urbanfoodie

Dec 9

Best Bars for Holiday Parties

The holiday season may as well be renamed the party season. Some of these are held in private homes, but sometimes — like when you know your friends are ready to get truly crazy under the mistletoe — they’re better suited to bars. Here are some of the best bars around town for hosting a gathering of holiday revelers. (And hooray for L.A. weather: three of them have outdoor space!)

….more here

I just wanted to say that I read this as “Best [Dessert] Bars for Holiday Parties” like lemon bars, rice krispie treats, and the like. HOW MINNESOTAN IS THAT?! In fact, Wikipedia even has a special subsection on the vernacular:

Guidelines for bars and bars in Minnesota

Though similar to cookies, bars are not considered cookies and require no dough measuring.^[2] Rice Krispie treats are considered bars in Minnesota, but a brownie is not a bar.^[2] Bars are considered one of two essentials for potlucks in Minnesota, the other being hotdish.^[7] According to You Know You’re in Minnesota When…: 101 Quintessential Places, People, Events, Customs, Lingo, and Eats of the North Star State by Berit Thorkelson, the bar is a Minnesota staple and a “typical Minnesota dessert”.^[2] Thorkelson notes that bars are not included in Webster’s Dictionary, and the word pronunciation of the “ar” is with “a pirate-like arrr” followed by a soft clipped s.^[2]

Nov 16

Oh hey, Minnesotans! And other people with money!

fightwithknives:

If you are from Minnesota and on the Internet, or if you are following people from Minnesota and on the Internet, you may be aware that it’s Give to the Max Day. You may be overly aware that it’s Give to the Max Day!

On Give to the Max Day you can donate to your favorite Minnesota charities and everyone cheers, and it’s really fun because clicking buttons to give money to people who need it is really fun.

For example, you could donate to the Twin Cities Runoff, which is a nonprofit organization that is sponsored by Springboard for the Arts. (We’re not really pushing for donations today because we’re launching a large fundraising campaign in the near future, but your support will go directly toward compensating contributors.)

Today, however, I’m donating to organizations that have matching grants available because I’m an Amer’can who likes to get the most for her money.

Here are the three organizations I’m supporting, and I wish I could give more:

The Library Foundation of Hennepin County - The library is completely necessary to my functioning as a person and as a businesswoman. They also have a quote from Ed Asner in the donation video, which is a huge selling point!

The Neighborhood Development Center - Support local independent businesses in the neighborhoods that need them!

Rainbow Rumpus - The only online magazine designed exclusively for kids with LGBT parents! It’s a fantastic organization that helps a lot of families and a lot of kids, and I used to volunteer there and I’m all for supporting them.

There are a ton of other places to give—like the Twin Cities Daily Planet or Works Progress—and they all deserve your attention and support. Even if you just scroll through the GiveMN website, you can see the amazing community-oriented nonprofit work that occurs every day (not just on Give to the Max Day) throughout the state of Minnesota. It’s one of the reasons why I really really love it here.

Don’t get Give-to-the-Maxed out just yet! Four more personal considerations for you on this Give to the Max Day:

The Neighborhood Involvement Program provides free and sliding-scale medical, dental, and mental health services to people in the community who are uninsured or underinsured. I’m very proud to be a practicum therapist at this awesome organization.
The Loft Literary Center’s Equilibrium series, devoted to providing a space for communities of color to be empowered by poetry. They won the 2010 Minnesota Nonprofit Award for Anti-Racism!
I vouched for the Twin Cities Women’s Choir last year, and I’ll do it again. Over 100 women come together every week to feel, to heal, and be part of something larger than oneself through song. Completely volunteer organized! Go women!
Finally, there’s the Second Heartland Harvest, which I blogged about before (here are some facts to support the fight against hunger). Thanks to Arnold G., Erica M., and Becky L. for your donations during my birthday drive - the total money raised equals over 230 meals!

Now go forth and be charitable!

Sep 29

Let's fight hunger together for my birthday!

A friend in San Francisco started a tradition in 2007 of throwing a fundraiser on his birthday to raise money for the SF Food Bank, raising enough money for thousands of meals so far. I’m shamelessly stealing his idea and starting an annual tradition to raise money for my local hunger-relief organization, the Second Harvest Heartland. Although many of us live and eat comfortably in Minnesota, hunger remains (and is increasing) as a problem in this state just like the rest of the nation.

Did you know:

Visits to the food shelves, soup kitchens and shelters that make up the distribution network for Second Harvest Heartland have doubled in just the past five years.
Hunger is costing Minnesotans upwards of $1.62 billion annually in direct and indirect health and education costs.
40 percent of those seeking emergency hunger relief are children under the age of 18—a five percent increase over the past five years.
78.5 percent of adults who seek emergency hunger relief are high school graduates.
41 percent of those seeking emergency hunger relief chose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel—a seven percent increase over the past five years.
For more research findings about hunger in Minnesota, visit: http://www.hungerfreemn.org/hunger-in-mn/hunger-facts

So instead of buying me drinks or paying for my meal at the French Laundry, help me celebrate by donating that $5 or $250 to the urbanfoodie Food and Fund Drive 2010. Even if you are a stranger and/or wouldn’t buy me a drink/the meal of my dreams, please consider donating! $5 = 18 meals, so every bit helps.

I’m hoping to raise $280 (cause I’m turning 28) between now and Thanksgiving. Though a modest goal for this first year, this amount translates to over 1,000 meals for folks in need in Minnesota. The easiest way to donate is to do so electronically on the drive’s website. Otherwise feel free to give by cash or check (made out to: Second Harvest Minnesota) in person sometime - or on my birthday (this Sunday, October 3rd) at the Vegas Lounge where I will almost certainly be singing something by Pat Benatar and taking requests.

I am grateful to always have the means not just to eat, but to eat well and with people that I care about. I hope that you’ll join me in helping to fight the problem of hunger in Minnesota. Stay tuned for updates on the progress over the next two months. Thanks!!!

Apr 6

Perennial Plate - Adventurous and Sustainable Eating

A friend/colleague passed along some info on this fun, ambitious project coming out of Minnesota. Her friend, Daniel Klein, is a chef and documentarian/activist who has set out to produce a series of weekly episodes called Perennial Plate. Through these short clips, Klein tracks his year of adventurous and sustainable eating in Minnesota.

In addition to keeping up with the weekly episodes, you can also participate in Klein’s Harvest Dinner series (description from The Perennial Plate):

A Harvest Dinner is a meal that celebrates what is in season… every two weeks we will be serving a multi-course dinner of creative, affordable and sustainable food. The events take place at a nearby farm or in Daniel’s home and are a great way to get to know your farmer, your neighbor and the creators of the show. Money from the Harvest Dinners benefit The Perennial Plate series.

e-mail daniel@kleinpictures.com to attend

tentative Harvest Dinner dates:

March 27th, April 17th, May 1st, May 22nd, June 5th, June 19th, July 10th, July 10th, July 31st, August 7th, September 11th, October 2nd

I really appreciate how so many people in Minnesota care about transforming mindless consumers into educated participants in our food system. Looking forward to keeping up with the series! Thanks, Margaret for the tip!

Feb 20

Looking to Experience Some Food & Wine this Weekend?

The Minnesota Monthly “Food & Wine Experience” is happening this weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Tickets are only available at the door now for $70, which promise the opportunity to:

Sample fine wines, specialty beers and gourmet cuisine in nearly 100,000 square feet of space. With more than 200 companies showcasing wine, beer and food samples from the Midwest and across the country, you’re sure to find a variety of tastes to delight your palette.

I’m volunteering in “Water Distribution” this afternoon, which means that I get in for free (take that!). We were told there will be golf carts, walkie talkies, and that “You will get somewhat dirty and wet.” Throw in the food and wine, and that sounds like quite the experience to me. Hope to see you there (though I totally get it if I don’t because, dude, $70?!?)!

Feb 11

rebeccalando asked: Okay! Why Minneapolis, how do you like it, how long have you been there, and how does it compare to the other cities you've lived in?

People ask me this all the time, especially my friends from home in Chicago or accumulated while I lived in New York and San Francisco. Growing up in and going to college around Chicago, I never really thought about Minneapolis. Not good or bad. Just never entered my mind. Other folks from the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin, the Dakotas in particular) seem to look to Minneapolis as more of a destination than I ever considered.

That said, I moved here in 2007 to go to graduate school to work with a particular professor whose research interests match up closely with mine (i.e., Asian American psychology, experiences of racial-ethnic discrimination, identity, immigrant cultural adjustment, mental health to name a few things). You wouldn’t think that Minnesota (nicknamed “the Great White North”) would be a hotbed for this type of research, but there is quite a vibrant community of scholars, artists, and activists who are into these issues. Really interestingly, there are large communities of color here in the Twin Cities, such as Hmong and Somali refugees, other immigrant groups like Vietnamese people, and a large number of folks who were adopted internationally, etc. Despite this though, I still sometimes feel a bit out of place as a Filipina American and yearn for the incredible diversity of NYC and SF (even Boston, where I lived for a summer and visited frequently for years). Like I said though, I have a good group of friends and colleagues who are also transplants and we bond over our unique place in this city dominated by non-transplants.

Overall, I would say that I really, really like Minneapolis…I even found myself telling someone yesterday, “I think I could stay here.” You wouldn’t have heard me saying that 3 or 4 years ago.

You could probably say that Minneapolis-St. Paul is “urban-lite.” I appreciate that the Cities are fairly progressive (let’s ignore Michelle Bachmann for a minute), with mayors who support sustainable agriculture and infrastructure. I’ve experienced the MSP as quite queer-friendly. It is a very green, bike-friendly city. The public transportation could be better but it could also be a lot worse. You might be wondering, but what about the COLD? All that snow! Yes, it’s true. Long underwear have become a fact of life, but people here are incredibly hardy and it’s even a bit of a bonding point for us. That’s mostly the case in November-April (yes, it sometimes snows into April)…but then the months of May-October come and make up for all of that crap we put up with the rest of the year. Call it Seasonal Amnesia. Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, prides itself on its recreational offerings. Everyone is out and about when it gets warm - running, biking, sailing, hiking, whatever. Spirits are very high, perhaps because we can appreciate it that much more because of the cold winters. I would have to say that only San Francisco’s year-round-mild climate would beat it here.

As far as other draws - the arts/culture are pretty darn awesome here! Minneapolis has the second largest number of theaters per capita in the nation (second of course to your home, NYC) and an incredible number of artists in every domain. The TC also has a great music scene, with some interesting notes in rock/punk history, First Avenue, and of course PRINCE! If you have any interest in the whole arts and culture thing, it’s pretty rad.

And, of course, what about the food scene? Considering the history of the city, it’s no surprise that you’ll find less ethnic diversity than the other cities I’ve lived in (make no mistake, there are some really great ethnic restaurants like great pho, Japanese noodles at Tanpopo, Ethiopian at Fasika). But really, what I most appreciate is that food culture here reflects a lot of the Midwestern values that I truly admire. There’s a great respect for our ties to the land, as you can see from the ubiquity of establishments that honor local farmers and artisans. I also really admire how simple and honest a lot of the food is here. Even the most celebrated restaurants (e.g., La Belle Vie, Restaurant Alma, Meritage) manage to balance a high-end quality with an earnestness and lack of pretension. As a graduate student, I don’t have quite the resources to explore the entire scene, but I really love what I’ve experienced so far.

Of course, I would be remiss to fail to mention the people. Sure, there are stereotypes of Minnesota-Nice that occasionally show some truth every now and then. I wish that people were a little bit more direct sometimes, but you learn to navigate the passive aggressiveness and the subtlety of communication.On the whole, people are friendly. I’ve managed to find cool folks to connect with, though it wasn’t easy at first. There are a lot of people who are from the area and have social networks that go back to the elementary and middle school days. As a transplant, I have been able to find others like me with similar interests or life experiences. I’ve also found that I’ve adjusted well socially because of my experiences moving around so much in the last five years.

So…wow, I didn’t realize I had so much love for my current home. I tend to adapt pretty well to wherever I live, loving every city that I’ve been in (okay, except Boston. Sorry, Boston). In thinking to other places I’ve lived…New York City is wonderful with its intellectual culture and diversity, but ultimately, I think I value green space too much to live there.Part of me still holds onto San Francisco as a gold standard when it comes to my major values for life - diversity, weather, and food. But Minneapolis is doing right by me so far. She may not be Ms. Right, but she’s Ms. Right now, and I’m perfectly happy with that.

Dec 15

The Gift of Local Flavor - Æbleskiver

If you’re a devotee of the Mill City Farmer’s Market, you may have come across Aunt Else’s Æbleskiver (I had my first delightful taste of a savory sausage aebleskiver with ginger simple syrup during the last weekend of the market). Did you know that these unique spherical donut-pancake-popover-ish pastries of Danish origin are traditionally popular around Advent and Christmas-time? Well, how appropriate for Aunt Else to offer a little package ($52.99) that would make a great holiday gift - one cast iron pan, a package of their organic batter mix, and a stainless steel chopstick for turning the little guys. You could also just get someone one of the unique pans ($39.99) specially forged for Aunt Else. Super cool: the local, family-owned Aunt Else got some press on New York Magazine’s website!

Dec 10

Are you a Minnesotan Local Food Lover?

Today, Simple, Good and Tasty launches their Local Food Lover program - a partnership with several local, sustainable, organic, and fair trade businesses in the Twin Cities. The program allows you to support these folks, save some $$$ with the designated participants, and benefit the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Pollicy (IATP). Here’s a sample of what the $29 price can save you over the next year:

Buy one get one free entrées at Common Roots and Brasa Premium Rotisserie
$10 off 2 entrees at Spoonriver
Free desserts with the purchase of an entree at the Birchwood Cafe, Restaurant Alma, and Sen Yai Sen Lek
10% off all purchases at Galactic Pizza, Grassroots Gourmet, and Local D’lish
$8 off a cake at Salty Tart
$5 off your $25 purchase at Clancey’s Meat and Fish Market
$5 off your $40 purchase at Linden Hills Co-op
2 free items with a $20 purchase from Sweet Cheeks Baby Food
A free glass of wine with the purchase of an entree at the Craftsman
A buy one get one free sandwich at Golden’s Deli
Buy 1 get 1 free ice cream cones at Pumphouse Creamery every month for a year
$2 off every $10 purchase at Fireroast Mountain Cafe
20% off all of your purchases at Peacecoffee.com
More!

Purchase your Local Food Lover card at the SG&T event tonight at the Craftsman or at the Birchwood Cafe, Brasa, Local D’lish, Grassroots Gourmet at the Midtown Global Market, or online at the SG&T website. This would also make a thoughtful gift for your favorite Minnesotan local food lover (ahem)!

(via simplegoodandtasty)

Sep 3

Chocolate covered bacon from Famous Dave’s at the Minnesota State Fair

(see The Food, The People, and The Stuff on my Flickr)

Last Sunday’s visit to the State Fair was my second lifetime trip to the Fair. Sadly, Kelly Clarkson cancelled her concert, but it was a fun day of eating (Peach Glazed Pig Cheeks!) and people-watching. After reading others’ recaps of the Fair, I feel like there’s so much good food that I missed…and maybe that second trip for the week is warranted.

Aug 31

On August 15th, I embarked on a 1.5 hour journey to Hutchinson, the hinterlands of Western Minnesota, with a car full of garlic enthusiasts. Our destination: the Minnesota Garlic Festival. What we found at our destination was an aromatic world of allium sativum, with new varieties ranging from flavorful yet mellow (Chesnok Red) to SPICY (Georgian Fire) and new incarnations (garlic ice cream!). Who knew there were so many different varieties and levels of flavor in garlic? At one point, I wondered aloud, “So how does the supermarket garlic taste?” And an older man piped up, “Like California.” Oh, that local agricultural pride. There was lots of opportunity for tasting, and you could even win free cloves with a spin of the Garlic Wheel!

It was a relatively small festival, taking place on the McLeod County Fair Grounds, but there was enthusiastic support and, if nothing else, garlicky novelty. The exciting, pleasantly surprising experience of garlic ice cream was confusing at first, but the creamy-savory-sweet combo made the drive worth it. We also had lunch at the Garlic Scape Cafe, a collaborative effort of some of the most community, farm friendly eateries in the TC (Birchwood Cafe, Brasa, Common Roots, etc) in which all proceeds benefited the Crow River Sustainable Farming Association). My garlic-roasted pulled pork sandwich from Brasa was delicious by itself and made even more so (and fun) with my indulgence at the fancy-pants condiment bar.

The fest featured demos from chefs, garlic experts and other stuff like spoon playing, music, and fun for the family like kite-flying. It’ll be exciting to see if the Festival grows even more, as this year’s was bigger than the last. Who knows, maybe one day it will be as widely attended and large as the famous three-day festival in Gilroy, California. After a couple of hours of garlic sampling and education, we were ready to head back to our Twin Cities, our lives just a little bit spicier.

My Garlic Booty: Georgian Fire and Chesnok Red (won from the Garlic Wheel!)