this is how I spend summer weekends

I'm slightly sunburned and have sore feet.  I'm feeling wiped out and satisfied even if no cleaning was accomplished and my apartment is not currently fit for human habitation.

Started Saturday with a trip to Mill City Farmer's Market and saw the demo by Chef Joe Hatch Surisook.  He made an awesome marinated and grilled rib-eye/cilantro/mint/onion/lime/fish sauce/roasted rice powder/+/sticky rice salad.  I'm planning a visit to Sen Yai Sen Lek soon.  And probably another after that.  My step-mom and I both bought cheese--goat, sheep, and one of the fish-bait variety.  Mo left town for a bit today so I have them all to myself.  Sorry kiddo.

Around 1pm, attended a lovely garden party/joint birthday celebration for a couple of friends (who are a couple.)  Champagne and cakes (Wuollet's and Muddy Paws) were enjoyed by all.  Seriously pleasant way to spend an afternoon. 

 While the rest of the group traipsed off to Rock the Garden, I forewent in favor of a long nap.  (Okay, so I didn't have a ticket.)  (Okay, so I didn't really want a ticket.)

The evening was passed in the company of my daughter.  Did a little shopping at Target.  A little dinner at the Lyndale Tap House.  Most places in the immediate vicinity were deserted, likely due to the fact that most of the regular crowd from the Uptown area were at the Walker trying to rock out with MGMT.  (Oooo, was that snide?)  I'm sure things picked up later in the evening in Lyn/Lake.

Sunday morning saw us as early as possible at Kingfield Market with the ultimate goal being the purchase of Indian Spiced Mini Donuts from the Chef Shack.  We left with four bags full to share at the Father's Day celebration at my brother's place.  So loved.  The donuts and the Shack.  The Shack totally made Mo's day.  They now have the title of best salted burnt caramel ice cream in the cities.

After the fete for father, I met yesterday's birthday girl at my place and we trekked (by trekked, I mean walked what was to me a really long way) to the opening day of the Uptown Farmer's Market (and walked more) to French Meadow Bakery.  Had a very nice omelet.  Trekked (the really long way) home.

Was going to take another nap or pickle some radishes (which I totally intend to do soon) but am reading The Namesake again and got caught up in that.

Later in the afternoon, Dad picked me up and we (with step-mom) checked out the Uptown Cafeteria and Support Group for drinks and a snack. (Double Parasole points and all day happy hour.) So they just opened.  And it kinda shows.  Totally relaxed atmosphere although I can't imagine how loud it will be in there when they have to shut the street-side "garage doors." (Is there a special name for these?  It's odd to call them that.)  Issues were they were out of oranges (for a drink we tried to order), bloody mary mix (who cares that it was the afternoon), and the Kansas City Bao Buns.  Tried a couple of other appetizers.  At this point, the ahi tuna and the crab rangoon (both recommended by the server) will not keep me coming back for more.  They were fine, but nothing new in the taste profile.  (One note: the little cucumber/radish salad served with the tuna, while attractive, was a watery, tasteless little disappointment.  No brightness, just bitter.)  Drinks (and presentation) focused on the pretty.  So many flowers sacrificed.  Had the F-Bomb "martini" and the Tijuana Mistress.  Light on the alcohol, strong on the sweet, but I may order the Mistress again when I do go back for a second try.  I'd like to see the Sky Bar sometime.  A little too packed to make it up there today.  Dad loved the people watching, and note to the server, he was really kidding with 97% of the crap he gave you.  At least he usually tips pretty well.

Came home, vegged in front of the tv for awhile, been mucking around on the computer.  New name is inspired by a t-shirt I just bought.  

That's it.  More plans made already for next weekend's trekking.

Foods That Scare Me (a little)

My daughter is making sucking noises.  She's eating edamame stir fried with soy sauce, honey, and chili garlic sauce.  It's delicious, but it's turning my stomach a little right now.  I am planning on a different snack this evening:

 

I have a list of things that I think I want to try.  I'm supposed to be an adventurous eater.  Adventurous, perhaps, for being (mostly) raised in Iowa and coming from a (mainly) Swedish background (where Lutefisk was only served to my uncle, once a year.) 

I want to prove my worthiness.  I want to survive the food gauntlet.  (I'm kidding.)

My list of intimidating foods is (partially) as follows:

snails

sweetbreads

Lutefisk (I think I am finally ready for one of those church suppers)

durian

natto

rabbit

pickled watermelon rind

tripe (I've had this, but I don't think I've had it prepared correctly.  So many people like it and I feel like I am missing something.)

congee

black pudding (will probably have this soon at Anchor Fish and Chips)

various pig parts

chicken feet

soft shell crabs

I also want to like my intimidating foods.  Which brings me to the source of my guilt.

Last weekend I tried the soft shell crab.  

I love the place I bought the sandwich.  I wouldn't say a bad thing about the business, ever, ever.  It's me, it's my failing.  No Sam, I did not like the soft shell crab sandwich even if it has delicious pickled ramp tartar.  See?  It's beautiful:

I tried, I really tried.  There is something about the chewy and the thought of shell.  Then I got about half-way through it and I looked and I saw it's hepatopancreas and I gagged a little.  It's totally my fault, my weakness.  It's a texture and thought thing totally which doesn't bode well for a lot of the items on my list.  I know other people love them and thank god for those people.  Please try them, you might like them.  Don't let my failing be your guide.

This weekend my order will be the pulled pork nachos.  Kingfield Farmer's Market is opening this weekend!

Ugh.  Now she's slurping on a Sugar Daddy.  

"What, you don't like rice?" or Leftovers

My mom was a scientist in the kitchen.  She had a degree in home economics from the University of Minnesota.  Recipes were followed with precision.  It irritated her when measuring spoons were dispensed with and approximations were made.  To my taste, my mother's cooking was very successful.  But again, to my taste, there were a few notable exceptions.

One such dish was Tuna Rice Patties (click and cook at your own peril.)  Something about the tinny, canned tuna combined with rice and egg that made me gag.  It's a recipe that is made for leftover rice, but I am pretty sure my mom made rice just to make the patties.    One night, when I was around the age of 12, I refused a dinner of the tasty treat.  Nothing else was available to me and I knew it.  It was house policy to eat what was put in front of you.  I had great pleasure telling my grandmother the next day that they didn't give me anything to eat.  She didn't fall for it.

One of my sisters loves tuna rice patties to this day.  The other sister won't touch any rice based on The Lost Boys.  This is a scar she has carried with her since she was a child and a quick Google search reveals she isn't the only one who walked away from that movie feeling less inclined towards the white, fluffy staple.  I'm not sure why most people, including her, don't have the same feelings about noodles.  (Awesome, do click this link.)

Other dishes my mom made that I could not stand at the time include egg foo young (seriously, what is that slimy crap that is served with those?) and chow mein (gag, again--cooked celery.)  After I came back from college I actually requested the chow mein and pushed aside the celery and asked for more crispy noodles to have with the ground pork, water chestnuts, and sprouts and more rice.  Still cannot stomach any egg foo young.

Something else that I was always pretty suspicious of was fried rice.  Mom made it on occasion.  Rice and soy sauce and ham and egg?  Leftover vegetables?  Ugh.  Salty and otherwise tasteless and what I still see as a coward's way out of a Chinese restaurant. 

Which finally brings me to my point.  I made this for dinner:

It's kim chee fried rice!  It was so good.  I checked out a few recipes, but basically it is meat of your choice or no meat at all (I used my lo bulgogi), kim chee, whatever veg you may have around, a little soy sauce, and LEFTOVER rice.  Dice up the meat ( I saw lots of recommendations for Spam), dice up the kim chee, throw in the extras (I had diced green onions in the fridge), and then stir-fry it up in a little butter.  (I blinked when I saw butter since I am so used to using olive oil for everything, but I could taste the difference.)  When it's good and hot, throw in the rice and the soy sauce (other recipes also used a red pepper paste--had to Google that and will be putting it on a future shopping list.)  Crisp up the rice to taste, making sure everything gets incorporated with everthing else and the whole thing turns lovely colors.  Finished with a little toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds.  I added some chopped garlic chives too.  Tasty.  Some of the recipes called for a fried egg to be served on top, but I was in a sentimental mood and went with the scrambled-egg-in-fried-rice method.  I like my own cooking.  Morgan wasn't home.

I'm a little concerned I am going to be up all night.  I didn't sleep last night and today I did the fall-asleep-on-the-couch-for-20-minutes-after-work thing and have been wide awake since.  I'm making a vegetable stock (for the first time) for a vegetable soup that I am making tomorrow for a vegetarian friend.  It's still got awhile to reduce, then strain, then find a place in the fridge for it.

Bulgogi on a Sunday Night

It's been awhile.  I am back with bulgogi.  It's the first time I've made it and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It looked a little more saucy and was a little more sticky than what I've had in the past.  In fact, it really does look more like a teriyaki. I think I let it marinate too long, but even Morgan said she would eat it again.  I used a recipe from Chow, but I will probably continue to search until I find something more "authentic." The kim chee (which I've been craving and was the whole reason I made this) came from Don Yang Oriental Foods in Columbia Heights.  

Mill City Farmer's Market opened up again this weekend!  It meant Indian Spice Mini Donuts from the Chef Shack and Harukei turnips and goat cheese.  The weather was chilly, but it was worth it.

We bought greenhouse-grown brandywine and a purple/black tomato.  They weren't as tasty as the in-season tomatoes will be, but they were certainly better than anything that can be found in grocery stores right now.  Dinner was bacon, lettuce kale, and tomato sandwiches, with a turnip and greens saute on the side.  I used uncured bacon from Whole Foods which I will never use again because it was paper thin and just not bacon-y enough.  I thought I was incredibly clever to use braised kale instead of lettuce (I'm becoming of the opinion that lettuce on a sandwich/burger/whatever--anything but a salad--is superfluous.)  I added dried Thai chili to give it a little kick.  I made my own mayo (used very sparingly) and the bread--sourdough (really?) and garlic--came from the market too.  A meal heavy on the greenery, but that made up for the "bacon."

So lots has been happening--a few shows,  awesome book "discoveries," dinners out and dinners at home, company, surgery, healing--the norms.  If I can manage to get back into this, I plan to share.

Hot Wax

Morgan and I spent an evening at the Aveda Institute (having taken advantage of a recent Groupon) where we both got very awesome haircuts.  (If you see me at work tomorrow and think otherwise, please don't tell me.)  I did, however, spend part of the evening looking like an angry clown because of an eyebrow wax.  After dumping about a half a vial of oil on the viciously painful, seared skin above my eyes, it finally calmed down and I am back to looking normal.  (If you see me at work tomorrow and you think otherwise, again, mum's the word.)

I tend to make bad food decisions when I am as hungry and as tired as I was when I we left Aveda tonight.  Mo wanted burgers so we stopped at a place which I am not going to name.  Had an incredibly irritating experience.  Two tables had food almost instantly after ordering and we still had to wait another 20 minutes for our food.  We were literally about two minutes away from walking out when the manager (evidently) brought us our food.  I asked him what was up and he had to go back to the kitchen to find out.  Apparently the kitchen ran out of burgers (?) and no one came to tell us it was going to be a few.  Now Morgan said I can be a bit bitchy when I give restaurants "feedback."   I honestly, honestly wasn't angling for this, but we ended up being comp'd the entire meal.  I don't think that there is anything wrong about letting establishments know about what happens.  Its definitly more truthful and straightforward than coming home and mouthing off at how bad it was on my blog while sending out there a searchable name that could potentially affect someone's business (not that I think I am that important in my little corner of the world, but I don't want to do anyone any harm and I hear it happens.)  (Okay, maybe I named names a couple of times, but I try to make it clear that it is more my preferences that are interferring with the enjoyment of the particular place I've chosen-or was dragged to.)  I don't do this all of the time and I do let servers know when I do have a really great time (which is more often than not.) 

So, as one should in situations such as these I left a very decent tip for the waitress.  Though perhaps she should have told us we would be waiting.  The burgers were hot and shaped...funny.  Mine appeared to have appendages.  That's about all I can say.  They aren't worth going back for, especially in risking a repeat of the evening.  But I am still not telling you where it was.

Burgers always sit in my stomach like a rock.  I don't know why I order them.

3.14

Someone dropped the pi.

It wasn't me!  That's all I'm saying.

Chicken Teriyaki with Spinach

I have been so sick.  Really, I've been sick on and off since my birthday.  Killer cold, pink eye, and most recently, a really disgusting virus.

I was convinced I would never eat again.

Thankfully I'm back to eating and finally feeling like myself.

What was for dinner tonight?

I triple washed the spinach myself!  It actually had organic dirt on it.  I'm really sick of baby spinach and the furry mouth feel I get from the uniformly shaped leaves.  They stick in the roof of my mouth too.

Awesome chicken, not from water-plumped, frozen bricks.  Had to be stir-fried.  I wish I still had a cast iron grill pan, but that went in the great kitchen purge of '08 along with my electric skillet.  I don't miss that nearly as much.

I made the teriyaki sauce myself.  Morgan thought this was the best part of the meal.

With sushi rice and green onion.  And toasted sesame oil on the spinach.

More to come.  Not more on this dinner, but on other dinners and some excellent happenings and deep thoughts.

Squirrel Action in Loring Park

Eating at Home

I am so proud of myself.  I ate dinner at home every night this week, except for Thursday when I had (very good) homemade tacos at my brother and sister-in-law's house.)  On Sunday night I made an omelet (left over Brussels sprouts and cheese), Monday I had Pacific Organic Creamy Tomato with grilled cheese (levain from Rustica and gouda) and Wednesday night and tonight I had a cabbage-green onion-cucumber-peanut-chicken-Thai peanut sauce salad.  Tuesday night was a late night at work so I felt like cheese and crackers ( I mean I felt like eating cheese and crackers.  I didn't feel like a cracker or bleu cheese.)  But I ate at home all week!

Thursday night was another babysitting night.  He wasn't as happy as last time.  He was very tired and realized mom and dad weren't there early on in the evening.  We read lots of books and I sang a lot of "Baby Beluga."  He kept doing that thing where he would begin to fall asleep and then snap awake.  He did put his head on my shoulder while we walked laps around the house and that is about the sweetest thing a baby can do.  I finally did get him to go to sleep.

When I was walking little Ricky around the house, I caught myself in the living room mirror.  I think I avoid mirrors that would show me more of my body than just my face.  I was really shocked to see how I look. I really hate how I've gotten.  It's causing more than a few self-esteem problems.  If you've been reading, you know that I am a little addicted to going out, trying new places and new foods, and ice cream.  I've also been reading a lot of Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan and I have just finished Mark Bittman's Food Matters.  I am going to try to follow Bittman's plan of eating plants and fruits and whole grains (and the occasional milk or egg based product) in the day time and then eating whatever else I want to at night, avoiding "food like substances."

I am having trouble giving up my morning muffin, but I did pretty good otherwise this week.

I am going to the Red Stag for dinner tomorrow night--and karaoke with Mark Wheat!  It will be plants and fruits all day tomorrow.

I'll let you know how all of this goes.

Since Wednesday

I stayed up far too late on Friday night.  I cannot do that anymore.

So, since Wednesday, a few things have been done/have happened.  On Wednesday afternoon, I had a Very Important Appointment Where Many Things Were Decided.  After that, dinner was bought for me at the Coffee News Cafe.

We've been a bunch of times and always ordered a variety of things, and have never been too terribly disappointed.  The fries are always awesome (even if my dining partner orders them with cheese and the fries are microwaved until it's a soggy pile of garlic, cheese, and fried potatoes) and they have desserts that always look pretty.  We ordered one of the desserts, my daughter's now perpetual favorite (anywhere) Red Velvet Cake.  It was less cakey than cream-cheese-frostingy and that wasn't thought to be a really bad thing.  It was also eaten (partially) as an appetizer.

On the other hand (and here's where the terribly disappointed part comes in) I ordered the polenta cakes and tomato sauce.  Polenta was tasteless.  The sauce had the occasional nice mushroom. That's all I will say.  Morgan liked her french dip though the beef was oddly thick sliced.  She did complain about the size of the pickle it came with, though this (bad cell phone pic) makes it look deceptively large.  Perspective will do that.

Thursday night was my first time getting to babysit my nephew!  We had the best time, running around the house and playing peek-a-boo and beating on things with spatulas (he likes to cook.)  That was until he got tired and realized mom and dad were not home.  Big alligator tears.  Luckily, at 14 months, he loves to be read to and loves to be sung to even more.  I sang/read Baby Beluga to him while he flipped the pages back and forth and I tried to keep up, singing a different version of the song with each (out of order) page turn.  After that comfort no longer worked, we walked around the house until he decided that the Beatles magnet on the refrigerator was the most fascinating thing to look at.  I took it off of the fridge and we snuggled while he stared at it and I sang the chorus to "Yellow Submarine" with "do do dos" for the other parts because I couldn't remember the rest of the words.  This also lasted a half hour.  The last half hour before he finally closed his eyes was whispering The Little Blue Truck.  I found he paid close attention when I whispered and the rhyming words lulled him into that sweet relaxed baby state.  I was so happy to get that time with the little one and I can't wait until next week when I see him again!

Thursday night also brought the arrival of my newest nephew.  Mom and baby are both well.  I got to see him on Saturday afternoon.  Here's another picture in case you missed the first ones. I think he looks like one of the dolls from Kathe Kruse in this picture.

Friday night.  Out until 3am. The Current 5th Anniversary Birthday Party at First Ave.  Super fantastic show.  The Twilight Hours, POS, and Solid Gold, plus seeing (old and not-so-old) friends.  It was O'Donovan's for Stella and fish and chips beforehand and 7th Ave Mickey's (I really like the beans) afterward.  I also had my first Surly Furious.  Tastes like grapefruit.  A breakfast beer!

I'm in love!  Saturday morning found me stumbling blindly to Rustica at 8:30 in the morning with another great friend.  The beautiful latte woke my brain up.   The Pistachio Chocolate Danish woke up my tongue (I proceeded to talk non-stop after that, sorry.)  The danish was incredibly light, more like a croissant than what I now realize are poor, soggy substitutes for this confection.  Crunchy pistachios, creamy melted chocolate, heaven.  Bostock was also ordered and said to be equally as amazing.  When the description was being given, all I heard was, "brioche, dipped in (something), baked, almond paste, baked."  It sounded like some kind of ethereal french toast.  I'll be back before too long and I might stay until lunch because I want to try the confit chicken salad sandwich.


The rest of Saturday was quiet (because I was sleeping.)  The visit to the baby was wonderful and movie with the kid (Whip It) was not so wonderful.  I mean the time with the kid was great, the movie not so.  Today is more sleep, laundry, and it will be an omelet with leftovers (mmm, caramelized brassicas) and gouda for dinner.


I never thought of my self as a picky person, but I think I am becoming so.  Maybe it's my advancing age.

My Nephews

My new nephew was born this week!

Take Out Tuesday & TV

I work late on Tuesdays and usually am not in the mood to make something for dinner.  Tonight on my way home I stopped at La Fogata in Brooklyn Park (9660 Colorado Lane N.)  I think you might notice that I am always looking for a flavor I had once upon a time or perhaps I just know what my preferences are and base my judgments on my favorite of the bunch.  Remember back a few posts ago when I talked about the place in Iowa City that had the awesome (possibly plastic) queso and jalapeno dip?  At that same restaurant I would habitually order the Tacos de Carne Asada.  It came with three soft tortillas, perfectly seared asada, brothy beans, and a melt-your-face-off sauce.  I think the sauce had a base of tomatillos.  This was not a salsa verde, but a thinner sauce with peppers and cilantro and other lovely things.  I've never had it again.

La Fogata is a brightly colored space, with murals and carved wood features covering the walls and furniture.  It has a bar where several people were enjoying margaritas.  (I don't think they had those to go.)  The restaurant has an extensive menu featuring seafood, "fresh and homemade!"  I went for the Tacos de Carne Asada as you might have guessed.   It came with soft tortillas, asada that was not quite well-seared or grilled, pico de gallo, the standard rice and beans, and a sauce.  This was not like the revered sauce of the Iowa City days, but I think it runs a close second, maybe fourth.  Not quite melt-your-face-off, but still had a nice burn.  They also threw in a big bag of chips and (rather sweet) salsa.  I don't think I will be going back to La Fogata anytime soon as I was not that impressed, but if they can bottle the sauce and I can take it home, I might stop by.

SPOILER ALERT for anyone who missed CSI: Miami last night. 

(I've always wanted to say that.)

The storyline was a complete stretch, trying to prove that a farming conglomerate caused the death of two people who ate produce from the farms that the conglomerate owned.  The CSI team searched and searched, but in an hour they discovered that both Ecoli and botulism were present in the food that the two people consumed.  One bacteria was caused by cow feces in the water that sprayed the fields and the other by a genetically engineered corn that made cellulose easier to digest, but also created (on occasion) the toxins that lead to botulism.  There was also a side story provided by a small farmer that mentioned the watchword of "drift" (when seeds or pesticides, etc. move from one farmer's field to another unintentionally) and the (hmmm, oddly familiar) tale that he had been sued by the conglomerate when some of the GMOs were found in his field. In the end they got the bad guy, the CEO of the company.  If only real life more accurately mirrored TV.

It's obvious some writer for that show has been reading Food Politics.

I think this is important:  Monsanto

What Happened This Weekend

I thought I would be all better by Monday.  I was really looking forward to it.  I haven't been this sick in years.  It's come down to just a cough (a wracking cough) and a little stuffy.  I was coughing so much at work that I put my neighbor off her sandwich.  I'm sorry.

And I lost my wallet on Friday night.  Did not discover it until Saturday morning.  I watched my bank account while cleaning out everything: coat pockets, my purse, the car.  Nothing was happening on the account so I figured it had to be somewhere in the house, somewhere I wasn't looking in the car.  Found lots of interesting things under the seats, but no wallet.  I crawled around the floor in the house thinking it might have flown out of something I was carrying but no luck.  I finally canceled the cards today and tomorrow I am going for a new driver's license. 

The process did not prove entirely useless.  Car is somewhat clean (at least the gross stuff from under the seats is gone, weird what you'll find) and I discovered my favorite Two Faced lip gloss had leaked and it was incredibly sticky in the bottom of my purse.  That's taken care of now.

On Saturday I ended up in St. Paul three times playing chauffeur.  The first trip was made all the more enjoyable by a side trip to Trung Nam for a cinnamon croissant and iced coffee.   I am not necessarily a fan of the bahn mi, Saigon is far superior.  On the way back from my second trip, I stopped at 88 Oriental Foods (291 University Avenue West, St Paul, MN 55103-2089.)  I used to go there quite frequently when I lived in St. Paul.  I ordered the chicken curry with sticky rice and a stick of the bbq pork.  I have to say that I was disappointed.  The curry didn't have the savory deliciousness that I remembered and the pork was greasy and fatty.  I expect some grease and some fat, but I was picking the (tiny) pieces of meat out of the fat, instead of the other way around.

I keep hoping that one day that 88 Oriental Foods will have these um, chewy balls that I have had a few times.  I think they might be an acquired taste as they are a bit odd.  One time that I bought them, I was with someone once they refused to look at them, let alone taste them.  I would love it if someone could clue me in to what they are.  I'll describe. I thought perhaps they were made tapioca or glutinous rice (I can't find any pictures on the net that look like them) because they were clear-ish, but cloudy.  They were rather bouncy and chewy in the mouth (bit of a bizarre description) and had a bbq'd pork filling.  They had the fried garlic bits and cilantro on top of them.  Does anyone know what they are?

I won't give up on 88 Oriental entirely.  I want to find those balls again!  I'm hoping that the Laab is good, provided they could make it up for me without tripe.  Not a fan.  It's priced well and the portions are large.  Maybe I was in on an off day.  I'll give it another chance.

In the evening I watched My Life in Ruins with Morgan.  Even she, bad movie aficionado that she is, agreed that this movie is awful.  And then back to St. Paul again.

Book club was on Sunday.  We didn't discuss the book much, or at least I didn't.  I read it months ago before the club took a bit of a hiatus.  We did have an interesting trip to United Noodles.  I always get a bit overwhelmed in there.  I want so much to try cooking with so much I see.  It's time for a couple more cookbooks I think.  I walked out of United Noodles with Hello Kitty fruit candy and some dumpling sauce.  We had dinner at Quang.  Had the Bun Thit, Nem Nuong- grilled meatballs and beef salad.  I still prefer the other restaurant (see list of favorite places), but Quang is good too.  Lovely iced coffee too.  Rather amusing end to the evening.  I thought my friend got the movie from Netflix; she thought I owned it.  We broke up early.

It's leftovers for dinner.

Party Pizza

I started reading What to Eat by Marion Nestle last night.  I read the chapter on organic foods.  Mostly a discussion of the whys and hows organic food might be better for you.  She comes down on the side of the organic yes, and she does convince me.  I wandered around the organic section of Cub (it's on my way home) (wandering may be too of an expansive of a word, the section is tiny) and was overwhelmed by the prices and choices.  So I walked out of the grocery store with a party pizza and Imagine Whirled Peace (no rBGH!)

I wanted to sit on the couch and watch TV tonight.  I wanted to eat my party pizza.  I turned my oven on and a few minutes later, noticed that the oven was especially fragrant this evening.  I went into the kitchen to get an idea of how fast the temperature was rising and noticed there was smoke coming out of the vented burner.  I opened the oven and discovered a smoking patch of blackness.  I have no idea what was dumped in the oven.  I haven't used it in a long time.  I spent a good half hour fanning the alarms and encouraging the smoke to leave out the back door.  So no party pizza and I have another task added to the weekend's list:  clean the oven.  Joy.

On the other hand, the Imagine Whirled Peace is now gone.

Ninety-Seven Cent Squirrel

 

I had a really lovely evening out with friends.  Little shopping beforehand where I picked up a darling little squirrel at post-post Christmas prices at Pottery Barn.  Trip to Borders netted another Marion Nestle book (someday all this reading is going to do me some good.)  We were looking at the comedy section and about losing it over Cake Wrecks when I saw the Nestle book stuck in the middle of humor.  I thought that was a sign I should buy it.  Dinner at Granite City in Maple Grove.  Bloody Mary (passable, but it had a pickle so it earns at least one point) and calamari (tasty.)  I am beginning to think that the idea of a burger is much better than its manifestation.  I ate half of the half-pound Bleu Peppercorn and it's sitting in my stomach like a rock.  Sad.  But the company was fabulous!

I walked into the apartment and almost forgot to turn on the TV!  But then I didn't.  Background noise.


I'm feeling a bit better tonight and my thoughts are turning to the weekend.  Tomorrow is Friday!  I think that calls for a movie and ignoring the things I need to get done until Saturday.  These are the things I plan to do:


dishes
laundry
pick up a friend from the airport (will you please send me the info? :)
more dishes
cook a little soup
host book club (Neuromancer, dinner at Quang, trip to United Noodles, & Johnny Mnemomic)
clean up my space in order to host book club
take some pictures
write
email another distant cousin I've "met" because of Ancestry.com
long talk with my daughter
more laundry
read


I am so looking forward to feeling completely better.

Whine

Four hour (fitful) nap and I still can't breathe.  It's just getting worse.  I'm out of kleenex and have used up half of the toilet paper in the house.

The good news is that my home is once again filled with the dulcet tones of network television.  My dad fixed my TV (try that with a flat screen!)  I think it had been about a month without one which really was fine.  I lifted it off of my hopechest (doubling for a TV stand) without unplugging the cable from the wall.  Crack.  It's all better now.


He took my poor, sick self to Quang where I had a bowl of nice spicy pho.  I thought it would clear me out, but unfortunately the fix was only temporary and I am left with a full tummy and a stuffed head.


This is all very irritating. 

Sick, Sick, Sick

Having survived the gauntlet of fast food that is my drive home, I think I am going to have carrots and hummus for dinner.  That is, if I feel like eating.  I think I used half a box of kleenex at work.  I wish I had a portable humidifier.  Do they make such a thing?


I think I will (briefly) think about more pleasant things and then once again crawl into bed with Food Politics and the humidifier on the highest setting.


More pleasant things:  

Where I Would Like to Go in the Coming Months
OM (possibly a class) 
Saffron
Piccolo
Cooper
Tiger Sushi (again)

Can't think.  Need suggestions.

I forgot to buy more cat food.

Two Stories

The laundry is in.  In exactly an hour I will need to move it so my neighbors don't have to (we all seem to wash clothes Monday night) and I don't want any of my neighbors to have to touch my...laundry.

I had leftovers for dinner.

I've been looking forward to going to the Red Stag Supperclub for a long time now.   I was very interested in what I heard about it, being a LEED-certified building (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System™) and focused on using local, organic ingredients.  The Red Stag chef participated in a demo at the Mill City Farmer's Market and those always make me want to run out and try the restaurants right away (that's how I tried Sea Change for the first time--at their soft opening.)

I love brunch, I love breakfast out.  It's probably the easiest meal to prepare (except for maybe Hell's Kitchen huevos rancheros--have you seen the list of ingredients for that dish in Damn Good Food: 157 Recipes from Hell's Kitchen?)  Sometimes I feel guilty for not making omelets at home or attempting my own hollandaise sauce for another favorite, Eggs Benedict (especially Grand Cafe's with housemade gravlax.  And it's within walking distance!)  And I can't always reproduce some of my favorite Bloody Mary recipes at home.  So it's more than worth to go out, especially with a great friend.

We had reservations for 10:30, but when we got there we discovered they weren't necessarily needed.  (I think that's more of a night thing.)  I love the building.  It's all wood and beams and an open kitchen.  So comfortable and warm.  (That sounds so seriously dorky, but it really was!)

And delicious!

I had coffee (very good) and a Bloody Mary (of course!)  It was nice and spicy and had all of the vegetables I like in my bloodies, a salad in a glass!)  I had the Green Eggs and Ham.  The finely shredded hashbrowns were buttery on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside.  The biscuit was fresh, the poached egg perfect--no sign of an overcooked yolk, and the hollandaise with a little green herbed oil was delicious.  My friend had the Buckwheat Pancakes with Hazelnut Butter.  I'm always wary of pancake with anything but buttermilk, but these were light and fluffy with a nuttiness (is that a word?) and earthly flavor from the butter and buckwheat.

I may have made up my mind to love this place before I was ever there, but I cannot wait to go back.  Plans are in the works to go on February 6th to see Mark Wheat host karaoke with dinner beforehand.  Super excited for that too.  I think I might try the Brick Pressed Chicken.

Then I went home and took a long nap.

Late in the afternoon, I drove down to Apple Valley to try Wild Bill's Sports Saloon with Molly.  It's very similar to Buffalo Wild Wings, which incidentally is right around the corner from Wild Bill's.  A large selection of various sauces that can go on many different fried things.

A lesson learned:  don't go to a sports bar (or saloon or whatever it calls itself) on a football Sunday, especially when the Vikings football game started at noon and most of the people in the bar have been there since then.  There were girls on the tables and PDAs that I didn't want to see while I had my dinner.

I ordered a Coke (horrors!), but I thought it would be good with the meal.  We ordered the boneless wings, four with Sesame Asian and four with Wild Bill's Orange Sauce.  I'm not usually much of a fruit/meat person (horrible memories of my grandmother's crockpot porkchops and peaches) but I thought I would try it and I thought for sure I would like the Asian sauce.  The "wings" came out right away, crispy on the outside still because they hadn't sat in the sauce too long.  As it turns out, I really liked the Orange Sauce and the Sesame Asian was horrible.  Overly salty and flavorless.  No sesames.

We finished those off in short order.  We ordered a Bourbon Teriyaki Chicken sandwich and a BBQ Pork Sandwich with Bill's Homemade BBQ and Smothered Poker Chips.  And then we waited.

And we waited.
And we waited.
All the while being treated to the antics in the bar.

Literally an hour later (I don't know why we didn't leave) our sandwiches were brought to us.  The chicken was okay, not thrilling (though it came with crinkly cut fries and those are something Molly loves) and the "pulled" pork was incredibly dense and nearly BBQ-less (I could only eat half of it and how often do you hear me say that?)  The smothered potato disks were covered with "queso" (mmm, plastic cheese), bacon, and green onion.  Um, delicious.

Because of the wait, the waitress cheerfully comped our drinks.

I still won't go back there.  Molly, we have to find another place in Apple Valley.

I have an extremely sore throat (thanks Morgan) so I am cranking up the humidifier and going to bed to read more about the food industry and think about changes I need to make.

I'm tired.

I think restaurant week wore me out.  Visited a couple more places today.  Will write about them tomorrow while I am doing laundry.

Will now read Food Politics by Marion Nestle.

Rule 59

I doubt Michael Pollan meant his Rule 59 to include the meal my family indulged in this evening, but certainly none of us ate alone.

I grew up in one of those mythical families that had dinner together 99% of the time.  I won't pretend that every dinner was a cozy family experience.  Sometimes I didn't want to be there, especially when Mom made Egg Foo Young.  As is expected with young children, I don't think any of us appreciated the work my mom went through to make us (non-processed, real food) dinners and I don't know that any of us appreciated the company we were privileged to have either.  Still, I can remember meals that were delicious and meals that were hilarious and meals where everyone was happy.

From my fifth grade journal (click to enlarge):

I still like Brussels sprouts.

So tonight my family ate at Il Gatto.   The Parasole "family of restaurants" seem to be maligned by the foodies of the local community.  If you look at my list of favorite restaurants to the right, you will see Salut! listed.  I'm not sure it's always for the food.  We have celebrated many meals together at Salut and tonight at Il Gatto for the first time, we celebrated my birthday.  As we children have become adults we have come to really appreciate the time we spend together, especially over meals.

Unless we're at Dad's place, it's usually out if we want to have a big sit-down dinner.  Both Salut and Il Gatto can accommodate us.  Whatever the foodies say, it's better than Applebee's or TGI Fridays, less expensive than La Belle Vie or Heartland.  Although the din my family creates would be only part of the noise of a chain restaurant used to family diners, I doubt we would be appreciated at a fine linen and chef-driven establishment.  We save those places for smaller, quieter times and we rarely congregate at a chain.  (For some reason, there are a couple members of my family that really like Red Lobster.)

We were seated in an area just to the left of the front door, but the traffic was rarely noticeable because the area was so secluded.  At first I was a little disappointed because I hardly saw the restaurant before we were ushered in (never got to see the kitty pictures), but this turned out to be a great place for us.  It had a table large enough to seat all of us including a high chair, but still comfortable enough that we could talk and be heard and easily pass plates.

The high chair was needed for my year-old nephew who amazingly sat through the entire meal.  For a good deal of the time he also occupied most of the adults' attention.  He is hilarious and loud and hungry.  (He's also about the cutest kid I've ever seen and I cannot tell you how much I love that little boy.)  I think if he could talk he would recommend the olives, chicken wings, gnocchi, asparagus, french fries, roasted potatoes, fried egg, and lemon from the water.  (What's up with the fried eggs?  Why are they everywhere?  I'm kidding, I know...maybe.)  He would also especially recommend the spumoni sundae that was brought to me (second free dessert of the week--this one with a sparkler!)

All told, my family ordered olives and salted almonds (good, but could do at home), two orders of wings (one of the two sauces was awesome), raw oysters (ehh), fries (mmmm), grilled asparagus (that's what I get for ordering it out of season), roasted beets (were enjoyed), sausage grinder (agreed to be very good, especially by the person who ordered it), Get the Porchetta (I do think she liked it), the gnocchi (is there any other way to describe good gnocchi other than pillowy?), bistecca (cooked medium rare perfectly, but the gorgonzola "crust" was more like a bunch of cheese just thrown on top), cavatappi (good, but chicken was virtually non-existent), marlin (a very nice piece of fish, but I thought the breading was unnecessary), and two orders of scallops, one simply grilled and one seared (both very good.)   Also ordered were two dirty martinis (what's up with all the fruit in the "special" drinks?), various beers, three glasses of wine, strawberry lemonade, bomboloni (little too much cinnamon), and three chocolate bundino (loved that ice cream!)

We all had a great time and I think the only person who was bothered by us was the girl seated near the opening of the enclave that I caught shooting us dirty looks whenever the little one would squeal.  Evidently she mistook Il Gatto for some place she could have a sophisticated evening out.  It's Uptown and it's loud, a little crowded, and we were having fun.

(What's up with the tiny bathroom litter box?)

Service was great and friendly (as can be expected 95% of the time from the Parasole family.)

I got ID' again.

And my family had a great time.

(Pictures tomorrow.)

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

Free Dessert

I am so thirsty.  I had 64 ounces of water at work today. I am still thirsty after drinking more than one pitcher of water at dinner single-handedly.  I am wondering if it's a testament to the amount of sodium I am consuming during restaurant week.  I haven't looked in the mirror to see how puffy I look.  I am afraid.

Morgan and I went out with her grandmother for a perfectly nice dinner at Chianti Grill in Roseville.  First free dessert of the week.  And I got ID' for my (awful) bloody mary! Driving home (after one bloody mary and a ton of food) I realized that all three of us ordered the exact same thing the last time we were there.

So much to do tomorrow and then Il Gatto!

Rachel Hutton really didn't like Il Gatto, which is fine because I really don't like her...review.  Maybe I am just sensitive to the snide comment she made about large groups of people celebrating birthdays at the restaurant....

I think I hear one of the cats ralphing.


Crawling into bed to read yet more Pollan.  I am on to In Defense of Food and Food Rules.

My Pants Fit Funny

On this day two of Restaurant Week (or three or four when you count Saturday's visit to The Herkimer [great time with a great friend] and Monday's visit to Cocina Latina) and my clothing is doing something funny.  Either I am smaller (doubt) or I am have stretched it so much that's falling off.  And four more restaurants to go.  Yes, four.  In addition to Red Stag for brunch on Sunday, I will be venturing to Apple Valley for a go at Wild Bill's with another awesome friend.  Next week it's all organic salads and meatless stir-frys.  

Except for Thursday when I am going out again.

Just back from Barrio a bit ago.  There's been a bit of a discussion over on Chowhound with opposing terms like "overrated" and "excellent."  After tonight's visit, I'd have to agree that both words fall into my experience.



I have the best friends in the world and tonight's dining companion is no exception.  We got to the St. Paul location during happy hour (4-6 pm), ordered a couple of drinks.  I had the Barrio happy hour marg (tiny! thankfully, but why was there salt only on one side of the glass?) and her the Mama Cita (Tequila Hibiscus punch with a splash of Cava).  It made her a bit punchy (ha!)  We gorged ourselves on another happy hour special:  chips, three salsas, and guacamole.  I liked the chips.  They were crispy, not oily or too much salt, not out of a bag.  The guac was awesome and fresh which was good because the processed stuff usually sits in my stomach like a rock.  I tried the salsa closest to me, assuming because it looked the most like a "fresh" salsa that it would be the mildest one.  My friend dipped into it before I was able to warn her it was the hot one and it took awhile to cool her off (she's not one for the hot stuff.)  I liked it of course.  The other two salsas were a tomatillo and what looked like some kind of roasted pepper.  I found both of them surpisingly sweet and not entirely to my taste.  Of course it could be that my tastebuds were totally thrown off by the first salsa.  It's interesting that this particular presentation is not on the on-line happy hour menu and I wonder how much the chips and salsa were a bow to peoples' expectations of a "Mexican" restaurant.

Happy hour progressed and we thought we would try another small plate, the Queso Fundito.  This is where things went a little south (pardon the pun.)  My standard of queso fundito may have been tuned to the expectations I formed when eating at two particular Mexican restaurants when living in Iowa City, Cancun and El Ranchero (though current reviews are quite split, they were loved back in the day.)  The queso at those two restaurants perhaps is not comparable to the queso that Barrio attempts, but it was far creamier (made with plastic cheese perhaps?) and the jalapeno chunks were discernable and had taste.  Unfortunately this was not the case with the cast-iron contained dish I had tonight.  The cheese is out of the box for the standards of "regular" queso and perhaps I should have known better than to expect anything less at a Tim McKee (name dropping!) establishment, but it didn't have the mouth feel of a well blended concoction of what is essentially a cheese dip.  (That makes it sound like I was expecting Cheese Wiz.  No, thank you.)  What I did expect, as promised, were some poblano peppers which were no where in attendance.  It also had the gritty feel of a cheese sauce that is beginning to separate.  Well, I just ripped all over that one, didn't I?  Perhaps it is that I love cheese so much and was so greatly disappointed.  No one wants to eat bad food, right?  (I admit I did anyways.  I have to stop that.)  Oh, and yeah, the tortillas that come with the queso came out with some hard edges.

Neither of us were full enough, or we told ourselves we weren't.  Happy hour was over and we decided to go for the big stuff. The have only a few "large plates" and although my friend lives only about a block away, she hadn't tried the bigger portions yet.  She ordered the SAUTÉED SHRIMP with tangerine-serrano mojo and cilantro rice.  It was excellent, an opinion shared by a few people I've read.  The shrimp were simply perfect.  It was because of the shrimp that my friend rated the dinner so high.  She let me try one when I forked over a bit of the GRILLED SKIRT STEAK with chile-lime-tequila butter and fried yucca that I ordered, which I also found to be awesome.  Really excellent flavors with that butter.  I'm liking this whole cassava/yucca thing.  They were fixed and fried like potatoes, but I felt somehow that I may have been eating something healthier than the average fried food (probably not.)  A couple downer notes.  There was entirely too much flavorless cilantro rice under the luscious shrimp and there was a really odd piece of romaine stuff in the middle of my plate that seemed to be there for nothing other than looks.  Please, don't waste good greens on plating or at least give it a nice little vinagrette that would fit with the rest of the dish.
One other problem that I hate to mention because the flavors were so excellent on the skirt steak.  Although the yucca came out right out of the fryer, the steak was at best, luke warm to downright cold.  I mentioned something to the waitress, not wanting a replacement or anything else but some feedback on a poorly timed plate and she ended up completely comping the dish.  Totally unnecessary, but indicative of the service that we recieved from her the entire time we were there.  (And the water guy kept my glass full which is half-embarrassing, half awesome.  I tend to drink about a gallon with every meal.  I've got great skin.)

Birthdays being an occasion to celebrate (all week), we had the churros with a Mexican chocolate sauce.  I wished there was more of the occasional zing of a nice hot spice in the chocolate, but it still was pretty good.

I think if you are super into tequilla, Barrio must be pretty close to nirvana.  Having to work the next day I wasn't much into them or the resulting issues that tequilla shots tend to cause in my being.  Though a nice, casual night with a couple of drinks and the chips and salsa plate might be just what's in order someday.

So, it was fun and I am glad I tried it.  Company was excellent.

Couple of notes:

It's been awhile since I've written and with these long posts, I've woken up in the middle of the night a couple of times with serious arm cramps.  Is that bizarre.

Cat food strike appears to be over.  Apparently they just got hungry enough to continue with the chicken and herring.

And thank you to my first commenter, la chinesepoblana.  Thank you for answering so many of my questions prompted by my visit to Concina Latina.  You are a super fantastic friend.

Would love some more comments, people.  I know you are out there.  Let me know if I am a self-important windbag who writes for her pleasure and her pleasure only (though your comment may be moderated, ha!), or let me know if you really like it.  And let me know if you would like to go out for dinner.