Craft breweries compete. They also help each other out.
Your favorite brewery is probably helping out your second-favorite brewery. That’s how brewery owners say craft beer works.
When the taproom at the fledgling
Wizard Works Brewing flooded, the result of a water main break in early August, nearby Broken Bat Brewing put the Wizard Works’ beers on tap for the weekend.
This summer, Vennture Brewing, 5519 W. North Ave., helped Stock House, 7208 W. North Ave., in Wauwatosa, fill cans so it could sell beer with curbside delivery.
For craft breweries, few of which are making the profits they otherwise might, a pandemic translates to one for all and all for beer.
You’re probably wondering why
“You feel, yes, they’re competitors but they’re feeling the exact same pain as you,” said Henry Schwartz, founder and CEO of MobCraft Brewery, which included guest packs of beer from competing breweries in some virtual events.
“It started right at the beginning (March) when we were supposed to
Many schools are opening up the school year virtually, meaning lunchtime will be at home as well. Others are opening up, at least for part of the week, in-person. But any place where a group of people can gather — like a school cafeteria — will either be closed completely, or will have limitations in place to allow social distancing.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s guidance to schools includes a recommendation that, if possible, school cafeterias close with students eating lunch in their classrooms.
And, if cafeterias must remain open, staggered lunchtimes are recommended to keep the occupancy to less than 50% capacity, along with assigned seating (in a zigzag pattern, with an empty seat on either side and across from each student), individually plated meals and disposable food service items.
Lunchtime is usually a break from the school day for kids; this year, it won’t feel the same, and kids will need some help to feel as normal as possible. Here are some ideas.
Bring home the best parts of school lunch
Even if your child is starting the school year in their school building, it is likely they’ll be back home for some portion of it — whether that’s because COVID-19 spikes cause school buildings to be closed, your child’s class has to be quarantined for a few weeks due to a case among their classmates or just because it’s not acceptable to send kids to school anymore with even just a mild case of the sniffles.
Ask your kids what their favorite school lunch is so you can re-create it. If you need a few ideas, here are some kid cafeteria favorites.
Walking tacos: Regular tacos are a well-loved kid food, but school lunchrooms make them even more fun than usual by making them portable.
Prepare your child’s favorite taco toppings, such as seasoned meat, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa and sour cream.
Set the toppings out along with some individual bags of Fritos or Doritos. Kids can add their favorite toppings and eat right from the bag. (Don’t forget a plastic fork; this one is too messy to be a finger food.)
Breakfast for lunch: While this lunch is admittedly sticky (because of the maple syrup), the whimsical nature of eating breakfast when it’s not breakfast time (and the maple syrup) makes this one a kid favorite.
Let your kids choose from a variety of breakfast favorites like french toast sticks, waffles or pancakes, bacon or sausage sticks, strawberries or orange slices. And don’t forget the maple syrup.
Chicken nuggets and buttered noodles: This meal might not seem that amazing, but both items are kid comfort foods — and definitely welcome during such a stressful time.
If you want to make this more school lunch-like, serve it with a carton of milk on a tray.
Salad bar: One of the best ways to get kids to eat their veggies is to give them a big selection they can choose from, and then to let them slather their choices with ranch dressing.
You probably don’t have a salad bar like many school cafeterias do, but you can set up your own on the kitchen counter or table.
Include lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, cucumbers and whatever other veggies strike your child’s fancy.
Don’t forget the fun options like croutons, sunflower seeds, shredded cheese and, of course, ranch dressing.
Grilled cheese and tomato soup: As the weather gets cooler, there’s nothing better than a warm cup of soup and a cheesy sandwich. It’s comfort food, pure and simple, and that’s especially nice when the world is all up in the air.
Because anything dippable is better in kids’ eyes, cutting the grilled cheese into strips with the tomato soup as an accompaniment is a great serving suggestion.
Send the comforts of home to school in your kids’ lunchbox
If your kids are attending in-person school this year, lunchtime won’t be the fun social time it usually is. Here are some ideas to make lunchtime special, even if it feels weird.
Disposable and single-use seem to be the name of the game. That means regular old paper lunch bags might be more advisable than a cool lunch box. You can still make the brown bags special though. Pick up a bunch of stickers, and decorate your child’s lunch bag in a different theme every day.
Those little touches that let your child know you’re thinking of them are more important than ever. That could be an “I love you” note, a photo of a pet or a message telling them about a special activity you have planned for after school.
Surprise them with a homemade dessert. The homemade touch can feel more special than store-bought prepackaged cupcakes or cookies.
On the other hand, if you’re a parent who doesn’t usually allow things like Hostess cupcakes and Oreos, this is the perfect time to make things special by relaxing your rules a little bit.
In this age of COVID-19, your kids will probably have hand sanitizer in their classroom. And their backpack. And their desk. And their coat pocket. But it doesn’t hurt to add some hand sanitizer or wipes in their lunchbox as a friendly reminder to wash their hands!
Contact Amy Schwabe at (262) 8759488 or amy.schwabe@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @WisFamilyJS, Instagram at @wisfamilyjs or Facebook at WisconsinFamily.