Revisiting Jim's Apple Farm (Minnesota's Largest Candy Store)

Pumpkins at Jim's Apple Farm.

 Those of you who have read my blog, know of my love for Jim's Apple Farm. I went there first last year and wrote up a little post:

http://www.bittersweetlane-cherish.blogspot.com/2011/09/jims-apple-farm-aka-minnesotas-largest.html

Well, it just so happens that I went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival this weekend and Jim's Apple Farm is just 20 minutes further down the road. My nephew LOVES root beer. Since they have a zillion different kind of root beer (maybe more like 87 but don't quote me on that), I thought it was time for him to visit his Root Beer Mecca.

Jim's remains awesome, bright yellow, and still only takes cash or check. They have changed a few displays around and have lots of seasonal gourds and such for sale outside. They have a bigger selection of cookie cutters in all different shapes and more decorating sprinkles.

 Tons of apples available, too!

Non-edible but cool-looking corn

This display is new since I went there last. All the old favorites are here!

Ferris Wheel o' Fun by the cash registers at Jim's Apple Farm

I got a bottle of this  Dang! That's Good root beer. How could I resist? I haven't tried it yet but I'll let you know. The nephew got four bottles of different brands to do a mini taste test.

They have a large selection of maple syrups and  other maple products on hand. Love real maple candy!

The maple syrup display at Jim's Apple Farm

Bacon candy has its own not-so-little display area. This includes bacon jam, bacon fudge, bacon mints, and the above Bacon Frosting.

Some Halloween candy at Jim's Apple Farm

371 Diner

While on our trip up to Cragun's Resort over Labor Day, we had breakfast at this extremely cool diner. To tell the truth, I was disappointed that Brainerd and Baxter weren't very cute towns. Even this cute diner was on a decidely uncute highway. You guessed it - Hwy 371 in Baxter, MN.

This diner has obviously been built or renovated recently. Everything is retro-looking but in very good shape. Look how shiny the outside is! You can't miss the place.

Here's the view from our table. I feel weird sitting at a counter - even a bar. It's awkward to talk to the person you're with, and it feels like I'm staring at the waitstaff while they're trying to work.Love the red stools, checkered floor, and faux pressed-tin ceiling! This place even has a jukebox!

Here's our meal! We each got a basic breakfast special for about six bucks. I think this is an "earlybird" (I'm pretty sure it goes til 10am, though, so not exactly early) special on the weekdays. Everything was delicious and the service was very friendly.

We entertained ourselves by perusing the menu descriptions. Wish I had gotten a Chubby Checker Cinnamon Roll. What I really wanted was a piece of cream pie; they had all kinds and lots of malts and shakes, too. Ultimately, I decided it was too early in the day for me. I was really tempted, though.

A Hodgepodge (and Some Links)



Reflection of the Foshay Tower in the AT&T Building- Downtown Minneapolis.

 Happy Friday! The weekend is here, finally!

Thought I'd share some pictures from my day. Most of the day was spent sitting in a cubicle, staring at a computer. I 'll spare you that.

A little round up of some awesome links:

• Did you know King Arthur Flour had a blog? It's called Baking Banter and it rocks! Tons of good recipes, advice and tips! http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/
• I checked out this new stuff at Target tonight. Lots of cute things, especially the fox design from Patch! http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/first-look-target-shops-patch-nyc-the-curiosity-shoppe-team-up-with-target-175693
• Is it too early to think about a calendar for next year? I love this one from Rifle Paper Co. http://riflepaperco.com/item/2013_Cities_Calendar/290/c44
• Have you been to Franconia Sculpture Park? I have not. Maybe I'll remedy the situation by going to their 16th Annual Art and Artists Celebration on Saturday Sept 22nd: http://www.franconia.org/event/AAC_Schedule.pdf

Andrew Zimmern's (the Bizarre Food Guy) new foodtruck : http://azcanteen.com/

Here's just half of the foodtrucks lined up on Marquette Ave downtown. They're usually found parked between 6th-8th streets. Lots of Latin American trucks, with some British pub, Italian, new-fashioned American, and Middle-Eastern thrown in for good measure. There's even a sushi truck! 

This is the Skygarden at the Crown Plaza Hotel. They have weddings here quite a bit. Isn't it lovely?

Sorry for the wonky picture. I took this one out the bus window during my commute. The Ole Mississipp - a view from the Wabasha Street Bridge.

Senor Charlie Brown outside the Taco House in St. Paul. I wish they would touch up the paint on his hat.

Time for sleep!

Lingonberry Oat Crumble Bars

I made these lingonberry bars a couple months ago. They are great - buttery with a little chew and not too sweet. I used lingonberry jam that I purchased at Ikea, but raspberries or anothet tart jam or fruit would work really well. Even a cranberry compote would work (or how about cranberry and marmalade? now I want to make that....)

I got the recipe from this great blog "17 and Baking". She's pretty impressive! I definitely wasn't such an ambitious baker at her age (she's in college now).

I added some coconut and walnuts to these but otherwise stuck pretty close to the recipe:

http://17andbaking.com/2012/02/07/raspberry-oat-crumble-bars/

Some Drawings and Exciting News!

Here are a couple drawings I did in Microsoft Paint during down time at work. Paint is such a limited, frustrating program that it's actually kind of fun to challenge myself to make interesting things that take advantage of its limitations. It's the only program I have so I make it work!

In other news, my sister Melanie and I are the Featured Artists at Articulture for this quarter! That means we have a special display in the retail shop and will be doing a demo there on October 13th. More information available here:

http://www.articulture.org/featured-artist



"Snow Angels"



Cookie Crisp Pretzel Bars

Remember when I made my "milk & cookies" cupcake a couple weeks ago? I bought a whole box of Cookie Crisp cereal but only used a few for the "cookie" toppers. Well, I've been trying to figure out what to do with the remainder of the box. If it was Cinnamon Toast Crunch or even Cap'n Crunch I would just pour some milk in the box and eat it up! Sadly, Cookie Crisp has either gotten more bland since I was a kid or my palate is more refined.

Anyway, I made these bars and added pretzels and chocolate chips to offset the sweetness of the cereal.

• I  browned my butter before adding my marshmallows (to add some deeper, nutty flavors) but you could just melt the butter in the regular way.
• I crushed up my cereal and pretzels in a food processor but you could also put them in a big plastic bag (or even between two pieces of plastic wrap) and crush them with rolling pin. You want pieces that are, oh, roughly the size of a pencil eraser or maybe a little bigger.

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks of butter
40 marshmallows (1 package)
4 cups cookie crisp cereal (crushed into pieces)
1 cup pretzels (crushed into pieces)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Use cooking spray, an oiled paper towel, or a pat of butter to grease a 13"x9" pan (you can use a different size but, obviously, this will affect the thickness of your treats). Set aside.
2. Place cereal and pretzel mixture together in a heat safe mixing bowl. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a medium to large pot. If you are going to brown the butter, keep it on the heat (stirring occasionally) until it starts turning a light brown color. If not, just heat butter until completely melted.
4. Add marshmallows and stir until butter and marshmallows melt together completely. It may be necessary to stir vigorously or "fold" the two together to make sure there are no pockets of butter remaining.
5. Pour the marshmallow/butter mixture into the cereal/pretzel mixture and stir vigorously to combine. Work quickly to make sure there are no dry pockets of cereal. This way you'll get nice consistency in your final product.
6. Quickly pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Press down with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. Spraying the spatula with cooking spray makes it easier to get the mixture out of the bowl and to press it into the pan without it sticking to the utensil.
7. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top while the bars are still warm. I pressed them down a little with my spatula to make sure they stick.
8. Cool until set. I cute mine with a bench knife/scraper but any sturdy knife will work. Keep covered in an airtight container.

Stranded at the Drive-In....



Here's a great pic my sister took of the iconic sign while we were waiting to get in. We just MAY have been a little overeager since we got there an hour before they open the gates. Oops.



Okay, we weren't stranded (but we sort-of almost were, more about that later), but I bet you have that song from Grease stuck in your head now. Ha!

Sadly, the Cottage View Drive-in is closing at the end of the month. It's been open since 1966! I've been meaning to go all summer, and this past weekend's weather was perfect! Plus, there were two good movies showing. Score! A lot of times there's one good movie and one that is just meh.

A rainbow! It's hard to see but there are a passel of kids running around the field in front of the screen. They were playing tag and frisbee. The young teens were forgetting to look cool, giving piggyback rides to the little ones. I guess some things don't change.

When I was kid in the eighties, we would get to go to the Drive-in sometimes. I think it was because it was cheap (you paid by the carload, I'm pretty sure) and if one of us kids (or all of us) got drowsy we could crawl into the back seat (or the way back in the stationwagon) and sleep. Sometimes we would get Wendy's kids meals for dinner (yeah, frosties!) on those nights (I remember it as every time but that's probably not true.) I remember seeing one of the Stars Wars movies there (can't remember if it was Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi - frankly, I probably fell asleep in the middle) and E.T. the Extraterrestrial.



This is a still my sister captured from the short film "La Luna". It was funny and beautiful. You can see it on Pixar's website: http://www.pixar.com/short_films/



It makes me sad to see all of the old drive-ins closing. I'm sure they aren't big money-makers. They certainly aren't high-tech. Drive-ins are much more family-friendly than a regular movie theater (kids can run around and play when they get too antsy, you can talk during the movie and not bother your neighbors, you can bring food in) and they foster more community spirit. I enjoy Netflix as much as the next gal but there is something magical about waiting til dusk and then watching a great movie on the big screen with stars twinkling overhead. 

At the end of the second picture, we got ready to go and realized our car battery was dead. Apparently, this happens all the time and the staff goes around and jump-starts the cars. Ha! Luckily, the nice fella next to use offered to help us out, so we didn't even have to wait. He finished packing up his coolers and chairs, tucked his kids into the back seat, jump-started the car and sent us on our way. See...there's that community spirit I was talking about.