Last week I finally had a chance to head home to my roots, aka- Northern Wisconsin. I got to visit with all of my brothers.....yes, all 3 of them. (I'm the only girl in a family of 6, besides my mom). Wisconsin winters are so much colder than Montana Winters-mainly because of the gosh darn humidity! Montana has a little dryer climate and where i'm located in Billings it's a pretty mild winter-which I love! Don't get me wrong we have our days with Mother Nature dipping down to 30 below zero but for the most part it stays above zero.
Any who! My oldest brother took me out ice fishing on Lake Michigan for White Fish. Of course he bragged himself up that every time he's fished this spot he's always limited out. So he was pretty sure we would come home with at least 10 fish between Me, him and my boyfriend Chad. I told him he jinxed us for saying that! And sure enough, after 6 hours of being on the ice, listening to it crack under us, and jigging our poles....not 1 fish was reeled up. I did have a nibble on mine but just couldn't connect. I guess the exciting part for Chad was being able to watch the fish swim by my lure while I teased the fish.
Next stop was HOME! I grew up on a Farm and Ranch where we raised our own Beef, Pigs, Chickens, and grew our own crops. It's basically a self sustaining farm. We raise the crops to feed the animals and then raise the animals to butcher or sell. Who needs to go to the grocery store when it works out like that? We had a few 20 below zero days while I was there and thankfully the sun came out! Northern Wisconsin tends to be gloomy in the winter months.
Fun fact about me is that I LOVE FOOD!! These here are Potato Pancakes! My grandmother used to make these all the time for us growing up. That day, my dad made them for me as I haven't had them in years! I love taking pictures of food so you may or may not see more food blogs in the future....i'm just warning you because everything I make is homemade and DELICIOUS! And if you guys enjoy these posts I will probably post the recipes along with them!
Your typical Northern Wisconsin #sunset. There are so many old #dairybarns and silos that they make for perfect pictures, and I just have to capture them all! One is just never enough!
It's always fun going home to visit and catching up with everything happening on the farm, and it's always sad when I have to head back to Montana. Don't get me wrong I love it out here, I just wish it wasn't a 1,000 mile drive in between!
P.S. Items you can't leave Wisconsin without:
-Milwaukee Dill Pickles
-Old Dutch Dill Pickle Chips
-Cheese Curds
-Fresh Cheese
-Farm Fresh Eggs
-Fresh pork from the farm
-Whole Frozen Chickens that my brother butchered
-Canned Apple Sauce from the fall harvest
-Cranberries (yes-WI grows a lot of them!)
-Dad's Bread and Butter Pickles
(Don't forget to bring a Big Cooler to carry all of these back in!)