Good Grub on the Wichita Wicked Brew Tour

 

This summer, you'll find some great food and beverages at the spots featured on Visit Wichita’s Wicked Brew Tour 2021. There are 19 breweries and coffee shops to pick from, so you can pick your brew of choice. Just grab your passport at any participating locations and then collect at least ten stamps to complete the challenge. Bring your passport to the Visit Wichita office, or mail it in, and win a tour t-shirt (available on a first-come, first-served basis). 

When I was in the city as a guest of Visit Wichita a couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed exploring these Brew Tour locations. All three were terrific and highly recommended by me! 

Sweet Allie B’s Limestone Beer Co.: Lunch is a great time to visit this small eatery. 

I enjoyed the Wild Thyme sandwich made with smoked turkey, Swiss cheese, cranberry jalapeño jam, and avocado cream on a ciabatta bun. The jam wasn’t spicy, so don’t miss out on this great sandwich because you’re afraid of some heat.  I also had a side of the broccoli salad, which was also tasty. 

River City Brewing Co.: A wide-open cheerful spot for dinner

My brew of choice was the Old Town Brown ale, served alongside an order of their chips with the Rock Island Red queso that was some of the best I’ve ever had! 

My entree was the steak burrito, filled with nicely seasoned beef, black beans, caramelized onions, peppers, potatoes, cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack, queso, and topped with tomatillo salsa, sour cream, and fresh cilantro. Sooo good! 

Mom ordered the fried chicken Mac N Cheese that was the ultimate in comfort food. The serving size was so large we took enough home for both of us to enjoy for dinner the next night!

Wichita Brewing Co. and Pizzeria: Another fun and lively dinner spot.

I started with a pint of their 5:02 Amber, which was great. Then Mom and I shared their Caprese Salad appetizer. 

For our entrees, she got the Oven-roasted Chicken Alfredo, and I had a Classic Margherita Pizza. Both were very good!  We shared a root beer float for dessert, which was the perfect end to a steamy hot summertime evening.

Other places on the list I didn't get a chance to explore include:

Breweries--Augustino Brewing Company, Central Standard Brewing, Hopping Gnome Brewing

Company, Nortons Brewing Co., PourHouse by Walnut River Brewing, and Third Place Brewing 

Coffee Shops--Churn & Burn (Northeast & Southeast), Cocoa Dolce Chocolates (East, West & Downtown), Fairmount Coffee Co., Il Primo Espresso – (East & Downtown), Kookaburra Coffee, Leslie Coffee Co., Placeholder Coffee, Reverie Coffee Roasters, Sunflower Espresso & Food Truck, and The Donut Whole

Hopefully, I'll make it back to Wichita before the summer is over so I can complete my Passport. What are some of your favorite spots on the list? 

Disclaimer: While Visit Wichita covered the cost of my hotel, food, and attractions, all of the opinions expressed are my own. 

6 Must-See Wichita Attractions

 

Have you ever visited a city only to wish you had more time to see everything? For me, Wichita, Kansas, was one of those places. Though I’ve spent time there on many occasions seeing family or working, I never took in the sites like a proper tourist. 

Photo credit: Visit Wichita

That’s why when Visit Wichita recently offered to set up a stay so I could check out some of the places on their Attractions Tour 2021, I jumped at the chance! My just-turned-80 mom came along too.

Our home base for our three-day visit was Sonesta Simply Suites on the Northeast side of town. Mom and I had adjoining rooms. 

Both were furnished with a queen-sized bed, recliner, huge desk...

...plus a kitchen equipped with a coffee pot, toaster, stovetop, microwave, refrigerator, and dishwasher—plus plates and utensils. The free wi-fi was reasonably fast, and there were plenty of channels on the TV. 

While there was no complimentary breakfast, the hotel did have free coffee and snacks available, as well as a small grocery area to pick up a thing for two. The bed was comfortable, and I got a great night’s sleep while I was there. This hotel would be a great place to say for families trying to save money on meals or in need of a kitchen for specialty diets. Mom and I loved having our cold beverages and favorite snacks at the ready.

Thirteen area attractions are participating in this year’s tour. All you have to do is pick up a passport at your first stop, get it stamped by at least six of the thirteen places, and then mail it into Visit Wichita before September 6th. Then you’re in the drawing to win a 2022 annual pass for you and your family to ALL 12 ATTRACTIONS and a home Wind Surge ballgame for up to six people. 

Here are the six places I picked visit and highly recommend, in no particular order:

1. Tanganyika Wildlife Park is located just outside of Wichita in Goddard, Kansas. Both Mom and I are big fans of zoo television shows on Nat Geo Wild and Animal Planet, so this was a must-see for us. They had scooters available to rent, so we got one for Mom, which made her visit even more enjoyable on a steamy, hot summer day. 

Photo Credit: Tanganyika

The best part about this place was the numerous opportunities to interact with animals. I got to feed a ring-tailed lemur, an Indian rhino, and my favorite animal, a giraffe. We had Unlimited Encounter Passes, so there were many animal-feeding opportunities open to us—pygmy hippo, lorikeet, bunny, tortoise, and guinea pig, plus the ones I already mentioned. Plus, I got to pet a couple of kangaroos. Check out their website to see all of the animal encounters available.  

2. Kansas Aviation Museum I love flying and spent much of my childhood dreaming of being a flight attendant so that I could zoom around the world. Since Wichita is known as the Air Capital of the World due to the multiple airplane manufacturers in the city, I had to visit the Kansas Aviation Museum. 

Located in the original Wichita Municipal Airport Terminal, built in the 1930s, I explored exhibits on Cessna and Beechcraft, complete with full-sized airplanes. I was especially intrigued by the WWII exhibit and how Wichita was key to the U.S. war effort. And I adored the view from the air traffic control tower.  

3. The Kansas African American Museum was one of the more enlightening stops on my Wichita trip. I’d never heard of this place before, which is why I picked it. Located in the former Calvary Baptist Church in what once was a vibrant black community in Wichita, the museum tells the story of African Americans both from the city and state in a meaningful way to everyone. 

Currently, there is an outstanding exhibit called A Portrait of a Man. The displays highlight influential African American men in Kansas, both past and present, to illustrate the complex characteristics of this group, who are often seen as one-dimensional. As a KU Jayhawk basketball fan, I was fascinated by the display about John McLendon, Jr. He learned the game from James Naismith while attending the university but couldn’t play on the then-segregated team. Eventually, he became the first black basketball coach at a predominantly white university (Cleveland State) and coached in the pros. 

Being a former preschool teacher, I also fell in love with a lithograph titled “Boys” by Elizabeth Catlett. Give yourself plenty of time to explore and learn when you visit TKAAM. It will expand your knowledge and touch your heart. 

4. Old Cowtown Museum takes you back to the Wichita of 1865-1880. Mom and I got a golf-cart tour led by Anthony Horsch, director of education and interpretation. 

I felt like I’d stepped onto the set of an old Western movie. Of course, my favorite spots were food-related, such as the cheese counter in the Meat Market, as well as the General Store. 

My traveler’s heart also was drawn to the train depot. Be sure to spend most of the day at Cowtown. There is a lot to explore!  

5. Mid-America All-Indian Museum was another of my “I’ve-never-heard-of-it” picks. Not only did I discover some new-to-me facts on the Native American experience (they were not automatically U.S. citizens even though they were here first!), but I also enjoyed an excellent display on the work and life of artist Blackbear Bosin. He designed the iconic Keeper of the Plains statue located on the Arkansas River outside of the museum. 

Bosin also painted some beautiful pieces, such as one titled Prairie Fire, which was in National Geographic magazine. 

I also liked his humorous cartoon drawings. This museum isn’t large, so it doesn’t take long to make your way through the exhibits. 

Photo credit: Jessica Sawatski

6. Wichita Wind Surge ballgame was the only attraction on my schedule that I didn’t experience, thanks to the weather. No, the game wasn’t a rain-out—just the opposite. The temperature was more than 100 degrees! Not ideal for a visit to the ballpark. However, I did see the beautiful Riverfront Stadium. This is the first season in the city for the Wind Surge, a Minor League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. While I was disappointed to miss the game, I will try again soon. 

For information on all 13 Attractions Tour locations and lodging and dining info, check out the Visit Wichita website. I’m already dreaming about my next trip to this friendly, fun city.

Disclaimer: While Visit Wichita covered the cost of my hotel, food, and attractions, all of the opinions expressed are my own. All photos are mine except where noted. 

Summer Fun in Wichita

Photo credit: Visit Wichita

It seems a lot of us are anxious to hit the road this summer. I don't know about you, but I want to spend time exploring any place that is not my house! LOL! Best of all, you don't have to plan a big, expensive vacation when the fun is right down the road. In my case, it's just a couple of hours down the Kansas Turnpike to Wichita.

Starting Memorial Day weekend, Visit Wichita will launch two tours that not only allow visitors to explore the city's many sites but also some of its best brews. 

The all-new Wichita Attractions Tour allows visitors to discover the many world-class attractions and museums in the city and get entered into a drawing to win a 2022 family season pass or membership to all 12 participating attractions, as well as one Wichita Wind Surge home baseball game of your choosing. The participating attractions include Botanica Wichita, Exploration Place, Field Station: Dinosaurs, Kansas Aviation Museum, Mid-America All-Indian Museum, Museum of World Treasures, Old Cowtown Museum, Sedgwick County Zoo, Tanganyika Wildlife Park, The Kansas African American Museum, Wichita Art Museum, and Wichita-Sedgwick Co. Historical Museum.

Old Cowtown Museum
Photo Credit: Visit Wichita

To participate, you can pick up a passport at Visit Wichita's visitor's center or any of the participating attractions and museums and begin exploring from May 28 to Labor Day, September 6. Once you visit at least six participating locations, turn in your passport to Visit Wichita (in person or by mail, 515 S. Main St., Ste. 115) by September 13 to be entered into the drawing. A winner will be drawn on September 17, 2021. You can find complete details and contest rules a www.visitwichita.com/attractions-tour. 

For us beer and coffee lovers, the other tour is the return of the Wicked Brew Tour, featuring some of the city's top breweries and coffee shops. This tour started in 2016 but had to skip last year due to…well, you know why. We all know why!

You pick up a passport at any participating coffee shop or brewery and then collect at least ten stamps to complete the challenge and win a t-shirt (available on a first-come, first-served basis). 

Photo credit: Visit Wichita

Participating breweries include Augustino Brewing Company, Central Standard Brewing, Hopping Gnome Brewing Company, Nortons Brewing Co., PourHouse by Walnut River Brewing, River City Brewing Co., Sweet Allie B's Limestone Beer Co., Third Place Brewing, and Wichita Brewing Co. & Pizzeria (West & East).

The participating coffee shops are Churn & Burn (Northeast & Southeast), Cocoa Dolce Chocolates (East, West & Downtown), Fairmount Coffee Co., Il Primo Espresso (East & Downtown), Kookaburra Coffee, Leslie Coffee Co., Placeholder Coffee, Reverie Coffee Roasters, Sunflower Espresso & Food Truck, and The Donut Whole.

You turn in the completed passport and pick up a t-shirt at the Visit Wichita visitor's center Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you can't make it there before you head home, just mail your completed passport and contact information to the visitor's center to have a shirt sent to you. 

The complete details and contest rules can be found at www.visitwichita.com/restaurants/local-flavor/wicked-brew-tour. 

Photo credit: Visit Wichita

Growing up, I visited my great-aunt and great-uncle in Wichita a few times. I remember their red-brick bungalow house with its big front porch, complete with a swing, and the cherry trees in the backyard. However, we never did any of the tourist-type activities.

I'm looking forward to exploring the city and sharing what I find with you. 

Stay tuned!

Pork Burgers Inspired by #realpigfarming Tour

To me, pork seems to be the neglected protein of the food world.  Outside of bacon, you don’t see a lot of recipes floating around the Internet utilizing this tasty ingredient. That’s a shame because many of the dishes you use featuring chicken would work just as well with pork. The same goes with beef.

I was just as guilty of neglecting pork in my kitchen—bacon exclude. I always have bacon on hand for recipes or meals. But unless I’m fixing something specific to pork—namely pork chops—I forget all about this meat category.

My bad.

I became inspired to correct that error while on the #realpigfarming tour last month. I traveled with other bloggers, dietitians, and pig farmers.

 

Our first stop was Chicago, where we learned all about the Downtown Marriott Magnificent Mile’s rooftop garden and bee hives. As cool as that was, I was most impressed by the bacon and sausage I had with breakfast, both made in house. The sausage was the best I’ve ever had, and the bacon tasted unlike any you would find in the grocery store.

The next day, we ventured to Indiana and Fair Oaks Farm. Imagine a family-friendly amusement park, but instead of crazy rides, you get to learn all about today’s modern farm. 

I loved how this place allows kids (and adults) to learn all about where their food comes from. I even saw the birth of a calf! And on their pig farm, I learned all about how that lovely pork gets from the farm to my table.

However, for me, he best part of the trip was chatting with the pig farmers.

Kaden and Emily Roush own R Family Farms in Lebanon, Kansas. They have a small operation specializing in Berkshire hogs, which they raise for restaurants and to sell directly to consumers. As their website says, “Today, R Family Farms’ vision is seeded with the desire to educate consumers about where their food comes from, and at the same timed, offer a culinary experience often only reserved for world class dining experiences.”

Michael and Christy Springer own Springer Family Foods, a much larger hog operation near Independence, Kansas. They currently sell approximately 80,000 pigs each year. The operation not only supports the Springer family, but also the families of their 30 full-time employees.

On the trip, these farmers were available to teach us about their lives and how their farms are operated. They answered questions and helped us non-farmers understand how things work and why.

They are passionate about pig farming and want people to know the facts.

Also on the trip, I started to wonder why we don’t use ground pork more often, as we do hamburger and ground turkey. I got tips from the farmers, who as you can imagine, eat pork burgers a lot. I also searched the Internet for ideas, and Fair Oaks Farm had some recipe options.

This recipe is just a general one to get you started. You can add your favorite pork flavorings or toppings to make the burger fit your taste. I fried up the burgers in my cast iron skillet, but you could also cook them on the grill.



Unfortunately, dinnertime now arrives during dark hours, so the lighting for this photo wasn't the greatest.

I liked barbecue sauce and American cheese on my burger. Next time I’d like to add garlic and rosemary to the mix, which I also use in a pork roast recipe. Or I may mix in a little creole seasoning or my BBQ rub to give the burgers a kick.

#RealPigFarming Pork Burgers

Serves 4

1 pound ground pork

5 slices bacon, finely diced

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 teaspoons dried sage

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together—but don’t over mix. Make into 4 patties about 1-inch thick.  

Preheat your skillet or grill. Cook the patties for 5 minutes on each side (10 minutes total) or until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Disclaimer: This post and the #realpigfarming tour are sponsored by the Kansas Pork Association and the Kansas Soybean Commission, who paid for all of my travel expenses and compensated me for this post. However, my writings, views, opinions, thoughts, and cravings are entirely my own.  

Public at the Brickyard’s Corn Chowder on the #KSCornTour

A couple of weeks ago I told you about my adventures on the #KSCornTour. But, you know me, what I remembered the most was the food. We ate a lot. I mean A LOT!!! And most of the dishes featured corn—of course!

On our last evening in Wichita, we ate at Public at the Brickyard in the city’s Old Town area. Located on one of the many brick roads in this area, the restaurant was a cozy, warm place to enjoy a meal. They scope out local farmers and beer vendors to bring their efforts to Public customers.

We met up with some Kansas corn farmers to talk about their lives and agriculture in the state, and what they see for the future. It was a fun and informative evening.

The Public folks had a variety of their pizzas on the long table when we arrived. I really liked the Margherita and this Matterhorn, with prosciutto, mozzarella, fontina, and sweet tomato marmalade with fresh arugula on honey wheat dough.

But what I remembered the most was the Corn Chowder. Rich, creamy, slightly sweet, and a little smoky from the roasted corn.

How good was the soup?

I ate the whole bowl before remembering to take a photo.

I considered licking the bowl clean but I try to save that behavior for home.

Before leaving town, I went back to the restaurant and begged asked for the recipe.

Fortunately, they were willing to share…and let me share with you.

The homemade version tasted just as amazing as the restaurant one. With the arrival of autumn’s chill, this is a comforting way to warm up and would be the perfect start to a holiday meal.

Public at the Brickyard’s Corn Chowder

Reprinted with permission

Ingredients:

8 ears of corn, roasted


2 yellow onions, diced


8 cloves garlic, minced


1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced


2 tablespoons vegetable oil


1/4 cup red wine vinegar

4 cup chicken stock

2 pints heavy cream


1/4 cup sugar


Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Method:

1. Roast corn and cut corn off the cob. (Or used frozen corn—see note below.) 

2. In pan, heat vegetable oil and heat onion and garlic. Deglaze with red wine vinegar. Reduce for two minutes. Add chicken stock, sugar, cobs and half of corn. 

3. Simmer 30 minutes and remove cobs. 

4. Puree mixture with electric blender and return to pan. (Be careful not to fill blender too full so you don’t spray hot molten liquid out of the top.) Add heavy cream and remaining corn to pan. 

5. Simmer 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. 


Note: Since fresh corn season was over when I made this, I used frozen corn kernels. There is approximately 3/4 cup of kernels on every ear of corn so you can use approximately 7 cups of kernels for this dish. To roast them, I put the kernels into the pan with the vegetable oil and sautéed them until they started to brown. Then I added the onion and garlic to sauté until tender.

Note 2: I’ve made this in a slow cooker. I placed the frozen corn kernels, diced onion, garlic, and chicken broth into the slow cooker, set on low, and let cook for 8 hours. Remove about half of the corn kernels, and then blend the rest until smooth. Add back the kernels, and the remaining ingredients. Allow to continue cooking until the soup is hot.

Disclaimer: This post and the #KSCornTour are sponsored by Kansas Corn, which is a collaboration of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and the Kansas Corn Commission. They paid for all of my travel expenses and compensated me for this post. However, my writings, views, opinions, thoughts, and cravings are entirely my own.