When I moved to the Twin Cities, a scoop of raspberry chocolate chip ice cream was what convinced me to stick around. Since then, I've become an ice cream connoisseur, scouting out the best frozen treats in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the suburbs. If I'm going to treat myself, it has to be the good stuff: premium, housemade ice cream with natural ingredients and interesting flavors.
One of my favorite things about summer is dessert: dishes of ice cream, gourmet ice pops, blended coffee drinks with plenty of chocolate. But since I try to moderate my sugar consumption, my favorite frozen desserts are more of an occasional indulgence than a nightly treat. What do I do when there's a weeks-long heat wave? Make banana ice!
I fell hard for grilling last summer. For our first few years of home ownership, I avoided buying a grill because I hate owning stuff I use infrequently. Besides, as a mostly-vegetarian, what was I...
Mike and I share a love for sugary breakfast cereal. We buy the Malt-O-Meal varieties that come in huge plastic bags, because eating vast quantities of puffed sugar is a responsible choice if you're getting it for a fraction of the cost of name brand. I always eat breakfast cereal dry, nibbling it piece by piece as a dessert or afternoon snack. For Mike, it's his go-to breakfast, served with whole milk and the occasional drizzle of chocolate syrup.
Summer is my favorite season--I love the long sunny days, the warmer temperatures, and the abundance of local produce in my CSA box. But because summers in Minnesota are so short, cramming in all my favorite summer activities can be hectic. Consequently, my cooking routine becomes much simpler.
As longtime blog readers know, I'm in a mixed marriage: I eat a primarily vegetarian diet, while my husband Mike can't imagine a pizza without pepperoni. Since our dinners at home skew vegetarian, we try to find restaurants that will satisfy us both when we go out.
I have been on a soup kick lately, because soups--along with air-popped popcorn and microwaved bowls of quick oats--are what I turn to when I need an edible security blanket. The past few months have been a topsy-turvy period of transition, an effort to close the gap between the person I am and the person I want to be.
On my recent trip to Milwaukee for the Women in Travel Summit, Visit Milwaukee hosted me on the Milwaukee Food & City Tours Craft Breweries & Cocktails Bus tour. Milwaukee is known as the home of brewing giants like Miller, but this tour focuses on small craft breweries and distilleries before they become famous.
Popcorn is my snack food of choice: a tub at the movies, a bag of kettle corn to nibble on at the farmer's market, a box of Cracker Jack at the baseball game. But most of the time, I enjoy my popcorn as a snack at home, and I'm in a flavor rut--all I ever do is add salt. Barlean's recent challenge to develop a recipe with Barlean's Butter Flavored Coconut Oil...
On my recent trip to Milwaukee for the Women in Travel Summit, Visit Milwaukee hosted me on the Milwaukee Food & City Tours Pizza Bus tour. If you're planning to take the Pizza Bus tour yourself, make it a meal: the three-hour tour includes transportation, generous samples of three different styles of pizza, and a scoop of gelato for dessert.
It's been awhile since my cooking set off the smoke detector. I realized this as I stood on a chair in my living room, randomly stabbing at the innards of the dissembled device dangling from the...
I recently got a chance to sample foods from the newest vendors at this year's Linden Hills and Mill City Farmers Markets. It was an afternoon of delicious eating, but the true highlight was connecting with people who are pursuing their passion, whether that's brewing ginger beer or baking artisanal pastries.
For me, one of the best things about travel is the food: trying local specialties, visiting markets and grocery stores, and eating dessert far more often than I do at home. But our recent vacation to Disney World presented a challenge, especially since we were staying on Disney property without a rental car.
It's time for my annual gripe about how warmer temperatures arrive in Minnesota long before the first produce of the year. The birds are singing, the days are lengthening, and I'm running through the...
As longtime readers know, I love to support local businesses, from my CSA farmer to my favorite Ethiopian restaurant. Recently, I had a chance to take a sneak peak at some of the dozens of local artisans and craftspeople who will be selling their wares at Lowertown Pop, a maker event at St. Paul's Union Depot on Saturday, April 15, 2017.
Every year, I do a summer round up post with the edible and non-edible highlights of my favorite season (2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016). But here's the thing: while summer in Minnesota is a glorious thing, the majority of the year is taken up by winter.
This month, I accepted Barlean's challenge to develop a recipe using their Forti-Flax Premium Ground Flaxseed. If you're unfamiliar with flaxseed, it's an excellent source of fiber and plant-based omega-3 fatty acids. Ground flaxseed is easier for your body to digest than whole flaxseeds, making Forti-Flax an easy way to add some extra nutrition to your diet.
For the past several months, I've been working to establish myself as a freelance travel writer. This sounds glamorous and summons up images of me trotting the globe, notebook in hand. In reality, it...
A couple years ago, I read a piece by Shauna James Ahern about her family's weekly dinner template, with Mondays for meat and potatoes, Tuesdays as kids' choice night, soup and salad on Wednesdays...
As longtime readers know, I occasionally work with Stonyfield to promote their line of organic yogurts. I'm selective about the brands I produce sponsored content for, and one of the reasons I work with Stonyfield is because I appreciate their commitment to sustainability.
