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August 26, 2016

A Fair Existence

Posted by Janet under Eating, Fair, Food, Minnesota, State Fair, Vacation | Tags: , , , , |
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Minnesota State Fair 2016

Every year, my trek to the Great Minnesota Get-Together is both the same.  And, absolutely different than years past.  But, always, consistently, fun and memorable.

Steve & I at the Fair

I always go to Day One of the Fair in Saint Paul with my “fair husband” Steve. We are particularly compatible as a fair couple because we like the same things, yes, but are also open to the choices of the other person. Plus, we share the food.

iron range meat

Iron Range Meat & Potatoes

So without further ado (because I know you are dying to find out) here is what we ate at the Fair:

  • Iron Range Meat & Potatoes
  • Pronto Pup®
  • Honey Sunflower Ice Cream, Honey Lemonade, Honey Lemon Sorbet (can you tell I am a big fan of the honey wing of the Horticulture Building)
  • waffle fries
  • birch beer
  • vanilla milkshake (only 2 spoonfuls; too creamy. Me, I like icey shakes)
  • blue cheese & corn fritz
  • candied bacon donut sliders
  • cup of coffee, flight of dark beer, Clown Shoes chocolate porter, lots of water
  • roasted corn
  • cinnamon banana dark chocolate Jonny Pop.

For more pictures and narrative, I invite you to check me out on Instagram @nyproducer

 

 

 

August 24, 2016

In Training for the Fair

Posted by Janet under Eating, Fair | Tags: , , |
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Quickie post to say that I am in serious training for the Great Minnesota Get-Together.  Yes, you can count on coming back here in just a little over 24 hours – to get the full list of what I and my “fair-husband” will have eaten, shared, and delighted over.

Time was (just look back at lists past) – that I could barely get all the items consumed on one page.  Now, really — who has the stomach to eat that much.  Ha!

In training means: not too much eating beforehand.  Taking good care of myself.  Making room.  And studying the list of the new foods.

This is at the top of my list:  Candied Bacon Donut Slider!  It IS a donut hole – so don’t go judgin’.  I’ll report back!candied_bacon_slider_lb

AIN’T LIFE GRAND!!!

 

Oh – late addition: how did I miss this one?

Candied Bacon BLT (sensing a theme here!)  I’ll let the fair description take it from here:candied_bacon_blt_lb

Crispy, thick candied bacon, rancher’s slaw and green tomato spread on a sweet egg bun.

YUMMY!

 

October 6, 2015

The Disappearing Apple

Posted by Janet under Eating, Food, Italy | Tags: , , |
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This little apple faces extinction in Bagnacavallo – the small Italian town not far from Bologna. It is called a Florina. It tastes like the essence of appleness: crisp when bitten, juicy but not slurpy, the perfect combination of sweet/tart. Like an apple, only better. 

I met Florina while visiting the home of Anna Tazzari – the creator of Signora Maria. Her husband Massimo explained to me that you could not buy this apple in a store – you could only pick it off a tree or buy it at a farm stand. 

Sad, this little Florina – I hope she makes it in the world of Honeycrisps. 

 

August 23, 2014

Quickie Digest

Posted by Janet under Eating, Fair, Minnesota, State Fair, Travel, Vacation
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So busy going to the Minnesota State Fair, I have little time to chronicle my adventures, but follows is a quickie list of foods I have eaten — probably not in order, because I’m still digesting. Haha. Get it!?!?

* Honey sunflower ice cream plus multi-spoonfuls of honey tastings 
* Corn on the cob
* Sausage sampler from Cynthia’s Sausage booth of Irish sausage, wild rice with jalapeño and cheese sausage, Swedish sausage speckled with potato bits. Served in a paper tray with sauerkraut 
* Nibble of bison hotdog – Chicago style – which, btw, I don’t get. Why junk up a perfectly good hotdog with all those condiments? Makes no sense to me, but then I’m not a fan of Chicago
* Two sips of a craft beer (with a touch of cardamom) from my friend’s flight of MN beers
* Vanilla milkshake from the Moo Bar outside the Cattle Barn
* Turkey-to-Go. How good can a turkey sandwich be? Come to the fair and find out. It’s near the Poultry Barn. 
* Walleye Roll (think lobster roll – but with flaked walleye: a Minnesota-based perch, wild rice! celery and lightly mayoed on a thick slab of open-faced bread touched with butter). This might be my FAVORITE dish at the fair!
* Walleye cakes (like crab cake only with walleye and a tad bit of smoked salmon). Yum!
* Pronto Pup®
* Cup of coffee
* Deep-Fried pumpkin pie with cinnamon ice cream
 

Minni Pumpkin Pie

 

 

June 22, 2014

Good Ol’ American Veggies

Posted by Janet under Eating, Food, United States | Tags: , , |
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Citarella Vegetable Salad

Fruits and veggies in Berlin, Dresden, Prague and Brussels were good. But, I missed my salad!!

 

June 19, 2014

Silly Wabbit!

Posted by Janet under Belgium, Eating, Food, Travel | Tags: , , , |
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One of my favorite dishes to seek out when traveling is rabbit cooked in almost any style. Coniglio in Italy. Lapin in France, or as it turns out, in Belgium. 

This is the dish I ordered in this hip little restaurant in Brussels. In English – the joint was called “Greedy Glutton.”  There were some Americans or Brits in the room, but there were as many (if not more) locals at the tables 
 
I ordered this Lapin, a saddle of rabbit, cooked in a type of Belgian Lambic called Geuze. Served with frites, of course. On the side: a simple, perfectly-dressed green salad. To drink: a flavorful blonde Belgian beer.  

Our waiter was an eccentric-looking man. Picture an Ichabod Crane dandy with high waist pants held up by a belt that hitched up the back loop. He was laconic. And possessed just enough English to take our order, and display a wry sense of humor. I asked him if a particular lambic/beer beverage was good. He wrinkled his fringe- covered brow, paused, then answered ‘well, it’s okay.’  

He almost grimaced when my table mates ordered soup and fries. “As you like…” He muttered. With a slight smile on his face. 

It was fun. And, oh so good. 

Hippety. Hoppety. Then on to the chocolate shops. 
 
 

June 17, 2014

The Mother Lode

Posted by Janet under Czech Republic, Eating, Food, Travel | Tags: , , , , |
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Ain’t no doubt about it, I hit the best. The BEST, the veritable mother lode of awkward English menus – at a great restaurant in Prague. 

 There were special categories on the menu for “FEEDERS” – which, after we grilled the waiter (or barbecued him, as one of our guest speakers said this week) – we are pretty sure really meant “foodies.”
 
But this was my favorite on that multi-lingual ode to gastronomy. 
 
Now doesn’t that just sound delicious? Spicy sausage of the chef. Yum. Yum. 
 
 
 
 

June 16, 2014

Thereto Salad

Posted by Janet under Eating, Food, Germany | Tags: , , , |
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This was my first meal in Dresden — if you don’t count the cake and coffee which is traditionally served at 4 o’clock Sunday afternoon.

 This was my choice for the menu, although it took me and my colleague sitting next to me at dinner about 10 minutes to decipher. 
 
Pike perch – I knew was a freshwater fish. Baked in egg turned out to be a fluffy coating around the perch – with a slightly crusty outside and an almost soufflé like inside. 

But what the heck is a thereto salad? Turns out it is bad translation of “on the side”. 

My first Dresden dinner was delicious. 
 

May 18, 2014

Local honey

Posted by Janet under Eating | Tags: , , |
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Couldn’t sleep the other night — and feeling a little under the weather — so figured I’d have myself a cuppa lemon-ginger tea.

Then I remembered what a honey-loving friend told me about the healing properties of the nectar of the bees. So I dug through my pantry and pulled out a bottle of honey I’d purchased long ago at the Farmers Market (oh —
and honey never spoils either).

This honey was made by bees who spent their days busy at the High Line. Figured that would make the it all the more healing because we all share the same bugs (and uh-hum bees) in this neighborhood.

Simply bzzzzing with health after that cuppa infused with the essence of the High Line.

 

May 15, 2014

Ingredient Insight

Posted by Janet under Cooking, Eating, Healthful | Tags: , , , |
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I am a big fan of frittatas — whether whole egg, whole/egg white mix, or just egg whites — it is a great way to use some leftover vegetables – and, maybe, but not necessarily, just a little cheese as condiment.

So, I was surprised to learn a new addition to my usual frittata that I had never even considered: Greek Yogurt.  The UBIQUITOUS protein-rich greek yogurt.

It is from the New York Times fabulous health writer and recipe maven, Martha Rose Shulman. Her recipes always work, and she has this great technique of teasing out the flavors.  A recent recipe for a frittata with chard and green garlic – calls also for greek yogurt.

I made a successful batch this week.  Check it out!  And, tried it in another version of a frittata.  Everything Shulman devises works out well.

 

 

May 3, 2014

Brekky

Posted by Janet under Breakfast, Eating | Tags: , , , |
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When you start your day off with breakfast – somehow life looks rosy. First meal, new day, breaking of the fast.

I may love breakfast more than any meal.

Though I would not eat grilled octopus in the morning. Unless I was in Tokyo. Do they eat cephalopods for breakfast in Japan?