FTR baby! and FRE!…read more (first race ever) The Berry Big Run for the Kids supports the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Ozaukee County which is an independent not-for-profit youth mentoring program that pairs up an Ozaukee County child with an adult mentor who takes an active interest in their life in order foster future success Not counting the Journey to the End of the Night which is more of a giant game of tag across Chicago, I've never run in an actual organized footrace, until this past weekend. I ran with my wife, and we've been looking for a way to pop our race cherries since we're informally training for a half marathon in August 2014. My sister actually told me about this because she registered her and her daughter for it. I planned to do day of registration because I was unsure of whether I wanted to commit to it if I wasn't sure how the weather would hold up. As it turned out, something came up and she was unable to go and was able to transfer her registration to me and my wife. Lucky us! The race started at 0900 and we got there around 820 to pick up our packets. Parking on the street was pretty plentiful, and we were able to drop our stuff back at the car and get back to the starting line at Cedar Creek Park with time to spare. The course is a 5K, which is 3.1 miles. It went straight for a mile, a right turn and straight for another mile, and the last mile was right turn, left turn, right turn, left turn. At 1.5 miles they handed out much appreciated water. The course was run on the street and through the beautiful neighborhoods of Cedarburg, under trees and over bridges. The streets were not completely blocked off however, and there were times when there were cars in the incoming lane driving past us. Seeing the finish lane was the greatest feeling, and did I mention? The weather did hold up. It was cloudy and 76 degrees for the race, and the sun came out afterwards. The finish line was the starting line, so we ended up back at the park for bagels, bananas and water provided by the volunteers. Starbucks and Noodles and Company were also on hand giving away Orange Refreshers and Macaroni and Cheese and Rice Krispies Treats. All racers were also entered into a raffle using their bib numbers and Mel ended up winning a tote bag and reusable Starbucks covered cup. The race coincides with the Cedarburg Strawberry Festival, which is a nice way to recover with carbs and junk food and to cool down those hard-working legs. Looking forward to coming back next year!

Summer sounds is the ultimate outdoor summer, family appropriate experience. Giant field, a…read morestage, food trucks, and fun. Families start arriving around 5 and the opening music act goes from 630-730. The main act goes from 8-10. Families steak out a spot on the field, bring wine and cheese, kids run around and play on the playground and if the weather is nice it is a perfect evening. Go. Here. Now

I lived within a short bike-ride to this Friday music festival that takes place in a huge park in…read moreCedarburg for a couple of years. The Inner-Urban trail takes you almost all of the way up there yet you do have to hop onto some of the city roads. The park is right next to Silver Creek Brewer so it is nice to bring a growler to fill up before bringing it to the park. Summer Sounds brings good acts, is never too packed, and is really laid back. Over the last couple of years they have added food tents that include the Nines, a hotdog place, BBQ place, popcorn, beer/wine text, and a few others. There is plenty of bike parking. The street parking does get a little packed on these nights so be prepared for a few block walk.

This is one cool place!…read more I've been to two classes here recently and absolutely love what Wellspring is all about. It's a CSA, it's a bed and breakfast, it's a working farm, and it's an educational facility. The classes I took were Introduction to Cheesemaking and Advanced Cheesemaking. Both were taught by Herbalist and Cheesemaker Linda Conroy. And each six hour session was packed with so much great information I could not take notes fast enough. We received an eight page packet full of recipes, food sourcing information, and additional tips and links, which was a good base for our learning that day. In the intro class we learned to make our own butter from fresh (the cow was milked less than 24 hours before the class) dairy cream. It was much easier than I expected and voila, we had butter for our fresh baked sourdough bread that would be served at lunch. The we learned, hands-on, how to make fresh feta cheese. Because the process requires significant drying time Linda had finished product to share - both for our lunch, and to take home. We packed the dense white chunks into small canning jars with sprigs of fresh rosemary and filled the jars with extra virgin olive oil. Linda explained that the rosemary would infuse the oil and the porous cheese and preserve it without refrigeration indefinitely. She also shared variations on the starter recipe to make both paneer and farmer's cheese. Lunch at both classes was the most gourmet of farm to table spreads. We had fresh churned butter on fresh baked salt crusted sourdough. Linda made a delectable egg and vegetable baked and shared many of her fabulous canned goods. There was applesauce, and candied kumquats. Cherries and olives. And everything was divine. The afternoon of the basic class consisted of finishing up our feta and then making a 30 minute mozzarella to take home. The advanced class began with how to make aged gouda and aged cheddar for your home cheese cave. We learned to press the fresh curds into molds and continually extract the whey. After lunch we pulled the cheese from the forms and learned the aging process, as well as flavors we could incorporate into each cheese. Our final project of advanced class was creating squeaky and fun curds from scratch. And as good as those taste you would not believe how simple the process was. And taste testing the warm little nuggets was pretty cool too. I never would have imagined learning all the concepts and techniques that I did, but thanks to Linda and Francie from Wellspring, learning like this is accessible to anyone. I absolutely see myself going back for other classes. Cooking with Herbs, and Brunch Class have peaked my interest right now. But I check their site often to see what new classes have been added and I highly recommend that you do the same!

I signed up for the CSA here this spring b/c I didn't know if there would be any farmers' markets…read moreopen due to Covid. The fact that there were still openings available this late in the season should have been my first red flag--most of the better CSAs are sold out long before this. In a nutshell, while I'm sure these folks MEAN well, the end result has been disappointing, to say the least. First of all, according to the website, I would be able to pick up my box from the dropoff location between 3 AM and 8 PM. As I work 2nd shift, this sounded great; I'd be able to pick up in the morning before work. However, immediately before pickups were to begin, an email was sent out saying we could pick up between 4 PM and 8 PM. This is a problem--I'm at work from noon to 8:30 or 9 PM. A friend was willing to do the pickup for me, so I found a solution, but even though I notified Wellspring that the pickup time was WAY off, I don't think it's been corrected on the site yet. I signed up for a small share, and they're not kidding, it is small indeed. Some of it is what I'd call "junk" produce. I received purslane twice, which, although edible, is a weed and doesn't really require cultivation. I received violet leaves, which are only borderline edible, and the same thing about not needing cultivation. I received "broccoli greens", which are the leaves cut from the broccoli plants, but interestingly, I have not received any actual broccoli. This all gives the impression that the CSA shares don't get the "real" produce, only the stuff that can't be sold elsewhere b/c no one would buy it. I received yellow crookneck squash that had been allowed to get so large that the lower portion was entirely seeds and thus useless; the neck was so tough that it was inedible. I suspect that they allowed gourds to cross-pollinate with their squash, likely not knowing any better. The zucchini also has been allowed to get too big and is mushy inside. I've been receiving onions and garlic regularly, but since these are FALL crops, they haven't been dried/cured so they will keep. I don't consider it a bonus that I get to do that part... The website goes on about the advantage of getting FRESH produce, but much of what I've received appeared to have been harvested LONG before it got to me, or else was indeed harvested recently but stored incorrectly. Within a few days of receiving it, I have to pick slimy bits out of my salad mix. The eggplant I stored in a plastic bag in the fridge has shriveled and gone soft in less than a week. Some of my tomatoes were showing sunken spots when I received them. I don't expect "supermarket perfect" produce, but I don't expect produce that is on the edge of being spoiled, either. It has not been a terrible year for growing, so I don't believe these problems can be put off onto bad weather. I suspect that it's more a failure of knowledge and perhaps labor problems, too. I understand that part of being in a CSA is to help share the risk of bad weather and other crop problems, but this seems to be a very different sort of problem. Overall, the impression is that Wellspring is scrambling every week to find something, anything, to put in the CSA boxes. I understand that organic produce costs more than conventional, but I am quite sure I could go to Outpost and get much more produce (locally grown, organic, better quality) for my money than I'm getting at this CSA. I grew up on a dairy farm and we always had a huge garden. I am VERY familiar with what to expect in terms of quality and freshness from real "garden fresh" produce, and sadly, Wellspring falls short much of the time. I wish the best for everyone there, but I will definitely not be returning, at least not anytime soon.