satisfying our curd cravings

Now, y'all know that I'm not a football fan and that Mr. Tart is not a sports bar kind of guy. But when in Green Bay...

and when you really want good fried cheese curds, and when your parents want your unborn child to be inculcated into Packer fandom, well then you have lunch at Curly's Pub at Lambeau Field. (That's us posing with his statue at the entrance to the legendary stadium.)

While we all had entrees (burgers and brats, mostly), the main event for Mr. Tart and me was the curds:

Yes, that's $8 for a big bowl of curds. Curly's urges its diners to "tackle Packer-sized portions."

As you can see, one picture is worth a thousand curds. (Or something like that.)

By the way, speaking of portions that could fell a linebacker, here's what we didn't order for dessert:

squeaking with pleasure

Mr. Tart and I are heading up to Green Bay, Wisconsin, for Thanksgiving with my extended family. The festivities will include a tremendous dinner for the nearly 30 of us expected at my parents' house, the Packers game on Thanksgiving day, of course (no Macy's parade viewing for this crowd), my cousins' annual "Miles Standish Day" steak meal on Thanksgiving Eve, and oh joy! that squeaky orange delicacy done best in the dairy state, cheese curds.

If I wasn't certain that my husband really, genuinely likes my parents, I would suspect that he agrees to accompany me on our pilgrimages to the midwest solely for the cheese curds.

They're best still warm from the, well, wherever it is that they make cheese curds--but they're just about as good from the refrigerator the next day. They're springy when you bite them and they squeak between your teeth when they're fresh; they taste of the essence of a rich, mild cheddar. As much as I love my stinky unpasteurized French cheese, I delight in cheese curds too.

Bonus: Unlike those forbidden stinky unpasteurized French fromages, Wisconsin cheese curds are not off limits to pregnant women!

And guess what? It turns out that some restaurants in the Green Bay area fry them! Exquisitely soft and creamy inside, protected by a golden brown crunch that leaves a slick memory on your fingers, the deep-fried cheese curd is addictive and comforting. No previously frozen, mass-produced mozzarella stick could ever compare. The deep-fried cheese curd only lacks its fresh counterpart's beguiling squeak (once described by the New York Times as "balloons trying to neck").

Mom and Dad will have cheese curds waiting for us when we get off the airplane tomorrow--but will we have a chance to eat fried curds during our short holiday visit?