Mill City Museum Farmers Market

Aebleskiver stand at the
Mill City Museum Farmers Market

Saturday was a beautiful spring day. We hadn't been 'downtown' so we decided to take a look. We made a few wrong turns and ended up driving through the campus of University of Minnesota, which seemed really nice all the road construction aside. We eventually ended up at the Farmers Market in front of the Mill City Museum and Guthrie Theatre.

I don't know what it is about farmers markets, but I never want to leave and wish there was enough $$$ to buy something from every stand. I love the people there not to mention the many yummy wares being marketed. Raw honey, fresh homemade local jam, flowers, chocolate, small dairy farm cheeses, and artisan breads.

The big surprise for me was finding a stand selling Æbleskiver. I basically begged my mom to learn how to make these after eating them at a friends house when I was younger. Being the awesome mom that she is(it's mothers day I have permission to emphasis this today), she learned how to make them and even bought the special pan required to make them. I guess they are Danish and there is a fairly official store/cafe that has made a business of selling them here in Minneapolis, pretty sweet.

I enjoyed talking to all the people selling cheese. I've been reading quite a bit about cheese, yogurt and other diary products. Sharon and I have been making our own yogurt the past few months, Sharon made a form of whipped honey icecream this week, and I will soon, perhaps Monday, have a first attempt at making a fresh cheese like Mozzarella. It was fun to speak to people who have been doing it for awhile and to hear about their experiences. We got some free fresh Herb feta from 'Singing Hills Goat Dairy'. It was delicious.

Our attempt at a family self portrait in the odd reflection
of a shiny object.

Sharon at long last found someone that sells 'organic pork'. Ironically, our pillow talk the night before was about weather it even existed. I have to admit I had no faith and admitted that I didn't really know if it could exist before drifting to sleep; apparently it does at the Mill City Museum Farmers Market. Unfortunately they didn't have any left by the time we got there, so we will have to get some next week.
We enjoyed the market so much we didn't have enough time to explore the rest of downtown. We started, but only got a block to see the Mill Ruins. It looks like there is a good walking loop we plan to do next week.

After being detoured around by all the road construction again ( Apparently they are doing some major rework of the road infrastructure here and every exit we wanted seemed to be torn up) We spent the afternoon with the Durants. I got to break my new bike in and learn the mechanics behind group riding. It was a blast, I'm signed up to ride a 75 mile leg of a 500 mile ride John has decided to do this summer. I'm looking forward to getting out and doing some more rides with him.

We also played our first footy of the summer too. I taught the Durants the basic rules and we played a fun pickup game in their backyard. They were pros. It was pretty awesome.

I'm so excited summer is here, I wish I could go out and play everyday.

Ira picture of the week - Happy Mothers Day!

Birthday Fun

My work observed Veterns Day today so I felt like I had a real birthday for the first time in a long time. I appreciate the birthday wishes from everyone, thanks.

I got a new camera lens and thought I would share some of the photos I took of Ira as I was adjusting to it.

It was a beautiful day today so we headed to the park to play with the new camera lens and the new Aussie Football (Footy) I got from Sharon. Footy is another variation of football that resembles a mix of Rugby, Gaelic Football, Soccer, and American Football. I won't bore you with all the details, but if you're interested you should check out some videos on youtube. I discovered it doing some research this summer on all the different kinds of football with the World Cup happening. I stumbled on it as the season was starting in Australia and kind of got into it. Anyway, I've been wanting to play, or try at least, and Sharon was nice enough to do some research and find a place to buy a ball.

Ira really liked the ball. Sharon and I had been playing for a bit and he started to get fussy so we went to give him some attention and play with him, but when we got there all he really wanted was the ball. It was cute.

I've got some work to do, but now I have a ball all I need to do is round up some people to play with.

We went out to dinner at a little Brazilian Cafe, Minas Carne, we've been wanting to check out. It's always nice to get some beans and rice Brazilian style, not to mention some meat fresh out of the Churrasco. Ira apparently really like it and the Brazilian guy working the counter really liked Ira back.