Inspired Media

Ward and Jacky Budweg – with fellow biker, Jeff Friedhof – Take Tires to the World Once Again

Intro and Interview by Aryn Henning Nichols

 

Ward and Jacky Budweg are some of the most inspiring people we here at Inspire(d) know. Not that they’d want us to say that out loud (whoops – just did!). But c’mon – after traveling the world for three years, they had to know they were going to inspire a few folks.

“Our trip really wasn’t all that different from any other exploration – it’s all about getting out there for new experiences, no matter where or what you do!” Jacky says with her trademark enthusiasm and positive attitude.

That said, a trip around the world – on bike, no less – IS pretty amazing. On June 24 of 2007, they left Decorah with their bikes, tent, an arsenal of (light) tools – and each other, of course – for an adventure of a lifetime. Starting in Germany, they biked all over the globe, planting feet in 46 countries and tires in 40. Just over three years later, on June 30 of 2010, they peddled home to the Driftless Region (with local friends meeting up to make the ride with them)…but even before that ride back into the valley, they were gearing up for their next adventure.

“When we were in South America, there was a cyclist who said, ‘You guys have to go to India. It’s like no place you will ever go.’ They said it was just so different culturally than even China or Vietnam or Cambodia or any other Asia country …so of course, we had to go,” Ward says.

Jacky jumps in, continuing the story in a “he said/she said” way that they’ve mastered after collecting a many, many tales. “We couldn’t fit India into our trip at that point – we would have only had like two weeks – so we said ‘Let’s make it its own trip!’”

They’ve been planning India ever since – for more than three years now. It was in their minds in all the things they did once they “re-entered’ the US. They got flexible jobs. Tracked their spending. Got things ready. But it wasn’t just for India – India’s just the next trip.

“We know we’re going to travel like this as long as we’re able,” Jacky says.

They’re leaving March 3 and will be back stateside June 12. Friend and fellow biker/Decorah resident Jeff Friedhof will be joining them on the India adventure. Three and a half months is a little more doable than three years for the high school mathematics teacher.

“I’m taking a sabbatical to do this trip,” he says. “As an educator, I really feel it’s important to experience the world. And when you get a chance to travel like this, to a place like India, with world-travelers like Ward and Jacky, you take it. You have to go.”

Much like the world-tour, they’ve got a rough outline of where they’re going, but things are left pretty loose on purpose.

“As we were planning our [world] trip it was not where, but HOW we would do the experience. How many museums. How many miles a day. How much money. To what level are we going to take it?” Ward says.

The “plan” is this: They’ll land in New Delhi and go south along the coast to Goa, take a train back to New Delhi and bike the northern part of India, then bike to Nepal and back. They look forward to whatever’s going to happen, to happen.

“When you travel like this, you never know what little town you will go through, who will stop you, what you’ll get to experience,” Jacky says. “It’s the best way to do it.”

You can follow along on the peddling fun at Ward and Jacky’s blog fromthebenchesoftheworld.com.

What was the most surprising thing about your trip around the world?

Jacky: For me, it seriously was this: when we left, I was really scared, worried about riding along back roads, people pulling over and stopping us and what might happen. What happened was people did stop us, but they asked us if we wanted water. They gave us food. What I feared the most turned into one of the greatest comforts: People are good.

 

Ward: People’s willingness to take us in – afford us what they have. Even with the language barrier, they gave us everything they could. Really everyone was just so willing to give. One guy even drove past us, then turned his car around, came back, and got out. He walked over to us and gave us a bag full of something. He said, with a little English, “These are Korean donuts. You’ve never had these before.” And he was right. We hadn’t.

What was the most inspiring?

Jacky: Well, it’s the same as the first answer, really. And just like Ward said – what I found inspiring were the people with nothing that just want to give everything.

Why travel by bike?

Jacky: To be honest, I’m traveling by bike until I can’t anymore. I’m traveling by bike ‘til I’m 90. It opens all kinds of doors. Sure, the part where you go slow, can take pictures, stop and smell the roses – that part is great. But the best part is that it opens the doors for people to ask, ‘What are you doing? Where are you going?’ It starts conversations and then we get to know the locals. And on a trip like this, you want to get to know the locals. You trust the locals.

 

Ward: I agree with Jacky that you are more open to have people approach you and ask questions. But for me, as we traveled I soon learned that you do not end up in towns or cities that necessarily are looking to see travelers coming through their communities.   Your reception is not the same as if in a tourist city. There seemed to be a more genuine expression of their culture and how we should look at their town. By bike you are not always on the tourist route and that is what I like.

What do you think were the five most important things to have along (besides your bike and tent and each other, of course)?

 

1. Piece of plastic. This is to sit on, make food on, cover your bags in a downpour, make a windbreak, put water in to bathe.
2. Duct tape.  No explanation needed
3. Tools. For bike repair and fixing other stuff for other people.
4. Air pump. So many flat tires
5. Salt and pepper and hot sauce. Rice and Pasta actually can be good with those.

 

Additional useful things: cutting board, paper and pen, sunscreen, and a stove to boil water and cook (“But if it breaks,” Jacky says, “Just use an empty tuna can, coil cardboard into it, and then fill it with wax! Ward’s mom taught him that. She was his Den Mother.”)

 

Useful “non-things”: Coded back-ups on personal and financial information and code words for dangerous or tense times. For Ward and Jacky: Danger = Birke; “Shut your mouth, I’ve got this!” = Mora

What do you say to people who say “I could never do that!”?

 

Jacky: Anytime you want to do a trip – any exploration – overseas, in the US, even in Iowa – it’s great! What we did was a trip we wanted to do, but it doesn’t make it any different from that six-month trip you took, or that two-week trip you’re planning. It’s all good. It’s all about getting out and experiencing something new.

 

Ward: Our trip was not a competition where there are people more fit and talented that could have accomplished the same thing. Our trip was a goal of experiencing the world on its terms. We had to adjust our terms as how we would engage all of the cultural nuances. It was hard for me to always be as the Argentineans and the Spaniards. Time moves pretty slow. The toilets of the world also are not for everyone. Not taking a shower for five days would be tough for a lot of people as well. Also the daily food of rice and pasta and pasta and rice would have a lot of people not join the adventure. But as Jacky also said everyone experiences things differently and it is your trip and your experience – we should all embrace that.

 

 

 

Aryn Henning Nichols loves hearing stories about world travels. In her lifetime, she hopes to visit many more countries than her current seven. Better get “planning”!

Compiled by Allison Croat

While we here are Inspire(d) love cooking local, visiting the Farmers Market, and, of course, eating, we’re no experts (well, except maybe for the eating part). So we asked five regional chefs to give us THEIR local food expertise, first with these three questions:

1. What do you love about cooking locally in the Driftless Region?

2. Do you have a favorite local summer ingredient? Why? (Note: Wow, do these folks LOVE tomatoes!)

3. What’s the first question you would ask your farmer at the local farmer’s market?

And then we requested a favorite summer recipe to share with you all. We know our mouths are watering. How about yours? Season’s Eatings!

Justin Scardina
La Rana Bistro & Driftless Food & Catering • Decorah, Iowa

1. Well I have been cooking in the Driftless Region for nearly 10 years now and I cannot explain enough how gifted we are with all these fantastic farmers and ranchers who produce AMAZING products each and every season. I would have to say that our produce and products rival that of California and other warmer weather climates. Granted no one is growing citrus but I do know one farmer that will have fresh ginger this year! Also every year brings in more and more farmers growing more diverse crops…. fresh sprouts, heirloom everything, mixed greens year-round! I love this region so much that I named my catering company Driftless Food & Catering.

2. I guess I really can’t narrow it down further than the nightshade family, which contains tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, etc….  Those are the real bounty of the summer months. Plus the whole family is made to be cooked together…and who doesn’t love tomatoes and potatoes?

3. Usually the first question is what is good today/what is new? All the farmers are always trying new seeds and crops and the season for some items comes and goes in a blink of an eye. Usually tomatoes are only around for maybe a month but last year I was still buying tomatoes in late September because of the wonderful weather.

Sicilian Caponata
I thought since I talked up the nightshade family so much I’d feature Sicilian Caponata, basically a sweet-sour eggplant dish. This can be served hot, room temp, as a side, over rice as a main or on top of a bruschetta

1 eggplant, large Italian globe variety, cut into a 1/2″ dice
4 tomatoes, cut into 1/2″ dice
1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/2″ dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 T capers, rinsed
5T Parsley, finely minced
3T Basil, chiffonade
1/4 C Red wine vinegar
4T sugar, or honey
1 C Good Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

In a large sauté pan, heat 1/2 c of olive oil over medium heat. Add Eggplant and sauté until soft and slightly brown, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve in a bowl. Using the same pan, sauté over medium heat the onions and garlic until soft, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and continue to cook, stirring every so often. After the tomatoes have released their juices, add the eggplant back into the pan and continue over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Add red wine vinegar, sugar, oil and capers and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Add parsley and basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes great leftovers!

Stephen Larson
Quarter/quarter Restaurant • Harmony, Minnesota

1. Since my wife Lisa grows organic produce for QUARTER/quarter on our farm, I would have to say the thing I love most about cooking locally is our soil. Our area is blessed with some of the richest soil in the world, and if we care for it as Mother Earth intends, it will reward us with spectacular produce for generations to come.

2. My favorite summer ingredient has to be heirloom tomatoes. They offer such a diversity of colors, flavors and textures that make then so versatile in the kitchen. Since my culinary focus at the restaurant is globally inspired comfort food, heirloom tomatoes offer an abundance of inspiration because they are very important to many ethnic cuisines.

3. The first question I ask from a purveyor at a farmers market is; “How did you get into this business?” The stories you get in response are fascinating and often unexpected.

“Panzanella” – Tomato and Bread Salad
Makes 4 entrée size or 6 side dish size servings

For the croutons:
4 cups 1-inch diced bread cubes (crustless, cut from a sturdy loaf)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat an oven to 350º F. Put the bread into a mixing bowl and drizzle the oil over the top. Mix well to coat. Spread the bread cubes out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Leave out at room temperature to cool until needed.

For the dressing:
1 small clove garlic
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil

Peel and mince the garlic. Sprinkle the salt over it and grind into a paste using a smearing motion with the flat of a wide bladed knife. Put the paste into a large mixing bowl with the oil, vinegar, and pepper. Whisk to blend. Stir in the basil and set aside until needed.

For the salad and to finish the dish:
2 cups large diced ripe heirloom tomatoes (a mixture of colors is nice)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped any one, or mixture of: bell peppers, fennel bulb and/or cucumbers
Dressing
Croutons

Toss everything together and mix well to coat croutons. Leave at room temperature, stirring often, for 30 minutes, then serve.

Tom Skold
Albert’s Restaurant/Tap Room, Hotel Winneshiek • Decorah, Iowa

1. I like the seasonal aspects of cooking in this neck of the woods. The dramatic change of seasons makes people get hungry for certain foods.  It’s an anticipatory thing – once it starts getting warmer outside people start asking for things like cold cucumber soup . . . in the autumn they might start thinking about sauerbraten. They’re living ahead of the seasons, and that adds a certain tension to the air and it shows up in their appetites.

2. Corn is my favorite because it is something I absolutely do not eat unless it’s fresh and local. I love to boil the cobs and make a broth of them for soup once I’ve trimmed the kernels out. For instance I might add sweet and hot green and red peppers and tortillas, etc. to the soup. The things that we enjoy exclusively locally tend to become our favorites.

3. What do you think you’ll have ready next week? And I always ask about varieties (in a nerdy sort of way), especially if I haven’t used a particular one before. There are so many tomatoes, for instance, of varying colors and flavors to choose from. I tend to use flavor profiles and combinations that have spent years in my repertoire – I recombine and find deeper places for them in my cooking. It’s an evolutionary process. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve combined something like bleu cheese and sage, bleu cheese and walnuts, cherry vinegar and the sweet nightshades . . ..

Italian Potato Salad with Fresh Mint
3 lbs. new potatoes, cooked, cooled, quartered
1/2 red pepper, fine diced
1/4 C capers, rinsed, drained
1/2 large red onion, diced fine
2 T fresh mint leaves, chopped fine

Vinaigrette:
1/4 C white balsamic vinegar
3/4 C extra virgin olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Mix together potatoes, red pepper, capers, red onion, parsley and mint. In another bowl mix together vinegar, olive oil, and garlic for the vinaigrette. Season the dressing to taste. Dress the potato mixture with the vinaigrette, then adjust the seasonings after taste-testing a potato.

Tessa Leung
Sontes Restaurant • Rochester, Minnesota

1. The wide variety of vegetables and fruits the land and soil can support is amazing. From hot hot peppers to cool cucumbers to tender juicy lettuce leaves… it is almost like a different present is available at the Farmers Market every week.

2. Tomatoes!!!! There is nothing tastier then a tomato that is picked fresh and warm from the sun. They can be delicate, or bold, juicy or dry… their versatility is endless too. Raw, canned, salsa, sauce, salads, stuffed, soups, juiced, deep-fried or grilled… the possibilities are endless… and good for you too!

3. What is the best way to store this item, how long will it usually keep, and of course do you have any special way you like to prepare your produce?

Chef Bryce Lamb’s Thai Omelet with Summer Vegetables
1 large egg
1 tsp fish sauce
2 garlic chives, minced
2 T. butter
1 pinch sugar
(Makes one omelet)

Whisk egg, sugar, fish sauce and chive until well mixed. Heat omelet pan, add butter and let melt. Once butter is melted pour egg mixture evenly into pan. Cook until egg mixture is set and has a nice light golden color. Remove and let chill on a plate in the fridge. Repeat process until you have made the number of thin omelets you desire. (Omelets will hold for about two days covered in fridge). Fill with desired vegetables and roll up like a fruit roll up.

For the filling, you can use an assortment of vegetables from the farmers market such as radishes, baby carrots, bok choy, cabbage and/or leaf lettuce. For crunchier vegetables such as carrots, blanch in boiling water and then shock in an ice water bath. Radishes can be thinly sliced. You can also mix an assortment of summer vegetables into a salad and toss with light dressing of citron vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper before inserting into the omelet roll up.

Gina Prange
People’s Food Co-op & Hackberry’s Bistro • La Crosse, Wisconsin

1. I?love cooking for the Co-op deli because I?have the freedom to choose the freshest ingredients. We have a brilliant organic produce manager, Roger Bertsch, who has established long-term relationships with several local farmers and producers that has resulted in a wealth of quality produce available to us. I?love cooking for a receptive audience; our members know the importance of and appreciate great food!

2. Locally grown, just-picked heirloom tomatoes – any kinds… all kinds…Sun Gold, Brandywine, Amish Paste, and so many more. Seed Savers Seed Exchange in Decorah has an infinite variety of tomato varieties. The taste difference, I think, is really striking between the complex flavor blast and refined texture of an in-season tomato and a mealy, hard, off-colored, out-of-season one. Tomatoes are so versatile too, from ratatouille to BLTs to a thick slice with only balsamic, salt, and pepper, they are as easy or as complicated as you want them to be.

3. What’s especially good right now?

Quinoa Salad with Asparagus &?Cherry Tomatoes
2 cups quinoa, cooked – rinse quinoa first. Bring it to a boil in 5 cups of water and allow it to boil for about eight minutes. Drain the water off and return it to the pot. Cover it and let it sit off the heat for about 10 minutes.

Prepare as directed and toss together:
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1-1?2 cups fresh asparagus, cut in 1-inch pieces and blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, and rinse cold
1?2 cup red onion, diced
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 cup toasted almonds
1 cup crumbled feta (leave out for vegan option)
1?2 cup fresh basil, julienne
1?2 cup fresh parsley, minced
1?4 cup fresh mint, julienne

Whisk together until emulsified:
1?2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice and zest of one lemon
1?4 cup red wine vinegar
1?2 T. black pepper
1 t. salt
1T. fresh garlic, minced

Toss everything together and dress. So easy, so fresh – enjoy this perfect summer dish!

Ruth Hampton has been known for years around the Driftless Region as a creator of good, honest, and delicious food. From her early days in Minneapolis at the Seward and Loring Cafés, to running the Oneota Co-op kitchen, to her adventurous journeys brought to life with the Edible Alien Theatre (her totally unique, local pop-up dinner theatre of sorts), on to her current gig as head of her own Trout River Catering company, Ruth has always brought amazing dishes to the lucky people sitting at her table.

The talented chef dubs Trout River Catering’s offerings as a “unique and delectable dining experience that is a dash eclectic, a splash elegant, and a dollop rustic…bohemian meets fusion cuisine meets Iowa farmgirl.” Her food has a focus on real, whole ingredients – local whenever possible – with flavors that stretch across boundaries, all while still being accessible to your grandparents.

We’d say Ruth Hampton is an artist of food, yes, but perhaps more importantly, she specializes in wonderful, memorable culinary experiences.

Read more about Ruth and her food at the blogs and sites she runs (below), where she posts recipes and tales of exciting catering and cookery.
Awesomecookery.com
Troutrivercatering.com
Ediblealien.com

Name: Ruth Hampton
Business: Trout River Catering and Edible Alien Theatre
Number of years cooking: Since I was 14 years old

Formal training or live-and-learn?
Definitely live-and-learn. It started at Scattergood Friends School, a Quaker boarding high school near Iowa City where the students do all of the cooking and cleaning (yes, they even make the breakfast and bread!). I fell in love with stainless steel and cooking for others. Then I moved to Minneapolis where it was easy to find work in restaurants: first at the collectively run Seward Café, and then I had the good fortune of cooking with incredible cooks at the Loring Café (when it was still on Loring Park), many of whom went on to open their own restaurants. They were great guides to both the world of food, and how you work well in a kitchen.

Earliest or most significant memory…
I remember finding a recipe for Chicken Cacciatore when I was around 10 or 11. We mostly ate hearty farm comfort food, so this was a stretch. My mother helped me assemble the ingredients then let me cook the meal by myself for some kind of occasion, maybe Christmas eve. I’m sure she must have hovered in the background but it still required a lot of trust on her part to turn me loose in the kitchen, especially with a recipe that she did not know.

Why did you decide to become a chef?
Not sure I really decided it, but when decades have passed I have to give in to the fact that this is what I love to do. I’ve had a soft spot for commercial kitchens, seasonings and knives since cooking while Scattergood School. I am most at home in the kitchen alone or with a small crew while the party is going on, behind the scenes prepping deliciousness for the enjoyment of the group.

But I also love other aspects of food. The theater of dining: taking people on little journeys in the performance-art dinners of Edible Alien Theatre (E.A.T.), and writing about food. I’m about to complete year three of my food blog AwesomeCookery.com and have discovered that I enjoy the process of writing and sharing about edibles.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever made?
Hmm. Last summer for the wedding of a friend I slow-roasted chuck roast (six hours) with North African seasonings like cinnamon, cumin, coriander, currants, lemon with zest, and nutmeg. The steer was from her parent’s farm, and six hours of roasting made it melt in your mouth tender and the flavor was incredible.

But a funnier quote was from a wedding guest many years ago. I served a vegetable and rice noodle salad with toasted sesame oil and Southeast Asian seasonings, and this well-lubricated guest kept repeating to me, “That salad was AWESOME – I could eat it ‘til I puke!!” I took that as a high compliment.

Monumental food fails?
It was more like hanging by the thread of disaster. The first wedding I ever catered on my own was four hours away in at a park near Okoboji for a family of lawyers from Cedar Rapids in the spring of 2000. The prepped food was incredible, but on the drive over my Bronco II (that was pulling the full trailer) overheated. I stopped and immediately two cars of friendly locals stopped to help, eventually discovering I had no transmission fluid. After first offering to use their pickup to haul us and the trailer the remaining two hours, they drove and bought more fluid, helped find the leak, and sent us on our way. We arrived at the park four hours late and with only an hour to prep and serve the evening’s pre-wedding meal for 125 people (did I mention they were lawyers?!?). All the guests showed up to help us unload and do whatever needed to be done. It was utter chaos, but we were able to serve the meal a little over an hour late – and the longer their happy hour was stretched the happier they got, so all turned out well.

That night they set up a pig roast and I would use the meat for the noon wedding meal.  In the morning I discovered the spit had slipped out of its rotator during the night so half the pig was fully cooked and half was raw. I tried unsuccessfully to fix the spit using my car jack, and then proceeded to have a complete meltdown in the park – oh the poor morning joggers that had to listen to my colorful sobbing tirade! But help came, we turned the pig over, and it was fully cooked in time for the wedding lunch. It’s amazing that I continued to cater after that!

Secret food indulgences?
Burgers. Big fat juicy burgers. I love stopping at little diners when traveling and having a burger with lots of ketchup, mustard and pickles. That has been probably the most difficult part of living gluten free, that I can’t have my indulgences sated at these little greasy spoons in small towns…or at least not with the bun. But I still eat burgers.

What’s your favorite:
Ingredient: Parsley. Such an underdog, this potent green bitter gives both depth and brightness to any dish. A close second and third would be nutmeg (which I add to almost everything) and leeks for their savory-sweet creaminess. These three buddies make everything taste better. But then again…so does bacon!
Dish: It’s a tossup between real sauerbraten and a savory sweet potato pie with smoked cheddar. Though I’m pretty sure they would go well together.
Cookbook: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. I am by no means a vegetarian, but she has such simple and elegant combinations that have become some of my staples.
Random kitchen tool: I love my knife, but it is not random so next to that would be the food scoop ‘prep taxi’. I like to keep my gadgets to a minimum but I’ve come to love these little scoopers to transport a pile of chopped veggies from the cutting board to the pot or container.
Vegetable: Beets. Beets beets beets. Fabulous color with that deep rich earthy sweetness. Roasted or in salads with a little reduced apple cider syrup drizzled on top –divine!
Fruit: Raspberries – I’m not really a fruit person but I’ve been known to gorge myself during raspberry season. Raspberry puree can be served on nearly anything.