Happy (Belated) Birthday, Paul!

So, so late on this one!  Paul's birthday round up post: commence!

On Paul's birthday, we each took a vacation day and started it out with brunch on the patio at Victor's 1959 Cafe.  From there, we pretty much lazed about for the day.  Don't think we are losing our birthday celebration mojo, though.  We took it easy on his birthday because we were recovering from the full, day-long birthday eating and drinking extravaganza immediately prior to his actual birthday.

To start off the festivities, I made my first ever quiche.  Holy decadent, batman.  Ingredients included comte cheese, caramelized onions, cremini mushrooms and thyme. I have already lost track of which recipe I used, but I do know I made it with the other half of this batch of pie crust.  It DID improve by sitting in the freezer!  We enjoyed this intense quiche with salad, fresh cherries and iced chai.  A delicious way to start off Paul's birthday celebration day.  And, it was good for the next few days, too.

Our day included a drive over the river and through the woods...to New Richmond, Wisconsin.  The "over the river" part took an ETERNITY because we went over the Stillwater Lift Bridge during the dreaded weekend tourist season.

We got stuck in the bridge traffic on the way back, too, so I am very grateful that I built buffer time into our schedule.  We were almost late for our very important date!

It was worth it, though, because Paul had no idea what we were doing when we drove over an hour and then pulled into the parking lot of a building in an industrial park.  To make matters more confusing, our destination was sandwiched between an area of strip malls and a newly developed outer ring suburban housing development.  He really had no idea what he was stepping into!

He was pretty excited when he realized we were at a distillery for a tour and tasting!  I chose 45th Parallel Spirits because they are a small distillery that creates their product from grain to bottling on site.

the needed grains arrive in these giant tubs from a farmer down the road - different grains depending on the spirit

Our guide walked us through the process, discussing their sourcing history, how they ended up in New Richmond, what they make, how long it ages, what they do with their spent grains (answer: get local livestock tipsy) and so much more!

aging oak barrels

ready to go!

A few of their spirits are not made from scratch, but rather enhanced and bottled by the distillery.  The photo above is of limoncello.  They handpeeled all of the lemons to make the batch.  With a peeler.  By hand.  100s of lemons.  Even though they didn't make the alcohol, I still think they deserve to put their name on it.

Paul got to climb up and see inside to where the grains were fermenting.  We are grateful he did not drop his cell phone in there while taking a picture.

I am still not sure I understand exactly how a still works but it is certainly a work of art.  I now know that there is a part called a dephlegmator and I like knowing that that word exists.

After the tour, we moved into the tasting room and got to sample the full line of available spirits.

I took tiny sips and let the birthday boy have as much as he wanted.  He really, really liked the horseradish vodka so that was the bottle he took home.

Next up, we ventured a few miles down the street to Brady's Brewhouse for lunch where they may or may not make their wood-fired sourdough pizzas using spent grain from brewing.  I wasn't able to get a straight answer on that, but the experience was good, nonetheless.

Paul had to study the list and make his selections wisely as he had a bunch of options and 8 glasses to fill on his tasting flight.  Kind man that he is, he ended up allocating one spot to an in-house root beer for me.

Unfortunately, on his birthday I was still suffering from my health issues.  In order to rally and really enjoy the day, I set aside my dietary restrictions.  That meant the alcohol, dairy, sugar and flour were such treats for me.  As a result, I am not in a place to judge this pizza fairly.  From my recollection, this pizza was really, really good, but that could be the deprivation talking.

After another eternity in the car going back across the bridge, we got home to take care of Tchazo.  We both had a moment where our hearts stopped when we were coming in the door.  Before entering the house, we heard Tchazo's scared/fear yelps and didn't see him at the door per usual.  We quickly figured out that he had locked himself in the bathroom, likely by turning around with his giant cone of shame and shutting the door on himself.  He was really scared and had made a big mess of the bathroom.  After we got him outside and gave him his dinner, he seemed over the ordeal.  We were very grateful that we didn't have to deal with more pet drama as we had feared when we heard his yelps.

After we hung out with Tchazo for a while and Paul opened his presents (we now have a wagonbarrow!), we ventured out for one last bit of culinary delight at Gardens of Salonica.

The mushroom saganaki wasn't on the menu that night, but was the main reason I brought Paul there for dinner.  I was really grateful when I inquired about it and they were able to make one for us.

And with that, this man that I WAY more than like is now smack dab in his mid-30s.

Happy, happy days to you, my Paul!

Open Streets Minneapolis in Longfellow

My street got some major love today in the form of Open Streets.  The whole stretch (about 2.5 miles) was closed to motorized traffic and filled with people on foot, bikes, skateboards, blades and probably a few other modes of travel as well.  There were tons of things to enjoy along the way, but the novelty of having the street free of cars was the major selling point.

We invited friends Arturo and Sam and their daughter Penelope to join us for a day of exploring and playing.  Tchazo got to come along, too!

Dunk tank!

Dancing in the street! Penelope and her dad above and with her mom below.  Tap dancing was a big hit!

A very kind person in the insurance booth offered Tchazo a bit of refreshment.  Bottled water out of a cup...he better not get too used to that.

Sam and I got chair massages!

It was the first time I have ever had a massage to live music.  It was a great experience and reminded me that I should really schedule a massage at their studio sometime soon.

When we got too hungry and hot to keep going, we headed to our back deck for lunch.  Paul made us some delicious pizzas.

We had salad with a lot of ingredients from our garden, too!

Penelope was quite taken with Paul's pizza cutting show.

 After a little dessert and post-lunch hula hooping, we said goodbye to Arturo, Sam and Penelope.  Since there was still a lot more to see, Paul and I hopped on our bikes to make the full loop of the event.

Paul wore the Beez Kneez bike helmet so I could get a photo for the photo bingo contest (fingers crossed...I want to win the raffle!).  Ella from E's Emporium is the waiving in the picture.  Her shop is awesome!

We made a stop at the Harriet Brewing Taproom for a drink and a bit of relaxing in the shade.  Paul enjoyed a beer while I ate my scoop of custard from Mosaic Cafe.

And then, before we knew it, the cops were making the sweep down the street, reclaiming it for the cars.  I hope this event returns next year.  It was awesome to stroll the neighborhood, bump into friends and celebrate our local businesses. Hooray for Longfellow!

Twin Cities PopUp Dinner

This weekend's PopUp Dinner was modeled after the Le Diner en Blanc, which originated in France 25 years ago.  The original event was planned by Francois Pasquier for a handful of friends.  The idea is that a group of people dressed in white (originally this concept was employed to make it easier to spot each other on location) set up a fancy, elaborate picnic in a public location and enjoy an evening together.  A handful of hours later, the party disappears, leaving no trace of the festivities.  

There are many variations on the concept happening all over the world now.  This year, my mom and I decided to host a table.  Event organizers kept the location secret until a few hours beforehand so we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at our PopUp Dinner location: Boom Island Park.  What a view!  That is the Minneapolis skyline in the back.  Just past the tables is a riverwalk and then the Mississippi River.

My mom arrived first to start the set up. Part of what makes this evening "chic" is the table decorations.  This was definitely my mom's area to shine!  No paper plates or solo cups were to be found on site!  It was not that sort of picnic.  Not at all.

When I originally heard about the event, I thought it sounded wonderful, but I have no desire to decorate a table so I didn't think I'd go.  I passed on the information to mom since I know she loves arranging table presentations.  I thought she might like to attend.  We quickly realized we were the perfect pair for an event like this: she spearheaded the table and I organized the food!

We sent out the invitation to some friends and overnight had filled our table of 8!

I am grateful to count these fun and adventurous women as a part of my circle!

The weather was absolutely perfect and contributed to the overall magic of the evening.

Before long, there were 500 people at the park, all wearing white and smiles on their faces!

We scoped out other people's tables and this one, which happened to be right next to us, wins the creepiest centerpiece award...hands down.

With a collective swirl of the white napkin, the dining commenced.

Part of the fun of the event was seeing what other people had prepared for food.  A diner from a nearby table came by to make use of our salt and pepper.  We traded him salt and pepper for a photo :)

We had a feast at our table!  It was a collective effort, with everyone contributing something to the table.

The instructions for the evening said to prepare 3 courses: appetizer, entree and dessert.  Here is a shot of my entree plate.

Our full table of fabulous outdoor diners (clockwise from the left): Jessica, Me, Deb, Kathy, Dallas, Missy, Charleen and Jamie.

Some of the women at our table were strangers at the start of the evening, but that didn't stop us from sharing some (dignified) shenanigans.

As the sun went down, the music shifted from a live jazz/lounge band to a DJ, the tables shifted from sunlit to candlelit and the mood went from dinner party to dance party.

As the evening drew to a close, a few lanterns were sent off into the night and then everyone packed up.  I overheard many comments about plans for next year, so I am pretty certain everyone else had as wonderful and memorable of an evening as our table did.  Cheers!