Washington Island Treats Not to be Missed

A trip to Door County is not quite complete without a ferry trip to Washington Island and a stop at the Washington Island Hotel is an integral part of a great stay. When my family and I planned a camping trip to the Door, we included a day trip to Washington Island off the northern tip of the County.

After a day sunning at Schoolhouse Beach , climbing the Mountain Park Lookout Tower for a view of Lake Michigan and the nearby islands, and exploring Stavkirke, a replica of an 11th Century Scandinavian church, we stopped at the Washington Hotel for drinks and snacks before catching the ferry back to the mainland.

Ah, the Washington Hotel and Restaurant! What an absolute treasure and foodie find. The chef-owner, Leah Caplan, a transplant from Rockland County, NY, presents an internationally-inspired menu with an American twist, focusing on locally-grown bounty and green sustainable processes. We sampled several appetizers: a trio of cumin-inflected parsley garlic hummus, a sublime slightly sweet walnut pesto and a savory rustic calamata olive and roasted red pepper blend. We spread these delights on brick oven stone ground island wheat bread. The highlight was a fried rosemary olive surrounded by crispy island wheat crust – see above photo.) To wash down the delectable morsels, I drank a surprisingly refreshing ginger limeade, which amazed a palette that usually doesn’t enjoy either separately. Also sampled was the Capital Island Wheat Beer, and a tongue-tingling Canella Prosecco di Conegliano.

Besides running a thriving hotel and restaurant, the staff holds culinary hands-on seminars and lecture series at the site. This Wednesday, August 6th, Neeta Saluja introduces Indian Cuisine, the subject of her recent New York Times critically acclaimed cookbook, Six Spices . The Hotel restaurant will be featuring Saluja’s recipes on Saturday, August 9. More information on both events can be found at the Washington Hotel, Restaurant and Culinary School website . Neeta has taught many Indian cuisine classes in the Madison area and is a well-known and popular teacher. If you love Indian food, this is a treat not to be missed.

— Bo Mackison loves to spend time away from the city indulging in the rural regions of Wisconsin, enjoying quiet spaces, open spaces, and places that specialize in great food, good times, and perfect customer service. She vacations with family, one of whom is also is camera-crazy. Photo courtesy of JPTsai © 2008. All rights reserved.

A Lazy Midsummer Hike in Door County

The meadows are sprinkled with white, yellow and purple wildflowers at mid-summer in Door County, the northeastern tip of Wisconsin. (For you newbies to Wisconsin geography, if you pretend to make a hand print with your left hand, the print rather resembles Wisconsin and your thumb is Door County which juts into Lake Michigan.) We went for an easy hike through the Ephraim Preserves on the edge of the village of Ephraim. The trail circles the Andersen Lake (really more of a marsh than a lake) and meanders through meadows and hardwood forests.

Queen Anne’s Lace, often a flower that is everyone’s favorite, is also a rather madly spreading lady and when coming head to head with natural plants, she is often victor. Therefore she has earned the label ecologically-invasive, though most everyone enjoys her beauty. I particularly like to capture the plant not in bloom. I, more than once, have tried to pluck a “dark” spot or “insect” from the flower’s center, before remembering that is one of her trademarks – a tiny dark floret in the very center of all her white finery.

— Bo Mackison loves to capture the beauty of wildflowers in Wisconsin with her camera. More wildflowers photos from Door County can be viewed in her gallery at Seeded Earth Photography.

Fish Boil – A Door County Tradition

I have a suspicion that if you mention “fish boil” anywhere in the United States, except Wisconsin, you will see some odd expressions, but the traditional Door County Fish Boil is wildly popular in this northern Wisconsin vacation destination. The main ingredient – thick steaks of delicate, freshly caught whitefish from the surrounding waters of Lake Michigan – make dinner an occasion for many a visitor. This is especially true when the fish is prepared in a huge black kettle amidst a fiery blaze. When a member of the Boil Over Crew sounds the dinner bell, it is the signal for the “boil over” and that is the signal that it will soon be time to eat.

For the uninitiated, a fish boil begins with a kettle of hot salted water perched atop a wood fire. The boil master drops one steel basket of potatoes and onions into the boiling water, and a second basket of fresh whitefish goes into the steaming cauldron a few minutes later. When everything is nearly ready, kerosene is added to the fire and a huge flame erupts, causing the water to boil over the top. Hence, a “boil over.” The hot flames cause the water to boil over the sides of the kettle, removing fish oil that has collected on the surface during the cooking process.

As you can see in the photo, the crew then lifts the baskets from the heat, lets the water drain, and the ingredients are presented to the hungry crowd with a generous drizzle of butter and hearty slices of bread. And to make the event an even grander foodie experience, the meal is finished off with a slice of Door County cherry pie.

Yum!

— Bo Mackison is a Madison area photographer and writer who camps in Door County as often as she can. Visit her photo gallery at Seeded Earth Photography to see more Door County photographs. Photograph “Fish Boil-Over” © 2008 by Bo Mackison. All rights reserved