Category Archives: Food Memories

Linking food and fun

Cookie Help

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That search for the ultimate cookie recipe?  I guess I have been at it even longer than I thought.  Just recently, while browsing through a shelf of my lesser-used cookbooks, thinking it was time to prune the collection, I came across a thin volume titled The Complete Chocolate Chip Cookie Book.  Inside was an inscription from my sister and a date – December 30, 1982 – for my wedding shower!  It would appear to have all the advice I need.  Chapter headings include Tools, Ingredients, Worries, People and An Everyday How-To.  Oh, and it even has a definition, complete with illustration: “The perfect chocolate chip cookie is not so crispy as to be dry, nor so gooey as to be wet.”  Hmmm, close enough to my own personal view.  Clearly, this deserves a reread, and perhaps a promotion to my “current” cookbook shelf.  It’s worth a try…  And best of all, my find triggered warm memories, almost as delectable as a chewy chocolate chip cookie!

It’s Farmers Market Season!

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I love the Farmers Market. The sights, the sounds, the colors, and smells. Being there first thing in the morning is the best.

I remember going to the Duluth Farmers Market with my mom or dad early on Saturday mornings. The humble structure filled with friendly farmers and all their freshest produce was humming with activity. Being regulars meant knowing each stall, talking to the vendors and finding out what was best to buy that morning.

Living in the Twin Cities for many years, I frequented the Minneapolis Farmers Market. Although everyone seems to flock to the market on Saturdays, it feels more like a festival than a market to me. The craft vendors and extras all detracted from the experience. And it’s really crowded. I prefer weekday mornings. In the cool temperatures of the early morning, with the sun shining in at a low angle, it’s just the real farmers, tables of vegetables and rows of flowers. I’m competing for space with only a few shoppers inspecting the goods and making their selections. Even though I was usually on my way to work, it was the ideal time out. I could never feel hurried, and I felt inspired by all the fresh and wholesome goods surrounding me.

I’m pleased so see a resurgence of Farmers Markets. They are cropping up in small towns, suburban communities and roadside stands. All the better for the farmers and shoppers like me. I’m eager to get reacquainted with the Duluth Farmers Market. Maybe one day I too will know all the locals selling the wonderful fresh produce.

Wedding Ice Cream

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I love ice cream.  Fortunately, I married someone who feels the same way.  We share mugs of ice cream late in the evening, and it’s amazing what we can cram into those vessels.

Yesterday was our 29th wedding anniversary.  We had a picnic, went for a walk, and – of course – completed the evening with a trip to our favorite ice cream shop.

It was a fitting celebration, as we did the same thing 29 years ago.  In between the wedding ceremony and the reception, we made a slight detour – to the Dairy Queen.  It was the old style DQ, where we ordered from the window outside.  The servers were so surprised and enamored with the situation that our ice cream cones were on the house!  We arrived at the reception with our treats, linked arms and licked our cones.

Our daughter was married a few years ago.  Guess where the stretch limo carrying the entire wedding party stopped en route to the reception?  DQ.  It must run in the family.

Cookie Perfection

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What’s your definition of a perfect cookie?  Mine would include words like chewy, thick and substantial.  I like a cookie that you can bite into and feel its heft, but not experience a crunch.  It would include lots of chocolate chips, probably oatmeal, and sometimes peanut butter.  So how come it’s so hard to get them to turn out right?  What makes a cookie dribble out into flatness, or turn crisp when you give it just a few more seconds in the oven?  How do you find that fine line between doughy and overdone?  Over the years, I have tried innumerable recipes in search of that perfect cookie.  I even lured over my elderly former-cateress neighbor to give me baking lessons, as her cookies always defined perfection.  But once back on my own, even her recipe failed to achieve.

I do have one secret remedy.  Those overly-crisp cookies?  Just sneak a piece of bread into the cookie jar with them – and voila, soft cookies!  Works every time, and infuriates my son who happily devours my trials and happens to prefer crispy cookies.  But still, I persist.  I’m determined to get it right.  And there are far worse endeavors and by-products!

Life’s Simple Pleasures

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It is so easy to rush through life, making lists, checking off our accomplishments, cramming as much in as we possibly can.  But it’s really the little things that are important.  And it means slowing down to savor those experiences.

That’s where grandchildren come in.  I supplied the Easter cut-out cookies, my daughter contributed the brilliant icing colors, and my grandson provided the joy.  Who knew a 22-month-old could spend over an hour dabbing frosting on cookies?  It did me a world of good to shove my perfectionist tendencies aside and embrace his approach to slathering color at will on the fanciful shapes.  Purple duck?  Why not!  Spotted carrots?  Creativity!  Broken cookie?  Samples!  Mixed up frosting?  New colors!

The results were delightful, and I smile every time I open the cookie jar and survey the intense hues before making my selection.  I can’t wait to make Christmas cookies!

Destination Training

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What’s better than doing a training ride?  A ride with a destination!

My husband and I have initiated Saturday training rides together, as part of our preparation for our cycling vacation this summer.  Today we set our sites on Mocha Moose, a funky coffee shop up the North Shore just before Two Harbors.  It would make a nice 34 mile ride round trip – not bad for our early season training.

Never mind that it was 40 degrees and cloudy.  Never mind that there was going to be a headwind on the way back.  Never mind that “real athletes” never stop.  It was warm and friendly inside Mocha Moose.  The decor was eclectic, as required for a true coffee haven, and the offerings were tempting.  Having done our homework, we’d originally set our sites on the sinful cinnamon rolls.  But when confronted with the bakery case, it was the breakfast turnovers that called to us – layers of flaky pastry surrounding ham, cheese and egg.  We’ve earned these, right?

Owner Patti lived up to her vivacious reputation, and kept us entertained while we lingered.  She was a bountiful source of local flavor, including tales of other cyclists who are regulars at her place.  And she was just as easily absorbed in the details for our upcoming cycling trip, which will pass by her door.  We just might have to make it a stop on our tour!

An Invitation to Dinner

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I’ve always been an organizer.  So it probably was no accident that soon after we moved back to Minnesota in 1985, I started up a “Gourmet Dinner Club.”  It seemed an unlikely group, with three other couples whose only common bond was their connection to me and an invitation to a trial dinner at our house.  But somehow it all worked.

Before going any further, I should quickly dispel any notions that this was a high-brow, strictly silver palate group.  The concept was simple: The host chose the theme, planned the main course and provided the wine.  The other accompanying dishes were provided by the guests.  Sometimes assignments were made, occasionally recipes were provided (by those who required control!), and at times it was left up to participants to choose.  Most often the meals were delicious.  A few were marathon sessions of overly rich foods.  Occasionally a dish was a complete flop.  Once we even took ourselves out to dinner.

We’ve seen plenty of change over the years.  In the early stages, dinners often required a trip to the library to research ethnic recipes.  Themes were sometimes elaborate – remember those “Mystery Dinner” games?  Yes, we did them in full costume.  Then children came along, and recipe selections were based on what could be prepared between a soccer game and driving carpool to music lessons.  Since then the internet has simplified everything.

And here we are, 27 years later and still going strong!  We’ve seen each other through raising children, weddings and now grandchildren.  We’ve shared the loss of parents, and the stress of job changes.  We’ve marveled at tales of exotic travel, and agreed on the simple pleasures of going Up North.  We came together for the food, but we’ve stayed together for the friendship.

Ah, Memories!

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What kind of memories do you take away from an experience?  Do you remember the sights, the sounds and the smells of the places you visit?  I think I retain visual snapshots of certain scenes, probably reinforced by the real photographs I take with my camera.  But none of this compares to my friend who has “food memories!”

Name any trip, and she can tell you her favorite restaurants and what she ordered.  Name any gathering of friends, and she can remember what was served.  We’ve been going on annual cross-country ski trips for the last 20 winters, and she can recall the specialty dish from each bed and breakfast where we have stayed!

I will admit to a certain degree of food-centricity in my life, so I rather enjoy these food memories of hers.  We entertained ourselves for a good portion of the long drive home from the North Shore on one of our recent winter trips, recounting all those breakfasts together.  In fact, on the strength of that exercise, we added a new category to our trip journal to go with our notes on kilometers skied, weather, equipment failures and B&B ratings – you guessed it, food memories!

What will you remember from your next adventure?