Living the dream

Real Food Minnesota Gathering
I bucked up and drove my ass to St. Paul last weekend to attend the Real Food Minnesota gathering.  I was only able to go to a morning session, a farmer's market tour and cooking demo by Molly Herrmann of Tastebud.  I'm sad I couldn't stick around for the panel discussion and social hour, but I'm glad I went.  I learned that the St. Paul Farmer's Market only allows vendors who grow/make their own food.  This is in contrast to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market, which has vendors trucking in produce from all over the world.  Which is not exactly what I'm looking for at a farmer's market to begin with.  That's why I try to stick to the vendors who are actual local farmers, like Untiedt's.  It's awfully tempting to drive across the river though....

Anyway, Molly made a fantastic pasta dish using ingredients she grabbed while we were walking around the market talking to vendors.  It was spinach pasta with beet greens, chorizo, and cilantro pesto.  On the side was a raw beet and corn salad.  These will definitely be replicated at home soon.

Something that was brought up on the market tour that doesn't get mentioned nearly enough is the fact that getting your product certified as organic costs a lot of money and involves a lot of red tape.  Much of the stuff that is sold at farmer's markets is, for all intents and purposes, organic.  One more reason to get to know your farmers.

C25K
I'm officially on Week 7 now.  Holy crap.  I can run over two miles now.  Week 7 is the week where Shit Gets Real.  Aside from the warmup and cooldown, it's straight running all the way through.  Husband and I are planning on running an actual 5K in September.  He just completed Week 1 yesterday.  I've been running with him so there are some days where I run twice in a day and there are some days where I don't get a rest day between runs.  It's nice having some variety between the treadmill and a lake path. 

Roller Derby, Again
I'm giving it up.  I've been thinking about it a lot (and I mean A LOT) the last few months.  I decided that if I'm ever going to go back I'm going to do it because I want to do it and not because everyone around me wants me to do it.  And right now I don't want to do it.

Kieran's
If you're in the downtown Minneapolis area, try the ahi tuna burger at Kieran's.

Runzas
Husband's family is from Omaha.  I had never heard of a runza before a couple of years ago when I had my first one at a Huskers game.  It's a soft pillow of dough stuffed with ground beef and cabbage (and cheese!).  It is so simple and so good.  I made them using the plain boule dough from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  That dough comes out a bit more sturdy than the egg dough that you'd normally use, but the chewiness really added another level of awesome.

Bread, Bread, Bread
I've been baking bread almost every night thanks to Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  And I am so very happy.

Party
We went to a small barbeque last weekend to see Husband's bandmate's new baby boy.  This was sprung upon me at the very last minute so I had no time to obsess about the impending social anxiety crush.  And thus I had a good time and wasn't awkward.  It helped having to chase Lily around because I wasn't distracted by all the pesky adult conversation.

Hookah
It was enjoyable and I would do it again.  But not too often, because tobacco smoke makes my lungs feel like they've been smashed with a sledgehammer.