New Nordic and me

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This spring I will be teaching a class for Ingebretsen’s tentatively called “New Nordic Kitchen” with the intention of showing fellow Minnesotans how easy it is to bring a Nordic philosophy into your pantry and life. Not familiar with this trending food, health, and sustainability lifestyle? It is the Scandinavian love child of France’s Slow Food movement, and emphasizes local and seasonal ingredients, clean and simple flavors. Chef Claus Meyer’s manifesto says it best. Continue Reading

In search of the perfect cheese plate

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In the Twin Cities we are surrounded by fantastic cheese options. We have shops and farmers markets that offer every imaginable type of local, imported, grass-fed, raw, tangy, aged, fresh, dank, or milky. We can find caved and bleued; barreled or basketed; cowed, sheeped, and goated. In between State Fairs we can pilfer a paper-lined hamper of fried curds from a dozen decent bar menus across town. My grocer’s cheese cases are filled my heart’s desires, and what she doesn’t carry I can easily find within a ten-mile range. We are spoiled and lucky. Continue Reading

How Mrs. Claus saved Christmas

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There are those who pull down their Christmas decorations as soon as the clock strikes 12 AM December 26. There are some, I am told, who keep their tree up until Easter. I am the sort who keeps the tree up until at least Julgransplundring, which is conveniently right before my birthday. In honor of the continuing holidays, I present to you one of the most precious gifts my family ever received. How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas is a story my mother read to us five sisters every Christmas Eve after Mass, before bedtime. I wrote about it here a few years ago. If I close my eyes I can still hear Mom’s voice imitating Santa and Mrs. Claus. I remember stifling tears when the children receive presents they’d always wished for but that they thought Santa didn’t know about. I wanted Mom to read each page slowly, so that I had time to absorb the mesmerizing illustrations. Continue Reading

Who says you can’t go home?

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My first real job was at Kopper Kettle in “downtown” Osseo, Minnesota. Busing tables and backing up servers at that booming diner should have put me off food service for a lifetime. Oh how I hated waking up early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, biking into town, and spending the better part of my weekend running dishes and scrubbing tables, constantly spilling hot coffee over the front of my apron, and sucking up to the waitstaff so they’d give me my fair share of tips at the end of a service. I never got used to smelling like grease and cheap pancake syrup. Now, I appreciate the hard work that goes into running a successful restaurant. Back then, I only appreciated sleeping late on Saturdays. Continue Reading

Nut Goodie Bars: A regional specialty?

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My dad was not exactly a master cook, but he did do a few things really really well. Like frying frozen burritos in butter. Or frying Swedish meatballs in butter. Or frying lefse in butter. You get the idea. He wasn’t much of a baker, so I was surprised when he started making homemade batches of Nut Goodie Bars. It was his favorite holiday treat, and he quickly mastered the recipe. Continue Reading

Therapeutic chicken among stress-busting visitors at University of Minnesota’s St. Paul Campus

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The students in my life are suffering from a particularly horrid semester, so we are grateful this week that the atrium in our building is host to several sessions of puppy (and chicken) loving. During this week of Stress Busters Magrath Library on St. Paul Campus and Animals in Healthcare are cosponsoring animal interactions which include the likes of Woodstock the Therapy Chicken and assorted canines. Continue Reading

You say lutefisk, I say lutfisk

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We are a tough and scrappy lot, we lutfisk lovers. We wait all year long for the lye soaked debauchery, and when lutfisk season is finally upon us we immerse ourselves and our meal in cream and melted butter. The experienced among us travel with allspice in our pockets and purses, and we gladly share the seasoning with tablemates. Continue Reading

Cooking and writing it old-school with Eleanor Ostman

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Recently I sat down with renowned food journalist Eleanor Ostman, listened to her tales of writing during the final days of old-school newspapers, and connected over our love of rye bread. Ostman wrote for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch when it still published twice daily. “I churned out a hell of a lot of good copy,” she told me. In addition to daily food and home economy stories, Ostman’s Tested Recipes ran weekly in the St. Paul newspaper from 1968 through 1998, and those thirty years crown Tested Recipes as the longest running personal food column in U.S. history. Some of the best of those columns are available in Ostman’s cookbook Always on Sunday (there are a few revisions, try to find the first). Continue Reading