Diversity

We love Art-A-Whirl weekend. It's the official start of summer for us, of out-door festivals and eating on folding chairs in front of various food trucks. This year, Chef Shack was parked in front of the Northrup King Building, so we enjoyed pork tacos and sweet potato tacos al fresco, surrounded by rusty train tracks. I didn't snap any pictures because it started raining just as we were slurping up the last of the tacos, but trust me, they were beautiful. Catch them when you can.

Art-A-Whirl is also a great excuse to eat at one of our favorite dives, Uncle Franky's Hot Dogs. We tend to save this luxury for this special weekend, although I am not sure why. It has an adorable back patio, and seems like a perfect summer lunch for kids and grown ups alike. Now that I think about it, there might be is a Chili Dog in my five-year-old's near future. Except she'd order it without the chili...

My go-to: Northside Polish Maxwell with fried onions and sauerkraut, and Tony's Southside Maxwell, a deep fried Polish with mustard and hot peppers.

To round off our weekend of eating dangerously, and since we were sans aforementioned five year old, we decided to give Ngon's Bistro on University a try. Ngon's Bistro has been on my Must Try list for a while. It's been getting a lot of press, and since I am on a bit of a mission to single handedly help restaurants on University Avenue stay in business during the light rail constructions, it was my civic, no, HUMAN duty to visit them.

The Pho here is highly rated, and even though I am not a big Pho fan (say that fast ten times) it seemed like a good place to give it another go. It was a good choice, with a flavorful stock and fresh toppings like sprouts and jalapenos. I could have done without the strangely textured meatballs, I must admit, but the soup itself was lovely. Add to that the gorgeous Spring rolls, which were popping with cilantro and with a rich, thick peanut sauce, and I was a happy, albeit full, camper. Next time, I'm going to try my husband's choice, the Hu Tieu, which is a more subtly flavored broth made with pork instead of ox tail. I may even skip adding any protein, the stock and rice noodles are robust enough on their own.

Oh, and another note to self: split the Pho, it's enough for at least four adult-sized meals. See?

Strawberry Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake

I had a tough day. I wanted cake. I had fresh strawberries and frozen rhubarb from last year, and now I had an excuse to make this cake I have been eyeing for a while.

The original recipe does not call for rhubarb, but it is such a simple cake I knew it could handle anything I threw at it, and I was right.

Thank you Sarah, for an amazing blog full of gorgeous photos and tantalizing recipes.

For the recipe, check out Sarah's blog, The Vanilla Bean.

I lead a small life. I get easily excited by simple things like a new grill cover, the fact that my local coffee shops has started carrying Mojo Monkey donuts, and the arrival of a new farmers market, even when it's all the way in Minneapolis.

Tilia co-owner and chef extraordinaire Steven Brown spearheaded the lastest addition to the metro's burgeoning farmers market scene. The market, located in the quaint little village of Linden Hills, will feature local farmers as well as small purveyors of goods like honey and flour. With it's inaugural season kicking off Sunday, June 3rd and running through October, the Linden Hills Farmers Market will also entertain and delight with music, cooking demonstrations (Mr. Brown himself? Zoe Francois? Andrew Zimmern? Just throwing out some ideas...) crafts and face painting.

Some of the participants will include:

• Callister Farms
• Broadfork Farm
• HolisticHealth Farms
• Bare Honey
• Great Harvest
• Foxy Falafel
• Patisserie 46
• La Belle Crepes
• Sunrise Flour Mil
• Red Wagon Pizza

While sellers like Patisserie 46 and La Belle Crepes do not bode well for my waistline, I am counting the days and looking forward to our weekly jaunts across the river in search of local yums and some kiddie entertainment to boot.

I'm baaaaack!

This past Monday, I accidentally attended a Minnesota Food Bloggers event at Kitchen in the Market. Let me explain. A while back, Zoë François posted an announcement on Facebook about an event, where she would be demonstrating how to toss pizza dough up in the air. I may have previously mentioned that I would follow Zoe anywhere, regardless of what she was tossing, so I signed up that very same day. Fast forward to Monday evening, and I walk into a bright commercial kitchen tucked into a corner of Midtown Global Market. I am asked to fill out a name tag, and include my blog name. Luckily, I have one of those, so I dutifully jot it down. I quickly survey the room and realize I am at a networking event. I hate those. I am a horrible schmoozer and am absolutely terrible at self-promotion (although I can drop names with the best of them, as you may have noticed. Have I mentioned I know Steven Brown? And I once touched Rick Springfield's hand...but I digress.)

With a glass of wine in hand, I took a deep breath and approached a couple of lovely folks and quickly made friends. Everyone in the room was friendly, enthusiastic and eager to learn. After noshing (get it?) some gorgeous flat bread and hummus, it was time for our demonstration. Zoe, of course, was lovely and funny, tossing dough up in the air like a Globetrotter. Then it was our turn. This thing was run like a fine oiled machine. We were handed cute little cake boards, wrote our names on them, and then given a perfect little ball of dough. We took turns dimpling it, and under Zoe's watchful eye, we tossed it up in the air. Most came back down.

Next it was time to top 'er up. What seemed like miles and miles of beautiful, fresh toppings were lined up for our choosing. Cheeses, herbs, meats, oils, even tiny, gorgeous quail eggs...throw in a chocolate glazed doughnut and this is what heaven would look like, of this I am certain. I had made a few new friends during the presentation, so we sat together to enjoy our creations. Wow. Good food, good company, it was all so wonderful.

Which brings me to today. The talented ladies I shared a table with are avid bloggers who put me to shame. So I am back on it kids. I am combining my blogs into one and forging forward with the earnest zeal of a five year old in Disney World. Thank you to Zoe, Stephanie Meyer of MN Food Bloggers, Molly Herrmann and Tracy Morgan (not that Tracy Morgan) of Kitchen in the Market, and all the other helpful folks behind the counter who made this event so fun.

Exciting changes coming soon to Noshing in the Midwest. Inspired by the amazing fellow bloggers I met at the MN Food Bloggers event at Kitchen in the Market (more on that later), I am going to return to my blogging efforts. But first, some revamping is in order. As all nine of my readers know, I have a couple of blogs dedicated to all things food. In an effort to stream line my ramblings, I plan on combining Sugar and Spice with Noshing in the Midwest, creating a new blog focusing on both recipes and restaurant recommendations.

According to Andrew Zimmern, there are entirely too many food/restaurant bloggers out there tauting themselves as experts. I am no expert, I just know what I like, and I like to talk about food. Besides, Andrew, where else would I have met these super cool, inspiring women if it hadn't been for the MN Food Bloggers events?

See you all soon!

On's Kitchen

2011 was not a good year to start a business on University Avenue in St. Paul. Construction of the new light rail wreaked havoc on small businesses that dot University, such as Cupcake and The Edge Coffee Shop. But against all odds, Chef On Khumchaya opened On's Kitchen, an authentic Thai restaurant where "Mild" means "bring a Kleenex."

A few months later, On's is easy to get to, and even has it's own tiny parking lot in the back, a rarity for University businesses. The atmosphere is what one might expect: colorful, rough arond the edges. The room is large and comfortable, with large windows that will eventually give patrons a front row seat to the running of the trains.

The food is flavorful and plentiful. An order of sticky rice is extra, but comes in a steaming basket and can easily feed a family of four. On our first visit, the (clearly) new waiter was not very flexible with our child's needs. "No children's menu, sorry," he didn't budge. But on our next visit, the server was happy to accomodate us with a huge order of steamed broccoli, and we've heard from friends with children that they have all had similar pleasant experiences.

The food is hot, hotter and hottest. The layers of flavor are so lovely, even a whimp like me can easily polish off an entire plate, as I may or may not have done on a recent visit.

I have one tiny complaint. On's loves their grease. The only tofu on the menu is fried, and the stuffed chicken wings is an obscenely sized, chicken drum stick shaped, deep fried ball filled with chicken and veggies, which might be more at home at a County Fair. The Pad Prik Moo Grop is supposed to be stir fried thick bacon with basil and chilis, but it's closer to a big ol' plate of deep fried pork bits. Having said that, the sauce is amazingly complex and spicy, which helps cut the fat of the pork a bit.

My favorite dish so far is the is the Praram Loang Soang, stir fried broccoli, cauliflower and peppers is an addictive peanut sauce sprinkled with crunchy peanuts and topped with tofu. If only it had been fresh tofu...sigh.

The spring rolls are about the size of a small infant, and stuffed full of crisp lettuce and plump shrimp. The crab cakes were again on the greasy side, but hefty and flavorful.

I have not been brave enough to venture into the true flavors of Thailand that On's offers, such as the Ka-Praow-Pla, which includes fish grind, soft quail eggs, and shredded chicken. But if any of you are looking for authenticity and the blast of flavor usually expected from real Thai food, On's is the place for you, and your slightly more timid friends.

On's does not have a web site, so you'll just have to trust me and pay them a visit.

Heart attack in the making: Stuffed Chicken Wings.

Sticky rice and broccoli.

Thick bacon (or as it says on the menu: Think Bacon) with spicy brown sauce.

Tofu with peanut sauce.

Millie's dinner.

India Palace

I am not an expert on the various cuisines of India. I am sure there are many restaurants featuring Indian and other Asian foods that are much more authentic than India Palace in Roseville, Minnesota. But I have always enjoyed the lunch buffet (a great way to experience any food you are not familiar with), so when a friend recently invited us for dinner there, I was excited to try it.

India Palace features three options on their Dinner For Two menu. Our friend swore that by "Two" they mean "at least four" and he was right. We ordered the Tandoori and the Biryiani dinners, and our table resembled a Medieval Feast fit for a king. Let the gluteny commence!

I would love to explain exactly what we had, but as you can see, I was lost in the madness of it all. All you need to know is it was all very, very good. Stand outs were the robustly flavored sausage on the tandoori plate, the peshawari naan (a sweet naan with raisins and nuts), the kulfi ice cream made with pistachios, and the subtle chai tea.

India Palace Web Site