Did you read that? Like really read that? I found hard kombucha in the Land of 10,000 Lakes! I also found the best dirty chai latte and it’s from a coffee shop only 3 miles away from home, and Mom, Dad and I made Grandma’s scrum-diddly-umptious lasagna recipe using a special ingredient. But did I mention I found hard kombucha, too? Anyway, on with the eats.
Here she is. Isn’t she beautiful? After calling a few liquor stores near my house in Stillwater asking, “Hi, do you guys carry hard kombucha? Also known as kombucha beer?” only to get a confused response, something along the lines of, “Umm, let me transfer you to the produce department…” I felt a little discouraged. Believe it or not, Dad actually found this at a liquor store in Minneapolis. For those of you who live here and are now curious, you can find them at Surdyk’s in North Loop. I went with him to his office in the city one day and on our way home, he suggested we stop here because, of all liquor places around here, Surdyk’s would be the one to carry hard kombucha. He was right! Shamelessly, I grabbed about 3 4-packs. Girl’s gotta’ do what a girl’s gotta’ do.
We in the Hansen House are morning people. We like watching the sunrise, drinking multiple pots of coffee, and whipping up a big ol’ breakfast all while enjoying each other’s company (which can’t be said in a less cheesy but still truthful way, so I apologize for the cheesiness). Dad makes the bacon and I make something brunch-y, and that something brunch-y is usually pancakes because pancakes are just so darn easy and tasty. I chose this recipe from Blue Bowl and the family loved it!
“Come meet me in downtown St. Paul for a bite to eat and a drink after work!” I texted my parents after my first week at my new job. I felt cool and successful to finally have a job that I love, and I felt so at home to be able to meet up with my parents for dinner without needing to buy a plane ticket six months in advance. We met at Red Rabbit on Grand Ave. in St. Paul and, per the bartenders’ recommendations, I ordered the spicy sausage pizza and a side of roasted broccolini. If this is isn’t the exact image of my ideal dinner (glass of buttery, oaky Chardonnay not pictured), I don’t know what is.
The. Best. Chai. Latte. Make it dirty, please. I like to be that person who asks where the chai flavor comes from, if it’s made in-house, and if the latte can be made without any additional sweetener. There’s nothing worse than a chai latte that tastes only of sugar and cinnamon! I’m not wrong. Mon Petit Cheri in downtown Stillwater makes the perfect chai with a house-made chai syrup using condensed milk and local chai tea, plus a shot of espresso if you’re like me. I look forward to a little me-time with this chai latte and my journal.
You should recognize this face if you know anything about my life. Grace, my best friend, came to visit during the first week of November which also happened to be the coldest week of this winter thus far - perfect timing for the California girl. Nonetheless, as we always do, we made the most of it. We bundled up when we needed to and braved the almost-negative temperatures to find good food and fun happy hours. For the last happy hour of her trip, we took a couple spots at the Matchstick bar in downtown Stillwater and sipped some of my favorite buttery, oaky Chardonnay. Mmmm.
My dad’s mom, my grandma, created this stupidly good lasagna recipe many, many years ago. In fact, it’s probably older than I am, and it’s a significant component of my fondest childhood holiday memories. For as long as I’ve been in the kitchen, I’ve never taken part in the making of this family favorite dish. Dad’s craving for it triggered the same in me, and at just the right time, Banza sent me a sample of their new lasagna noodles. Clearly, it was time for me to get my hands deliciously dirty - lasagna-style. We tweaked a couple things in Grandma’s recipe: chickpea noodles instead of the usual wheat noodles (which turned out wonderful, might I add) and bleu cheese mixed into the ricotta. Of course, we always find room for improvement, so we will definitely be making this again and tweaking even further. The Banza lasagna noodles will definitely be in the next batch!
Just looking at these pictures gets me all jazzed up, and not just because this pizza had bleu cheese and sausage, though that’s definitely a significant contribution to the excitement. Mom, Dad, Mom’s friend, and I picked Giulia in downtown Minneapolis for dinner a couple weeks ago, and after a couple sips of our wine, we ordered the Mozzarella A Mano (I don’t know what that means other than a mozzarella dish), Speziato, One of the chefs rolled a cart with a couple bowls and simple ingredients up next to our table and began what I can only describe as a mini cooking class on how to make mozzarella. He pulled and shaped the milk curds and chatted with us all the while. Before we knew it, a beautiful plate of creamy, fresh mozzarella and an olive tapenade sat in the center of our table just begging for our consumption. We wasted no time digging in. Amazing! For dinner, I chose the Black Apple pizza, topped with sweet sausage, gorgonzola, fennel pollen, arugula, and an apple jam-y type thing. Again, amazing.
That right there is a loaf of homemade whole-wheat sandwich bread, and the official statement that I will probably never (read: maybe once, but that’s it) buy another loaf of the store-bought stuff. I’m still playing around with the recipe I used, which I got from work, and contains a mix of white and whole-wheat flour + beer + honey + butter + active dry yeast. As soon as it’s all ready to go, I’ll post it on the blog - it’s too simple and too darn tasty to keep all to myself!
We had a rough week here at the Hansen House, and we considered just skipping the whole Thanksgiving thing (the food, not the gratitude) this year. Thankfully - pun kind of intended - we pulled ourselves together on Wednesday night and came up with our best attempt at a plan for the big meal. Included in the plan was: cornbread sausage stuffing, balsamic roasted brussels sprouts with bacon, salad, homemade cranberry sauce, plus a turkey and a ham. I’m pretty proud of not only this meal, but of us as a family for picking up our broken pieces and making the best of a day of thankfulness we so desperately needed.
There ya’ have it for November’s eats! Come back in a month to see what else I’m cooking, baking, and eating - I’ve got plenty to share.