Join me at Sprecher Brewery on Thursday, July 17, for a demonstration of tailgating specialties and tastings paired with Pub Ale and Special Amber - read all about the series in the blog,  EatWisconsin or sign up for the classes at Sprecher’s website. It’s for a good cause, too - 10 percent of the class proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross for flood relief efforts in Wisconsin and the Midwest.

Thanks to Jason Peltier and Chef Jeffrey Rose of the Big Rock Chophouse and Brewery, we’ll be on Fox Channel 2 news tomorrow AM, sampling grilled goodies from the cookbooks and fresh beer from brewer Dan Rogers. I sampled the Big Rock Imperial Hefeweizen and found it a terrific match for the chef’s special appetizer of seared diver scallops with a creamy celery root slaw.  Here’s info about the book signing at the Big Rock, with tastings of cheese and chocolate on July 14, 4-7 PM.  We’ll be featuring a selection of Wisconsin specialty cheeses from Carr Valley, Crave Brothers, Hook’s, and Widmer’s, kindly donated by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, as well as chocolates made by the White Lake, MI confectionery Trifles, (the chocolates are courtesy of Jason’s friends at Blumz!)