Keeping your car smelling fresh after enjoying some spicy Mexican or Spanish food (talk about your combinations...) are just a few of our suggestions this week.
Refresh odor-eliminating car vent sticks -- Not long after I bought my new car, the "new car" smell quickly disappeared. The better half used these little air freshener sticks in her car, so I thought I'd give them a shot -- though I avoided the "pink lemonade" scent in favor of the basic "fresh" option. They did the trick. The scent isn't overpowering, just enough to let you know it's working. Just stick them in your air vents and that's it. Pick a pack up -- a four-pack runs about $3 or so -- at Target, Walgreens, Walmart and most auto parts stores. -- Andrew Wagner
Birria Chivo from El Cabrito -- Although a few Mexican restaurants in Milwaukee advertise their birria (goat) soups and dishes, they often carry it only sporadically. It can be a real pain to bounce around looking for who has it in stock on a given day. So when my friend Adam turned me on to El Cabrito, 1100 S. 11th St., and the deliciously rich goat stew birria en chivo, I was happy to find it is served daily. It makes sense with a name that translates to "little goat". Besides the stew they also have dish that serves up birria with rice and beans, which also looked delicious. -- Bob Purvis
The Spanish aioli at Via Downer -- Via Downer, 2625 N. Downer Ave., is a great addition to the East Side. It has a great vibe and really good food. While pizza and pasta reign, I really love Via's garlic dipping sauce appetizer. At $5, it's a dish of tasty sauce served with bread. Need a garlic buzz? This will do ya. Great stuff and it goes very well with Via's fine beer selection. Personally, I washed it down with a Zywiec from Poland. -- Jeff Sherman
Persimmons -- It's the time of year when persimmons finally arrive in local produce markets and I'm very happy. As is the case with figs and pomegranates, I acquired a taste for these orange fruits when I could pick them right off trees while on vacation. Even though the trees aren't here, I'm always happy when the fruits are. The persimmons I prefer are the more oblong hachiya, rather than the more squat fuyu, which do have the benefit of being edible when firm. Beware, however, because hachiyas are astringent and woody and off-putting (like a super green banana) until they're extremely soft. About the time your spouse yells at you to toss it, cut it open and eat it. It's meaty, juicy and sweet. But I usually up the ante and make some cuts through the meat and douse it with a shot of Amaretto di Saronno. I humbly suggest you do the same. -- Bobby Tanzilo
Grocery store self-checkouts -- Unless you shop a 24-hour mart at 3 a.m., waiting in line to check out is usually a hassle. If you've ever had to make a quick eggs-and-milk-style grocery run, nothing beats the self-checkout. It's typically no faster than hitting up a regular lane, but the beauty of the system is being able to bypass the ever-present lines for cashiers. Now, the system does not work well for your big weekend grocery trips or liquor purchases, but for a few basic items, it's golden. Nine times out of 10 they're a ghost town, and if you run into trouble, it's probably because your kid is sitting on the bagging bench (it's a calibrated scale). Word of advice, though: Don't joke with cashiers that "the machine" is stealing their jobs. I guarantee you they've heard it before, and they're getting tired of laughing like they haven't. -- Renee Lorenz
