Conner's Blog

Well, maybe not wholly unexpected, but the truth is I had a great weekend and a lot of it wasn’t exactly written on the calendar. A few highlights.

1. The Mac and Cheese at Wilde Roast Cafe. Delicious and something I’ve been meaning to try for months now.
2. Stopping by a birthday party for my friend Jessica, meeting new people because I knew no one but Jessica, and then hanging out with Sarah Burt talking food.
3. Hitting up both the Mill City Market and Northeast Farmers Market on Saturday followed by the Minneapolis Market and Kingsfield on Sunday. I love the markets, they all have such a unique personality.
4. Crepes by Spoonriver at Mill City, Tacos from the Chef Shack at North East, Falafel from Foxy Falafel at Kingsfield and a few mini doughnuts from the Chef Shack at some point though I don’t remember when.
5. Drinking with my friend Nola and her friend Andrea at the Red Stag Supper Club after the Northeast Farmers Market because it was pouring out and none of us wanted to get soaked.
6. Biking in the rain after finally giving up, going to Aster Café and participating in a photo shoot with Paul, Nicole, Nicky, and Laura. Alex took some great shots of all of us, both indoors and out.
7. Grand Old Days on Sunday. Even though it rained, seeing Dessa, Jeremy Messersmith, Doom Tree, and a few other random acts was awesome. In addition, the people watching was fantastic.
8. Getting a phone call at 7:30 on Sunday night asking if I wanted a set of tickets to Dawes and Edward Sharpe.
9. Watching the lead singer of Dawes bounce around like a school kid because he was so excited to be on stage. One of the best live acts I’ve seen in a while. Actual enthusiasm coupled with fantastic music is the best.
10. The sight of a girl walking up to her bike, which was locked in a way that didn’t allow me to get my bike off the tree. Considering I was a minute away from walking all the way home to get my previously forgotten bike lock and walking all the way back to First Ave to secure it, this was a very happy sight. Even if I was extremely annoyed prior to this.

So that was my weekend in a overly wordy nutshell. How was your weekend? Did you take advantage of the summer weather and do something fantastic?

It wasn’t that long ago that someone called me a prolific local blogger.  Wow, to think that used to be the case. Someday maybe I’ll get back to blogging regularly. Until then I guess I’ll just stick with posting updates like this occasionally.  Here’s a quick taste of some of the things I’ve done the last six weeks or so.

In March I organized a photo walk with some fellow Flickr users. We had a great time. I hosted a small pre-walk at the Car show that was happening that weekend. I took quite a few shots at that walk. The Fairground on the other hand were pretty much a failure for me. Don’t really know why.

More pics from the car show can be found here, the fairground here.

I had a fantastic brunch at Spoonriver. The quiche was incredible.

Made some homemade tacos that rocked, even without award winning guacamole.

Went on a few #bikegangrides, and caught some people playing bike polo near Lake Calhoun.

Went to a game at Target Field, I haven’t made it back but I will be going to several games in June.

Last weekend saw the debut of my friend Erica’s exciting new venture, Foxy Falafel. Seriously, if you like good food you need to go try some of her falafel.

This weekend also saw a bacon themed party, I made a bacon pizza, the highlight of the night for me was the bacon deviled eggs. Yumm

My friend Sarah capped of Saturday by inviting me to her place for a fantastic supper. This was a garam masal cheddar stuffed meatball on a garam masal tomato sauce topping homemade noodles. It was incredible.

They ended the evening with a cheese plate. Lemon Thyme Ginger Raw Milk Cheddar, Domestic Gouda, Merlot Parmesan, and smoked blue cheese.

That’s just of taste of my last few weeks of course, still can you see why I’m never blogging anymore.

Sunday, I made it a mission to get to Target Field. Ever since I spent a summer living in Helena and going to my cousin’s Legion games several times a week, I have loved outdoor baseball. Baseball just isn’t the same when played in a dome, and for that reason, even though the Twins are by far my favorite professional team in the cities, I hardly ever went to their games.

That’s going to change, probably to the detremit of my budget. From the moment I walked into Target Field I knew I was going to spend a lot of time there. It’s an amazing facility that is dripping with history, and made to do one thing, show fans a great time at a baseball game.

Of course the food selection is stellar, and you all know how important that is to me. The beer selection could use some work, though Summit EPA makes an appearance, it’s not nearly as easy to find as it should be. I know that most fans probably stick with Bud Lite and it’s ilk, but making it easier for me to spend extra to enjoy my beer should get some attention. I tried the Cuban Sandwich and was very happy with it. I could have done without the potato chips that came with it, I’d rather save the 50 cents and have the option to leave them behind the counter.

Other things that struck me included lots of little bars all around the stadium with views of the game. Ledges near food courses that allow fans to eat without going to their seat and still watch the game. A really nice view of downtown Minneapolis. The absolute crazy way it was shoved into the space it occupies. I’ve read about it so many times yet seeing it from the inside makes you appreciate just how impressive the engineering behind it was.

Sadly I didn’t see the Twins win my first game at Target field. They played pretty poorly overall, lot of chances but just couldn’t seem to get a hit when it was needed. Hopefully it was a fluke and I’ll see many more wins by the Twins at Target Field than I see losses.

*This post was supposed to come with a few photos from the game, but I managed to leave my camera with the photos at a friends house last night. Hopefully I’ll publish them in a few days.

Saturday I went to the annual art sled rally at Powderhorn park. I arrived about an hour late so I missed some of the excitement, apparently there was a Santa sled. Still I had a good time, got some sunshine, only lost two toes, and managed to avoid falling while walking down the sledding hill. Here is a slide show of the photos I took. Here is a link to the set.

Can you believe we are only one full work week away from Christmas?  Shocking, I know. Here are five things that caught my eye this week. Enjoy.

• Some interesting tips for non-writers from a Hugo award winner.
• From what could be my favorite new blog this year, Letters of Note, the message sent immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor commenced.
• A sad but uplifting story of a shop dog from south Minneapolis.
• The Heavy Table posted a delicious looking Gnocchi recipe that I intend to try soon.
• I love this design that includes a great Oscar Wilde quote.

I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend, we are supposed to get to 25 above on Saturday, which is going to feel amazing.

I’m not posting tomorrow, so here are five things I’m thankful for.

• Old friends, I don’t see many of them enough, but when we do get together it’s like we have been apart for a couple days, not the months that is sometimes is.
• New friends, many of whom I met this year, I can’t say enough about how much fun I have with them..
• Minneapolis, this city has stolen my heart.  I love the skyline, the parks, the people, the music, the….
• Family, another group of people I don’t see enough, but I love you all and wish I didn’t live so damn far away.
• This never ending fall.  Actually, it looks like it has ended, but wow, this was a November to be thankful for.

Finally, I’m thankful for everyone who reads my scattered thoughts.  I don’t know why you do such a thing, but it makes every day a little brighter knowing you do.

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving everyone.

One thing I’ve come to love is playing tourist in my own city.  Now, by playing tourist, I don’t mean driving erratically, stopping suddenly in the sky way, or going to the Mall of America.  Instead I just wander around an area of town with no destination in mind looking for new things to do.

This Sunday I did just that.  I started my day out at the Lyndale Farmers Market. Then I hit up Target downtown for a parking spot and a new memory card.  I loaded that up and off I went.  Here a few of the photos I took.

It helped that the weather was absolutely ridiculous for November.  So, overall I had a great Sunday.

P.S. I bet you didn’t expect my blog to turn into a photo blog for the week.

For some reason I’ve been unable to get up the urge to write for the last week or so.  I’ve been busy, cooking a few things, played with Google Wave, and a few things.  But instead of trying to write, I’ll present you with a few photos of what I’ve done.

Apple Pie Pizza

Mushroom, Garlic, and Rosemary

Mill City Farmers Market and a visit to Chef Shack 1

Cranberry Apple Gallete

Sadly I accidentally deleted the RAW images from my memory card without copying them to my computer so the image quality isn’t great.  Still, lovely times all around.

I’m leaving town in just a few hours.  Me and a bunch of my college friends are going to a cabin up north.  It’s apparently going to be cold and possibly rainy which isn’t great, but we will make the most of it.  I’ll be disconnected once I arrive, minus a few potential phone calls to fellow travelers.  I’m looking forward to a few days away.

Today’s five is a list of things you should do in the upcoming week.  I’m hoping to get to most of them but it’s hard to say.  Especially Thursday since it includes two events.

• Zombie Pub Crawl – Saturday – Dress like a zombie and drink beer with fellow zombies.  If this isn’t your idea of fun I don’t want to know what is.
• Kick off concert for the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra – Sunday – It’s in Stillwater but should be excellent and worth the drive.  Did I mention it was free, and if you ask nicely I can drive if you are willing to show up early.
• Loney Dear at the 7th Street Entry – Friday – It’s the Entry so it’s reasonable priced and it should be a great show.
• Target Free Thursday at the Walker – Thursday – A interesting looking new exhibit opened last week and this my first chance to see it.
• Brave New Workshop - Thusday, Friday, or Saturday – If you haven’t seen their latest show it only runs until the end of the month, don’t miss it.

Enjoy your weekend and stay warm, fall is here whether we like it or not.

I woke up Saturday with no real plans.  Here is the result.

Coffee followed by a trip to the Lyndale Farmers Market,  a long bike ride along the Mid-Town Greenway and the bottom half of the Grand Rounds.  Lunch at Sea Salt, a quick stop a Lake Harriet followed by going home to spend the day reading and enjoying a few fall beverages.  In other words, almost perfect.

Edit:  Yes, that is a craw fish Po’Boy which goes against my attempt at a meatless month.  I just couldn’t resist, and this was only my second trip to Sea Salt this year.  Still, no red meat this month and I’ll be meatless for the next three days.