DesignMil For NonProfits Is About More Than Free Work

From DesignMil's website, photo of a designer last year
doing volunteer work for a local non-profit

I was able to participate on the receiving end last year of a great collaborative in Milwaukee, a community event that supports non-profits in the area but is far bigger than that. DesignMil is collaborative event that provides free design services to local non-profits.

Participation in the event provides many other benefits to the community for both the non-profit and the designers. This year, on October 20, the community will get together to make it better for all.

Follow The Golden Rule When Driving

A friend recently posted an article on social media that got my attention for various reasons. The Adopt a rider (motorcyclist) concept in this RevZilla article speaks to me as a motorcyclist myself but also a rider, and also the concept works for other cases as well and all tie into my hope that we all could adopt the Golden Rule when driving. "Everyone' knows the Golden Rule, here's my take on it when driving: ask yourself "what if I was in their shoes?"

A little conscientiousness goes a long way, and when on the road it can help everyone. If we all looked around us and treated other people on the road the way we would want to be treated if in their situation it would reduce stress, even travel times.

Alternative Flours Are Nothing New + Buckwheat Millet Pancake Recipe

A parsnip onion blue cheese tart made with
gluten free flours

Usually as part of the gluten free 'craze', which often gets a bad rap as a new fad diet and I have debunked here, you see more and more alternatives to wheat flour available. Americans almost seem to take it as an offense, some new war against social norms that people would even think about replacing wheat in their traditional recipes, but the truth is around the world there are many similar foods baked or made with different flours.

While its easy to credit the increase and awareness of living gluten free as the impetus to replace wheat in recipes like pasta, bread and other bakery, other sources of flour have been around for centuries especially in non-European cultures, but yes also in many European traditional recipes. For example, rice and buckwheat noodles are common in Asian fare, of course corn flour is used in South American fare, almond flour is used in a lot of Euro baking (like one of my favorite sweets: macaroons), chickpea flour is common for flatbreads in different regions, and more. 

Besides avoiding wheat, there are other reasons to look at other options. There may be specific vitamins or other nutrients you want to add to your diet, even if you are simply trying to limit your carbs, there are good alternatives. Of course each of them has its own qualities and none, not even a combination, will ever fully duplicate the final product of wheat recipes, but if you aren't looking for an identical replacement and open to new flavors, textures, and nutritional value you may want to take a look at the wide variety of flours.

Pet MicroChips Are Only As Good As You Make Them

To help return a lost pet, make sure it is microchipped.
But also make sure you keep its registration updated.

One of the saddest thins for me to see is a Lost Dog or Cat sign, post or other communication. As a pet owner, and a foster home for pets, luckily I have never 'lost' one but I also am not holier than thou blaming other owners or thinking it can't happen. If your pet does get out, one way to help ensure they get back to you is to microchip your pet.

Microchips allow animal control and other organizations to scan your pet and get your information from it. But note: the information isn't stored in the chip, its just an ID that is used to get information from a database elsewhere. So make sure you keep the registration up to date, and allow access to your information, to ensure quick identification and return.

West Side Pride - Wauwatosa & Nearby Restaurants

Bartolotta's - icon of Milwaukee food scene - started
in the Village of Wauwatosa

Cities and neighborhoods always like to brag about their amenities and put others down. But I like to bring people together and seeing as this is about 'Greater Milwaukee', not just the City of Milwaukee, I like to promote all that the area has to offer. The food scene, especially now - with foodies, food shows, food blogs, etc. - is especially competitive. Though I love what's happening in Milwaukee with food, I live in Wauwatosa - a city that often gets overlooked, or even worse demeaned - and feel it in some ways needs defending - or promoting - depending how you look at it.

Among my friends there is a running joke that Wauwatosa has no original food scene, that the recent influx of restaurants from Milwaukee owners is proof. Sometimes its not even a joke, there are people who seriously think just because its a 'suburb' or they know of a few specific businesses, that it's an unoriginal spot with chain restaurants & imports. Sure there are a lot of hand-me-downs, or in food vernacular 'leftovers' - new places opened as sister businesses to those elsewhere, but if you take just a second to think you will remember many long-standing pillars of the industry and if you look a bit you will see we have many new homegrown businesses that are not just cast-offs.