April's Sunday Brunch

Another belated Sunday brunch, on a Monday. It is only because my mom demanded so much attention on Sunday.

Not really though. She demanded an appropriate amount of attention and probably deserves more because she is just that awesome. Honestly, it has just been a whirl wind the past two weeks, resulting in my neglecting the blog.

Have I mentioned I'm building a garden? By building a garden, I mean my boyfriend and his friend are building it while I paint all the pieces pretty colors. It has been consuming most all of our weekends.

I do help some, it just doesn't involve ox like strength. I get assigned all of the super tedious and boring tasks. They may not require strength and brawn, but they are necessary.

The whole thing would fall apart without those tedious tasks, seriously. That is what I tell myself as I wander around picking up rocks anyways.

A lot of people have been asking why such a mammoth fence. It is to keep all variety of woodland creatures out of my garden, ensuring I get to enjoy the full bounty of the garden. You would be surprised the lengths little and big woodland creatures will go to eat that first perfectly ripe strawberry or snap pea.

We planted our very first seeds this weekend, after a lovely mother's day brunch at Osteria Papavero, which was delicious as always. Send all your best wishes to our tiny seeds. I hope they grow. How such tiny little fellows grow into giant radishes, carrots and snap peas blows my mind. It is a true miracle of life or science or both.

The boyfriend and I spent a Friday afternoon in Milwaukee and checked out the Ale Asylum Riverhouse. It was amazing. I highly highly recommend. If you follow me on instagram, you saw some of these pictures.

We had some unique mozzarella sticks wrapped in prosciutto, mustard deviled egg salad and a burger with raspberry preserves, brie, pickled red onions and prosciutto. I forget what my boyfriend had because I was too involved in my burger. It was true love.

My mom and I had a little ladies day the other weekend that included a lot of shopping. With the mission to find me a graduation dress because that is happening, officially in six days. Unfortunately for her she couldn't try on too many clothes due to a bad shoulder.

Instead she had herself a pretty violet cocktail, plus some, at Sushi Muramato. Treating her to a cocktail and being the driver was the least I could do, after a day of watching me try on clothes.

And now for an obligatory cat picture. She is a real lady. Don't you think? On this particular day she was doing the relaxing for me, while I stressed out over my first interview related to my degree. First real professional interview ever really.

I was done with papers the week before classes ended, in order to focus all my attention on this interview. It came at the end of my last week of classes, ever. I never have to go to class again. I'm a real grown up. It is so wild and scary. I'm not a student anymore.

I was crazy anxious to have it over with and hopefully do well. I just had to get the interview over and I could officially relax for the first time in 2 years. I typically interview terribly, letting my nerves take over.

Not this time though! Whether or not the interviewers thought I nailed it, the feeling after I left that interview was maybe the best I have ever felt. I can't even describe it.

Exhilarated, exuberant, ecstatic, proud. I don't even know. I was on cloud nine the whole rest of the night. It was the perfect way to close out my graduate career, besides the official graduation ceremony next weekend.

With that, I leave you with my new spider plant I bought this weekend with my mom and grandma. I'm pretty obsessed with plants right now. What are some of your favorite house plants or outdoor plants? Do you have a garden? What are you planting?

xo,
April

April's Sunday Brunch

 Happy Monday! It has been a really long time since I've done a Sunday, post. Does this one count or am I still behind because its a Monday? Anyways, here is the past couple months of my life!

I took a day long photography basics class, at the Madison Club. It was with Danielle Bradley who owns First Moments Photography. She was wonderful and I learned so much!

I wish I've had more time to practice what I've learned. The above are from my day session. Soon though, I'll have loads of practice time and time with you all. Prepare yourselves.

Awhile ago it was really exciting that it was just barely warm enough to sit on the back porch, while there was snow on the ground. Not that exciting anymore since I've had the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors a bunch of times!

There have been fires outside. Not pictured, hot dogs roasted over the fire. Love me some hot dogs.

I got to try out Oliver's Public House for the first time. Their brunch was really reasonably priced and good portions. Very tasty. I had an omelet with bacon, caramelized shallots, apples and cheese. Yum.

But their drinks are what really shined. I'm in love. The drinks remind me of what you might get at Merchant, but faster and with less people crowding your space. This may have been due to being there at noon and not midnight, but I liked the vibe and drinks.

I do not recall what the drink was called pictured above. My friend had the Mai Tai for brunch, yum! I had the bloody and it was really tasty too, real smokey. It was the perfect way to start spring break.

There was a trip to Milwaukee to learn a thing or two about building a garden and giant fence to enclose it from my Grandparents. More to come about our garden. Its exciting.

I refueled with some Kopp's, because you just have too. Best custard ever. It was pretty chilly outside, but the sunset and company was worth it.

I lied. I have gotten some practice using my newly learned camera skills. Daffodils seemed appropriate. It is spring people! The first farmers market was this weekend.

These are not actually from the farmers market, but from my parents house. I know you were curious where these beauties grew up.

Have you seen my awesome big cat pictures that replaced my Christmas wreaths. Jealous? They are pretty awesome.

Maybe you didn't notice them because of the beautiful daffodils, but that is why I'm here rambling and redirecting your attention. You're welcome.

They could use some new frames and matting, but they were quite the find in my parents basement.

This is actually what a lot of my life has looked like. A table, some paper, furious typing, learning, jams, too much coffee and cookies. I'm in the final stretch. 18 days until my last paper is due.

18 days plus a week or so to graduation, but who cares. We all know what really counts is that last paper. Hooray!

Happy Monday friends,
April

Kelsey's Sunday Brunch

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I hope you've had a fun, basketball filled weekend so far and that you're favorite team is winning unless they're playing our Badgers of course ;)  We've had some pretty great spring weather for the most part the past couple of weeks and Ruger has been getting spoiled with extra walks and time outside soaking in some rays.

Us Badger Kitchen ladies and a couple of friends started off the weekend by enjoying cocktails at the Old Sugar Distillery.  It's always good to be able to catch up and unwind at the end of the week, even better when you're sipping on some local spirits.  I was tempted to buy a bottle to take home but couldn't quite pull the trigger.

I've been trying out some new recipes lately.  This spring quinoa salad with honey lemon vinaigrette was a winner.  I'd like to give this garlic parmesan chicken lasagna bake another try and maybe throw in some broccoli and make a smaller batch this time because sometimes there is just too much leftovers for the number of days in a week you're willing to eat the same meal.  If you can't tell, I'm currently spending some quality time on Pinch of Yum while meal planning for the week.

We also made this simple deep dish pizza twice(!) in the past couple weeks.  You may recall that I've mentioned that I was gifted a pair of cast iron skillets for Christmas but I've honestly been a little intimidated to use them since they need to be cared for in a special way.  Deep dish pizza was a dish I knew I wanted to try making so I gave it a shot and it turned out great, the skillet isn't ruined and now I'm ready to broaden my cast iron skillet horizons!  Give me some suggestions!

We have been getting a ton of stuff checked off the wedding to-do list lately.  My dress came in (insert heart eyed emoji) so my mom and I went and picked that up.  Hello extra workout motivation!  We also ordered and received our wedding invitations from Vistaprint and we're getting all the details worked out for the rehearsal dinner at Tutto Pasta.  Funny enough, it's actually the same restaurant where I went to dinner before prom.  One of the extra fun things we got to do, well at least I thought it was fun, was pick out our wedding bands!  We are getting them from BR Diamond Suite where we were actually able to custom design them.  I wanted something a little more unique that I wasn't able to find at other jewelry stores.  Hopefully now that we've accomplished so much some of these crazy wedding dreams will stop!

Have a great week friends!

Kelsey's Sunday Brunch

Welcome to March!  Is it just me or has this winter kind of flown by?  I might be kicking myself for saying that when we hit April and there's still snow on the ground.  I'm guessing it's a combination of having a relatively mild December/January for Wisconsin and all of the excitement of wedding planning because it sure doesn't feel like it was that long ago that we got engaged.  A very busy spring and summer will be here before we even know it!

Honestly though, I think I might miss soup season when it warms up.  I have been a lot more into making soups this year than in the past.  Canned soups can be mighty tasty, but there's just something special about homemade soup that you can't get from a can.  Recently I made this minestrone soup and it was mighty tasty.

The past couple of years for lent I've given up candy/desserts.  I choose it because it is actually challenging unlike when I was little and I would give up ice cream even though we never bought ice cream in the winter.  It also helps me make those healthier choices.  This year I did give myself one exception as my sweet friend Emily made me a countdown for my desk at work that requires the eating of one Hershey kiss per day.  I'll oblige if I must ;)

A Wisconsin tradition during lent, well let's be real it's basically a year-round tradition, is Friday night fish fry.  Nate and I decided to turn it into a little bit of a date night this week.  We were hoping to go to Quivey's Grove, a nearby restaurant that is well known for their fish fry, but an hour and a half wait we went elsewhere.  We ended up at the Tap Room at Hawks Landing where we washed down our fish with brandy old fashioneds, another Wisconsin tradition.  We rounded out date night with a game of mini golf on the indoor course at Vitense Golfland where match ended in a tie.

One thing I've been thinking about lately is how in the next few months my kitchen is going to change drastically.  Not only the actual physical kitchen since we'll be moving at some point this summer when I start law school, but also the tools I have in it.  Much of our wedding registry includes new kitchen tools or higher quality upgrades from what we have now.  Inspired by this article on essential tools for your first kitchen, I thought it would be fun to do a little comparison of what my top kitchen tools (meaning most used) are now compared to next fall/winter.

• Chef's Knife: I have a really bad knife set that came in a kitchen starter kit I bought a few years ago (think, serrated knife can't even cut into a baguette bad) but then on top of that we have a mediocre chef's knife that while not great, can get the job done.  This gets used daily.
• Cutting board(s): To go along with the chef's knife, we have a few different sized cutting boards that get used daily (at least).  My favorite is a giant one that can hold a ton of diced veggies but can barely fit in the sink to get cleaned.
• Large non-stick skillet: Eggs, stir fry, grilling a sandwich, making a one-skillet meal, this bad boy can do it all.  I use mine close to daily and I honestly think that as I become more comfortable with my cast iron skillets this might be replaced, but for now, here she is.
• Baking sheet: I may not use a baking sheet daily like some of these other things, but it does get used frequently and for a variety of reasons.  Besides just for baking, it also gets used for roasting, a tray for foil packets or even just to be there in case something overflows.
• Spatula: Stirring, flipping, cutting, serving; it's practically a do it all tool!

What would be on your list?

April's Sunday Brunch

Greetings friends! I hope everyone ate all sorts of chocolate and wine and deliciousness this weekend. You deserve it.

The past month has not been all that exciting, pretty much the usual. A real lack of picturesque moments. Therefore instead of just a recap of the past few weeks, I'm going to share some of the things I'm loving right now.

1. Milkshakes and a blizzard were one of the few picturesque moments. While some may say it is too cold or too much snow, I had my eye on a milkshake and that is what I got. Hubbard Avenue Diner is probably best known for their pie, but they make a mean milkshake too. And by milkshake I totally mean malt. They are way better, but milkshake has a better ring to it.

2. Have you seen Chef? You should. I've been wanting to see it for a long time now just because its about food. It just made sense to see it, but I had no real expectations for it. Hilarious, with a heartfelt relationship between estranged father and son. I would really recommend watching it, while you eat dinner because you'll be hungry by the end. You can find it on Netflix. Have you seen it? What did you think?

3. While browsing Netflix I came across a Frontline series "Locked Up in America," which I watched last year online. This is totally not heartfelt or delicious, but if you are into human rights and social issues, it is worth a watch. Be warned it is rather graphic but totally worth the watch if you are into issues around incarceration and criminal justice.
 

4. ...and now for something less depressing. Cave of the Mounds! Who has been? I was there probably 10 years ago as a school kid. It was so much more impressive than I remembered. Usually it is the other way around. It is also about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which is warm considering the single digit weather coming up in Wisconsin.

5. I recently got a Groupon for Barre3 classes. I'm really loving them as an alternative to traditional group fitness classes. They also fit my schedule, with early morning times. The pricing is also reasonable with a student discount

6. I've been obsessed with my rice cooker and subsequently grain bowls. This is a really good how-to for inspiration or jumping point for your first grain bowl adventure. Endless possibilities.

7. This rice bowl sounds amazing too. Rice, beans and roasted broccoli with a little soy sauce and siracha is a dinner staple for me. This and the grain bowl are perfect throw together lunches that can be prepped on the weekend, clean out the fridge or as inspiration.Not to mention way more interesting than my typical rice and beans.

April's Sunday Brunch

Happy Sunday funday friends! Hear me ROAR!
 

Have you ever been to Le Tigre Lounge? You must go. It is covered in tiger. They even have Tiger Beer!  It is my new favorite date night spot. Promise me you will go?

The scarf below, has been a three year project. I've never actually finished a knitting project. My mom kindly finished this one. It was in rough shape.

It was like I was drunk when I was knitting it. I wasn't. I swear.

Can you tell which half she knitted? I think it has a nice rustic look to it. I never finish knitting projects; yet, I chose to knit my man a blanket.

He can expect a blanket in about 6 years. It is my way to make sure he sticks around. Just kidding...but really who wouldn't want to stick around for my first completed knitting project.

Here is to hoping I don't drop too many stitches.

My new favorite breakfast is steal cut oats. They taste a million times better than old fashioned oats. For real. I cook them in my rice cooker with a little water, milk, honey and vanilla.

 I make a big batch and eat them all week, switching up the toppings.

I've officially completed my last first week of class. Graduation here I come! For the firs time in the past year and a half, I'm excited for my classes.

I'm excited for my future career, mostly. It wax and wanes. I think that is natural though.

There has not been an all out panic yet either. Maybe that should be assumed when I've only had one week of class, but not for me. I'm a neurotic panic maker. I think it has something to with being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and my amazing Day Designer Planner.

It is amazing. The front is full of spaces for goal planning and branding yourself as a human, in my case, or as a business. I think your business is a reflection of yourself anyways. It goes both ways.

There is space for an agenda, daily to do lists and a space to pick the three most important tasks. It has really allowed me to become focused and less overwhelmed.

Did I mention it has a daily gratitude box. Positive psychology for the win! I need a reminder to focus on the good things every now and then.

I made this Chocolate Pound Cake from the new Joy the Baker cookbook. The cake is a sort of bon voyage to freedom, joy and sanity for the next three months. I got this though.

Three more months isn't that long. It is practically summer.

Cheers,
April

P.S.
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @badgerkitchen and to follow us on Facebook

Kelsey's Sunday Brunch

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and was able to enjoy some time off of work with family and those they love.  Hopefully there was lots of scrumptious food involved too!  Nate and I go to three different family get-togethers and our various contributions this year included buffalo chicken dip, strawberry spinach salad and mint brownies.  Simple recipes that were mostly make ahead are key so you can optimize time with good company!

Santa was good to me this year and seemed to know exactly what was on my list.  He stocked me up with some new yoga gear, a couple of cookbooks and some new kitchen tools!  I'm really excited to start using my new pair of Lodge cast iron skillets especially because I know Brittany and April both use theirs a lot and love them.  I also found some Penzeys Spices in my stocking that will be fun to do some experimenting with.

Up until a few months ago I had never eaten falafel.  It now might be beating out hummus for my favorite way to eat chickpeas.  Some of my favorite places I've tried it so far in Madison include the Mediterranean Cafe, The Great Dane and Banzo.  I can see the Banzo food cart out the window of my office which is both parts amazing and dangerous if you know what I'm sayin'.

I'm loving this trick for making a DIY cake platter out of cardboard.  There's been many times in the past couple of years when this would've come in very handy.

Just a little friendly reminder (or teaching moment) on how to open wine like a pro!  An important life skill if I do say so myself.

2015 is going to be a big year with lots of changes for me and I'm excited to see what it brings.  I'm looking forward to another short work week and I'll be ringing in the new year with a quick trip down to Houston.  What are you looking forward to in 2015?!

April's Sunday Brunch

Welcome to another Sunday funday brunch!

I've really started to like sharing these monthly post with you all! I'm deep into my last semester of graduate school and beyond ready for it to be done. Most days I feel like everything I do is for school and I don't have the time to do anything fun. I mean even the cat is pitching in at this point, learning by osmosis.

These posts remind me that I do do a lot of fun and good things going on in my life. I may not get to cook or exercise as much as I would like, but my school situation isn't as dire as I make it out to be most days. I hope you enjoy some aspect of these posts as much I do.

I went apple picking earlier this month at Door Creek Orchard. I'm still working on using them all up! Maybe some applesauce?

There have been a lot of fires in the fire place and lots of trips to my parents for more wood. I'm happy I have such a pyromaniac lumberjack for a boyfriend and get all the enjoyment without any of the work. I'm a good supervisor when it comes down to it all. We went through all that wood last weekend...

I've been eating well most weeks too, whether it is eating out or at home! My mother got a membership at The Madison Club and we went to brunch. I went to The Blue Marlin with my parents the other week and had the most delicious octopus and lobster. Everything is always delicious there, one of my favorite spots.

I went home for a Packer game and kindly used up some avocados for my mother, with this guacamole. Avocado, corn, mango, onion is heaven. I wish decent, fresh corn was around all year long. Pizza is one of my favorite things to eat while watching football. This one has a bunch of Fraboni's meats, cheese and a few random vegs. It was amazing.

Hung out on The Pontoon Porch with a bunch of awesome coworkers and friends this weekend. Has anyone in Madison seen this amazing structure on Lake Monona or been on it before? It was pretty rad, even if it was rather chilly. Must try it next summer. Who is in?!

What are you doing to enjoy the early months of fall? I'm heading to warmer weather in California and a brief vacation from school!

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