Foodie Adventures.

As I previously wrote about, I have been cooking fantastic meals for myself lately. Food seems to be one of my greatest creative outlets. When I’m creating a dish, I am filled with so many ideas. Bringing a dish to life, however, is the greatest reward of cooking… but the ability to share that meal with friends and family you love is priceless.

Last semester got really hectic and I didn't take the time to cook for myself at the end. As soon as finals were over I broke my month-long hiatus from cooking a full-blown meal... Seared salmon on a bed of rosemary balsamic roasted sweet potatoes, lemon asparagus, and an artichoke vinaigrette salad. The only thing I didn't make was the bread!

I’m so passionate about food and creating food because it is one of the greatest elements of our social lives. We gather around food and drinks to talk about anything and everything. Setting aside time to enjoy a meal with another person is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves.

Over the past month, I’ve gotten to go to several new restaurants. My birthday dinner at Chino Latino involved delicious short ribs and lamb. Arguably my Blue Hawaiian drink was my favorite part of the meal!

My roommate Kristin and I are both from the New Ulm area and we get homesick sometimes. We decided to have a food adventure to Black Forest Inn on eat street in Uptown. We were not at all disappointed either. I got my fill of sauerkraut, sausage, and German potato salad…my mouth is salivating all over again just thinking about this meal. The restaurant and bar are adorably decorated. It feels like being in a quaint little German restaurant back home. To top off our meal, we had warm cider wine. Kristin and I were both tempted to steal the cute little pitcher it came in. What a wonderful experience.

Nikki (my roommate last year) and I decided to explore a new restaurant and treat ourselves to a fancy date night. We went to Lucia’s Restaurant and drank sparkling Prosecco. Our meals started off with a mixed greens salad and a perfectly creamy tomato basil soup. Our main courses blew us away. I had an out-of-this-world beef entree. We topped off dessert with a blood orange mousse. I didn’t need to eat for another 20 hours. No lie.

The most exquisite eating experience I’ve had so far this year was over at my friend Michael’s house. For Valentine’s Day, us singles decided to celebrate our singledom together. We made fools out of the people who made reservations at a restaurant and waited in traffic for an hour. Our menu consisted of a mixed greens salad with roasted garlic vinaigrette, tomatoes, and merlot cheese. Sautéed mushrooms and shallots accompanied our bacon-wrapped sirloin steaks with a red wine reduction, lemon-buttered asparagus, and a butternut squash puree with a healthy slab of Texas toast on the side. The savory-meets-sweet combination was enough to send my taste buds to heaven. It was THAT good. With a glass of red wine in each of our hands, we toasted to our friendship and incredible team work for pulling off this 5-star meal.

I stumbled upon the best Minneapolis bakery this week. It’s called A Baker’s Wife’s Pastry Shop. The portions are huge and cheap. It’s a hole-in-the-wall gem! Go! The goodies are excellent! Here’s a shot of my carrot muffin with cream cheese frosting.

I truly have the best friends in my life... I’m unbelievably blessed. Tuesday night I had a date with my ex-roommate’s boyfriend. The foodie adventure happened at Lake & Irving and it was delicious. Nathan and I both had sandwiches…and no complaints! Taylor and Nathan have been dating well over a year and I still don’t know him that well, so we decided to hang out. It was worth it. What a great guy, Taylor! After that I headed to Mystic Lake with Casey to meet up with my parents and play bingo. Nobody won anything, but it was still fun…not my average Tuesday night!

This morning I got out of class early…early enough for breakfast! So I went to my favorite diner The Bad Waitress and ordered the best eggs benny in all of Minneapolis. Rosemary in the hollandaise sauce is key. It’s so good I almost didn’t want to waste the time taking a picture of it before devouring…but I did, just for you. Hate me now? Why not join me instead! J