Food Fun Waukesha

Golden Gate is a hidden gem in Waukesha that won Top 10 Chinese Restaurants in America Award in 2010. I had the food once as take out that someone else picked up. But recently my guy and I decided to go there for dinner and eat at the restaurant. It’s located off of Racine Avenue & the 164/59 bypass in a strip mall that houses an antique mall and a few other businesses. When you walk in, the bar is to the left and the dining area is to the right. The dining side is decorated in traditional Chinese decor. We were seated at a table and greeted by our…

Michael’s Italian Restaurant has been a staple in Waukesha for over 35 years. I have enjoyed many meals here since moving to the city and it’s one of the places that I make sure to mention when giving food suggestions to friends looking for a good bite in Waukesha.  My parents, my guy and myself got together for a dinner earlier this year on a Saturday evening. The restaurant was bustling with people but we were able to get a table right away. If we wouldn’t, the bar area is nice to wait in. It reminds me of a supper club with mirrors on the walls and seating all the…

Day two in Door County started with us waking up, putting on our cold weather gear and exploring the grounds. The four cabins are nestled in a wooded area and trails were created around the property. We headed north from our cabin and quickly descended down a slippery hill to get to the pond behind our cabin. We found a bench along the path and my guy posed for a quick pic. The pond was completely frozen over and snow covered but I wasn’t about to venture out onto it. Look what happened to the poor duck! Just kidding – apparently the decoy stays out all year. We posed for…

My guy decided that we needed a little getaway and asked if I was interested in a long weekend in Door County. I jumped at the opportunity for a mini-vacation with him and checking out a part of the state that I haven’t been to in decades. We headed out Friday morning and had a smooth ride up to Sturgeon Bay. Once in Sturgeon Bay, we stopped at The Draft Haus for lunch. The bar has a nautical, sports bar feel – light fixtures made out of boat wheels and awesome etched mirrors with sports team logos on them. Our server recently moved from Milwaukee to the DC–she welcomed us…

I just saw on Facebook that today is National Cream Cheese Brownie Day. What food will they think of next to celebrate and give it its own day?  In honor of all things sweet and Valentine’s Day coming this weekend, I want to share a few yummy desserts with you. Oreo Cream Stuffed Brownies I love a rich, chocolatey brownie and recently I found a recipe on Pinterest for Oreo Cream filled brownies from the Cookies And Cups blog. I made them twice and both times they were a huge hit. I did learn its best to use the recipe for the brownie that she provides on her blog. I…

My guy works for a financial institution and gets extra postal holiday days off throughout the year. This allowed us to have lunch together on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day last month. Because of its proximity to my job, and the fact that my guy had not been there yet, we went to Cafe de Arts. I cannot say enough nice words about Ayhan, his wife and the staff of Cafe de Arts. No matter how busy they are, which is all the time, they stop what they are doing for a moment and say hi to everyone that comes in. It’s that extra step of customer service that really…

With Valentine’s Day coming up next weekend, I wanted to share with you an easy treat that is quick to make and delicious. Besides baking the cookies and chopping the fruit, we let my guys’ girls do the rest of the work to make these gems.  It was my guy’s birthday was a few weeks ago and he decided he wanted to spend some quality time with his daughters while he had them that weekend. I suggested that we work together to cook a wonderful meal and he could pick out what he wanted to eat.  From my new cookbook “SkinnyTaste,” he chose the Oven-Fried Chicken. I suggested garlic mashed…

I have been trying to bring a lunch with me to work every day, but occasionally I like to splurge and head on out in Waukesha and grab a bite to eat. Sometimes it’s with friends and other times I take the meal back to my office. It was a snowy Wednesday a few weeks back when I didn’t bring a lunch and craved a warm, thick, creamy soup. I scoured every soup menu in town I could think of, yet couldn’t find a soup that was tempting my buds. Then I remembered Key Westconsin has soup. I called them up to find out the flavors and was told they…

One of my favorite treats as a child was a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie. I didn’t get these very often because they definitely aren’t the healthiest treat, but I would save my money and ride my bike up to the gas station to get one with my friends. I loved the soft cookie and who can resist the creamy frosting in the middle! I was searching around on Pinterest a few weeks ago and came across Carrot Cake Cream Pies. Instantly my mouth started to salivate at the thought of these delicious treats. It just so happened I was invited to watch the Packers’ playoff game at a friends…

Before my love of wine and microbrews pulled me away from the ‘hard stuff’, there was a time in my early- to mid-twenties that I thought I was being super fancy by ordering Southern Comfort Old Fashioned Sweets with cherries at restaurants or during happy hour.  I really liked the taste of them and thought they paired well with everything. Then, like I said, I began to drink wine and microbrews almost exclusively. Maybe I would have a vodka lemonade in the summer, but to me, a nice cold beer would really hit the spot, too. My guy’s signature cocktail that he likes is a Whiskey Old Fashioned Sour. I…