Residents of the Great Lakes states are no strangers to cold, but I did a double-take when I checked the temperature this morning.
That’s chilly, even for us. And my weather station doesn’t really pick up wind, so even though the “Feels Like” temp showed the same, the actual wind chill according to the National Weather Service was -40°. Can’t say I’ve experienced that often. Or, umm, ever. It’s 1:30 in the afternoon and still -9°. Hence the Extreme Cold Warnings and school closures and pop-up warming shelters.
(Sorry, Suz. I know weather talk bores you. It’s a wonder you’ve stuck with me all these years.)
I was texting my son Rusty, who still resides in the Pacific Northwest, and he said, Wow that’s pretty cold. What does that even feel like? Hard to imagine.
I told him it literally hurts your skin. Every breath sears your lungs, and your nostrils freeze instantly. Frostbite can occur in minutes, so it’s not even safe to venture out. If you do, you’d better dress in as many layers as you can. Think Ralphie’s brother in A Christmas Story.
The crazy thing? It isn’t even supposed to get close to zero today. We might get there tomorrow. For sure on Sunday. At least we don’t have to worry about snow and ice like much of the South and Northeast.
Actually, the real crazy thing? If you look at the temperature graphic above, you’ll notice that it hit 57° this month. Just two weeks ago, we had a record high. That feels like some crazy fever dream I had once.
Because I’m a guy who prefers his linings to be silver, there is one positive side to this extreme cold: a hard freeze helps kill bugs. At least that’s what the locals say. All I know for sure is, we do not plan to venture out at all this weekend. But that’s okay; we ventured out on Tuesday evening for a rare midweek date. A local restaurant, North Shore Chophouse – a cozy little joint on Lake Koshkonong – does a Monthly Dinner Series: a five-course tasting menu that includes cocktail pairings. When I saw January was Caribbean Night, I wasted no time making reservations for the limited-seating event.
The meal was fantastic, as we knew it would be. We’d been to North Shore Chophouse once before, just two weeks after landing in Wisconsin, for an anniversary dinner that we raved about. I’m shocked it took us this long to go back; I blame that on having too many great dining options around. The meal cost $75/person, and that turned out to be a steal – especially considering that each cocktail was a normal, full-sized one. We assumed they’d be served in shot glasses or something, this being a “tasting menu” and whatnot, but nope! Had we known that, we might have skipped the pre-dinner cocktail. Eh, who am I kidding? Everyone made an immediate beeline to the bar. Ahh, Wisconsin.
They didn’t skimp on the food either.
Every bite was delicious. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but we both agreed the Baja Fish Taco took top prize. Most every sip, too (though I didn’t bother with the Red Stripe beer that accompanied the jerk chicken because I can only stomach sours). We were way too full by the time the truffles rolled around, but we brought those home and enjoyed them the next day.
Totally fun night, even if they had to roll us out of there. And no worries, we were fine to drive home safely, as the meal was spread out over several hours. We agreed this is something we’ll definitely do again. Each month’s theme is totally different, so there’s always something new.
If you’re in the path of this weekend’s winter storm, stay safe. And while beating the Patriots without our starting quarterback is going to take a small miracle, I’ll say it anyway: let’s go, Broncos! Stiddy as she goes.
Mark My Words 
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