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Today was a day for socializing and celebrating food: from lunch at the food truck Dandelion Kitchen (one of City Pages Top 10 Street Eats, I’ve also eaten at Smack Shack and Hola Arepa from their list and Turkey to Go from my list), to samosas and a lemon shandy at Brit’s happy hour, my favorite kung pao at Big Bowl, and finally a slice of triple berry pie at Baker’s Square.
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Near the corners of Larpenteur and Lexington in Roseville, Snuffy’s Malt Shop has an unassuming storefront in the neighborhood strip mall. Today was a hot and hazy day with a summer air that was palpable from every pore. My medicine? A butterscotch malt.
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Twin Cities Metro magazine recently highlighted a host of local haunts in its Hole in the Wall guide, which is how I ended up at Ziach Polish Foods in Northeast Minneapolis. It clearly lived up to its name because everyone in the store was speaking Polish, except me. Nearly all the groceries were labeled in Polish with very few English translations. It was like I’d transported to a European neighborhood market.
Somehow I missed the Polish experience when I lived in Chicagoland, aside from pączkis and Pulaski Day, a Polish holiday observed by Illinois public schools. I love that even in Minneapolis, I’m still discovering pockets of culture and new experiences that awaken my senses.
I have an insatiable curiosity and appetite for ethnic foods. From the shelves, I picked up and turned over each dry good, canned and jarred vegetables and fruits, and of course, the candy, cookies and chocolate. I eyed the extensive pierogi options in the freezer and limited myself to three flavors. My last stop was the deli case where I bought Polish ham and kielbasa, carefully selected and wrapped in butcher paper. Quite frankly, it’s the first time I’ve bought kielbasa that wasn’t Hillshire and I’m really excited. (Thankfully, the family running this store also speaks English!)
If you listen, keep your eyes open and make time, you’ll gradually identify the nuances of what makes a city great.
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When mom’s apple pie is in a kitchen 310 miles away, Minneapple pie is my ticket. The Atsidakos family created this sweet treat in 2008, and it’s served at Minne’s Dinner in Rogers, Minn., Target Field, the Minnesota State Fair and other summer fairs throughout Minnesota. The deep-fried pie has diced cinnamon apples inside, with a generous coating of cinnamon and sugar on the outside. Topped with a dollop of cinnamon ice cream, it’s simply perfection.
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Clearly, I’m a fan of margaritas since Barrio Tequila Bar is making a third appearance on my blog. (Also observed on Day 23 and Day 67.) It was a perfect patio night. This photo is somewhat of a role reversal, since I’m photographing our photographers.
P.S. Just like Where’s Waldo, can you find the Target logo?
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After several months of daily searching, late nights of online reading, talking with my parents, family and friends, and touring around the western Twin Cities for showings, I’m about to make one of my biggest investments ever. I’ve learned an incredible amount. Thanks to Uncle Jeff for helping me scout them out. Contingent upon a satisfactory inspection, I very soon will have a house to call my home.
Rhubarb pie is my favorite, and this was my first one of the summer. The pie crust was stubborn, but it rolled out to my will.
Best pie crust ever – Pastry for Double Crust Pie from Better Homes & Gardens. Three ingredients + water. You can do it!
Rhubarb filling:
5 cups chopped rhubarb
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3T. corn starch (or flour) to thicken
Before adding the pie filling, I lightly coat the bottom pie crust with sugar. For the top, beat an egg white and brush it on the top to get a golden look. Sprinkle top crust with sugar.
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Minneapolis and St. Paul are known as the Twin Cities, but they are decidedly fraternal. People joke that Minnesotans tend to have a preference for one or the other, particularly for nightlife. I guess I’m an example of that, since it was my first night out in downtown St. Paul since I moved back to Minnesota. I tried my first sushi, though to be honest, it was all cooked (shrimp and crab)…can’t do raw fish. It was good though salty, which in turn was complemented with a glass of Sapporo.
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Today’s photo is my most technically challenging photo to date. One, because I had to carry a tripod and shoot continuous images. Two, because it’s actually four photos that I composited into a single image (a new phrase I learned). The Buca’s sign actually lights up in separate stages as wine is poured into the glass, but never all together. Three, because it took me 90 minutes to figure out how to do this in Photoshop. And four, the resulting working file of 273 MB, combined with running Photoshop, sucked the living daylights out of my computer’s system resources and my computer crashed twice. I’m that determined. Only the best images for this blog!
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