Creole Wisdom

a weekend at the lake

Usually lakeland adventures (as I like to call them) are reserved for the summer. Of course why not go in the winter and enjoy fun activities like walking on frozen lake Winnie, eating an undisclosed amount of marshmallows, making fires and eating chili? Becky graciously hosted Kate and I at her family cabin for the perfect girl's weekend away.

Friday:

We left in the afternoon and pulled into Panera for dinner. Leaving the city is always interesting and fun. I love in small towns when you walk into the local coffee shop or bakery and everyone stops whatever they are doing and stairs at the city people. Gotta love Northern Minnesota! Once we arrived Becky set up a fire and lit the candles. I credit Becky to starting my candle addiction. Have you all tried woodwicks? They make the best noise and they burn so nicely (as Becky would say!) Saturday:

We started out our day with egg strata made by me and this incredible, perfect view. There is just nothing like Minnesota nature. I know we don't have mountains or ocean, but look at this pretty winter landscape! Would you believe I shot this through the glass of a picture window?

Then, why not a walk on the lake? I was so amazed at the incredible beauty. I love me some Minnesota cattails :)

Aren't my friends so cute? Even if they are bundled up in multiple layers and hats. I love them to death. They are my people.

Back home Kate made the greatest salad for lunch and we spent the afternoon reading, chatting and relaxing in front of the fire. For dinner Becky crockpotted some chili and we settled in for a few good movies. I spent some time reading this gem of a book.

Sunday:

We spent a few more hours relaxing then packed up our belongings and headed out. We stopped in Sauk Rapids and found some freshly baked muffins and hot chocolate. Then onto "the cities" (that's a whole post in and of itself.)

I am so grateful for such wonderful girlfriends and an easy, relaxing weekend on Lake Winnibigoshish!

sunday dinner

I feel grateful to be surrounded by such incredible women, to call such accomplished people friends. Among my closest circle there are: two masters degree level teachers, a registered dietitian, a student of marine biology applying to challenging graduate programs, a speech pathologist, a pastor-to-be, a writer with dreams of becoming a librarian, one attending graduate school at Queen's university in Belfast, advertising aficionados, stay at home moms and some good quality Target people thrown in for good measure. To say the least I find them inspiring.

Each has faced her share of trials and difficulties as we together navigate this era of making life-changing decisions. My friend Emma has been through her own midnight moments and has always maintained grace and stayed savvy throughout. I am so proud of her (and all of my friends, really), but especially because I've been privilege to see her almost weekly for Sunday dinners. I'm so glad I had Emma there for me as I went through more than a few bad recipes.

Four years of Sunday dinners has witnessed it all: boyfriends (four total), friend falling outs and falling ins, moves and new kitchens (six between us), two volumes of Food Everyday, crafts projects, endless episodes of Sex and the City, summer grilling and cancellations due to icy roads or blizzards.

But, like many good things, Sunday Dinners has arrived at an ending. I like to think of it as temporary, as I imagine being an old widow along with Emma living in a fabulous beach home cooking up more gossip and farfalle. For now I'm feeling bittersweet.

I'm not sure if Chicago deserves such a vibrant woman, but I am here to cheer her on. Minneapolis will never be the same without Emma.

Vintage Sunday dinner, circa 2009

weekend review

I have a darling friend named Erin. We don't get to see each other very often, but when we do we always have a nice time. Another thing we are sure to do is meet up at Punch Pizza. I love the taste of wood fired, thin crust pizza. Punch makes an incredible four cheese that is to die for.

After a great lunch Erin gave me a tour of her beautiful Cape Cod style home. As you know, I love to see other people's homes. It always amazes me how much a person's invididual style comes out in their decor choices. Erin and her husband Bradley's home is so very them and beautiful!

Erin fed me an incredible amount of chocolate and we sat and chatted for an hour or so with Bradley. They are just awesome people and I'm grateful to Bradley for taking the above photo of Erin and I. Happy times and a perfect start to what turned out to be a nice, but bittersweet (more on that later) weekend.

texas part two

Sunday started out with an incredible crepe breakfast. Aren't Lindsay's Anthropologie bowls great? I'm so glad she got them :)

Then we went to church where it was a challenge for me to stay away after such a filling breakfast and then spent the night playing games with some of Lindsay and Jay's friends and laying around talking.

Monday morning Lindsay and I headed up to Austin while Jay went to work (he's a dentist.) The drive was great and the weather perfect: sunny and high 60s. We shopped a little bit on South Congress and then met Jen and her daughter J for lunch at Freddie's, the craziest restaurant (watch this youbute video) in Austin.

I love, love, love Austin. I felt like it was the Texas version of Minneapolis if that makes any sense. Obviously very crunchy, liberal and full of incredible places to eat and shop. I also heard more southern accents in Austin than in San Antonio.

I think what I loved the most about Austin the fantastic signage everywhere. I loved the airstream trailer food trucks and all the bright colors. So cool.

See what I mean? We stopped at the most incredible shop, Uncommon Goods, which is Austin's sister store of Hunt and Gather here in Minneapolis. It was uncanny, really. I walked in and kind of felt like I was home. Then Jen took us to the most darling, old fashioned candy shop!

We ended our day with a trip to Amy's ice cream. It was so delicious. I had the coconut tres leches with real cake chunks in it. Perfect flavor if you ask me. Then we spent some time with Jen at her place and headed out on 35 south to go home- yes, the same 35 that runs up here to MN :)

If you recall, I took a very similar photo when visiting Lindsay in Utah the fall of 2007. I love doing stuff like this. Same subject, different location and different time.

The next morning Lindsay and Jay woke up at the crack of dawn with me and drove me to the airport. It was hard to say good bye. I am really hoping to plan another visit in the future after Lindsay has her baby. Life just goes so fast, and I'm not going to wait four years to see her again! Thank you Texas for a great trip!

texas part one

For several months my dear friend Lindsay and I had been talking about a little visit. I'm all about taking a break from the tundra winter and couldn't wait to see her and her wonderful husband Jay. The last time I saw Lindsay was in the summer of 2008, when she and Jay got married in St. George, Utah. Time flies and I'm grateful for modern technology like iphones, gchat and blogs that have kept our friendship up to date. At the end of the day Lindsay is more like a big sister to me than a good friend. I have been so blessed with good people and she's been a constant force for good in my life since I was 17. I'm grateful for her.

We started the trip with a vitamin D sun bath outside of Hobby Lobby (double win) and then lunch at the wonderful Panera. I just cannot get over Lindsay's adorable baby belly, there's a little girl cooking in there and I cannot wait to meet her!

From there we spent the afternoon catching up and talking. Lindsay and Jay just purchased a 5D and I am so excited for them... and I cannot wait to get one of my own. We were such bloggers and photography nerds carting around our huge DSLRs and chatting lenses :)

Driving around San Antonio blew my mind- those overpasses! The big stars! We just don't build highways that tall in Minnesota. Jay and Lindsay were nice enough to take me to a Spurs game. Everything is certainly bigger in Texas, the auditorium is just gigantic and has a parking lot to match.

Jay is a wonderful guy. I have few friends who are married but I can safely say that "your'e the company you keep" is a true virtue. Jay is as wonderful as Lindsay and they compliment each other perfectly. And he smiles all the time. While waiting to eat at the elusive and delectable Magnolia Pancake Haus I treated Lindsay and Jay to some Starbucks... would you believe Jay has never been there!?!

This is what I devoured for breakfast on Saturday... this amazing German apple pancake with a side of bacon (naturally.) Good times, good times.

To burn the above off we visited the famous River Walk, Alamo and Mission San Jose. I love the Missions, what incredible works of art and pieces of history they are. I am so glad I also got to see where Davey Crockett died, haha. The world is small and I ran into a few people from my mom's small hometown in Pennsylvania and of course they knew my family. I love when that happens.

At the Mission San Jose I took some great shots of Lindsay and Jay. I love how these contrast with some of the wedding photos I took of them four years ago- so much has changed and there is so much excitement on the horizon. Isn't Lindsay adorable?

I couldn't of asked for a betting setting that this Mission. I love the look of the church, that perfect "tree of life" tree and the grounds. It's places like this that I find completely rejuvenating to my eyes. I love to see different stuff and this was a complete creative feast.

Stay tuned for the rest of my San Antonio adventures, and our little Austin day-trip...

my weekend part 2

I love my friends. I am so grateful for them. I love AOII. You are probably sick of hearing that; I wish I was sorry. Saturday night Shannon hosted the greatest pizza making night. This was ideal timing because for Christmas I received a pizza making kit complete with recipe book. I made up some dough and brought over the rest of ingredients to make margarita pizza. I love these ladies (and the one gentleman in attendance!)

aren't they so cute?!

Chelle pulls out the first pizza: spinach alfredo

I didn't get a photo of the pizza I made but here is the dough recipe and sauce recipe I used. Both are from Gourmet Pizza Made Easy.

Cornmeal whole wheat pizza dough:

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

Stir the yeast into the water until dissolved in a mixer

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a separate large bowl

Gradually add flour mixture to the water and yeast

Blend about 10 minutes until dough is firm and smooth

Divide the dough into 4 balls, and allow to rise for about 2 hours or until double in size

Use to make four 8" round pizzas, and the dough can be frozen.

Right before baking, brush the crusts with olive oil

Basic Margarita Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

28 ounce can chopped or pureed tomatoes

1 cup of chicken broth

2 teaspoons dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium-high heat

Add garlic and onion and sautee until soft (about 1 minute)

Add tomatoes, broth and oregano. Cook for about 20 minutes or until reduced by half.

Add salt and pepper to taste

Refrigerate unused sauce for up to 4 weeks.

what hallways at a party during a Minnesota winter look like :)

my weekend part 1

I'm sorry but I am going to continue to mention how cold it is until the temperatures return to the high 30s. It's freezing, my friend Lindsay told me it was 65 degrees in Texas. Well, it's not 65 degrees here. In the meantime I'm going to have a good time, nothing stands in my way when it comes to that. I will not allow the weather to sabotage a thing.

That was my philosophy this weekend: cold be damned!

Up first: a fantastic double-date dinner party at Kristy's. She cooked a five start restaurant style meal for us. She garnishes dishes... at home! She's a bonafide chef. I could take a few notes from her.
I was in charge of bringing a salad and dessert. I found a fabulous looking salad recipe here and went simple for dessert: haagen-daz pineapple coconut ice cream and granola. It was delish, but next time I'll be sure to bring two pints, one was not enough!

I love how Kristy's main dish turned out. There was a copious amount of lemon involved, and what can I say? I am crazy about citrus. Please do notice her lovely garnish job:

Stay tuned! Up next, a pizza making party to wow the masses...

my wednesday

My Wednesday was ideal. I cannot complain. Is anyone else messing up their days? I have had an issue with this all week; I thought yesterday was Thursday and that I had an extra week this month :/ Oh well. I am really excited about our next issue at The Magazine, I cannot wait to start my photo shoots.

This blown out, straight hair is crazy for me. I have zero idea how to style it, but I surprised myself and was able to do a very simple, messy crown french braid. I had no idea I could french brain my own hair! What I love about this hair is that I can probably go nearly a week without washing it!

Wednesday's photography challenge was blue. I knew exactly what I wanted to photograph. What is better than baby blue eyes? :) Baby C is such a doll. When I lean in to kiss his cheeks he smiles with his whole face and grabs my face with his little hands. This photo of him cracks me up!

I love soup, especially in winter. So I whipped this up and it turned out nicely. I was going to follow a specific recipe but ended up not buying/having half of what it needed so this is my own little creation, I loved it. I think you might like it, too :)

spinach curry soup (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups fresh spinach

1/4 cup sliced shallots

1 teaspoon red curry paste

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 can light coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

lime wedges and avocado slices to garnish

White or brown rice to serve over

method:

cook spinach for one minute in a pot of boiling water and remove and save

in a large skillet heat the oil and add the shallots

return skillet to medium-low heat and add curry paste, curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, red onion, garlic salt and pepper.

add coconut milk and broth, heat up to boiling and reduce to simmer

add sugar, fish sauce and add salt and pepper to taste if needed

remove from heat and add spinach

serve warm over rice

I am getting very, very excited to visit Texas! I have never been and cannot wait. I am especially looking forward to meeting up and eating lunch with a few blog buddies, it shall be great!

adventures in hair styling

When you live in Minnesota and you endure long winters you and your friends manage to come up with all sorts of fun things to do. Monday, Kristy hooked my hair up. She told me she had a vision of big, beachy waves and warm highlights. I'm always excited about diversifying my look so I was game!

We had so much fun. Kristy has an incredible talent that is truly God given and oh, by the way, did you know that she sings and was going to sing on Broadway? No big deal whatsoever!

Here's what she came up with! Isn't she brilliant? I love it, let's hope I can learn how to do it because goodness knows I do not know my way around a round brush or curling iron!

I always wanted to somehow replicate great 1920s-esque waves (you know I envision a Great Gatsby wedding, right? Love me some art deco style!) Anyway... I feel great, one of my goals this year was to learn how to do new things with my hair. I was stuck in a rut, thank you Kristy for teaching me something new and making me feel so pretty!

other people's houses

Do you want to know something kind of weird?

I love to see other people's houses. It's kind of bizarre.

But... aren't you ever kind of curious, too? Like dying to know how other friends or acquaintances or bloggers organize their kitchen or what color throw pillows they might use? I am so guilty of this! I love when bloggers I read, but don't know in real life share photos of their home.

Yes, I could read a magazine or a serious home decor blog but there's something "not real" about those- I'd rather see everyday women (like me) making beautiful spaces with a budget and parameters like creaky old houses or sterile apartments with strict no-paint rules.

Before I became good friends with Kristy I really wanted to see her house. Here is why: girl is stylish, does so many of her projects on her own and she doesn't have the same Target nick knacks like the rest of the world.

I finally admitted this to her today and she said, "I know."

"How?!" I'm wondering if this is obvious (how embarrassing would that be!)

"You said you did, you said, 'I'd love to see your place.'"

I've heard that phrase before from friends who haven't been over yet, and well, I kind of love it.

I know it doesn't really matter, and it's kind of worldy, but having a beautiful space makes me really happy.