Minnesota Summer

Well Hello Summer!  So glad you could make it!  Just this past week it has finally felt like it's name around here- sunshine, humidity, crispy skin from being at the pool from open till close, bug bites, BBQ's and gin bootlegs.  Ahhh...finally.  

We wait a long time for this season and have no shame in living it up like it's the last day we will feel the sun on our faces.  It is a season where we see certain folks that we otherwise don't during the shut in months and we eat certain foods unavailable six months from now and savor sitting outside for leisurely lunches on backyard patios. 

Bedtimes seem to fade- is that my six year running down the sidewalk barefoot still wearing his swimsuit long after dark with a drippy popsicle hanging from his hand?  Why yes, I do believe it is!  And I make no apologies.  Morning routines are botched and sports are occasionally skipped.  As annoying as it can be sometimes, I do love the "swap the kids" around the neighborhood business that seems to be pure Minnesota.  In our old California neighborhood I didn't ever experience the "summer parent support system" of  "I need to take J to baseball so can you take Z and G and when I get back send F, C and C over for a while so you can run some errands and then let's meet up because I need to take M and J over to the F's for a movie date with their nanny and then my Dad is going to take them to DQ for a while and then we'll all get together in your backyard so Mr. C can BBQ??"  Yup, that's pretty much the daily story around here for three solid months and we are lucky and we love it and we are all ready for it end by Labor Day. 

But until then I will soak up the sound of cicadas, the smell of freshly cut grass, the dirty bare feet, the freckled noses, sunscreen smell on my boys' hair, early morning walks before it gets too hot (okay, who am I kidding, mid morning), back yard movies, and the freedom my boys feel from fishing in the creek down the block by themselves.   That is pure Minnesota summer- and I'm very thankful you have decided to arrive.

Savoring Summer Style

It's time to start thinking about summer and I can't imagine a better way to kick it off than with a girls' night out!  Let's sip, savor and style it up at Houndstooth in Eden Prairie on April 26th from 7-10pm.  I will be pouring some great spring wine selections and there will be plenty of gorgeous fashions to get you excited about the upcoming season.  And to top it off you get 20% off all night while a portion of it goes to charity, it doesn't get any better than that!

So come on out to celebrate what a fabulous evening White Peacock Styled Events has put together for you! This is one you will not want to miss!

You can RSVP by calling, going to the website at www.houndstoothboutique.com or logging onto Facebook and responding "YES!" to the invitation featured on their page.  

And don't forget..

Wine Wednesday

House Wine Spring 2012

Hugl Gruner Veltliner

Austria

What the hell is that, you say?  It looks like a mouthful but it's actually pronounced just as you see it.  Grew-ner VELT-li-ner.  
Distinctive, delicious, and decidedly free of the "feline funk" quality I seem to be tiring of these days, Gruner is the perfect choice to stock your wine fridge with this season.  And most impressive is the price-pleasantly inexpensive at approximately $13.99 for a liter. Yes, a liter.  Don't be embarrassed about the size, it's quite appropriate to get a little extra bump for your buck so go ahead and indulge both yourself and your friends with one more pour from your purchase.  You deserve it.
I pulled out the super sized Hugl last weekend for a group and they all paused with a little, "ohhh, what is that?  I like that!"  Sold!  House wine decision confirmed.
Our weather here these last few weeks has been anything but typical so Gruner has been the perfect choice of late to quaff while sitting outside in the March sunshine. Gruner Veltliner is a grape indigenous to Austria that traces back to Roman times and possess a delightful minerality and tangy (but not tart) grapefruit quality that is superb on its own but is also an excellent accompaniment to food.  The marriage of a good Gruner with Asian spices, most notably lemongrass and coconut is most definitely one that your palate will remember.  Some of my most memorable food and wine combinations are Gruner Veltliner and Vietnamese food; the subtlety of the wine and the aromatic nature of the food just go so beautifully together. 

Whether you can pronounce it or not, I know you will enjoy this delicious little Austrian number.  It is sure to please both you and your guests, on it's own or with your favorite summer dish, which is why it is my top pick for the perfect spring house wine.  Available at France 44 in Edina.  


Cheers!

Are You Tired Yet? Celebration #2

And the celebrating continues...it's getting exhausting, I know, but it was worth it.  My sister and brother-in-law graciously opened up their home so Mr. C and his longtime pals could whoop it up old style as only this oxford shirt clad group could do.  His family was there, my family was there, friends from grade school, friends from college, friends all the way from Minnesota, hell, even his old girlfriend was there (she's lovely, I adore her) with her husband.  It was a special night and one I believe Mr. C will never forget.

Happy 4-0!

The Gang's all here!

Taco truck from Fork Catering in Sonoma County- delicious, creative, sustainable, a serious winner.

There were kids...

and Dad's and sisters.

There were lots of toasts..

And then came the roasts...

There were glamorous girls...

and 40 year old dancing fools.

And then it got late...

and the dancing got worse...

and the white guys started to overbite.

There were a few spills 

but the gang's still here.

Forever.

(all photos courtesy of the very talented Eric Ullman- thank you!)

Mr. C's Big Birthday Celebration Number #1

Now I know I am bouncing around in time here and probably confusing all of you to a great degree, but stick with me, I promise it will all make sense.  I am going to take you back to The Cabin for a moment to share some great grill stuff.  As you may or may not remember, I myself do not use the grill, or in the case of The Cabin, an open fire pit with a grate on it.  Years ago when my sister-in-law introduced her East Coast boyfriend fresh out of Georgetown to the family, he couldn't grill, camping was unheard of, and the woods and the water and all that "cabin stuff", ummm, not really his thing, not because he wasn't open to it, but simply because they didn't do a lot of that out on Long Island.  Well, things have changed and that boy now hikes, kayaks, camps, and lucky for us,  BBQ's with the pros and loves to share what he's learned from the best.

This fella (whom we shall call McD) has since become my brother-in-law and has morphed into a serious meat master.  Our McD is now with Clorox and has taken an otherwise, dare I say, "ordinary" job and turned it into something that is not only daring and creative, but fun, informative and totally groundbreaking.  He really only handles three products, Kingsford Charcoal, Brita Water Filters, and KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, but has managed to brilliantly promote these products with some of country music's top acts- Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Zac Brown Band, Jack Johnson, and my oh so favorite band of all time, The Dave Matthews Band.  He has "greened" up their tours with Brita water bottles and held meet and eats before concerts with Kingsford.  McD's creative efforts to cross-promote these products with BBQ masters such as Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's Barb-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama have taken him to BBQ championships (competing against Minnesota's own BBQ master, Famous Dave), food and wine festivals, the Country Music Awards, The Grammy's, Sundance Film Festival, and on and on.  
All in a day's work, I suppose.  How do I get a job like that?

So bringing this all back around and what these lemons are all about, is that for Mr. C's Big Birthday Celebration Number #1, McD patiently, lovingly, and carefully prepared one of the best meals we have had at The Cabin.   While we were off swimming, fishing and frolicking in the Sierra sun, McD was literally at The Cabin all day cutting and grilling lemons for what he calls Grilled Lemonade (I renamed it Dirty Lemonade), dry rubbing ribs (with Big Bob Gibson's dry rub, of course), then smoking them, grilling them a little, then smothering them in KC Masterpiece's sauce and placing them on the grill for a little longer.  I think this is the way it all works, but there may have been a Dirty Lemonade or two in there somewhere so forgive me if I miss a step.  Whenever McD is asked what the key to good BBQ is, he replies with a matter-of-fact response, "Time and Patience".  And he certainly used both when preparing this memorable, delicious, gorgeous meal for our family to share.

McD's Grilled (aka Dirty) Lemonade is a combination of bourbon, a simple syrup infused with rosemary, and sliced, grilled lemons squeezed into a container.  The end result is a totally refreshing, interesting, concoction of sweet, sour, and smoky.  We all loved it.
McD- thank you for sharing your love of cooking, music, family, and fun with all of us- we have certainly learned a lot from you.
Cheers!

We're Back!!

Don't we look just like The Griswold's?

We did it. We survived the Great American Family Roadtrip. We did not kill each other, our children, or any innocent bystanders along the way. And do I dare say, we actually had fun??

We saw rolling plains, majestic mountains, shooting (sort of) geysers, glacial lakes, and national parks.  We experienced marginal motels and luxurious resorts, listened to countless hours of The Grateful Dead station on SIRIUS Radio (the driver's choice), and an unbelievable log of good times. Really. 

There is something about the good 'ole American road trip that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.  I'm not sure exactly what that is, if for nothing more than bragging rights, but traveling the country by car is quite an experience, especially with three boys under the age of ten. I won't give you all the details, only the highlights and maybe a couple of the now hysterical low lights (nearly running out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Twice, but whose counting), but all in all it was a super amazing time that none of us will ever forget.

Old Faithful

After our Wienerwagon sighting in South Dakota along with countless Harley's on their way to Sturgis we pushed into Wyoming for a visit to Yellowstone and Teton National Parks.  Now folks, I gotta go out on a limb here. I believe that Yellowstone is the number one visited park in the United States, but I really don't get why. For those of you that have not been there, avert your eyes to the lower part of this page, because I just don't get it. You drive, and you drive, and you drive some more through windy little roads that on most days are jam packed all to stand around a stinky hole in the ground to watch a bunch of water gurgle (and when I say gurgle, I mean gurgle-the fountains at The Bellagio are far more entertaining) out of the ground.  It's weird.  And it smells.  It's also super crowded and the parking sucks. Unless you are going to be camping (no thank you) inside the park and plan to do some serious hiking I'm not exactly sure what else there is to do. Spot a buffalo or two? We didn't see any. If I am missing something here, please let me know.  This was my second visit to the park and I agreed with Mr. C that it is "something every kid should see" so we paid our $25 and entered the gates.  I certainly didn't want to be the family cynic just because my first visit to Old Faithful was with a college boyfriend who was a major douche bag- douche bag he was, probably still is, and Yellowstone is still boring. 
Mr. C agreed. Moving on to...


Teton National Park. Go south of Yellowstone and try this one on for size. Absolutely stunning, gorgeous, snow capped mountains that fall into Jackson Lake and Jenny Lake and God only knows what else that we didn't have time to get out of the wagon and nod our heads ala Chevy Chase and crew in Vacation. Those Tetons, they were amazing- a definite "Must See."  Take the park all the way into the town of Jackson, Wyoming which is a super cool town that has a touch of that cowboy/chic vibe thing going on. You know, like uber tan women (and a few men) that wear a lot of turquoise and suede year round and look like they just stepped out of the Sundance catalog. Those types. We loved it and were lucky enough to snag one of the last remaining hotel rooms in town at the ultra luxurious, very swanky Painted Buffalo Motel.  It was right off the square next to the Gold Nugget Motel, The 49er Motel, and the Stage Coach Inn. Get the picture?

Boys at the antler arch in the square in Jackson, Wyoming

By this time my brood had traveled extremely well.  I mean, blowing our minds, like "who the hell are these children?, and "we should do this for every trip!!" type of traveling well, but we still had to make it all the way through Nevada. In one day. We dorked around long enough in the parks (damn Yellowstone!) that we needed to make up some serious time if we wanted to make it to The Lake by cocktail hour the following day, which meant a killer 12 hours (to the minute according to the indispensable iPhone) through the Nevada desert.  I was nervous the boys would crack their heads together simply for something fun to do through this endless stretch of dust that lies between the towns of Elko, Winnemuca, and Sparks. Nothing to see except tumbleweeds and faded billboards for brothels and slot machines.  All things the average American kid should experience on a family roadtrip, right?  Wrong, but whatever, it had to be done.

Goodbye Tetons...

Hello Nevada.  This is the pretty part

We treated this nasty, endless stretch of Highway 80 as the Yellow Brick Road to the cabin, so we bit our lips, hunkered down for the long day and soldiered onward. The kids must have been anticipating Grama, the new baby cousin they had yet to meet, and the sunset over Fallen Leaf Lake because yet again, they rocked and at the end of the third day The Tahoe Basin appeared like Oz at the end of that fabled road.

And this was waiting on the door of the cabin...

Gotta love the Googling Grama!

Tomorrow I will tell you all about the ride home, and it wasn't quite as smooth as the trip out...

Fallen Leaf Lake

Out on the road I was reading an article in Travel and Leisure magazine by Dominique Browning when she described one of her favorite seaside towns as, "a delicious, old-fashioned ice cream sandwich of a place. On either end are the rich, luxurious bits. The fun stuff is in the middle, and you have to catch it fast before it disappears."

 To me, this sums up life at Fallen Leaf Lake perfectly.



Vacation

I think I might be married to Clark W. Griswold. 

Tonight we head out on a vacation like none we have ever taken- an almost cross country road trip to California. 

No, we're not going to Wally World, but a little slice of heaven known as Fallen Leaf Lake.  Mr. C. has been there nearly every summer since he was born, and I have been every summer with the exception of one, since we met in 1995.  It is a special, magnetic place on the planet where the air seems different and the sound of the wind blowing the tops of the Sugar Pine trees is all you hear when you close your eyes for a swing in the hammock. 

"The Cabin", as it is affectionately known, is rustic and original with red check curtains, kitsch galore, and memories to last several lifetimes.  The bears are frequent guests and the same families have been coming each summer for decades.  Your feet are always dirty, the lake water always freezing (she was formed by two colliding glaciers, after all) and laughter is constantly rolling when Mr. C's family congregates around the fire each evening.  They are a special group and Fallen Leaf is a spectacular, special place.

Note to readers-

We have a Fort Knox alarm system set up at the house and two enormous bodyguards taking up residence while we are away.  And don't forget the watchful, snoopy neighbors; daily workmen coming in and out who are still working on our damn ice dam project; and the two fierce Tonkinese cats who will scratch your eyes out should you even attempt to come near my front door. 

Stay tuned for tales from the road.

Margarita, no salt. Please!!

It's time to go out for Christ sake.  It's Friday and not like that actually means anything around here because I feel like we have been out every night for a month, but I'm crabby and stressed and I need a drink.  Or 12.

This has sort of been the summer of impromptu's, so in the spirit of going with the flow of even more impromptu's, we're goin' out and it ain't with the kids. 

We are slowly skidding into the dog days of summer around here and frankly we are all a little sick of one another. 

 It's been busy, it's been fun, it's even flown by, and yet...

Here. Comes. The Craziness.

Stay Tuned.

Bottoms Up.

Happy Friday.

Magic in the Field

Riverbend Farm- Delano, Minnesota

Last night we headed to Riverbend Farm in Delano for the Outstanding in the Field dinner and let me tell you, Mr. Jim Denevan, in signature straw cowboy hat and flip-flops, along with his traveling team of hospitable hosts/servers/haulers/stokers and sommeliers (there are seven of them that do everything) as well as co-host Scott Pampuch from Corner Table did not disappoint.  I posted a few months back when I secured the tickets and have seriously been counting the days on the calendar since.  Check out the post here as it explains a little more about the movable coast to coast feast that is Outstanding in the Field.  The young team arrived the night before in their 1962 vintage bus that is packed to the gills with books, laundry, blankets, pillows, socks, backpacks, you name it.  I thought they seemed like a contemporary version of Robert Mitchem's The Drifters- carefree young souls looking to explore the US (and Europe this fall) through it's farms, local growers, and good times; ultimately creating a magical, memory laden evening for those that are seated at their table.  I think there might also be a few other things happen' on that bus, but who I am to speculate...let's just say if I was a lot younger it looked like a fun way to see the country and beyond.

The storied vintage bus that takes the team from farm to farm

So I haven't been to Delano in a long time, at least not since a lifelong friend of mine used to be married to a horsey fellow out there, otherwise I really don't have any reason to drive 30 miles west of the cities unless I want to ride a horse or visit a farm.  My friend is no longer married to the horsey guy which means she certainly no longer lives in Delano, which means last night was the first time I have been there in oh, at least 15 years.  But I have to say I was surprised at how picturesque it was.  Soft, green pastures; row upon row of corn and wheat; pretty red barns dotting the fields.  Sounds cliche, but Minnesota farmland is pretty much what you imagine.  It was an absolutely glorious evening and the energy of the event unfolded just like the courses of beautiful food that hit the table.

The signature long, white clothed table 

It's always interesting when you sit down to a meal, whether at a dinner party, wedding, whatever, and you don't know the folks next to you.  I figured that anyone attending this dinner would be of the food/wine/restaurant/interesting-type-to-chat-with crowd and I wasn't far off.  We were seated next to a recently transplanted couple from Santa Cruz, California (the place founder Jim Denevan calls home) who have been here all of three days and are artists and musicians.  To my right were a darling young couple (and newly pregnant!!!) and his parents from Minneapolis who were charming, interesting, and loads of fun.  We quickly got acquainted and exchanged some dirty gossip about people we knew in common, while another young lady from Wayzata (also with three boys and all bearing Biblical names, I might add) chirped in with her white eyelet dress every now and then.  They were all great neighbors and we enjoyed the conversation, amazing food, and delicious wines together.

It is definitely true that a certain magic happens when perfect strangers bond over food and drink in the middle of an open field.  Throughout the meal there was a happy, satiated glow at that long white table in the wheat- both literally and figuratively.  As the sun began to set (and the bugs began to bite!) the path to the "parking lot" was lit with candles.  You could hear the laughter across the field of new found friends and feel the energy of a crowd that was not only well fed, but whose souls were generously nourished.

Goodbyes were said and hugs were sincerely exchanged, and off into the night we went.  There was a kinetic buzz that lingered over that farm and we have Jim Denevan and his team to thank for creating a memorable, delicious, magical, outstanding evening in the field. 

Me and Jim Denavan- founder of Outstanding in the Field

To learn more about Mr. Denevan, his art, and Outstanding in the Field, check out this video.