MN Mondays: Weekend update.

What a fun fall weekend we had, and it was so, so great to be home. What did we do, you ask? Well...

I was sworn in as a licensed attorney, 

we had lovely family dinners with oh-so-delicious fall recipes, 

we cooked some, 

we celebrated some, 

and laughed a lot. 

We also carved pumpkins with these monsters: 

It really was just the best time, and we cannot wait until Thanksgiving (only a little more than three weeks to go!) until we're home again. Love to all our family and friends - thank you for everything!! 

A lovely visit.

On Tuesday, my mom came to visit us! She wasn't able to come with us when we moved, so it was wonderful to have her here for the last several days. We were happy to introduce her to Shorewood and Milwaukee, and it was great to be able to cook, chat, go for walks, and catch up together.

I'll write more over the next few days, as I was on a blogging hiatus during the visit. We had so much fun exploring our little neighborhood, cooking up different recipes, and taking photos along the way. Even though we're still new to the city, I think we did a good job of playing MKE tour-guides. 

It has been a lovely week, the perfect way to end September and usher in beautiful October. The leaves on the trees in our part of Shorewood are all turning shades of gold, bright orange, and deep red (MN Gopher colors!); I love this time of year! 

Have a wonderful start to your weekend, friends! 

MN Mondays: a visit home.

This weekend, we decided to head back to the Twin Cities to see our families. One of the beauties of this move is that we actually didn't move that far away. Driving time from Milwaukee to the Cities is about five and a half hours (or five, thanks to our new WI plates that allow us to blend in with the other WI drivers...). 

It was a weekend filled with family. Lots of cooking, eating, drinking, walks on the bridge (that skyline view will get me every time), and time spent with those we miss most. It was too short of a trip, because there is no way to do everything or see everyone we wanted to. 

On Friday night, we had our parents over to dinner at my mom's house. It was starting to look and feel like fall, much more so than in Shorewood, but we wanted to do one more summer cookout session before the seasons really turn. We grilled brats and vegetables outside and had homemade potato salad and char-grilled green beans on the side. All simple, fresh, and so summery. 

For dessert, we made another recipe out of the Sussman brothers' cookbook - the s'mores! The original recipe called for bourbon, but we made them with rum instead. Considering neither Andrew nor I really love marshmallows, we were both pretty impressed by these! We had a good time making them (I was really excited to use my mom's stand mixer; we don't have one, but want one badly!). The recipe was easy to follow, and it was so fun to see how the marshmallows, which started out as pure liquid, puffed up to become these lovely, pillowy, gooey squares!  

 I'm posting the recipe we used below, as adapted from the Sussmans' This is a Cookbook: Recipes for Real Life. 

S'mores with maple-rum marshmallows.

From This is a Cookbook: Recipes for Real Life (available at Williams-Sonoma - check it out!) 

Vegetable oil cooking spray

Powdered sugar for dusting

2 Tbsp unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup rum, plus 3 Tbsp

1/4 cup maple syrup (get the good kind - trust me!) 

1 1/2 cups extra-fine sugar

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy  cream 

Graham crackers, halved. 

Line the bottom of a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper. Coat lightly with cooking spray and dust with some powdered sugar. 

Pour 1/2 cup warm water into a small bowl; sprinkle in the gelatin and stir to dissolve.

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the rum, maple syrup, and sugar; bring to a boil. Continue to cook and stir often, until the temperature reads 240 degrees F on a candy or frying thermometer. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer, and add the dissolved gelatin and remaining rum. Beat until stiff peaks form, about 10-13 minutes. Note - it will take much longer if you use a hand mixer! 

Scrape the marshmallows into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Let cool at room temperature until firm, about 4 hours.

Once the mixture has hardened, remove the marshmallow from the pan and take off the parchment lining. Cut into even squares, and toss with powdered sugar in a bowl to coat. 

Put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. 

Assemble the s'mores: graham cracker + marshmallow + chocolate + graham cracker. Serve and enjoy! 

So tasty! If making this with little ones, obviously omit the rum or bourbon. 

Making s'mores, we just had to have a bonfire. We tried heating the marshmallows over the fire, but because they were basically made out of sugar only, and didn't have any of the "other" processed ingredients like the marshmallows you buy at the store, they just melted instead of turning nice and golden. Oh well, they were perfectly delicious as they were. It was a beautiful night for a fire - chilly, with a definite feel of fall coming on. Andrew, my sister, and I sat around the fire on our patio with a few pyvos (as Andrew says, "beer" just sounds better in Ukrainian!). All in all, a great night. 

It was a lovely weekend home, and it has inspired a new series on the blog: MN Mondays! MN Mondays will be all about the land of 10,000 lakes. What are your favorite things about MN? What do you love to do in Minnesota in the fall? I'll share some of mine if you tell me yours!

I'm off to finish dinner for tonight - stay tuned for more on gnocchi and oxtail ragu! YUM!

Twin Cities bound.

We can't wait to be back in the Cities for a few days. We're ready for family dinners, outdoor grilling, perhaps a bonfire, and some East Hennepin fun. 

See you soon, MPLS!

Going vegetarian...for tonight.

For dinner tonight, our dishes were all vegetarian. Now, this is by no means an everyday occurrence, as some of our absolute all-time favorite dishes involve meat (and lots of it). Our families know from experience that most of our hosted family dinners center around pork shoulder or some other sort of slow-roasted meat. We didn't consciously decide that we were going to "be vegetarians" tonight, but it just so happened that every recipe that stood out to us called for vegetables, not meat. 

On the menu: 

Broccoli and leek pie, from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty.

Apple and ginger chutney, from Max and Eli Sussman's This is a Cookbook: Recipes for Real Life (we first saw this new cookbook highlighted on Smith and Ratliff and can't wait to try out more recipes!). 

Zucchini and hazelnut salad, also from Ottolenghi. 

All so fresh, flavorful, and (relatively) healthy...except for that pie, which definitely wasn't healthy, but it tasted so, so good. And honestly, we didn't miss the meat at all. There are some all-veg dishes that taste fine, but leave you wanting something heartier. All three tonight were completely satisfying. We've felt that way about most of the dishes we've tried in Plenty, a really great book that proves vegetarian cooking can be exciting and creative (the eggplant croquettes are a personal favorite). And I can't wait to try more of the Sussman brothers' recipes after flipping through their book; I'm especially looking forward to the s'mores with maple-bourbon marshmallows...maybe this weekend?!? 

What are your thoughts on vegetarian cooking? Love it? Hate it? Give Plenty a try - we promise you won't be disappointed! 

~N.