Minnesota Nice

I was visiting Bemidji, MN last week, and encouraged by a friend who is familiar with the area, we had lunch at a little cafe named Minnesota Nice. She kept explaining the wonderful meals they offer, but I was sold on the name right away! I googled the term, and Wikipedia informs us that "Minnesota nice is a stereotypical behavior of long-time Minnesota residents as being hospitable, curteous and well-mannered." I just had to visit the cafe! The potato pancakes were delicious and my friend's E.'s blueberry pancakes were so tastey I ate half of it, too!

Halloween

Jeffrey "the Panda" from a certain cartoon and Anna the Swine Flu. Don't get close!

Howie Mandel and one of his girlfriends.

Hermione is putting a spell on Swine Flu.

Mario and Luigi crashed the party.

Sushi Pro

Tonight my friends and I attended a Sushi making class at the UND Wellness Center. We learned how to make delicious Miso soup, which I know Jeffrey loves, so I will need to put my knowledge to practice! I now also know how to make a caterpillar roll and a hand roll. They were all so delicious and pretty easy to make, although this was the first time I have seen sushi rolled up this way.

Taters

Tonight was the annual French Fry Feed in GF, which claims to be the largest french fry giveaway in the world. Is this true? Perhaps it is, as over 4,000 pounds of french fries were given away. although apparently this number was lower than last year. A friend of mine, K., and I took advantage of his very healthy dinner choice and made our way to the University Park, right when the feed opened. It was pretty cold and there were not too many people around, so we ate our fries and went home. Yay for Potato Bowl! Go Sioux!

Hay Ride!

The day has finally come! I have purchased a pair of cowboy boots for this exact reason, and borrowed a cowboy hat from a friend. Now I feel like a real cowgirl and ready to go on a hay ride!
We started at a friend house with delicious snacks of Hay Ride Chili, garlic bread, brownies and many more! Two very special dishes were also present; Bigos, or Polish meat and cabbage stew that was cooking for a whole day, and smoked meat roll-ups. After the feast we took a tour of the country neighborhood in the hay ride, and continued to a country bar in the nearest town. It was a fun night!

The green pasta

My cousin Aga is an artist and tends to think like an artist when preparing food. She does not use written recipes, rather she creates the meal using her imagination. Featured tonight was a green pasta made of pesto and arugula, which added a little spiciness to it. Arugula is very popular in Italy, where Aga travels to often and I am sure the travels inspire her cooking quite a bit. Italian Lavazza espresso followed the dinner and later that night we shared grandma's plum cordial.

Morning sun

The morning sun shines on the table full of goodies for breakfast. By my plate there is a glass of delicious milk, straight from the cow! It actually tastes like cream! Next to it there is farmer's cheese, which I am having trouble getting my hands on outside of Poland! But it sure is present on my plate for every meal while visiting!

Dad's Garden

A walk with Nero

Mom, pops, Jeffrey and I took Nero for a much needed walk. He sure enjoyed it! Nero is known fr picking up huge sticks and carrying them around. Occasionally he tries to sneak them into the house, but these attempts end up in leaving them in the yard...

Krakow, my favorite city

Here's the Wawel castle.

Looking at the Wisla river.

Old foundation, the first King of Poland lived here, even before Poland became Christian.

Piece of Minnesota in Poland

Strolling down the Town Square of Krakow you may encounter city tour vehicles with multilingual tour guides. We visit the city frequently and know it pretty well, so there is no need for such tours, but imagine our surprise when we stumbled upon Minnesota plates on one of the vehicles! Staring at it, we were quickly approached by one of the guides, who turned out to be from Chicago and studying business abroad. He said next year he was going to study in Spain!

Krakow Jewish Cemetery

I don't think cemeteries are creepy at all! I think they hold a very important part of our history and are worth visiting.
When in Crocow, or Krakow, Poland, we went to see the famous Jewish cemetery, which was developed in 1800 but it was destroyed partially during WWII. There are tombs of some very important people, for example the director of the Krakow Orchestra in the 1960's. We could not enter the cemetery, however, as the warning on the gates stated that males needed to wear a hat and J did not have one at the time.
Instead, we went to the famous during the communistic times so called Milk Bars, which are not bars at all, but cheap lunch places, where you can get traditional meals for literally pennies! They are meant to exist for college students and lower class, but I make sure I eat there at least once during my every stay in Poland, as they serve delicious pierogi, kopytka and all kinds of goodies!

Schindler's Factory

While in Krakow, we visited the factory of Oscar Schindler, where thousands of Jewish people survived the war. Schindler employed them in his enamelware factory.

The gate leading to the factory.

Buildings in the factory.

Jeffrey sitting on the staircase that was featured in the famous Spielberg's movie "The Schindler's List".

Oscypki

Definitely my favorite food in the world is grilled sheep cheese, called "oscypki" (try prenouncing that!). Tatra mountains natives in Poland have made these since the 15th century. Mmmm...

Pierogi Festival

What is better than fried sheep cheese? One thing, pierogi. The stuffed dumplings are the trademark of Poland and other Easter European countries and they vary from country to country. While in the US we may see potato and sour cream stuffed pierogi in the frozen section of your grocery store, you will not be able to see those in Poland and may even meet with an angry glance if you ask for them. Stuffing used traditionally in Poland includes mushrooms with meat, cottage cheese or sauerkrout, but the fillings change as you cross the border - spinach in Germany, potatoes and onions in Russia.
While in Krakow, we could not miss the 7th Annual Pierogi Festival, where the oldest Polish cooking tradition is celebrated... and tasted! Various stuffing mixes are used by the cooks trying to win the competition; from mushrooms, meat, cheese to even barley. Some are boiled, as they traditionally should be, some are fried or baked. All are delicious!