ABC Wednesday: E is for Edibles

The alleyways in my neighborhood make good use of south-facing garage walls with baskets of hanging tomato plants. And, they're ripening up about now. More ABC Wednesday entries here.

Y is for yum!

When it starts getting cold, head for the warmth (and yumminess) of a winter squash. For more ABC Wednesday entries, go here.

Creamy coffee

Kopplin's has moved from a tiny hole-in-the-wall on Hamline to more spacious quarters on Marshall at Cleveland in St. Paul. Stop in for luscious caffe latte or cappuccino and pastries (chocolate pistachio danish is my fave). And then pick up some cupcakes at Sweets down the street. Tis the season!

Thanksgiving bounty

The decorative stack of squash outside Forepaugh's restaurant in St. Paul would make a lot of pies for the Thanksgiving table.

Ready for roasting

I love garlic mashed potatoes. There's enough here (on display at the Farmers Market) for multiple Thanksgiving dinners.

Last tomato

The fourth post for this week's theme - the final tomato of the season? We're getting close to our first frost so these won't last much longer.

Kome in for a kone

With our recent summery weather I can't help longing for a night at the State Fair. This is the last photo for this week's theme. Did you guess what it is? All will be revealed tomorrow.

Hmmm... fresh bread

The Mill City Museum is more than visual exhibits. You can smell and taste what comes out of the museum's baking lab.

Focused shopping

This visitor to the Farmers Market in St. Paul knew just exactly what he wanted - no more, no less.

Busy as a ... (part 2)

Back to the Farmers Market. Things are still pretty busy down there even if the produce will be getting more limited. Those farmers are hardy and stick it out until the snow flies.

Farmers market

It's a perfect weekend for a trip to the farmers market in St. Paul. The forecast is for decidedly fall weather as of midweek, so the time to go is now.

Weekend breakfast

A holiday weekend and it's time to stop at Patisserie 46 for a croissant and the New York Times crossword. More food posts here.

Did you get last week's theme? Should've been easy - a deer, a hummingbird, a giraffe, a spider, a bee.

Birthday treats

This posting is in honor of a special birthday girl who remains unnamed. The photo was taken in England earlier this summer because she'll actually be able to treat herself to something like this today.

Everything tastes better over a fire

It's that time of year. Canoeing and camping, and we have so much water around us that no one is more than a couple of hours from multiple options. One of the things I liked about my recent river trip was that I didn't have to eat freeze-dried food. It was the real McCoy!

Post #3 for this week's theme. Look back on Monday and Tuesday. See a pattern yet?

Cruisin' for cones

On this last day in July which has been a particularly hot month in Minnesota we take a day trip along the Mississippi and stop in Bay City, Wisconsin for ice cream. Fortunately, it's not the only spot along the river to stop for creamery refreshment so if you miss this one, don't despair.

Summer refreshment

We're into the middle of summer and we're keeping cool with homemade sodas.

Sweet or savory?

Fellow St. Paulites - and maybe a few Minneapolitans (?) have discovered the crèpe stand in front of Meritage restaurant. My favorite is still the simple butter and sugar variety - miam, miam (as they say in Paris).

See Visual St. Paul for another take on this.

Sushi & noodles

Fuji-ya is pretty good but I prefer the soba noodles with tempura shrimp from Tanpopo Noodle located in this street of brick warehouses in St. Paul's Lowertown. Their sign is in the background (rectangle with the black circle).

Lunch al fresco

Don't we just wait all winter for this to finally happen? Downtown St. Paul has some nice cityscapes to indulge the desire.

Eat mi, drink mi, bun mi

This tiny, popular lunch spot on the University of Minnesota campus packs them in with people on the left waiting to pay and people on the right waiting for their food. I was squeezed at a small table between the two lines. Good pork sandwich!