Favorite Things
Blogs
Cooking With Tien
My house has never smelled so good as when Tien came to visit. The woman is a genius in the kitchen and I would have to invest in more elastic-waistband pants if she lived closer. The recipes she has shared with me and via her blog are mouth-watering (specifically the lemon bars you see to the left). This blog is a labor of love by a very talented woman - check it out - and don't be afraid to talk recipes with her.
http://cookingwithtien.blogspot.com/
http://cookingwithtien.blogspot.com/
Businesses
J & L Hair Salon, Middleton, Wisconsin
1915 Branch St # 2
Middleton, WI 53562-3041
(608) 836-1144
Owner and stylist: Laurie
For sixteen years I've gone to the same stylist and I wouldn't have it any other way. Laurie always gives a great haircut at a very reasonable price and has suggested various products over the years to help me with my stubborn and thick straight hair.
This specific product, Marrakesh X, I find keeps my hair from fly-aways and drying out during the cold weather. It works great for up-do's as well to smooth those little hairs down. Laurie knows her stuff and she can suggest styles and product for any hair type.
She also is a kick-ass crossword puzzle solver.
Middleton, WI 53562-3041
(608) 836-1144
Owner and stylist: Laurie
For sixteen years I've gone to the same stylist and I wouldn't have it any other way. Laurie always gives a great haircut at a very reasonable price and has suggested various products over the years to help me with my stubborn and thick straight hair.
This specific product, Marrakesh X, I find keeps my hair from fly-aways and drying out during the cold weather. It works great for up-do's as well to smooth those little hairs down. Laurie knows her stuff and she can suggest styles and product for any hair type.
She also is a kick-ass crossword puzzle solver.
The Bargain Nook, Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin
A nonprofit organization for the Hodan Center, (a Mineral Point-based community rehabilitation program for adults with disabilities), opened its first store in 1983 in Mineral Point and also has stores in Mt. Horeb, Darlington, Spring Green, Platteville and New Glarus.
The store sells donated clothing and houseware items from local manufacturers. The stores also provide jobs for those with disabilities and proceeds are used to support Hodan Center programs.
I find some of my wool sweaters here, Lands End winter coats for my entire family, bathrobes, luggage, dress clothes for work ... the possibilities are endless.
The store sells donated clothing and houseware items from local manufacturers. The stores also provide jobs for those with disabilities and proceeds are used to support Hodan Center programs.
I find some of my wool sweaters here, Lands End winter coats for my entire family, bathrobes, luggage, dress clothes for work ... the possibilities are endless.
The Consign Shop, Shawano, Wisconsin
124 S Main St
Shawano, WI 54166-2358
(The old Keopsell's building)
Stop in for a great variety of clothing and small households items! Items are new or like new, without the "new" price! Find name brand men, women, and children's clothing, all in one shop!
The Consign shop is also taking new consignors. It is 50/50, meaning you receive half of the selling price. Items must be cleaned and in good condition (no stains,spots,tears,pet hair, etc.) No appointment necessary. 20 items limit. Please call or stop in for more information.
The owner, Ann, is very helpful and will tell you if she has in stock what you're looking for.
Shawano, WI 54166-2358
(The old Keopsell's building)
Stop in for a great variety of clothing and small households items! Items are new or like new, without the "new" price! Find name brand men, women, and children's clothing, all in one shop!
The Consign shop is also taking new consignors. It is 50/50, meaning you receive half of the selling price. Items must be cleaned and in good condition (no stains,spots,tears,pet hair, etc.) No appointment necessary. 20 items limit. Please call or stop in for more information.
The owner, Ann, is very helpful and will tell you if she has in stock what you're looking for.
Isaac's Soaps and Isaac's Antiques
132 E. Main St.
Mount Horeb Wi. 53572
A unique store with antiques on the left and soaps/scents on the right! Formerly a movie theater in downtown Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, this store offers several floors of antiques to give you a work-out with an eclectic selection of items. The soap and scent store not only offers high quality health and beauty aid products, but also Yankee candles, cards, namebrand stuffed animals like Ty, Webkins, etc., and hey, sometimes they offer my wool mittens!
http://www.isaacssoaps.com/
Mount Horeb Wi. 53572
A unique store with antiques on the left and soaps/scents on the right! Formerly a movie theater in downtown Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, this store offers several floors of antiques to give you a work-out with an eclectic selection of items. The soap and scent store not only offers high quality health and beauty aid products, but also Yankee candles, cards, namebrand stuffed animals like Ty, Webkins, etc., and hey, sometimes they offer my wool mittens!
http://www.isaacssoaps.com/
Sjolund's Chocolate House
219 E. Main Street
Mt. Horeb, WI 53572
If you're craving designer coffee, desserts, brunch, and oh yeah, CHOCOLATE, this is the place to be. They offer some of the most delectable treats you'll ever get your little caffiene-addicted hands on. Owned by my very understanding neighbor, Tracy, (sorry about the chickens dust bathing in your yard) who is an absolute delight to converse with and a talented chef.
219 E. Main Street
Mt. Horeb, WI 53572
If you're craving designer coffee, desserts, brunch, and oh yeah, CHOCOLATE, this is the place to be. They offer some of the most delectable treats you'll ever get your little caffiene-addicted hands on. Owned by my very understanding neighbor, Tracy, (sorry about the chickens dust bathing in your yard) who is an absolute delight to converse with and a talented chef.
Books
The Dirty Life
by Kristin Kimball
From the jacket cover:
"When Kristin Kimball left New York City to interview a dynamic young farmer named Mark, her world changed. On an impulse, she shed her city self and started a new farm with him on five hundred acres near Lake Champlain. The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of the couple's first year on Essex farm, from the cold North Country winter through their harvest-season wedding in the loft of the barn.
Kristin and Mark's plan to grow everything needed to feed a community was an ambitious idea, and a bit romantic. It worked. Every Friday evening, all year round, over a hundred people travel to Essex Farm to pick up their weekly share of the 'whole diet' - beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, maple syrup, grains, flours, dried beans, herbs, fruits, and forty different vegetables - produced by the farm. In The Dirty Life, Kristin discovers the wrenching pleasures of physical work, learns that good food is at the center of a good life, falls deeply in love, and finally finds the engagement and commitment she craved in the form of a man, a small town and a beautiful piece of land."
Rachelle's score: A+
by Kristin Kimball
From the jacket cover:
"When Kristin Kimball left New York City to interview a dynamic young farmer named Mark, her world changed. On an impulse, she shed her city self and started a new farm with him on five hundred acres near Lake Champlain. The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of the couple's first year on Essex farm, from the cold North Country winter through their harvest-season wedding in the loft of the barn.
Kristin and Mark's plan to grow everything needed to feed a community was an ambitious idea, and a bit romantic. It worked. Every Friday evening, all year round, over a hundred people travel to Essex Farm to pick up their weekly share of the 'whole diet' - beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, maple syrup, grains, flours, dried beans, herbs, fruits, and forty different vegetables - produced by the farm. In The Dirty Life, Kristin discovers the wrenching pleasures of physical work, learns that good food is at the center of a good life, falls deeply in love, and finally finds the engagement and commitment she craved in the form of a man, a small town and a beautiful piece of land."
Rachelle's score: A+
The Bucolic Plague
by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Note: Josh is a Wisconsin native and co-star of favorite TV show "The Fabulous Beekman Boys" on Planet Green
From the jacket cover:
" A happy series of accidents and a doughnut-laden escape upstate take Josh Kilmer-Purcell and his partner, Brent Ridge, to the doorstep of the magnificent (and fabulously for sale) Beekman Mansion. And so begins their transformation from uptight urbanites into the two-hundred-year-old-mansion-owning Beekman Boys. Suddenly Josh - a full-time New Yorker with a succesful advertising career - and Brent find themselves weekend farmers, surrounded by nature's bounty and an eclectic cast: roosters who double as a wedding cover band; Bubby, the bionic cat; and a herd of goats, courtesy of their new cartaker, Farmer John.
The Bucolic Plague is a tart and sweet touching and laugh-out-loud funny story about goats, mud, hoomemade soap, approaching middle age, and finding new depths of love and commitment where you live."
Check out their website at www.Beekman1802.com
Rachelle's score: A-
by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Note: Josh is a Wisconsin native and co-star of favorite TV show "The Fabulous Beekman Boys" on Planet Green
From the jacket cover:
" A happy series of accidents and a doughnut-laden escape upstate take Josh Kilmer-Purcell and his partner, Brent Ridge, to the doorstep of the magnificent (and fabulously for sale) Beekman Mansion. And so begins their transformation from uptight urbanites into the two-hundred-year-old-mansion-owning Beekman Boys. Suddenly Josh - a full-time New Yorker with a succesful advertising career - and Brent find themselves weekend farmers, surrounded by nature's bounty and an eclectic cast: roosters who double as a wedding cover band; Bubby, the bionic cat; and a herd of goats, courtesy of their new cartaker, Farmer John.
The Bucolic Plague is a tart and sweet touching and laugh-out-loud funny story about goats, mud, hoomemade soap, approaching middle age, and finding new depths of love and commitment where you live."
Check out their website at www.Beekman1802.com
Rachelle's score: A-
At Least In the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream
by Wade Rouse
From the book jacket:
"Finally fed up with the frenzy of city life and a job he hates, Wade Rouse decided to make either the bravest decision of his life or the worst mistake since his botched Ogilvie home perm: to leave culture, cable and consumerism behind and strike out, a la Thoreau, for rural America - a place with fewer people than his former spinning class. There, Wade battles blizzards, bloodthirsty critters, and nosy neighbors with night-vision goggles, and discovers something he has always dreamed of but never imagined he'd find - happiness and a home."
Rachelle's score: B
by Wade Rouse
From the book jacket:
"Finally fed up with the frenzy of city life and a job he hates, Wade Rouse decided to make either the bravest decision of his life or the worst mistake since his botched Ogilvie home perm: to leave culture, cable and consumerism behind and strike out, a la Thoreau, for rural America - a place with fewer people than his former spinning class. There, Wade battles blizzards, bloodthirsty critters, and nosy neighbors with night-vision goggles, and discovers something he has always dreamed of but never imagined he'd find - happiness and a home."
Rachelle's score: B
Props
A huge thanks to my mom, Sharon, who taught me how to sew, keeps me in craft supplies, spoils me and my children rotten and helped us move all of our crap, ...er, stuff to this crazy house.
Thanks to my sister, sisters-in-law, mother-in-law and best friend "T" who continue to craft with me, inspire me, shop with me, donate supplies and urge me to keep plugging.
Thank you to my boys who do the dishes - grudgingly - while I attempt my projects and stay out of my hair when I'm cursing at the sewing machine again. Don't forget to brush your teeth and feed the chickens.
And, Bill, the man who puts up with my OCD, tantrums, crazy pipe dreams, and leg twitches, we make a great team, Schmoopy.
XOXO to you all.
Thanks to my sister, sisters-in-law, mother-in-law and best friend "T" who continue to craft with me, inspire me, shop with me, donate supplies and urge me to keep plugging.
Thank you to my boys who do the dishes - grudgingly - while I attempt my projects and stay out of my hair when I'm cursing at the sewing machine again. Don't forget to brush your teeth and feed the chickens.
And, Bill, the man who puts up with my OCD, tantrums, crazy pipe dreams, and leg twitches, we make a great team, Schmoopy.
XOXO to you all.