a road trip for walnut balls

Last week Jerome and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. Though we often took road trips while living in Illinois, since settling in at the farm we've only been out a couple of times. It seemed a good plan to celebrate our special day.
Jerome had an urge to have lunch at the famous Trempealeau Hotel in the town of the same name.

Following the Mississippi north on a perfect June day, we found the tiny town tucked along the banks of the big muddy. Never take anything at face value. Especially in a small town. It didn't look especially promising but when we walked inside the front door and peeked at the menu we were certain lunch here would be a treat. The screened porch looking out at the river on a breezy warm June day was the perfect setting.

The famous Trempealeau burger is on the menu in town here at our Driftless Cafe and sold frozen at our local Food Coop. But nothing quite lives up to eating the famous walnut concoction as doing so in house, shaped as balls and served with mustard sauce as an appetizer. I would have been happy to chow down on those all afternoon. Our waitress would tell us most of the ingredients but was pretty tight lipped about the specific seasonings. I can understand why. I was amazed at how many recipes I've found online. This is NOT a vegetarian dish. There's plenty of Wisconsin cheese and eggs included but as a burger you definitely do NOT miss the meat.