Rabbit Hole

We decided it was high time for a foodie outing.  We plotted with a friend of ours when and where to meet.  We debated between Travail & the Rookery (closed on Monday), Tongue in Cheek (closed on Monday), Lyn65, and Rabbit Hole.  Rabbit Hole it was.  Aptly located in Midtown Global Market, Rabbit Hole features Korean street food. 

Let me just say, I had never been in Midtown Global Market, and I was immediately enamored with with the variety of interesting ethnic food right packed in a small space.  I can imagine heading there on a Saturday evening with friends and trying a little food from many of the different vendors.  I can't wait.  Sounds like a perfect winter activity.

Anyway, we wandered through MGM and finally found Rabbit Hole.  It's not much to look at, a little dark actually.  But, the food is divine.  A must try for anyone.  Most of the dishes are gluten-free and they also have vegetarian options.  We perused the menu and had a hard time narrowing it down because everything sounded amazing.  We settled on the following five dishes:

1.  Jerk Burrito (jerk beef, black beans, rice, onions, jalapeno, cilantro, arugula, avocado, amazing secret sauce)

2.  Brussels Sprouts (brussels sprouts, bacon, onion, orange, mint, parmesan)

3.  Chicken Strips

4.  Poutine (fries, kimchi, onion, parmesan, cheddar, poached egg, pork belly, pork curry gravy, chipotle aioli)

5.  Spice, Rice & Everything Nice (tempura soft shell crab, habanero oyster sauce, egg, rice)

We just ended up sharing everything.  It was all very delicious!  We had a nice spread of different flavors.  When you just look at the names, you feel like you've probably had it all before and it wouldn't be that interesting, but all the sauces and special accents they add to the dishes really transform them into something new and fun.  It was just a wonderful experience and we definitely hope to go back.  They also have a lot of very interesting cocktails to try as well.  My husband liked his Negroni and our friend really liked her combo of honey, hard cider, lemon juice, and vodka. 

I highly recommend Rabbit Hole.  De.Lish.

Fall in Duluth

Yesterday was probably the last hot day.  For sure it was Duluth's last hot day.  I decided to take advantage of this alignment of hot sunny weather, a weekend day, and having people to visit, and the promise of fall colors by heading up to Duluth yesterday morning.  The drive up north itself was beautiful - so many of the trees are changing color and showing off their vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds.  I was tempted to many times to pull over and walk up to the trees for pictures.

I parked at Amazing Grace cafe and got a coffee.  My brothers met me there and we began our fun-filled day.  The three of us, my brother's girlfriend, and their dog hiked the Lester Trail.  The leaves were changing color, it was 80 degrees, the sun was shining, and all we had to do was walk and hang out with each other.  Very relaxing.  The hike took about 2 hours and I think we covered about 4 miles.  The trail kind of winds around Seven Bridges road by Hawks Ridge on the east end of Duluth.  Gorgeous views of the city below and the lake.

After the hike, we had lunch a brand new restaurant called Tavern on the Hill right by UMD's campus.  That was delightful.  Good food, good drinks, fantastic patio.  Couldn't have picked a better place.  We started with the cheese curds made from Wisconsin white cheddar.  Then I had the salmon with syrup, peaches, and sweet potato/beet hash.  Delicious.

Then we went on a long motorcycle ride and saw more fall colors.  My guess is that the colors will peak next weekend. 

I ended the day with a long walk on the boardwalk enjoying the warm evening, views of the city, and cherishing the day as I know there won't be another like it for at least 9 months. 

Pickles!

My husband decided we should try our hand at pickling this year and I immediately jumped on board.  I bought green beans, cucumbers, garlic, and onions from a farmers market and we got to work.  I looked up a bunch of recipes on Pinterest for inspiration and we kind of ended up just doing our own thing.

Green Beans
Ingredients:
apple cider vinegar
water
kosher salt
green beans
onion
garlic
mustard seed
red pepper flakes
dill sprigs

To make the brine, you boil water, vinegar, and salt and then let it cool off until it's just warm.  Cut all the ingredients and layer in a tupperware or jar.  When the brine has cooled off, pour over the ingredients and chill in the fridge for at least 5 days before eating.  The amounts of the ingredients isn't really a perfect science, but the water to vinegar ratio is 1:1.  Make sure the brine fully covers the ingredients.

Pickles
Ingredients:
white vinegar
water
kosher salt
cucumbers cut into chips or spears
onion
garlic
dill sprigs

Making pickles is basically the same as the green bean process described above.  Only difference is that the water to vinegar ratio is 4:1.

Alright, fast-forward 5 days.   Well, 3 days.  I snuck a pickle because I was so excited.  Good thing I did; they were waaaaaaaay too salty.  I decided to drain the brine and start over.  I used the same proportions of vinegar and water for both the green beans and pickles but just didn't add any salt this time.  So that brings us to today - day 5.  Can I just tell you that they are amazing.  And homemade.  And healthy.  And they'll be gone in less than 5 days :).

My husband paid me the compliment that my cooking has improved by leaps and bounds from when he met me 11 years ago.  Basically every time I make any kind of food and it turns out edible, I am happy.  But when it's legit delicious, my happy train can run on that steam for days. 

Wild Breakaway 5K

Yesterday I ran the first annual Breakaway 5k hosted by the Minnesota Wild hockey team. That was really fun. The race started and ended at the Xcel energy center and the course followed Kellogg and wound down to Warner Ave and back up. It was a challenging race because it included a half mile uphill battle in the last mile. What really drew me out to the race was the prize - first place male and female got a pair of hockey tickets basically right on the floor.  I ended up getting third and the prize for third was a signed hockey stick! I have no idea what I'll do with it I guess, but thought it was a fun, unique prize. I was also really impressed with the t-shirts. Mine is an actual women's fitted shirt that I can definitely wear again. Above all, it was gorgeous outside and I was thankful I had a reason to spend so much time outside.

Anatomy of a 5k
I am really passionate about the 5k distance - short enough that you can run a fast pace, but long enough that you can't sprint it (I am incapable of sprinting due to a lack of fast twitch muscles). Here's my strategy for race day.

1. Pick the right music - I like to make a play list that is only as long as my goal time. I start with an upbeat song like One Republic's Love Runs Out. That song always get me going on a fast pace to establish my pace. Then I have more even tempo songs like Like a G6, Sail,
black Widow, for the middle of the race to just keep on pace. Then for the end of the race, I like to have epic music to pump me up for my final kick and motivate me through emotion when I'm tired. My epic songs are Skyfall, 24, and Carmina Burana by Transsiberian Orchestra. Music is a really strong motivator and undoubtedly will shave time off your race.

2. My warm up includes my physical therapy exercises followed by a slow jog to warm up.  Then I do dynamic stretching like planks with leg taps, yoga flow of whatever I feel like, knee raises and butt kicks, push ups. All of this gets my heart rate up which is important for starting the race out and finding a fast comfortable pace right away. Then I do 50 meter "sprints" repeated about 4 - 6 times. Then I line up and kind of jump around and shake out my legs until the race starts. Have to keep that heart rate up, but can't get tired from the warm up. Fine line.

3. During the race I try to keep tabs on the people ahead of me to know where I could place. I start the race at the front of the line to make this easier. I'm mostly just competitive with myself and want to continually improve my time, but it's also nice to place. If I'm on the fringe or I'm on target to place, it's extra motivation to finish strong.

4. After the race I do my physical therapy, drink lots of water, cheer on the other runners, and try not to eat all the free goodies!!! I try to bring my own food for after the race like a 20g protein bar or just wait til I get home and fuel up with eggs, veggies, and fruit. I forgot to mention - pre race food is 1/2 cup complex carb granola like Purely Elizabeth's pumpkin fig gluten free granola and almond milk about 1 1/2 hours before the race. Then 30 mins before the race I have half a banana.

So I guess that's my routine!

Afton Apple Orchards

Here's the deal.  You can literally visit 4 apple orchards in a few mile radius of each other in one day.  Or 20 minutes :)  As soon as I got home from work today, the hubby and I rushed off to the Afton area to stock up on apples.  Our destination was Afton Apple but we kept seeing signs for these other orchards so we visited 3 of the 4 in that area.  Literally just minutes from each other.

Afton Apple
Afton Apple is probably the most commercialized of the orchards in the area.  Right now you can pick your own apples and raspberries, kids can play at the park, they offer hay rides, and they have a corn maze.  Here's the catch, they charge admission plus whatever you pick so this one is a bit more expensive than others.  We didn't have time to pick our own produce so we just went into the barn (no admission charge for the barn) and grabbed some apple cider.  They were out of sweet tangos and honeycrisp weren't ready yet so we didn't buy any apples.  They press their own cider which is more fun than buying something that the orchard itself bought.  (Just a hint, Aamodts cider is far superior).  They also sell all kind of apple products in the barn - apple donuts, apple butter, syrup, jams, pies, crisps, etc. 

Whistling Well Farm
This apple farm is adorable.  You can pick your apples for free or buy what they have already picked.  I was extra impressed that they chill the apples they pick.  They also sell various apple products.  Unfortunately they don't press their own cider.  Thankfully they had sweet tangos so we purchased a peck of apples.

Apple Junction
They had already closed for the day but were nice enough to reopen for us.  Pretty much the same deal - stroll through the orchard, visit the apple barn.  It looks like they have an apple food truck on site as well serving up brats and other goodies.  They have all kinds of apple products here as well.  We purchased the apple brats today. 

Fischer's Croix Farm Orchard
We didn't make it here because they closed at 5, but we'll check it out at some point I'm sure.  Looks like you can pick your own apples or buy the pre-picked apples. 

I love buying apples at the orchard, but mostly I love driving through the countryside - especially at sunset.  Reminds me of my childhood.  Most the time we are heading deeper into the concrete jungle for outings, but these trips are special because they are out of town.  And perfect for appreciating the fall colors!

Delta 5K

On Saturday morning I ran the Delta 5K.  This is a high stakes race.  There are free travel vouchers on the line for the top male and the top female.  Last year I was 2nd :( It was by several minutes.  The race is usually run the first Saturday in June, but this year it was postponed due to a storm that morning.  I thought maybe since it wasn't the normal weekend, the woman who normally wins maybe wouldn't be there :)  Turns out that not only was she there, but she brought a friend.  They both beat me; I got third.  At least they are totally out of my league so I don't have to feel too bad like I just missed it.  I did end up winning my age bracket so I got a nice plaque.  They also have a pretty good swag bag - protein bars, salted nut rolls, bananas, water, fruit leathers, and a race t-shirt.  I also run the race because I like the course - the running path at Lake Nokomis.  It was quite a chilly morning, but as always, I am happy to start my day with a run. 

Moscow on the Hill

Birthday celebration, continued.

We met a bunch of friends at Moscow on the Hill for some after dinner drinks. We've wanted to check out this Russian restaurant and experience their house vodka for a while.  Lucky for us, they had happy hour from 9-10pm which was perfect timing.  We sat in the lounge on the couches and ordered shots of infused vodka and cocktails.  It was so much fun to have such variety to choose from!  I had a fantastic white russian.  Our favorite shots of the night were chocolate/vanilla infused vodka, coffee infused vodka, and caramel infused vodka.  Do NOT get the coconut.  I'm a huge coconut fan, but it was quite harsh.  I should go back sometime and mix some of these together.  Chocolate/vanilla mixed with caramel would probably be amazing.

Definitely a neat place.

Public Kitchen & Bar

Yesterday was the man's birthday.  I take it upon myself each year to plan a fun day full of surprises for him.  Yesterday he worked a 12 hour shift so I didn't have much time to work with, but I made the most of it.  I decided to give St. Paul some love so I settled on Public Kitchen & Bar - a brand new restaurant in Lowertown.  That seemed to be the right mix of a trendier atmosphere, interesting menu, and reasonable prices. 

We ordered the house purified and carbonated water which was amazing.  I'm really into sparkling water as a healthy alternative to pop and alcohol.  It still has enough pizzazz to make you feel like you are drinking something fun. 

We started with the jalapeno cheddar biscuits with honey butter and jalapeno jam.  Um...delicious.

I had the seafood cioppino with mussels, shrimp, calamari, crab, and cod.  The tomato broth was a little spicy which made it fantastic.  All of the seafood was cooked perfectly.  This is a fantastic dish if you can't decide what you want because it has little bit of everything and must be somewhat healthy with all of the lean protein. 

My husband got the filet mignon which was perfectly cooked, however, underseasoned.  It probably would have been fine for me, but he likes more seasoning and salt.  The filet was served with potato gratin which was also a little underseasoned and grilled asparagus.

We ended the meal with a complimentary bread pudding with candied walnuts and salted caramel ice cream for his birthday.  That was good and super filling.

It's a wonderful, brand new restaurant that I think has a lot of potential, but some improvements are needed.  Especially in relation to the cocktail we shared.  It was tequila, blackberries, and ginger which sounded like a fresh new combo, but ended up falling flat as the blackberries and ginger were undermuddled and all we could taste was harsh, white tequila. 

There are a few more things on the menu like bone in beef short ribs and pork ribs that we'd like to try so we might give it a shot in a couple months.  

Peach Yogurt Parfait

This has got to be my favorite breakfast ever.  Ever.

Peaches have been so amazing lately.  So juicy, tart, flavorful.  They are the perfect fruit for this healthy parfait.

Ingredients:

• Fage Greek Yogurt
• Sliced peach
• vanilla bean honey
• hemp hearts
• chia seeds

Just a little bit of everything to the yogurt and stir!

Aamodts Apple Farm

If fall must come, at least visiting apple orchards is an enjoyable past-time.  I've made a point to visit most of the apple orchards in the area.  This one is my favorite.

Highlights of Aamodts:

• Free parking
• Pick your own apples
• On-site bakery featuring apple cider donuts, apple turnovers, cider floats, apple pie, hot cider, apple brats, etc.  
• On-site vineyard - so fun to walk the grounds and enjoy the vineyard and the orchard
• On-site winery - St. Croix Vineyards has a fabulous wine tasting for $5.  Try their many delicious wines.
• Just outside of Stillwater - after the orchard, head into Stillwater and wander main street
• Family friendly atmosphere - tractor rides, picnic tables, and occasional petting zoo
• Tons of apple products available for sale to bring home including gallons of apple cider, apple brats, pies, apple chips, salsa, syrup, etc.  

My favorite apples are the honeycrisp, of course.  Apparently they are a little behind schedule, but will be ready in 2-3 weeks.  

Oceanaire

Time for another family happy hour.  I've been eying Oceanaire's happy hour menu for a while so we finally made it happen!

Normally this place is out of my price range, but behold, the power the happy hour. 

I enjoyed a wonderful glass of cabernet sauvignon and a glass of reisling throughout the evening, each $6.  Now that fall is here, I'm pretty excited to ditch summer cocktails and beer and just sip a glass of red with my dinner. 

We all shared their amazing appetizers, hence no pictures.  Everyone dug right in :)  There are several appetizers on the menu ranging from $6-$8.  It's nice to have a lot of options.  A happy hour menu just featuring 4-5 appetizers is a little lame.

The shrimp ceviche, mussels, calamari, fish tacos, and filet mignon sliders all hit the spot.  Shrimp ceviche was the standout for me.  I had never had that before and I liked that it was a little spicy and consisted of shrimp, avocado, and veggies.  I ate it plain, but it is also served with house tortilla chips.  I highly recommend.

Summer Beer Dabbler

If you'll recall, the winter Beer Dabbler was a complete bust as the temps were below zero and the beer was freezing in the kegs.  We called shenanigans and opted to try again - this time the Summer Beer Dabbler.  This year it was located at Midway Stadium (where the Saints play) and it was just perfect.  Ninety-two breweries situated on the stadium field presented their best beers for tasting.  It was really the perfect locale.  Big enough that everyone could mill about comfortably and not hyperventilate from the crowd; small enough that you could see all the breweries, food trucks, and vendors.  I should also mention that the weather was also perfect - 70 for most of the evening.

My favorite beers of the evening were as follows:

• Bent Paddle (located in Duluth) Cold Press which is a dark beer brewed with coffee. 
• Oskar Blues Pilsner
• Brau Brothers Strawberry Wheat
• Tin Whiskers Wheatstone
• Crabbies Orange Spice Ginger Beer (I might pick this over a Oktoberfest beer in the fall.  It was a fantastic ginger beer).  
• Sam Smith Framboise, Framboise and Stout mix, and the ciders.  Love.

No Dabbler would be complete without a fake moustache from Traveler.

Check out my brother serving for Bent Paddle!

Twin Cities Premium Outlet Mall

Apparently I'm in a shopping mood lately.  That generally happens with the change of seasons.  And the realization that my sweaters from last year just weren't quite warm enough, and I have to be better prepared for this winter.  Yesterday I visited the new outlet mall in Eagan.  Prior to the Eagan outlet mall's opening in August, the closest outlet malls were in North Branch, Medford, and Albertville.  None of them really close to me so I was really excited for this to open. 

First of all, I love the outdoor feel to it.  While there is a ceiling with skylights, only the stores have walls so it's open air which I love.  I suppose that could cause issues in the winter - not only are you lugging around bags, but you'll be lugging around your winter coat as well.  I was also happy with the large number of stores.  A lot of them are my normal stores like the Limited, Gap, Loft, and American Eagle, but they also have upscale stores like Michael Kors, Saks, Coach, and White House Black Market.  I also liked how well it was laid out - there is a row of childrens stores all together, fitness, shoes, and adult clothing stores.  It totally makes sense to group them together.  This place is huge!!

I love the outlet mall idea - cheaper prices at your favorite stores, but the clothes are different between the normal store and the outlet.  That means double the shopping I guess :) 

Next question:  how will this fare on Black Friday?  It could be totally crazy since it's laid out like a box.  Tons of people will have to fit inside. 

Overall I liked it and happy to have an outlet center that I don't have to spend a day commuting to.  (I work in Eagan so I'll have to refrain from going there often on my lunch breaks.)

Grand Avenue

Grand Avenue is my favorite area of St. Paul.  So many shops and restaurants!  It's the perfect place for a long walk as the action stretches quite a long way.

My favorite shops for window shopping are Lululemon, Anthropologie, Northface, Bibelot, and J. Crew.

My favorite shops where I actually end up buying something are Penzeys (spices), Running Room, Northern Brewer (wine making and beer brewing supplies), Cooks of Crocus Hill, Kowalskis, and Woullet Bakery. 

My favorite restaurants are Punch (Italian gourmet pizza), Grand Ole Creamery (amazing BBQ chicken pizza and ice cream), Dixies (brunch), Wild Onion (burgers and brunch), Cafe Latte (dessert, soup, salad, sandwiches), Pad Thai, Twisted Fork (brunch, dinner), Salut, and Brasa (family style).

I've also done a lot of business with the Wedding Shoppe which I highly recommend.

Lastly, I also like doing yoga on Grand at the Corepower studio.

I've found the best bet for parking is on Summit unless Grand itself isn't busy.  Summit is one block north of Grand and generally is way easier to fit a spot to park.  As an added bonus, you get to enjoy the amazing houses lining Summit. 

Uptown Shopping

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day.  I was so happy for the sunshine and the heat.  I decided to head over to Uptown to walk around, explore, shop, get some time outside.  I parked on the south side of Uptown on Hennepin and just started walking north.  Uptown has a fun mix of mainstream stores like Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters, Columbia, and H & M as well as boutiques, restaurants, salons, and specialty stores.  I really enjoyed window shopping and wandering around.  I couldn't believe all of the restaurants in that area - Barbette, Amore Victoria, Republic, Libertine, Amazing Thailand...so many brunch options!  And then Lake Calhoun is just a few blocks away. 

I think the perfect day in Uptown would go something like this: Start the day with a jog around Lake Calhoun, go paddleboarding on the lake, have brunch, get coffee at Dogwood, and then do a little shopping. 

Spyhouse Coffee Shop

In my opinion, Spyhouse coffee is the best coffee in the Metro.  I specifically love the iced coffee.  It isn't as bitter as Starbucks or Caribou.  In addition to fantastic straight up coffee, they have creative lattes, one even has lavender.  They also feature Patisserie 46 pastries to enjoy with the coffee.  Spyhouse is located on Eat Street in Minneapolis and on Broadway and Central in Northeast.  The NE location has a wonderful patio, and the inside kind of resembles a the inside of a barn.  Very rustic and inviting.  I love it. 

American Sky Brewing

Checked another brewery off the list!  I know...you aren't surprised.  This time we ventured to Hudson, WI.  One of the perks of living on the east side of the Metro is the proximity to the whole new world of WI.  We visited American Sky Brewing located in the outskirts of Hudson.  This brewery has a strong aeronautical theme, paying tribute to the WWII and Korean War veterans in the owner's family.  The bar in the taproom is actually made from an airplane wing. 

We shared a flight of their six beers on tap.  My favorites were the Oktoberfest and the Saison.  Even the IPAs weren't too bad.  I would definitely go back.