Oct 8 2016
Hard to believe it’s October as I write this because forecast temps remain about 10 degrees higher than average for the month, but that hasn’t stopped me from shifting my menus to soups, stews and anything else that seems traditional for this time of year. For some people, this is a month of pilgrimage. The(…)
Oct 1 2016
It is rare for me to track down an author to his home, but that happened 14 years ago, to interview a guy in New Auburn about his first book with a major publishing house. Although dozens of unsolicited books made their way to my newsroom desk in Madison, this one seemed extraordinary because of(…)
Sep 24 2016
Readers, thanks for filling the mailbag. Here are excerpts. We have two winners in the challenge to write about your favorite national park experience in 50 words or less. Both will receive National Geographic books about the National Park Service during this NPS centennial year celebration. “While in Yellowstone, a bear reared next to our(…)
Sep 17 2016
Near the geographic center of Wisconsin is Marshfield, population 19,000 and unusual because the city sits in both Wood and Marathon counties. The long-ago railroad town’s ancestors include a former governor, William Upham, whose 1880 Victorian mansion is the local history museum. Here you will find the world’s largest round barn, whose construction was completed(…)
Sep 10 2016
Where to next? My reply to that frequent question inevitably prompts this follow-up: For business or pleasure? “Both” is almost always my answer. Almost all trips fit in time for discoveries, and some roads have dead ends. Here’s how a quick overnight in Chicago unfolded this month. 12:30 p.m. Thursday – My Van Galder bus(…)
Sep 3 2016
A 17-inch December blizzard tore the puffy roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome in 2010, and three years later the Teflon-coated dome would collapse for the fifth and last time. It was hard to feel much sorrow for the loss in Packerland. The bubble of a sports stadium, open since 1982, smelled like sweaty gym socks(…)
Aug 27 2016
Fifty years have passed since abandoned railroad tracks were converted into the 32.5-mile Elroy-Sparta State Trail, the first U.S. rail-to-trail project, and now at least 1,900 of these recreational paths crisscross the nation. A new guidebook, “Rail-Trail Hall of Fame: a Selection of America’s Premier Rail-Trails” (Wilderness Press, $17), recognizes Elroy-Sparta and 28 other trails(…)
Aug 20 2016
Running out of ideas about how to spend precious leisure time during these waning days of summer or beyond? My “in” box contains no shortage of ideas. Take a peek. — The 70-acre Holy Hill Art Farm, a 160-year-old homestead near Hubertus, is hosting one more dinner in the farm’s barn this summer. A ticket(…)
Aug 13 2016
In the world of competitive cooking, baking and recipe making, Patti Flaker of Wausau is a bit atypical. She had never attended the Wisconsin State Fair until this year, when she made the drive to enter the fair’s first-time Old Fashioned cocktail recipe contest. Then she didn’t simply make the recipe. She added accessories –(…)
Aug 6 2016
Before morning yoga begins, the teacher asks for introductions. On the sand and facing Little Hills Lake are a chemist, investment counselor, engineers, lab workers. Elsewhere are at least one gynecologist, agronomist, hospice nurse, baker, computer programmer, accountant and many other walks of life. We are in our 20s to 60s, and no one answer(…)
Jul 30 2016
Ask who is responsible for the revival of interest in Wisconsin supper clubs, and I’ll point a finger toward Ron Faiola, a multimedia entrepreneur in Greendale whose “Wisconsin Supper Clubs: An Old Fashioned Experience” film (in 2011) and book (in 2013) started the snowball of momentum. The book is in its seventh printing, and now(…)
Jul 23 2016
The GPS has us driving in circles, so we park and approach the first person we see. Yes, she speaks English. Yes, she knows where we are trying to go. Yes, it is within a walk but, no, she won’t simply provide directions. This friendly stranger insists on accompanying us on a brisk, 10-minute trek(…)
Jul 16 2016
Our captain maneuvers us like a gondolier, standing as a pole propels his flatboat through a maze of canals that gingerly pass tree canopies, tiny towns, flower beds, thatched roofs, haystacks and orchards. Between each row of blanket-covered seats is a table with fresh flowers. We have much of the waterway to ourselves, if you(…)
Jul 9 2016
First in a series. About 44 percent of Wisconsin residents, the highest percentage of all states, reported German ancestry on the 2000 U.S. Census. (The 2010 census omitted ancestry questions). — If you love beer, this is the year to visit Germany and immerse yourself in its sudsy history, regional specialties. The Reinheitsgebot – German(…)
Jul 2 2016
With three blasts of the whistle, to signify that we’re backing up, downtown Lake Geneva’s most unique boat tour begins. For the next 2.5 hours, about 160 passengers get acquainted with Geneva Lake as Capt. Neill Frame slowly navigates the waterway counter-clockwise. He is at the helm of Walworth II, built in 1967. The vessel’s(…)
Jun 25 2016
Wisconsin is Frank Lloyd Wright country, and more of the world may realize this as early as next month, when the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meets in Istanbul, Turkey. Ready for a vote is a 2014 nomination to designate 10 of our native son’s most internationally significant architectural works as a World Heritage Site. This(…)
Jun 18 2016
The arrival of summer means it’s time to hit the beach, and we have a lot of choices in Wisconsin. In the state are about 15,000 lakes, plus shorelines for the Mississippi River, St. Croix River and Great Lakes of Michigan and Superior. Much of what makes Wisconsin beaches different from those in Waikiki is(…)
Jun 11 2016
Much distinguishes Ephraim, population 288, from other hamlets in tourist-friendly Door County. The local yacht club – organized in 1906 – is one of the oldest on the Great Lakes, but the actual structure is tiny. Membership totals about 480, anyone can join, and children begin sailing lessons at age 7. Ephraim’s annual Flying Scots(…)
Jun 4 2016
Friends near Cazenovia (Richland County) always invite us to their farm during this time of year, and it is a joy to simply follow the quiet, twisty backroads to their home on a hill with an unobstructed, panoramic view of farmland, wildlife and cloud formations. About one dozen of us gather for a potluck and,(…)
May 28 2016
The Winnebago tribe knew of the lake as Daycholah, a beautiful, mysterious and magical body of water that seemed to have no bottom. It was a place of spiritual pilgrimage centuries ago, and Native American burial mounds dot the lakeshore. Green Lake, at 236 feet, is the deepest natural inland lake in Wisconsin. On the(…)
Follow Wisconsin Supper Club Cookbook events online and order books directly from the author for a personalized gift!! Price: $25, plus tax. Shipping included for the continental U.S.
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Midwest Features Syndicate
P.O. Box 259623
Madison, WI 53725
Pair the book with filmmaker Holly De Ruyter's award-winning supper club documentary! More about the DVD is here.
