That's me, with the flimsy fork...

I was pretty psyched to attend the Food Slam benefit for local radio 91.7 WMSE last night. I like tasting events, since you usually get small portions, and can meander around trying what appeals to you. Unfortunately, however, I never am able to eat as much as I'd like. Fullness always seems to arrive way too early.

I tried to take pictures, but didn't get too many good ones due to lighting and roaming... Happily, I was able to get my favorite eats of the night on film: this amazing northern Prussian dish from

O'Keefe's House of Hamburg.

This spot is fortuitously close to home for me, and I will definitely be going there to dine soon. I always thought it was just a bar, and had no earthly idea of the kind of food they were serving up. If only for this amazing cabbage in red wine seen above, I am certainly going to go and see what else is on their menu. The dumplings in a sherry-cream sauce were top notch as well.

I could have been satisfied with just a small plastic plate from them, but there were many other terrific local restaurants in participation as well. And what Milwaukee dining experience would be complete without some kind of sausage?

Usinger's was dishing out, of course, with bacon studded sour kraut on pretzel rolls.

The Rishi Tea people were serving 3 varieties of iced tea, my favorite being the

Iron Goddess of Mercy:

Photo by Rishi Tea

I never tried it before, even though I've seen it around. I'll be picking some up on my next shopping trip. I'm now greatly inspired to cold-brew some teas of my own...

A pleasant bonus was walking down the alley back to the car after the event, since the purveyor of Asian art and design, Artasia, was lit from within. These dolls appeared to be at play in the window, though my camera wasn't doing the shadowing justice.

When I pressed the camera to the glass above my head and took this shot, I was surprised how the room looked perfectly bright and as if the creatures suddenly had stopped what they were doing and froze perfectly still to pose.

My two companions may have thought I was a bit crazy, but then again, it was a little chilly. On second look, I really like the doll front and center on the floor - almost appearing to be a full size human. Maybe she was, it was a pretty strange sight.

I can be sure the Food Slam will be on my docket for next fall as well, and meanwhile I'll have a few new places to frequent. Thanks to WMSE for 3 hour blocks of great music to soundtrack my mornings, and for organizing a fun fundraiser.