Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/patrice/page/13/)
Julia Child said we should never apologize for what we serve our guests, so when we plated the rather crunchy roasted vegetables and sad little undercooked stuffed apples and pears I said nothing. I did wince a little as friends and guests applauded our cooking efforts, but then tried to dwell on the successes of the evening. We had a lot to be grateful for as we celebrated our 18th Friends Thanksgiving. Continue Reading
On St. Paul Campus, University of Minnesota design students have a rotating display of their work in McNeal Hall outside of the Goldstein. If you blink you’ll miss some really great stuff like the “Vote No” (and a few “Vote Yes”) posters last month. Currently up is a consumer-waste exhibit with students’ creations inspired by a month of their own consumption especially regarding waste, sustainability, and health. Continue Reading
One of the best things about volunteering at American Swedish Institute is participating in the continuing education programs that are offered us. This weekend during training for the Royal Christmas Exhibit, ASI Intern Kara Newby gave an in depth presentation not only on the exhibit itself but on the traditions represented in each display. Continue Reading
It was Labor Day weekend and my mom and I were on a road trip to St. Louis. Just the two of us and three rolypoly Great Dane puppies, cruising from Minnesota to St. Louis to visit a vet with an amazing reputation (I’ll hold that story for another post). Arriving at our hotel, I turned on the news and heard an announcement that made me simultaneously gasp and giggle. The GOP VP candidate who preached from a pulpit of abstinence, loving the Lord, and shooting stuff had a pregnant teen aged daughter. Continue Reading
I was late to the party, again. It took me two years to finally make it to Hmong Village in St. Paul. Hmong Village is a collection of small stores all housed within a former warehouse: jewelry, shoes, clothing, CDs, DVDs, assorted services, wholes spices, healing herbs, a produce market, grocery store, and best of all a dozen or so food vendors serving up egg rolls, rice and noodle dishes, bread, sweets (lotus flower cookies are like Hmong rosettes), banh mi, sausages and fried pork belly as big as your arm, ribs, eggs, stuffed chicken, meatballs on a stick, deep-fried whole fish, papaya salad, sesame seed-sticky rice balls (filled with corn meal the texture of egg yolks from a soft boiled egg), and bubble tea. Continue Reading
I enjoy getting to work before the rest of our crew. Before the sun rises, with no interruptions, I get a lot done. But this morning I wasn’t alone. Today we have guests. And that guy hanging upside down by the copy machine? Yeah, I’ve been tempted to do that myself. That printer is Satan himself. Continue Reading
Rare is the occasion when St. Paul Campus receives a food truck visit. When it comes to food options, we are the forgotten. Last Friday Cave Cafe arrived in St. Paul and we hungry farm campus hicks were all the better for it. My coworkers and I gladly stood outside shivering on the blustery gray day awaiting the warmth of Cave Cafe’s Afro-Italiano fusions of curry, tibsie, and wraps. Continue Reading
Like most Swedophiles I get pretty excited when it comes to Swedish Royalty. Continue Reading
I was brought into Big River Slow Food’s Minnesota Food Association and immigrant farmers benefit from my volunteer work with M Continue Reading
