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.