Meet our member of the month, Erica Krug,
the blogger behind Wisconsin Fun Next Exit.
What was your original motivation for your blog? What keeps you motivated?
I originally started my blog, wisconsin fun next exit, after reading “A Homemade Life” by Molly Wizenberg. Molly started her food blog–Orangette–around 2005, which was before blogs were really popular. In her book Molly talks about how starting her blog made her accountable to her writing; because she was hitting the “publish” button, this meant there was a chance people might actually read what she was writing. Molly said that she was ready to just put herself out there, which really resonated with me at the time… I loved to write but didn’t feel like I had a reason to do it. When I decided to start my own blog, it gave me a reason to write again! Since starting my blog I have become a freelance writer, but writing blog posts remains my favorite writing because I feel like I really get to be me.
If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
If I could eat one meal for the rest of my life, it would probably have to be marinated cucumbers and sweet corn. Or pizza. I love pizza so much.
What has been your biggest cooking disaster?
As a vegetarian I almost feel like this is taboo to say, but I really hate squash! I tried to make spaghetti squash one time (I think I was going to top it with tomato sauce) and it just turned into a big pile of stringy mush–it was disgusting. Another time–before I was a vegetarian–my sister and I were making homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner and we accidentally poured an entire container of sea salt in it because the lid fell off. We ended up getting take-out tacos.
What’s a favorite memory or experience from a farmers’ market or a food event?
One of my most memorable food moments was when I got to attend an Outstanding in the Field dinner last August at Bleu Mont Dairy outside of Blue Mounds. I managed to get a press pass and write about the dinner for Edible Madison and my sister, who lives in Seattle, came along as my photographer. It was a magical summer evening–perfect temperature, no bugs, and a delicious dinner prepared by Chef Dan Fox served at a really, really long table set up in a field. We were practically the last people to leave (as usual) and followed the light of the moon and the sound of the crickets all the way back out to the road where our car was parked.
What adventures do you have planned for this summer?
This summer we have a few camping trips planned, a family trip to a cabin in Minnesota and lots and lots of bocce.