Ålesund is a town of 47,000 on Norway's western coast, famous for its Art Nouveau architecture and striking natural beauty. It's an ideal port stop on a cruise itinerary: the city center is compact and close to the cruise ship pier, and there are several museums and other sights to keep tourists occupied without feeling overwhelmed.
I haven't posted a new recipe in quite awhile. I've been writing about the best ice cream in the Twin Cities, Norway, and the highlights of my summer, and cooking farro stuffed squash from 2016 and...
London is the biggest city I've visited: 8.8 million people, spread over 607 square miles. I spent four days there, barely enough time to scratch the surface—even at my standard jam-packed touring pace. So instead of posting a very incomplete city guide, this post focuses on my personal London highlights.
Despite the fact that the majority of my blog posts feature recipes or travel writing, my most popular post by a wide margin is my review of Ritter Sport flavors available in the U.S. In the vein of giving the people what they want, here's my latest Ritter Sport review: a rundown of the new-to-me flavors I picked up on my recent trip to Hamburg.
I have always been a snacker: when I was in elementary school, my chocolate chip granola bar was the highlight of my day. As an adult, I bring little cups of homemade chia pudding to work for a mid-morning snack and enjoy cottage cheese or edamame as an afternoon pick-me-up.
Why visit Roseville, Minnesota? To begin with, Roseville is perfectly positioned for a Twin Cities vacation--it's about a 10-minute drive to either downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul, and Roseville is the only northern suburb to border both cities.
It's that time of year again. The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, and pumpkin spice has returned with a vengeance. As always, I packed as much as possible into the glorious three months of my favorite season.
Haugesund is a city of 37,000 on Norway’s southwestern coast. It was founded in 1855, when the herring industry was king; today, the city is a major shipping center and shopping destination. At first glance, Haugesund didn't seem to offer enough to keep us entertained for the day--there's no historic city center or major sights.
Kristiansand is located on Norway’s southern coast, a city of 88,000 people famous for its old town of white wooden houses. It’s a fairly minor stop on a cruise itinerary—the old town is quite small, and it was difficult to find a day’s worth of activities to occupy our time.
Maybe the initial enthusiasm has waned. Maybe you've eaten BLTs for three days straight, but there's still a line of tomatoes staring you down from the counter. Maybe you don't know what to do with the bulging bags of green beans that keep showing up in your CSA box.
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.
