this soup is a healthier take on the traditional beer cheese soup. 

Using pumpkin soup as a base, we've added a bit of beer and some deliciously smoky Wisconsin Gouda to create the perfect warm-up for game night or a casual weeknight dinner.  Serve with soft pretzels or crusty bread for the perfect autumn meal.

Serve the soup in a hollowed out pumpkin for a lovely, seasonal effect.  Or simply ladle into bowls and top with chopped scallions, crispy croutons, additional shredded gouda, or a few toasted pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin Soup with Beer & Cheese

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Creamed Celeriac Soup with Potatoes, Sausage, and Kale

I always learn something from Soup Night.

This month, after I realized that we'd unintentionally scheduled our first soup event of the year right smack dab on top of a Packers' play-off game, I re-learned one of the initial lessons that apply when you don't require RSVP's:  it doesn't matter how many people turn up, it's still a party.

The fact of the matter is, Soup Night always attracts just the right number of people. Not too many, and never too few.  Though I make three pots of soup every time, it always seems to become the perfect amount.  And I'm always surprised by how everything just works out.

Some guests wandered in and out of the dining room, checking the score of the game.  Others stood near the table, nibbling and visiting like old friends. All the while I was moved by the goodness of friends -- not only in the joy they brought to the event, but by the way new guests were welcomed into the fold and embraced -- often by strangers.

I was also reminded about the beauty of simplicity.  Although I made a lovely beef stock for the French onion soup, and tweaked a number of elements (including roasting the broccoli and garlic) for creamy broccoli soup, it was the hearty, seasonal peasant-inspired creamed celeriac soup with roasted potatoes, sausage, and kale that won the most accolades.

Diced celeriac, cooked in chicken stock and blended into a smooth puree, forms the base for this lusciously creamy soup. Sauteed Hungarian sausages provide seasoning, while roasted potatoes and chopped lacinato kale serve to give the soup a stick-to-your-ribs quality.

Celeriac is a gnarly vegetable -- often misunderstood simply for its looks, and likely avoided for the same reasons. But, this root vegetable has a gentle flavor, reminiscent of celery and parsley, and isn't nearly as starchy as many of its counterparts. It's hearty, stores well, and is delicious boiled, sauteed and roasted.

If you've never cooked with celeriac, this soup is a nearly perfect way to try it out for the first time. You'll be shocked by its sweet richness, and bewitched by its easy-going personality. Celeriac marries perfectly with potatoes. But it gets along with sausage and kale just as well.

Simple. Delicious. And no RSVP required.

Creamed Celeriac Soup with Potatoes, Sausage, and Kale

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Blue Flower Soup & Lessons on Friendship

In the past, no one would EVER have described me as a socialite.

It's not so much that I don't like people, but I've always drawn fairly definitive lines when it comes to "friends" and "acquaintances."

For me, acquaintances are people you run into at the grocery store or exchange passing waves with at the post office -- but most certainly NOT the people you choose to hang out with, reveal yourself to, or go out of your way to seek out.  Friends are the ones who fulfill our need for human connection, bonding, and community.  Not strangers. Whenever someone would ask about my friends, I'd always tell them that, for me, it was about quality not quantity, and that I could count the number of friends I had on one hand.

I'm a very loyal person who tends to hold her friends to exceedingly high standards. My devotion to my friends is probably somewhat unusual in its depth and breadth (I really believe friends are worth sacrifice) -- and, I can point to specific scenarios where my loyalty has actually caused conflict due to incompatible (and arguably unrealistic) expectations in my relationships.

So, when I came to Peef four years ago and told him I was planning on putting together an event called Soup Night -- a no RSVP required, large scale, everyone's invited sortofa gala -- he probably looked at me like I was completely nuts.  But, I persisted, insisting that I really wanted to open up my home to others, to build community, and really give myself a chance to get to know people who might otherwise remain strangers.

Rather than shutting me down, Peef fed my dream.  And Soup Night was born.

This year, we've had a particularly rich series of soup nights.  And, for the first time, I feel as if the concept that I had in my head all along is really coming to fruition.  Strangers are making connections. Old friendships are being renewed.  And I'm beginning to realize that our lives are enriched by a seriously awesome group of people.

Even better, much like the villagers from the old Stone Soup folk tale, on Soup Night everyone takes part in this amazing community of nourishment -- both physical and spiritual. There's adventure. And sharing. And somehow, regardless of how many people show up, there's always... enough. It's like nothing I've ever seen before.

This past weekend marked the final Soup Night for 2011.  And it was lovely.  We served three soups -- Reuben (with toasted rye croutons & Swiss cheese), Red Lentil (best when topped with a spritz of fresh lemon juice), and Blue Flower Soup (a creamy cauliflower soup with cracked anise & blue cheese).

Guests brought wine, loaves of French bread, awesome goat cheese, pear, and walnut appetizers, cookies made with delicious homemade poppyseed paste, deliciously addicting Bacon Bourbon Popcorn, cheesecake bars, and chocolate cherry meringues.

And people stayed well past their usual 7:30pm departure time.  It was as if we all knew a good thing was coming to an end and we wanted to make the most of it.


I still believe in quality over quantity.  However, in the past few years I've been blessed to meet quite a number of amazing people who I feel privileged to call my friends.  And soup night has been a big part of that.

Thanks to every single one of you who came... and shared... and participated in my dream.
I can't wait for next year!

Red Lentil Soup
Blue Flower Soup



©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Soup. And more Soup: February Soup Night Highlights

It's that time again... time for us to tell you about our monthly soup night & all the joy it brings to a Sunday evening in the middle of winter.

February Soup Night turned out to attract a fantastic mix of both new faces & good old stand-bys.  Everyone brought great dishes to pass, and I'd venture a guess that a pretty great time was had by all.

New faces included Rachel from Cream City Green. You may recall a little fund raiser we did last fall called the Gumbo Git Down -- well, Rachel was the other mastermind behind that event.  We've been trying to keep in touch ever since, so it was great that she and her hubby, Greg, were able to join us this month.

Other welcome new guests included Joe from Eating Milwaukee and Nicole (from On My Table), with husband Nate (of NathanAle's Brewery), who happens to be brewing up some pretty amazing beer. Nate was kind enough to bring a variety pack of his craft brews for us to sample!  And both Joe & Nicole supplied our table with some pretty amazing bread, including this Soda Bread, which was served with beer butter!

We were also pleased to see our good friend Rebecca from CakeWalk, whose return to Soup Night was a particular delight.  After all, she brought samples of a truly amazing cinnamon plum Panna Cotta that you should read about. A.Maze.Ing.

It was a great night of food and conversations, and again we both feel so blessed to have so many great people in our lives. So what did we have??

Here goes...

Roasted Red Pepper and Fennel Soup
This soup is a great remake of a favorite served at one of our favorite local restaurants, Kil@wat.  It brings together the lovely, sweet flavor of roasted red sweet peppers, the pleasantly licoriced aroma of roasted fennel, and a hint of kick from jalapeno peppers.  Whirred together into a soup with leeks, celery, and cream, this soup is one of our favorites.

Creamy Smoked Turkey and Apple Soup
This soup is a brand new addition to our repertoire.  The creamy broth consists of pureed apples and onions, a pinch of thyme and just a hint of cream. But, the soup is made hearty with the addition of carrots, smoked turkey (we used leftover maple brined turkey that we smoked with a bit of applewood), and applewood smoked corn leftover from our summer harvest.

Lasagne Soup
This soup is our variation on the many great Italian inspired soups out there on the Internet.  Chock-full of Sweet Sicilian sausage, basil, oregano, and garlic, this soup is embellished with fire-roasted tomatoes and plenty of fresh spinach. YUM.

The Turkey and Apple soup was the clear favorite since the crock pot containing it was emptied well before 6:00pm. That might be a new record. But since we don't really keep track of that stuff, it's kinda hard to say.

Regardless, all of the soup was devoured and before I knew it, the house was emptied, the dishwasher was humming, and Lo and I were sitting and sipping on a glass of wine in front of the fireplace.

*Phew*
Soup. It's such rewarding work.



©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Tuna Chowder: Memories in Every Bowl

My mother was a great cook.  But, for some reason, she wasn't very good at making brothy soup. It could have been our uninitiated palates, but my siblings and I always joked that her chicken noodle soup tasted like water with vegetables floating in it... and her beef & barley soup was virtually the same, albeit a much darker hue.   Needless to say, none of us usually got overly excited when the word on the street was that we'd be having soup for dinner.

Unless it was tuna soup.

For some reason, my mother was a miracle worker with a can of tuna.  She made the best tuna salad sandwiches. The best casseroles. And, apparently, the very best soup.   

There are some dishes that , once eaten, leave an indelible impression. For me, "tuna soup" was one of those dishes. Mom made it regularly.  And she frequently brought it to pot-lucks and soup dinners.   The flavors of the soup were so indelibly ingrained in my head by the time I went to college that I took after my mother, cooking up pot after pot of this fantastic soup.  Of course, I had to give it my own special twist. So, I started calling it tuna "chowder" -- after all, a chowder is much more sophisticated sounding than a soup. Right?

Like tuna casserole, this deliciously creamy soup pulls together the comforting flavors of tuna, dill, cream, and peas.  But, rather than noodles, you'll find spoonful after spoonful of perfectly cooked potatoes that have been rendered deliciously tender by a gentle 20 minute milk bath.

It's quick. It's nourishing. And it's basic enough to appeal to the most frugal gourmet's budget.

Tuna chowder... it's what's for dinner.

Tuna Chowder


©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Soup. Soup. Soup.

What happens when you make some soup and open up your home to friends and family?

That's what we were aiming to find out when we hosted our first Soup Night in the winter of 2007.  Interestingly enough, the concept was a raging success.  So, we're here to share our secrets.

The concept is simple. Take 3 parts soup, invite friends and family over and ask that they bring something to pass if they are so inclined. Add a cold Sunday evening. Open a bottle or two of wine. Stir in some conversation and laughter. Allow to simmer until everyone is deeply satisfied.

Once the event is over, it's time to do a little cleaning, finish the last few sips of wine and reflect on how blessed you are for having such good people in your life. Believe us. Any work involved is completely worth a couple of hours spent in the company of great friends.

We hosted our first soup night of 2011 this past Sunday. And boy, oh boy was it a good time.

The regulars came back with a vengeance -- colleagues from Peef's old workplace, a dear high school friend who we haven't seen in years, and even a few fantastic new-comers. Chris, from Milwaukee Brunch Reviews, joined in on the fun. We were privileged to host former farm intern/blogger, Neil, from stream of consciousness. He brought his girlfriend Sarah, another locavore, and we had a great time chatting about food like old friends. Now, it's possible that the threat of getting buried under 2 feet of snow in two days is enough to motivate people to get out while they can. But we would like to think that the idea of sharing some soup and warm conversation would be enough motivation for anyone even on the best of days.

The three soups this month consisted of an Italian Bean soup (chock full of vegetables & good stuff),

Tuna Chowder (separate post and recipe to come),

and the ever-popular Smoky Sweet Potato Chowder.

If soup night is nothing else, it's the perfect ending to a weekend -- or better yet-- the perfect way to start a long snowy week.

Twenty-four inches of snow in 48 hours? Bring it on!


©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

How We Spent Our Sunday: Rockabilly Chili Cookoff

Most Sunday afternoons around the Burp! household are pretty uneventful.  Usually you'll find us hanging out at home -- reading, catching up on laundry, watching a movie, flipping through the cooking shows on PBS. Every now and then, you'll find us working on a particularly lengthy cooking project (or hosting a soup night) -- but that's about as exciting as it gets.

This Sunday was another story.  While others enjoyed a leisurely brunch or busily prepared for their Oscar parties, we decided to venture out of our Sunday cave and take in some of the local sights.  More specifically, we decided to join the masses at the WMSE Rockabilly Chili Contest.

This annual event brings together myriad Milwaukee area restaurants, who cook up their best tasting chili and bring it out for the world to sample.  This year, over 3000 people joined in the fun, raising lots of great funds for one of the best radio stations in Milwaukee, 91.7 WMSE. Among the throngs was my dear friend R. from the Cakewalk blog -- so we had great fun walking the event and comparing foodie notes on the different chilis.

I had every intention to rush right home and publish something brilliant about the event.  But, as it turns out, I'm thinking the pictures speak for themselves.  I'd advise listening to a bit of official Rockabilly Chili music while you're looking them over.

First, let's warm you up with a big VAT o' chili goodness.

If you can elbow your way through the hungry crowd, you'll find a pretty wide variety of chilis -- something to suit every palate.

 

 We started off with three great ones -- starting on the left with a delightful veggie chili from Beans & Barley, working our way over to the flamin' hot tomatillo based chili from Ball 'n Biscuit catering, and ending up with the awesomly hot "Burn Your Face Off" Pepperoni Pizza chili from Streetza Pizza, featuring the infamous ghost chiles (hottest chiles on earth, weighing in at 855,000 Scoville units).

  

 There's that happy chap from Streetza Pizza luring us in with the smell of pepperoni...

 

  While Streetza pulled out the Big Guns with the heat factor, Hinterland Gastropub really pulled out all the stops when it came to flavor.  Their braised beef shortrib chili carried a seriously complex flavor enhanced by cinnamon and a host of Indian spices.  R. and I decided that this chili was the best of the bunch, by far!

  

 Of course, don't tell that to the Riverwest Co-op, who declared their vegan masterpiece to be "untouchable"...

  

 It was seriously good chili -- enhanced with Berber-style spices and topped with flavorful pineapple chutney. Definitely worth a roar!

  

 Another vegan delight came from The National.  Their sweet potato black bean chili was topped with an awesome apple chutney...

  

 Palomino's vegan selection was nothing to sneeze at either... chock full of TVP, zucchini, eggplant, "love," and "babies" (the girl serving the chili said it, not me!)... but suspiciously free of horses.

  

 Maxie's Southern Comfort served up a tomatillo chili with smoky bacon, lots of beans, and pulled pork.

  

Eventually, we ran out of chili. And beer. And tickets for more chili and beer. 

 

But, that's OK.  By then, we were stuffed to the gills.  

So, unlike these guys, we just decided to give up and go home.

And, if you're curious -- here's a listing of the Winners! 

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Making Soup and Adopting Trees

The week here in Milwaukee has been warm and sunny, so my mind has drifted pretty far from thoughts of hot, nourishing soup.  But, I did promise you guys that I'd post recipes for the split pea soup and the clam chowder we served for February Soup Night.  So, I'm going to be true to my word.

But first, let's talk maple syrup. Are you a fan?
For years, I didn't think much of the amber colored sweetener. Sure, I learned in school that the sugar maple is Wisconsin's state tree, but despite the fact that it's sweet and sugary, I probably wouldn't have named maple syrup among my favorite foods. It was something I ate on my pancakes in the morning, and occasionally drizzled over the top of vanilla ice cream.  It wasn't until much later, when I realized that maple syrup is actually a fairly rare commodity in some places, that I really started paying attention.

I'm no expert on maple sugaring. That said, I do know that the weather we've been having lately is actually pretty perfect for tapping maple trees. Maple sap starts running when the weather is above freezing during the day and below freezing at night -- so conditions couldn't be more perfect.  Probably why March 15-April 15th has been declared "Maple Syrup Month" in Wisconsin.

A friend of my grandparents tapped maple trees on their property when I was child, so I've seen the process in action. I remember walking through the woods and poking my fingers into the buckets hanging on the trees and tasting the flavor of that pure, clear syrup. And I'll admit that, as an adult, it's occasionally crossed my mind that it might be a fun project to tap a few trees out on my parents' property and see if I could make a little syrup of my own.  But, that idea has never really gotten past the contemplation stage.

So, when I saw Nancy Stohs article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this week, I paid attention. Apparently, Steven Anderson, a maple sugarer in northern Wisconsin has decided that it's high time someone recognized Wisconsin for its maple syrup production.  And he's launched a maple tree adoption program to rally support for his craft.

Adopt A Maple is a year-long opportunity for maple syrup lovers to connect with a real, live Sugar Maple tree in the Northwoods sugarbush of Anderson's Maple Syrup in Cumberland, WI.  Adoptees get an official certificate of adoption, and they have year-round visiting rights. In addition, part of their donation goes to support American Forests, a group that helps to plant trees to restore areas damaged by wildfire. Even cooler than that, some 7th and 8th grade science students in Cumberland are plotting out the GPS coordinates and uploading photos of the trees so that people can view their adoptive maples through Google Earth.  Pretty fun.  If you're curious, check out the details at www.andersonsmaplesyrup.com .

And now, it's time for that soup.

These are two of our favorite soups.  The split pea can be made in the crockpot, so it makes a great meal for busy weeknights.  The barley makes the soup extra hearty and adds a bit of texture while the chicken-apple sausages add a nice sweet-salty flavor.

Split Pea Soup with Barley & Chicken Sausage

The clam chowder, on the other hand, is simply decadent.  Smoky bacon adds a great deal of flavor, and a combination of whole milk and heavy cream lend the soup a seriously luxurious mouthfeel.  You could definitely make this with fresh clams, but good quality canned clams work splendidly -- and cut out a bit of the grunt work.

New England Style Clam Chowder

Maybe now I'll see if I can dig up some favorite recipes using maple syrup...


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