I love to support local businesses, and recently I had the chance to take a sneak peak at some of the dozens of local artisans and craftspeople who will be selling their wares at Lowertown Pop, a maker event at St. Paul's Union Depot on Saturday, March 24, 2018. Featuring brewers, bakers, distillers, artists, musicians, and more, Lowertown Pop offers an opportunity to shop for unique local products.
My favorite thing to do at a cruise ship port is simple: get off the ship and explore by foot, checking out the port's museums, cafes, and other attractions. That strategy wasn't going to work in Geiranger. The village's population is about 250 people, and the main attractions are gift shops and restaurants crammed with fellow cruise ship passengers. The best thing to do on your port stop is to get out of town and explore the surrounding...
Most of the travel writing on my blog focuses on far-flung destinations: my cruise to Norway, a whirlwind visit to London, and a two-week trip through Germany. But travel doesn't need to be distant to be satisfying. Some of my favorite travel memories are closer to home: romantic getaways to Stillwater, the scenic drive up Lake Superior's North Shore, and a...
I love breakfast food: pancakes, French toast, waffles, muffins, cinnamon rolls. The problem is that nutritionally, these foods are more akin to a dessert than a meal that will give me the energy I need to satisfy me until lunch. When Barlean's challenged me develop a recipe for a treat using their Butter Flavored Coconut Oil, my first thought was breakfast.
You started 2018 with the best of intentions: this will be the year that you eat healthier, stick to a meal plan, and try new things. But it's already February, and those goals have gotten buried under your never-ending to-do list. Wondering how to get back on track? Consider subscribing to a CSA share!
While I always enjoy a good brewery tour and there is plenty of Minnesota wine in my future, at heart I'm a cocktail kind of person. One of my favorite places to sip in the Twin Cities is the industrial-chic cocktail room at Tattersall Distilling, a craft distillery located in northeast Minneapolis.
Several months ago, I was filling out one of those icebreaker questionnaires—the sort of thing with questions about what famous person you'd like to have over for dinner and how you spend a typical Friday night. One of the questions was "What six things can't you live without?" My list (in no particular order) was my husband, my running shoes, podcasts, oatmeal, the Internet, and indoor plumbing.
For many cruise ship passengers, the dramatic fjord scenery on the cruise into Flåm is the whole point of visiting this tiny port. Home to only a few hundred people, Flåm feels more like a tourist attraction than a village (this is actually true—the "real" town center is a few miles from the port, inland up the river).
I've been blogging for nearly seven years now: for most of 2011 and part of 2012 I baked and blogged my way through Beard on Bread; once I finished that project, I started this site (which at the time...
To be honest, the holiday season isn't my favorite time of year. I do love some parts—putting up my Christmas tree, spending time with friends and family, driving around my neighborhood to look at lights—but it's also a hectic, stressful time, and the deluge of sugary treats makes it hard to stay on track with healthy eating.
Bergen is Norway's second biggest city, with a population of about 278,000. The historic Bryggen district, vibrant museum scene, and bustling shops and fish market make the city popular with tourists, and Bergen's proximity to the fjords also means that it features prominently on many Norwegian cruise itineraries.
'Tis the season...for Ritter Sport's holiday-themed chocolate bars. Since my most popular blog post of all time is my review of Ritter Sport flavors available in the U.S., I wanted to post a review of the 2017 Winter Edition flavors: Spekulatius, White Cinnamon Crisp, and Caramelised Almonds.
Do you have a wine lover on your list this holiday season? Give them the gift of wine! As longtime readers know, I love to support local agriculture and producers, so I'm thrilled to partner with the Minnesota Grape Growers Association to promote their Minnesota Wine Passport.
It's official: we are deep in the throes of winter squash season. When you think about it, winter squash are the pretty much the quintessential fall produce, since you need to turn on your stove or...
Thanksgiving is an excellent day to be a vegetarian. Don't believe me? Other than the turkey, all of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes can easily be made vegetarian: leave the bacon out of the Brussels sprouts, make mushroom gravy, and use vegetable broth in stuffing baked in a casserole dish. Add in mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, and you won't even miss the turkey.
'Tis the season for all things pumpkin spice, from the ubiquitous lattes to breakfast cereal and ice cream. Personally, I'm a fan of the real deal: this is the time of year when I stock up on pumpkin puree and add it to breads, muffins, cookies, and even pasta sauce.
Ålesund is a town of 47,000 on Norway's western coast, famous for its Art Nouveau architecture and striking natural beauty. It's an ideal port stop on a cruise itinerary: the city center is compact and close to the cruise ship pier, and there are several museums and other sights to keep tourists occupied without feeling overwhelmed.
I haven't posted a new recipe in quite awhile. I've been writing about the best ice cream in the Twin Cities, Norway, and the highlights of my summer, and cooking farro stuffed squash from 2016 and...
London is the biggest city I've visited: 8.8 million people, spread over 607 square miles. I spent four days there, barely enough time to scratch the surface—even at my standard jam-packed touring pace. So instead of posting a very incomplete city guide, this post focuses on my personal London highlights.
Despite the fact that the majority of my blog posts feature recipes or travel writing, my most popular post by a wide margin is my review of Ritter Sport flavors available in the U.S. In the vein of giving the people what they want, here's my latest Ritter Sport review: a rundown of the new-to-me flavors I picked up on my recent trip to Hamburg.
