Mushroom Foraging

Last week, I brought another group of friends to visit Adam Vickerman at Cafe Levain. He had sent me a message earlier in the week saying he had received some fresh chanterelle mushrooms and I was excited to see what he was going to do with them. He used them in a few of the seven courses that he served to us and I was in love. Chanterelles are typically a beautiful orange or yellow color, have a slightly fruity smell and have a fairly rich flavor. Chanterelles of this quality can retail for as much as $50/lb.

Zucchini Cornbread

Since my last post utilized the beautiful squash blossoms, I knew the zucchini wasn't far behind. See, right now it's the time of year that people are still excited about zucchini. Soon people will be trying to get rid of the stuff and using all kinds of recipes to try and use it all up.

Squash Blossoms

A month or so ago, a family friend came back from a trip to Rome and sent me an email about some of the amazing food she had experienced while there. One dish she described was a squash blossom that was stuffed with cheese and then fried. It sounded pretty good and I made a note to look into it some more. Then last week I was out in our garden and when I saw these beauties below, I was reminded of her message and knew I had to try it out.

Cafe Levain with California Olive Ranch

Where does your Olive Oil come from? Well, on July 6th at Cafe Levain, our Olive Oil came directly from California. Chef Adam Vickerman and the California Olive Ranch partnered to prepare a fantastic meal that highlighted the skillful talent of Adam and the fresh, refined taste of olive oil from California Olive Ranch.

Bacon Ice Cream

We just had one of the most beautiful 4th of July weekends that I can ever remember. Having grown up in Seattle, there weren't many years that the holiday wasn't spent in the rain. While we usually still enjoyed the holiday, there's just nothing like spending the weekend at the beach, grilling and enjoying the beautiful outdoors. That also means that our ice cream maker is making up for its long winter in the cupboard. I love experimenting with flavors but I was never expecting the challenge I received from my mom. A month or so ago I received an email from my Mom daring me to make an attached Bacon Ice Cream recipe. I'm never one to pass up a good challenge, and so my love affair with Bacon Ice Cream was born.

Tour de Farm Minneapolis

Last year when I visited my parents in Connecticut, one of the restaurants we ate at was participating in a Farm to Table event where they went to area farms and put on a dinner featuring the local produce and helping increase awareness of local farms. I was intrigued by it and was disappointed that the event was happening after I left. Then a month or so ago, The Corner Table, one of the restaurants I had visited with the Minnesota Food Bloggers sent out a request for volunteers to help with their Tour de Farm events. I knew I wanted to help out and arranged to take a day off work to go and participate.