Fair Fun

The end of summer is the time for the Great Minnesota Get Together! Growing up near the Fairgrounds, the State Fair has always been easy for me to get to...good thing, since I don't last too long.

Unlike a lot of people, I avoid the Mighty Midway...I don't have the stomach for the rides! Seriously, how is getting swung around and flipped upside down fun? No, what I go there for is the food, the people watching and the animals.

This year I decided to be organized about my food consumption. I went to the Fair's website to figure out exactly what I wanted: cheese curds (A MUST!!!), corn on the cob, chocolate-covered watermelon on a stick and a Fudge Puppy. I missed the watermelon, which was OK, since I was quite full. And Sweet Martha's had about a hundred people in line, so we skipped that, too.

My mother, sister and I spent a lot of time just watching the crowds go by and looking at various barnyard animals, like these cute little piglets.

Here's Minnesota's largest boar. Looks similar to me after I finished those cheese curds! :)

Except for a cow deciding to explosively poop on Mom's shorts, a good time was had by all.

Sushi: All I Can Eat

Some co-workers and I tried out an all you can eat sushi place, and I have to say that I was very impressed. It wasn't a buffet; they made everything fresh and you could have as much as you wanted. What a great place! There was a lot of variety, and I loved the sweet potato rolls and avocado rolls.

The restaurant is called Kyoto and it is in Eagan off of Yankee Doodle Road. Try it out!

I ate about 15 maki rolls, but I didn't feel very full at the end. I think all the seaweed fooled me into thinking I was eating healthfully. Plus, I had a massive amount of edamame and those are super nutritious, right?

I think the best part of the lunch was our guest of honor...too cute!!!!

Where I Want To Go: London Calling

One of my top wishes in life is to travel. I haven't taken a real trip since college, and I miss it so much! Unfortunately, due to a lack of time and money, I just have to use my imagination. But since there's a whole big world out there, I thought it would be fun to chronicle places I'd like to go. Hopefully someday I will be writing blog posts about how great my trips were to all these places.

So first off: London. I have been here twice before and I think I could go back every year of my life and never get bored. Just an amazing city. Secretly, I've always wanted to spend a year or two living there. I'd say one of my favorite things to do is visit the British Museum. I've always thought that heaven must look a little bit like the reading room. But I love almost anything about London. It is a great combination of history and history being made.

Until I get there again, cheerio!

Big Ben photo courtesy of Philipp Klinger on Flickr.

British Museum photo courtesy of nunavut on Flickr.

My Favorite Heirlooms

So, tomatoes. I don't know why, but I have just been craving them lately. And I don't mean the tomatoes you get at the supermarket that are hard yet somehow watery: I mean real summer heirloom tomatoes. Not watery, but juicy, with a real tomato flavor. Yum.

In July I had the chance to visit Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, where my mother bought yellow, orange, green and, of course, red tomatoes. I wanted her to get black tomatoes as well...maybe next time! Anyways, I am so excited for next summer when I can go pick all the wonderful fresh heirloom tomatoes that I want!! I found a recipe in my Moosewood cookbook for a tomato salad with a basil-pineapple dressing. Sounds weird, but the authors swear it tastes divine!

Until Mom's tomato plants grow, there's always Lucia's and their summer veggies (including tomatoes!).

Photo courtesy of expatkitchen on Flickr.

Sugar, Sass and Narcissism?

So I've started a blog. Sugar and Sass sounds kickky, doesn't it? I'll mostly be talking about stuff I like, things I want to do...see what I mean about the narcissism? But I suppose we secretly all long for a place to shout our opinions to the world. Hopefully someone will actually read this blog so I'm not shouting into a void!

OK, prepare yourself for future postings...with sugar and sass! By the way, the URL for this is SassAndSugar, since SugarAndSass was already taken. I was going to do SugarSass, until I realized that if you looked at it wrong it spelled Sugars Ass...not exactly what I was going after!!