In my last post, I shared easy ways to remove the remaining wax from your candle jar, so that you can recycle it and use it as the Double Old-Fashioned glass that it entered this world to be. For those of you that don't know, the Old Fashioned is Wisconsin's un-official cocktail. I say un-official, because we don't have an official cocktail, but we should and it should be the Old Fashioned. Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, the reason we call it an Old Fashioned, is because the basic recipe is akin to what was first called a cocktail in the US in 1806. I have to admit this was all news to me. Even after being raised in Wisconsin, learning how to bartend in Wisconsin and living here most of my life. I had no idea that the recipe had its origins as far back as 1806. Flash forward to 1994. I, Don, have just gotten my first bartending job at a bar in Madison, WI called The New Bar. To say the experience was eye-opening doesn't do it justice. It was my first real encounter with a gay bar or the clientele that frequents them. While I thought I might be gay, it would take my experience at The New Bar to cement that concept in my psyche. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I learned how to make a proper Old Fashioned at The New Bar and that's the recipe I'm here to teach you today. I'd only been working as a bartender for a few weeks when a patron came in and requested an Old Fashioned. Being ever so dutiful, I began to look up the cocktail in the bar's copy of Old Mr. Boston. He promptly stopped me and informed me that I would never find a sufficient recipe in that book. He then proceeded to take me step-by-step through the process of making a proper Old Fashioned. As a side note, the gentleman that taught me this recipe was also the first drag queen I'd ever met (that I knew of) or seen perform in person. Brian, aka Simply Divine, was among the drag queen royalty at The New Bar. Her shows were phenomenal, and her respect and support were a large part of what I needed as I found my way out of the closet. And without further ado, here is what he taught me. Old Fashioned Ingredients 1/2 slice of orange 1 maraschino cherry 1 cube of sugar Angostura bitters (or a bitters of your choosing) 1 1/2 oz. of brandy (or whiskey for those non-Wisconsinites) ice lemon-lime soda or soda water to fill the glass garnish cocktail flag Instructions: In a double Old Fashioned glass drop your 1/2 orange slice and maraschino cherry. Place your sugar cube on top of your bitters bottle and turn it upside down to soak it as thoroughly as you would like. Pro Tip: It's nearly impossible to use too much bitters in this recipe. Now, using a muddler, crush everything in the bottom of the glass together, being careful to avoid the orange rind. This process is a little easier if you either wait for the bitters to start to dissolve the sugar, or you add a splash of the soda that will be added later in the recipe. Once these have been well and truly muddled at the bottom of your glass, it's time to get down to some real business. First, you want to fill your glass with ice. Then you'll add your brandy, or whiskey. Finally, you'll top your concoction with one of three options: Brandy Old Fashioned sweet - top with lemon-lime soda Brandy Old Fashioned sour - top with 50/50 (Squirt) Brandy Old Fashioned press - top with 1/2 seltzer & 1/2 lemon-lime soda That, my friend is the standard Old Fashioned recipe served in establishments across the state of Wisconsin. There are, of course, 100,000 variations on this recipe and you're encouraged to find the one you like best. But, honestly, you really should start with the classic and branch out from there. Enjoy, Don

Some of you may recall that last summer we ran a special fundraiser by selling our Trump Rally candle creation. It was a risk we took, because we both felt so strongly about the potential outcome of the 2020 US Presidential election. We launched the candle shortly after Trump held a rally in Oklahoma where attendance could be described as anemic at best. The venue was nearly empty. So, we created a 3 oz. candle in a 9 oz. jar and donated all of the proceeds to an organization we selected after discussing the most important issues of the day. In the end we settled on Black Lives Matter and access to the voting process. So, we did some searching and found the Black Voters Matter Fund. It seemed too obvious not to be the right choice. Through the fundraiser we generated over $600 that we sent to the Black Voters Matter Fund in order to help their efforts to get all voters registered and to the polls. Little did we know the important role this organization would begin to play in the American electoral process. When we launched the fundraiser, we knew that Black Voters Matter Fund was located in the Atlanta area. What we didn't know was that voting in Georgia would become such an important aspect of the overall political conversation. First, the vote in Georgia played a central role in earning Joe Biden enough electoral college electors to win the election. In fact, in the 2020 election, Joe Biden became the first democrat to win the state of Georgia since 1992. This shift from red to blue was due in large part to voter registration efforts carried out by Stacy Abrams and groups like the Black Lives Matter Fund. Now, in the aftermath of Governor Brian Kemp signing a horrendous new voting bill into law, the Black Voters Matter Fund is again at the center of the movement to protect voters and voters' rights. We were very proud to see that Black Voters Matter Fund was part of the group that filed the first lawsuit contesting the law. We believe in the right for every eligible voter to cast his/her/their vote through a process that is designed to make their voting easier not harder. We will continue to support the Black Voters Matter Fund and any efforts to get people registered to vote. In a small way, we like to think that your support through our crazy fundraiser has helped to make the US a slightly better place to be. It just goes to show that you never know just how great of an impact you can make on the world around you until you try. Thank you so much for helping us try!

One of the ways get festive for the holiday season is by listening to music. We thought we should share a few of our favorite holiday playlists to help you stay in the holiday spirit! Need a magical holiday journey? This curated playlist was put together by Jeremy and is perfect for listening to while wrapping gifts or sipping wine. Click here to get the playlist. Got your xmas sweater on, cocktail in hand but nowhere to go because there's a pandemic? Don't waste the swanky moment. Click here for this very posh playlist One of our favorite broadcasts is the Retro Cocktail Hour. Broadcast weekly from the Underground Martini Bunker, their holiday special has been a staple at our holiday gatherings for years. It's vibe of space age pop can get the biggest Grinch into the holiday spirit. Click here for a very space age holiday playlist Last but definitely not least, we can't call ourselves Wisco and not pay homage to one of Wisconsin's own. Władziu Valentino Liberace, known to the world as Liberace, was born right here in West Allis ('Stallis) Wisconsin. Grab your brandy slush and click here

Yep! And here is our first blog post. In the interest of Keep It Simple. Keep It Clean; I'm keeping it short and not using any F words. Welcome to our blog. #blog #wisco #wiscohomegoods