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Smelling Wisconsin's Dairy Air...

Wednesday, 06 March 2013 00:10

Real butter, real cream, real cheese....

By Amy Bauch (http://amysrunningaround.blogspot.com)

I'm a Wisconsin girl.

Yes, I know I live in Minnesota, but that doesn't dispute the fact that I was born and bred in good, old Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Land of the free, home of the bratwurst.

I love all things Wisconsin -- from its cities to its cows and all things in between. I always tell people about our favorite state motto: Come smell our Dairy Air (.....to get the joke on this, say the motto out loud, but slowly...... now get it?)...

I grew up the child of a father with German and Polish heritage and a mother, with roots from Sweden and Ireland, so my love of potatos (and all foods considered to be hearty) is more than likely in embedded in my DNA.

Well, maybe not potatoes, but certainly frozen custard -- a Milwaukee staple.

The story goes that, on a warm summer evening before I could walk, my parents drove the Oldsmobile convertible to the local drivein to enjoy a refreshing cone of frozen custard deliciousness. My dad thought it has high time that I had my first taste of the wondrous treat and pushed his cone towards my lips.

Apparently, I licked the cone, swallowed and then my eyes widened. I grabbed on to the cone and held on for dear life, as I buried my face in to the custard, and literally COOED, and went to town on the custard.

This explains so, so much.

My love of food has never waned, but it has, at times, been a very complicated love affair (think Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger).

I also have the unfortunate luck to not understand the concept of "rich" when it comes to food. You know, the type of food that is typically high in calories (and goodness) that people taste, then push away the dish and say some to the effect of "Ooooohh...that is toooo rich for me'.