Minnesota Adventures

We've been in MN for a week and a half now, and have just a few days left. So far, it's been fantastic. My parents and Scott and I spent a long weekend at the cabin, where I finished two quilts, went running with my mom, took some very chilly dips in the lake, cooked up some tasty dinners, and generally spent quality time with the people I love.

Back in Duluth, we plunged into all sorts of wedding planning - reception site & food, flowers, invitations, dress, and more. We have a lot of work to do, but it feels good to have so much started on this far in advance. Apart from wedding appointments, Scott and I did some hiking around Hawk Ridge - a beautiful wilderness area in the city, and a great spot for watching the hawk migration this time of year.

Now we're down in St. Paul. We visited the science museum yesterday, as well as a terrific musical instrument museum. Today we're off to the Walker art museum, and we're having lunch with my aunts, cousin and sister. Tonight we're going to my second cousin's wedding - I'm looking forward to a pretty fun party. And I'm excited that Scott is healthy enough to dance with me!

Quilt update

Two-thirds of the quilt squares are sewn! I've got 12 more pink ones and 6 more greens to make. I'm pretty happy with how it's coming along.

365 days and counting!

Today is our first ante-anniversary. Exactly one year to go before we get married! Being a math nerd, I'm referring to it as our i ² anniversary. (In math, i = √(-1), so i ² = -1.) I'm not sure how we'll celebrate, but there's a free chocolate tasting at the Co-op tonight, and that sounds like a good place to start.

Also, we had our friends Myra and Chris over last night for a barbecue and a game of Euchre. We made these lamb meatballs, and they were delicious. We also grilled some thick slices of watermelon (brushed with olive oil and and chipotle chili powder), which was pretty tasty.

Next quilting project!

A not-so-focused photo of the quilt I'm starting! An easy pattern, so the sewing should go quickly.

Name this vegetable!

What has...
The size and shape of a spaghetti squash,
the color of a marigold,
the firmness of a not-quite-ripe eggplant,
the scent of a cucumber, and a cucumber-esque flavor, except drier and with a slightly bitter aftertaste?

Don't worry, we have no idea what it is either. But tonight we cooked it up with some bulgar and beet greens, and it was all right! Kind of slimy, the way you'd expect cooked cucumber to be. We decided to name it faux-cumber.

What to do with a bunch of toasted hotdog buns?

At a recent barbecue, we toasted some buns to go with our brats. But they got forgotten, and everyone happily munched on the brats straight up. We dutifully preserved the toasted buns in the freezer, and tonight they made for an excellent bread pudding. We followed this recipe pretty roughly, so that we had the right ratios of bread, eggs, milk and veggies, and the right oven time and temperature. But we used the vegetables we happened to have on hand (a leek, two zucchinis, some weird "climbing spinach", and a can of Green Giant mushrooms that's been languishing in the cupboard since the Minnesota Party). Highly recommended!

In other news, we had a great Labor Day weekend. It was great to see the Gruver/Kelly clan on Thursday, and Mavis and Maya were extremely gracious hosts - as always. Scott and I spent most of Thursday at the SF MOMA, checking out the Frida Kahlo exhibit, the Lee Miller exhibit, and (my favorite) selections from their permanent exhibit. We met up with a friend from Scott's Grinnell days and drank very girly (sweet, pink, and stiff) cocktails on a rooftop deck. Then we headed west to have dinner with some Amherst friends at an excellent Italian wine bar.

I played in a tournament on Saturday and Sunday. Not nearly as exciting as the Best Tournament Ever two weeks ago in Chico, but it was good to play. And I hardly got sunburnt!