Ride & Dine

Earlier this year, I was treated to lunch at a client's office and they served us pizza and bread sticks. The pizza box was unmarked and really tasty, so I asked where it was from. They told us they have a great relationship with Ride & Dine just up the street and order them all the time. I made a mental note to definitely try them out myself soon.

Lent time came around and fish frys are extremely popular meals to eat on Wednesdays and Fridays for Catholics (or really anyone that lives in Wisconsin). I saw on Facebook that Ride & Dine offers a nice fish fry at a very reasonable price so I called them and placed an order to go. I scheduled the pick up for a certain time and when I stopped in, the order was ready to go and piping hot.

Even in the short drive to my guy's place, the food stayed very warm and crispy. Each fish fry comes with 3 nice-sized pieces of battered fish, french fries, rye bread, coleslaw and tartar. I splurged and order the deep fried pickles too. Everything was great. The fries were super crisp on the outside and mushy on the inside. I call this a double-fried fry, but I'm not sure that is the right term. The coleslaw was pretty basic, but a little pepper added by yours truly made it tasty.

And the pickles were really yummy. They come with a dill ranch dipping sauce. I like that they are spears and not slices because I can taste more of the pickle and not the breading. We were big fans and had almost clean plates by the end. There was so much food, we just couldn't finish it all.


I kept this place in mind the next time I needed a good meal. One evening, after running a few errands, I ended up heading to my guy's place. They had already had dinner, so I stopped into Ride & Dine and scoped out the menu for something delicious. I decided on the pulled pork and took the menu's suggestion to try it with melted cheese. I again order the fries because I liked them so much last time.

I took a seat at a table while they prepped my meal and checked out the decor. Though I don't have confirmation from anyone at the restaurant on this theory, the name makes more sense to me. There were jersey's hanging on the walls that I believe to be from motor-cross racing (or another type of racing). I am guessing the owner has a love of riding and dining :)

The menu hangs behind the counter on a very tall wall and though they offer a lot of items, I didn't find the menu overwhelming.

My meal was ready in a few minutes and I headed off to my guy's place. I ate as soon as I got there and the sandwich was wonderful. The pulled pork had a lot of flavor with some BBQ sauce mixed in and the addition of melted cheese is a must. It really brought another level of savory, deliciousness to the sandwich.

I was a member of the clean plate club that night and I can't wait to go back and check out the place again soon. They are very active on social media and post pictures of their food and specials frequently. This really helps show their diverse menu. They are closed on Sundays but open Monday - Thursday 11 - 2 and 4 - 8. Friday and Saturday they are open 11 - 9. Definitely take a ride and dine with them soon! (pun intended)

Michael's Restaurant

Michael's Italian Restaurant has been a staple in Waukesha for over 35 years. I have enjoyed many meals here since moving to the city and it's one of the places that I make sure to mention when giving food suggestions to friends looking for a good bite in Waukesha. 

My parents, my guy and myself got together for a dinner earlier this year on a Saturday evening. The restaurant was bustling with people but we were able to get a table right away. If we wouldn't, the bar area is nice to wait in. It reminds me of a supper club with mirrors on the walls and seating all the way around the bar. 

My parents are big fans of Michael's pizza and I would have to agree and say it's one of the top pizzas that I have had in Waukesha. My parents ordered a pizza and the antipasto salad to share.  I didn't get a picture of the salad but it's very big and definitely feeds two people with a lot of variety. (From the website: Crisp lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, vinegar peppers and olives with salami, pepperoni, and provolone topped with house Italian dressing.) And they chose to order a large pizza so they could take home leftovers. It was delicious as always! 

I just absolutely love pasta and I'm always looking for something different to try. I love their wild mushroom ravioli and the goat cheese ravioli special. I hope they continue that as a special - it was divine. 

This time I chose the Cheese Tortellini with Beef Ragu - Tender slices of  beef  sautéed with garlic, shallots, mushrooms and fresh basil finished with Madeira wine sauce over Tortellini. When it arrived, I knew I made another great choice. The beef was so tender and flavorful and really added to the pasta. The fresh basil and Madiera sauce pulled this plate together wonderfully and I will go on record to recommend this dish to all pasta lovers. 

My guy chose the Blackened Salmon and the this too was a great dish - Sauteed on a bed of  angel hair pasta, drizzled with pesto sauce. The salmon was nice and flaky and the pesto had amazing flavor. This helped counter the blackened spices for me, but my guy thought the fish was perfectly seasoned.

None of us had room for dessert after all this food, but we left so happy with full stomachs and another great memory of Michael's.

Door County Weekend Trip - Part 1

My guy decided that we needed a little getaway and asked if I was interested in a long weekend in Door County. I jumped at the opportunity for a mini-vacation with him and checking out a part of the state that I haven't been to in decades.

We headed out Friday morning and had a smooth ride up to Sturgeon Bay.

Once in Sturgeon Bay, we stopped at The Draft Haus for lunch. The bar has a nautical, sports bar feel - light fixtures made out of boat wheels and awesome etched mirrors with sports team logos on them. Our server recently moved from Milwaukee to the DC--she welcomed us and told us a bit about the area. It was at this bar that I tried the only Door County beer of the weekend, Door County Brewing Polka King Porter. It was pretty heavy with coffee and hops but it warmed me up on the cold day.

From the menu, I chose the Asiago Chicken sandwich that came topped with a sundried tomato and kalamata olive spread. It was really tasty. The warm chicken melted the spread and brought the flavors together well. 

My guy had a giant walleye sandwich, that was the special that day. It came with fresh tomato and really good tartar. I found out my guy doesn't understand the value of a pickle after a meal. That is one of my favorite parts of the meal! A crisp pickle spear is lunch's dessert. I got half his pickle from him :)

After lunch, we had some time to burn before we could check into the B&B, so we decided to drive around and explore. The Wisconsin Motorcycle Memorial is in Sturgeon Bay, so we made a stop hoping to pay our respects to a fallen rider friend. I found out from the family that this park is the only one of its kind in the US currently. Although the memorial bricks were covered with icy snow, and we couldn't find his, the park was very peaceful. You can see and feel the love that friends and family of fallen riders have put into the park.

After the memorial stop, we tried to check out a few stores on Hwy 42 but had no luck--they were closed for the season. We back-tracked to downtown Sturgeon Bay and walked the main drag, wandering in and out of stores. We found a great antique shop and picked up some unique finds, and the owner suggested we check out two other antique shops in the city that would be open this time of year. We also found a candy shop with amazing chocolate dipped pretzels, a home decor store with cute Christmas items on sale, and a really interested kitchen gadget store. You want a gadget, they had it!

Then it was time to head to the Chanticleer Guest House and check in. It's out of town a bit on a back country road. When we arrived, I already loved it. The barn building is adorable from the outside and it's the main building for the B&B. Next to it is another building with guest rooms and both face an open field where we saw lots of animal prints in the fresh snow. I'm sure in the morning, guests see lots of wildlife.
  

We met one of the owners and got the key to our cabin. Chanticleer built four cabins across the road from the main building tucked into a wooded area. My guy thought this would be a little more private for us and we would have our own kitchen to cook together in. He is always thinking about my love of food, not to mention he is a huge fan of my cooking :)

Here is a video tour of the cabin.

Because my video doesn't do justice to the beautiful sunset, here is our view from the upstairs of the cabin.

Although we had a full kitchen, we did decide to go out to eat for night one. Many friends told me we had to try Wild Tomato and to get there early so you don't have to wait. Wild Tomato is located in Fish Creek, so we got in the car and headed north up the peninsula. We arrived shortly after five pm and the restaurant was already hopping. It's not a very large place--a community table for eight, six tables of two and a bar that seats four people is the entire dining area. The wood-fired oven is viewable from all the tables. It was very awesome to watch the cooks toss the dough in the air and move the pizzas around in the oven.

The last seats left in the place were at the community table, so we joined another couple whose meal was already in progress. We picked out wine and beer to enjoy and then had the daunting task of deciding on a pizza. Everything sounded so good and the place smelled soectacular. Our server informed us that we could do half and half but substitutions aren't allowed. I let my guy pick and he made the decision to do half Fun Guy and half Sausage and Pesto.

The pizza was beyond amazing. The crust was thin and crisp at the edges but softer in the middle. Our server brought us freshly grated Parmesan too. My first piece was the Pesto and Sausage. The sausage had a ton of flavor and wasn't too spicy. The pesto tastes fresh and was a nice compliment to the sauce and sausage. I really enjoyed this slice, but it didn't compare to the Fun Guy slice I had next. The onions were caramelized perfectly and the garlic cream cheese sauce was amazing. I couldn't figure out all the different mushrooms but each held its own on the pizza. My guy loved the Sausage and Pesto the most and raved about the sausage and how much flavor it had.

I wanted to eat more but I just couldn't find any more room in my tummy. We took half the pizza back with us to the cabin. Then it was time to for us to relax after a long day of driving, shopping and eating.

My guy made us some of his Whiskey Old Fashioned Sours and we enjoyed some time in the Whirlpool tub while watching the Food Network and having the fire place going. I was in heaven and it was only day one. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the vacation coming soon!

Boscos Social Club

When I think of bars that I want to go to for a beer or cocktail in a fun atmosphere, Boscos Social Club almost always pops in mind right away. This place has been in downtown Waukesha since 2011 and has been constantly evolving and changing.

I actually went to college (and hung out on occasion) with the owner Jimmy and am glad that he stayed local and has opened two businesses in town (Spurs Saloon)

This building housed a lot of different bars before Boscos, but I never frequented those.  I believe the best addition they made to the place is the awesome "backyard." They have three covered outdoor patios with large flatscreens to watch all the major sporting events on. There is even a heat lamp for the colder nights. They also have an area of uncovered chairs and tables, a tree, an outdoor bar (so you don't have to go back inside) and an area for bags and other yard games to be played. The entire area is strung with bistro lights, making it a very fun and inviting atmosphere.

Recently, they tore down a raised seating area inside the bar to make it more accessible for larger crowds and put in a wall length booth seat with tables and fancy chairs for a lounge feel. I love the cool light fixtures they have in the bar.

There are a few hightop tables that can be moved for when they have a DJ and want to dance the night away.

The bar also boasts a digital jukebox, dart boards and the "dog wall" - my favorite. They have a wall covered in pictures of dogs that are framed up.

The selection of alcohol and beer is very extensive and something is on special every day! The bar even has two Shot-ski's hanging behind it but I haven't seen those used yet.

They offer free popcorn to the customers as well, which we enjoyed on a Sunday afternoon recently.

And they really out do themselves for seasonal decorations every year. Halloween is the one I see that they go to the extreme. But I have also seen Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patty's Day, Easter and more.

We have made this a destination for a few Halloween Pub Crawls through town in recent years.

View out Boscos front window. 

Halloween decor at Boscos

Rumpelstiltskin with a crazy zombie behind him

Dexter and Robin Hood by the Boscos Bar

German guy and Personal ad playing a game at Boscos

They offer specials during Packer games and have Emil's pizza available for purchase too--I recommend the Cheeseburger pizza!

This is a bar that does draw the college age crowd and gets extremely busy in the later evenings. So if you don't like larger crowds, just come early! It's worth a stop to see what this place is all about. You won't be disappointed.

Boscos also recently opened Spurs Saloon on Williams Street in Waukesha - by La Estacion and Club 400. I haven't stopped in yet but I hope to soon and see how much the place has changed since my college days of it being Mulligans.

The Lucky Rabbit

Last week Tuesday, I had plans to go to a beer dinner at Bernie's Tap Room with a few friends but due to circumstances outside of Bernie's control, the dinner had to be cancelled. We are patiently awaiting the next dinner and hope it's a great brewery they feature!! 

But we didn't want to cancel our plans of a night out, so we started thinking of a different place to try. I have been going on a lot of walks on my lunches and noticed a sign outside of The Lucky Rabbit on St. Paul and Madison offering $2 taps and $2 pizzas on Tuesdays. I was curious about this and suggested it to my friends and they thought we should try it out.

We met up at 6:30 and found some comfy lounge chairs inside the bar and sat down for the evening. The owners of The Lucky Rabbit have done a fantastic job rehabbing the place from what was once a place I never wanted to go into with a sketchy crowd, to a modern, young and fun place bar. It's painted orange on the inside with a very cool wooden soffit that adds architecture and ambiance. There is a stage for the DJ or band to play on, lounge seating, high-top tables, and lots of seating at the bar.

A very friendly server came over right away and explained the drink and food specials for the night. $2 domestic taps, (they have quite a selection of craft and imports on tap as well) and $2 pizzas that are 9" hand tossed or thin crust with 1 meat and 2 veggies on top. Also, the jumbo pretzels were $2 that night as well. We ordered drinks and took a look at all the different topping choices we could get on the pizza while we waited for the drinks to come back.

My friend Brandon saw they had Pumpking on tap and if you haven't had this pumpkin beer, it's a must! It's like pumpkin pie in liquid form - so yummy! I had to have one or two of those with my pizza.

We all decided on pizzas and Tiffany ordered us some garlic toast as well. The garlic toast came out quickly and was 5 pieces of french bread lightly coated with a garlic butter/oil spread and marinara for dipping. The bread was cut thin and toasted to a nice golden crisp - just the way I like it. And the marinara was pretty excellent too! We could have gotten by with one order, but the server wasn't sure how many pieces came per order so we went with two to be safe.

Then the pizzas came out. We all ended up with thin crust on accident but for $2, I wasn't gonna complain. And they were delicious! I probably shouldn't have eaten the whole thing and garlic bread too but it was so good. The marinara has great flavor and they are generous with the toppings.

 Sausage, Black Olive & Mushroom

 Pepperoni, Pineapple and Banana Peppers

 Green Olive, Tomato and ? - This one was just three veggies

 Pepperoni, Black Olive and Onion

We ate, chatted, watched the Yankees game (Funny that the Brewers weren't on any of their TVs though they were playing that night - oh well - we watched one of Jeter's last games at least).

I have been friends with this guy since preschool and I'm glad that we can still meet up and hang out. We hope to meet up again soon and do another dinner out.

The Lucky Rabbit also does brunch on Saturdays & Sundays. They are advertising Breakfast and a Bloody for $10 currently. I don't like Bloodys but the breakfast options look pretty good to me! Since this place is owned by the same folks that own Fuzzy's, which has amazing breakfast, I'm sure it's top notch food. Maybe they will sub a mimosa or other morning cocktail  for this girl!

I'll have to watch what specials they run other nights, but I definitely want to go back for more pizza.

Michael's Italian Restaurant - A Staple on my Faves List

When my parents or I are looking for a place to go in Waukesha that we will get excellent service and great food options, Michael's Italian Restaurant is always on the top of that list. I joined my parents there a few Fridays ago before we headed down to Waukesha's Friday Night Live.

The website lists them as being in Waukesha for over 35 years and I can vouch for excellent food for at least 10 years! When I used to work at Fox Run Sentry Liquor (RIP), the owner would occasionally spring for pizzas for us during the holidays and Michael's was one of his favorite take-out spots. They do not skimp on toppings and provide the toppings finely chopped so it's easy to eat. Not to mention two pizzas could feed a hungry staff for days because it's so filling.

It took me a few years to actually get inside of Michael's but my Aunt came into town and my parents suggested we give it a shot. Ever since then, it's been on our list as a favorite stop in Waukesha.

Although they have an excellent fish fry, I am always one to go outside the norm and try something else than the nightly special. Sometimes this works in my favor and other times not. Here, it was one of the best choices I have made (food wise) in the last year.

My parents both chose fish frys - Mom got the baked haddock and dad went with the perch. I, on the other hand, went with Chicken Marsala. I only order this dish at truly Italian places so I know the sauce is made from scratch.

My parents were both extremely pleased with their fish choices, as they always are. A nice, light and flaky batter on the perch and the haddock was broiled to perfection. And you get plenty to eat as you can see from their plates, not to mention a bread basket to go with the salads that we got as well.

And my Marsala was divine. Michael's does it a little different in that they pan fry the chicken first to get a nice Italian seasoned crunch to the chicken, but you can still see the chicken through the breading so it's not to heavy. The breast is nice and moist and very flavorful sans the sauce they put with it. The mushrooms and Marsala sauce are some of the best that I had and although I should have saved half of this meal for a later time, because it's a huge portion, I became a member of the clean plate club (taking after my father of course!). The steamed veggies and pasta were a great addition to the dish and I just kept right on eating and eating, savoring every bit of the sauce and chicken.

I highly recommend you check this place out in Waukesha. The parking lot is small, but they have street parking and a lot next door they use. Plus the traffic flows in and out quickly due to a lot of To-Go order pizzas.

The website provides the general information that you would find - menu, hours, location, but also a Gluten Free menu (YAY!), coupons and promotions! I also didn't know that Michael's caters, but I will have to keep that in my back pocket in case I am every in need. 

Healthy Living Week 3

Week 3 has been a real battle. I tried hard to not let the mind win, but I'm in need of great support to get back on track. My back pain has been a set back and I'm trying to learn to deal with it, but it makes working out very difficult. I know there is some level of working out I can do and I just have to do it.

Plus not all weight loss happens from working out - you have to work on what you are putting in your body. 


I will say that my clothes are fitting a bit better, even though the weight loss isn't significant. Sometimes it's not all about the number on the scale, but for me, I have to keep that in mind so I keep trudging forward.

I did go to Chicago this past weekend for a friend's birthday and although I did allow myself to indulge, it could have turned out a lot worse.

One slice of deep dish (how can you not), some fried chicken (a little too indulgent) but a very healthy breakfast. I did limit my alcohol intake to help cut down on empty calories and we walked a lot.

All in all, the scale was only up .5 after the weekend so I was proud.

I made a wonderful lasagna for me and my guy on Monday night and it turned out scrumptious. Though it was a bit richer, I know every ingredient I put in it and used low-cal, low-fat when I could.

So my goal for this next week is to really get back on track and work my hardest to get to my goals. Small steps begin with the first step, so it's back to veggies and salads for lunch and portion control. 

 

Here is my best guess at how I made mine. I really just threw it together.

Throw It Together Lasagna
Sauce:
1 lb. Italian Sausage (Italian turkey sausage could have been used but the store was out)
1 jar Rinaldi Spaghetti sauce
3 tsp. minced garlic
1- 14. oz can diced tomatoes (drained)

Brown Italian sausage. Drain off the grease. Add the garlic, sauce and tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. 

9 lasagna noodles, cooked
4 oz. finely chopped mushrooms
1 cup Italian cheese blend shredded cheese

Filling:
6 oz. onion and chive cream cheese (couldn't find a low fat option)
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
1 Tbsp. pesto (Classico brand was what I had at home)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup Italian cheese blend shredded cheese

1 tsp. onion powder
dash of salt
few cranks of pepper

Use a hand mixer to combine the filling together into a consistent mixture.

Put half the sauce into the bottom of a lightly greased 9 X 13 pan. Then lay down three of the noodles. Put half the cheese mixture evenly over the noodles and top with half the chopped mushrooms. Then put half the remaining sauce down. Add another layer of noodles, top with remaining cheese mixture and remaining mushrooms and add the final noodles for the top. Cover with sauce and remaining cup of cheese. Place in over at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly. Remove and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve with garlic bread.

It's even better the next day! I let my guy take some of the leftovers so he had lunch for work and his coworkers were jealous. 
 

Bernie's Tap Room and Downtown Waukesha

I had a date Friday night and I introduced him to Bernie's Tap Room and the Duck Confit and BBQ pizzas/flatbreads. The BBQ pizza was new to me and I think what makes Bernie's pizzas/flatbreads so outstanding is the super crispy and thin crust. I made another fan of the duck pizza and I WILL figure out the white sauce so I can try my darndest to make this at home. We took two slices of the BBQ pizza home to not be glutinous but it was really, really good.

My date was even lucky enough to score me some duck so I can try cooking it myself too! Any suggestions on cooking duck? 

Bernie's was hopping with people and the musician was just sitting down to start his first set. I took a double take and realized it was Mike Mann formerly from ManDown, a Milwaukee acoustic guitar coverband. In the mid-2000s, my cousin and I loved seeing them and we would go to whatever bars they were at because we were sure to have fun. Call us groupies or whatever but those guys knew how to rock it the southern rock way. It was great to see Mike still out playing and still rocking it. I didn't have a chance to say hi, but I'm sure I'll see him around again.

Then I showed my date around downtown and pointed out some of my favorite stops: People's Park, Nice Ash where my friend Kacey seemed to fly out of the bar to say hi to me, Poppin' on Broadway, Jackson's, Bosco's and Steaming Cup.

And then I tripped over the barricade in the road....... :(  

Nope, wasn't drunk, it just was really dark and I didn't see how far it was sticking out. Luckily my date kept me from falling completely over but whew - be careful out there folks. Road construction is the pits! (I will probably change it to the barricade jumped out at me in future retells of this date!)

My date was not from around here, so I'm glad he was able to see that Waukesha isn't a bunch of one-way streets that you can't get around (yep that's what he thought) and it has lots to offer. And he wasn't detered by the minor construction with me as such a great navigator for his first time in downtown. He has only been to downtown Waukesha one other time getting sausages for his dad's birthday surprise from Jimmy's Grotto. He is now a fan of Bernie's and I hope to make him a fan of many other places as well (regardless how the dating stuff works out!)