What Goes Well with SPAM???

You may be wondering, after a very long and fun-filled first day with my wife, how could I top a trip to a cave, a casino and of course, the SPAM Museum? Well if you shorten the question a bit you get, "How could I top SPAM?" One "topping" comes to mind and you can find THOUSANDS of varieties of that special topping at...

Oh yeah, baby! That's what I'm talkin' about...The Mount Horeb Mustard Museum! You may have seen them mentioned or profiled on many a Food Network special, in magazines, or even heard tell of this magnificent place from people fortunate enough to have been there. If not, gather 'round, kiddies cuz you're gonna learn something GOOD!

April and I got to check out this museum of many mustards last year. We enjoyed the place so much we made a couple of subsequent trips. Each trip found us leaving the store with anywhere from $50.00 to $100.00 worth of delectable mustards from around the globe.

I have always been a mustard guy. For me, ketchup is for your French Fires, hash browns, just about any fried potato. It is NOT EVER for your hot dogs. It CAN be for your hamburgers. It should not otherwise be discussed, especially when in the presence of the best damned condiment ever devised, MUSTARD! You can imagine that any place called The Mustard Museum would be quite a treat for me.

Indeed, The Mount Horeb Mustard Museum is a treat for just about anyone. Started as a hobby (to forget the pain of multiple Red Sox World Series losses), the Mustard Museum evolved as a haven for over 4,000 different jars & varieties of mustard in the world's largest, if not the only collection of mustards in the world. It is now among the silliest and happiest places on Earth.

The Museum collection of mustards from days gone by and current classics is free for all to see. Honestly, who needs to look at the history of mustards throughout the ages when the hundreds, if not thousands of varieties available for tasting and purchase within the store is more than enough to impress the mustard fan in all of us.

April was never a mustard person. Our first trip had her doubting I'd EVER use all of the jars of mustards I'd purchased. Then I introduced her to the culinary marriage of mustard with cheese (arguably, her favorite food). Add some wine and fruit and before too long we were out of mustard. Our next trip had her finding flavors of her own and some damn good ones to boot.

Since I cook a lot and come up with many good recipes around here, I began to take full advantage of the mustardy goodness found at our trips to the Museum and used more and more mustards in my meals. By the time we headed out to The Mustard Museum for my Birthday Week we had only a few jars of mustard left in the old fridge. Clearly we needed MORE!

This time around brought home some amazing taste sensations like Oktoberfest beer mustard, garlic & wine mustard, huckleberry mustard, and many more. You are free to taste every single variety they offer for purchase before you buy and everyone working there is an expert on the subject.

When I get my scanner back I'll be sure to show you some of the labels and varieties. Until then I can't recommend HIGHLY ENOUGH that you visit the Mustard Museum website and the shop itself, should you be in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin any time soon. You'll find that the folks there have a great sense of humor and are eager to make mustard-believers out of you.

I also have it on good authority that yours truly will be performing at this year's annual National Mustard Day celebration on Saturday August 6, 2005. Put that baby on your calendars because I am going to try and really do something special for these folks. I'm even willing to take some of my fee in mustard!