The nitty "grit"-y solution to culture shock.

As many readers may know, I was born in Boston and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. Though I am the product of a Yankee family, spending most of my life in the Upper South rubbed off on me a bit. For example, if I mishear someone, I will often respond with "Huh?" as opposed to "Pardon?". Nobody in Massachusetts says "Huh?". Trust me.

Upon moving to Madison, Wisconsin, I knew I would have to give up a few Southern Comforts. Wisconsin doesn't have an IKEA or an Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse. Also, while there are 38 Cracker Barrels in the state of North Carolina, there are only 5 in the state of Wisconsin. They're trying to limit my access to corn muffins and kitschy seasonal decor, aren't they?

Another comfort that I thought I would have to give up is grits. I am not exactly sure how I developed my love for grits, but I've eaten them regularly for many years, despite the fact that my mother calls them "wallpaper paste." I have lived in Wisconsin for almost 4 months, and despite conscious efforts, I had yet to find grits. Tonight, I struck gold at Woodman's Foods, where I discovered a wide selection of grits. Jackpot!

Phoebe, also a Southern girl, was quite excited about the grits.

For last month's in-depth post on Woodman's Foods, click here.

Got Yarn? Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival!

My Wednesday night knitting group keeps me updated on Wisconsin happenings, and they had me quite excited for the 2011 Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival in Jefferson, WI. After weeks of anticipation, it finally arrived. Anxious to meet sheep and buy some awesome yarn, I drove a car full of knitters to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds for the event.

I met some very friendly animals, bought beautiful yarn, walked through a farm equipment auction, watched some blue ribbon sheep win prizes, and I ended the day by watching a sheep shearing demonstration.

To start things off, let's take a look at some first-class fairgrounds Americana:

The festival had two enormous barns set up as "country stores," where merchants were selling yarn, wool, and other craft supplies.

A tree full of beautifully dyed wool: I was home!

On the car ride to the festival, I mentioned that I was hoping to see angora rabbits today. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. I arrived at Jane Killpack's booth, where she was selling some gorgeous angora rabbits. I asked if I could photograph them for the blog, and before I knew it, I was snuggling with a new bunny friend:

Meet Ziggy, the angora rabbit!
Somewhere underneath the fur, he indeed has a face.

My friends and I then proceeded to the barns where there were many sheep enjoying the festival:

The knitters and I made many furry friends:

Bronwen befriending the baby sheep. 

Kat petting a super-fuzzy sheep.

Then, I met what is possibly the world's friendliest sheep. I reached over to pet her (I honestly don't know the sheep's gender, but let's call it a she!), and she did everything in her power to try and come home with me. She really wanted a human friend:

She loved being petted and embraced every opportunity to nibble on my purse.

She didn't mind posing for the camera, and I think she is quite photogenic.

I was quite impressed by the frocks these sheep were sporting. Here are some sheep who really knew how to rock their 'dos:

Does this sheep remind you of Whoopi Goldberg?

Rocking the "just got outta bed" look.

That's quite a set of curls!

The barnyard animals were everywhere!

Little lambs with their mommy!

I met a nice sheep getting groomed before the show, so I decided to wish her luck:

Looks like a blue ribbon winner to me!

With so much yarn to chose from, it was tough to make a decision. I finally settled on two skeins from Interlacements Yarns in Abrams, Wisconsin and one skein from Creatively Dyed Yarns in Greer, South Carolina (yup, I found another Carolinian at the festival!):

The two large skeins will one day by a vest.
The one small skein will one day be gloves.

I will definitely become a yearly festival visitor!

Chocolate chip cookie dough egg roll? Yes, at Taste of Madison!

This Labor Day weekend, I've been enjoying a 3-day stay-cation. After a hectic week, I needed the relaxation. I have been thoroughly enjoying a weekend of chilling in my apartment while knitting, watching Desperate Housewives, and spending time with my cats. As much as I have been loving my stay-cation, I decided it was worth leaving my apartment to check out Taste of Madison and try some of Madison's best food offerings. It sounded too delicious too resist, and a girl's gotta eat.

My friend Kat and I ventured over to Capitol Square on Sunday and browsed the booths, which offered a wide variety of foods at reasonable prices.

Our first stop was Bandung Indonesian Cuisine, where I had "perkedel jagung" (corn fritter with yellow rice):

Quite tasty!

Next stop was Sa Bai Thong for tofu curry:

Delicious!

And then it was time for dessert. My coworkers told me about a local restaurant called Bluephies, known for their chocolate chip cookie dough egg rolls. My first reaction to this concept was, "Huh?" However, after looking at this unusual dessert, I decided it was worth a try. I definitely made the right decision:

Before...

After!

It's amazing how unusual combinations of food can really click, and this one just worked. It was scrumptious.

Before we left the square, Kat bought a yummy root beer float from Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, and I thought it was quite worthy of a photograph:

The perfect treat to end the day!

If anyone asks me how I spent the holiday weekend, I will tell them all about my wonderful stay-cation, topped off with some tasty treats.

August poll results: how do you like your milk?

August poll results are in... how do you like your milk?

Skim - 14 votes
1% - 3 votes
Whole - 1 vote
Chocolate - 1 vote

2% milk and strawberry milk did not receive any votes. No Nesquik lovers on this blog, I suppose.

Apologies to my friend Lauren, who wanted to vote for soy milk and I forgot to include it as an option.

Check out the September poll on the right. Happy voting!

Swinging from trees on a Thursday night: Cycropia!

Summer is the season of festivals in Madison, Wisconsin. The Orton Park Festival started on Thursday, and my friend Mackenzie invited me to watch the Cycropia aerial dance performance. What is aerial dance? Think Cirque du Soleil meets modern dance, adorned with costumes that would earn Lady GaGa's seal of approval. Win.

The Cycropia show included aerial performances on silks, chains, trapeze bars, steel hoops, and ladders (all of which were hanging from a very large tree in Orton Park). Because of the constant movement, it was nearly impossible to photograph the event, so I took some videos and made a YouTube playlist. Enjoy, but please don't try this at home:

A taste of Cycropia:

For my playlist of 6 Cycropia videos, click here!

By the way: this event, like many other fabulous things in Madison, was totally free. Also, now I've been living here long enough that I actually had friends to sit with at this awesome event:

Mackenzie, Rebecca, Kat, & me enjoying the Cycropia show.

Holy cow: escape to Green Lake, Wisconsin.

Yesterday, I took a mini road trip to Green Lake, Wisconsin to have brunch with my good friend Francie, who was spending the weekend at the Heidel House for a wedding. Green Lake is a little town about an hour and a half away from Madison. As far as I could tell, they have one gas station, one doctor's office, and an abundance of cows: country living at its finest.

On the drive back to Madison, I decided to document the highlights from my trip:

The town is called Green Lake for a reason: the huge, beautiful lake. A few people were boating and fishing, enjoying the nice weather.

I found some happy cows hanging out in a corral, grazing and enjoying a lazy weekend. They were happy to smile for a photo.

Cows enjoy sunbathing. Who would have thought?

I ate M&M pancakes with a good friend, plus I got my daily dose of cow. Perfect Saturday.

Together at last: Woodman's Foods.

I like my grocery stores like I like my manicures: cheap, sanitary, and thorough. With that said, I have been less than thrilled with the selection of affordable supermarkets in Madison. Yesterday, I was sad to discover that Target doesn't carry fat free Philadelphia cream cheese. In search of said cream cheese, I ventured over to Woodman's Foods on Milwaukee Street after work today, remembering that my coworkers had recommended this store based on selection and prices.

I was pleased to discover that Woodman's offers a wide variety of groceries at affordable prices: exactly what I need. Alas, I have found my grocery store. My cart had a cup holder for my water and a nice little caddy for my new iPhone, which was equipped a shopping list app (because I'm just THAT cool). I proceeded into the store, where I was happy to discover that the Woodman's playlist consisted of a lovely mix of En Vogue and Madonna (did they steal my iPod?). While I had been jamming to Madonna at work today in honor of her 53rd birthday, I was happy to continue the celebration while grocery shopping.

Woodman's has everything. Fat free Philadephia cream cheese: check. Multigrain tortilla chips: check. Trash bags: check. Picture frames: check. Not only does Woodman's have everything, but they have an abundance of everything. I was particularly impressed by the cheese selection, which is comparable to that of Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield, OH (that's saying a lot, because Jungle Jim's is a 1.5 acre store). And the prices were fantastic. 

Excited by how much I saved on groceries, I picked up some rainbow feather mice for the kids for 99 cents!

On my way to the checkout line, I ran into Cesca (my skating coach), who told me that this is the best Woodman's in town. Trust me, I will be returning.

Special thanks to Erika and Tonya for the recommendation!