Dinner Plus Drinks

Hey all - we're a day late, thanks for your patience. The extra day did give us time to decide on this important programming announcement: 

Next week's episode will be out around Tuesday, November 22nd. It's our 150th and we'll be celebrating the almost 3 years of podcasting, as well as the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday!

That's enough about the future, here's about what's happening on this week's episode:

Have a great week, thanks for listening, we'll talk to you soon as we celebrate 150 episodes!

Bridget & Nick

How are you all doing out there?

We are having great weeks and getting ready for Friendsgiving - more on that after the break. Here are links to what we talked about this week:

Have a great week everybody, we'll talk to you soon!

Bridget & Nick

We all know banquet food can be bad, but this week we had an interesting experience with banquet food that needs to be talked out. We'd love to hear your bad banquet food experiences, let us know!

Here are a few links to what we talked about today:

Have a great week, we hope you avoid bad banquet food, and we'll talk to you soon.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

We had an awesome week full of events and friends. While it was a little overwhelming, there were still plenty of positives, so we hope you enjoy our canter through the week that was!

Check out these links from this week's episodes:

Have a great week - we'll talk to you soon.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

Guys - do you believe there is cheating in competitive fishing? Yep. There is. 

We tried a salted caramel pretzel beer, marveled at the lengths some people go to in order to win a fishing contest, and much more on this week's episode.

We hope you enjoy your week, we'll talk to you soon!

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick 

We recorded this episode from the back of a truck...full of wine!

We're doing a Truckload of Wine sale at Lake Geneva Country Meats and we took the opportunity to multitask and record while getting ready for the event. If you like wine and you're in the area, you can get more details about this event and a link to buy the wines right here.

If you want to see the awesome McDonald's inspired merch that Bridget shared on this week's episode, you can visit Cactus Plant Flea Market's shop and grab some for yourself!

Have a great week, we'll talk to you next episode.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

In this week's episode, we test out 90's kid energy drinks and Bridget's survival skills, and you may be surprised by the results...or not!

If you want to learn more about some of the things we talked about on this week's episode, here are a few links:

Have a great week, we'll talk to you soon.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

Hey there y'all, it's fall, y'all!

We have a bit of fall (or is it autumn?) themed fun after our product recommendations today, coupled with Bridget ACING a quiz about wine at the start of today's episode. 

We tried these three wines:

Here are a few links to things we discussed on this episode:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week, and we'll talk to you next week.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

It's the day before Bridget's birthday as we release the episode, so we feel the need to acknowledge her - happy birthday Bridget!

We hope you enjoy our talk this week and stay tuned for next week's episode.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

The passing of Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith is the main subject of conversation this week, and how can't it be? The Queen was an icon and we have lots of thoughts.

If you're a Republican (that's as in you're against the monarchy), and don't want to listen to our Royal talk, then no worries, there's plenty of other chatter as well.

Have a great week everybody, and we'll talk again next week!

Bridget & Nick

Friends, we'll be upfront with you. The highlight of this episode is dental discussion and Nick's new toy / essential health tool:

A Waterpik water flosser. 

Yep, Nick has wanted one forever and he finally bought one. His teeth have never been so clean, and he can't wait to go to the Dentist and receive their feedback on his oral health. 

Of course, there's lots more chat on this episode, so tune in and enjoy!

Have a great Labor Day weekend everybody, we'll talk to you soon.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

Hello friends!

On this episode, we tried four different ready to drink (canned) cocktails. Some were good, some weren't as good. In the end, we enjoyed a delicious wheat beer from Maplewood.

We hope you have a great week and talk to you soon!

Bridget & Nick

Hey there thrifty friend!

In honor of August 17th's National Thrift Store Day, we got in the spirit and had Bridget share tips on how to thrift it up.

Here are a few links to what we talked about today:

Thanks for listening - have a great week, we'll talk to you soon.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

On this week's episode, you're treated to an absurd commercial about razors. It's a commentary on society's weird place, but we thought it was interesting. We hope you do as well. Of course, there's much more as we returned to the safety of our studio.

Here are a few links from this week's episode:

If you've ever driven from the direction of Milwaukee to downtown Chicago, you've probably seen the iconic Morton Salt building. It's now being turned into a concert venue called The Salt Shed.If you want to learn all about Jeremy's Razors (and get retargeted by them a million times), you can visit their website here.Bridget is a lunch packing machine, and these flat ice packs have made keeping lunch cold much easier!Nick is a huge fan of portable tire inflators. You can find them all over, but this one from Amazon is well recommended, and if you use this link, we'll earn a small commission, thank you very much!

Thanks so much for listening, have a great week, and we'll talk again next week!

Hey hey hey, everybody!

We are cooking brats and drinking das bier at DAS Fest, so we weren't able to do a normal episode, but we did a live walkaround of the festival to share with you. We're here Saturday and Sunday, so if you listen, please come hi!

www.dasfestusa.com

Cheers, ergh, prost!

Bridget & Nick

Well, as many of you pointed out, our interview with Alex Lasry may have been the Kiss of Death in his Senatorial race. Shoot. We enjoyed the interview anyway and are grateful for those of you who attended the event and listened!

We got back to a more normal episode this week and talked about these things:

Have a great week everyone, we appreciate you taking the time to listen.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

In this episode, we interview Alex Lasry, Democratic candidate for US Senate for the State of Wisconsin.

You can learn more about the Lasry campaign at alexlasry.com or if you would like to donate through the page set up for the Dinner Plus Drinks event, you can visit alexlasry.com/lakegeneva.

If you're new to the podcast, please subscribe and listen to our weekly episodes featuring relatable chat about getting through our crazy world. 

Thanks for listening - have a great week, we'll be back next Sunday with a "normal" episode!

Bridget & Nick

Hey friends - dropping in with a programming announcement:

This Friday we will be recording a live podcast at The Bottle Shop in Lake Geneva at 5:30 PM with Alex Lasry, Democratic Candidate for US Senate for Wisconsin.

You're invited to join us, listen to us talk with Alex, and then participate in a live Q & A and have the opportunity to meet him after the pod. We'll even buy you a drink!

If you would like to join us, please click here and use this link to RSVP. No donation is necessary to attend. If the link doesn't work, you can manually type in alexlasry.com/lakegeneva

We'll post the recording as our episode on Sunday, if you don't want to hear it, feel free to skip. 

Sorry for the late notice, this opportunity came together quickly and we're excited to offer this unique episode for you all.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

We recorded on July 14th, and Nick was excited to celebrate Bastille Day, while Bridget was excited to celebrate Mac and Cheese Day - just give her the cheese and noodles!

Are you team champagne or team Kraft? Let us know.

We hope you have an awesome week, perhaps including a getaway like Bridget has planned for this weekend. We'll have details on that and lots more next week.

Talk soon - cheers!

Bridget & Nick

Hello everybody!

This week's episode has lots of links to happy stories, great products and more. Check it out:

Have a great week, thank you for listening and stay sane out there - just control what you can control. It's working for Nick...kinda.

Cheers!

Bridget & Nick

Happy 4th of July everybody!

This week, we had some fun with this Choose Your Own Adventure Book, as well as all of the normal life matters.

If you want to check out the spit that Nick recommended, you can get it at Amazon right here.

Have a safe and fun holiday - talk again next week!

Bridget & Nick

It officially happened and we talked about it.

We also talked about Father's Day, guessing real estate prices, and lots more. It's not all doom and gloom, but we couldn't ignore the Supreme Court.

We hope you have a good week - talk again soon.

Bridget & Nick

We had a ton of fun recording this episode talking about a variety of totally unrelated topics and a surprise trip that Bridget took! It was a fast hour for us, we hope you find listening as fun as we found recording.

Here are links to a few of the things you may find interesting from this episode:

We hope you enjoyed listening.  If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads - have a great week!

Cheers!

~ Bridget and Nick

Hey friends - we hit the road to go see our friends Jeff of Jeff Anderson Photography and Colin of Sinclair Collective in Rockford, Illinois. While there, we hung out at the incredible Anderson Japanese Gardens. They were gorgeous, peaceful, and well worth a visit. 

On the trip down, we tried coffee, ate donuts, and talked about what's going on in our lives. We hope you enjoy hearing Nick's thoughts on more bitter coffee, if Bridget approves of Nick's reaction to coffee, and lots more.

We hope you enjoyed listening.  If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Have an awesome week everybody, we appreciate you spending time with us.

Cheers!

~ Bridget and Nick

Hello again friends, did you miss us?

Thanks for understanding our need to take a week off last week. It all got to be a bit too much, but we're back this week with an incredible episode featuring all sorts of fun.

We recorded on National Donut Day, and boy did we arrange a special segment for the ages. Donut and coffee tasting! Hear if Nick can pick where each donut was made and see what he thinks of Bridget's beloved coffee.

Here are other links from this week's episode:

 We hope you enjoyed listening.  If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Thanks for tuning in this week, we hope your upcoming week is lovely.

Cheers!

~ Bridget and Nick

It's just Bridget popping on with a quick announcement this week.  We'll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week!

Greetings Dinner Plus Drinks fans! It's been an even crazier than normal week in our lives, so this episode was a lovely way to sit down and reconnect over all of the craziness that has happened.

Here are a few links to items we talked about in this week's episode:

 We hope you enjoyed listening.  If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Thanks for tuning in this week, we hope your upcoming week is lovely.

Cheers!

~ Bridget and Nick

We're talking about shopping, gardening, sports, all the things this week! 

 We hope you enjoyed listening.  If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Thanks for tuning in this week, we hope your upcoming week is lovely.

Cheers!

~ Bridget and Nick

Nick has been busy interviewing people IRL, so we decided it'd be fun to test Bridget's interview skills for her childhood dream job. Thanks to Shannon for another assist on figuring out this segment. Listen and see how Bridget does on the interview!

Here are a few links from this week's episode:

We had a ton of fun on this episode, and we hope you enjoyed listening.  If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

As always, thanks for listening, we hope you have an awesome week. Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Things that make Bridget happy and the Lake Geneva Public Library came together this week to make some interesting threads of conversation. We hope you enjoy listening to our journey through our weeks, plus all the fun and games we have along the way.

We have a really fun game this week. Seriously, make sure you listen!

Thank you so much for listening, we hope you have a great week. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

When we recorded, it felt like we just got done finding all the Easter eggs we hid for both of our kids. We talked about all the wild and crazy things happening in the world as well as our own lives. 

Thank you so much for listening, we hope you have a great week. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Happy Easter Dinner Plus Drinks listeners! 

We hope you're enjoying a fantastic Holiday (if you listen on release day, sorry it's a bit late, those eggs didn't hunt themselves) or had a great weekend. We had a lovely chat about a variety of topics, including these:

Thank you so much for listening! We hope you have a great week. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

We recorded this episode on National Beer Day (April 7th) and decided the best way to celebrate would be to try a bunch of cheap beers. Yep. We had a cheap beer taste off. Listen to see what we though of TEN different cheap beer brands and let us know what your favorite cheap beer is. We love to talk cheap beer!

Of course we talked about a lot more than cheap beer. Here are links to products and discussion topics:

We appreciate you listening and hope you have a great week. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Nick did a little rearranging in the studio space and it's a bit more conversationally oriented. We hope you enjoy this week's chat about spring break, April Fool's and lots more, we certainly did!

Here are links to all of the things we discussed this week:

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

We started this episode with French 75's, Bridget's favorite cocktail, and made a surprise detour in the middle. Join us for the fun as we visit Gary Con XIV in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin!

Here are links to what we talked about this episode:

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

We've got a lot going on this week - wrapping up St. Paddy's season, talking the horror that is Daylight Savings Time, and lots, lots more.

Here are links to some of the stories we talked about:

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Everyone is a little Irish, but Bridget is very Irish, Nick is pretty Irish, and our annual St. Patrick's Day guest Kevin Fleming is an Irish citizen!

We recorded this episode live at Topsy Turvy Brewery in Lake Geneva. They have live music and events happening all St. Patrick's season, so check out their website and social media for details, then stop in to enjoy the festivities. 

This week's music is Blueridge Jig by Caleb Etheridge and we hope you find the little bit of fiddle music as enjoyable as we do. 

Thanks for joining us for our bit of our Irish-inspired fun. We hope you enjoyed the change of pace, and we'll talk to you again next week.

Sláinte!

~ Bridget and Nick

Nick's back, but Bridget's leaving, so on this episode we talked all about travel, vacation, and the good and bad of leaving one's home. Is it even worth it? Great question. 

We'd love to hear your travel tales, so feel free to email us at hello at dinner plus drinks dot com!

Here are our two picks for travel friendly items:

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Nick spent a few relaxing days in Washington, DC and in this episode we talk about the trip, the food, the highs, the lows, the impending threat of nuclear war, and lots more! We hope you enjoy the chat about a great city to visit. 

Here are some of Nick's favorite places to visit in Washington, DC:

There are plenty of places to go, but those are a few highlights. I'm always happy to share things that I enjoy and provide recommendations if you're traveling, so just reach out if you have any questions!

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

It's not quite March, but we completed a Wisconsin Snacks Bracket and had a blast doing it! Thanks to Milwaukee Record for putting together this bracket full of delicious and unique Wisconsin food items. If you'd like to play along, you can find a copy of the bracket on their website right here. 

Here are links to the other fun things we talked about this week:

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

I've been a long time fan of commercials.  You read that right, I actually like them!  With The Super Bowl and the Olympics colliding this year, that mens a ton of epic commercials and I'm sharing my thoughts about them this week.

If you want to follow along, these are the commercials I'm chatting about on this episode:
OLYMPICS
Visa
Etsy
Procter and Gamble
Omega Watch
Comcast

SUPER BOWL
Crypto.com
Verizon 5G
Coinbase
Anheuser-Busch /Budweiser

Tune in on Sunday for a full episode of Dinner plus Drinks!  Have a great weekend!

We're back in studio with this week's episode featuring Winter Olympics trivia plus lots more!

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Hey everybody! 

For this week's episode, we took a little tour of the US National Snow Sculpting Competition and the happenings at Lake Geneva Winterfest. We hope you enjoy our little tour and break from prepping for our super awesome Pancake Breakfast. We shared pictures from the event on our Facebook page (Instagram coming on Tuesday) if you'd like to see what we're describing!

We hope you can check out these incredible works of art yourself and enjoy our silly commentary about them. Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Hey everybody, it's Nick here. Unfortunately due to an unfortunate situation, my beautiful baby girl Simona caused an unfortunate setting on our recording board to happen which unfortunately means this week's audio didn't record.

We'll be back next week with a super great episode, featuring some of the things we talked about this week, including an awesome segment talking about plot holes in Disney movies. If you have a plot hole that really drives you nuts, we'd love to hear it. Send us an email at hello@dinnerplusdrinks.com and we'll add it to the list!

Have a great week, sorry for the oops, we'll be back next week!

Nick

On this very special episode, we're joined by the one and only Melissa Jordan of B933 radio in Milwaukee!

We didn't want to subject her to the horror of the Japanese Kit-Kat Taste Off, but we wanted to have a little food fun, so we had a Flavor Fantasy Friday and tried 8 flavors of Oreos! You'll have to listen to get our verdict on each of these flavors. None were as bad as macha Kit Kats, but that's a low bar. Here's the list of Oreo cookie flavors we tried:

Carrot CakeCaramel CoconutChocolate HazelnutBirthday CakeDark ChocolateChocolate Peanut Butter PieChocolate MarshmallowLemon Oreo Thins

In addition to our Oreo excursion, we mentioned a few other products and places you may want to check out. Here's the list:

Make sure you follow Melissa on air and on social media:

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

This week, I had the hilarious experience of attending a tribute concert.  Yes, a Jimmy Buffet tribute concert.    It was a gift to my Dad for Christmas and it was highly entertaining.

If you've never been to the Fireside Theater, it is a true experience.   You can check out more about it here and read more about the show we saw here.  It's dinner and a show all in one.

Anyway, I'm sharing some insights from my audience experience and more fun along the way.  Enjoy!

Hi friends - two programming announcements: 

We're no longer going to put the video of each episode on YouTube - based on algorithm changes, we don't have enough people watching to make it worth the time it takes to get an episode on YouTube. We appreciate everyone who watched on YouTube, and we'll still upload audio, but it won't be the full video. We may also have some fun extras on YouTube, so keep an eye on that channel in the future.Next week, we're going to have a VERY SPECIAL GUEST. You're not going to want to miss that episode. Or this episode, because this one is also very good!

Here are links to the considerable number of products and stories we talked about this week:

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

We took a little holiday and New Year's break to re-group, but I'm back with my favorite type of episode - a good old fashioned rant. 

Ok, it's meant to inspire you and inform you to take a bit of action locally.  Or not locally - I bet there is something similar to this going on in your community as well!

If you've managed to listen to me on my soapbox and want to be sure to take the survey, you can check it out here. 

Thanks for listening and tun in this Sunday for  a brand new Dinner plus Drinks!

We're back! Did you miss us?

Welcome to 2022 and our normally scheduled podcast. We started the year with something familiar - a moderately priced California Cab - and we hope you enjoy the return to routine as much as we did! Here's what we talked about on this week's episode:

Did you know that Bridget is a twin? Yep, and if you didn't know that, you haven't paid attention to all the times Shannon has been on the podcast! Anyway, Bridget and Shannon thought it would have been cool if they were born on different days, but this story about twins from California takes it to a whole 'nother levelNick loves Kwik Trip and if you're not from the Midwest, you need to come here just to experience Kwik Trip. If you can't make it here, maybe just check out the Instagram account of 'KT Girl' who visited all the Wisconsin locations in 2021! Check out this super cool Moon light from Target. It's a great reco from Bridget and Nick may invest in one soon. Earth light also available, but let's be honest, the moon is cooler!Nick loves reading and his Kindle Paperwhite has helped him read even more in 2021. If you're looking to read more in 2022, you should consider one of these e-readers!

Have a great week everybody, thanks for joining us. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

As promised, here we are recapping 2021, making fun of New Year's resolutions, and looking forward to a bright, beautiful 2022! We hope you enjoy this special episode, we'll be back to our normal schedule next week, with a normal podcast episode on Sunday, January 9th.
she up already guys
Cheers!

Bridget and Nick

Hi guys - as promised here's a recap of how our Christmases went this year. We had fun with this one, and we hope you enjoy listening along.

How was your Christmas? We hope it was grand - send us your funny stories, wins and fails, we love hearing them!

You can get in touch with us using the links below:

We'll be back soon with a New Year's episode, and then regular schedule resumes on January 9th. 

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Hi all - we thought we'd drop in with some Christmas cheer and to let you know we won't have our regularly scheduled episode out this week. 

Enjoy our dramatic reading, and we'll talk to you sometime next week!

Bridget & Nick

PS - if you want to watch on YouTube, check it out at: https://youtu.be/knhlPtMwYaM

We played some Mad Libs, talked about last minute Christmas gifts, and so much more on this week's episode. 

Here are links to what we talked about this week:

Have a great week everybody, we hope you have an incredible Christmas and your preparations aren't too crazy. If you'd like to follow along with us, here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Does it make you crazy to see a tree with mis-matched ornaments, awkwardly strung ribbon and some mysterious tinsel in various places?  Well, if it does, don't come over to my place because I let me kids decorate the tree!

I am generally incredibly Type A, but when it comes to the Christmas tree, I had to let it all go.  My ornaments do not match and that is the joy of it.  Each ornament on our tree tells a story - whether it's a childhood nickname, a memory from the past or a hand crafted daycare picture that makes you smile.

Listen in to hear all about my ornament traditions!

Oh, and those ornaments I refer to at the end, you can find them  here.

Bridget was in Seattle visiting a very special person and we recorded the episode remotely. Luckily, we were able to be joined by a very special guest for a fun game of Holiday trivia!

Here's what we talked about on this week's episode: 

Thanks so much for listening this week! We hope you enjoyed the Christmas trivia and played along with us. If you'd like together in touch with us,  here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Sugar Plum Fairy Dust - real Hallmark Christmas movie or fake title made up by Nick?

On this episode of Dinner Plus Drinks, we are getting into the Fa La La spirit by quizzing Bridget on if she thinks titles and descriptions of Hallmark Christmas movies are real or fake. Nick put a lot of effort into stumping her, so you'll have to listen to see how she fared.

If you would like to take the quiz yourself (or share it with friends) you can take the quiz right here.

We also talked about these items on this week's episode:

Thanks so much for listening this week! We hope you enjoyed the episode and are getting ready for a fabulous Christmas season! If you'd like together in touch with us,  here are all the links:

Cheers everybody!

~ Bridget and Nick

Yes, I kept calling it a pagent throughout the episode...because ya know what, it sounds fancier.  It's Christmas Concert Season and it is so very fun! 

This year, I had front row seats and got to see all the various kinds of kids at school Christmas concerts.  The nose picker, the crotch scratcher, the one who isn't singing at all and so one.  It's nothing but fun this holiday season!

And because I promised I would link it...
I can't imagine a world in which you would want to watch a Christmas concert that does not have your child in it, but if you're so inclined, here you go!  

We're a little Thanksgiving and a little Christmas this week and Bridget is quizzing Nick on Christmas song lyrics! PS - that's where this week's episode title comes from. Do you know what song that's from? 

Thanks to everyone who reached out about our 100th Anniversary Episode. We really appreciate all of the kind words! Most importantly, congrats to the winners of our 100th episode giveaway: John E. and Sue H! We'll reach out to you on Facebook / Instagram to get in touch with you to get you your prizes!

If you want to check out our Holiday gifting product recommendations, here are the links:

Thanks for listening, we hope you had a great Thanksgiving and a successful Black Friday shopping experience. If you'd like together in touch with us,  here are all the links:

Cheers everybody - have an awesome Thanksgiving!

~ Bridget and Nick

If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed that we skipped a number in the episode titles.  You're right!  But this is actually the 20th episode, I am just fixing an error made back at episode #3.  

Now, onto the show!

I dug into some traditions, starting at Thanksgiving Day and bringing us through Christmas.  If you're dying to learn more about them, you can check out my fact finding missions here:

I mention on the episode that parades were going to certainly be a part of the discussion of traditions, but I opted to not discuss the joy surrounding parades, in light of the unspeakable events in Waukesha.  If you would like to donate to help families affected by this tragedy, you can do so here.

We've officially made it to One Hundred Episodes of Dinner Plus Drinks!

It's been quite the ride since we started on December 29th, 2019 and there have been huge changes in the world, our lives, and how we podcast. We appreciate all of you who have been with us along the way, and whether you're a new listener, a longtime listener, or an occasional listener, we appreciate you tuning in and sharing time with us. 

To celebrate and thank you (it is that time of the year after all), we are giving away three prize packages! Here's how you can enter:

Enter for a $25 Etsy Gift Card + a candle from Haverly & Co on our Facebook page by commenting with what you're thankful for this Thanksgiving.Enter for a $25 Etsy Gift Card + a candle from Candle Mercantile on our Instagram page by commenting with what you're thankful for this Thanksgiving.Enter for a $25 Etsy Gift Card by commenting on the episode video with 

We would love to hear what you think of this episode, and the podcast in general. If you have feedback you'd like to share with us, just email hello /at/ dinnerplusdrinks /dot/ com or go to our website and click the microphone icon in the lower right to send us a voicemail!

Once again, thank you so much for listening. If you'd like to follow along,  here are all the links.

Cheers everybody - have an awesome Thanksgiving!

~ Bridget and Nick

The Holiday season is here and many people give gifts of wine. On this episode of Pinkies Up, we're trying to help you figure out how to give good quality gifts of wine that will be appreciated and not break the bank!

Nick has 3 basic rules to gifting wine:

The recipient must know you got them a nice gift.It must be a fairly widely appealing wine taste wise - nothing too out there.It must actually taste good!

Bridget gave Nick 6 difference scenarios to come up with a suggestion for a gift. Listen and see if Nick passed Bridget's tests. 

Thanks for listening! If you'd like to keep following, here are some links:

Cheers everybody - we'll talk to you soon!

Bridget & Nick

What the heck do I mean by reflecting on brats?  Well, we're coming up on our 100th episode of Dinner plus Drinks and Nick and I have been reflecting on a lot of discussions over the last 100 episodes.

So, this week, I'm reflecting on my brat styling technique.  That's right, brat styling.   You'll have to listen in to see what I mean by that.  

We love Thanksgiving, the food, the football, the wine...all of it! We wanted to give you our favorite tips for having a successful Thanksgiving. Enjoy this light-hearted bonus episode and Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

OUR TOP DRINKS PICKS

OUR TURKEY COOKING TIPS

If you like what we're doing here on the Dinner Plus Drinks podcast,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

Nick has shingles, it's horrible, and he needs to talk about it. In addition to the shingles talk, we also talk through upcoming Friendsgiving plans and lots more, so we hope you enjoy this week's episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Here are links to everything we talked about on this week's episode:

If you like what we're doing here on the Dinner Plus Drinks podcast,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

*If you make a purchase using our links, we may get a commission. Thanks for supporting the podcast!

We are starting to get excited for the Holidays, loving fall, and talking about what brand names are totally worth spending a little extra for their products. We know, we're getting old, but it was an incredible Reddit thread, and Nick had to know how thrifty Bridget would react to the debate of brand name versus generic product!

Here are links to a few of the things we talked about this week:

If you like what we're doing here on the Dinner Plus Drinks podcast,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

I had plenty of articles to chat about on this week's Dinner plus Drinks, so I'm sharing one of the extra's here.  Have you seen that you can rent a one night stay in Carrie Bradshaw's brownstone!?

Drool over the most amazing closet in the actual Air BnBlisting for a replica of Carrie Bradshaw's apartment from Sex and the City.

Find a few articles about the apartment here:

Happy Halloween!

We talked true crime stories this week (learn allllll about why we love serial killers on this week's Amuse Bouche) and it was a lot of fun. We also had a few other Halloween related items and updates on the Curder Burger. Thanks Amanda for sharing your Curder Burger experience!

Here are links to the news stories we mentioned:

If you like what we're doing here on the Dinner Plus Drinks podcast,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

It's Halloween weekend and I've got murder on the mind!  Ok, not like that, but I do love a good true crime story or podcast....like so many others.

A few things referenced in this episode are being shared below.  Make sure to check them out!

A book I found, ordered and can't wait to read!
Why We Love Serial Killers:  https://amzn.to/3mptpFu   

My favorite crime podcast recommendations:
Morbid: https://www.morbidpodcast.com/
Crime Junkie: https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/
Serial: https://serialpodcast.org/
S-Town:  https://stownpodcast.org/

This article is full of reasons explaining why we all love hearing about serial killers.  A quick, enjoyable list: 
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/559256/why-we-love-true-crime 

Did you know that "Keep The Balloon Up" (the game you play in your house as a kid) is a legit sport? Yep, Bridget discovered this week that keep the balloon up is indeed a sport, and it helped bring a little joy to an otherwise stressful week!

Here are links to some of the things we talked about this week:

Remember our new Wine 201 Podcast has just released its first season! You can listen by searching for Wine 201 in whatever player you're using to listen to this episode, or visit the Wine 201 Podcast website. 

If you like what we're doing here on the Dinner Plus Drinks podcast,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

We popped bubbles to celebrate Simona's birthday and the launch of our new Wine 201 podcast! 

If you like our wine episodes, and would like to hear us interview incredible people in the world, go ahead and download our Wine 201 podcast. It's a totally separate show and is released in seasons. Season one is out now and features 6 interviews with experts on grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and more.

Also, we'd really like to know if you got a Curderburger from Culvers - it's very important you write in and let us know what you thought of the burger.

Here are links to what we talked about on this week's show:

If you like what we're doing here on the Dinner Plus Drinks podcast,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

It's spooky season and I am basically spending 12 minutes reminiscing on my college years.  Because those were the years of my very finest Halloween costume creations.

I wanted to release this episode now, so you still had time to get your craft on and make some of the best DIY Halloween costumes for you and your friends or family.  I promise, you'll especially love each and every one of these costumes if you grew up in the 90's like I did!

We brought in 4 guests and 3 different types of beer for this one friends - it's the biggest, most epic, and most fun we've had on an episode yet: it's The Wedding Game Episode!

On this episode, we got Bridget to pick a new favorite Oktoberfest beer, dropped some bomb product suggestions, and then, got to playing a fun game that we like to call "Design A Wedding." This game consists of having to make a choice of venue, music, food, drinks, and guests for your hypothetical wedding - cost is no issue. The catch is that you have to pick from the options provided, and you can only select one option in each level of options: epic, great, good, meh, and oh noooooo!

We got some of our favorite people to call in a join us for the game, and we invite you to play along as well. You can find a picture with the layout on dinnerplusdrinks.com or check out the text description here:

VENUE

MUSIC

FOOD

DRINKS

GUESTS

Let us know your choices, we'd love to hear your picks. Email us or drop us a voicemail on our website!

Also check out these links from the episode:

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this episode. We really enjoyed making it and appreciate all of our guests popping on to help us this week. Have a great week, get in touch with us, and stay healthy.

Cheers!

~ Bridget and Nick

Ok, it's not quite what you might consider wedding planning season, but for me, weddings are on the brain!  I am helping a family member plan their wedding this week (as they visit from out of state) so we've been planning all week long.

In a previous life, I planned weddings (and have probably planned hundreds at this point), so I' sharing three quick wedding planning tips to help jump start your wedding (or any event really!) planning process on the right foot:

Make a guest list ... like right away.  This will dictate your entire budget and what venue(s) you can even consider.Pick a priority - SO important!  This will guide all of your wedding planning decisions if you can settle on one mutual priority that is non-negotiable.Ask a friend - your (already married) friends are a great (free!) resource  Ask them what they regret?  What they may have forgotten to do or what they would do differently?  What was the best part of the day etc.?  You will almost always find a hidden gem of advice in there!

Happy Planning friends!

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook @DinnerplusDrinksPodcast

Bridget came up with a genius segment and quizzed Nick on Britney Spears songs. You're going to want to make sure you listen to hear how much Nick knows about Britney Spears, as well as singing from both Bridget and Nick. Congrats Britney on your legal victory, we're happy for you! #freebritney

In addition to the incredible Britney talk, here are a few links from this week's episode:

Thanks for listening, it's been a weird week. If you want to learn a bit more and hear some perspective on the burn out and stress that we all have been facing and keeps mounting, make sure you listen to this week's episode of Amuse Bouche. Bridget takes it on with a great article that Nick thinks you should listen to! Find it one episode before this one in your podcast feed.

Quick programming note - there is no YouTube episode this week because Nick's computer got fried and the video was stored on that. Audio only :(

If you like what we're doing here on the Dinner Plus Drinks podcast,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

No, it's not exactly what you're thinking.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  Listen in to hear about an article that was able to pinpoint exactly how I have been feeling.

Find the original article here: https://thestripe.com/a-lack-of-stamina/ 

Find Grace Atwood here: https://www.instagram.com/graceatwood/ 

And loudly enough for everyone in the back:
“Be nicer to yourself. Easy to say to others, harder to say to yourself.”  - Grace Atwood

It was a beautiful fall day, so we decided to hit the road and record live from the patio at The Candle Mercantile in downtown Lake Geneva. Remember when you were in school and it was a nice day outside, so your teacher has class outside? It's exactly the same.

We hope you enjoy this slightly different episode that also visited a few other of our favorite places to hang out in downtown Lake Geneva. If you're a local, now is (arguably) the best time of the year to get out and enjoy our community. If you're not local, it's a b-e-a-utiful time to come visit and check out these spots:

We'd like to extend a huge thank you to the entire crew at The Candle Mercantile for their hospitality hosting us. You need to stop in to pour your own fall themed candle, or pick out one of their perfectly scented pre-made fall scents. While you're there, enjoy a glass of wine, beer, or cider, and enjoy a snack at their indoor candle bar or on their patio.

Did you hear our Pinkies Up release this week? It's all about German wine for the Oktoberfest season. You can find it wherever you're listening to this episode, or watch on YouTube to see all of Bridget's facial expressions.

If you like what we're doing here on the Dinner Plus Drinks podcast,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

We love Oktoberfest! When we think Oktoberfest, we usually think of beer, but there is a ton of great German wine that you can drink as well. For this episode, we took on the challenge of finding German wines that you can drink for Oktoberfest. 

Most people immediately think of overly sweet Riesling when they think of German wine, but Germany makes a wide range of styles and grapes. Some are really good, some...well...you'll have to listen and here what we think.

Here are the wines that we tried:

We hope you enjoyed this episode and if you aren't already, please join us for our weekly Dinner Plus Drinks episodes. You can subscribe and follow along with us on the following channels:

Cheers everybody - we'll talk to you soon!

Bridget & Nick

It's Bridget's (and Shannon's) Birthday!!!

We had to celebrate and have a little bit of fun. We hope you enjoy our celebration of Bridget on this week's episode. Here are links to what we talked about:

We hope you enjoyed listening to this episode. Also a big shout out to listener Beth who said hi to Bridget - we appreciate everyone that listens and it's great to get to talk to you in person!

If you like what we're doing,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

It's my birthday!  Ok, not quite yet, but it's in just a few days.

I'm taking a quick walk down memory lane of my top 5 favorite birthday parties.  Plus,  sharing a few fun birthday traditions that you can start this year for any birthday celebrations you may have coming up!

Make sure to catch this week's Dinner Plus Drinks which will drop on my actual birthday.  I'm told it's full of fun and surprises, so we'll see what Nick has in-store for me.

Greetings friends! On this episode, conversation somehow managed to drift to Mr. Bridget (aka Tyler) a lot. It was good to sit down (well, actually stand up) and talk about a crazy week. 

Check out these links!

Bridget found this article encouraging us all to stop chasing success and start enjoying life to be very helpful. Read it for yourself.Nick is delighted to find that Dad Jokes can be used for good! Tanks Good News brings us this story about dad jokes helping a neighbor get motivated to recover from surgery.If you want to look like Nick, Tyler, and (according to Bridget) every other Dad in the world, you should go to Clear Water Outdoor and buy yourself a Patagonia Better Sweater. If you ask for "Nick's Boy Sean," and Sean himself helps you, he promised a 15% discount on your purchase!

We hope you enjoyed listening to this episode. We always aim to be a little ray of sunshine in your week, and we hope we're making that happen. If you like what we're doing,  here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

I'm wrapping up my chat about public schools and a bit about the documentary Waiting for Superman.

But it's always great to see the other side and this article was helpful in doing such:
Harvard Educational Review 

After our little recording snafu last week, we're back with a full episode, we hope you didn't miss us too much! In this episode, we talk about childcare apps, determine how Nick would do in 5th grade, talk about the Nugget, and lots more. 

Here are a few links to what we are talking about:

What's on your mind? Do you have any good news to share? We'd love to hear some stories of happiness that aren't from fictional universes!

 Here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

It's back to school time and it is a lot.  As I was panicking about my son's first year of full-day classes in our local public school, my Father-in-Law introduced my to a documentary that fascinated (and horrified) me. 

I'm here to tell you a bit about the movie and specifically about how school systems deal with teachers that are doing a less than stellar job.

This one has so much information, it'll be broken up into 2 parts!  Enjoy part 1 of 2.

Resources:
https://www.netflix.com/title/70129364
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/movies/24waiting.html

Nick made a bit of an oopsy doopsy with our recording this week so that only the video portion of our recording actually recorded. That's obviously a problem for a podcast.

We're sorry we messed up (well Nick), so here's a little explanation, plus a few fun kid corner stories for you to enjoy for the week.

We'll be back next week!

I admit, it's a long one.  But man, if you like thrifting (or want to like thrifting) this one is for you!  I'm sharing some of my latest thrift store finds and a few quick tips on shopping at a thrift store (pssst, sneak peak below):

Try everything on!Don't flip through every single item on the racksTarget (and other retailers) donate their (new with tags) items to thrift stores when they've gone through  their sales cycle.

Happy Thrifting!

Nick messed up this week and incorrectly picked what wine Bridget would like better out of a few that were sampled. He feels pretty bad about this, so in this episode, he sought to correct his bad friend behavior by getting to know how Bridget thinks just a little bit more. 

Here's what we talked about this week:

We changed up our format a little bit to focus on what the show's all about - unwinding with friends, talking about the good things in life: food, drinks, and kids! Let us know what you think about the tweak and if you have any topics you'd like us to discuss. We're here for you and appreciate the feedback you share with us. Here's how you can follow along and get in touch with us:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

As usual, I could go on and on about this topic, but I actually kept this one pretty quick...mostly because I speak way too fast.  But social media sure has changed and businesses are taking advantage.  The influencer culture is here to stay and I'm here to talk about it, so listen in!
--
Referenced in the show:
#BamaRush New York Times article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/style/bama-rush-explained.html

Under the Influence Podcast - a must listen!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/under-the-influence-with-jo-piazza/id1544171101 

So you can see both sides of the story:
https://www.instagram.com/girlgangz7733/

Don't forget to say hello and let me know what you think at hello@dinnerplusdrinks.com 

We're back to our normal programming after 3 weeks of Olympics episodes and we're talking two related and fun topics: Taco Bell & Poop. Also other things. Here's a run down of links to this episode's topics:

Keep up with the show or get in touch with us with your questions and ideas using these links:

Thanks for listening, we hope you have a great week!

~ Bridget and Nick

Happy Oktoberfest Season!

Yes, that's right, Oktoberfest is just around the corner and some of the best beer of the year has already hit the shelves.

Check out this well-written (and entertaining) article to learn a bit more about Oktoberfest beer: https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/best-oktoberfest-beer
 
If you want to try Bridget's Top 5 Fave Oktoberfest beers, get them while they're still around:

Munsterfest - 3 FloydsFestbier - Maplewood Oktoberfest - Lakefront Brewing OctoberFest - Sam AdamsOktoberfest Marzen - Hacker Pschorr

Honorable mentions: Staghorn, Spaten 
 
If you're wondering where I got my info on the history of Oktoberfest in Munich, you can check it out here:  https://germanculture.com.ua/german-holidays/oktoberfest-traditions/  

🍻 Prost! 🍻

It's the last episode of our Dinner Plus Drinks Olympic Games!

We had two final events with the standings tied between Bridget's Team Greece and Shannon's Team Ireland. Who will win? There is plenty of last minute drama and fun in this week's episode, tune in to hear the results of this riveting competition.

A huge thank you to Shannon for joining us and representing Team Ireland so well in this Olympic Game series. We hope you enjoyed a break from our "routine" episodes and had fun celebrating the Olympics with us. We'll be back to our normal episodes next week. 

If you've had fun, here's how you can follow along with us and get in touch with us to share feedback and ideas:

Congratulations to both of our "athletes" for a competition well contested.  Thanks for listening, have a great week, we'll talk to you next week!

~ Bridget and Nick and Shannon

Is always striving for greatness the answer?   What if we just practiced being content with right where we are?  I'm getting aaaallll philosophical on you this week and diving deep into answering life's questions.  

I even found some scientific research to back up the thoughts in my head.  You can check it out here (and, for real, check it out because it's great!): https://bit.ly/2VDS1iv

And, as promised in the show, if you need a few quick tips for experiencing contentment: 

Practice mindfulness.  Identify your well-being contingenciesRadically accept all emotions.

Have a great weekend and challenge yourself to find some contentment!

We are in the midst of the Dinner Plus Drinks Olympics! 

Shannon and Team Ireland are competing feverishly against Bridget and Team Greece for the title of Dinner Plus Drinks Olympic Champion. In this episode we reveal the results of last week's competitions (food, drink, and Team of Champions), plus participate in some super fun short games of skill. Watch on YouTube to see all of the fun, or listen to Nick channel his inner Bryant Gumbel and commentate on the happenings.

Thanks for following along on our Olympic fun! If you have comments, feedback, or ideas for next week's closing ceremonies, here's how you can get in touch with us:

Have a great week - we'll talk you soon for the Olympic Closing Ceremonies!

~ Bridget and Nick and Shannon

I love the Olympics and perhaps equal to the sports, I love hearing the fun factoids and interesting information that surround the athletes.  Plus, stories of perseverance, fortitude and sportsmanship are inspiring and amazing.

This week, I'm sharing some of the bits of fun I've found.  Some stories you've heard, some you probably haven't heard.  So get ready to get inspired!
__

If you're looking for more inspiring moments, check this article out to peak at The 25 Most Inspiring Olympic Moments of all Time: https://bit.ly/3fdeyto  (it's #10 for me!)

And if you, like me, were curious about the flowers each athlete is receiving, read all about their meaning here: https://n.pr/3xhl0pw 

Happy Olympics watching - have a great weekend!

P.S. This one is a little long - I was just *so* inspired :)

Welcome to the Dinner Plus Drinks Podcast Olympics!!

We love the Olympics, so we decided to put on our own Olympic competition featuring Bridget competing against her twin sister Shannon! 

First, we had to choose countries for these two competitors to represent. Shannon lucked out and drew Ireland to represent, and Bridget was assigned Yemen! However, after the Bucks victory, we decided to reassign Bridget to represent Greece in honor of Giannis. 

After a short break, and regrouping at the Athlete's Village, the competitors shared some of the wonderful things they learned about their countries and recommended drinks, food, and products we should try from each country. Nick is going to cook each recommended meal this week and his wife Sarah will declare a winner!

Most importantly, both Bridget and Shannon assembled a Team of Champions - 3 famous people from each country to represent and fight for the pride of their nations. We need you to vote for your favorite team. You can find a post with the Champions on both our Instagram and Facebook. Comment on the post letting us know your favorite team and we'll announce the winner on next week's episode!

We have 3 weeks of Olympics fun planned - we hope you'll join us as we play games and revel in the spirit of International fun. If you have suggestions for contest, please write in and let us know your ideas. Here's how you can follow along with us and check out our social channels:

Let the Olympics begin!!! We hope you have a great week watching the games - go USA! We'll see you next week!

~ Bridget and Nick and Shannon

Bucks in Six!  Holy cow, the Milwaukee Bucks are the NBA Champions and it has been amazing to watch.  A city and a team that once was barely a blip on the radar is now a destination. 

Having spent over a decade in Milwaukee, I love that city.  I grew up there.  Not actually growing up since birth, but I really grew up as an adult.  Tune in to hear a small brush of what I love about the city of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Bucks.

A few sites that I reference during the show:

Have a great day!

Nick had a rough time with offshore tech support but thankfully, a Plain Spoke Cocktails Bourbon Smash got him in a good place. We're excited for the Olympics and plenty more - you can expect some Olympic fun to start soon, but in the meantime, here's what we talked about on this week's episode:

Nick loved this Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese that he made to celebrate National Mac & Cheese Day. You should make it too.When it comes to creative ways to get hired, Lukas Yla's Donut Box resumé delivery scheme impressed Bridget. Get details on My Modern Met.Jason Sudeikis took a very public but also very understated stance in support of 3 young English soccer stars who have endured horrible racist abuse in the past week. Nick would love to tip his cap to him and also remind everyone to report when you see racism on social media. Check it out on Sports Illustrated.Bridget is looking for a foam play mat set for her kids - it's between Nugget and Foamnasium. What do you recommend? We'd really like some help on this one because Nick is looking too!For all your party needs, Nick recommends the Chambong - the classiest way to slam some sparkling wine.Bridget's family eats a bunch of pork but rarely grills it, this Grilled Pork Loin Roast recipe may change that trend - it's easy, feeds a bunch, and very tasty.Nick loves a good green sauce, especially in the summer. He also doesn't want to hear your "don't put sauce on steaks" nonsense. This Ribeye Steak with Mojo Verde recipe is bomb.

Thanks for tuning in this week, we hope you enjoyed a little time with us. We love having you listen! 

Please be sure to follow us, subscribe, or whatever is the easiest way for you to keep up to date with the show. Here are all the links:

Cheers everybody, have a great week; we'll talk to you next week!

~ Bridget and Nick

*If you make a purchase using our links, we may make a small affiliate commission. Thank you for your support!

No, you don't have to run a marathon to be considered a runner.  I'm sharing all about the running community and how I think t hey are some of the most supportive, honest and uplifting athletes out there.  

Ways to can be involved:

If you want to learn more about Mary Cain's amazing running club, here is the article I referenced:
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a36856632/mary-cain-forms-womens-pro-running-team/?utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=socialflowFBRW&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3nlSGmWH_cIlZK1RYB98DvhteIPszF2Gk3oAydwX_nr-isLy4mOsVrYls 

This is another great resource: https://www.womensrunning.com/culture/news/mary-cain-creates-atalanta/

And lastly, here is Atalanta's website: https://www.atalantanyc.org/ 

If you want to get started and find a run/walk/race near you, here is a great resource: https://runsignup.com/Races

Enjoy the Olympics and happy running, walking or moving your body in any way!

When I was editing this episode and saw it was coming out on 7-11, I had to call it "oh thank heaven," because who can't get that saying out of your head? It doesn't really have anything to do with the episode, but it's what we're going to roll with - Nick

What we did talk about was a wide variety of topics, and on this episode it was Nick, not Bridget, that was unable to choose from multiple stories, so you'll get a lot of Nick thoughts this episode.

Most importantly, if you didn't watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest, you need to see this introduction for Joey Chestnut, world hot dog eating champion!

Here's what we talked about:

Bridget tried this vegan hot dog substitute and it wasn't bad! You can try it yourself if you'd like.Nick is elated that giant pandas are no longer endangered!Congratulations to Zaila Avant-garde, the first Black American spelling bee champion, and an accomplished Guinness World Record holder at age 14!Bridget tried Super Goop Glow Screen on her vacation and it was a super awesome product to protect yourself from the sun and look good!Nick is loving Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It's been out for a while, but if you haven't played it, it's definitely a worthy installment in the franchise. We talked vacation tips and went through the 10 tips on this Lifehacker article. Let us know what you think of them. Bridget is looking forward to a delicious One Pot Spaghetti Bolognese this week.Nick wants to make this Grilled Steak with Beer Mustard Sauce recipe again.But there were so many good recipes on this week's meal plan, Nick had a really hard time choosing, and you should check out the whole plan.

Thanks for tuning in this week, we hope you enjoyed a little time with us. We love having you listen! 

Please be sure to follow us, subscribe, or whatever is the easiest way for you to keep up to date with the show. Here are all the links:

Cheers everybody, have a great week; we'll talk to you next week!

~ Bridget and Nick

*If you make a purchase using our links, we may make a small affiliate commission. Thank you for your support!

We played a snippet of "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" by George Frideric Handel using the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. The song was performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra, November 2006 Roxanna Pavel Goldstein, Musical Director; Elias Goldstein, Orchestra Manager.

Thanks for tuning in to this week's Amuse Bouche!  Get ready to listen to my scratchy voice (sorry about that!) and two quick tips about what's working in our family.

Hugs or High Fives

We're aiming to teach our kids early about boundaries and consent and found that offering them the choice on hugs or high fives has been a fun way to do it.

Here's an interesting article on the topic if you're interested!
https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/2987-high-five-or-hug-teaching-toddlers-about-consent

Highs and Lows/Joys and Concerns
Whether you have kids or not, use highs and lows (or joys and concerns) to get people talking about their day.

Enjoy our regularly scheduled Dinner + Drinks release on Sunday and don't forget to follow us in all of the places you can find us:

Have a great weekend!