Spicy Apple Squash Soup: let the ingredients speak for themselves...

I love making soup. I dearly love it. There are so many variations, I can't imagine I'll ever get sick of soup, BUT, I have worn out a few soup strains as of late. Brothy, full of stewed tomatoes, with a noticeable splash of red wine vinegar (sorry if I'm gearing your taste buds up for tomatoes, cause that's not the direction we're going today...). Well, it's time for something different. I'm talking complex, creamy, and autumnal. Here's what I came up with:

You'll Need
2 large apples, pealed and cored
2 medium squash, baked and scraped out (pumpkin, acorn, butternut, they'll all do the trick)
2 serrano peppers
2-3 cups broth (veggie or chicken, your choice!)
4 onions
butter
olive oil
salt

You Should
Caramelize the onions in (un)healthy amount of butter, and a touch of olive oil. Once the onions are translucent and browned, add the apples, serranos, and a little bit of broth. Let that boil for a few minutes, and add the squash. After it's boiled for a few more minutes, turn off the heat, puree the mixture, and taste. Add salt till it's just right, and let it cool. The longer it sits, the more the subtle flavors will come out, especially the apples and the spice. Try to resist adding a bunch of herbs and spices to this one, the natural flavors make it surprisingly flavorpacked!

*Right before serving, I'd suggest toasting a piece of bread with goat cheese on top, and floating that in the soup, almost like the way french onion soup has the crusty baguette floating on top...

AND ENJOY!

Commander Tool Belt, meet Captain Bag

Whether you call it corn hole, baggo, bean bag toss, or simply bags, you've gotta appreciate the craftsmanship that went into this set.  

Maple, mahogany, and walnut. Sanded, stained, measured and cut to perfection, this set is certainly top of the line. It's what you get when you put true craftsmen on the project.  Though I wish I could take credit for this creation, it was the handiwork of Colter Sonneville and Ryan Heneise, hat's off to these gentleman.

We'll have to wait and see how it performs this weekend, when it'll be unveiled in all its tailgating glory.

Cauliflower Au Gratin: Nutritional (If not exactly healthy) Comfort Food

With colder weather moving in, and Thanksgiving approaching, it's turning into comfort food season. I love comfort food. Boy oh boy do I love comfort food. I also love my health. It can be quite the challenge to turn comfort foods into a healthy snack, but it's not impossible. When it comes to creamy cheesy concoctions though, lets be frank, "healthy" isn't really going to be accurate. What we can do, however, is increase the nutritional content of what we're eating. Substituting cauliflower for pasta surely bumps up the number of vitamins and nutrients being consumed, at least that's how I'm justifying it. If you don't need any justifications, good for you! Here's how you get started:

YOU'LL NEED:
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
2.5 cups gruyere
large head of cauliflower
salt to taste

First, break the cauliflower into bite sized chunks, and boil for about 10 minutes; until tender. In a separate sauce pan, slowly heat the milk. Once it's warm, but before it begins to boil, whisk in the flour, and add 1.5 cups of cheese. Stir it all together until it's all one creamy mixture. Pre-heat the oven to 450. When the florets are sufficiently tender, spread them evenly around a glass baking dish. Make sure they're not piled too high, I needed to use two 9x9 pans. Pour the milk/cheese/flour mixture over the cauliflower, it should cover roughly the bottom 1/3rd of the florets. Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese on the cauliflower, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the top begins to brown ad bubble. Let cool, (though it is particularly good when it's hot and gooey) and ENJOY!

ButterBeer! Our Halloween Cocktail

Hopefully I'm not catching you off guard with this, but it's Halloween weekend! Whether you're passing out candy or partying like there's no tomorrow, you are going to love this drink. Familiar to Harry Potter fans, this one is a hit among young and old alike. For those of you who don't have a house-elf to whip up your cocktails, here's a simple version that turned out well for me:




YOU'LL NEED:
1 cup of cream soda (or club soda)
1 cup of butterscotch syrup (common ice cream topping)
1 tablespoon butter

In a microwavable mug, melt butterscotch syrup and butter on high for about a minute (in the microwave).
Slowly mix in soda (it bubbles a lot, be careful). Enjoy! It's that simple, and you can keep making them fresh all night long!

Next, you can kick it up a notch with a shot of bourbon, butterscotch schnapps, or dark rum,. Pick your poison, and get into the spirit! Just make sure you remember which one's the "adult" version...

*modified from www.mugglenet.com*

Spiced, and Spiked, Cider: because it's important to stay warm

With halloween approaching, and thanksgiving on the horizon, my thoughts are spinning towards leaf piles, pumpkin patches, and the inevitable first morning when I can see my breath. As much as I dread the bitter cold of winter months, there is a lot to look forward to, and there ARE ways to mitigate the chill. One of my favorite, is Spiked Cider.


YOU'LL NEED:
Apple cider
cloves
cinnamon
anise
dark rum


A tea-strainer really simplifies this recipe. Three cinnamon stick, broken into smaller pieces, a teaspoon of cloves, and 1-2 anise stars should be plenty. Slowly heat 4-6 cups of apple cider in a sauce pan, with the tea bag full of spices. Once boiling, turn off the heat and let it steep for a few minutes. Mix between half a cup, or a cup of dark rum into each glass and fill them the rest of the way up with the spiced cider. Make sure not to burn your tunge, but you've got to enjoy this one warm, that's the whole point!

*recipe modified from www.thekitchn.com

Keepin' It Simple

In science, the idea of parsimony carries a lot of influence. The simpler explanation is often the correct one. It's not always true, but it's a nice rule of thumb. The same can be said of food. Sure, sometimes your meats and veggies are just a vehicle for the spices you're using. But often enough, good food can speak for itself. Sometimes, you're actually doing yourself a disservice by masking the freshness and quality, especially at this time of the year. Some might even say grilling veggies is too much. I think it was just right. 

The main point is, we grilled walleye in the cage, and salmon on the plank (because that's how pirates do things, it's either the cage or the plank). Both turned out well, but the walleye was a little dry and was definitely better when eaten before the salmon. 

Walleye: 

raw walleye, descaled

salt and pepper to taste

**a squirt or two of lemon might have been a good idea... 

The salmon was marinated in a mixture of soy sauce and brown sugar, with a little lemon juice to add some acidity. It was fantastic! We mixed about two table spoons of brown sugar into half a cup of soy sauce, and half a lemon's worth of juice. Feel free to adjust these ratio's to taste, but they worked well here. 

salmon:

large fresh salmon steak

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 a lemon, juiced

It's sunny! Too sunny for photography...

We went out the other day to shoot some new photos of our Fish Face For Her line, and wowzas, I was super excited to see how the pictures turned out. We had some great friend-models and an absolutely beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. Not a chill in the air. It was certainly t-shirt weather.

We decided on an often seen but never visited site, the bloomingdale trail in Chicago. An abandoned train line that will one day be converted into a bicycle and pedestrian walk way. For now, the trail remains closed to the public, which makes it extra exciting and mysterious. It's full of graffiti in areas, overlooking the Chicago skyline and various old industrial factories, while other sections feel remote, an urban secret garden, elevated and out of sight. It promised to be a great day of exploration, of nature in the city, and fantastic photo shoot to boot.

well, at this point you can probably sense, and see, that something went awry. Yup, while light is an important part of photography, too much light makes it difficult to take great photo's. I think the composition is right for these pics, but the lighting is all wrong, and I while I should have guessed given the intense sun that afternoon, I didn't realize just how bad the lighting was until I got these off the camera and onto the computer. You live, you learn, and you get to go on more adventures to take better photo's!

Cocktail of the Week: Fish N' Soda!

This simple cocktail is so much more than just a gimmick! Anyone who's had vodka infused gummy bears will understand this recipe right off the bat (and anyone who hasn't should try them!).

1/3 vodka
1/3 citric soda (such as 7-up)
1/3 orange juice
3-4 swedish fish

Fill your glass with ice cubes, a handfull of gummies, vodka, soda, and juice. Don't shake it, but do stir it, and let it sit for a minute, preferably in the refrigerator. The longer it sits, the more of the gummy deliciousness will seep into the cocktail.

I'm calling this one "Fish n' Soda", because not only do I love fish, I also love the ascetics of bright red swedish fish in a pale-orange vodka-juice concoction. That being said, any sort of gummy will work with this recipe, worms, bears, whatever you can find! So with that, I say cheers! And please drink responsibly.

*this concoction was modified from an original at www.1001cocktails.com

CATCH of the day, SOUP of the day!

Of all the adjectives suited for this soup, VERSATILE is probably the most fitting. The brothy and fishy qualities complement the summer season, while the parsley and tomato aromas belong to the winter kitchen. This is truly a soup for any season. This soup also works with almost any fish you have at hand, making it the perfect dish for whatever happens to be biting today. Ready to give it a try? Here are the simple directions, and as always, feel free to modify and let us know which substitutions work and which additions don't! 

You'll need: 

1 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1 teaspoon basil 

1 teaspoon oregano

salt

pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup chunky tomato sauce (or 1 can crushed tomatoes)

1 cup water

24 oz fresh fish

Start by:

Melt butter and heat oil over medium flame in a stock pot. 

Add diced onion and garlic, and simmer until the onions become translucent (fairly standard soup starter).

Stir in parsley, basil, and oregano, with a pinch of salt (be sure to save a few pinches of parsley for garnish).

Add white wine and let the mixture cook down for a few minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, water, and continue to cook down for a few more minutes.

Cut the fish into 1 inch cubes, stir into the soup, cover, and boil until the fish is fully cooked through (10 to 15 minutes).

Salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with a pinch of parsley and a sliver of butter.

This soup goes great with a crusty French or Italian bread. It's never better than with a fresh parmesan baguette! Enjoy!

Is 'ladder ball' Really For the Elderly?

             ***spoiler alert: the answer is maybe...

Looking back on July and August, I must say, I've played a lot of yard sports in the last two months. But when I reflect on the matter, I get hung up on one main question; what's the difference between all the projectile based yard games? I'm thinking primarily of horse shoes, ladder ball, and bags, though we could certainly add others to the fray (beer pong anyone?).

Lets think about it, we don't even have to get to deep into the details. Competing parties stand on opposite sides, next to their opponents target (of sorts), and launch a projectile of some kind towards it. Your score is based on proximity to the target, and if you're old enough, you can drink a beer while youre playing any of them. So what exactly is the substantive difference? Two balls on either end of a string (called a bola), a heavy metal U, and a cloth bag filled with beans. That's about it.

This simple distinction, however, translates into various advantages for some players and relative disadvantages for others, and age may be what matters. Bean bags are for kids. They're soft, blunt, and a miniature version of a favorite kids chair. Horse shoes, on the other hand, are hard, heavy, and easily turned into a dangerous weapon. They're definitely for adults. Adults with some arm strength. As for the bola, wielding it requires patients, finess, and precision. These skills come with age. I'm not trying to say a 10 year old will never school her grandfather in a game of ladder ball. In fact, I've seen it happen. But when it comes to planning your backyard parties, organizing your yard sports, and dividing up teams, it might be wise to keep this in mind. Obviously there are exceptions, but as a general rule of thumb, horse shoes is not gonna be grandma's strongest game.

We now have an Etsy store!

Remember those new designs we unveiled at the festival in Cedarburg? Well we've had such a positive response that we've decided to offer them to our online friends as well. That's right, the new designs are available online!  We haven't worked out all the kinks at the moment, in terms of where and how we're going to make them available, but for now, you can check them out at our new Etsy store, appropriately named FishFaceGoods. Because it's a simpler format for uploading new designs, we'll be experimenting with a more artistic style of shirts, and we'll soon be offering men's designs as well, so please stay tuned! The Etsy store is another component of our attempt to reach a wider audience through the internet, one that doesn't require quite so much traveling. If you have any advice, we'd love to hear your comments! And if you have any friends who you think may enjoy our work, please help spread the word!

Cocktail of the Week: Summer Sangria

I came across this interesting article earlier today, on pairing fish and wine. (Sneak peak: it's not all white wines, and it's not all salmon!) While looking through the extensive list of pairings, I started to get thirsty. Really thirsty. But not for a glass of wine. My hankering was for something cold. And sweet. As the pieces came together in my minds eye: wine, cold, sweet, the cocktail of the week snapped in to focus: Summer Sangria! It's fruity, refreshing, and since it's mixed the night before, it'll be ready as soon as you get home from work!
Ingredients:
1 orange, sliced into wedges
1 lemon, sliced into wedges
2 limes, sliced into wedges
1 apple, sliced into wedges
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
1 cup rum
1 bottle dry red wine
1 can lemon-lime soda (to taste)
1 cup orange juice (to taste)

Method:
Mix the orange, lemon, limes, apple, and pineapple together, with the cup of rum. Let it sit at least between 2 and 24 hours in the fridge.
Gently smash the fruits with a spoon, and stir in the red wine, lemon-lime soda, and orange juice. Stir gently and taste. Add more wine, rum, orange juice, or soda, depending on taste. Don't drink it too quickly, this one will sneak up on you!

Food of the Week: The Perfect Summer Fish Sandwich

 I have a tendency to eat a lot of sandwiches in the summer , as I'm sure many of you do. They're great cold, they're light, they're filling, and they're quick, so you can get back to enjoying those summer activities!

I'm always looking for new combinations and new concoctions, and when it comes to sandwiches (and not just sandwiches) there are millions of great pairings. This was a fun combination centered around pickled red onion, which we happened to have in the fridge. It's sort of a spin off of the Veitnamese Banh Mi, but with some extra cream to smooth it out for the summer. Here it is:

Ingredients:
peanut oil, for frying
4 or more fish fillets (what ever's biting that day)
1 1/2 tablespoons seafood seasoning
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups panko bread crumbs (for best results, make sure they're panko style bread crumbs)
2 eggs beaten
1 jar pickled red onion (you can make your own here)
cillantro
thinly sliced jalapeno peppers
thinly cut carrot sticks
thinly cut cucumber sticks
ranch dressing
sourdough or french bread

Method
Preheat oil in a frying pan. Wash off fillets and pat dry with a towel. Lightly sprinkle with seafood seasoning on both sides. In 3 separate bowls, place flour mixed with seafood seasoning, panko, and beaten eggs. Dip fillets in flour, egg, then panko. Fry the breaded fillets in oil until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove and set on a paper towel to soak up excess oil.

Spread ranch dressing on bread, lay fish on, spread pickled red onions on, followed by jalapenos, carrots, cucumber, and top with cilantro.

What's your favorite sandwich combination? We'd love to know your different versions!

Cocktail of the Week: Basil Mojito!

By now, you must know it's summer. I don't need to remind you of that. Your taste buds are surely telling you things like "don't drink stouts" and "it's not the time for hot beverages". It's the season for ice'd coffee, light beers, and fresh cocktails. It's also that time of the year when harvesting from the garden becomes a daily activity! Right now, basil is the order of the day. It's flourishing, and crowding out our tomatoes in some places. Seeing as it's friday afternoon, I've decided to turn our 

excess basil into a fresh and tangy cocktail to celebrate the end to another week. Here's a simple modification to a trusty old classic: the basil mojito. This summertime favorite is usually made with mint, but (like everything) can be personalized and modified to your tastes! Give this one a try and let us know what you think!

Ingredients:
5-10 basil leaves, depending on size
tablespoon suger

3 lime wedges

3 oz (2 shots) rum
sugar
soda water

Directions:
Mix sugar, basil leaves, and lime wedges together your class. Smash 'em up till the sugar is dissolved and it really smells like basil. Fill the glass with ice, add the shots of rum, and top it off with soda water. Stir it briefly and don't drink it too fast! Enjoy!

Food Of The Week: Grilled Teriyaki Chicken!

Boy I'm starving, not only because it's dinner time, but also because I keep thinking about this grilled teriyaki chicken recipe. It's a great midweek meal! You can mix the marinade the night before, and once you've got the grill going, it's only about 10 minutes from there. Here's the simple version, but like almost everything in the kitchen (or backyard grill) it can be tweaked in a million different directions…  one tablespoon of brown sugar or a teaspoon of cayenne pepper can really change the taste of this one, depending on how you like it! Add your favorite variations to the comments section so we can all give it a try!  

Ingredients: 

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 cup teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Steps:

1. Place chicken, teriyaki sauce, lemon juice, garlic, and sesame oil in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal bag, and shake to coat. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours, turning every so often.

2. Preheat grill for high heat.

3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Remove chicken from bag, discarding any remaining marinade. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes each side, or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork.

TIP: I prefer to skewer the Chicken, it makes it easier to flip and manage, and certainly doesn't hurt the flavor! Plus, you can skewer it with pineapple, onions, tomatoes, or just about any veggies for a great, well rounded meal! 

Whiskey Milkshakes! a.k.a. milk-punch.

It's Friday, it's HOT! and it's official, I'm not a fan of heat waves... That being said, it's also just about 5 o'clock, which marks the time when many get a well deserved break from a long week. Just about any ice cold beverage is gonna hit the spot today, but my mind's been circling around images of milkshakes, one of my favorite year-round drinks.

A few years ago, while baking in the summer heat at an art fair, a friend showed up and handed me something that simultaneously cooled my core and warmed my spirits. I was drinking a whiskey spiked vanilla milkshake, or as Ben Franklin would have called it, a version of milk-punch!

The simple version of this great cocktail is just that, buy a vanilla milkshake, pour an appropriate amount of whiskey (or bourbon) in to get that slightly browned color and slightly caramelized flavor, and enjoy! It can really be that simple.

If you're making this at home, it doesn't have to get too much more complicated. Sure, you could try to make ice-cream from scratch, or mix cream, milk, bourbon, etc. together for a more authentic treat, but there's no need. Just give this a try:

Ingredients:
4 scoops vanilla ice-cream
1/2 cup ice cubes
a dash of milk
2 oz whiskey or bourbon
sprinkle of nutmeg

Mix the first four ingredients together in a blender, pour into glasses, and sprinkle nutmeg on top. These proportions make about two glasses, but nothing's set in stone, or ice for that matter. Feel free to add more booze, more ice-cream, less ice, more ice, however you want to tweak it to get the consistency and potency you desire.

Now sit down and enjoy that treat! And let us know if you're favorite summer cocktail concoction!

How to Secure Your Booth...

Setting up at a street festival can be one of the most direct, and fun, ways to put your products in front of a new audience. The dense crowds of happy-go-lucky festival goers have made this approach the backbone of our micro-business. Effectively conducting business at one of these festivals, is, however, a highly nuanced matter, which is to say, there are about a billion different aspects to keep in mind. Today's focus, securing your tent.

A solid tent provides shade from the sun, relief from the rain, a barrier to the wind, and a more professional display for your work. That being said, not all tents are created equal. E-Z Up, while making a variety of tents, is the most common and one of the least expensive tents on the market. But they're cheap for a reason. I've seen more bent poles, collapsed canopies, torn corners, and leaky messes with an E-Z Up logo on them than any other brand. Light Dome offers a much higher quality, and much pricier, tent, that has kept us covered for years now.

Regardless of the tent you go with, it's essential that you tie it down. With the canopy stretched over the top, the tent effectively becomes a giant sail, and you'd be shocked how little wind it takes to lift those suckers into the air. Over the years, I've seen all sorts of strategies for tying down a tent, but  two approaches seem the most popular: weights on rope or lots of heavy merchandise. Large sand filled weights, like these (above) are a popular option, but old dumbbells work too! (below)

Like I said, weighing down the tent is 100% necessary, but procuring extra weights is not always necessary. Our display, for instance, is held solidly in place by it's own weight. If you look closely you'll notice that all our hangers, shelves, hats and shirts are all attached to 3x8 foot metal grid panels. Each panel weighs 6 lbs, so with 16 or so, plus all the merchandise, we have more than enough weight to keep things secure.

For most, however, the additional weights are indispensable. Jewelers, potters, painters, musicians, all should be sure the weights are securely attached to the tent itself. I've seen people who simply rest weights on the base of their tent, THIS WILL NOT WORK! Once that tent starts to sway back and forth, they loose their effectiveness. TIES ARE KEY, as you can see from the images above. So be safe, be secure, and good luck!

Fish Tacos!

Given how often I eat tacos, I figured it was about time I shared one of my favorite recipes for fish taco's. There are lots of ways to modify this recipe, we seem to make it slightly different every time, so feel free to experiment and let us know what works, and what doesn't! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Marinade
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons lime zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay™
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste
• 1 pound tilapia (Mahi-mahi works great as well) fillets, cut into chunks 
• Dressing
• 1 (8 ounce) container light sour cream
• 1/2 cup adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons lime zest
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay™
• salt to taste
•  
• Toppings
• 1 (10 ounce) package tortillas
• 3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 red onion, diced 
• 1 avocado, cubed 
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 small head lettuce, cored and shredded
• 2 limes, cut in wedges

Directions

1. To make the marinade, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, lime zest, honey, garlic, cumin, chili powder, seafood seasoning, black pepper, and hot sauce in a bowl until blended. Place the fish in a shallow dish, and submerge in marinade. Cover, and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours.
2. To make the dressing, combine the sour cream and adobo sauce in a bowl. Stir in the lime juice, lime zest, cumin, chili powder, seafood seasoning. Add salt, and pepper in desired amounts. Cover, and refrigerate until needed.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 
4. Remove fish from marinade, drain off any excess and discard marinade. Bake fish in preheated oven until it easily flakes with a fork, 9 to 11 minutes.
5. Assemble tacos by placing fish pieces in the center of tortillas with desired amounts of tomatoes, cilantro, and lettuce; drizzle with dressing. To serve, roll up tortillas around fillings, and garnish with lime wedges.

*modified from a recipe by mabcat on allrecipes.com

Hot Times at Art In The Park

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to see us and our new designs at Art In The Park! The weekend was full of HOT weather, HOT music, HOT art, and COLD ice-cream. Clear sky's and good times for all.

 Especially noteworthy were all the great sculptures around. I'm not sure what it is about giant pieces of art that really speak to me. Maybe it's the influence of pop artists and street artists who work on massive scales, maybe it's the desire to be noticed, maybe it's the surreal nature of distorting scales.

It's probably not surprising though, that of all the sculpture work we saw this weekend, the fish art really stood out. Check out the teeth on these puppies. You're definitely going to want a net when bringing one of these in.

The music really boosted the ambiance at Art In The Park. This reggae band definitely added to the light hearted summer feel of the weekend. All-in-all, it was a wonderful, and exhausting weekend. Check in next weekend as we head to Fargo for the Downtown Street Fair.

Celebrate Your Independence

Wow, what a 4th! It's practically our favorite holiday here at Fish Face, so we made sure to take some time off to enjoy the weekend. BBQ on the grill, beers in the kiddy pool, motorcycle rides through the country-side, bags in the backyard, the smell of fresh cut grass, guitars by the bon-fire; this weekend had it all!

The point is, we take our independence seriously over here, and we sincerely hope you got a chance to enjoy yours. As a mico-business, The freedom we have to steer the ship is one of the defining features of being a micro-business (at least in our minds). But it's not the kind of freedom where you can just run around doing whatever you feel like, we're still responsible to our customers after all. What we do have is the kind of independence that comes from putting yourself, your whole self, in your work each and every day. And at Fish Face, that's what independence means to us, it means being free to be yourself, to be a little quirky, a little different. It means being a "gone thinking" kinda guy on one day, and a "just add beer" dude the next.

So we say take your independence, and run with it, whichever direction you wanna go!

Grilling with Planks!

We believe exploring, experimenting and life long learning are not only vital to operating a successful micro-business, they're also what keeps life fun and interesting! As a result, when it comes to summer BBQing, we're always trying to change it up with new recipes and techniques. 

For those serious culinary explorers out there, a grilling plank is indispensable! The process of preparing salmon on a cedar plank dates back to Native American's in the Pacific Northwest but alder, hickory, and maple are also great plank options. Plank grilling is a great way to really accentuate that great smokey flavor and aroma that defines the grilling experience. Here's a few tips:

1. Soak the plank for about an hour before hand! This prevents the plank from lighting on fire...
2. Keep the grill closed! This helps keep the temperature high and even.
3. Don't flip it! There's just no need...
4. Try something different! It's a great way to grill veggies without having them fall through...

New Designs Make for the Best Cedarburg Ever!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out and stopped by Strawberry Fest in Cedarburg this weekend! This was our 10th, and best year yet! We had two booths, side-by-side, for the weekend and were able to make room for the new "fishing rocks" series as well as some of the new women's designs we're developing. 

It was a gorgeous weekend and everyone seemed to be having a good time, especially this guy! Thanks again for making this our best weekend in Cedarburg to date! 

Fish Face or Duck Face?

Last summer, everywhere you turned (at least online) someone was making one of those d%mn duck faces. You know what I'm talking about, lips pushed together and protruding like a flattened kissy face or a mallard's bill. 

Fueled by a slew of lady celebrities, the silly facial accessory became a staple in photo shoots across the country. From Mylie Cyrus to your cousin, the duck face was more popular for the ladies than baseball caps are for dudes. In fact, several documentary musicals were even produced to capture the trend.

As a micro-business, we're always trying to stay on top of the latest trends, which has us thinking; what's gonna be this summer's big facial accessory? 

We're putting our money on the fish face to supersede the duck face as this summer's hot new trend. Fashion is cyclical, and it's about time the fish face came back around. Plus, it's way more versatile than the duck face. For those of you looking for a jump on the summer's newest trend, we'd like to showcase a few styles you may like to try out. 

For those of you looking to make a bold statement, the sturgeon face is a serious counter to the silliness of the duck face. 

And then there's always the classic, slimming, cheek-sucking variety.

But the ultimate fish face has to be the two-handed lip grab. Sure, it's not easiest to do on the fly, but when you pull it off… i just can't imagine anyone making fun of this trend.

We Have Rain Barrels! (For Us, Not For You)

Here at Fish Face we love projects. We're always tinkering with things, exploring, and experimenting. We also run our shop on a well system in a semi-rural section of Northern Illinois. As anyone who has lived on a well can tell you, it definitely instills an ethics of conservation, cause when you're out of water, it's like being up a creek without a … without water. 

Not only do we need to be conscious of our water usage because of the well, we also believe it's important to save some water for the fishes! 

To do so, we've added these nifty new rain barrels the shop. It works exactly the same way your traditional gutter system works, except instead of pouring into a pile of mud at the corner of your building, the gutters drain into these barrels. You're probably not going to want to drink from these barrels, but since only 1% of the water we use goes to drinking, there are plenty of other great uses for this so called "gray water". We use the water to clean off our screens after printing a design, to wash down the tent after a muddy festival, to keep our bushes growing in the summer heat, and to fill our water guns (another component of our top-notch security system). 

What do you do to save water? Surely there are more ways out there, and we're always looking for new techniques, please share! 

Diversity at the Custer's Last Stand Street Festival

The summer festival scene is well underway, and for those of you unable to make it out to this weekend, we wanted to share a few of the sights, sounds, and smells of a prototypical Chicagoland street festival. Custer's street fair is, for all practical purposes, on the far North Side of Chicago. The surrounding Neighborhoods make this the most diverse part of the Chicagoland area, and this diversity was certainly reflected in the festival. 

For better or worse, food is one of the principal ways we experience diversity, and this fest had it all, from Greek to Mexican, sausages to raw vegan creations. 

Music lovers were not disappointed either. From rock to country to Native American Spirituals, they not only had diverse options, they had quality options. One of our favorite performers, Kraig Kenning, was there with his signature steel guitar stylings. 

Even these folks were putting on a show (though we never did figure out exactly what kind of show).

Clothing venders were also out in full force, displaying wears for everyone; infants, hippies, grill masters and those with more distinguished sartorial dispositions. 

Fun was the glue holding these diverse strands together, and it was everywhere! So if you're looking for fun, new experiences this summer, be sure to check out as many of the summer festivals as possible. For those of you already frequenting the festival circuit, which one's make your "must see" list?