With so much to see and do, you’re bound to work up an appetite at World Dairy Expo. Fortunately, a number of vendors, serving up a wide variety of food choices, are on hand to help satisfy your cravings. Here’s a sample of some of Expo’s on-site eateries:
Ruth’s Northwoods Cook-house—Early risers can again fuel up for the day ahead with an old-fashioned country breakfast at the Cookhouse, owned by Ruth and Steve Gibbs of Portage, Wis.
“Farm folks like to start their day with a good breakfast,” Ruth says. “We offer good, solid food and down-home cooking. And our tent is a nice, warm place when it’s chilly or wet outside. Barn boots are welcome here.”
Homemade pancakes are the clear favorite on the Cookhouse breakfast menu. The Gibbs report they went through 60 lb. to 70 lb. of pancake flour each day at Expo 2009 to keep stacks in front of hungry attendees. Also available are scrambled eggs, sausage and toast.
Later in the day, the kitchen serves up Canadian Reubens, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, smoked Polish sausages with sauerkraut, hot dogs, chili and soups. A variety of beverages are also available.
Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Associ-ation (WCA) Steak Trailer—For more than two decades, sales of grilled, 5-oz. ribeye steak sandwiches at the WCA steak trailer have sizzled during World Dairy Expo. “We’ve been told often this is one of the best sandwiches anywhere in the state,” says Rena Koning of Monroe, Wis. She manages the trailer along with her husband, Dave, a member of WCA’s board of directors.
Other menu items include a shaved roast beef sandwich, a ¼-lb. all-beef “jumbo” hotdog and four kinds of hamburgers. “All of our burgers are made with a special blend of chuck and sirloin,” Rena says. “They’re extremely lean and very tasty.”
The trailer is staffed by members of southern Wisconsin 4-H clubs, FFA chapters and ag producer groups. WCA pays the groups for time worked and uses the proceeds to fund youth scholarships and legislative and promotional activities. “Expo is a great venue for us,” Dave Koning says. “People come from all over the world. It’s an opportunity to make the public aware of the great products we have to offer.”
Green County Ag Chest Food Trailer—We suspect that the person who came up with the word “scrumptious” may have been biting into a fresh cream puff served by the Green County Ag Chest food trailer. “They’re baked on the spot and filled with whipping cream, the real stuff,” says Dave Kamholz, a retired Juda, Wis., dairy farmer and vice president of the Ag Chest.
The Ag Chest was formed in the early 1950s to promote agricultural products in Green County (a neighbor of Dane County, where Expo takes place). Along with operating the food trailer,
the Ag Chest conducts an annual dairy queen contest, choosing young women to represent the county’s agriculture at Expo and other events.
While the cream puffs are the featured item, the trailer also features barbeque pork and beef sandwiches, a variety of cheese sandwiches, cheese curds and self-serve ice cream. “All of the products originate in our county,” Kamholz says. “People learn about them at Expo and often visit businesses in our area to buy more.”
Badger Dairy Club (BDC) Grilled Cheese Stand—For more and more Expo goers, stopping by the University of Wisconsin’s BDC grilled cheese stand for a tasty sandwich and beverage is akin to visiting Buckingham Palace on a trip to London. It’s one of those “must-do” activities.
From Monday through Saturday, sandwich options include American or Swiss cheese. On Friday and Saturday, the stand serves a special breakfast sandwich (English muffin, American cheese, Canadian bacon and egg patty) from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Beverage options include white/chocolate milk, hot chocolate, coffee, orange juice and vanilla and chocolate milk shakes.
Last year, the club used 1,300 loaves of bread and just under 1 ton of cheese in serving nearly 20,000 grilled cheese sandwiches over the five-day Expo, according to cheese stand chair Claudia Hardie. “Tradition plays a part,” says Hardie, a UW senior majoring in dairy science. “BDC alumni come to the stand because they have fond memories of the club. But a lot of other people come here, too. You can’t go wrong paying $1.50 for a good, tasty sandwich.”
Proceeds from sales are used to support BDC activities and scholarships throughout the year.
