47th and Where?

I've lived in Minneapolis for over 3 years, and I realized today that I don't know this city at all. Kate was nice enough to give me a biking tour of south Minneapolis, and brought us to the little neighborhood pocket of 47th St and Chicago Ave for some amazing ice cream at Pumphouse Creamery.

If you haven't been, go. Now. It's that good. Now the only problem is figuring out which restaurant in that neighborhood to visit next: Cafe Levain? Pizza Biga? Ba Gu?

China, The Food (Young Joe, Chow Fat)

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about what type of food I would find in China. How would I order? Do they eat dog, or is that just a stereotype? Would I be presented a plate full of squishy things with tentacles? Raw things? Pigeon? Donkey? Would I hang my head and succumb to Mickey D's? Could I last 2 weeks on Snickers and beer?

All my worry was for naught. The food was spectacular. I'm starting to realize there's a reason why people in different parts of the world eat different foods -- because they know something we don't, and that something tastes good.

A few highlights:

• Hot Pot -- Think Chinese fondue, but with water instead of oil. Take loads of thinly sliced lamb, fresh greens, mushrooms, ginger, dough, potatoes, fish balls, noodles, and tofu and cook them together in a pot of simmering water in the middle of your table. Add beer, friends, and dipping sauces, and you're guaranteed a good meal.
• Peking Duck -- We were honored to eat duck number 1,150,325,487, and we have the certificate to prove it. Since 1864, Quanjude has been serving its famous Peking (roast) duck. Order your duck, and they wheel out a silver cart and carve it for you on the spot. Duck breast, skin with fat, and head are all presented. Take a few sprigs of spring onion, dip the duck in a dark, thick, amazingly tasty sauce, and wrap it in a small rice-based tortilla. Mmm, mmm good. Bonus entertainment comes when they fill up your tea pot. Instead of a basic pour, it's more a perfectly arched jet of water.
• Street Food -- From sweet sticky rice treats to skewered lamb kabobs rolled in cumin and rosemary, you could find just about everything from a street vendor.
  
• Dumplings -- How can you go wrong? Mash up a bunch of pork, beef, tofu, shrimp, or your favorite choice of protein, add some vegetables, and wrap them in a bun and steam or pan fry to your liking. Yum.
• Donkey Pancakes -- Braised donkey in a pita pocket. Who knew?
• Red Bean This, Red Bean That -- I don't know if red beans are naturally sweet, or the Chinese just picked them to use in pastries and artificially sweeten them. But honestly, I don't really care. From red bean lattes to red bean scones, we were pleased.
  
• Home Cooked Goodness -- We were fortunate enough to stay at the Culture House in Yangshuo, home of Master Director Wei. And let me tell you, he deserves every bit of the title "Master Director". At night we sat down at a large dining table with the 8 or so other travelers staying in the same house. An older woman (perhaps Wei's mother?) would bring out heaping dish after dish until the lazy susan in the middle of the table couldn't hold anymore. The food was by far the best we had the enitre trip. Since we were in the south, the ingredients were fresh. The sauces were perfect. Jen fell in love with the dumplings. I obsessed over the stuffed peppers and ginger pork. I would go back to China simply to learn the cook's secrets. You think I'm kidding.

The Other Favorite Salad

I recently co-discovered a deliciously easy salad.

Cubed fresh tomatoes
+ Cubed cucumber
+ Fresh basil, torn
+ Olive oil
+ (toss together)
-----------------------
= Quick and tasty

The basil brings the whole salad together with a wonderful nearly-sweet taste. But the hidden key to the recipe is the word "fresh" in front of tomatoes.

I feel sorry for people that have never had a fresh tomato, for they are missing so much. I have a feeling someone in the world is saying the same thing in regards to bananas and mangoes as I type...

Living Art?

I'm not much of a gardener, but I feel that slowly changing. As of late, I've spent quite a bit of time buying and planting various flowers, vegetables, and herbs. I realized there is definitely an art to creating an attractive garden and landscape. In fact, it's much like painting -- picking out colors, planning the layout, going for big or little shapes -- but what's exciting about gardening is that your "painting" changes daily. And not only that, but it can reward you with tasty fresh food as a bonus.

My parents have been gardening for most of their lives and I wish I would have paid more attention growing up. Hopefully I'll develop that green-thumb gene after all.

A Prairie Home Companion Weekend

My parents visited this past weekend for what turned out to be a very productive (notice the recent theme?), tasty, and fun weekend.

Productive: major yard work. It's never looked so good. I think my parents should open up a landscaping / garden consulting / sweet corn operation when they retire.

Tasty: good food. We ate at my favorite restaurant in the Cities, 128 Cafe. We also checked out Cafe Lurcat. Lurcat was just ok in my opinion. I got the feeling that they were trying too hard to be a high class establishment. And they seriously need to fix their acoustic issues. We weren't in the bar. And it's not a club -- it's a restaurant. Why am I shouting? You hear me Lurcat? No? That's right -- fix your acoustics. We finished the high-calorie weekend at Edina Creamery and Yum! (appropriately named if you ask me).

Fun: Everything was fun, but the topper was seeing Prairie Home Companion (click the link for audio clips and pictures from the show), with special guest Wilco. The show overall was great. Wilco was awesome.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, about halfway through it Garrison will read off various "greetings". They range from "Happy 90th birthday Francis", to "Congratulations Franky on getting your drivers license. Don't crash my car." Upon entering the theater, they provide you with scrap paper and pencil, and you have a minute to come up with a sentence that will hopefully be creative enough or sentimental enough to reach Garrison's hands.

In my haste, I believe I wrote, "Hello to [my parents], who after 30 years of marriage still sleep next to each other." We rushed to our seats, and upon sitting down I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I realized I had written down the wrong anniversary number. I considered running back downstairs to change it, but figured it would be nearly impossible to find my slip of paper amongst the hundreds of others. And besides, what are the chances that Garrison would read my note?

Funny how things work out.

About halfway through the greetings he read my message. My jaw dropped, and my parents looked at me in startled confusion, asking was that their name he just read over live radio to his millions of faithful listeners. Yep. Funny how things work out.

Go Local

If you've been a faithful reader, then you may recall a post I made last August about Organic vs. Local. Anyway, I stumbled across a nifty website called localharvest.org. Type in your zip code and, according to the website, "find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies."

Yaaaaaay produce!

Ecto Wha?

Whatever happened to Ecto Cooler? Was it not the best Hi-C flavor of all time? I think they should bring it back -- and apparently so do about a hundred others that have signed a petition saying so.