Good Times and Danke! Gracias! Cheers! Thanks! Ta! You Rock!

Good times were had by all at the 10th annual Food Slam this past Friday night. Thanks to all you spectacular Slammers for coming to eat, drink, bid, and support WMSE, making Friday’s fiesta the biggest, funnest, and successfullest Slam to date!

And hey, check out that sweet video up there expertly shot in a gritty, dizzying, hand-held style by yours truly, Food Slam blogger Erin Harris. I think I missed my calling, Milwaukee. Writing, schmiting. I was meant to be a cinematographer on classic films such as Saving Private Ryan, etc. JK. But do dig the tune by magnificent Milwaukee musician and musical mastermind Rick.

Oh and big, big thanks to the fine local establishments that provided the awesome auction items, and a special shout-out to the following delicious vendors for supplying the tasty vittles:

Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co., Atomic Chocolate Co., Ball ‘N Biscuit Catering, Beans & Barley, Blue’s Egg, Bolzano Artisan Meats, Centro Cafe, Chubby Cheese Truck, Eat Cake!, Hector’s On Delaware, Indulgence Chocolatiers, Jake’s Deli, Jow Nai Fouquet Thai, Kasana Concierge Gourmet, Martita’s Mixers, Maxie’s Southern Comfort, McBob’s Pub & Grill, Milwaukee Ale House, Molly Cool’s Seafood Tavern, The Noble, Outpost Natural Foods, Paciugo Gelato, Purple Door Ice Cream, Red Rock Saloon, Revolucion Mexican Restaurant, The Rumpus Room, Sala da Pranzo, SPiN Milwaukee, Times Square Bistro & Pizzeria, and The Wicked Hop

Nectarous! Cheers! See you next year!

–Erin Harris

Anodyne’s Cuppa Mo-Joe

SCIENCE! And necromancy. I stepped down to Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. with the charismatic and magnificent Buzz, illustrious host of the great WMSE show Buzz’s Garage, and got a brewing demo and coffee tasting divined by coffee conjurer Steve Kessler. As you can see in that video up there, the siphon-pot demo was like some kinda mad, cool science experiment conducted by Bill Nye or Mr. Wizard. The brewing apparatus looks like something in a lab, what with the little Bunsen-burner-like flame under the glass vessel. The vacuum action of the siphon pot swirls and whirls and spins like a cyclonic particle accelerator and forces the water up to saturate the savory grounds and produce an exquisite extraction. It’s almost like you’re watching an illicit substance being cooked up, and, I’m telling you, what comes out of that carafe is so good it might as well be against the law. We tried the Ethiopian Limu Natural brewed with this device, and the coffee’s berry notes and light, clean, creamy body knocked us over with deliciousness. Buzz weren’t jestin’, ladies and gents, when he said “Hey, that’s good coffee!” Well, OK, he kinda was, but just to make you laugh–he was serious too. When the alchemical magic gets coaxed out of a naturally processed Ethiopian heirloom bean with some kinda necromancer’s mojo, that stuff truly blows your mind.

And it’s gonna taste like a million bucks with Kasana Concierge Gourmet’s panna cotta infused with Madagascar vanilla and topped with homemade caramel with rum. This classic Italian dessert is creamy, aromatic, and knockout delicious with its sensuous, exotic, islandy twist, and knocked-off socks will be flying around the Grohmann when Slammers savor the panna cotta with my favorite Anodyne offering–Guatemalan Huehuetenango, which wins first prize for fullest body, richest flavor, and funnest name to say. Way-way-ten-ango. Way-way-ten-ango. Way-way-ten-ango.

So you’ve really got to step on it if you haven’t gotten your Food Slam tickets yet. They’re almost 90% sold out, and we know you wanna revel in the food event that’s gonna rock Milwaukee’s taste buds on October 7, so you best click here, if ya know what’s good for ya.

–Erin Harris

PS. Thanks to Milwaukee outfit Sons of Saboteurs for the use of their spectacular tune (in the video) called “It’s Just a Slide.”

Outpost’s Deliciously Diverse Dessert Bars

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Hey, check it out! Outpost Natural Foods is rollin’ out the barrel of tasty variety with a pleasing potpourri of delectable dessert bars to suit any taste and any diet. If you go-go vegan, they’ve got Chewy Granola Bars, packed with oats, raisins, peanut butter, walnuts, wheat germ, and sesame seeds. They’re crispy, nutty, sweet, ‘n good. If you roll gluten free, hit ‘em up for one of their Gluten-Free Marble Cheesecake Bars, whose chocolaty goodness and creamy divinity convey the sumptuousness of edible velvet. If you don’t do wheat or dairy but you do munch oats, dig Outpost’s Sheba Bars, which are kinda like sorta healthy Rice Krispie treats cuz they’ve got that fun, sweet, I’m-a-kid-again chew to ‘em from brown rice crisps. And if you eat what you want when you want cuz you’re your own man or lady or cuz you’re not limited by dietary restrictions, the good folks at Outpost’ll set you up with one of their Chocolate Indulgence Brownies. Just before my tasting at Outpost, I went to a brewing demo at Anodyne and sampled some fine coffees, and I wished that I had a cup of that luscious liquid heaven in my hand while I savored the succulence of that spectacular brownie, which, I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t do justice to with that blurry photo up there. But I made up for it with that tantalizing pic of the savory Sheba Bar, right? Right. And regarding perfect pairings, have no fear, Slammers, cuz the Food Slam’s gotcha covered on October 7, when you’ll be throwin’ back brownies, dippin’ ‘em into Purple Door’s magnificently melty espresso ice cream, and washing it all down with a steamy cuppa Anodyne coffee–all at once, simultaneously, at the same time, concurrently, the way Nature intended.

And hey, my crystal ball’s showing me that Food Slam tickets will be sold out within a week. Seriously, Slammers, tickets are currently well over 70% gone, daddy, gone, and there are still almost two weeks till the event, so you best scoop up some tix before they vanish like my fleeting–but accurate–powers of intuition.

–Erin Harris

Purple Door’s Perfect Four

Purple Door Ice Cream's Espresso, Chocolate, and Salted Caramel Ice Creams

Ice cream for lunch. You scream for lunch. We all scream for lunch. I stopped down at Purple Door Ice Cream’s production facility yesterday and had ice cream for lunch, and O, Sweet Succulence, let me tell you how good it is. The espresso flavor, made with beans roasted fresh at Anodyne, pops with a superbly balanced kick ‘a coffee. The chocolate’s perfectly sweet, and the expert confectioners down at Purple Door ain’t afraid ‘a no cocoa. And the salted caramel, well, in the words of one of Purple Door’s retailers, the salted caramel is “make-out good.” I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I’m guessing it refers to the luscious sensuousness you feel when that sweet stuff lingers on your tongue. And the fourth thing that’s cool about Purple Door–if you’re wondering about the discrepancy between the number of flavors in the photo and the number of things in this post’s title–is Purple Door’s Milk for Milwaukee program. The good folks at Purple Door designate a portion of their proceeds to providing milk to local homeless shelters including The Guest House, The Cathedral Center, and Pathfinders. These cats are dedicated to both crafting deliciousness and helping people in need. So come to the Slam to get a taste of their nectarous goodness alongside, say, a knockout slice-a cake from Eat Cake. But you know the drill–you gosta get your tickets ASAP cuz there won’t be none left PDQ.

And here’s a video of Purple Door co-owner Steve Schultz talkin’ ’bout makin’ the sweet stuff. You’ll notice that the dude totally rocks.

–Erin Harris

Anodyne’s Liquid Gold Brewed to Order

A custom-built pour-over brewing station at Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.

The good cats at Anodyne will be looking out for Slammers everywhere at the Food Slam on October 2. When you’re feeling heavy-eyed after packing in tons of veggie pizza melts, golden scallop rolls, and mini reubens, they’ll be there to pick you up with their dynamite WMSE Radio Roast brewed by the cup at their custom-built pour-over brewing stations. When your plate is full of delectable cake from Eat Cake! and succulent cheesecake from Simma’s Bakery, they’ll be saturating grounds of black gold in porcelain filters, allowing the grounds to bloom to their fullest, and letting that luscious liquid heaven fall directly into your cup. As the pour-over method is considered one of the best ways to ensure that every ounce of a coffee’s flavor is extracted, Anodyne’s brewing stations have been a hit at the South Shore Farmers’ Market, are soon to knock socks off at Anodyne’s café, and are set to be the cat’s pajamas at the food event of the year. Cool beans!

–Erin Harris