11 Twin City Restaurants That Will Make Your Thanksgiving Dinner a Breeze

Oh, Thanksgiving. The day we get up at 4 am to prepare a 20-pound bird, pretend that we cook ALL the time and can easily prepare 15 different sides that suit everyone’s needs, and greet our guests with a plastered smile that underneath actually says, please kill me now. By the time Thanksgiving Dinner is…

El Burrito Mercado Is THE Authentic Mexican Food Experience in Minnesota

When temperatures drop below zero, most Minnesotans prefer a hearty bowl of chili, a classic wild rice soup, or the cheesy potatoes of a plentiful hotdish. Not this Arizona-raised Minnesotan. I want colorful flavors, aromatic spices, a dish that wakes up the senses — and I want tequila. When my face hurts from the bitter…

Old Dutch Potato Chips and the Introduction of Flavored Chips to the Midwest

My family migrated from Minnesota to Arizona when I just a tot. However, in our home, Minnesota foods, sports, and nomenclature reigned supreme. In our Scandinavian family, Christmas time meant lutefisk and lefse. My Swedish-American Grandmother was the queen of the church suppers. We used the term “Uff Da” interchangeably when we were full, happy,…

The Bundt Cake: From Bethlehem to Marie Antoinette to Minnesota

A donut-shaped cake with a lot of history When you think of a Bundt cake, a dense circular cake with a hollowed-out middle comes to mind. The flavors may consist of chocolate, red velvet, vanilla, spiced, or lemon. It might be topped with frosting, a dusting of sugar, glaze, or plain. There isn’t one recipe…

Bread Art in Bayport

Get ready for some life-changing baked goods. The first time I tasted a baked creation from Bread Art occurred when a friend kindly dropped off a cake for me. When I inquired about the type of cake I was receiving, my friend responded, “does it matter? It’s cake.” Wow, I thought. There is a lot…

The Ultimate Uff-Da Burger – The Jucy/Juicy Lucy

Hailed as Minnesota’s burger, the Jucy Lucy (also known as Juicy Lucy – we will get to that later) is a burger with cheese cooked inside the hamburger meat instead of on top of the patty. Resulting in melted cheese oozing out of the burger when you take a bite. The creation of the Jucy…

9 Must-Try Minnesota IPAs for Any Hophead – Part 1.

It’s the worst. You grab a six-pack (or most likely a four-pack) of an IPA you have never tried. The can looks spiffy; you pour it out, it has a great head, the scent of hops enters your system, you take your first sip…and it’s just piss with some hops. A bad IPA is up…

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The Nut Goodie. Let’s Get Down With This Minnesota Candy Cluster.

In 1909, P. Edward Pearson, along with his brothers Tom and Oscar, started Pearson’s Candy Company, a confectionery distribution company in Minneapolis. Realizing manufacturing was more profitable than distribution, the Pearson brothers introduced their first candy, the Nut Goodie, in 1912. The Nut Goodie is a Minnesota candy staple consisting of maple nougat, topped with…

QC Pizza: Kinda Big Dill

Pickles on a pizza?! Oh, you bet your sweet and salty a$$. Pickles are ok. I like them, they are a nice addition to a sandwich, but I don’t love them. However, I LOVE the Kinda Big Dill Pizza. I would marry it, and we would have fantastic dill pizza babies – which might get…