Inspiration for Say Cheese(head)!

The impetus for this blog came from this Bloody Mary:

Yes, it is customary to serve a Bloody Mary with celery and other garnishes, but look closely...do you see the pepperoni stick?

Only in Wisconsin, can you order a drink that comes with sausage.

A week ago, I met my three best friends from high school for lunch. They all live in the Chicago area and it is a rare but wonderful thing when the four of us can get together without children or significant others. We had a nice long (and loud!) lunch at The Chancery just over the state border in Pleasant Prairie, WI.

The conversation turned to life in Wisconsin as my girlfriends said they felt like tourists. The Bloody Mary gave us lots of giggles. After lunch, we shared a giant cream puff, another Wisconsin novelty. We did agree that there is too much dairy for one person alone to eat a cream puff, but my Wisconsin residency status may be in trouble for suggesting that there is such a thing as "too much dairy."

I mentioned the pepperoni stick to my neighbors who responded, "Did she get cheese with it, too? They usually come with a few cheese cubes." Perhaps that Bloody Mary accessory is served in the Chancery locations around Milwaukee County but not the one so close to Illinois?

So I thank Missy, Debbie, and Lidia for our fun afternoon together, and for inspiring me to finally write down the unusual, but endearing, aspects of life in Wisconsin.