Coming on the heels of the announcement that B1G Football will be returning in October, I decided it would be fun to celebrate a pair of establishments located in Big Ten College towns; Minneapolis and Madison. Minneapolis is home to the Minnesota Golden Gophers and a charming restaurant in Uptown (southwest of Downtown) called The Lowry.

In addition to proudly serving breakfast for 17 hours per day, The Lowry dishes up cheese curds that are classically beautiful, by deep fried standards. The nugget sized curds are coated in a gorgeous dark gold batter, speckled with green garnish, in a metal basket. The break from tradition comes in the form of the sauces. First, is a very spicy roasted red pepper sambal (Indonesian chili sauce) which is contrasted with the second dipping option – applesauce. Apple slices also accompany the dish. I was stumped by the choice until my friend slowly, and phonetically, pronounced “mini-apple-is”. While I didn’t personally enjoy the curd-applesauce tandem, the hot cheese and cold apple wasn’t for me, I really like the creativity and fully support it. 

Overall, the cheese curds were delicious; the tasty and gooey cheese is encompassed by a flavorful and well-textured batter (made using Freehouse #1 Kolsh beer) for the big city price of $12.29.

4.4 curds out of 5.0

You were promised reviews from two Big Ten towns, so we are going to jump across the Mississippi River to explore the second half of this duo. Madison is where the Wisconsin Badgers play their home games and also where you can devour a ½ order of cheese curds for $5, or challenge yourself to a full for $9, at Graze.

Graze is housed in an all glass, high-ceilinged and modern style building with a fantastic view of the state capital building. I have crammed a lot of fried cheese into my face but these might be the most unusual. Firstly, they are called “Fried Hook’s Cheese Curds” and I am a sucker for any non-standard listing on a menu. But, the thing that makes them anomalous is the batter. Instead of beer, Graze uses vodka and I can’t help but attribute the following distinctive qualities to that choice. 

The color is alluring, with an orangish hue, and the batter is more flaky than it is crispy with a pleasant but atypical flavor. When you bite into a curd the malleable coating seems to stretch in a way which re-entombs the cheese within. The curds contain a hybrid of orange/white cheese and come in funky shapes and sizes. They are grease-free and chewy, served in a cylindrical metal dish with a side of thick buttermilk ranch. I recommend these to the adventurous curd consumer the next time you visit Wisconsin’s capital city.

4.2 curds out of 5.0

Cheesy Fact of the Day:

Individuals who are lactose intolerant are unable to process a sugar found in milk and products derived from milk. However, aged cheeses contain less lactose and generally can be consumed without causing discomfort. Some examples include cheddar, Gouda, Parmesan, provolone, Muenster, Swiss, Brie and Camembert. That is not a bad spread, so if you are lactose intolerant give some of these a try!

What’s O’Curd to Me:

For this post I am recycling a piece, word-for-word, that I wrote back in 2016 during the run-up to Election Day. I thought about updating the content but thought since life changes so fast, and we are subjected to hyperbole at every turn, it might be nice to get a glimpse into the recent past. To me the majority of this holds up four years later, I urge you to take a few minutes to read it and hope you take the message to heart. 

I have never voted in the Presidential election, partially because I am lazy and uninformed, but I’m going change that in November.  However, my personal shortcomings aren’t the only thing that has kept me from the polls; there are several other factors, with varying degrees of validity, that have played a role in my abstinence.  

The President of the United States, the highest office in the most bountiful country in the world, is ostensibly the most powerful person on Earth.  With such an honorable position one would expect it to routinely draw America’s best and brightest to compete for privilege of leading the people, right?  But, in reality, it seems that exceptional candidates with unimpeachable character are the exception rather than the norm.  Why aren’t the most talented and morally upstanding citizens vying for the job?  I think it comes down to a few simple reasons: unimaginable stress, extreme life-altering fame/scrutiny, and an inexorable grind for (relatively) low pay. 

Many people are fed up with our government, for a variety of reasons that I don’t have time to cover, and feel that voting would be contributing to/enabling/condoning “the establishment”.  While I find some of those arguments compelling my primary hesitation with voting is the evidence that it doesn’t matter.  It doesn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out that 1 vote in 125 million (the number that voted in 2012) isn’t going to make or break the election, especially if you don’t live in a swing state.  On a grander scale, I’m skeptical about how much impact any given president has on the day to day lives of their constituents (perhaps this term has an above average influence due to the state of the Supreme Court). 

An additional frustration I have with the President, and elected officials in general, is the ambiguity in the job description.  During the interview process the candidates are put through a gauntlet by the public and press where they display their values, beliefs and outline policy proposals.  My question is are they elected to vote on issues the way the majority of their constituents would prefer OR are the people supposed to trust in the integrity of the person they have chosen and allow them to make decisions in the best interest of the people?  There is an important distinction between the two and I’m not sure which is correct, but it’s often a moot point because many politicians choose Option C – go after their own agenda while doing enough to not obliterate their chance at re-election. 

Despite everything I just said, I’m planning on making an educated vote on November 8^th.  We are less than 4 weeks away from Election Day and I strongly encourage you to join me in casting a vote.  Before you decide to stay home, or sell your vote for $20 on Craigslist, please consider the following: 

Indifference is the enemy.

Apathy seems to be in abundance and is one of the more insidious problems in our society.  Not bothering to care about issues is in some ways worse than intolerance because it enables those people who wish to cause harm to others to run around unopposed.  My hope is that you don’t go through life just trying to make it to the end of the day.  I hope there are things that excite you, things that make you mad and things that inspire you.  Following this election probably isn’t your favorite pastime, but perhaps you will find it important enough to devote a small amount of time and energy to.

You get to leave work.

In Wisconsin, you have the right of up to 3 hours off of work to vote.  This law varies state by state, but most employers will permit employees the opportunity to leave for voting purposes (within reason) upon request.

Your decision doesn’t occur in a vacuum.

As I mentioned earlier, any particular vote is almost certainly meaningless when there are 125 million others.  But, the problem is that so many people have that realization and decide to stay home that the voting pool is much smaller than it should be – you aren’t the only one who knows their individual vote is irrelevant.  In 2012 an estimated 93 million eligible voters failed to cast a ballot.

I imagine that number will be even higher this year.  Think of how much different our political landscape might look if 100 million more people were plugged into what’s happening in the world and made their voices heard.  New ideas need to be expressed and change must be clamored for, it won’t happen on its own.

If the Presidential candidates don’t inspire you there are other races to get invested in.

The importance of Congress is difficult to overstate; having smart, high character individuals making our laws is critical for our government and for empowering its citizens, arguably even more so than the President.  Voting in these other races is your chance to evaluate their work, if you are displeased with things then shake up Capitol Hill until you feel you are being represented correctly.

You receive a sticker.

Sorry, I had to.

Idleness is not an excuse.

A few well-informed people I know have decided against voting for one reason or another, and that’s their prerogative.  However, for the vast majority of us avoiding the polls is laziness.  We either don’t want to take the time to learn about the issues or don’t want to fight the crowds on game day.  Both of those are weak excuses – take a little time to do some research and form an opinion over the next few weeks.

Don’t take the right for granted.

When this country was founded you had to be a white, land-owning male in order to vote.  Large groups of people were completely excluded from the “right” to vote and had to endure immeasurable amounts of suffering to finally secure that privilege.  Since then it has been a constant battle to sustain that right as forces domestically and internationally try to disrupt our freedoms.

Try to appreciate the entire scope of what is in play before eschewing the polling lines in November.  Please make a difference, get out and vote.