Photography and More!

One of the entrances to the Midtown Global Market: a microcosm of how the world should be

I love Minneapolis. It’s my favorite city of all those I’ve been to, and I’ve done my fair share of traveling (including, but not limited to, Alamo, TX, Tuscon, San Francisco, Seattle, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Washington DC, New York City, Chicago and St. Louis).

So this isn’t a hometown girl saying that her city is the best and that she doesn’t need to see what else is out there.  This is coming from someone who has a fair traveling resume and still loves her city the most.

After all, what’s not to love?  We’re known for our culture (the most theater seats per capita after NYC), we have lots of parks, lakes and libraries, music venues of assorted sizes and levels of classiness, great public transit and a moderate cost of living.

The only real drawback is how inhumanely cold it gets (really, imagine taking a deep breath and feeling like your lungs are freezing or the icy chill of the wind making it feel like your eyeballs might freeze solid).

One of the things I love most about Minneapolis is that over time, people from all over the world have settled here, and that rich diversity is reflected in one of my favorite places in my favorite city: The Midtown Global Market.

The Midtown Global Market is a glorious place that houses bakeries, markets, and restaurants that draw inspiration from all over the world, happily coexisting together.  A Scandinavian bakery, a Mexican restaurant or two, one that celebrates the best of American cuisine, an East African eatery, a Mid East market, a place where you can buy humanely farmed eggs for $0.25 a piece (if you bring your own carton) and so much more.  It’s a true microcosm of how the world should be.  All of us celebrating and retaining our individual identities while blending together and celebrating not as individuals or cultures, but as people.

Where else can you buy fresh produce, eat a meal inspired by the tastes of East Africa, and top it off by buying candy from Mexico for dessert, all while enjoying a delicious cup of coffee?

 

It's like a screen capture of my childhood!

 

Good food is always a win! 

Even in a language I don’t understand it looks delicious!

camel burgers!!

Puffy suckers!!

cheese!!!

I have Thursday off of work, and I have decided that I need to make productive use of that time.

I will do that by baking.

The problem is that I’m overwhelmed by indecision.  My standby is peanut butter oatmeal cookies (and they’re delicious!) but I want to venture out of the safety of that bubble and try something new and exciting!

I have a list of potential options, and would love your feedback on what I should make.

Option #1

Peanut butter oatmeal cookies

pro: delicious, reliable

con: not really exciting to make anymore

Option #2

Apple pie

pro: I love apple pie

con: I need to learn how to make my own pie crusts since most of the ready made ones have some sort of animal fat in them

Option #3

mocha brownies

pro: potential for tastebud delight

con: almost entirely untested

Option #4

homemade ice cream sandwiches

pro: it’s in the name!

con: I don’t have a deep freezer, so it may be a logistical nightmare

Let me know what you think I should tackle!

It has come to my attention that as a fledgling journalist, there is really no excuse for me to not be keeping a blog.  Deep down, I know this.  The problem being, I don’t feel like I often have newsworthy stuff in my life.  Sure, it’s newsworthy to me, but can I expect many people to care that I found a job (in a bookstore!) or that I hope I don’t have to take my cat to the vet?

Sure, my friends and family may, but it’s not very interesting to the world at large.

I have writer’s block because I have nothing to say.  Sure, I have opinions, but I’m hesitant to put much in the way of that out in the world for fear of damaging my ability to appear unbiased in the future.  The last need is to lose a job (or not get a job) because someone digs through an old blog and finds out how I feel about  immigration reform.

So as it is, I think the theme of this blog will vary day to day: food, photography and travel with the occasional every day antidote for when my life is interesting enough to warrant it.  It gets me writing and shows future employers that I’m disciplined enough to sit down and write on a regular basis.

Last week, the three biggest things in my life that I spent my time on came to an end.

School, newspaper and work.  Four if you count bussing to and from school every day.

I was in a panic over how bored I thought I would be.  All of these things that absorbed so much of my time, energy and brain space not tapering off, but flat out ending.  Anyone who knows me knows that I can be a bit of an, *ahem* busy body, which puts my concerns into perspective.

Good news: so far, it’s been a refreshing surprise.

I will use today as an example.

I slept last night better than I had slept since spring semester started.  I woke up refreshed at 11:30, spent time with Chester, and caught a bus to Southdale where window shopped for Father’s Day presents and met a friend to see a movie.

After the movie, I applied for a job and went grocery shopping.  When I got home, I made dinner.

And that brings us to the present tense.  As I type this blog, I have homemade baked macaroni and cheese waiting for me to enjoy, and after I do, I will clean the kitchen and watch the Daily Show and Scrubs without feeling guilty about either while thinking about all of the other stuff that I should be doing.

Tomorrow I’m going to my brother-in-law’s store for a few hours.

More time with friends and my cat, home cooked meals and relaxation peppered with job hunting.

Panic averted.  I think I’m going to be okay, even if I do miss my former fellow newspaper compadres, co-workers and fellow students.

I can look forward to more of this and other delicious things!