RELAXING IN HODAG COUNTRY

Rhinelander, WI

(August 2011)

The picturesque view from our deck

I had roughly five full days in Wisconsin, and we all wanted to make the most of it. 

My mother, in her excitement at having all her kids home at the same time, decided to celebrate by hosting a giant family barbecue on my first day back, which meant we were put to work the minute we woke up Saturday morning.

I awoke relatively early—one of the first out of bed—and started unpacking all the gifts I had brought. Once the gifts were removed, I practically had an empty suitcase. 

My mom and I ventured into town (we live about 10 miles outside of town, surrounded by the woods) to do some last minute shopping for the cookout. We also made a stop at Kids Korner Pizza, my favorite stop for fresh cheese curds. I had to stock up now that I had an empty suitcase! I also picked up some tomato-basil cheddar cheese to try, and it ended up being one of my favorite purchases. Delicious! (I love it so much that my mother just recently sent another pound of it my way. Yay!)

Once we got back home it was time to prep for the cookout. The vegetables were cut up, the dips made, the chips brought out, the hamburger patties made, the brats were boiling, and the beverages were on ice in the coolers.

Second only to cheese curds, one of my favorite Wisconsin foods is beer-boiled brats. Trust me; they are delicious.

I remember years ago, at a friend’s cookout, she insisted I do my beer-boiled brats, but when I got there, a guy manning the grill, thinking he knew best what to do with all the meat, opened up the brats and went to put them on the grill. I immediately took them back and said I had to work my magic; he looked at me skeptically before handing back the brats. After I did my work,  he tried one, apologized to me for thinking he knew best, and said I needed to come to his next cookout. That’s right, folks. They are that good.

My dad grilling up the brats

BEER BOILED BRATS

Ingredients

Brats

1 can or bottle of beer (I like to use American beer)

One large onion

Water

Large pot

Chop up the onion into big slices. Fill a large pot with onion, water, and beer, with enough room to add the brats so they won’t overflow the pot. 

Boil the brats in this mixture for about 10-15 minutes. Cook on the grill.

After cooking the brats on the grill, you can put them back in the onion, water, beer mixture to retain heat and moisture. If you intend to do this, I recommend boiling them in water first to cook them a bit, rinse out the pot, and then boil them in the onion, water, beer mixture for 10-15 minutes. That way you aren’t putting cooked meat into a raw meat solution.

The new siding

This cookout was a good excuse for a number of things: 1. We would be able to celebrate four of the little kids’ birthdays, 2. My parents could show off their brand new kitchen and the new siding my Dad has been putting on the house, 3. It provided for a really big family reunion. For the first time in a long time, every single one of my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family would be together. I can’t even remember the last time that happened. It was really great! Some of my aunts I hadn’t seen in over ten years. Not many of my paternal-side cousins were able to come to the cookout, but 13 of the 17 cousins on my maternal-side were able to make the trek. What a turnout! 

My immediate family

The cousins on my mom's side of the family

My mom's family

My dad's family

Tons of people started showing up, and my dad started cooking. Unfortunately, it kept raining off and on throughout the day, so we were forced to pack ourselves onto the covered deck or go inside to escape the rain, repeatedly. The little kids had a blast, though. Rain won’t deter them!

We took tons of family photos, and as the sun began to set, we started up the bonfire, grabbed the S’mores ingredients, and started roasting marshmallows.

The fog rolling in

Time for S'mores!

By the time the last family member left, we were all so tuckered out that we practically fell asleep on our feet, but Josh and I stayed up a little later to continue chatting, as he would be leaving for the airport very early in the morning.

We woke up the following morning, and my brother was already gone. My dad’s mom and all his siblings stopped over for some breakfast before they hit the road back to the Sheboygan, WI, area, so my mom whipped up a sweet batch of monkeybread. If you would like a recipe, click here.

Monkeybread

My sister’s goal had been to go swimming every day they were in Wisconsin (when you live in Alaska, swimming in the freezing cold lakes is a bit out of the question), but, unfortunately, the temperature was a bit too chilly to spend it at the lake. But it wasn’t too chilly to play in the sprinkler and to try to teach my nephew how to use a squirt gun! 

After we all got cleaned up, we had Jackson’s official family birthday party, and he opened up his gifts. I’m proud to say I had the favorite gift of all. While at the Milwaukee airport I found an airplane that lit up and made noises that sounded like the plane was taking off and landing. It was his go-to toy of choice for the rest of my stay in Wisconsin. Even during nap time we could hear the plane taking off and landing on a continuous basis through the baby monitor until the little pilot finally fell asleep.

Best. Toy. Ever.

The next day the temperature warmed up a little bit, so we went over to my aunt and uncle’s cabin on a lake. I learned firsthand that my nephew is a bit of a baby about getting dunked under water, but he has no problem with pushing me under the water. In fact, he thought it was pretty funny. We wrapped up the afternoon with some pizza by the dock and headed home for a relaxing evening. 

Jackson, Daddy, and Grandpa, after a boat ride around the lake

Jackson pouring water over me before pushing me under water

Colten with his Grandpa. Similar hairstyles...

Jackson with his Grandma, looking at the fish

On Tuesday, the temperature was, again, on the chilly side, so we headed over to the Newbold playground, almost right across the highway from our house. Rhinelander is split into townships, and we happen to live in the town of Newbold. We grew up going to Newbold Elementary School, but years ago the school closed its doors due to dwindling enrollment. The playground equipment was donated to the town of Newbold, and a beautiful playground was built right next to the Newbold fire department, just down the road from the school.

My sister and brother-in-law loaded the kids into the truck, my dad hopped on his bike, and my mom and I walked over to the playground. While my parents had fun playing with Jackson on the slide and the swings, my sister, brother-in-law, and I decided to take Colten for a walk down the gorgeous road, as it’s surrounded by lush forests and rivers. By the time we got back, Jackson had just a little bit of play left in him, and then we headed home.

On our walk

Jackson, contemplating life with Daddy

Later that night, while Jackson cozied up to my mom with his cartoons, my dad, sis, bro-in-law, and I headed in to Dairy Queen so we could get Blizzards. Living in New York City, there are no Dairy Queens, and I am always craving a Blizzard, so it’s a requirement to get one when I go home. After the Blizzard, I met up with my oldest friend, Jami, and her beau for a quick drink and to catch up. I say she is my oldest friend because our parents met in Lamaze class-- we consider each other womb buddies. We had a great night playing catch up with each other’s lives.

The next day marked my last day in Wisconsin. We headed back over to the cabin for some more swimming, stopping first at Culver’s for lunch and another of my requirements: deep fried cheese curds.

After a quick swim, we headed home, and I packed up my bags and headed to the airport. 

I had five short days but got my fill of family, brats, and cheese curds, to last until my next trip home. Hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later...Just click your heels three times.

There’s no place like home.