Pizza by the Slice

To a New Yorker, the phrase "by the slice" after "pizza" is entirely redundant. It's not only the standard unit of sale, it's a well-documented economic indicator of when the price of a token is about to go up. Wisconsin however has barely heard of the concept.

There are three ways to get a pie in Oshkosh. The first is buying frozen from the supermarket. The selection at even the small supermarkets is larger than the entire freezer section at a NYC market. Then there take-and-bake stores, both chains and local. I guess this offers the illusion that it's healthier, since you apply your own home-made heat. Finally, there are a ton of pizzerias for eat-in and delivery, our favorite of which is Glass Nickel. Red's makes a good thin crust. But really, with as much pizza as people eat up here, you would think there would be a few places that really serve up a perfect pie. I've found nothing yet that matches the best pies from Manhattan and Brooklyn. And the offerings here are mostly deep-dish style; nothing really looks like a New York pie.

But in the last month or two something new has come to Oshkosh -- pizza by the slice! Polito's was opened by an Italian guy from New York, and the slice looks and tastes like what you would expect: crispy crust, good sauce and the right shape and size! (There was already one chain in town that serves by the slice, but it's a fast-food style rectangle and it sucks.) It's still not perfect but it's the best we've found.

It helps to pretend they don't actually offer a mac-and-cheese slice.

How has this place managed to make a dent in the mindshare of hungry Wisconsinites? By challenging their competitive-eating manhood! They offer a 28lb "monster pizza" for $50, and if you and a buddy finish it an hour you win $500! The local newspaper (a crappy Gannet rag which admittedly has not much else to cover) ran a continuing feature on the various attempts to win the prize, all of which ended in failure. Until last week, when the prize was finally won by a pair of Army soldiers, who were competing against their fellow Marines and Navy men. USA!

The pie normally has pepperoni and sausage, but "vegetarians call for special instructions". Hmm...

Autumn Retrospective

Naturally, now that snow has already fallen and the autumn colors are long gone, I'm finally getting around to posting some foliage pictures. For the second year in a row, I've taken some lovely pictures of the autumn leaves here, and, for the second year in a row, the fall semester has been so jam-packed (packed with jam? what kind of jam? Grape? Strawberry?) that I had no time to blog or post them when they were actually timely.

Nonetheless, here they are-- shots of yellow and gold and brown hues from October and November. The first few images below are from Election Day, which was a strangely warm Indian Summer sunny day, which I think changed the light on the trees a bit. The final image is also from that week-- it's not of Oshkosh, but of Grant Park in Chicago, where the trees had turned an awesome yellow just a few days before Obama's acceptance speech). It's funny looking at the leaves in retrospective, now that the landscape has changed over to assorted grays and whites.

Santa Claus Has Already Come To Town

Oshkosh kicked off its holiday festivities a couple weeks ago with a big gathering in Opera House Square. There was caroling, kid games, and food from some local restaurants (including my favorite new downtown cafe). Apparently this was the biggest party going on in the world that night, because Santa chose to stop by our town to meet the kids! Unfortunately I had only my crappy cellphone camera to document the scene. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the party, despite it being one of the first really cold days this year.

The next day Jodi and I stopped at the Fox Valley Mall in Appleton for some shopping. It's a fine mall if you need something that's there, but not really worth a trip unless you're in the area. But I guess Santa had a layover before heading back to the North Pole, because there he was again! I hate to say it, but he looked a little bored until a kid came by to chat a few minutes later. He must have been doing some market research, but he should really get back to the office to oversee production. No wonder there still aren't enough Wii's.

I'm Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving

Today was our second Thanksgiving in Wisconsin, and also the second Thanksgiving for which there is snow on the ground. On Monday morning, we woke up to this:



Yup, that would be 4.5 inches of snow, the first real snow of the year. I must say, the true sign that we have lived in WI for some time is how I was only briefly moved by how beautiful the snow was-- I just kept thinking, "here are the four months of the year when I try to avoid re-spraining my ankle on the ice." Still, the town and campus did look aesthetically pleasing in the snow, and I'm finding that temperatures in the 30s really don't feel that cold anymore. I enjoyed inhaling the crisp snow smell while I walked across campus.

We are having a very quiet Thanksgiving weekend, mostly cleaning, grading, and getting some much needed rest. This morning I ate a bagel with lox (for nostalgic purposes) while watching the Thanksgiving Day parade and missing New York a bit. I never actually went to the parade but did go the night before the parade to see the balloons being blown up, which is an awesome experience. The parade is sheer commercialism and kitsch but I'm a total sucker for it (although I am concerned about the current relaunch of the Muppets-- I'm excited to see them getting some exposure but thought the cheesy Christmas song was so earnest that it desecrated the long history of Muppet irreverence).

This afternoon we went to some friends nearby for The Meal, and their table looked very fine indeed:



After the main meal and before dessert, we all went for a walk in the local park, which is still snow-covered. The annual winter light display throughout the park was already set up and we wandered around looking at the lights and throwing snow balls (always an excellent thing). At the top of this post is my favorite image: a man ice-fishing, in lights, right beside the lake where people will soon be ice fishing. [Note: the lake is not yet frozen. The top of the Fox River IS frozen, but it's not "safe" for ice-fishing the way the lake eventually will be]. A good, frozen time was had by all. We also ran into some friends who live in the same part of town and their extremely adorable daughter.

As we walked, we all talked about how Wisconsinites really have all of these structures in place to make the winter fun and more bearable; some people embrace the winter whereas some just muddle (or drink) their way through it, but there is really quite a lot to do here even once it gets bloody cold out.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.

Chicago Hope

At the end of October we spent a long weekend in Chicago; while Jodi attended a conference, I got my own work done in the beautiful public library. I like to see the main library buildings of the cities I visit, and this is the first time I had made it to Chicago's, although I didn't take the time to really tour it properly. But check out this scene, which shows only a small portion of the public computers they have available! And look how packed they are -- anyone who thinks libraries are still just places to find a book hasn't been to one for a while.


The reason I was working at the library rather than the very swanky hotel hosting Jodi's conference is that they charged $60 for Jodi's wi-fi and I didn't feel paying again for my own laptop. But I'll say one things for fancy hotels -- if they're really good, they manage to integrate modern amenities into their "classy" decor. Witness the Badgers above on a pair of beautiful flat screens. The best thing about the hotel is that it was literally right next to the park where the city was preparing for Obama's victory speech the following night. Heidi blogged about our tour of the scene (and what she got to see the following night!). We would have stayed the extra night, but we booked it well in advance and wanted to make sure we got home in time to vote. This is before we heard about early voting. D'oh!

Election Day is for Luzers

Today we voted!

Wisconsin is one of the 31 states where you don't need an excuse to vote early. In New York you still do, and "I don't like waiting in long lines" doesn't count. We figured that this way we can vote on our own schedule, do whatever we like on election day (get-out-the-vote, perhaps...) and encourage high turnout by reducing those lines.

Today we found basically no lines (about 1 minute wait for the ballot request form, and another minute for the ballot itself) but there was a steady stream of people going into and out of the polling place. And because Wisconsin is a swing state, our votes actually matter!

Another local voter advantage: I didn't commit a crime by taking that photo! Apparently cameras are prohibited in the voting booth in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and possibly elsewhere. In Colorado, the Secretary of State says

There is no state statute that prohibits videoing or photographing one's ballot. However, it is illegal for one to then disclose how one has voted.

WTF? Anyway, since felons are prohibited from voting in most states, I'm glad I didn't just become one. Take this, Colorado!

Wherein I Meet the Sausages

We've posted previously about the sausage race at Miller Park, and about PETA's quixotic crusade to get them to include a sixth contestant. Well today the sausages came to Oshkosh to appear at the homecoming game, and I got my picture taken with them. Actually only Stosh Jonjak (Polish sausage), Cinco (chorizo) and Brett Wurst (duh) were there; maybe Guido (Italian) and Frankie Furter had another engagement.

I was also in a big group photo with the chancellor of the university today, but really, which would you rather see?

To the Lighthouse

Last Saturday we took a short day trip to Sheboygan. (Because, hey, now we can say we've been to SHEBOYGAN). Who knew that a city which, much like Oshkosh, is typically the butt of middle-of-nowhere jokes could be so pretty? There was a lovely park right on Lake Michigan with a long walk on a jetty out to the lighthouse pictured above.

We also ate at a tasty (and very meat-heavy) restaurant on the bay, where we watched the beginning of the Brewers' game on big flat screen televisions. Once the Mets were out of it, we were rooting for the Brewers in the NL and are glad that at least they won that one game-- sort of a moral victory, if you will.

When going to the lighthouse, it's important to know how to get there. One also has to know how to squash it from afar:



I am squashing your lighthouse!!!! I am squashing your lighthouse!!!

I continue to really like Lake Michigan. The great inland sea is quite blue and lovely.

Gastronomic Fandom

It was a terrible day today for Wisconsin sports-- but on Friday afternoon at Pick 'n Save, great hope was witnessed amidst the bakery section.

RIP, Brewers' 2008 season. Your one postseason triumph, yesterday eve, is duly noted. Well done. As for the Packers... we did not see the game due to a Time Warner kerfuffle. Yes, that's right, some of us here in Northeastern WI did not get the Packers' game today. The horror!

At the moment, my beloved Boston Red Sox are in extra innings against the Angels. Let's go Papelbon!

Is that an Egg Roll in your canvas bag, or ....

Summer is waning, and we haven't yet posted about one of our favorite things about the summer and early autumn here: farmer's markets. Aside from the obvious "yum" factor (yum!), there's the beauty of buying local produce, supporting local farms, and seeing other folks from town when we go to the Oshkosh farmer's market. (The Madison farmer's market is a paradise unto itself, but at a 90 mile drive it's not precisely "local"-- very awesome, though).

Most beautiful of all, in Maccabee's eyes, is something rather unique to our local market: the Hmong egg roll stand. After all, what's fresh produce if it's not accompanied by a hot, crispy egg roll? Funniest of all, there are two stands right next to each other and both do a brisk business; both now offer a veggie option.

I think I may have just though of a new theoretical lens: the Eggroll Gaze.

When it was still summer (sniff!) we did a lot of successful cooking with the produce (including a splendid quinoa salad and two successful risottos). Now that the school year has started, life is very, very hectic, so cooking has fallen to the back burner (no pun intended). I just realized that the farmer's market pictures were over a month old--so here they are!

Wisconsin Crime Wave, Part II

The local summer crime wave I reported on earlier continues unabated. As a public service, please be alerted to this criminal act reported in a mass email I received at work today. The names have been removed to protect the innocent.

Missing Greenhouse Plant

During a recent research stay at Missouri Botanical Garden, I obtained a very rare member of the family of plants upon which I work, Brighamia insignis:

http://www.botanik.uni-karlsruhe.de/garten/fotos-knoch/Brighamia%20insignis%201.jpg

It was placed with my other research plants in the greenhouse atop Halsey Science Center.

Sometime between the afternoons of Wednesday, 13 August and Friday, 15 August, it disappeared from the greenhouse. This plant is not commercially available to any extent. If you see one of these, it is likely mine.

I want the plant back. If it magically reappears in the greenhouse by Wednesday, 20 August, no more will happen. After that date, I will file a formal theft report with campus police. Only so many people have access to that greenhouse. No civilian walked in off the street and took it; this clearly was an inside job.

The sooner the plant is returned the better. This species has no resistance to red spider mites and if not regularly treated with pesticide, will be dead within the month.

Please report any sightings to your nearest botanical law enforcement.

Civics Lesson

Today we visited the Barnes & Noble in Appleton to buy some fun stuff with Jodi's gift certificates. Jodi noted later that while our old B&N on 82nd St & Broadway specialized in psychology and Judaica, there is a bit more of a conservative focus in northeastern Wisconsin. These two books were prominently displayed on the welcome table.


I think I was offended not so much by the titles (it's fine to have a "case against Barack Obama", and despite his objective qualifications he has gained a cult of personality) as by the super-evil-looking pictures used on the front covers. In any case, I vented my political rage with an act of minute civil disobedience, turning one of the books over so you couldn't see the front cover.

A few minutes later, walking through the bargain stacks, I found this book:


Someone had apparently felt a similar call to political protest from the other side; whether an Obama or McCain supporter we can't tell, but I have to guess a Republican since Obama supporters should have stopped focusing on her by now. But this person had taken a slightly less agressive approach, turning the target book not backwards but simply upside down. This strikes me as simulataneoulsy less rude and more effective, since a customer can now immediately see the object of dissent. It also matches the only vandalism we've received thus far to our own Obama bumper magnet.

Having been taught a valuable lesson by my conservative neighbors on effective First Amendment expression, I returned to the anti-Obama books and turned them simply upside down.

Edit: By the way, Mom, I turned the Hillary book back right-side up.

My Car Is a Northeastern Liberal

With its Red Sox World Championship bumper sticker (2004 edition) and Obama car magnet, the back of our little "Galaxy Grey" Mazda 3 does look a bit like a Northeastern liberal stereotype. (True, Obama is "from" Illinois, but that Harvard Law School part is quite New England). We've never had a car magnet of any kind before (ok, we've only even had a car for one year) and Maccabee maintains it will eventually get stolen. I initially thought that was unlikely, but on a recent day, we returned to the car (parked in a university lot) and someone had turned the Obama magnet upside down.

Charming people. Really enlightened and educated of y'all.

Even more charming was the car I happened to park next to at the doctor's office one day:



That would be a gen-u-ine confederate flag sticker in the window there. Really friendly, eh?

Sigh.

In general, politics are heating up in Oshkosh, with the fall election approaching... tomorrow is the grand opening of the Oshkosh/Winnebago County Democratic/Obama headquarters, with Senator Feingold (yay anti-FISA man!!) in attendance. I wish I could be there but I'm headed off quite early tomorrow to a very cool workshop at the Jewish Women's Archive in... my beloved Boston. M. might get to the go.

At the moment, we've in the Milwaukee region because of aforementioned early flight (didn't want to chance missing it or get up ridiculously early to drive down here). We had a pleasant visit to the fancy-schmantzy Bayshore Town Center outdoor mall, which is.... well, it's a really nice mall, with a lot of high-end stores, a cute water fountain, and tasty restaurants. The Joisey girl part of me enjoys a good mall; the part of me that doesn't want to acquire too much stuff finds them less fun than they used to be. Based on the stores, actually, it felt quite a bit like what the Upper West Side has (sadly) become. But we had a really nice evening nonetheless.

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned in the Oshkosh Floods of 2008

A few weeks ago, Oshkosh had some fairly major flooding due to the torrential thunderstorms spread across the Midwest. While we were in decidedly better shape than Iowa, much of Oshkosh did end up underwater. We're personally lucky here-- we don't have a basement-- but most people weren't.

We had the interesting fortune to be driving home from work when the thunderstorms hit, and had to pull over as soon as we noticed that, well, on previously clear streets, our car had an actual WAKE (don't drive through standing water, people). The car is just fine and we're fine too, but for an hour or two we were treated to a view of the student revelry on flooded streets.

Here's what we learned:

1. Budweiser floats in floodwater

2. In the worldview of the frat boy, ANYTHING is cause for drinking (this isn't really news)

3. Someone actually ordered Chinese takeout in the midst of the storm. As the delivery vehicle floated by, frat boys flocked around it, chanting "kung pao chicken! kung pao chicken!" as they splashed away

4. Trucks have really big wakes

5. If there is a thunderstorm watch, check the damn radar online before you leave work

6. Don't drive when there are massive thunderstorms on the radar

At a certain point, this starts to sound like Into the Woods: "When going to hide, know how to get there. And how to get back. And eat, first."

Definitely, eat first.

Also: consider living in a town with better drainage.

...but did He have a tattoo?

And if so, what did it say?

Above, a storefront on North Main St. I've been meaning to photograph it for months now.

Wisconsin Crime Wave, Part I

Ah summer, when criminals get antsy and start making trouble for good people everywhere. We neglected to post last year about that summer's biggest crime story, the lemonade-stand robbery saga. To remedy this omission, I now begin an occasional series on local crime reported unironically in the Oshkosh Northwestern.

‘Consentual hickies’ prompt police call

TOWN OF BEAVER DAM — A Dodge County woman called police Sunday afternoon to report that her 17-year-old son had been assaulted by a 36-year-old woman.

The alleged assault apparently involved “consensual hickies only” and was over a week old, according to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department dispatch log.

Police will follow up on the report, according to the log.

From the Northwestern.

Green East and Green Upper Midwest

Well, we're back. This time, we've returned from a trip to NYC for my official graduation from Columbia. Pictures of that are over here, and further thoughts are on Paideia's Closet (link left).

As you can see above, both New York (Riverside Park, top) and Wisconsin (County Route A between Oshkosh and Neenah, bottom) are now gloriously green and all leafed out. In Wisconsin, when we pass farms we can see crops starting to grow, just a few inches off the ground. Farmers Markets can't be far behind!

New York is gloriously green.... if you are in one of the parks, of course, or on a college campus. Wisconsin is just green everywhere, even in our "downtown" location, with its nice big sky.

Both places have their delectable local fish cuisine: smoked in New York (finally, really good lox!) and decadently fried here in the Badger State. In New York, however, we finally had good (still-Americanized-but-vastly-better) Chinese food again, at our old fave local place, Columbia Cottage.

Oshkosh has Lake Winnebago and the Upper West Side has the Hudson River.

New York has traffic. Oshkosh does not!

New York has everything you could possibly need within walking distance. Plus the subway. Oshkosh has its own adorable public buses (until 6 pm).

Really, it's not about comparisons...both places have enormous benefits and costs. But it's always interesting seeing them in relief next to each other.

Below, a bit of Manhattan granite. This is a rock in Riverside Park right near where Maccabee grew up (and where we lived for one year), the site of many previous climbing expeditions. (You can also see a pic of Maccabee in situ). I love New York's giant rocks in the city's many parks-- they were my favorite thing in Central Park when I was little. In Ft. Tryon park the granite would glitter in the sunlight. When we left nyc, one of our going-away presents from some very dear old friends was a small piece of "Manhattan schism."

Tofu Dog in the Sausage Race?

One of our great neighbors across the hall, who moved to Wisconsin a year ahead of us, is a vegetarian. Being one myself, I was naturally relieved that another of my unusual persuasion could survive in the land of bratwurst. After all, we've posted before about The Bratzooka at our local minor league park, and about the famous sausage race at the Brewers' Miller Park. I naturally assumed that my arrival would simply double the state vegetarian population, approximately.

Of course I've since discovered that we herbivores are not quite that rare up here; Woodman's has a great selection of vegetarian products (actually most local supermarkets do a decent job), and most restaurants have at least a couple of things on the menu, which is about what I used to find in Boston. In fact the most "local" restaurant in town, the Delta diner, has a whole vegetarian section with about 20 choices for us strange folk.

But if someone had told me that there was a vegetarian player in Major League Baseball, the last place I would have looked would be the Milwaukee Brewers. Nonetheless, Prince Fielder, the Brewers' star first baseman, has apparently joined me in the great cult of the carrot.

Everyone must read this article from today's New York Times.

For one thing, it's just good writing. Hilarious, at least to someone who is a vegetarian (me) and someone who is familiar with our strange kind (Jodi). But it's also a great look at the difficulties even a celebrity vegetarian occasionally has finding something he wants to eat when dining out, and the different reactions of his fans and co-workers.

General Manager Doug Melvin said he had no concerns, then or now, about perhaps his team’s strongest player drastically changing the fuel he put in his tank. Melvin is so unmoved by the situation that he said: “Is he still a vegetarian? I don’t even know.”

...

Several spaces down, [tailgaiting fan] Dan Ricksetter of Milwaukee added: “It was a bit disheartening when he decided to become a vegetarian. Brats are intrinsic to our culture. They’re the breakfast of champions. I’m not sure which sport.”

I will say, in defense of our subspecies, that Fielder may be an unusually picky eater. Personally I'm always up for trying new things; today I ate cactus for (possibly) the first time ever at our favorite local tex-mex place. But sometimes you just want a PB&J sandwich, and there's nothing wrong with that. I hope Fielder has better luck in the future.

One minor quibble with the article: it claims that "a tofu dog has yet to be invited" to the Sausage Race. Had the reporter done his homework, he might have added that PETA actually suggested the idea to the Brewers in 2002. At the time, they said they had no plans to add to the four existing sausage contestants (Hot Dog, Brat, Italian and Polish). In 2006, however, they added Chorizo. Maybe with this latest news about Fielder, it's time to break down another barrier in our nation's long history of sausage discrimination. Only time will tell.

P.S. Apparantly OnMilwaukee.com joked about this on April Fools.

Little Seder on the Prairie (for real this time)

Happy Passover to those of the persuasion! Our first set of little seders out here in Wisconsin was successful, tasty, and of course a bit tiring. It's been a busy week since, but here is a picture from last weekend.

Matzah always tastes so good for the first day or two and then starts to get a bit old.

The Public Enemies filming is all done and the town is finally returning to normal. Over the weekend while they started to strike the set you could walk around it again and take more pictures of the fabulous props. I'll post those on flickr eventually. It was also amusing to see the spatters of fake blood remaining on the bank building.

I did not meet Mr. Depp (or, sadly, David Wenham), but a friend did and reported that he was very nice and had "small, delicate hands."

So Oshkosh had its day in the sun, and now we have (literally) pouring rain and thunderstorms. I fear our minor-league baseball plans for this evening are now in danger.

Hag Sameach! Off to work.

The Celebrity Wave

So today after work I wandered over to watch some of the filming, which has begun downtown. (A crowd was already gathering when I went out this morning). They're not using the totally awesome, really dolled up part of downtown yet, but were shooting a nifty little escape-and-car-shot near our very own library (the escape building was the Masonic Lodge next door). Despite the fact that I felt kind of silly, I stuck around for three takes, until my feet got cold.

After each take, as the car rolled back down the street, Johnny Depp would wave hello to the very, very large crowd (for Oshkosh) that had gathered to watch, which must get old after six or seven takes. On the middle take, he walked back down the street and spent a fair amount of time waving and such, which led to generalized pandemonium. By the third take, a lot of teenagers had arrived and there was really major, Beatlemania-esque screaming and a lot of "I love you Johnnnnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyy!!!!!" (You will note that at this point all of Oshkosh is apparently on a first name basis with Johnny Depp; people kept referring to him in that fond possessive way one sometimes refers to their hometown first baseman-- "has Johnny come out yet?"

All of this leads me to ask: What do we see when we see celebrity? Why the hysteria over a wave from someone 100 feet away? (And why was I the only person among the folks I chatted with who cared about seeing the other members of the cast, or knew who most of them were?) I think celebrity is a reaching out for the transcendent (while everyone simultaneously wants to see papparazzi pictures of celebrities with their kids, pumping gas and being "just like us"). What are we expecting will happen, really, though? Do we expect to be transformed, or healed, or what?

Or are we just really curious?

In New York I had comparatively few celebrity sitings. One year we saw the opening night red carpet for the "42nd St" revival, which included the late Jerry Orbach and the now-fired Star Jones. My most notable nyc celebrity occasion involved seeing Simon Cowell in the Plaza Hotel lobby while friends and I were waiting in line to try to get into afternoon tea. I hadn't watched American Idol at the time so I was vaguely aware of who he was and would have walked right by if there weren't a huge crowd of women mobbing him (and to his credit he appeared to put up with it with a good deal of patience, even posing for pictures).

And, yes, he was wearing a black tee-shirt.

(We also went to a taping of the Daily Show, which I will admit was an all-out fangirl worship experience for me).

Really, though, being a New Yorker is supposed to be about leaving the celebrities the hell alone and letting them go about their business. If I had ever really seen someone I doubt I would have wanted to bother them.

But in Oshkosh--Oshkosh!!--well, there will probably never ever be another Big Movie Star here, so I guess I can really understand everyone going bananas.

Just go bananas for David Wenham too please if you see him (for all I know I DID see him, I didn't have binoculaurs and they're all wearing hats)

It's also funny having a lot of "out of towners" descend. Oshkosh has tourists now. I say to them what I always thought about tourists in New York: come, enjoy our town. SPEND MONEY.

Also: when you've had a bad day at work, watching filming with a lot of gunfire is strangely cathartic.







There he is! Itty bitty in the center of the photo above.

Passover at Woodman's

Somehow it seems that we have not yet posted in this space about the glory that is Woodman's Food Market in Appleton. Granted, NYC dwellers are used to small supermarkets and narrow aisles, but there are plenty of decently-sized, big box supermarkets up here. Festival Foods majors in fresh produce and Packerphilia, Pick 'n' Save has a huge selection of junk food, and the Piggly Wiggly has Broccoli Wokly. But Woodman's has everything. For example, everything includes this:


But for the moment, I just want to point out what a freaking huge Passover section there is for a state with a grand total of 28,330 Jews, most of whom seem to live 90 minutes south in Mequon. On the other hand, the two biggest celebrities featured at Appleton's nearby history museum were both Jewish.

Anyway, here is the usual "Jewish" section of the first (of two) "international" aisle:



here's some more holiday stuff including some giant boxes of matzo



and here's a whole section on the side of the aisle for holiday junk food! 4 kinds of macaroons!



More on the wonder of Woodman's (employee-owned!) at some future date.