Friday Five ... On a Saturday

1. On a recent trip to Madison, D and I had breakfast at Marigold Kitchen. We both had an order of one of the morning's specials -- granola pancakes with fresh berries and 100% pure Wisconsin maple syrup. I am still dreaming about those pancakes, they were so good!

2. On that same trip to Madison, I stopped in at the National Mustard Museum, which recently relocated there from their original location in Mt. Horeb. I was there to pick up some mustard seeds -- after making ketchup from scratch last week, I think I'm ready to tackle homemade mustard!

3. When my Mom and Dad were in town last weekend, we roadtripped down to Chippewa Falls to visit Leinie Lodge, taste some brews, and tour the Leinenkugel brewery. Though I've had Leinie's brews a few times, after a round of tasting, I now know for sure what to order the next time I'm out for dinner. (The Creamy Dark and the Honey Weiss were my favorites.)

4. On our way to the brewery, we couldn't help stopping at a cheese shop along the route. At Yellowstone Cheese (located in Cadott, Wisconsin), we picked up a bag of fresh (and super squeaky) white cheddar curds. Fresh cheese curds are my favorite.

5. On the last day my parents were in town, we stopped in at The Crimson Cafe for lunch. I am definitely going to have to re-create the brie and apple sandwich (on a delish cranberry-wild rice bread) along with the mixed green salad with crumbled pecans, gorgonzola cheese, chopped apples, dried cherries, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Nepal: Back in Kathmandu

I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

The theme of our first full day back in Kathmandu after our trek was food. After enjoying the buffet breakfast at our hotel (toast, muesli, and the like), we headed off to Pilgrims Book Shop to find new books to read as D and I had both finished reading the books we'd brought with us on our trek. On our way back from the bookstore we stumbled upon Pumpernickel Bakery, and decided to enjoy a second breakfast of pastries and hot beverages. I opted for a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate, while D chose a chocolate croissant and cup of coffee.

{goodies from Pumpernickel Bakery}

Following our stop at the bakery, we headed back to our hotel, where we sent off some of our dirty clothes from traveling and our trek to be laundered and caught up on email. In the early afternoon we headed out for another meal, this time to the Roadhouse Cafe, which featured wood-fired pizza on its menu. Unlike our first attempt to find this restaurant the second night we were in Kathmandu, we were able to find the cafe this time around with little problem. Following a lunch of (too much) pizza, we ordered a couple of coffees and hung out at the restaurant for awhile longer while we read our books.

{pizza for lunch at the Roadhouse Cafe}

Later in the evening, we met up with Rajan back at our hotel, and we all made our way to Nepali Chulo, a former rana palace, for an evening of traditional Nepali cuisine and a cultural show. We ate our weight in delicious food and had an excellent time listening to the songs and watching the dances that exemplified different regions of Nepal.

{traditional Nepali banquet meal}

Weekend Shenanigans: 2011 Foodbuzz Festival

I had a wonderful time in San Francisco over the weekend. And I ate a ridiculous amount of seriously delicious food -- I really ought to reinstate my fitness routine sooner rather than later. Of course, the one downfall of attending a food festival is that I had no time and/or appetite to dine at any of the fantastic restaurants that San Francisco has to offer. Next time, for sure. And I can pretty much guarantee that there will be a next time. Here is just a tiny sample of all the foods I got to taste over a span of three days:

In addition to eating a lot of amazing food, the real highlight of the event was meeting and networking with fellow food bloggers. More details to come over the next few days!

What I'm Reading: Food Magazines

Ah, finally -- we've reached the end of the fascinating tour of all the magazines to which I subscribe. The last category is probably the one most relevant to my blog -- food magazines. I actually only subscribe to one food magazine -- Food & Wine. But I really ought to subscribe to Everyday Food as I typically pick it up every month as an impulse purchase at the checkout lane in the grocery store. And let's face it, one of the main reasons I opt to subscribe to so many magazines is that being a subscriber is significantly less expensive than buying the magazine at the store. Dare I add one more magazine to my mailbox's already hefty monthly load?

I began my subscription to Food & Wine in 2009. I'm not quite sure why I initially subscribed -- probably because (as is often the case) I received an offer in the mail that I just couldn't refuse. Food & Wine is now one of my favorite magazines because it is packed with tasty recipes and has interesting food- and wine-related articles (shocking, I know, given the magazine's title). Plus I enjoy keeping up with the latest food trends, cooking tools, and up-and-coming chefs and restaurants. It also probably doesn't hurt that I'm a big Top Chef fan, and Dana Cowin (editor in chief) and Gail Simmons (special projects liaison) have been judges on various iterations of the show. (And Gail is also host of the pastry-focused spin-off Just Desserts.)

I started to pick up issues of Everyday Food at the grocery store sometime early last year. I don't think I've ever been disappointed by an issue. This Martha Stewart imprint features fresh and easy recipes as well as short articles on cooking tips and techniques. The magazine is typically pocket-sized (well, large pocket, I suppose), but they also print normal-sized special issues on occasion (the most recent of which is pictured above). One of the reasons I began to pick up issues of this magazine was because I started watching the TV version of the magazine on PBS (though most recently I've seen episodes on the Hallmark channel, which is where all the other Martha-related shows air) -- I remember going to the show's website and bookmarking many of the recipes I saw on the show as something to later try myself. Lucinda Scala Quinn, one of the many hosts of the PBS show, now hosts her own show (Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn) on the Hallmark channel, which I frequently watch and which I've referenced several times on this blog.

The full tour:

Fitness Magazines

Lifestyle/Travel Magazines

Special Interest Magazines, Part One

Special Interest Magazines, Part Two

Weekend Shenanigans: A Look at What We Ate

As far as weekends go, this one was pretty laid back. Highlights included catching up on some reading (I'm still desperately behind with my New Yorkers, that's a never-ending battle); baking some bread; doing several loads of laundry (not sure if that really counts as a highlight); taking a Saturday afternoon trip to the gym at Penn (which I haven't visited in months, bad gym member!), where I ran a 10k on the treadmill in 56:14 (a good time for me); and visiting the farmers' market on Sunday morning.

Here's a look at some of the food we ate (and/or bought) over the weekend:

On Friday night, I turned this bowl of kale into kale chips. The jury's still out on these -- a lot of people love 'em, but I kind of think they taste gross. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong?

On Saturday afternoon, I baked a loaf of banana bread. (As usual, there were a few bananas sitting in the countertop fruit bowl that were becoming a bit too popular with the household fruit fly population.) I took it up a slight notch by adding in some cocoa powder. Unfortunately, our cupboards were bare of chocolate chips, or this loaf would've really rocked. As is, not so bad, but D isn't that much of a fan. (Which is good news for me, as it means the loaf will likely last all week with just me eating it!)

On Sunday morning, D, Leroy, and I walked down to the Headhouse farmers' market. On the way there, we took a quick detour to the dog park, where Leroy had a great time running off some excess energy by chasing (and being chased by) a few of the dogs also playing in the park. We had two purchases in mind when we arrived at the farmers' market -- eggs from Mountain View Poultry Farm and a loaf of 14-grain bread from Ric's Bread. However, I couldn't resist also getting a half-pound of rhubarb from Culton's Organics, fava beans from another vendor, and sweet cherries from Beechwood Orchards.

On Sunday evening, D cooked up burgers made from White Oak Pastures grass-fed beef (which I purchased from Whole Foods) for himself and a veggie burger for me. I dressed my burger with a slathering of goat cheese, some white onion slices, a big leaf of butterhead lettuce from our CSA box, and a slice of roma tomato. On the side was a giant spoonful of couscous. (After I took this photo, I also added a small romaine salad, given our surplus of greens in the fridge.)

For me, the highlight of the evening was strawberry-rhubarb cobbler, which was, dare I say it, out of this world. Look for the recipe later this week. The cobbler was served with a side of homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Something tells me I will be spending a few extra minutes in the gym on Monday to make up for the large portions I ate!