Wisconsin
A Kentucky Derby hat topped with cheese? Is the ‘Fromaginator’ the new look for 2025?
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First came the wide-brimmed hat, then the fascinator, followed by the hatinator. Now the Fromaginator is taking a run at headpiece fashion at the 2025 Kentucky Derby.
Part cheese board, part couture, the fantastical “Fromaginator” is a bold new expression of flavor, flair, fun and Kentucky Derby Day decadence.
As a partner of the 2025 running of the Kentucky Derby, Wisconsin Cheese has released the Rinds & Roses Collection— a whimsical collaboration with the Kentucky Derby’s premier milliner, Christine A. Moore. The collection transforms six award-winning cheeses into showstopping headwear, merging Wisconsin’s artisan craftsmanship with high fashion in a delightfully unexpected way.
“As cheese experts, we know a thing or two about high-quality pairings,” Suzanne Fanning, chief marketing officer at Wisconsin Cheese, said in a news release. “The Kentucky Derby and Wisconsin Cheese are both cultural icons known for tradition and excellence. We created this collection for both Derby fans and cheese lovers, so anyone — at the track or at home — can celebrate in style with a ‘Fromaginator’ of their own.”
The limited-edition collection honoring Wisconsin’s world-renowned cheesemakers looks good enough to eat but it’s best that you don’t. The handmade headpieces feature Moore’s signature hand-rolled silk roses, imitation cheeses and other non-edible materials.
“Creating a collection of Wisconsin Cheese ‘Fromaginators’ for the Kentucky Derby sent my imagination soaring — it’s a true fusion of fashion and flavor,” Moore said in the release. “I was especially inspired by the beautiful and unique rinds — they’re works of art, and taste as amazing as they look.”
The Rinds & Roses Collection retails for $1,500 to $3,000 and will be available starting Friday at WisconsinCheese.com/RindsAndRosesCollection.
Additionally, one Fromaginator will be auctioned off at the star-studded Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala, named one of the 10 best parties in the world by Condé Nast. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center at the University of Kentucky.
These indulgent, eye-catching hats are sure to turn heads at Churchill Downs — because nothing says luxury like a perfectly aged cheese paired with a smooth Kentucky bourbon.
Speaking of bourbon, Woodford Reserve has also announced its collaboration with renowned milliner Gigi Burris to debut a luxurious, artisanal collection of hats for the Kentucky Derby. The collection includes three styles of hat for women, a men’s fedora and a bespoke unisex rose lapel pin.
The collection’s colors of molasses, white, mahogany, caramel, and toffee, and pay homage to the warm, rich tones of Woodford Reserve bourbon. Customers can explore the collection at Gigi Burris Millinery.
Reach features reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.
Laurel Burleson, a Dane County chef, thinks ugly apples make the best dishes.
One of her goals as a chef and restaurant owner is to save usable produce from the waste bin.
“I know how hard (Wisconsin farmers) work every day, making these products that are delicious and nutritious and for anything to get thrown away just because it’s not aesthetically perfect is just outrageous,” said Burleson, owner of Ugly Apple Cafe.
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The latest fruit monitoring report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows many parts of the state having great harvests, although northeastern Wisconsin orchards suffered from a cool spring. But most apple orchards are busy with the fall harvest. So what do you do with that abundance of apples?
Burleson shared some recipes and her philosophy on cooking with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Rob Ferrett: What do you like to do with apples apart from just eating them?
Laurel Burleson: One that I really like to do is making apple marmalade. That is shredding apples and preserving them in sugar so that they keep their structure. It’s kind of the opposite of making applesauce.
But we also make a lot of apple sauce and apple butter. That’s a good way to use a lot of apples all at once.
RF: What goes into making apple butter?
LB: Very basically you make applesauce, so just cook down your apples and blend them up. Then you take that applesauce and cook it extremely slowly, either in a slow cooker or in the oven. Cook it down until it’s dark and rich and more closely resembling a peanut butter than applesauce.
From there, you can put in whatever spices you want: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, bay leaf. You just have to be careful because whatever you start with in the big batch will get super concentrated and reduced in your end product.
RF: With applesauce or apple butter, do we have to be fussy about the type of apples? Or can we mix and match?
LB: I like to mix and match, especially because the apple season starts really early. Some years you can get the first season apples in July.
They don’t hold very long and they’re very juicy, so they break down really easily, but they are very tart. I like to get some of those early season apples and make them into applesauce and freeze them and then when I have other sweeter varieties later I mix them and then reduce that all down into butter.
RF: You shared a savory recipe with us for pork chops with apple bacon cabbage. Tell us a little bit about this recipe.
LB: It’s really fun for the fall and even into the winter. You can kind of use any kind of variety of apple that’s a little bit tart and it’s OK if it breaks down and blends in because the cabbage is going to maintain its structure.
If the onions and apples melt away into a delicious sauce it’s just fine. But also, if you end up with some apple pieces, then it’s a nice little surprise like a little sweetness.
The Ugly Apple Cafe operates cafes inside the Dane County Courthouse and the City County Building in Madison and sells its products at the Monona Farmers Market.
While the Wisconsin Badgers struggle on the football field, sitting at a disappointing 2-2 through four weeks, some of the program’s former transfers continue to find success.
One of those players is tight end Riley Nowakowski, who transferred to Indiana this offseason after five years with the Badgers. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native originally walked on to the program as an unranked outside linebacker. After playing sparingly during his first few seasons with the Badgers, he flipped over to fullback in 2022, then out to tight end after Phil Longo arrived in 2023. Nowakowski totaled 18 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown from 2023-24; his two years as a primary offensive contributor.
The former Badger is already making significant progress toward those totals, now just four games into his Indiana career. He has four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, plus one carry for a one-yard score. The versatile fullback/tight end delivered the highlight play of his career during Indiana’s blowout win over Illinois on Saturday, taking a 1st-down screen pass 43 yards to the house.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, has received solid contributions from Montana State transfer tight end Lance Mason. The veteran has 14 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns to date, leading the team in each of those respective categories.
While Mason has been one of the Badgers’ few bright spots through four weeks, it’s hard to ignore Nowakowski’s emergence as one of Indiana’s dependable offensive playmakers.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
Get ready for an overall warmer stretch of weather as we head into this upcoming workweek. After some fog lifts this morning, we’ll have plenty of sunshine today with highs in the mid to upper 70s along the lake and low 80s inland.
Tonight will be dry with lows in the low 60s lakeside and upper 50s inland.
Monday through Wednesday should be very similar, with upper 70s to near 80 near the lake and low to mid 80s inland with plenty of sun.
We’ll start to bring in chances of showers or a T’storm starting Thursday right on into the weekend.
WATCH: Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead
Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead
TODAY: Any fog lifting through the morning, then becoming mostly sunny.
High: 77 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: E 5-10 MPH.
TONIGHT: Mostly clear.
Low: 62.
Wind: ESE 3-8 MPH.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny.
Highs: 78 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: ESE 5-10 MPH.
TUES: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 80 lakefront… 84 inland.
WEDS: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 81 lakefront… 85 inland.
THUR: Partly cloudy with a chance of a shower
or T’storm.
High: 80.
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