gormandize msp

while supplies last

2008-04-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

I thought since I will be eating hospital food for a while that last night was a good time to continue using up our MPR card b1g1 frees for April.

As a result Jon & I went to Broder's last night.

This place is always good, never dying to go back even though it is always oh so good. Maybe I don't enjoy the atmosphere or something, because it's really not that expensive, and it is really nice, good service, great selection.. who knows. Maybe it's because it's just frickin pasta, and we can make that ourselves.. never sounds exciting,.. I dunno?

Anyway, last night I got something I cannot make... and, it was AWESOME.

From their menu, verbatim:
1. rotolo di mare
housemade pasta rolled with crab and salmon and a lemon, dill & tomato beciamella $13.50

I would recommend everyone & their brother, and even everyone they hate go try this. It's awesome.. hands down awesome. Seriously. It was even cute.. looked like a sushi roll, or a jelly roll.. super fun. BTW - it tasted awesome.

Jon got:
19. strascinati di Monteleone di Spoleto
housemade stringozzi with mild sausage, guanciale, ground chili peppers,
pecorino & eggs $13.25

it was good. I wouldn't order it again (checked off the list). The noodles were the most fun part. savory/salty.

I love Jon.
~

repeat

2008-04-06T12:40:00.001-07:00

Blue Nile is fabulous. Let me repeat, Blue Nile is fabulous.

Rupa liked the green beans best. Anne was flexible, all around.

I still like the fava... but the green beans were indeed nice.

Jon wishes he were here.. or there ;)

Adios.
~

can you taste it?

2008-04-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

barely! we ate a thai meal (that was probably pretty good, not that we'd know) in < 10 minutes before heading to the splendid table last night..

Ruam Mit

we had the noodley thing that's like pad thai w.basil. it was pretty good.

i really liked the squid salad. jon said it was spicy. i dont think it was hot, but there was a lot of lemongrass.. and it was pretty 'tasty=spicy"

bring it on

2008-04-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

we had some fabulous church spottings this weekend.

saturday:
..manicotti from Broder's.. it's really good. as are the roasted vegetables.
byerly's chocolate cake, well.. no matter how big you slice it, it's still just chocolate cake.

sunday: pretty good bbq seitan

monday: annie's tamale pie is lovely.

today is wednesday: splendid table tomorrow.. shall we sushi?
friday: movie & soy products
saturday: anne + something

on our own

2008-03-29T04:34:00.001-07:00

jon went to birchwood and had some good hummus.

i went to maggiano's for work. veal&mushroom ravioli with marinara (special adder) is pretty good!!

i ain't hoppin

2008-03-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

common roots: roast beef & samples - what nice cheese you've got.. and by that jon means raspberry poppy cream cheese. i'll stick to cake.

russian tea house: beef again? ah yes, cabbage rolls and cabbage borscht with free 'atmosphere' (= accordian & mandoline.. sweet!) next time: beet vinegar salad

saturday @ Q: pork carnitas & guac done right. pistachio pudding, oh my ! =)

2go 4 remote blood donation

2008-03-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

tonight jon & i took a vacation down south.. to apple valley.

we started in eagan at red square deli & ring mtn.. but were uninspired.

alas, we ended up at a much better place. satay2go.

what was NOT to love about this place. the owner and his explanation of the menu? no, we loved him! his children with the bouncyball watching doromon cartoons? no, equally excellent. the fact that we got this mornings butterfly bun for half price=killer.

the food we ordered? yeah, that'd be phenomenal.
http://www.satay2go.com/menu.html

jon: Nasi Lamak. simple looking, excellent tasting. reminded me of singapore, but also kinda aribel's.. which i totally wimped out on today w.timo & ryan (oh so glad). big juicy chunks of chicken & potatoes served with rice spiked with coconut and hard boiled egg ! it was nice. too curry for me, but good for jon since i'd never make it for him :-0.

i: mee rebus, vegetarian style. oh my gosh.. nothing but good words. beautiful dish that tasted better than it looked. big fat noodles (fat, not wide), in a tasty 'potato gravy', that is actually.. SWEET POTATOES. hello beautiful. it was a bit spicy, but mostly tasty. probably had some cabbage and whatnot inside of the broth. a *little* coconut milk (maybe even a little more than i'd want, but it tasted so nice).. lots of onions, and an egg! oh yeah, crispy garlic, too. yeah, it was nice. looking forward to the rest for lunch someday soon.

must take my parents here sometime.. or everyone.

taste-y

2008-03-16T14:36:00.001-07:00

worked the citypages wine tasting last friday - food was same as last year, but it was a bit more fun w.the addition of bobbi's crew to enjoy the festivities.

afterwards we went to common roots w.rupa. she had some nice looking potatas fritas & jon finally got to try a common roots bagel. they rainbowed it up with 2 kinds of cream cheese and 2 kinds of hummus. BEET hummus?! hello fabulous. we'll be back thursday (seriously).

would you believe i surpassed DQ cake at cami's baby shower on saturday? andd.. white cake w.white frosting @ sonja & tim's. ridiculously dairy-free.

david was very nice to me today and made cow-free bars. i owe him big.

moo. tomorrow.

2008-03-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

so today i had a midterm. i hate tests.. i always feel rushed. i was overly prepared for this one, but didn't want to screw it up so much that i no doubt probably screwed it up.

jon was nice enough to oblige my every wish & desire and drive to the SPSC to join me for ice cream (uh, HUGE portions of ben & jerrys.. too bad i'm not eating dairy), bingo (free, but i suck & didn't win a thing), and buck bowling. the SPSC is across the street from my class.

he also heeded my every wish & picked me up some cake (okay, a muffin that wasn't awesome, but it was still cake.. which i am kind of being weird about lately).

friday is citypages wine tasting.. good fun!

fish fry, serious.fun.

2008-03-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

why did i not grow up catholic?

why have i never been to a fish fry?

why was the one we went to so ridiculously fun?

last friday, matt, wipa, eb, c, j, jon & i went to have FISH at st alban's in minneapolis. it's over on lake & say.. 30something.

for the most fun $10 i have ever spent (okay, i paid for 4 people), we got baked fish, fried fish, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, potato triangle thingies, and unlimited church basement desserts. did i mention, this was allll all you can eat. i ate all i could.. and then some. the place was PACKED and noisey.. bustling with raffle tickets and people dressed in funny outfits packing your dirty plates. it was a riot. not to mention the baked fish was good,.. even the cole slaw didn't suck. we are *totally* in again for next year.. screw everyone who didn't want to come.. their loss & more fish and CAKE for us. :P

they also had bingo upstairs, 3 cars for a dollar. it was fun, but it would have been mroe fun if we WON :( :( :(

cosmos way back

2008-03-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

did i totally forget to post the cosmos restaurant week experience? wtf?

it was really good.. fun, all that. the graves hotel is quite, uh.. elaborate. fancier than the marriot.

entering from block e (which is kind of a xx-hole), you feel like you're in some sort of fancypants time warm . high high ceilings, very low lighting. everyone's in black, and the walls are just plain pretty. you are escorted by the black-wearing gentlemen to the elevator (equally pretty), which only has like, 2 buttons. cosmos on the (4) button.

bing, the elevator opens, and your'e in some other funky walled entrapment with folks in black. cosmos is around the corner.

the lights are almost on in this place, and you have space chairs and almost normal looking tables (fun wood veneer.. ultra 70s vision of the future).

your coat is whisked away, and you are seated.

a guy with a funny accent comes w.the menu.. and an insert for the tasting menu. i already knew what i wanted, as did jon. BUT - it was stillf un to look @the regular menu. every single entree looked a w e s o m e, to me. BUT.. also.. $30. that's how much we're gonna pay for 3 courses tonight!. anywho.

we get started with what the accented dude calls a 'teaser'. to me it was coconut milk (not sweet) with some lemongrass and basil. it was nice. a small shot of it is all ya needed.

next was the bread. luckily the salad came quickly (everything was almost rushed.. i did my best to grab my fork any time someone came by & looked like they wanted to snag my plate). after, so jon didn't eat all the bread. the salad was mixed greens w.nothing but a nice dressing on it. it was good w.the bread.. and a big salad.

for main course i had the nicest sea bass ever (okay, the ones i get for like $2 in thailand are nice, too.. but not quite the same 'style' over olives, capers (holy HUGE), cauliflower mushed like mashed potatoes (so good), with what they called 'tomato water'.. whatever, it tasted good. sour, just like i like it. not greasy, and LOTS of fish (it was thick!). jon had the nicest steak i have ever seen (good & pink, size of his hand), with some cute green & white asparagus, white/potato/sweet potato something.. and, well.. some other vegetables that he enjoyed. i think it had something crispy on it.. can't remember.

dessert was chocolate.. supposedly cake, but really it was mousse.. which had me pumped because i dislike chocolate cake, but chocolate mousse, i get into that. it also came with ginger & blood orange ice cream. how rad is that?

with our bill (yes $30/pp.. but jon had wine, bleh!), we got some white chocolate truffles. i opted out as i don't like them. =)

something old & something new

2008-02-26T19:06:00.001-08:00

quang with bill & keila
veg soup.. best ever.
beef & shrimp bun
wontons w.red pork
beef & egg roll bun

potluck @ church -
sauerkraut & carrot salad (w.cilantro)
2 cottage cheese loaves
BEETS !!!
fruity salads

sarah & jeremy's gummables
tofu salad, pudding galore, deviled eggs, olives (good one from byerlys), hummus, prunes, spinach/artichoke dip

saffron on tasting week - with jon<3
awesome, awesome soup.

Eggplant Dip + Hummus

Wine Flight along side

Jersusalem Artichoke Soup
smoked salmon and sumac

Duck Breast
saffron couscous, apricots and pistachios

Coconut & Almond Cake
blood orange-hibiscus sorbet

nice beans

2008-02-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

valentine's day is a perfect day to show the world how much you love a deal.

jon & i returned to one of our fav's.. blue nile. b1g1 free MPR + b1g1 free drinks..yay.

this time we ordered differently. i'd written down on this handy blogger what foods we actually liked the best.. so we tried to order from the MENU. :-o. Successfully members of the clean plate club.. the only thing we needed was bigger fava beans.. but we'll deal as we're both plenty gassy today ;)

ordered: berberre lamb, side of fava. green beans, side of red lentils. came w.spicy sauce + yogurt.. and lots of bread. it was AWESOME, as always.

jon: Cabernet (blech), reann: white zin (it was pink.. in honor of valentine's day, i'm not so sure.. but it tasted good = sugar!)

jon made me cake(s) for a present. white cake from scratch. it is NOT easy. not not not at all. jon is awesome and he did it, there was drama, he did it again. we had a taste off, oil won, drama over.

No meat

2008-02-09T20:56:00.000-08:00

Friday night we went to the SLP Tavern for bowling. I had some good sauerkraut pizza. Jon had the craziest filet o fish I have ever seen. Crazy as in large.. on big bread. Lots of fish, too.

It was fun.

don't be pesticized

2008-02-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.foodnews.org/

speak your mind

2008-02-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

someone might be listening.. somewhere out there.

so i went to liberty's randomly on friday, feb 1st because it was a new month & their flavor calendar wasn't listed on their website (plus i was on the way back from the lib). i knew pumpkin cheesecake, eggnog, and SF banana all had a chance of being in the freezer.

what i did NOT know.. is that vicki (owner) had read my emails & postings on chowhound so vigilantly. so.. perusing the cooler, trying to pick which 2/ 3 i should get, i look @ the board. well, well.. it's BIRTHDAY CAKE.. with that, i drop the pints... and nearly pass out. vicki says 'what's wrong?'.. i mouth 'that's my favorite' .. to which she replies 'are you reann?' ..

anywho. we talk for a while, she is lovely, shows me the menu for the month. feb 1: birthday cake, feb 2: cinnamon roll "for ReAnn" .. verbatim. i am almost crying i'm laughing so hard. what a lovely lady.

i order birthday cake kid size (i am NOT hungry at ALllllllllll), which she gives me for free.

i am so trying to hold it back from jon because i wanted to suprise him w.cinnamon roll on saturday, but we were quite booked up with our plans, so i had to bust out my menu. he freaked, too. quite fun.

we went the next day & got a medium.. again, not hungry.. so brought it home. ate it w.green tea cake in engage-a-versary style.

sunday jon was in WI, so i went to get the leftover pints. ended up with quarts of birthday cake & cinnamon roll. i have spent $13 on worse things.

colassal cafe: feb 2, 2008
it was a solid engage-a-versary pick. next brunch.. the independent? or lucia's..?

apple/brie/walnut pancake - okay.. this was awesome. i might get it again, or at least figure out how to make a yeasty pancake. my only trouble is that i'm not in love with brie nor walnuts. maybe they'll make me a pancake with apples and whatever the heck honey syrup they put on top. yum.

mole/chorizo/egg/bean/potato burrito thingy. the inside of this was awesome. i wanted to love it so much.. thing is, i don't really love red mole sauce. it was good, but i don't love it. i liked the parts w.out mole better. good salsa?!

good coffee.. really, it was nice tasting. they even gave me skim.

randomly sampled: trader joe's wintery blend coffee is good. jamaican blue mtn coffee that "everyone loves" at whole foods.. notsomuch.

convinced.

2008-02-01T07:53:00.001-08:00

jeremy made mexican food for us on tuesday. it was really nice. i got to eat lots of marshmallows & green tea ice cream. it made me forget it was 900 below outside.

thursday i convinced my dad & jon to order the tacos al pastor @ la mixteca (it wasn't that hard). they also LOVED it.. yay. i had the ceviche. i like that.

tonight is coffman (and potential wings.. erg).

i guess tomorrow we're going out for breakfast. i may go to TNT. there is food tasting at whole foods, and lack of gluten at F&N.

happy feb.

fluff

2008-01-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

i love angel food cake

this is the day we went to the olive & co happy hour party thing.

they had some good ham mustard guyere thing.. and these really weird (but awesome) crazy green olives. i put the sugary bruschetta on the ham thing and it was pretty good. i probably ate too much sugar & coffee, though.

the desserts were 'eh' .. (except they have home-made nutroll things that jon really likes the nuts & i like the marshmallow.

we tried: moonraker (blue curacao + pineapple + tequila). sweet, but i liked it. and! a pukerita. apple + lime juice & tequila. jon liked the whiskey (eh, not hanks), and i still liked the negroni w.oj as one of my fav drinks. beth had this thing called a 13th ave. it had the coffee vodka + champagne. interesting.

the next morning, we made crepes (jon made them).

then we went to the peris' w.our bread in hand. had good yam (even though it was shrimp) and good vietnamese sandwich parts. THEN we went to the local. they had a pretty good whiskey chicken thing, and some good pickeled onions (i know i'm weird, but i do like them). lisa turned 30, so we had cake. yay.

sunday we went to church & i had oatmeal, then jon made the vcon black bean burgers +scalloped corn while i made vegan donuts (w.real milk).

this week i have school mon&wed, jeremy on tues, dad on thurs, coffman on friday (?), leah on sat, potluck+sarah sunday.

snow day

2008-01-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

MLK day. I had it off. Jon did not.

We met for lunch at Crossroads Delicatessan. Looked kinda like Perkins. Tasted better, I think? I dunno. We had a good server who started us off with 3 pickeled beets and 2 pickels. The only condiment on the table is mustard. ReAnn is in heaven.

We ordered the big matzo ball soup (heard it was fab) & split a Kevin's combo - hot pastrami & corned beef w.pepperjack on rye. Jon ordered a vanilla malt. All but the pepperjack was great! (don't need cheese on the monster). Oh yeah, Jon didn't like the baked beans. (who really likes baked beans.. really?) ..

I would like to go again to try the cabbage rolls & goulash.. but maybe not for a bit. It was definitely worth the drive because I've never had any of the things we ordered (cept the malt -- I still like shakes better, but at least Jon got vanilla..yay).

Today I got my pan that makes donuts. Too bad I did so much sitting today & didn't feel like baking.. *sigh* .......... soon!

to those who wait

2008-01-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

good things shall come. or should i say great things.

la mixteca.
tacos al pastor (1, split between the 2 shells you get). 2.25. f'ing amazing.

tacos al pastor is the pork shaved off a gyro type thing marinating in pineapple juice. hello-tasty. had this before at taqueria la hacienda. it was good, but reallly greasy &crispy.. bacon like (which is fine if you like bacon, but if you wanted a pork taco it was cooked almost so much you couldn't taste anything). at la mixteca, the pieces were small (not big boney chunks, but not shredded.. just little chunks i guess), but really juicy!

ceviche is my fav thing, and i couldn't even bust into it bc the tacos were so tasty & filling.

completely unrelated. this is cool: http://www.tattfoo.com

remember the sabbath day

2008-01-13T20:10:00.000-08:00

guess we didn't. saturday we were off to fishmans, when jon remembered saturday is sabbath day & uh, whaddya know, fishman's observed said occassion by not being open.

alas, we continued our S K I themed monthiversary (too cold for real skiing, we defaulted to an S, K & I activity followed by some skeeball), we watched little miss Sunshine w.lemon corn waffles (yum VWAV) and took a Showever (S) at home for breakfast. Our K-backup was Kiev, a European market I heard about on chowhound, and only drove by probably 100+ times (on 7th just past river road in st paul) in my life w.out noticing it.

It was so fun! Like an asian market, but almost even better foods. (why they sell injera is beyond me, but I'll take it). I FINALLY HAD BORSCHT. Did I love it? Yes, I did. Jon had the salami sandwich. It was fun. We had pierogi's unlike any we'd had before (or at least me - I thought they were dumplings, not fried pastries). They were good, but did I mention fried. Yeah. Next time, cabbage rolls, or a smoked salmon sandwich (4.99!), but definitely more borscht. Salty goodness of love.

The *I*.. well, it was my own fault. Since we were already in St Paul & I love Jon, I took him to Izzys. Everyone loves it there. Everyone but me. I had good ice cream (green tea), but wasn't satisfied. Next time getting the little B. 3 izzys with a banana. I will like it.

Skee ball was NUTS. Or I guess.. Chuck E Cheese was nuts. There was a line out the door b/c they reached fire code (and table) capacity. We sucked it up and waited, and had fun while were there. No better deal in town (no wonder it's busy)... but it's not food.

So yeah, then we went to the Irish dancing party and had some good Reuben Dip & some shrimp thing dip. Those with the sushi were my favs. Cake like crazy - carrot, pound, etc etc.. I controlled myself (not really). Jon had too much red wine (that'll learn ya, it's not good stuff).

Sunday I skipped breakfast (okay I had some of david's stuff at like 113o), then some dominos pizza. Dominos serves a mean green olive pizza. Seriously, it's nice. You don't feel like you're going to die afterward or anything. Mushroom is also nice.

We missed something good at Broders, but I survived by making something good at home. Jon was nice to me and said this was my best cooking week ever. High expectations for this week.

New Year

2008-01-04T12:35:00.001-08:00

The eve of the new year, we headed to Pazzaluna with Stillwater.

I had some awesome food, others' was mediocre. It started off by them given us olive tapenade for our bread. That, was awesome. Jon split some pretty good calamari w.Andy.

For my meal I had parsnip soup w.seared tuna (hello. yum.). Easily tasty. The tuna was served weird(ly), but I ate it up w.style. Accompanying said soup was my beet salad w.feta, endive, sprouts, and onions. It was actually a lot of beets.. nicely done (could have been from a can for all I care, they didn't have crappy spices on them). I stole a bunch of appetizer bread before they heisted it from our table to dip in my soup. It was really nice =)

The night was good, too..

The next day we went to the Holy Land buffett up on Central. It was nothing short of fanastic.. just what we needed. They put sumac on their onions and had SUPER PICKELED beets -- and that was only 2 of the 10 awesome things on the condiment bar.. I almost skipped taboulli b/c everything else was so damn intruiging.

Their Chicken Gyro was drenched in curry powder, but was actually really good. I think it had pickeled onions or something in it. The best thing I ate was the Lemon Yogurt Chicken. I could eat that all day, I think. The cinnamon rice + lamb was also realllly good.. but that Yogurt Chicken, I can't stop tasting it. Good lil desserts, too. Now I know what to get from the menu if we're at the MGM.

=)

Meanwhile..

2007-12-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

Survived many a potluck (okay just 2 - didn't attend Kim's or the 3rd work version).

Highlights:
- Herring-free herring salad @ MRD potluck
- pulled vension asian stirfry @ Fingarson potluck
- date balls leftover from some other potluck

Xmas brought us the BEST COOKIES EVER.. cinnamon stars. We have pictures on picasa.

- nice gingerbread recipe (picked the one w. more molasses, no disappointment there)
- actually having herring @ the Robelia's (I like it!)
- sweet potato from my mom
- endless supply of bean salad we have sitting in the fridge
- chipotle tabasco in our fridge!!
- pumpkin roll in wisconsin
- Bobbi's pomegranite martini
- the huge raisins in Ruth's spice bread
- silknog
- real meat at the Loranger's.
- the largest Qcumbers gift certificate in the world.
- Chrissy made a good bean dip.

Outings:
Matt Kim's wedding - Coconut curry vegetables. eh. Jon's chicken thing - 3 of 4 stars.

Tea House Buffet - As good as a chinese buffet could be, I suppose. Good fish and good from-a-can vanilla pudding. Jon likes the soup.

Taco John's - yes, seriously. We like it. The one in TRF was recently revised to include a salsa bar (yay). I looked @ the menu before leaving the house, so I knew to have a chix softshell taco & mexican rice. "what's in mexican rice". 'uh, mexican rice'.. (okay boo). My parents also ventured to a new section - ordering refried beans there. You can eat way too many refried beans, mexican rice, and all the salsa you want for a whopping $1.99. Make your OWN extra value menu! (that's almost healthy, but not really).

CAKE for Jennifer turning 30.

La Mixteca. We had a gordita. I don't like shredded pork there. Plus - Guarachas are better.

David made cinnamon rolls that were warm. =)

We are supposedly going to pazzaluna tonight..

We might go to holy land tomorrow. We'll see.

Weight a minute!

2007-12-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

So I've been going to the doctor a lot lately.. whatdayaknow.

I have seen the inside & outside of my stomach, as well as my heart. Soon I will see my bowel in action. In honor of this, it's the holiday season, so let's start eating!

Last night for our monthiversary Jon & I ate at Highland Grill (sort of on a whim). It was really tasty. Jon had "the best burger in the twin cities" .. voted on year, 199x. It was a turkey burger.. spiced VERY nicely (awesome spicy aftertaste).. and came with decent fries. Looked a lot like McDonalds, in a good way. Thin & done, not chewy & greasy. I had 3! That's the most fries I've had in like.. 5 years.

I ate a smoked salmon scramble. Scrambled eggs w.smoked salmon, red onions, cream cheese, dill (or maybe parsely, but it was pretty & green), and spinach. The spinach wasn't supposed to be there, but I didn't want hash browns so the waitress came up w.an awesome compromise.. I told her they should add that regularly.. it was phenomonal (possible for scrambled eggs, now yes). Came w.english muffin that I was able to splatter w.all the extra cream cheese from the omelet (there was still extra) and honey. Divine. on the way to Sound of Music (which was AWESOME), we stopped at Bravo. It was packed, so we ate our green tea cake in the car. Frosting tasted as if it had been sitting around a while (no doubt it had been), as did the bottom layer of cake. BUT -- the middle.. oh so devine and reaffirmed my love of Bravo. Even Jon said, 'ya know, that is really good'. I have recently been informed he doesn't like cake as much as I - no big surprise, though.

TODAY is Thursday. Our department couldn't f'ing decide where to go eat, and finally we ended up at QCumbers b/c I speak the loudest. I like it there. A lot. Today they had something new -- chicken lettuce wraps. Trendy, but good! I love their salsa best. And their soup today, wow it was nice. Tuscan white bean. Lots of onions in a thick veggie broth (Did I mention lots of onions). A few tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and.. white beans. I was totally craving white beans last night. I also wanted beets, but it was so cold that I couldn't order a cold salad. Sooo today I had my standard beets, spinach, egg, onion, balsamic concoction.. as well as my banana/pineapple/ice cream. They also had non-burnt oatmeal cookies (must have gotten a new baker). All in all, solid, and nothing but soup and ice cream needed to be seconded, so I don't feel completely miserable (yet), although I did steal and extra muffin on the way out just to put myself over the edge -- as always. =)

Tomorrow is a potluck here (wish me luck) and a potluck at Kim's. Saturday is Matt's wedding, and Sunday is a potluck at church. Luckily I won't be eating Sunday night or Monday morning.. but I imagine I"ll be a glutton at lunch on Monday -- decisions, decisions).

Adios.

Campus

2007-12-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

YUMMYYUMMY IS CLOSED.
Over the 25c wings chosen by Jon, I picked: Sushi Express-Cheap, effective. My new favorite grocery store / seagate sushi combo is the inari (tofu around the rice - thank you wipa) + california roll set.

Guess we need to go to Pagoda some other time.

fake teeth

2007-12-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

who said it wouldn't be worth it.

www.allcandyexpo.com

watch out for this.

Name: Twizzlers Pull n Peel Cinnamon Fire Candy
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: You’ll be sizzling and twizzling
Release Date: February 29, 2008
Notes: I’m not sure they’ll get as much sizzle in there as I want (I find Twizzlers a little bland), but I’m certain to give them a whirl.

placeholder for duplex

2007-12-03T09:03:00.001-08:00

all right.

our last b1g1 free on my MPR card :( (new cards coming soon.. not so many discounts, boo.).. duplex!

it was a cool place. they were so pleasant in the entry, and let us run into the bar for happy hour (turns out we couldn't use the discount after all, lesson learned). since we won't have the MPR card deal anymore, we will totally have to go there for HH instead. their drinks are all $2 off.. and there were so many drinks that were just 4-5 bucks that it'd be worth it to come back & have some apps. the bar was fun because you are essentially overlooking the 2 chefs in the kitchen.. and listening to them talk together. fun =)

the servers & hostess, again.. so nice. not really overly sappy, but commended me for using the MPR card "it's a great way to learn new places!" jon had some cool-ass looking gnocchi. huge pastas, like 6 blanched tomatoes, huge buffalo mozz.. quite fun. tasted kinda bland to me, but he liked it. i had something totally new for me. black barley risotto. it was nice! i like black barley, and learned risotto doesn't have to be creamy goo. it had chicken in it that wasn't so tasty, but the mushroom, carrots & chevre were good. a good texture, but needed some ZIP (= spicy or sour). i did have the server give me about 1/2 c (exaggeration) of pepper before starting, which i am happy to have done.

would we go back? maybe for apps or soup. i do want to see the pork w. prunes & brussel sprouts, but jon wasn't in because it was a t-bone pork thingy, which i probably wouldn't enjoy either.

btw. bravobakery.net - view cakes. please.

Cute food.

2007-11-28T13:33:00.001-08:00

Yes, I should have taken a picture of the 3 seed sandwich, it was beautiful. To make up for it, I have NOT forgotten to take a picture of the coolest thing to show up on my desk in a while.

Last night I was chatting w.my BFF @ work (BK), and he was trying to allure me w.a donut or cinnamon roll. Although those are lovely, I have a weakness for cookies & cake. He informed me he was going to get some 'pastries' (ie donuts & junk) for a morning meeting, and asked if I had special requests.

I told him exactly what I wanted. A white cookie w.white frosting decorated like Santa Claus. Or something baked that was not fried and had brown fruit in or on it. He said they may not have cookies, and to this I said I want nothing but that.

Well well.. what do you know. BFF came through with a BIG BANG. After perusing the decorated cookies, he came up with a sock & this kick-ass santa. You may not be able to tell from the pic, but the Santa cookie is filled with something.. it's totally 3D puffy-ized, and not a fried pastry. BFF has no idea what it is, and I think it's too cute to eat.

We'll see how long it lasts.

It reminds me of my last year's favorite baked good. The TURKEY CAKE @ Byerly's. It was my turning point into deciding, yes I really DO want to work here.

I totally didn't see them this year, although I did forget to make a special trip pre-Thanksgiving :( This is still pretty damn cool in my eyes.

sugar.

Stuffed

2007-11-26T08:22:00.000-08:00

So goes the weekend of eating.

Wednesday: Chicken Parsnip Apple Soup (yay).

Thanksgiving food was fabulous!
Offering:
Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes w.gravy
**Sweet potatoes w.applesauce
**Green salad w.orange and red peppers
Cranberries
Cornmeal rolls

Elderberry pie
Pumpkin pie sans crust

..and later:
Leftovers.. w.a new addition:
Blackberry pie w. ff plain yogurt (hooray)

It was fun to have the family together, cooking. I hope Ruth doesn't mind me helping in the kitchen, or at least standing in the way.. :/ Went for a walk w.Quick, and then played some Sequence.

The next day was my Endo. What a drag.. sitting around. At least Jon got to see Press Your Luck before eating a crappy hospital sandwich.

Enjoyed some food @ David & Judie's later on. Highlight - our lefse? PICKLES!

Saturday we FINALLY made it to Aribel's. It was really fun.. my family was all adventurous and tried every section of the menu.

We enjoyed: Shrimp fried rice (my dad orders at every restaurant as sort of his trademark.. he said this is the BEST shrimp fried rice he has ever ever had (and he has had a lot).. but it may not be fair because it was SO different and good); beef pepper pot (I normally do not enjoy eating beef.. but this was NOT normal beef.. the owner/chef/only guy working explained it was flavored with molasses.. yum!); jerk chicken lo mein (also, very fresh and different taste), and the snapper curry (what an interesting, tasty (saltyfish) flavor) with extra veggies by request. Everything was so unique and tasty as can be... and very very reasonably priced.

reminder for next time: Keep asking for extra veggies.. they'll do it!

Sunday.. ate and ate and ate again. Breakfast of oatmeal, then breakfast #2 at Church ;)
Lunch -- um, did you know we like Quang? A lot? Yeah.
Seafood & Pork soup - it was great.. but I guess I was really in the mood for it. The veggie soup is just as good.. gosh it's so hard to order there.
even Jon's wontons w.red pork was also really nice... probably a more managable feat to finish up.

Dinner was pancakes of all sizes. Banana, cranberry orange, and apple pumpkin..hooray.

OCBleh

2007-11-19T06:03:00.001-08:00

So Jon & I were on a long walk around the block once (feel the irony), and I thought it would be fun to see how much Old Country Buffet costs to dine in (since it is, sincerely, one block from our house.. and the parking lot is ALWAYS full..). Hearing it was $11/pp.. no way in hell were we going to risk it. Our lovely Q is a much safer bet.

Well, a few weeks ago, they sent us a coupon. You know me & coupons. I decided for the both of us, we have to do it.

We did it. Saturday. The line was up to the door (long hallway), plus we waited for seating (sure only 5 min), but holy CRAP do people like this place.

The bad things were too numerous to list.. so I'll list the most interesting:
the baked fish.. it was a little cold, but they tried.
they had cranberry sauce on their condiment bar. that, is fun.
3 bean salad !!
marinated mushrooms
bananas in the pudding (i took the bananas out of the pudding)
their dessert pizza was a big cookie. it was cute.

the cake was all bad. seriously. all. bad. i love cake, so this was a little disappointing. also disappointing. any form of vanilla ice cream was broken. boo. i had a weird looking orange sherbet because i could.

yes, i tried pretty much everything on the buffet (one spoonfull counts) minus the cheeseyfilledfriedchickencoveredw.bacon. oh yeah, also didn't try the world's largest ribs or the mini corn dogs (jon's report on the corn dogs is that they weren't as good as full size). jon liked the pumpkin pie.. and was smart enough to put gummy bears in his ice cream (he got chocolate).

now we are officially done with OCB. it only makes me crave Q even more =)

next:
Aribel's
http://www.satay2go.com/menu.html
Gangchen

Another month(iversary)

2007-11-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

Jon had:

Poached Chicken & Spanish Chorizo Linguini:
Roasted red pepper & garlic basil cream sauce, sundried tomato, scallion, mache salad w/ blood orange vinaigrette, toasted macadamias, pomegranate, black radish & feta

He really liked it, which is awesome.

& I had the most beautiful looking, tasty sandwich in town (don't need to pieces of bread, the insides are so fabulous - what a find for $8)

Roasted Three Seed Sandwich
Pumpkin, sunflower & sesame seed spread, carrots, black spanish radish, chioggia beets, avocado & arugula on birchwood focaccia

PLUS the deli salad this week was a vegan cumin salad. It had red beans, corn, red peppers, spinach, onions, pumpkin seeds.. yeah, everything I love.. and to top it off was my own personalized dressing -- which was NOT oily, basically tasted like they sprinkled cumin+lemon juice on it. Who loves me so much there?

Oh yeah.. then after that Jon was nice enough to drive us to Keefer Court Bakery. SUPER FUN Chinese bakery... we had a wintermelon cookie (Jon loved it), and a Lotus cake (super filled, barely any crust - I loved it). We will return =) Still gotta try the sesame red bean ball. I really enjoy Chinese cake - way less sugary, more beany.. leaves you feeling good afterwards (even though there's shortening, we can just pretend it's the good kind).

let them eat bread

2007-11-11T05:19:00.000-08:00

i am pretty sure i don't need to be gluten-free.. and as a mini-celebration, we had lots of bread again on saturday.

breakfast - pumpkin waffles + apple/maple topping (home-made) @ jon's folks. i used krusteaz.. and they turned out well.

lunch - couldn't resist the sandwich @ saigon.. but thai bazil is still closed (boo.)

dinner - french meadow after a discussion w.rupa. i think she would get the tempeh cutlet (minus the tempeh, which i liked, but was FRIED on the outside (so sad).. and i would totally get her arepas.. esp for 8.99.. had everything i love on it (corn pancakes + red peppers over spinach with balsamic).. wouldn't need the vegan sausage, but whatever.

skipped dessert bc we (me) had so much sugar earlier.. esp after making cookies & cleaning out the no pudge fudge dish (not to mention that breakfast up there).

today we are going to ring mtn creamery again.. hopefully i'm ready for the sugar. right now my stomach kind of gets the willies thinking about it.

Grand Cafe & not so grand Chiang Mai

2007-11-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

In my attempt to gluten up (don't ask yet), Jon & I tried Grand Cafe today as a backup to Victor's (didn't get there soon enough to order the MANGO WAFFLE before church).

When we got there, the place was sparsely attended, but by the time we left, it was packed w.a line out the door (sorta). The atmosphere & seating was cool.. really was a neighborhood spot. The menu was a simple sort of swank. Jon ordered biscuits & gravy, and it was the prettiest dish I have seen in a while. I was gonna try their fancy 'ham and cheese' (doesn't sound fancy does it, I for sure need to give it a go next time after seeing it in person), but I really wanted fresh blueberries, so I went w.the blueberry pancakes (so simple, yet so nice) instead. The thing I memorized wanting on their menu like 2 months ago was the banana bread french toast, but I made this yesterday for our home-made brunch (which I may say I am quite proud of, sour cream apple + pb banana french toast w.maple apple ham).

We will more than likely go to the Grand Cafe again sometime.. I am looking forward to it (esp. after seeing the dinner specials from yesterday - some nice sounding fish & a spicy vegetable soup w.black beans). Not a value, but a nice meal (plus b1g1 free w.MPR card ;) )

We also forced ourselves out of the house for a sundayfunday w. Bobbi & Becky. Went to Chiang Mai Thai knowing the Thai Bazil is rumored to have had some sort of kitchen problem. After eating their beef (ack) spring rolls & uh.. tom yum (if you can call it that), we are VERY SAD about Thai Bazil. I can't believe Chiang Mai Thai was my old fav. Thai restaurant. Phuket Thai (also defunct) here in Richfield tasted better than this.. *sigh*. RIP Thai food in Minneapolis. We will miss you.

On a more hopeful note, we will be trying some new Asian spots on campus (or at least new to us) soon. Namely: Obento-Ya, Yummy Yummy, Keefer Court & the new digs on campus w.the hot pots. At least they are cheaper.. plus that spot on Nicollet w. momos & tom yum cups. Cross your fingers for us.

~

stuffing it all in

2007-10-30T06:47:00.001-07:00

Saturday we went to Fresh & Natural for their Gluten Free Food festival. Despite being diagnosed as having Celiac's disease (bye-bye oatmeal?!) by some people currently affected, it was AWESOME. Quick got lots of good samples, Jon & I ate lots of cookies & salmon, and my mom *won* a ton of groceries..hooray.

Monday night we went to Q-Cumbers for family night. Despite being uninspired by the though of mac&cheese + meatloaf, I actually tried the meatloaf (it was loaded in salsa).. wasn't terrible, but certainly not *good*. My dad & I enjoyed the *good* lentil soup.. and I did my normal stuff myself until I want to puke.. regret it for 20 minutes, then get over it and want to go back again soon.

Ethiopia

2007-10-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

I often wonder how we get the conception that people from Ethiopia have nothing to eat. Every single time Jon & I go to Blue Nile we are STUFFED and amazed at how damn tasty everything is.

Today we enjoyed the same 'ol B1G1 free MPR special. GOSA GOSA A&B. Next time, 2 B's (what the heck, they're free). We enjoyed these the most:

Berberre lamb
Chicken w.egg
Foule = fava bean dish
Missiraa Diima = spicy red lentils (yum)
Cabbage or Kale (not Jon's favorite)
Fasuuliya for Jon (the green beans & carrots)

Can pass on:

Split peas,
Chickpeas (they're good, but same as red lentils - so ask if they give red lentils anyway).
Dark lentils

Seward bakery is not NEARLY as inspirational as the wedge - not even close. I did manage to find a cool cardamom coffee frosted angel food cake (no butter, hooray), and Jon ended up with a vegan pb choc chip cookie (not so great).. my mom opted for the fudge @ home.

the most beautiful sandwich

2007-10-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

can you picture this rainbow?
Lentil & Cashew Sandwich
Crimson Lentil & Cashew Puree, Carrots, Daikon Radish, Chioggia Beets, Avocado & Baby Frisée on Birchwood Focaccia

and for Jon:
Bloody Mary Salad $9 (1/2 order $6)
Mixed Greens w/ Sundried Tomato & Horseradish Vinaigrette, Prosciutto Crispies, Cucumber Spear, Pepperjack Cheese, Kalamata Olives & Enoki Mushrooms

btw my mom & I ate a Babani's. Lunch specials, small is SMALL.
the lemon soup was as good as everyone said => Dowjic

Yarusso Bros

2007-10-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Went to Yarusso Bros for my dad on Friday. It's such a bargain, I have no idea why we always order so much (probably b/c the prices are so low).

Note: Baked Mostacolli is $10.75. It serves 2-3 people.
Dinner for 2 could easily serve 4 with a little room for dessert. It's $18 ! (for 2 that is good, for 4 that is amazing). Next time get salad.
A half & half plate serves Jon, not full (boo).

I cannot find them on restaurant.com anymore.

Bobbi warned us about the good deals to be had at Fuji-Ya.

Fuji-Ya Happy Hour

http://www.fujiyasushi.com/mpls_menu/happyhour.htm

FYI: Thai Bazil closes at 3pm on Wednesdays.

2007-10-19T11:29:00.001-07:00

Trieu Chau Restaurant has REALLY GOOD SPICY SOUP! !!!

tom yum + momo = heaven?

2007-10-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

Gangchen Bar & Restaurant

1833 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis
612.872.8663

Jon & ReAnn may live here soon.

http://articles.citypages.com/2007-10-17/restaurants/core-competencies/full/

The Man Who Ate Everything

2007-10-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

by Jeffrey Steingarten

- USDA "Thrifty Meals for Two" give some fun guidelines I may want to check out the update of their ThriftyMeal Plan

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/MiscPubs/TFP2006Report.pdf
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/MiscPubs/FoodPlansRecipeBook.pdf

- "How to Keep Alive" from 194x

..interesting description of what fruits ripen after picking & which don't.
which don't: blackberries, cocoa, cherries, dates, grapes, grapfruit, lemon/lime, orange, pineapple,raspberries, strawberries,watermelons.

which ONLY ripen after picking:
avocado

which do ripen in color but not sweetness:
apricots, bluberries, cantaloupe, figs, honeydew, nectarines, peaches, persimmons, plums

do ripen & get sweeter after harvest:
apples, kiwi, mango, papaya, pear

do ripen, get sweeter and change color:
banana

17-Oct update:
Interesting labeling for ketchup. Ketchup from summer tomatoes may be better. Check the dates:
on Heinz, for example. the last 4 digits on the bottle cap: the last digit indicates the year and the first three the day of the year. 0752 means 75th day of 1992. 2530 is 250th day of 1990. Telephone manufacturer for details.

30-Oct update from the end of the book:
Wheat flour is mostly starch, with 7-15% protein & 10% moisture. The 2 main proteins are gluteinin and gliadin. When you stir water into flour, the glutenin & gliadin come alive, connecting with the water and each other to form gluten, a tough and stretchy substance, that, when kneaded or stirred or streched, forms the elastic network that gives structure to bread (but turns pastry & cakes tough & rubbery)

Piecrust recipes have you go to elaborate lengths to avoid developing gluten. They warn you to use as little water as possible (without water, gluten cannot form); to mix and handle the dough very gently (w.out manipulation, gluten strands cannot join into networks); to use low-protein pastry flour or all-purpose flour (which has gliadin & glutenin): and to rest the ball of dough before rolling it out (which relaxes the stretchiness of the gluten, though it allows the water to reach particles of flour that had remained dry & therefore w.out gluten).

The ingredient in piecrust that combats gluten is shortening -fat. By coating the little particles of flour, shortening water-proofs the protein, prevents the water from reaching the glaidin and glutenin, and thus makes it impossible for them to combine and form gluten. And if they do combine, shortening keeps the thin strands of gluten apart, stops them from forming sheets, and networks that run through the dough, and tenderizes the crust by ensuring that the strands of gluten are separate and short. That's why it's called shortening.

Pure fats like lard and Crisco have more shortening (tenderizing) power than butter or margarine, which contain 15% water and can actually activate the gluten. Soft fats, even vegetable oils, coat the flour particles easily by flowing around them, protecting them from all water, but causing other problems. Fats that are solid at room temp are less effective, unless you first cut them into infinitesimal pieces. Acids attack and weaken the elastic gluten, which is why many people add vinegar to dough when making pies.

ALl of this is aimed at achieving a tender piecrust. But what about flakiness? When you roll out pie dough, the flattened particles of shortening separate the dough into layers. The pieces of fat act as spacers. The larger they are, the wider and longer the layers they produce. Depending on how you cut the fat into the flour, the particles can range from the size of a grain of coarse meal to that of a pea or small olive.

When piecurst is baked, the solid fats melt, leaving a gap between the layers of dough. The water in the dough begins to turn into steam, puffing the layers of dough apart. And when the dough reaches ~160F, the piecrust begins to set. Crispiness comes about when enough water has been driven from the dough by the heat of baking.

Lard, the rendered body fat of a pie, has a high melting point and coalesces into especially large crystals when it cools to lower temps. That's why lard acts as a terrific spacer between layers of dough. Lard was once widely considered the best fat for making flaky piecrust. Crisco was introduced in 1911 as a lard replacement with a long shelf life. Nowadays, lard has lost some of its popularity because of its pork flavor and widespread nutritional superstitions (even though it's less saturated fat than butter, 43 vs 50% - Crisco has 21% fsat fat to begin with and 14% transfat when hydrogenated to make it solid).

next monthiversary

2007-10-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

this month we did acadia cafe
www.acadiacafe.com - good happy hour specials 'til 7 - i had a $3 glass of wine.

plus - w.our MPR card.. jon got a reuben & i got a pretty large, black bean burger. b1g1 = 6.50!!

we'd go there again, but maybe try some other sandwich place first. like bewitched or fishmans.

hooray for next month: birchwood cafe.

until then: thai bazil, aribel's, blue nile.. yum.

eat more

2007-10-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.obento-ya.com/

Trotter's

2007-10-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

Trotter's has a nice semi-local, organic-esque breakfast menu, and we pretty much explored the entire thing today for breakfast!

Jon: Scramble special: Chorizo scrambler w.jalepeno, tomato, onions mixed in eggs, served w. 4 pieces of their fresh baked wheat toast

ReAnn: Non-fat yogurt w. melon, grapes, pineapple & a cranberry pear corn muffin.

Ruth: Pancake special; organic whole wheat pancake w. organic homemade apple sauce

Joe: Trotters 2 (or 3)

Beth: Potato mountain (w.eggs & veggies)

Pete: Cornmeal pancakes w.maple syrup.

Next time: split the cornmeal pancakes and Jon wants to try the bacon.

I'd like to try the egg in mashed potato thing, but it seems a little insane.

Monthiversary options w.MPR card
american
http://www.jays-cafe.com/dinner
afghan
http://khyberpasscafe.com/entre.html
african
blue nile

italian
http://www.ristoranteluci.com/menu.htm (not so tasty)

puerto rican ?!

http://www.puertaazulrestaurant.com/menu.html (#26, 32, 33)

Mexican @ Mercado Central
Otra cucina
http://citypages.com/databank/20/992/article8272.asp

Today, Wipa had a baby!

2007-09-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

And I guess we're bringing her dinner tomorrow, which had me look at more restaurants. Ran into this list again, which I really like.

Made me want to re-emphasize the following:
http://www.marlascuisine.com/menu.html
I guess the buffet (is it still $6.95) or the Roti or Pelau rice (palau?) - everything else looks standard & creamy.

In our hood: http://thekabobs.com/menu.htm
Veggie/ Chicken Jalfrezi 6.99 / 5.99
Chicken 65 6.99
Tandoori Naan x 4 1.25
or Shami Kabob 2.49
Sheekh Kabob (how big) 7.99

I owe you..

2007-09-24T05:25:00.001-07:00

Jon:
Fishman's Deli
Pennisula
Yummy! on campus

monthiversary:
Thai Bazil
Khyber Pass (b1g1free)
Everest (b1g1)
Bravo Cake
Zander

my dad:
Yarusso Bros
The taqueria below on Lake between 2nd & 3rd

my mom:
Blue Nile

Friday date night

2007-09-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

Ate at Mysore last night with a b1g1 free coupon. Tasted some new tasty things. Really liked the yellowish potatoes and the channa palak. Upattum pancakes w. scallions and whatever, they were great, too - and always fresh bc people kept gobbling them up.

Mango dessert wasn't so good.

To try:

P J Murphy's Bakery cookies

El Paraiso's ceviche (b1g1 free coupon through this month).

2007-09-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

also try
Lucuma Bakery and Deli
Italian Pie Shoppe

Today

2007-09-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

Today was slow food night.

We went to Common Roots cafe, and it was awesome.

www.commonrootscafe.com

I mean, it was sandwiches and salad & bagels, but the food was really good. Atmosphere was even better. It got so busy, and they donated all profits to the farmers. This is the only place in town taken on this much giving!

Jon: Caprese Sandwich, Triple Chocolate cookie
Ruth: Chicken Soup & Melon salad, Lemon bar
Joe: Roast beef w. , Lemon bar
ReAnn: Eggplant & veggie melange, vanilla cupcake

Petit Fours 3 ways.
Etica Organic wine flight.

Peace coffee all around.

next time: bagels and lox w.soup. ..beet salad!

Earlier today we had our first Zestar apple (despite driving all the way to the U of M apple house, we bought it at Byerly's. Much more sensical). The arboretum maze was cool except I was allergic to everything. Boo.

Oh yeah, last week we tried a Baker's Wife. Honorable selection of treats. Wayy too many to pick from, but easy to deselect due to too much shortening. :/

We had a ginger filled molasses cookie.. topped w. a glaze. Usually I'm all over the glaze, but it was way crispy. Cookie was really good despite the ring of grease it left on the napkin. I still prefer Byerlys.

another one to try

2007-08-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

The Vegetarian - MAP
4022 Central Ave NE,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
763-782-9678
Hours: Sunday to Thursday 11 am to 3 pm, 5 pm to 9 pm
Friday & Saturday 11:30 pm to 3 pm, 5 pm to 9:30 pm
Vegetarian Indian. Buffet. Vegan-friendly.
Menu: Has an excellent selection of authentic Indian food.
Comments: Buffet on weekends. Good service and atmosphere.
Other Info: Price: Medium.

Fair bound

2007-08-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Walker Kong!

ReAnn:
Lefse+Sauerkraut brat for dinner
Sunflower honey ice cream for lunch
The new apple mid afternoon

Jon:
Corndog(s)
Cheese Curds (really now?)
All you can drink milk
A brownie (?)

possible:
malt/shake/sunday @ the butterheads (strawberry rhubarb?.. why not just rhubarb)
BLP
salmon w.cranberry wrap

Post-fair Summary:

o'all: walker kong

Jon - 1st to last:
eats: corn fritters & honey sunflower ice cream, pronto puffs, cheese curds, mini donuts
drinks: apple cider, honey lemonade, milk, beer

ReAnn - 1. Smoked Salmon on a stick w.cranberry topped rye bread & lots of veggie condiments ;)
1 (doesn't count really) BRAVO beforehand,
2 the apple for a quarter,
3 honey sunflower ice cream. i would prefer honey cinnamon (I tried that honey for a sample, it was GREAT)

Rupa: Honey Sunflower ice cream.

My Drive To Work

2007-08-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

For my first post here is something completely unrelated to food. It is really just me playing around with Google Maps, but it is kind of fun. I'll have to put my food list up soon; I'm looking forward to posting my favorite food from the state fair and my uses for bacon.

View Larger Map

Later,
Jon

Favorites

2007-08-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Cannot live without:
Thai Bazil - st paul
Quang Deli - minneapolis
La Mixteca - bloomington
Bravo Bakery - st paul
Blue Nile - minneapolis
Q-Cumbers - edina

Worth your time:
Piece of Cake Bakery
Midtown Global Market
Da Afghan
Victor's 1959 Cafe
Pho Tau Bay
Midori's Floating World Cafe
Liberty's Frozen Custard
Kikukgawa
Tanpopo Noodle Shop
Yarusso Brothers (for my dad)

Need to try:
Colossal Cafe
Pennisula Malaysian
Restaurant Alma
A Baker's Wife
Pizza Farm
Namaste Chai (26th & Hennepin)
20.21 Sunday Brunch