Ingenious Inkling

Madison, Wisconsin Foodie Trip

Yesterday a friend and I took a road trip to Madison, Wisconsin to do some grocery shopping.  We loaded our car with coolers and grocery bags and went in search of new and different food discoveries.  I took my camera with me, but did a terrible job of actually taking any photographs.  I think I was probably just too overwhelmed with all of the fun food finds.

Our first stop was The Calico Bean Market in Dubuque, Iowa.  I love their spices, soups, and seasoning mixes.  I was sad that our favorite espresso steak seasoning rub has been discontinued.  I also love the grapefruit jelly slices (as evidenced by the empty space in the basket where I removed two bags to take with me).  They will also ship all of their delicious foods around the country.

In Madison, we explored Whole Foods (so many fun food samples) where I found everything from freshly made pineapple salsa to fabulous holiday truffles.  After that, we were off to Penzeys, the land of spices.  I picked up refills for our vanilla sugar and also tried the new Penzeys cinnamon blend.  Next we stopped for lunch at Himal Chuli, which serves Nepali Cuisine.  There were so many delicious sounding dishes, but I settled on the Aloo Gobi Tarkari with Roti and Dal.

The Tarkari was a stew of carrots, peas, cauliflower and potatoes simmered in turmeric, coriander, cumin, fresh garlic, and ginger.  The roti was a dense whole wheat bread.

The Dal was a wonderful soup with lentils, mixed beans, and fresh herbs on top.  I also had a refreshing Mango Lassi.

Our final stop was Trader Joe's where I got all sort of yummy holiday treats (can you say dark chocolate sea salt caramels).  

What a great food day ... I'm sure we'll try it again in the spring.
 
 

Lazy Saturday Drive Through the Corn Fields

My husband and I have a rare weekend off together with no plans.  He suggested we go for a drive in the country, so we decided to head north and check out the Edgewood Locker.  Because of the wet fall, there are still quite a few crops in the fields and lots of tractors on the roads, so there was lots of activity to see on the drive.

The place was hoppin' when we arrived.  Outside was a chalk board advertising a special on Brats.  The first meal I remember eating in Iowa was grilled Brats (aka Bratwurst), so for me, they have a special connection to this state.  We didn't need 48, but we did get some Sweet Onion, Pineapple, and of course Cranberry & Wild Rice for the holidays.

The store had all kinds of meats and cheeses, and they were very reasonably priced.  We ended up coming home with Ranch Cheese Curds, Smoked Pork Chops, an assortment of ham and beef sticks, and lots of other meats for the freezer.

Here's my dear husband carrying all of our wares (the freezer bags from Aldi's are perfect for keeping road trip foods cold).

 
 All-in-all a very relaxing drive resulting in lots of fun new foods to try.

Fun Finds

No stamping tonight ... instead I decided it was more important to clean up my studio.  My stamping table was so cluttered, it was difficult to find a smooth surface to stamp. 

I also got a huge box of goodies in the mail to creative with for the December 5th Caardvarks challenge, so I need room to spread it all out.  I'm a very visual and tactile person ... I need to look at things and touch them to get my creative juices flowing.  Speaking of Caardvarks challenges, there is a super-cool one starting tomorrow (November 20th).  It's one you don't want to miss.

Here are a couple of my recent favorite finds:

• A list of crockpot dishes for the holidays
• Amy's Friday Sketch... lovin' those pink snowflakes
• Enlightened Starbuck's Coffee Cake
• Marah Johnson's Metal Brad Magnets

• Elise's cool holiday wreathes from bottle caps and cardboard

Happy Thursday!

Classy & Scrappy

My favorite kind of card is one that uses scraps that would normally be discarded ... and has a classy design.  I found both in the gallery of ink-e, today's featured stamper.  My card CASE'd her for a friend ... creation.

I used pieces of paper from the Basic Grey Eva Collection, pomegranate felt flowers from Stampin' Up and the SU Small Saying Sentiment ... and voila ... a quick yet classy card. 

Now when I cut those end pieces off of the 6" square designer papers, I'll know what to do with the leftovers.

Also, I have Vanessa's Easiest Ever Pumpkin Muffins in the oven right now, and they smell yummy ... perfect for a cool fall day.

Enjoy it!

Omnivore's Hundred

In addition to crafting and design blogs, I enjoy reading food blogs.  I love trying new and different things, so I was intrigued by this Omnivore's Hundred list I found on Chocolate & Zucchini, which she found at Very Good Taste.  There were several foods I had never heard of, including cheeses and a chocolate that I found particularly intriguing.  I was surprised at how many that I have tried & I think I'll be trying a few more in the near future (my husband would love the currywurst).

The list is proposed as a game where you:

• He offered this list as the starting point for a game, along the following rules:
• Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
• Bold all the items you’ve eaten (I used an asterisk)
• Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
• Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

* 1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
* 3. Huevos rancheros
* 4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (never tried this, but I have had Czarnina)
* 7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
* 9. Borscht
* 10. Baba ghanoush
* 11. Calamari
* 12. Pho
* 13. PB&J sandwich
* 14. Aloo gobi
* 15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
* 18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
* 19. Steamed pork buns
* 20. Pistachio ice cream
* 21. Heirloom tomatoes
* 22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
* 24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (not sure I could handle the heat)
* 27. Dulce de leche
* 28. Oysters
* 29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
* 31. Wasabi peas
* 32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (I did have a Mango Lassi last weekend though)
* 34. Sauerkraut
* 35. Root beer float (A&W many times as a child)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
* 39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
* 41. Curried goat (tried this for the first time just last weekend)
* 42. Whole insects (chocolate covered ants)
43. Phaal (sounds like this might be a bit too spicy for my gut)
* 44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (seems a bit risky to me)
* 47. Chicken tikka masala
* 48. Eel (every week if I can ... my favorite sushi)
* 49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (so much better when warm)
* 50. Sea urchin
* 51. Prickly pear
* 52. Umeboshi
* 53. Abalone
* 54. Paneer
* 55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
* 56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (I have very limited alcohol tolerance)
* 59. Poutine
* 60. Carob chips
* 61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
* 66. Frogs’ legs
* 67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (all of the above ... can you go wrong with fried dough?)
68. Haggis
* 69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
* 71. Gazpacho
* 72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
* 77. Hostess Fruit Pie
* 78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
* 80. Bellini
* 81. Tom yum
* 82. Eggs Benedict
* 83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
* 86. Hare
* 87. Goulash
* 88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
* 91. Spam
* 92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
* 94. Catfish
* 95. Mole poblano
* 96. Bagel and lox
* 97. Lobster Thermidor
* 98. Polenta
* 99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (while in Jamaica)
100. Snake

Weekend Sketch, Flourishes & Peanut Butter No Bakes

Not much time in my studio today.  It's my husband's weekend off, so we enjoyed spending the day together just hanging out.  I did bake him some new cookies - Peanut Butter No Bakes from Coconut & Lime - and they were delicious.  I also had a lot of fun seeing all of the great cards for the SCS Inspiration Challenge & the Caardvarks Love Fest Friends Challenge.

I did take some time to make a card using Beate's Weekend Sketch and Sharon's Flourishes Challenge.  It's been a while since I added a holiday card to my 2008 stash, so I used some scraps of MME holiday papers and my new Lots of Thoughts set from Stampin' Up.  My flourished background is by Fancy Pants and a Snowflake Flurry from Stampendous.

All-Bran Banana Bread

No stamping this morning because my dear, sweet husband has offered to drive me to Des Moines, so I can spend my Archivers gift card birthday present that has been burning a hole in my pocket.

Instead, here's a recipe I tried last night that we declared a "keeper".  It combines the best of bran muffins and banana bread and has a nice, dense texture without being too heavy (72 points in the entire loaf for any WW person who is counting).

All-Bran Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

3 large bananas (1½ cups)
2 eggs
2 cups All-Bran cereal
2 cups flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup butter or shortening (softened)

1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350F (180C).  Peel and mash the bananas and combine with the two cups of All-Bran.  Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes.

Cream the butter and sugar together, fold in the eggs and then the banana/cereal mixture.  Beat well.

Stir in the sifted flour and other dry ingredients and mix until the flour is evenly distributed through the mixture.

Spray a 9X5X3 loaf pan with non-stick spray and spoon in the mixture (it will be thick). Place in the preheated oven and bake the banana bread for 60 minutes. It is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the banana bread from the oven and allow it to cool slightly in the loaf tin. Turn out onto a rack to complete cooling.

Recipe from Afri Chef African Recipes Cookbook

Enjoy the day.