Just Lazy. Not Gone Forever.

Hi, friends! It has been a long, long time. I've been baking and going on outings but have been terrible about documenting it all. I'm planning to take some time to get back on track, blogwise, early in the new year. For now, I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!

Mulberry and Currant Italian Cream Soda

Beautiful red currants! They are quite tart but are wonderful as a garnish.

I got a bunch of berries a couple weekends ago  - some from the farmer's market and mulberries from my parents' neighbors' tree. Mulberries are sweeter than raspberries so they pair well with the tart red currants. Originally, I was going to make a pie but we just went through a horrible heat wave. This drink with its homemade syrup is a perfect way to use those berries or other fruits when it is just too hot to bake.

Italian Cream Soda

Mulberry Currant Syrup

Sparking Water (Lemon-flavored La Croix in this case) 

Heavy Cream Or Half and Half

To make the syrup: 

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

About 2 cups of berries

Boil sugar and water together until sugar is dissolved. Add berries and boil for another ten minutes or so. Turn down the heat and let them simmer for another 15 minutes or so. Take off heat and strain to remove the berries. You can either continue to boil to reduce to a thicker, more concentrated syrup OR you can cool and use as is (you might want to use a little more syrup in your drink)

To make the drink:
Pour syrup in tall glass  - fill about a third of the way up. Next pour your sparkling water. Last pour your cream or half and half. After admiring, stir to combine well.

Surprise in the Garden

Look what I found popping up in my gnome garden the other day - toadstools! Aren't they cute? Like most mushrooms, they didn't last long but it made me smile to see them there. Especially surprising since the gnome garden is located in a screened-in porch. I guess the spores were in the soil?

Also, I wanted to post this beautiful pic of the flower bouquet that my sister got as part of her flower and herb CSA from Humble Pie Farm.  Even though I think of it as a weed, I still love Queen Anne's Lace.

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Dessert at W.A. Frost

“Kit Kat Bar” with maldon sea salt caramel, hazelnut praline, house made Chai ice cream.

Over the weekend, I went to brunch at W.A. Frost in Saint Paul. My friend and I sat out on their beautiful patio. It really is one of the best patio dining experiences in the Twin Cities (Side note: Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis is another beautiful patio, although smaller). We decided to be extra indulgent and get dessert!

It was definitely worth it. So many restaurants - even really fancy places - have boring desserts. W.A. Frost obviously puts some thought and effort into the dessert course (they also have an extensive offering of cheeses for a cheese course, if that's your thing). Both of these had a balance  - the crunch praline or nougatine, the smooth and creamy ice cream, a good balance of salt and sweet, and lovely flavor combinations.

 Green Tea and Lemon Roulade Raspberry Blossom Honey, Almond Nougatine, Ginger Ice Cream

Here are the links to the restaurant's website and photos of the patio. You can read all about the history of the building and restaurant on their website, too.

http://www.wafrost.com/photogallery.asp

http://www.wafrost.com/

This is Northfield

I visited Northfield a couple weeks ago for my college reunion. I had a great time! While I was there, I noticed these posters (above) up all over the campus. They're part of Northfield's new marketing campaign. The posters are not avialable for purchase yet but I'm told it is in the works.

You can see better images of the "This is Northfield" posters on their website. It also lays out all the different attractions in an easy-to-navigate way:

http://thisisnorthfield.com/

Lyman Lakes at Carleton College in Northfield

Historic Archer House on Division Street

Goodbye Blue Monday Coffee House - an institution in Northfield. 

The clock tower on Willis Hall (Carleton Campus)

First National Bank in Northfield. This is the one that the James Gang robbed.

The Chapel at Carleton College

State Fair Food Preview!

Here are some highlights (and some possible lowlights) of the new foods at the fair this year. I'll let you figure out what is what.

Comet Corn:
A futuristic caramel corn made with liquid nitrogen. This icy-cold popcorn is crispy, crunchy, sweet & salty and leaves a trail of comet dust when exhaled out of the nose and mouth, creating a tingly, bubbly feeling.

Mini Donut Batter Crunch Ice Cream:
 Features a sweet cream base folded with mini donut batter and a hint of nutmeg in a sugar spice crunch. Made by Minnesota’s own Izzy's Ice Cream.

Minnepumpkin Pie
An individual deep fried pumpkin pie with cinnamon and sugar-dusted flaky crust and served with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.

Cocoa Cheese Bites
Wisconsin cheddar cheese nuggets breaded with cocoa puffs, fried and served with a chocolate dipping sauce

Fried Pickles 'n' Chocolate:
Preferred Pickles' popular deep fried pickles dusted with powdered sugar and served with a side of chocolate for dipping.

Here's the link for the pictures and other new foods:
http://www.mnstatefair.org/fun/new_food/ 

Brown Sugar Rhuberry Bars

It's time, folks. Rhubarb Time! I love baking with rhubarb and it's one of the very first things that pops up in the farmers markets here in Minnesota.

Strawberry season is still a ways off, I think. It's dang cold out still. We are stubbornly refusing to turn the heat back on but the house is chilly. The cats are earning their keep as lap-warmers.

I made these bars from the recipe at the link below. The only changes I made were to replace 1/2 cup of flour in the crust with almond flour, to up the cinnamon to 1/2 teaspoon and add about 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries.

http://buttercreamblondie.com/strawberry-rhubarb-crisp-bars/

The bottom shortbread layer is delicious and buttery. The strawberries, blueberries, and rhubarb balance very nicely , and the orange zest is a nice addition. The recipe is a little fiddly. You have to refrigerate the shortbread crust and refrigerate the crisp topping. Once the bars are baked they have to be completely cooled before cutting. I would say it's worth it, though. They were delicious!