Weeks of November 23rd and November 30th

We started our celebration for the “Badger State” by watching the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Since the Lions were the Rams only win this season I didn’t think they would give the Packers much of a challenge. Unfortunately there wasn’t a “cheesehead” anywhere to be found.

Having satisfied the football part of Wisconsin’s celebration we went on to find out what else we could do to honor the northern state.

Wisconsin is one of the top 5 Christmas tree growing states (growing more than 1.8 million trees annually). How appropriate that this would be the week to pick out ours. My husband’s family always purchased an Eastern White Pine, which is a beautiful tree but a pain to decorate. Since a Hanukkah bush doesn’t rank, I always deferred to his family tradition. The last few years though I have been eyeing the Fraser Firs but never won that discussion. So when we met at the tree lot I announced that the Fraser Fir was the number one Christmas tree grown in Wisconsin and in celebration of our state of the week we should get a Fraser Fir. But one look at my husband’s face and I couldn’t continue the charade. We proceeded to the area always reserved for the 3 or 4 White Pines our lot stocked.

As always they had at least one that we couldn’t leave there without. We showed the attendant our choice and went in to the shop to get our annual spiced cider and cookie treat. It really wouldn’t feel like Christmas if we didn’t spend some time in front of the outdoor fire, pick out a White Pine and have cider and cookies at Hartke’s. As the attendant was expertly tying the tree to our car I, rather as an afterthought, asked him where this tree was grown. No lie….. he said Wisconsin. I then had to know where the Fraser Fir would have been from – North Carolina. Some things really do work out perfectly.

Since purchasing a Christmas tree grown in Wisconsin doesn’t constitute a state celebration, (it might in a couple of months) we started planning our weekly gathering. Everything we read mentioned cheese (cheddar, apple smoked cheddar and Swiss all with the official Wisconsin cheese masters logo) and cranberries so we went that route with Johnsonville (headquartered in Wisconsin) dogs rounding out the menu. (I made a rather yummy ginger-cranberry chutney from cranberries grown in Wisconsin.) A “classic lager” from Leinenkugel’s, the pride of Chippewa Falls, WS since 1867 was raised to toast the “Badger State”.

I also read that Wisconsin raises more minks than any other state in the union but no one offered to finance that part of the celebration.

Side note: One of us (my husband) thought that there should be more educational facts included in this blog therefore I will be adding the year and order in which state was admitted to the union under the map of the state.

Color in the state in the Upper Midwest and travel almost directly south to the “Bluegrass” State – Kentucky. Seven down - 45 to go.