Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Simple Cafe



The morning after Sarah and I experienced Ramen we met up with our friends Titus and Lloyd for brunch after church. We decided to head to Simple Cafe. I had never been their before, although they have been in MKE for about a year. It was about time because I had only heard good things. I'm happy I finally experienced it because they focus on simple ingredients to make delicious dishes and they are completely farm to table. Pretty awesome I'd say.
We were all very hungry and as you can see a little bit loopy before getting our food. I ordered the eggs sardou {poached eggs on a croissant with artichokes spinach, parmesan, and Creole hollandaise}. I don't remember what the others ordered nor do I have photos...but they were very satisfied as well. ;) The café is buzzing with conversation and can get a little busy, but is well worth it.

{Link is for Lake Geneva location, I can't find their website for MKE}
2124 N Farwell Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202
414.271.2124

Lisa
c/oMKE


Monday, January 27, 2014

Avocado Egg Salad



This weekend a couple of my girlfriends and I met up at Colectivo {we are starting an accountability group to keep ourselves focused on goals - I'll update you all on this in a future post - I'm not quite ready to share yet. ;) } Anyways, while we were gabbing away and not actually talking about our goals, go figure, it's what we do, my friend Morgan and I were talking about how terrible we are at making actual meals for ourselves. Now, she thought this was just the most ridiculous thing because she always sees all of the foods I post on here and on my Instagram but the thing is I really only cook real meals when I'm blogging. I think that's because everyone wants to put their best virtual foot forward. {That's a bit of a loaded gun and I'm planning to write a post about that soon.} 
No. But Really. I am the queen of making eggs every. single. night. And I could be happy doing that my entire life. To make my easy egg dinners a little schnazzy I've been eating tons of avocado egg salad. 
It's honestly a bit of a drug for me. It's super delicious, comforting, filling, and I don't feel guilty for being super content!

You'll need:
-1/2 California Avocado {those are the black ones right??}
-2 hard-boiled eggs
-two small slices toasted bread {I used rye here because that's what I had at home}
-Sriracha
-spoon full sweet corn {optional}
-spoon full black beans {optional}
-salt and pepper

1. Slice up your avocado and hardboiled eggs into a bowl
2. Mash it all up with a fork.
3. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Toss in your corn and black beans and fold in with a spoon.
5. Spoon the egg salad onto your toast and top with a squiggle of sriracha for an extra kick.
6. Serve with side of choice. {Although the egg salad and toast usually fill me up quite a bit}

Super easy, super delicious and avocado is a super food right? (???)

What are your go to dinners?

Lisa
c/oMKE

Friday, January 24, 2014

Operation Pretty Hurts | 2

For an explanation of Operation Pretty Hurts go here.

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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Underground Ramen


I love my city. We all know I love my city SO much. I mean I might even love it so much that I would make a website dedicated to it. (teehee) But I have always always wished and dreamed of having more underground restaurants or clubs or small little places that open late at night that make you feel a bit secretive and special. 
A couple of weeks ago Kate and Jesse, who had grown up in Japan, had a hunkering for their old home that could have only been solved with traditional Ramen. After some internet searching they stumbled upon the perfect little joint and invited Sarah and I along.
The restaurant refers to it as the Ramen Shop or just Ramen. It's so small and sneaky and doesn't have a name yet. The genius fellas that make up Ardent had the wonderful idea of creating a late night restaurant for the bar goers that served food that isn't extremely greasy or heavy. Thus the underground traditional Japanese ramen joint was born. Ramen opens at 11:30 PM on Friday and Saturday nights. They make enough for about 60 bowls a night and close when they sell out. 
The menu is simple and perfect. Ramen and beer. We hunkered down with four bowls with everything and four PBRs. We sat contentedly groaning and slurping until our bowls were empty. After happily sitting and chatting with the gents who run the operation and Aaron ended up giving us a tour of the tiny kitchen and telling us more about why they opened Ramen.
I had never had traditional ramen before and it was delicious! If you need a late night food joint and you're near Brady and Farwell I suggest you give it a go!

The Ramen Shop
Ardent
1751 N Farwell Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53202
414.897.7022

Do you have any awesome underground joints by you? What are they?

Lisa
c/oMKE

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Friday, January 17, 2014

Afternoon Tea at the Pfister


Every year around the holidays the ladies in my family get together for a little brunch. This year my aunts decided to venture to the 23rd floor of the Pfister Hotel for afternoon tea. This was a new experience for all of us. We had been talking about it forever and had finally made a date work. The Pfister provides an extremely knowledgable tea butler to explain all of the different flavors and options for blending. We all chose different teas so we could pass and share and try a variety of flavors. The Pfister uses Rishi Tea which I totally support since it is local MKE company. We sat around for a couple of hours gabbing and catching up and telling stories and trying all of the tiny little snacks (Woaah quail eggs !!) and sweets and admired the view (sorry, it was a bit foggy, so the photos, you know). We felt all too English. ;)

Next year we might try going to Watts Tea Room.

Have you ever had an afternoon tea/high tea experience? Tell me about it!

Cheerio, lovey!
Lisa
c/oMKE

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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Operation Pretty Hurts | 1

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Monday, January 13, 2014

NYE 2013 and 2014 Musings



My plans for NYE were a little wishy-washy this year. After telling my sister at Anthony's brunch that I wasn't going to her party she was a little disappointed. So in the middle of getting ready to go to another party I made a split decision to drive down to surprise my sister after dinner with some of my friends. 
I had a lovely time with friends and then hopped in the car to drive through the snow storm for my sissy.
I arrived and the party was in full swing and R was more than surprised (apparently Ben told her that I was the cops when I came to the door--she was terrified. It was awesome. nbd.)
Renée taught us a bit of Merengue before midnight and we chatted and sang and danced and wore mustaches. Then we did the countdown more times than I can remember. It was such a fun night with some Good. People.
This New Year has already brought some surprises both good and bad. I've already been taught a few lessons about myself among other things. Although this year is starting out interesting and a little rocky I am excited to see what it brings. And I'm very hopeful. It will be an great year none the less. With many events to look forward to and celebrations to be had. Living in the moment, looking at life for amazing beautiful things, and not worrying about particulars. 

Tell me, how is your 2014 starting up?

Lisa
c/oMKE

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