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Mine was probably the first time I tried small plate dining at a place in Milwaukee called "Jolly's" it was a cajun/creole restaurant and had a tapas night on Thursday. The chef would make all kinds of awesome dishes and I loved hanging out with friends trying these creations and drinking some Milwaukee microbrews.

I love lomo saltado.

I would like to start canning tomatoes. I already do hot peppers, pickles, and beans (great Bloody Mary fixins) but have been apprehensive about tomatoes.

Homemade gnudi (gnocchi made with ricotta instead of potato) with morel mushroom sauce.

My biggest grilling success story was last year when I decided that I wanted to make a grilled version of "shrimp and grits." I seasoned (with cajun seasoning) then grilled tomatoes, leeks, green onions, green peppers, and some andoulle and then roughly chopped all of the it except the tomatoes, which I pureed in a blender. Then I added the chopped up grilled veggies and andoulle and seasoned the sauce to taste. I then grilled up some shrimp that I had marinated in some hot sauce, cajun seasoning, olive oil, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. I poured the shrimp and sauce over some nice grits loaded with cheddar cheese, cream and butter. It was awesome and had rave reviews. The next night I grilled some of the grits that had set up and served the sauce over that.

Mine was going out to eat at nice restaurants with my grandpa and trying new food. My parents never really took us to nice places so it was always a special treat. I would always order the more unusal items off the menu which at the time was along the lines of scallops, duck, and the occasional frog legs. I always loved going to supper clubs and having liver pate and crackers too. These things, which I now take for granted, were exotic for a kid who ate Kraft Mac and Cheese, overcooked pork chops, and mediocre spaghetti on a regular basis.

I really like to make pasta sauce on the grill. I take some roma tomatoes, leeks, peppers and whatever veggies I have, grill it all up, then dump it out on a cutting board and roughly chop everything. Throw it back in a bowl, add some salt, pepper, fresh basil, capers, and olive oil and pour over pasta.

I have driven by this place several times and never even given it a second thought. I may have to check it out some night.

My Milwaukee pizza rankings are as follows:
1. Lisa's on Oakland
2. Balestreri's
3. Zaffiro's
4. Classic Slice
5. Mattaeo's (Waukesha)

The Sobleman is awesome! The only complaint, and it is minor, is that the bun is just a wee bit larger than I would prefer. Otherwise it is perfect. You cannot go wrong with Kopp's either.

Splenda is disgusting and just about every food I have tried with Splenda in it tastes horrible. I put it in coffee once and had to dump it out.

It pretty much ruins everything it comes in contact with.

It just bothers me that people are always looking for a easy fix. Just eat the real stuff but do it in moderation.

I use more cilantro, almost doubling it in any recipe. I tend to use half of the recommended garlic in many recipes too. I think garlic is way overused. Often times I will add a shallot, whether a recipe calls for it or not.

It was a Renwood Zinfandel that I had at my wife's aunt's house. We had been dating for around a year and I was never really into wine. I took one sip and it was so good. I couldn't get over how complex and delicious this was. I finally saw what the appeal of good wine was.

I think from that moment on I became more aware and interested in wine, so much so that last year, we planned a whole vacation around wine in Napa and Sonoma...and to tie it to the A-16 book, on that same trip we were supposed to eat at A-16 there one night but something came up and we had to cancel our reservation. :(