MJ Steven's

Do you love a good fish fry!?
Well look no futher, MJ Stevens is my familys have to when in Wisconsin on a Friday.
Seriously good fish fry!
You can choose 2. 4 or 6 pieces of fish. That comes with a piece of buttered rye bread, coleslaw and waffle fries.  There is a huge bottle of tarter sauce on each table, yes reach for that!

There are other items on the menu, I have never tried them but I bet they are good!
My Wisconsin family say that the duck ftrips are good tough.
The place is pretty big but they get pretty crowded well because the food is so dang good!
Employees are really nice.
There is a nice back yard with plenty of seating in the warmer months.
Also seating in the basement.  We have had a couple parties down there, great space with a mini bar.

What else can I say, you want fish check out MJ Stevens!

Dublin's

Just got back from a long girls weekend in Wisconsin with my lovely cheeseheads.
A new have to spot to eat and drink is Dublin's in West Bend, WI.
This is a great spot, love the interior,  awesome looking patio.  I have not been able to use it yet but it looks nice!
The menu changes so it's always a surprise what wonderful ideas the chef came up with.

I huge group of us came to dinner one night, actually we started out in the bar first and finished up there too :)
Check out all of this amazing food!

Appetizer time!

Pickle Chips- Red Pepper Hummus - Wisconsin Cheese Curds

Dinner TIME!

Swordfish - Pork - Scallops

~

Last but not least.

Pasta!

Drooling yet?!?  I know right!?

We all tried each others dishes, not a complaint in the bunch.

There is a large beer selection and of course drink specials.

Regulars get punch cards they keep behind the bar, when they try out a new beer they get a punch, there are rewards for getting so many punches. An etched beer mug to a plaque on the wall.

Also there are special events and beer - meal pairing with the chef.

The people working here are real nice!

Hell my cousin won a fully paid trip to Ireland from them, so ya you want to visit here ~  if you can make yourself a regular!  

Nighthawks

Friday night date night!
I have a list of restaurants, sortof a bucket list :)  of restaurants I want to go to & let me tell you that is a pretty good sized list.
I had to start a list because there are so many places I want to go, and new places keep popping up!
What we tend to do is keep going to the same places that we love and can rely on being good.  That is not a bad thing, it's just variety is the spice of life right!?!
Like I say happy wife happy life!  (ok I'm not the only one saying that, I know :)

We had such excellent service at Nighthawks, and we were seated right away.
I thought it was going to be smaller than it was, so that was a nice surprise.
Great seating selections all over, we were seated across the way from the dinner bar & kitchen. (the lights under the bar change colors, so pretty & there are phone changers, next to the purse hooks).
Yes you can watch the chefs scurry around working hard at making your delicious food!
Not to sore on the eye if ya know what I mean ;)  hubba hubba :)

If you have been following along on some of my dinner adventures, you should know that I love to people watch :)
There are some pretty interesting people coming here, you have a large variety.  From your jocks, bikers, hippies, families, older people just about every walk of man :)  I love variety!
I know I'm easily pleased and a total dork.

We went to town on this menu!  It was not a huge menu, but I liked that.
Good beer selection, sorry my boozy drinkers I rarely look at the menu but they do have one, and I'm sure it is excellent.

I wish I could tell you our servers name, but we did not catch it.  Younger guy short light brown hair.  Whatever your name is good job sir!

Ok on to the food.
 Hubby picked out the appetizer and choose liver pate, wow what presentation, very tasty too.

Dinner - I had the Galaxy Dog, that was one long hot dog!!!!  It was loaded with chili, cheese and topped with Fritos!  Crazy fun!

Hubby had the single Nighthawk burger with potato salad.

We split theses items so we could try it all out, I thought their burger was very similar to Revivals burger, very good!  You can also get the burger with 2 patties but we did the single.

With the meals we added the blue cheese french fries, OMG I could have just had that seriously good!

I had the Bloder IPA on Nitro, excellent.
Husband tried a couple beers & then we got a sample of PBR - Pickled.  Yes you read that right, they pickled your old school PBR, I could hardly tell but they could.
Also there was a beer that at first you tasted citrus then 5 seconds later it was a spice that hit you, very original!

They are next door to Five Watt Coffee, I have heard good things about this place too.  Also a butcher shop, think they get their meat from them but don't hold me to that, I think I remember reading that somewhere.

I will forsure come back here, after I scratch some of these other places off my list!

Check them out!  Thanks for an excellent night Nighthawks!

Pineapple Salsa

OK this is just so simple I almost didn't share, but it is way to good not to!
And OMG so easy (that's what he said, sorry I had to, I watch way to much Office)!
Pineapple salsa so refreshing, I just love it.  And I can't believe I have not had it until now.
I mean I have heard of it a bunch of times before, but never had it.
The colors are very appealing.
Just perfect for your next spring or summer get together.

What you need:
1 purple onion, diced
2 cups pineapple, diced
1 cucumber, diced
2 Tablespoons chives
3 Tablespoons cilantro
1lime, juice only
1 teaspoon salt

Mix it all together and serve!

See how easy was that & isn't it pretty!

Enjoy!

Willy McCoy's

New place alert whoot, whoot!  Hey when my lame town of Bloomington gets a new place, EVERYONE goes.
We do not have to much that is not a chain here, we need to visit other suburbs.
Willy McCoys is a chain unfortunately.
Like when American & Penn was opening everyone was on pins and needles there was talk of a new restaurant going into this cool new area, and what do we get Red Robin.  LAME!!!!
Ok I mean we do have the Mall of America, but really who goes here?  Tourists and teens.
We can't even get a brewery because of silly liquor laws in our city.  Come on Bloomington, everyone else gets one but us!?
I have actually been to Willy McCoys 3 times now, just because its close, a week night that is what we look for, if we eat out of the home.
And my awesome server/bartender over at The Sports Page gave us a gift certificate to there cause shes to sweet to us :)
My daughter, another server said maybe she's giving you guys a hint. HAHA!  Jerk - KIDDING!!!!
Ok back to Willy McCoy's, I'm would rename it Willy and WAIT.
Cause that's what you do, no matter if it's the weekend or a weeknight up to an hour wait, ridiculous.
But maybe when the rooftop opens you don't have to wait so long, but I don't know if they will be serving food up there?
Beer selection is on point, lots to choose from. 2 for 1 everyday!

Menu is pretty decent.
I have had a burger and a wrap here both time with waffle fries and seasoned sour cream.  Real good.

My son had a flat bread he was not a fan.  But, he got the pickle fries the last time & we shared them, real good, not big spears or coins.  Just a nice thin slice, so they get nice and crispy!  He wants me to try making them that way at home, he also what's me to buy a deep fat fryer! HA, No not gonna happen.

Husband a burger, some sort of jalapeno burger, every time, he likes everything so yes he liked this.

We have always have had good service.
I would say the only down fall is the ridiculous wait.

So maybe check them out?!!??

Badger Hill Brewing Company

Friday night date night, it feels like it has been a long time since we had a Friday night date night.
Well at least without the kiddo being there.
For Christmas my brother & sister in law gave us a gift certificate to Badger Hill Brewing Company, that is located in Shakopee, MN out by Valley Fair.
A bit out of our way, so that is why we have not used it until now.
Fun place, the setting is in an industrial, business district.  Reminds me a bit of Liftbridge in that sense.
There is a shelf of games available for you to play while you are here, if the mood strikes you.  I love playing games I have a huge shelf of them at home.  But my guys don't like to.  Bummer!
I only get to play games when the ladies in my family get together.

(photo I got of the the world wide web)

You can bring in your own food if your hungry or they usually have a food truck, check the website to see who is there.
When we went it was r.a. Mac Sammys, a mac and cheese food truck, kinda fun, you can make your own or have the special, we did the special, it had jalapenos, a nice thick bacon and cheetos!
It was really good, all though I gave most of my cheetos to the hubby.

For beers , I had MSB (Minnesota Special Bitter), Foundation Stout and High Road Everyday Ale.

Foundation was my favorite.  All being good tough.

Husband tried some others but I didn't make note of his.  

Funny though, I usually like the light beer and he the dark, but not this day.

I'm finding out that I really like beers on cask and stouts.  A heck of a lot different from my run of the mill Coors light that is forsure!  

So if your ever in the area, check them out!  

Sushi

I have been meaning to try and make sushi forever now.
One Christmas I put together a basket of fun things to make sushi with, for my daughter, I don't think she has ever used it, maybe I just really wanted it but, gave it to her :)

In my 20's I used to hit up all the fancy uptown & downtown sushi place and had a blast, and developed a huge love for the stuff.
And I tried some crazy sushi!
I've always shied away from wasabi but I love it now!
I kept these sushi rolls pretty simple and vegetarian style.

When thinking about making sushi I did my research, watched a couple YouTube videos.
Read a couple blog tutorials on how to make sushi.
A tip to making sushi if you do not have a sushi mat, use a towel lined with plastic wrap.
Or like me, I had a "bamboo" place mat!  Bam, just like a sushi mat!
I did not even think to look for sushi rice, not sure where my head was :)  But, I picked up some good old reliable instant white rice.
You can find the seaweed and wasabi (if you're brave enough) in the Asian section of your grocery store.  Unlike egg roll wrappers or wonton wraps they are kept in the produce area, because they are kept chilled.  Just a little fyi for ya all.

What you are going to need (but use what you like, this is just what I used today):
Seaweed wrappers (10 came in my pack, but I only used 7)
4 Cups White Rice
Cucumbers
Red Pepper
Cream Cheese
Carrots
Avocado

For the rice
* 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
   2 Teaspoons white sugar
   a dash of salt

*wasabi and soy sauce for dipping

How to make them:
Get that rice cooking, fluff it with a fork add in the rice vinegar, sugar and salt and set aside.

Juliane your vegetables
Have a bowl of water near you to dip your fingers into when handling the rice, cause it gets sticky!
Lay your sushi mat out, on top of that lay your seaweed sheet, rough side up.
Also there are lines on your wrap have those pointing towards you, but not necessary.
The lines are for where to cut, but after rolling them up I could not see the lines.
Dip your fingers in the water bowl grab some rice lay that out on top of your seaweed wrap, pressing it down and spreading it out as evenly as you can get it but leaving a inch space at the end, right in front of you.
Lay out your vegetables, widthwise.

Mix and match  your sushi rolls.
Roll them up nice and tight, using the mat to guide it along, using your thumbs to roll.

You will get the hang of it.  After making 7 of these, I seemed to not be able to get that motion out of my system, I picked up my cream cheese wrapper and started rolling it.  What a dork.
I wonder if that is how sushi chefs feel at the end of the day.
Folding laundry at home, they roll up their towels like a sushi roll. LOL!
Cut up into 2 inch rolls.

And you are ready to eat!

Hope you had fun!

Liver Pate

I borrowed my Grandma's recipe box, someday planning on putting together all of these recipe cards I copied and making a book for family members.
Like most Grandmas, they have most of their favorites in their heads!
Or while reading some of these cards there are some interesting amounts, or none written down at all!
But the most important thing, is that I have my Grandmas handwriting and some great memories.
One of the recipes was my Grandma's sister in laws, Auntie Ann.
Auntie Ann, I think was one of the reasons I love appetizers so much, she and my Uncle Edwin, always we're having people over, their door was always open to friends and family.
They definitely knew how to entertain and throw a party, just like their daughter Georgieann!
Always, always good drinks and appetizers flowing at their house!!!
This is Auntie Ann's Liver Pate recipe - Hope you enjoy!

What you need:
1 Pound Braunschweiger
8 oz cream cheese
10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tablespoons bacon grease
2 Tablespoons minced onion, or more!
1 Tablespoon Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/4 cup mayo
1 Teaspoon worcestershire
3 Tablespoons pickle juice (dill)
Garlic salt to taste


How to make it:
Easy!
Mix it all together, chill and serve!
Spread onto your favorite cracker.

*Freezes well