Wow. Where do I start?
Well I arrived Thursday night and was quickly whisked away into a neighborhood tradition of Champagne Thursday. I met my sisters neighbors as we sat around drinking champagne and talking of anything that came to mind. It was quite the amusing night. Oh yes, the neighbors let me know they had decided long ago that I was going to cook for them. More on that later.
Thursday was the 4th and we eventually made our way to White Bear Lake. It has been 25+ years since I had been there so it was a treat to revisit my childhood memories. Not much had changed aside from we had all gotten bigger.
Spent many a summer day at this lakeside shack.
We were soon whisked away on a pontoon boat for the yearly Bald Eagle tour. Here I am with my sister (sara), brother in law (Tim), and nephew Toby.
We found the bald eagle nest to be active with adults and young eagles. They were flying in and out.
Later that evening after a wonderful cookout my nephew Toby had fun with his first sparkler ever!
Later that night he also enjoyed his first firework show as well.
The next day I went into Minneapolis where we hit the farmers market. What an incredible assortment of local farms and artisan vendors selling all kinds of local and organic produce along with incredible cheeses, chocolates, smoked fish, etc...
Afterwards we walked over to the gutherie performing arts center where Toby took me on the best escalator in all of Minnesota.
At the top of this escalator were scenic views, glass bottom floors with interesting bugs hanging on them and a great view of the downtown city.
After yet another ride on the greatest escalator ever we went over to the park next door where I was quickly convinced that I should roll down the hill with Toby. And roll we did!
After the fun day we got ready for the nights food. This is where I cooked for the neighbors. I said no prob as long as they furnished me with a side of salmon. Well they pulled a fast one on me and provided me with Salmon, Sea Bass and sashimi Marlin. This marlin looked more like tuna to me but I went with it. The salmon was prepped with lemon zest, fennel fronds, salt/pepper and oil. The Sea Bass was a beautiful fillet so I only used salt and pepper. The Marlin (not pictured) was given a nice asian influenced marinade. All were grilled.
Well I arrived Thursday night and was quickly whisked away into a neighborhood tradition of Champagne Thursday. I met my sisters neighbors as we sat around drinking champagne and talking of anything that came to mind. It was quite the amusing night. Oh yes, the neighbors let me know they had decided long ago that I was going to cook for them. More on that later.
Thursday was the 4th and we eventually made our way to White Bear Lake. It has been 25+ years since I had been there so it was a treat to revisit my childhood memories. Not much had changed aside from we had all gotten bigger.
Spent many a summer day at this lakeside shack.
We were soon whisked away on a pontoon boat for the yearly Bald Eagle tour. Here I am with my sister (sara), brother in law (Tim), and nephew Toby.
We found the bald eagle nest to be active with adults and young eagles. They were flying in and out.
Later that evening after a wonderful cookout my nephew Toby had fun with his first sparkler ever!
Later that night he also enjoyed his first firework show as well.
The next day I went into Minneapolis where we hit the farmers market. What an incredible assortment of local farms and artisan vendors selling all kinds of local and organic produce along with incredible cheeses, chocolates, smoked fish, etc...
Afterwards we walked over to the gutherie performing arts center where Toby took me on the best escalator in all of Minnesota.
At the top of this escalator were scenic views, glass bottom floors with interesting bugs hanging on them and a great view of the downtown city.
After yet another ride on the greatest escalator ever we went over to the park next door where I was quickly convinced that I should roll down the hill with Toby. And roll we did!
After the fun day we got ready for the nights food. This is where I cooked for the neighbors. I said no prob as long as they furnished me with a side of salmon. Well they pulled a fast one on me and provided me with Salmon, Sea Bass and sashimi Marlin. This marlin looked more like tuna to me but I went with it. The salmon was prepped with lemon zest, fennel fronds, salt/pepper and oil. The Sea Bass was a beautiful fillet so I only used salt and pepper. The Marlin (not pictured) was given a nice asian influenced marinade. All were grilled.
