September Member of the Month: Theresa Stevens

Meet our member of the month, Theresa Stevens, the talented blogger behind Dairyland Cook.

My original motivation for my blog was two-fold. We just moved back to Wisconsin after living in different parts of the country for the past 10 years. I wanted a way to highlight the amazing food and unique places that makes Wisconsin such a gem. The other part was remembering all of my favorite foods my mom, grandma, and aunts make at different gatherings, realizing I didn’t have those recipes or didn’t make those dishes out-of-state. I wanted to be able to pass these along to my children and thought, “Why not share with anyone who is interested?” Naming the blog was harder than naming my children, but when I really stopped to think about my specific Wisconsin theme, America’s Dairyland or in this case, Dairyland Cook was born. Since then, it has started to transform more into the cook I’m becoming through local-based ingredients, the unique seasonality our food system goes through, and really wanting to eat with nature, not against it.

If I could only eat one meal for the rest of my life, I would have to choose a brunch dish called BLT and an egg. It starts with a base of peppery arugula, chunks of fresh tomatoes from the garden, crumbled bacon, cubes of toasted bread (sourdough, white, wheat, baguette, even croissants work great), top with a soft boiled egg, and drizzle a lemon vinaigrette with salt and pepper on top. It’s perfection and could be eaten any time of day.

I have had some epic fails in the kitchen, but I would have to say my biggest one was my first attempt at a turducken. Remember those being popular about 8 years ago? You have to practically carve a raw turkey first, then lay down some stuffing, then lay in a mostly carved duck, more stuffing, then a carved chicken, and tie it all together. Between the hours it took to put this together, and still not sure how much of the duck and chicken should have gone into the turkey in the first place, I can honestly say I will never, ever attempt that again. The whole meal was off by about 2 hours waiting for everything to be cooked through! When the meat was first checked the thermometer didn’t go past the turkey level which led me to think we were close. Stick to what you know for the main parts of a meal – especially for Thanksgiving. Play with sides and desserts.

In my mind there is no pie or cake debate. It’s pie all the way for me. Cake is for birthdays, pie is for life. I love the fresh berry bursts in the blueberry, strawberry, and especially cherry pies. The warm, comforting bites of apple pie paired with the colder sensations of a scoop of ice cream, and don’t even get me started on the amazing transformation of the caramel center of pecan pies! Sweet, crunchy, buttery heaven on a fork. I’m not a huge pumpkin pie fan (the horror!), so I’ve never gotten into the whole pumpkin-pie-spice-everything that should be starting any moment and last until January. I put my pumpkins to work in pumpkin bars or soups.

Football season is here, and we certainly have some go-to’s for game day whether we are sitting at home watching the game or tailgating at Lambeau Field. Brats first and foremost. We have to have brats, good quality brat buns, and homemade sauerkraut. Taco dip brings everyone together like a good game of Bags, and for something sweet I keep it to bars like scotcherooes/scotchies, Magic bars, or butter caramel bars.