Favorite apple recipes

This holiday season, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is embracing the spirit of Christmas with a production of Annie. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, optimistic, red-headed Annie reminds audiences that better days are just around the corner with beloved songs like "Tomorrow."

For the past several years, my husband Mike and I have had a standing coffee date on Sunday mornings. Thanks to all of our coffee dates, we've developed a rotation of favorite local coffee shops.

It's time for my 14th annual summer recap in honor of my favorite season. This summer has had a strange liminal feel, as Mike and I split our time between the downtown Minneapolis condo we've been renting and officially purchased on August 31, and the suburban townhouse we've owned since 2012.

I go to the Minnesota State Fair for many reasons: nostalgia, the live entertainment, the livestock, the educational exhibits, the display cases full of prizewinning knitwear. But mostly, it's about the food.

The Minnesota State Fair is known for deep-fried food, including cheese curds, Pronto Pups, pickles, cookie dough (one of my faves!), and candy bars. But what if deep-fried food isn't your thing? No problem!

Most coverage of the Minnesota State Fair is food-focused, although the live entertainment, farm animals, butter sculptures, crop art, and Midway rides also garner plenty of attention. Something that usually doesn't get mentioned is that State Fair is great destination for history buffs—the Minnesota State Fair dates back to 1859, and many of the fairgrounds' buildings were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s.