Farmers Market and a Backyard Party: Creamy Fudge Sundae Pie

This past weekend I finally made it to the Mill City Farmers Market in downtown Minneapolis. If you have a chance to stop by one Saturday morning before they close in October, I highly recommend it. Not only do they have great fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers, but you can get ground buffalo, fresh baked bread, honey, beautiful flowers, woven goods, hear live music, and even see a cooking demonstration.

The Mill City Farmers Market

Making the Rounds with Rhubarb: Popular Rhubarb Cake & Rhubarb Dessert

I apologize for the lack of posts lately, this summer has gotten busy and I’ve fallen behind a bit. But I promise to catch up this week and I have some great recipes to share!

I have to admit, I’m not a fan of rhubarb. But when a friend handed me an armful of green and red stalks from her garden few weeks ago, I knew it would be a great opportunity to share more recipes from the box. Aside from all the learning experiences in the kitchen and eating great food, sharing the recipes with friends and family is one of my favorite parts of this project. I knew that all that rhubarb would go a long way, especially since I don’t eat it.

A Golden Celebration: Pumpkin Cake

Yesterday was Murphy’s 4th birthday. His big present was spending the day at doggy daycare, or “camp” as we call it (he knows that word and gets very excited when he hears it). Camp is Murphy’s favorite place in the whole world. He recognizes the route we take to get there and starts shaking miles before we even pull in the driveway. Once we arrive, he makes a mad dash for the door, dragging me along behind him. After he says hello to the staff and they prepare him for playtime, he’s turned loose into the large daycare room with all the other dogs. And every time it’s the same scene: they open the door to let him in, he takes enough steps to barely get his whole body in the room, and then he falls down on the floor with all four legs up in the air. All the dogs take turns sniffing him to make sure he’s O.K. and when they’re done, Murphy bounces up and runs around the room hoping someone will chase him. Chase is his favorite game. Whenever my husband and I are doing yard work that involves rakes or shovels, Murphy taunts the gardening tools until we chase him around the yard with them. I can’t imagine what our neighbors think of this game.

Learning to Improvise: Oatmeal Cookies

Every so often, I’m reintroduced to the idea of choosing a song as your personal mantra. I love music, it’s a huge part of my life (I have a post I want to write about this, it’s just waiting for the right recipe). And a few weeks ago, it felt as if music was seeking me out to send me a message. I was listening to the radio in the car, which I don’t do too often because I usually listen to my iPod, and a song came on that I haven’t heard in years. It’s one of those songs that immediately transports you back in time and conjures up memories of big hair, summer vacations, and junior high sock hops. But once I sifted through those images, I began to hear the song in a completely different way.

For My Sweet Little Angel: Angel Cup Cakes

A while ago, I mentioned my “other” dog, Dorie. Technically she’s my parents’ dog, but every time I go home and get accosted at the door, I’m reminded of the very special bond that she and I share. I’ve wanted to write a post about her for a while because she had a near brush with death, but thankfully pulled through and I’ve had several recipes put aside just for her (all of them with “angel” in the title). Then I remembered that I hadn’t yet posted the birthday cake for the month of June and quickly pulled out the Birthday Cake for Every Month card to check what was next. Ironically, the cake on the card wasn’t listed in the New Party Cakes for Every Occasion booklet so I’d have to choose another cake from the booklet to substitute. And I found the perfect one: Angel Cup Cakes.

First Public Appearance: Chocolate Joy Cake, Milk Chocolate Cake, Cherry Torte, Swedish Shortbread & Blueberry Muffins

I apologize for the delay in posting my recap of The Found Recipe Box’s first public appearance. It’s been a crazy week and my scanner decided it didn’t want to work for a while!

Last Monday night, I did a presentation about The Found Recipe Box project for the Visual Journaling Collective at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. There were about 25 people in attendance at the meeting, including two very special guests: my husband and my mom. I got a surprise the week before when I found out my mom would be coming to help me bake and to watch the presentation. She was a huge help in the kitchen and it meant a lot to have her there because there was a lot I had to thank her for (click here to read about how she got me involved in art). 

A Lifelong Love For Animals: Pancakes

Father’s Day is today and I immediately knew which recipe I wanted to make in honor of my dad (besides the Hunter Dan Marble Loaf Cake, of course) – pancakes. When my brothers and I were kids and it was my dad’s turn to make dinner, we always had one special meal: animal pancakes. He’d spread pancake batter over the griddle into random shapes and we’d all hover around trying to decide which animal he’d brought to life. It was kind of like watching stories being told in the clouds as they drift across the summer sky.