"The Invisible Hand" rehearsal at the Milwaukee Rep

A sneak peek at the Rep's next play

I'd never been to a play rehearsal before, so when the Milwaukee Rep gave the social media club a chance to see a rehearsal for The Invisible Hand, I jumped at the chance. The play opens in the Quadracci Powerhouse on February 24th and right now the cast is just diving into it. The story, as summed up on the Rep website, is "a tale of kidnapping and world financial markets." The cast had done three days of table readings plus one day on their feet for the first several scenes of the play. On the afternoon of our rehearsal visit, they were once again on their feet, tackling a new scene. 

Along with the actors, director, assistant director, dialect coach, and other important folks whose titles escape me, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Ayad Akhtar was also there. Having the man who wrote the words in the room was a very cool experience — watching him react to certain lines with knowing laughter and offering his two cents as director Lucie Tiberghien prodded him for further insight.

I loved observing Lucie and how she phrased direction as "Let's try X, Y, Z" – not pushy, but offering a new point of view that the actors might not have considered. It was fun to hear the same lines spoken over and over again as the actors tried different intonations and motivations on for size. Toward the end of rehearsal, we saw the scene start to take shape as the actors and director mapped out the stage action, like which way each character would stand, walk, and face.

After the hour-long rehearsal (which went by in no-time), the social media club was granted a little talk back with everyone. We sat in a circle while the actors and behind-the-scenes crew told us a little about themselves and how deeply honored they were to be part of this production. One actor (I won't say who — we promised in our Circle of Trust) actually got emotional, telling Ayad "it's a f***ing honor to be here." That got everyone tearing up. It was palpable just how sincerely grateful these actors are to Ayad for writing plays for people of color — something there's not enough of.

When one of my fellow social media clubbers asked Ayad what he hoped theatergoers got out of his play, he said that, for him, theater is another way of connecting with issues in the world. He hopes that The Invisible Hand will move people to a richer vision of the world, and that — ultimately — it raises consciousness for issues and situations that might otherwise remain quite foreign to most of us.

Check out The Invisible Hand at the Milwaukee Rep, February 24th through April 3rd. I plan to be there on opening night.

Honeypie

Cute n' cozy eatery in Bay View

Honeypie isn't shiny and new. It's been around since 2009 and is now considered a Bay View staple. I hadn't been there for a couple of years (blasphemy!), but the stars aligned this past weekend and brought me back to that homey Bay View hot spot boasting scratch-made, Midwest-inspired, locally-sourced food and "critically acclaimed pies baked in house." All that and the cutest logo in Milwaukee. 

We got there around 7:30 on Saturday and were greeted with a 30-minute wait. No problem at all — we enjoyed a beer at the bar. The place is very small and cozy with one row of booths, some window seating, and the bar (which you can eat at if you like). We were eventually seated by the window. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs by then, so we ordered pork fries to start: shredded BBQ pork, cheese sauce, pickled jalapeños, green onions, and bacon over hand-cut fries. As our waiter said "Best thing on the menu" — and yeah, it was damn good. 

For the main course, Adam went for a Cubano sandwich, our friend Joel had the porkslaw sandwich, and Joel's girlfriend Vanessa chose a caesar salad with chicken. I had a bite of her salad and let me tell you something: I never knew caesar salad could be something remarkable, but at Honeypie it was. They toss kale chips into the mix, and I know what you're thinking: kale chips = hipster gimmick. But they truly added this delightful crunch that I'm still craving days later. Plus, the caesar dressing was exceptional. 

I had the mac n' cheese. It's baked and topped with buttered bread crumbs, green onions, and crumbled bacon. Sounds like a home run, right? Some folks rave about the Honeypie mac n' cheese, but I wouldn't get it again. I found it kinda bland under all that tasty topping. Still, I'm glad I tried it, otherwise I'd always wonder. 

With all this heavy food in our bellies and plenty leftover, there was sadly no room for that critically-acclaimed pie. Not that it mattered — by that time on Saturday night, most of the pie was picked over. Lesson learned: If you go to Honeypie for dinner, order dessert first. There'll be a better selection, and you'll have room to enjoy it.

January 2016

A few of my favorite things

New Year's Day brunch at City Market.

Outrageously delicious nachos at Cempazuchi.

MAM After Dark and seeing the Art Museum renovations.

Warming up with a bowl of turkey chili.

The Milwaukee Rep's Of Mice and Men + crying & standing ovation.

Eating cheese curds & a jumbo pretzel with friends.

Dinner at Balistreri's Bluemound Inn & dreaming of patio summers.

Concocting a Nutella cream pie with Biscoff cookie crust.

Celebrating another beautiful bride! 

Nutella cream pie with Biscoff cookie crust

Silky layers of chocolate hazelnut & cream

A very important holiday is coming up fast. A holiday for lovers. Nope, not that one — the other one. February 5th: World Nutella Day. 

Did you know that Nutella chose a "Chief Nutella Ambassador" to promote the day? I'm not miffed or anything. Oh no. I'm too excited for pie to be miffed, right? Newsflash: I'm miffed! Who knew they were holding auditions for the perfect job ever? Rachel and I could represent World Nutella Day backwards and upside down in our sleep. But whatever, Nutella. I guess I'll just keep buying jars upon jars of your life-affirming product, eating it with a spoon and/or baking it into more life-affirming desserts. That'll show 'em.

Anyway, this pie was a bit of an experiment. I took the Nutella filling from one pie and plopped it in a Biscoff crust, because everyone knows that Nutella and Biscoff cookies are MFEO. The experiment paid off. My brother ate about a quarter of the pie in one sitting. Adam said "You'll make this all the time, right?" 

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NUTELLA CREAM PIE WITH BISCOFF COOKIE CRUST

WHAT YOU'LL NEED
PIE FILLING
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2/3 cup Nutella

BISCOFF CRUST
1 8.8-oz package Biscoff cookies (yep, the whole package)
5–6 TBS butter, melted

OPTIONAL EXTRA WHIPPED TOPPING
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 TBS sugar 

WHAT YOU'LL DO
1. For the Biscoff crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Break up cookies and pulse them in a food processor until finely crumbled. Add melted butter and pulse until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-in. round pie pan (I used glass Pyrex). Bake for 10 minutes, then cool completely. 

2. For the pie filling: In a large bowl, beat heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. *Note: A metal bowl works well, and placing the bowl and the beaters in the fridge while you prep everything else will help the cream whip up faster. 

3. In another bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and Nutella until smooth. Fold in half of the whipped cream. *Note: I just eyeballed half. I also ended up slowly beating in the whipped cream because folding was a pain; this didn't affect the taste or texture.

4. Pour the Nutella filling into the cooled pie shell. Top with remaining whipped cream. If desired, whip up additional cream for the topping (I didn't do this). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Store leftovers covered in the fridge. 

- - - - - - - 

This pie keeps surprisingly well. Adam and I munched on small pieces of it throughout the week; the filling stayed silky and the whipped topping, fluffy. As a garnish, I crumbled extra Biscoff cookies on top of the pie as I served it. You can never have too many Biscoff cookies. Speaking of, I wonder if there's a World Biscoff Day — and do they need a Chief Ambassador?

North Avenue Grill

A casual diner that's a must-try in Tosa

I stumbled upon North Avenue Grill when I was googling breakfast spots in Tosa. The reviews are consistently great, so I knew I had to add the Grill to my breakfast bucket list. They're open from 7am to 8pm Monday through Saturday, and 7am to 3pm on Sundays, serving breakfast all day, every day. All-day breakfast: The key to my heart.

All day or not, I met my parents there around noon — prime brunch time. North Avenue Grill is a small restaurant with your classic diner counter and a single row of booths along the wall of a narrow room. We were seated at the very back, right across from the kitchen. It was casual and pleasant in that diner-y way — absolutely nothing fancy about it. Our server actually reminded me of Tour Guide Barbie in Toy Story 2, adding to the warm, friendly vibe of the place.

It was hard to choose from the extensive menu. It seems like they repeat a lot of their breakfast ingredients in various iterations: Do you want your black bean, chorizo, and avocado eggs in an omelet, breakfast quesadilla, skillet, or wrap sandwich? And then of course there are breakfast classics like pancakes, waffles, and French toast. Feeling overwhelmed, I went for the Eggwhite and Chesse Sammie with avocado, spinach, tomato, and cheddar cheese served on toasted ciabatta bread. It tasted fresh and delicious. The American fries were cooked to perfection, if rather bland. But show me a breakfast potato that isn't bland. (Really, show me!)

My mom ordered the Eggs Benedict and my dad went for a skillet — yum and yum. We all agreed we would happily return, though we would probably choose something new to eat with such a big menu of options. And from what I've heard firsthand from friends, North Avenue Grill's lunch and dinner menu is worth trying, too. Can we go back now?

The Milwaukee Rep presents "Of Mice and Men"

Finding joy in a tragedy 

Confession: I've never read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. I must have been in the wrong American Lit class in high school. But I still associate the story with high school literature, just because so many other folks do. I do remember seeing bits and pieces of the 1992 movie starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise (AKA Lieutenant Dan), but like I said — bits and pieces. That was my knowledge of Of Mice and Men before the Milwaukee Rep's opening night production last Friday.

I'll confess another thing: I don't know that I would normally seek out this play. It's a slice of depression-era Americana, and I'm not one to devote my time to much of anything with "depression" as a key descriptor. But as a proud part of the Rep's social media club this season, I find myself being pushed out of my theatrical comfort zone — and boy am I ever loving it. 

So far I've seen the musical Dreamgirls and Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap at the Rep — both absolutely great. But I have to say Of Mice and Men might be my favorite so far. Shocking coming from this lover of musicals and murder mysteries — genres I get into outside of the theater, too. But here comes Of Mice and Men, a play about dashed dreams and loneliness, and I was riveted the entire time.

I don't want to say too much in case, like me, you're going into the show with just some general knowledge of the plot. But I must give a shout out to the lead actors: Jonathon Wainwright as George and Scott Greer as Lennie. George does a lot of talking and dreamy story-telling, and Wainwright delivers the character with natural charisma. Scott Greer's Lennie will, to put it plainly, break your heart. 

It's a beautiful thing — the spectrum of emotion The Rep's Of Mice and Men brings you through. You'll certainly laugh, feel your heart melting, and — if you're like me — openly cry through the last scene and into the standing ovation. True story: I verged on blubbering. What can I say? I'm a crier. 

I have to thank the Milwaukee Rep for giving me the chance to be in their social media club, thereby forcing me outside of my bubble of musicals and mysteries. If a tragedy could ever bring an audience a whole lot of joy, Of Mice and Men is certainly a testament to that.

Catch Of Mice and Men at the Milwaukee Rep now through February 21st! For ticket information, visit milwaukeerep.com.

Balistreri's Bluemound Inn

Unpretentious pizza & a killer patio

If you haven't heard of Balistreri's Bluemound Inn, that's probably because it isn't really near anything cool. It's not downtown and it's not in the Tosa village — it's in the middle, on Bluemound Road next to a McDonald's. But the interior is warm and cozy with a sunken bar, comfortable vibe, and artwork of Italian street scenes, like from Home Goods. But first, the patio! This is what you'll see when you walk up:

How kitschy-wonderful magic-town is that? The Bluemound Inn patio was actually named one of Milwaukee's best patios in 2013 by the Journal Sentinel, and I love that they keep it in tip-top eye-popping shape even in winter. I can't wait to try it out this summer!

Moving back inside, the ambiance and menu at Bluemound Inn are simultaneously special-occasion nice and snug like Grandma's house. At least that's how it makes me feel. The menu is mostly Italian comfort food, with that signature Balistreri's thin crust pizza in the starring role. And the fried eggplant — always the fried eggplant.

The aforementioned sunken bar? It's too cool. And you can choose to sit there instead of a table, which would definitely be fun for a party of two. Personally, aside from missing out on the awesome patio seating, I think Bluemound Inn has got to be one of Milwaukee's best wintry dining options. It's just so unique, and if ever a restaurant felt and tasted like a big hug, Bluemound Inn is it.