New Report Finds Disparities Among Arrest Rates Of White, Black, And Native American Kids, 100 Years Of Stonehenge In The Public Eye, Swedish Cooking From Sister Bay

Featured in this Show

• New Report Finds Disparities Among Arrest Rates Of White, Black, And Native American Kids

  Download

  A new report from Kid’s Forward found that arrest rates for kids is down across racial lines statewide. But Black and Native American children are still much more likely to be arrested compared to their white peers. We talk to Erica Nelson, Director of the “Race to Equity” project, about the report and what can be done to make juvenile justice in Wisconsin more equitable.

• New Findings At Stonehenge Provide A Look Into The Past

  Download

  Researchers are making new discoveries about Stonehenge and the people that built it, and WPR’s own Dave Potratz is live in England to give us the details! He tell us about ancient feasts, the journey of “bluestones,” and more of the areas fascinating history.

• How To Celebrate The End Of Summer Like The Swedish

  Late summer and early fall signal the time for harvest festivals and parties with good food and drinks. While each culture has its own traditions celebrating food and community, for Sweden, it’s a crayfish party.

  And it’s a big deal, says Rolf Johnson, co-owner of Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay.

  “Every culture has that camaraderie building food that they can recall,” he said. “We’re not looking forward to the long dark winter … when the sun starts setting a little earlier, so it’s the last big hurrah.”

  The menu during the last celebration of summer feast traditionally features crayfish, bread, cheese and aquavit, with each family adding their own variations. For Freddie Bexell, head chef at Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant, that also includes dill potatoes and sweet corn for a Wisconsin touch.

  The experience is as much about community building as it is the food, Bexell said.

  “(In Sweden) it was always hard to find crayfish, but the people that had it were always happy to share because it is such an old tradition with everybody there, so even if you only had a couple, you will make sure that your neighbors got something to share,” Bexell said.

  To prepare the crayfish, Bexell boils them in dark beer with water, salt, sugar and a healthy amount of dill crowns. Dill crowns, dill after it has flowered, offers a much more powerful, punchy flavor than the younger version.

  Dark beer isn’t typically found in the brine, Bexell learned to do it through his family tradition.

  “That’s just something we did in my family … In Sweden you drink lighter beer like a lager, but somehow she (his mother) always liked the darker part for her crayfish so that’s how I learned,” he said.

  Aquavit, a Scandinavian spirit distilled from potato or grain and infused with a variety of herbs, is a staple item at crayfish parties, Johnson said. Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant flavors theirs with orange rind and cardamom.

  “I like to tease other Swedes, and Freddie especially, that if it wasn’t for the aquavit, a lot of Swedes wouldn’t get to know each other,” he said.

  While they can be difficult to come by in Wisconsin, Västerbotten — a hard cow’s milk cheese with a granular texture — and priest cheese are Swedish cheeses to serve at the party, Bexell said.

  “Västerbotten is harder to get, priest cheese is usually easier to get,” he said. “The priest cheese is … pretty creamy, almost like a bond ost, the farmer’s cheese.”

  When it’s finally time to eat, Johnson says to roll up your sleeves and dive in.

  “You don’t want to wear anything nice,” he said. “Swedes are pretty timid, when it comes to a crayfish party, they let their guard down.”

• How To Eat Like The Swedish

  Download

  For the Swedish, summertime means eating, drinking and celebrating with friends over a crayfish party complete with paper lanterns and novelty paper hats. We learn more about some great Swedish touches to add to your next gathering or just your next meal with guests from Al Johnson’s Swedish restaurant and our own on-staff foodie.