Cookery Maven Blog

Long Island On Skis & Through Snowflakes

We booked across the bay last year but this year, we decided to book it LICC-style and headed out to Long Island for a winter version of Long Island Cocktail Club. Charly, the LICC czar, decreed the ice was safe, the island was accessible and we were bad-ass enough to get ourselves, some tequila, hot dogs, brats, 5 kids and 2 dogs over to Long for an afternoon adventure.

Bananas & Chocolate- Always A Good Idea

If I've noticed two consistent issues with grocery shopping, it's this: avocados and bananas are never, and I mean never, at the peak of perfect ripeness when you need them.

A Midwinter's Adventure

The first time we hiked out to the Sioux River with Julie and Charly, I knew it was my kind of place. Lots of red and white pines, a spring fed river and plenty of faces in the trees to keep my occupied for hours.

Alabama BBQ Chicken

When Ted's parents moved to Alabama ten years ago, I was a little skeptical but curious. My Southern knowledge base consisted of an appreciation for monograms, Lilly Pulitzer and a Florida beach vacation every couple of years— I wasn't sure where Alabama figured into the equation.

Roasted Garlic Squash Soup With Apples & Boursin

I have to admit, there's nothing like a good old-fashioned snow storm to make me happy. And a pot of soup on the stove during a snow storm seals the deal, as far as I'm concerned.

Water, Interrupted

Ted and I bought cross-country skies for Christmas in an effort to bolster our flagging fitness levels and spend time in the great outdoors in the middle of winter. So far, so good.

Beefy Pies With Stilton & Stout

Ice caves, ice roads, cross-country skiing, quinzee huts and dog sledding— all by-products of our fantastically cold and snowy winter. With the right amount of layering and warm boots, winter has secured a place in my heart with its abbreviated daylight and crystal clear, star strewn night sky.

Here's To The Middle

Terry Tempest Williams and the middle path.

The Many Faces Of The 2014 Sled Dog Races

Steadfast, resolute, determined— all good words to describe the dogs at the Apostle Islands Sled Dog Races this weekend. They were keyed up and ready to take off , with their musher in tow, on the trails in Bayfield County.

Honest Dogs At The Apostle Islands Sled Dog Races

That's how it all started, a bunch of sled dogs for an epic birthday present in 2001— seems like a reasonable way to start a kennel to me. Don't forget, Julie is the woman who decided paddling to the Arctic Ocean in a canoe and spending the winter in a cabin without running water on an island (read all about it here) was a good idea.

Seriously Good Bacon & Pancetta Jam

Bacon jam, I've never heard of such a wondrous thing until three weeks ago. And I owe the whole revelation to Martha Stewart (and an internet search for a 'pork in a slow cooker' recipe).

Home

When my eighteen year old self imagined her bright and exotic future— there wasn't a chapter, a mention or even a whiff of small towns, five kids, Northern Wisconsin or a Unimog. Her version of home was a decent Manhattan apartment, a salon full of friends and snappy chatter, some grown-up amber liquid in a lowball glass and stacks of books and New Yorker magazines.

A Sugar Bush Margarita Will Take The Chill Off 22 Below Zero

I have a fondness for tequila, specifically a double Patron on the rocks with three limes. I believe in good quality spirits and leaving well enough alone— no Sex on the Beach, blue Curaçao (what is that stuff??) or Long Island Iced Teas for this girl.

Al Capone's Roast- Even Mobsters Need To Eat

Ted and I spent a lot of time aimlessly driving around northwestern Wisconsin when we were newly married— looking for old farmhouses and cabins, bars in the middle of nowhere and exploring Wisconsin's back roads with our Gazetteer.

It's Not Boun Giorno Sausage But It's Close...Enough

I have high standards for Italian sausage, thanks to Boun Giorno Italian Market in St Paul. Their Sicilian sausage is, hands down, the best sausage I've ever eaten but it's four hours away from Bayfield.

Braised Red Cabbage With Quince, Apple & Cranberries

Ted walked into the kitchen just as I remarked to myself (out loud) about the beautiful symmetry of the head of cabbage I had just cut in half. Thankfully, he's used to my mutterings in an empty room but my cabbage love was a new one.

Venison & Pork Bacheofe

When Charly offered me two venison roasts, I knew exactly what to make for dinner. Earlier in the week, Ted asked me if I could find a recipe for the Black Forest's Alsatian casserole and while I had no luck with the Black Forest version, I found an intriguing recipe for an Alsatian Bacheofe.

Our Morning At The Ice Caves

Jack leaves tomorrow— back to Madison to complete the second half of his freshman year. I wanted to do something epic to recognize his leave-taking; some collection of experiences he can bring to Madison, package away in his dorm room and pull out when he needs to remember why Lake Superior will always be home.

Chicken Wellingtons

Any excuse to use puff pastry in my kitchen is a good one, as far as I'm concerned. And the added criteria of wrapping the puff around nearly anything is most definitely a brilliant idea.

Before The Ice

I took this collection of photos on November 24 when the lake was restless— heaving itself on shore and instantly morphing into ice. The deafening roar of wind and water was breathtaking (literally, it was so windy I couldn't hear Will) and awe-inspiring.