Eating Milwaukee: Holiday Special

It's been a little while since we've posted, well, anything, and I figured I could make a sort of peace offering, now that we seem to have joined the big leagues, what with our own domain and facebook page and all...

Well, here we go. I figured, since I didn't actually have a real review to post, I could let you in on what at least some of your staff members had for Christmas...meals.

I actually would hope that someone would let us know what your favorite food traditions are for the holidays... maybe this could turn into an interactive extravaganza! E-mail us here at the blog or visit the facebook fan page and post there -- bonus points for pictures!

We at the Laedtke-Lukezich-Brzezinski household started things off on Christmas Eve with a tray of fresh veggies, some Knorr vegetable dip, and a plate of assorted sausages:



Here, we have, from left to right around the plate, Krawowska sausage,Mortadella with Pistachios,and finally, Bierwurst.

The Krakowska is a Polish sausage with an attitude: big, chewy chunks of pork, tons of garlic and corriander, and just a little bit of herbage to round things out. The mortadella was a nice change of pace from our tradition: smooth and gently spiced, but still with a funky flavor of the nuts and neck fat. Lastly, the bierwurst: strong, with just a little bit of bit, and a medium-smooth grind. Thank you, very much, Usingers!.

All of this tasty goodness was rounded out with some slices of Havarti cheese:



I rounded out the evening with my mom's hybrid cross between a Monte Cristo and a Croque Monsieur. Custard-soaked bread, filled with fabulous salty ham, swiss cheese, and dijon mustard... then pan-fried. Oh, the joy!

Come Christmas morning, my wonderful mother had something special in store:

French toast, stuffed with raspberry preserves and sweetened cream cheese, topped with a fresh raspberry sauce. All of this madness was served with a few steamed Polish Delight sausages (a cross between a Maxwell Street Polish, and a more traditional wiejska).



Also making an appearance with a fresh fruit assortment, served with a yoghurt-orange-poppy seed dressing:



After being completely stuffed, I put the finishing touches on the lemon créme tartlets... piping the lemon créme (mascarpone cheese and lemon curd) into the sugar cookie shells, and topping them with a fresh raspberry:



After the traditional Brzezinski Christmas Ham Dinner, consisting of ham, ham, and more ham:



we topped things off with my mom's Peppermint Cane Torte:



And, at that point, I gave up trying to take pictures and slipped quietly into a food coma. I woke up this morning.

Happy Holidays from the staff at Eating Milwaukee, and don't forget... we REALLY WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAY FOODS! Drop us a line!