travel blah

 So much food! I love food, but I'm tired of restaurants. Even good ones. I'd like to be in my own kitchen for a week. 

Squash is the word (that you heard, it's the word). And a pretty decent GF cauliflower pizza base.

I became a fan of bourbon last week. Probably whiskey in general also. I'm not a purist, though - some orange, some bitters, maybe some sweet black cherry; those Wisconsin and Kentucky settlers know how to do it. If it could be made without the alcohol, I'd appreciate it even more.

I overheard one of Dan's sons yesterday, watching photos of his Dad scroll by on a screen at the funeral home: "That's such an old person thing to do, a selfie with stuff to see behind them." It made me laugh.

Here's an old-person shot from Louisville.

cleaning out the fridge

We are on our way out of town (from Wisconsin) tomorrow, so in the stage of "do we eat it or toss it?" 

Nothing worth taking photos of: the end of the spinach, one cauliflower pizza crust, one container of yogurt, a few cheese curds....

Mark goes to Louisville while I go to St Louis (which will involve Luke, Erin, and Kara), then we meet for a Tennessee adventure with Anne, then back to St Louis for Thanksgiving week with Luke, Erin, Joshua and Sophie.

I'm loving all the people!

I am not in charge of the Thanksgiving meal. (All I care about is the pie anyhow.) Also true for Christmas this year, for the first time. It's great having adult children.

The Midwest has had a couple loooong beautiful mellow weeks of autumn.

The fridge is not looking appetizing today. I hear takeout calling....

Soup to Nuts

 a favorite phrase of a favored friend

And phood today: split pea soup for breakfast, after a beautiful run that started here and ended there, at the lower photo. The longest run in months, as consistency is hard sometimes. It felt good - temps in the 30s are my favorites for running.

I did also eat yogurt, and guacamole and tortilla/chia/flax chips. Getting that fat on the right side of the day!

friends are good

 We had dinner last night with Wisconsin friends who spent their VERY FIRST post-lockdown restaurant experience with us. They suggested we meet at Paddock Club in Elkhart Lake. Where do these little town little restaurants come from? How do they survive? Mark compared it to Vivian Howard's restaurant documented in A Chef's Life, and that was spot on.

http://www.paddockclubelkhartlake.com/

We ate and savored.

The Calabrese cauliflower, grilled broccoli, scallops, butternut ravioli, bourbon honey cocktail, gin lavender lemon cocktail, and a hazelnut chocolate something delicious. 

It rivals The Blind Horse, with a little more cozy.

Wisconsin has some darn good food!

and beautiful mornings