Outstanding in the Field

My husband and I were in Door County last weekend celebrating our 34th anniversary. We try to get to Door County at least once in the summer and we always stay at our favorite bed and breakfast, Double S Lodge.  Check out my blog post 4 years ago and you'll see why we don't ever stay anywhere else!

The Highlight of the weekend was that we went to a table to farm dinner in Sister Bay at Hidden Acres Farm.  Yep, I said that right, table to farm not farm to table because rather than just getting the ingredients from the farm they bring their restaurant to the farm.  Outstanding In The Field is different, their culinary caravan and restaurant without walls are rebuilt every morning and disappears every night. They set up tables (usually one very long one) and supply a mishmash of vintage plates and utensils then serve the most amazing meal. The Chefs and cook staff come from the local restaurants the Wickman House and Trixie's.  Wickman House just happens to be our favorite restaurant in Door County.

The night of our dinner a storm was coming through so when bad weather strikes they have a backup plan for shelter.  In our case, we were in their vintage barn which made for a magical setting.  Besides the food being farm fresh and amazing, the conversation around the table and meeting fellow foodies was so much fun!

Over the last twenty years, Outstanding In The Field has reached all fifty states and fifteen countries! We're going to keep our eye out for another one of these dinners in our future.  Who knows where it will be!

Hidden Acre Farms - Owners Tom and Carolyn Rehberger
Sister Bay, WI

Appetizers

Whitefish Ceviche

Cold Climate Farms Cucumber with beets, garden pesto & preserved lemon vinaigrette
Marinated Cheese Curd with Pickled & Foraged Mushrooms & soppressata (not shown)

Each course was paired with wine!

chicken liver pate, house-made focaccia, pickled vegetables, mustard & preserves

heirloom tomato & smoked corn panzanella, lemon ricotta, spring mix, smoked reserve aioli

house-ground beef ravioli, pickled currants & cucumber-mint gremolata

jerk marinated Jamaican pork loin, farmer's vegetables, triple berry beef demi-glace, foraged chanterelles & fingerling potatoes

mochi butter cake, farm berries & matcha whipped cream

This was our sweet young server.  She has traveled with Outstanding In The Field for a year.  Come this Fall she will become a Freshman at UW Madison.  How fun for her to travel all over the country before starting school.  I'm sure we'll see her again as she'll be waitressing in Madison.  

          Thanks to Outstanding In The Field,  Hidden Acres Farm, Wickman House, Trixie's and Double S Lodge

                                          We LOVE Door County!

                                                                            

Door County Weekend

My husband, Kevin and I spent the 4th of July weekend in Door County.  We've gone several times over the years and each time we see and do something new.  This time, we went on a kayak tour, stayed in a new B&B, watched the fireworks on friends sailboat and ate at a few new restaurants.  So if you ever find yourself in Door County here's a few of our favorites. 

Our first stop was lunch at Wild Tomato in Fish Creek.  They now have a new location in Sister Bay.  This is a must stop every time we're in Door County.  They have gourmet pizza combinations, burgers, appetizers, really fresh salads and a great beer selection.

We were going to start with the Cherry Walnut Salad but our waiter was telling us how good the cheese curds are so we ordered and.....they were really that GOOD!

Our stay for the weekend was at the Double S Lodge in Sister Bay.  This B&B is amazing!  The second we drove up we knew we were in for a treat.  What a beautiful property!  The owners are Steve and Sandy.  They are wonderful hosts and thought of every detail to make our stay fabulous! 

The lodge is gorgeous!  

Our Room #4 was perfect.  The bed and pillows were so comfy!!  We even had a small balcony that we enjoyed.

This basket was waiting outside our bedroom door every morning at 7:30am with hot mugs of coffee and pastries.  This was one of our favorite details.  We'd sit in bed (or on our balcony) with our coffee and treat reading before it was time to go down to breakfast at 9:00, so relaxing.

Breakfast each morning was made by Sandy and was delicious!  

Another cool detail is that they source a lot of local ingredients.  They even had their own blend of coffee from Luna Coffee Roasters.

Another perk is Steve and Sandy have bikes for their guests to use.   

At 5:00pm there's a fun little happy hour with wine, beer, and yummy cheese platter.  Wine and cheese, one of my favorite combinations.  How did they know?!

We played the croquet course they had set up in the woods.  Just for the record, I WON!  

Those chairs are set up around a campfire and the best part is.....

at dusk, Steve brings out the whiskey and s'mores.   It was nice sitting around the fire getting to know the other couples.  What a nice way to end the evening. 

A must-see is the grass roof with grazing goats on top of the Al Johnsons Swedish Restaurant.  It's a sight to see!  We haven't eaten there but went to the outside beer garden.  

It was such a beautiful day.  We enjoyed a few drinks and played a giant Jenga game.  It was a really close game but Kevin won.  He even played with a drink in his hand!

This is where it all came tumbling down!!

One afternoon we went on a kayak tour. 

We kayaked under towering bluffs, paddled past Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, and rode along the shores of Peninsula State Park.  It was a lot of fun being on the water and seeing beautiful Door County from a different view. 

Two nights we ate at the Wickman House.  Why twice?  Well, the food is absolutely delicious and their selection of craft cocktails makes you want to come back just to try a different one.  You need a reservation as they are always packed.  We didn't have a reservation the second night but got lucky and got a seat at the bar.  Sitting at the bar was so entraining.  The drinks are one of a kind and the bartenders are great! I wouldn't come to Door County and not come here, it's a favorite. 

A high point of the weekend was spending time with some new friends on Mark and Laura's sailboat.  We had a few cocktails, Mark grilled us all a wonderful dinner and then we had the best seat in the house for the fireworks.  

We had The Fun Guy pizza, with five types of sautéed mushrooms, spinach and caramelized onions on garlic cream cheese. Super tasty!  I'll admit, it was a lot of cheese for one meal but a little over-indulgence on vacation is okay, right!?

Door County, we will miss you but will be back next year.  Thanks, Mark and Laura for the wonderful night.  Also thanks to Steve and Sandy, you spoiled us and we can't wait to stay at the  Double S Lodge again next year!