Women’s Division I College Hockey: It’s time to make a separate Goaltender of the Year award →

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I’m beginning to wonder if it’s time women’s Division I college hockey starts talking about adding more awards, particularly a Goalie of the Year award. 

The men’s game added the Mike Richter Award in the 2013-14 season after just two goalies had ever won the Hobey Baker Award over the course of its-then 34-year history. As the women’s game continues to expand, we probably should start talking about doing the same. 

Pairing a Perfect Road Trip Through the Wisconsin Wine Country →

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Whether you are road tripping through Wisconsin via the Great River Road – a National Scenic Byway that follows the mighty Mississippi River through 10 states and thousands of miles – or just out to explore the Wisconsin wine country, this itinerary is sure to please your palette. As part of the Carpe Travel Wisconsin Wine Country Travel Guide, we have poured into Wisconsin wineries and activities to sip in along the Great River Road.

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Where to sip, stay and eat in Pennsylvania's Lake Erie wine country. →

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The second-largest grape growing region in the country isn’t in California. It’s a coastal region, but not on any ocean. Instead, a 50 mile stretch from Erie County in Pennsylvania to Chautauqua County in New York known as the Lake Erie Grape Belt is one of the most prolific, interesting and underappreciated wine regions in the United States. Exploring Lake Erie wineries is sip-worthy adventure for all wine lovers.

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Thai curries, noodles and ‘treasure bags’ make a splash in Columbus →

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Thirty or so miles from Madison and some 8,000 miles from Thailand, YumYum Thai Kitchen in Columbus draws diners from all around south central Wisconsin for chef/owner Minnie Hager’s food.

Hager grew up in her parents’ restaurant in Thailand, which fostered a lifelong love of cooking and caring for people through food. She came to the U.S. to work in her aunt’s Thai restaurant in Charlottesville, Virginia, and when that restaurant closed, she began working with friends at Monsoon Siam, also in Charlottesville. She eventually moved to the Madison location of that restaurant.

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Clasen’s granddaughter makes ‘Imperfekt’ chocolatey snacks →

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Jessica Wuesthofen’s family business is baking. Her grandfather, Rolf, opened Clasen’s European Bakery in Middleton with his brother Ernst in 1959. Now, her mom, Michelle, runs the bakery. Wuesthofen remembers lending a hand during the holidays, packaging cookies and helping her grandfather with production.

“I've always thought that I was going to be in the food industry,” Wuesthofen said. “I didn't really think about doing anything else. I just loved it so much.”


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UW women 2, Northeastern 1: Badgers repeat as NCAA champions after Daryl Watts' overtime goal bounces off of defender's back →

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ERIE, Pa. - Daryl Watts and Kennedy Blair both said they transferred to Wisconsin to win national championships. They did exactly that as the Wisconsin women’s hockey team defeated No. 1 Northeastern, 2-1, in overtime to earn the program’s sixth title.

With take-and-bake meals, LT’s Aloha Wagon brings the taste of Hawaii home →

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LT’s Aloha Wagon, a food cart turned take-and-bake operation, makes the food that Lani Brender remembers eating when she was young and visiting Hawaii.

Lani’s father was born on the Big Island before meeting and falling in love with her mother in Iowa. The family often returned to visit relatives on the islands. Brender hopes that before long, she’ll be able to return to her roots and live in Hawaii too.

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Indulge at Le C's Patisserie with layer cakes, savory buns and milk tea →

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The first thing customers see upon walking into Le C’s Patisserie & Tea House on State Street is a pastry case full of Instagram-ready indulgences.

Layered cakes are filled with fluffy frosting, beside realistic-looking mousse fruits and decadent eclairs flavored with matcha and tiramisu. Around the corner there’s more, taro mochi buns, almond black sesame bread and coconut almond buns.

It’s this juxtaposition of sweet and savory, indulgence and sustenance, that makes Le C’s so enticing.

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Let's Eat: With aromatic soups and a bright new look, Sunny Pho brightens South Park →

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Restaurants along Park Street serve a range of Asian cuisines — dan dan noodles at Ichiban Sichuan, savory broths at Double 10 Mini Hot Pot, egg custard tarts at Asian Sweet Bakery. Kim Khouch, owner of the recently opened Sunny Pho at 602 South Park St., thought this was a place her pho could flourish.

Of Cambodian and Chinese descent, Khouch first came to Madison in 1983. She spent time in other cities around the U.S., including Minneapolis and Boston, and settled back in Madison in 2002. Until recently, she worked at a grocery store, mainly cooking at home. She’d often thought of opening her own restaurant, but hesitated on taking the next step.

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Let's Eat: Inspired Alchemy's superfood-infused truffles satisfy body and mind →

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Everything Aubree Saia does is connected to health and wellness. That includes her superfood-enriched, CBD-enhanced cacao truffles.

“This is not your ordinary chocolate,” said Saia, who founded Inspired Alchemy with her husband, Bohdan Nedilsky, about seven years ago. “It's all organic, it's dairy free, we don't use processed sugar. It's nutrient dense.

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Let’s Eat: With colorful, traditional dishes, El Alegre waves a family flag in DeForest →

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Three days after opening in a nondescript strip mall in DeForest, the new Mexican restaurant El Alegre was packed.

“I honestly never expected it,” said owner Brian Trejo, who opened El Alegre in this quickly growing suburb north of Madison just over three months ago. “That really surprised me, seeing how happy people are when they leave that door. That makes us want to want to do better things.”

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Women’s DI: Players from non-traditional markets highlight the importance of tournaments like the Country Classic in Nashville →

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In 2010, Minnesota Duluth’s reign was coming to an end and Minnesota’s was just beginning. The Bulldogs won their fifth title to start the decade. The Gophers had just two NCAA national championships when the decade started. Clarkson emerged as a force to be reckoned with and become the only non-WCHA team to win a title.

To only look at the big picture, it looks like not much has changed in the women’s game. At the start of the decade, there were three teams that led the pack – Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin. As we close it out, there’s still a focus on three programs, with Clarkson having replaced UMD in the top trio.

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Let’s Eat: Squeeze in to Deb’s Squeeze Inn for family style eggs in Milton →

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Deb Hantke can’t remember a time when she didn’t work in food service. She started her career as a waitress but fell in love with the industry in the kitchen, where things “just felt right.” It was a natural progression that led her to own Deb’s Squeeze Inn on Front Street in Milton, a little town about 30 miles south of Madison.

The cafe at 100 Front St. downtown is a newer iteration of a Milton restaurant that served the area just a block away from this one for decades. Hantke started in the kitchen at that restaurant, called The Squeeze, and eventually took over the business. When the city bought the building in 2008 and turned it into a parking lot, Deb relocated her cafe to Newville. It wasn’t a good fit.

She reopened as Deb’s Squeeze Inn right back in downtown Milton a decade ago.

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NEWHA is driving women’s hockey expansion and could help push for a larger NCAA tournament field

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On Monday, Division II Stonehill College announced that they were adding women’s hockey as a varsity sport. Stonehill was a natural fit for the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance (NEWHA), who’s member institutions Franklin Pierce, Post, Saint Anselm and St. Michael’s all have men’s teams that compete in the Northeast-10 conference against Stonehill’s men’s squad. 

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Wednesday Women: Pondering players taking time away to play international tournaments and the impact their absence has on their college teams →

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But I also think it’s unfair of country federations to use NCAA programs as the primary tool of women’s top tier talent and also not take those programs’ schedules into account. Changing the status quo would require a lot of finagling of the international calendar, but it certainly feels like the federations get the benefit of top tier instruction, training and facilities for their players (that most of those federations refuse to even provide themselves) and also take advantage of the programs providing those things by taking their players for international competition whenever they want. It just seems like this could and should be a bit more of a cooperative relationship. 

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Let’s Eat: New Novanta pizzeria on University Ave is twice as nice →

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Now open on University Avenue, the second iteration of Novanta has more than twice the pizza-making capabilities than the pizzeria’s original space on Old Sauk Road. A second Italian-made Marra Forni oven and a much larger prep station are the primary differences between this new location and the already popular original.

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