If you love to cook or know someone who does, stop in at Penzeys herb and spice shop. They recently relocated from the Town of Brookfield to the east side of the Brookfield Fashion Center on Bluemound Road.

I have shopped at Penzeys for years; they are my source for Pasta Sprinkles, Ceylon Cinnamon, and vanilla beans, to name a few. When I cook or bake, I try to use the best quality I can afford. Their quality is fabulous--very fresh.

The Pasta Sprinkles make a nice addition to pasta salads, vinegar and oil salad dressing, or anytime you want an Italian flavor. I like the mix because it is not too heavy on the oregano. They also have other herb blends.

Penzeys is one of the few places that sells Cassia. What is that, you ask? Cassia is a Cinnamon-like spice, often used and sold interchangeably. Cassia has more of the aromatic oil, 6%, than Cinnamon does. Some cooks use Cassia for spicy dishes and reserve the sweeter taste of Cinnamon for baking. Cassia often costs less than Cinnamon, which is why some companies pass it off as Cinnamon. I think the aroma and flavor of both spices is much stronger than the grocery store variety.

Many items have a sample available so you can give them a sniff! In fact, the whole store smells wonderful. And how about this display? We had a kitchen much like that when I was a little girl!

The store displays often include information about the spice or herb. Recipes are also scattered throughout the store, if you need a little inspiration.

The quantities vary from an ounce or two to larger sizes. Some herbs and spices are available in cellophane packages (less expensive) as well as glass bottles. Penzeys also has several assortments of spices or herbs specifically boxed for gift giving too. 

So give Penzeys a try. Its worth the trip just for the aroma!

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

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If you use Sunnyslope Road, you may have noticed some construction going on in the woods south of Mary Knoll Park at Kinsey Park Drive.

This is the latest section of the Greenway Corridor Recreational Trail. According to Bill Kolstad, Brookfield's Director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, the 8 foot wide paved trail segment measures about 3,350 feet in length. There is also 480 feet of 6' wide pavement.

(The narrower width seems to be used for the connection spurs to the neighborhoods.)

This segment of the trail system will cost about $175,000.

The money comes primarily from the cell tower lease fees the City of Brookfield charges the cell phone companies to put up towers in our city.

Brookfield gets between $200,000 - $300,000 each year in lease payments. The park department gears its new Greenway projects to stay within this dollar amount. Kolstad informed me that we also benefited from $135,00 in DNR matching grants over the past 5 years. (That would be free :) money.)

The project began in October and the majority of the work was completed by late November. The trail basically cuts through Mary Knoll Park but also has 2 connectors to the neighborhoods to the south.

From Kinsey Park Drive, the trail heads west, across the school district land, to the open field in the park. (Pictured in back of the bobcat. Play structure is to the north-right-from here.)

The trail heads to the south end of the field and continues west. There is a paved connection to the tennis courts to the north  (pictured here) on the west side of the field. Tennis courts are on horizon next to pine tree.

 

Before you get to the field, there is a connector to Silver Mist Court to the south of the trail.
 

A word of caution: I would be wary of sending children to the park alone. The play structure is not visible from the road. Plus, the park is quite isolated; it invites certain activity.

My neighbor and I used to see 2 cars park on our street (Kinsey Park Dr.) several times a week. The drivers (1 man, 1 woman) would get a pillow and blankets out of one car and then head over to the park over the noon hour. We dubbed them the lovers.

Another neighbor recently surprised a different couple who should have gone to a hotel if you catch my drift.

Because of the isolation, many adults in our neighborhood are even hesitant to use the park.

I am not a fan of the Greenway Corridor Recreation Trail system, primarily because of the expense for construction, maintenance, and snow removal. But it is something our city has decided to fund. Check it out.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

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One of the first things we purchased when we moved here was a utility trailer. What do we need that for? I asked my husband. He said we would need to to haul brush to the dump. (Back then we still called it the dump.) He did use it for that purpose...a lot.

In 1995 I became the one to go to the recycling center. We were remodeling and in 1995 the center still allowed residents to bring in their used building materials.

Every week I would make at least 3 trips with trailer fully loaded. I was a bit of a novelty, because there were not too many women who would drive a car with a trailer. (I got to know the guys pretty well--a few were nice.)

I've made a few trips since then, but I always needed my husband's car since he had the hitch.

But this summer, I got a trailer hitch put onto my car. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it made me happy. Now I can go to the Recycling Center whenever they are open.

On a recent trip, my son and I watched other residents struggle shoveling mulch and dirt into their trunks and mini vans. I happily forked the mulch into my little old red trailer.

The Recycling Center has changed a great deal since my earlier visits. The new facilities for Public Works are pretty impressive. (Our tax dollars at work.) 

I must say I miss the piles of stuff and scrap lumber though. It was always fun to check those out. (Once a nice worker even let me retrieve a plaid metal lunch box from the scrap metal heap!)

Kids loved the idea of bringing home wood for a fort or tree house. It was truly a Recycling Center back then!

If you like to garden or if you have a lot of mature trees on your lot, may I recommend the humble trailer and hitch. They have more than paid for themselves at our homestead. 

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Last spring, at the Mary Knoll Weed Out, I was talking with Gary Majeskie (Brookfield Park & Rec.-Forestry) about reports of an alleged cougar siting along I-94. We both thought it pretty unlikely, yet a cougar is a rather unique looking animal. Some people easily confuse a wolf with a German Shepherd or coyote, but a cougar is too large to confuse with a domestic cat and does not resemble a canine.

There were other reports of cougar sitings around this same time. One came from Franklin. This report was dismissed as a mistaken coyote siting. As time went on, people pretty much forgot about the whole thing.

But a few minutes ago, I heard on the news that a real, live cougar was shot dead in Chicago! So, were those alleged sitings last year real? We will never know. But it does point to the possibility that these animals do sometimes live among us.

Cougars are often present in more remote areas and in our National Parks. I remember when we were at Zion National Park a few years back, they actually had instructions on how to deal with a cougar encounter. Their instructions to hikers went something like this: Look Big. Raise your arms above your head. IF you had a jacket, put it over your arms above your head to make yourself appear very tall. Wave your arms, shout, throw rocks at the cougar, etc. (The cougar  s h o u l d  run away.)

Anyway, now you know what to do should you encounter one of these large cats.

While I have your attention, I would like to remind you that the 4th annual Weed Out is scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd at Mary Knoll Park--rain or shine. (I will be reminding you again closer to the date.) 

In the meantime, you may wish to look at these past postings with photos about Garlic Mustard:

Last year's notice, instructions much the same, only date is different: 3rd Annual Weed Out at Mary Knoll Park

It is worth saving

Oh, the shame!

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