NYC Eats

During my last two trips to New York, I eagerly took in some culinary exploration and want to share highlights from two of my excursions.

First, we went in search of a tasty little bakery for cupcakes one afternoon. After not too long, we came across Buttercup Bake Shop, considered one of the best spots for cupcakes in the city.

We were quickly mesmerized by the vast and lovely dessert case...

And quickly overwhelmed by the array of colorful cupcake choices. Pink, yellow, purple, blue, white, brown, swirl, sprinkle...

We placed an order for six: one buttercup golden with chocolate icing, one buttercup golden with vanilla icing, one chocolate with vanilla icing, one chocolate with chocolate icing, one red velvet and one "Devil Dog." Perhaps, not surprisingly, the "Devil Dog" was mine. Devil's food chocolate cake with a light whipped frosting, a swirl of chocolate and topped off with sprinkles. I definitely enjoyed every last bite. And, at $2.25 each, it's a price that's hard to argue with.

In an interesting turn of events, the person who helped us at Buttercup is also from Minnesota. Gotta love those random connections :)

My other dining highlight comes from dinner with a friend who'd just moved to the city. I requested that we venture outside of my typical Midtown boundaries, so we hopped in a cab and headed to the East Village. There's a great little eatery called S'MAC, which is short for Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese.

It was tiny but overflowing. Eclectic but homey. S'MAC's specialty is macaroni and cheese...in more than 10 different varieties.

I decided to give the Cheeseburger Mac a try: cheddar and American cheeses combined with seasoned ground beef. There are four different sizes: nosh, major munch, mongo and partay!. This is the major munch ($9.75).

And it was majorly delicious. Cheesey, burgery, noodley comfort food. And boy was it filling. I think I could have gone with the nosh portion size and still left satisfied. I was mighty impressed with S'MAC and imagine that if I lived in the city, it would quickly become one of my favorite regular spots.

And, finally, I'll leave you with a photo of my favorite building in all the city - the Chrysler Building (with a little bit of a fancy Instagram touch-up). Isn't it lovely? :)

Touring the 9/11 Memorial

While in NYC last week, I had the opportunity to visit the newly opened 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero. It was a powerful experience to say the least, and I thought I'd share a few photos of my visit.

A "City" Girl in Pine City, Part Deux

As I alluded to in my last post, the second part of my Pine City excursion this fall found me in a truly unique experience. Friends and I trekked out to the North West Company Fur Post for its annual "rendez-vous" fall gathering event. The fur post is a voyageur camp with exhibits on the fur trade, located along Snake River outside of Pine City.

There's a small museum in the visitor center where you can explore the history of the fur trade.

And when you step outside, you leave 2010 and travel back in time to 1804...

Our tour guide, the French Canadian voyageur, explained the ins and outs of the fur trade. The hottest commodity was beaver, which was used to make stately top hats.

We then learned a little bit about the Ojibwe encampment while hanging out in a tipi.

And met a navigator, who explained his role within the process.

Later, we encountered Mr. John Sayer, a partner with North West Company and head of the crew.

Then we toured the shop, where the Ojibwe came to trade their furs for blankets and other goods.

We got to see where Mr. Sayer and his family live.

And then we headed to the camp, where people (hobbyists who travel to these type of events, placing themselves back in the early 19th century) were playing music, selling goods and making their own grub.

I bought this adorable, hand-painted little bowl (so far, it sits all pretty-like on a shelf and sometimes holds very important things like chocolate candies - any suggestions for other purposes are welcome).

As we toured the camp, we found children working...

And strapping young lads hauling water.

We saw families set up in groups, displaying the fruits of their labor.

And preparing their dinner.

We also took in the sites of the beautiful river, glistening on a crisp, sunny fall day.

All in all, it was a fun and interesting outing. I'm heading back to the fur post later this month for a Christmas concert in the visitor center. I'm thinking the facility will be beautiful at night in the winter.

Ice Skating in Downtown Saint Paul

One of the (few?) greatest things about Minnesota winters is the abundance of snowtime activities made available to my cold-blooded friends. Earlier this month, one such friend had the great idea to go ice skating in Saint Paul.

Each year, downtown Saint Paul offers free ice skating at an outdoor rink located next to the beautiful, historic Landmark Center.


















Mind you, I hadn't been ice skating since probably the eighth grade...and given that graceful isn't exactly one of the words often used to describe me, I was slightly nervous about this little outdoor adventure. The good news is that after about 10 minutes, I started to get comfortable in the skates and began doing my best "Cutting Edge" impressions (toe pick!). Plus, you get quite a workout going round-and-round that rink. Best of all, there were no falls to report. All in all, a victory.

If you're interested in skating, the 2009-2010 season runs through Jan. 31, and Wells Fargo offers free skate rental to anyone with a Wells Fargo check card (otherwise $2 per person).

If the idea of freezing for free doesn't entice you, surely the beautiful Saint Paul architecture will. :)

Christmas Season at the Basilica

I've gone to mass at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis twice since Christmas, and each time I've been struck by the beautiful decorations celebrating the season.

From the simple elegance of the white poinsettias and candles combined with the birch and pine trees...

To the beautiful nativity scene behind the altar...

The whole scene is delightfully exquisite.

Now I'm off to watch 500 Days of Summer, another film I've heard fantastic things about.

On the Road: Civil War Cemetery in Columbia, S.C.

I spent last week in Columbia, S.C. Along with a nice dinner at the Liberty Tap Room one night, we found ourselves at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Cemetery. Located right in downtown Columbia, near the Capitol, the cemetery is the resting place for some of South Carolina's most well-known people, including several of the state's governors and war veterans.

The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features several above-ground caskets.

I liked the decorative gothic architecture of the cemetery and was most fascinated that the chuch building itself is on the same property. There aren't very many churches in Minnesota that I'm aware of with cemeteries in the churchyard.

Visit to the Cathedral

Today we took a trip to easily one of the most beautiful churches in MSP: the Saint Paul Cathedral. It was the final stop on our mini Summit Avenue/Cathedral Hill tour.


Recently named a National Shrine of the Apostle Paul, the Cathedral incorporates a gorgeously painted dome, beautiful stained glass and amazing statues.

Whenever I explore the Shrine to the Nations, I make a special stop by Saint Boniface, patron saint of the Germans (always like to give him a little shout out).

Following our afternoon adventure, I watched Sunshine Cleaning again, which was just as good the second time around. I definitely recommend it, especially to anyone who is an Emily Blunt fan.