tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89933442009-07-12T00:22:11.179-05:00Beer, food, travel, design, art, and life in Milwaukee and beyond. Get Crusty!<BR>CrustyJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14694521560842359377noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-92163076988551300342009-07-12T00:04:00.003-05:002009-07-12T00:22:11.190-05:00

Well, here it is July 11th, summer is almost 1/2 over and what do I have to show for it?We've done a ton of good stuff this summer. We've ridden our bikes and the bus a ton more than in the past. We've tried several new restaurants and bars (one with beer tastings, don't tell Comet). There's the Brewers, of course, more games to come, hopefully the playoffs, too. Our yard looks pretty good, it

Marciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491420951478210821marcialvz@yahoo.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-11200913953469461352009-06-26T17:01:00.002-05:002009-06-29T11:35:36.986-05:00

This last week, Marcia and I worked on the the Blitz Build for Habitat for Humanity here in Milwaukee. Our group started with the foundation on the job site and took it all the way up to a full house. It was an amazing experience with a great group of people. Our usual leader Mike, was of course, great and we gained the expertise of a second leader in Bob, a trained carpenter. Learned a lot from

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-90986213138643829202009-05-16T11:31:00.006-05:002009-06-16T00:30:31.966-05:00

So the geniuses behind our favorite hangout have opened another place down the 15 line in Bayview. Honeypie is it's name and the food is terrific! An excellent beer list, of course, is provided by the infamous Drew and Sam... but only in bottles at this place. The food of course it's more of the slow-food Comet is famous for, but differs from the Comet in that it has a more meal-like feeling to

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-85479717286230669482009-05-13T15:00:00.002-05:002009-05-13T15:12:32.735-05:00

Pretty photo to comeRecently stopped by two new bars in the last month... Dogs Bullocks and The Black Rose. Dogs Bullock is and English bar, very open and airy with all the usual English suspects on tap. Good selection, but nothing too adventurous. They are supposedly going to offer food, so it should be interesting what they interpret English style food to be, so definitely will be stopping by

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-81087083581744854952009-04-18T14:42:00.003-05:002009-04-18T14:45:37.993-05:00

The Comet "celebrated" 14 years of business last night... turns out it was actually a celebration of 10 years of everyones favorite barkeep... "Doc". A talent show was provided as well as a roast of the guest of honor. We missed the pie and cake, but it was a fun evening!

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-56285985315688320632009-04-11T11:59:00.013-05:002009-04-18T14:50:52.909-05:00

photo from GlennNuijen.beWhew! So today I test drove my second Porsche. Admittedly, I am much closer to being able to afford it than the last time, tho that's not really saying much and  I won't be buying one very soon. The first Porsche test drive was the large and in-charge Cayenne. I seem to continuing the Cajun theme this time with a short test drive of the Cayman. And like the Cayenne, this

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-81119202421462090132009-04-10T21:14:00.003-05:002009-04-10T21:26:04.905-05:00

Didn't get tickets to the game, but that didn't stop us from having a great time tailgating with friends. The wind was cold, but it was a great day otherwise! We watched the dramatic Brewers win against the Cubbies down the block at the Comet! 

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-3677955755032392132009-04-05T15:00:00.003-05:002009-04-10T21:27:00.260-05:00

Spring in the air... that means only one thing... the MINIs come out! The Milwaukee Minis club met up with people from Chicago for a relaxing spring drive in Southern Wisconsin. I took along my friend Joe who enjoyed the ride... it was a fairly leisure ride thru the country, at least for the MINIs!

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-47311890354513184532009-04-02T07:12:00.002-05:002009-04-11T21:24:15.399-05:00

In our continuing effort to stimulate the economy, we had a lovely dinner at Bacchus downtown. I had eaten there for a seminar, but never for dinner, so we thought we would give it a try since we didn't do our B&B this year. I had the Roasted Chicken marinated in garlic and herbs with Brown Butter Polenta (even though I wanted the Red Wine Braised Shortrib with sweet potato puree, parsnips and

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-52898801664879751412009-03-25T22:15:00.004-05:002009-05-13T14:59:53.823-05:00

Had a good trip to Phoenix a few weeks ago. Of course, we visited a few breweries:Sonora *** Good german beer styles, nothing over the top or incredibly memorable, but good!Four Peaks **** Some nice tasty brews, such as their Kiltlifter, Hop Knot IPA and Kölsh. Food was good, but the brewery location is the place with the atmosphere. Gotta try the Edamame appetizer!Oak Creek Brewing *** Excellent

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-60186839818784365202009-02-25T08:18:00.002-06:002009-02-25T08:21:08.942-06:00

Just wanted to share this great video I ran across... use tilt-shift photography of a Milwaukee winter day. Enjoy!Fire (Jimmy Edgar Remix) from Erik West on Vimeo.

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-74922222345365383192009-01-19T07:35:00.005-06:002009-01-19T21:01:00.625-06:00

Finally got some great skiing in the last two weekends, this last with my sister Cheryl. Both times were at Lapham Peak State Park... en excelelnt place for skiing. Great people, great trails and a great workout (if you choose).

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-52607880890829624302008-12-29T20:25:00.005-06:002009-04-10T21:32:35.809-05:00

Just finished an excellent birthday dinner of New Zealand Elk, washed down with Unibroue La Fin du Monde and a desert of mocha cake. Yum! Thanks for all the well wishes!

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-67846144371304508002008-12-29T17:06:00.002-06:002008-12-29T17:09:49.835-06:00

While in Madison for the holidays, a few of us went to the ice rink... and a few of those people actually went skating. It was a little damp and wet, but it was a fun time on the empty hockey rink.

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-35278061247022325722008-12-25T12:31:00.001-06:002008-12-25T12:33:15.347-06:00

Have a great holiday everyone!

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-43728410855373248822008-12-09T14:11:00.007-06:002008-12-30T13:16:40.429-06:00

Hey! I noticed a few alums heading over here since I posted on the brand new EFHS website, so I thought I would plop a post on here to say "hi". This is just a place to post interesting stuff in my life going on for friends and family to see, and any new designs I post to sell. The Crusty Joe site is a work in progress, hopefully you didn't get frustrated by all the broken links. Please leave a

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-57813601037267568932008-11-21T15:09:00.011-06:002008-11-21T15:27:00.529-06:00

Something tasty and toasty for you at the Mr. Toasty store! The Return of Toast poster! He back and he's p.o.'d! A fine addition to any art collection.The fun doesn't stop there as a new store opens for Lick Bob's Ice Cream Parlor products. A sweet treat you can't resist, now in a variety of colors! A perfect holiday gift.Finally, for you motoring fans, MKE Motoring store opens up with tons of

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-62809029370236043552008-11-06T13:17:00.009-06:002008-11-09T11:04:31.876-06:00

Election night was spent at the Comet for the November beer tasting with Stone Brewing Company. After a great sandwich special (Meet the Press, ham and turkey in a pressed hoagie) Aaron from Stone Brewery walked through their line of beers. The special beers of the night was the Double Bastard and the 11th Anniversary. Both were excellent. All of the beers skewed towards the hoppy side, but many

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-4324381046061192702008-11-04T09:56:00.000-06:002008-10-27T14:26:37.834-05:00

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-43666733716422116772008-11-03T20:11:00.005-06:002008-11-06T13:14:17.483-06:00

We attended the small and intimate wedding of Bryan Volstorf and Carol Kelly on Saturday, November 1, 2008. Hosted at Carol's daughter's house, it was simple, elegant and attended by family and close friends of the bride and groom.This was the first time we had met some of Carol's family. They were all so friendly and welcoming to us, it was easy to feel comfortable. I can understand why Dad has

Marciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491420951478210821marcialvz@yahoo.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-47040818566334317882008-10-30T14:29:00.007-05:002008-10-30T15:34:10.082-05:00

Ahhh... finally, a picture of our latest house improvements. We hired a company to paint the trim at the very top of the house and remove the paint on the lower brick of the house. The painting of the peaks was done on all sides. We only removed the paint from the front. I like it so much I might have to save our pennies to have the rest of the brick done. The brick is a yellowish color, it's

Marciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491420951478210821marcialvz@yahoo.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-53631772283241885942008-10-29T16:08:00.008-05:002008-10-30T15:40:54.642-05:00

Here's our menu from the Comet's Secret Supper Club on October 28th. I think I liked the first two dinners better, but this was still very good. Death's Door Distillery was there for special pre-dinner drinks, which were pretty good. Bill and I both think Adam's soups are terrific every time. This soup, we wanted to bottle up the scent and put it in a candle! How weird is that? It was soooooooo

Marciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491420951478210821marcialvz@yahoo.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-46120265579518631212008-09-08T12:22:00.007-05:002008-09-09T17:19:26.108-05:00

We haven't forgotten about sharing our Europe trip with everyone, we are still sorting through photos... But in the meantime, here's an email video from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The museum was very informative and learned a lot about the man I had previously not known. The annex was closed when we were there so there were no additional exhibits being displayed. Highly recommend when

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-35569266344233114842008-09-04T14:01:00.006-05:002008-09-08T12:22:47.556-05:00

Along with maneuvering around the Harley's all weekend, Bill worked on his pint glass shelves for the computer room. The finished product is shown. He used his router and did a fine job, I think! Now, I can have some of my built-in back for other stuff. (posted by Marcia)

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8993344.post-80763180200957748302008-09-04T10:53:00.007-05:002008-09-09T17:20:12.616-05:00

Well, we made it through another Harley Fest. The bikes were here, roaring around for 3 days. It was pretty tricky driving a car around, so I decided not to drive after running errands on Friday. At home, it really wasn't any louder than it normally is. The morning of the parade, I heard bikes at 6am, but otherwise it was quiet. We went up to the North Avenue street party and the Brady Street

CrustyBillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15712072238919788736noreply@blogger.com0