Lake Superior Sky Vacation- Part 1 (Duluth)

June 27, 2010 – 8:30 am

Last week we traveled up north to experience the joys of our first real family vacation. I knew it wouldn’t be perfect, but I wasn’t expecting the baby to be teething for the majority of the trip or the amount of rain we got! On the bright side, the rain made for the most amazing skies! After looking back through the pictures, I feel like the vacation was totally worth the trials and tribulations we endured- the dirty looks in restaurants from other tourists as we tried to soothe a hurting baby, the disappointment of not being able to see the sea caves without forking over an extra $200.00 or so, rain. . . But Andrew had a fantastic time and Chloe was so happy to be back home she started walking the night we got back.

We started our vacation by spending 2 nights in Duluth. Next we drove over to Bayfield, Wisconsin and the Apostle Islands. I have only driven through Duluth once so the city was practically brand new to me. Since I love San Francisco, I naturally enjoyed Duluth. I booked our room on Priceline and got a really awesome rate for the Radisson downtown. This was the view from our hotel window:

Not a bad view- definitely better than the view my brother and his friends had at the Motel 6 and they paid the same price- ha!

Like most tourists, we started out down around Canal Park. After walking around that area, I’m glad we decided to stay downtown and not on the canal. It was a little too touristy.

This was definitely an interesting sight. Known as “the cribs” to some (read more here), there were kids doing back flips off this thing. I really hope they were professional, it looked dangerous.

We spent the money to go on the Vista Fleet boat cruise. It wasn’t too expensive, but the tour was a little long (for us anyway- Chloe was crying the entire time and that’s not an exaggeration). We started out sunny and came back rainy. Andrew got to watch the aerial lift bridge go up and down.

A lot of the tour was around the industrial perimeter of the coast.

After we got off the boat and the rain started to come down, we made our way back to the hotel. Duluth is an okay city to visit even if rain is in the forecast because they have the skyway system! We only had to walk a half a mile in the rain before finding the entrance to a skyway.

The next morning, Chloe woke up at 4:30 and wouldn’t go back to bed. She was extremely crabby. Rather than wake the other 2 up and have everyone sleep deprived and crabby for the rest of the day, I loaded Chloe up and grabbed the camera. I was headed to Enger Tower to catch the sunrise. But I had to pull over a little early because I was so afraid I was going to miss it! This was snapped at 4:45 am from Skyline Parkway:

The sky was changing dramatically and quickly! I would snap a shot and then the sky would completely change in a matter of minutes. It was amazing!

This is Enger Tower:

And this is the sunrise from the 2nd floor (carrying a baby, I didn’t make it up to the top):

Then I decided to drive over to Canal Park and go across the lift bridge. I drove out as far as possible which brought me to a small airport but just as I was turning around I saw the beach access:

It’s hard to believe, but this was the sun already up that high at about 5:30 am.

I wanted to take Andrew back over here later that day but it started to rain in the middle of the morning and continued through the day off and on. We met friends at Pizza Luce for supper later that night after going to the children’s museum (worth the price) and train museum for the afternoon.

As you can see, Josh is standing with Chloe because if left to eat her dinner in her highchair she would just scream!

We left here and drove through an hour of fog along the south shore to Bayfield, Wisconsin. Pictures to follow. . . The skies were even more spectacular there!

By kristineleuze | Posted in Etc, Family, Photo | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)

It’s Not a Diet!

June 4, 2010 – 7:34 pm

Chloe turned 1 last weekend. I had some anxiety about meeting up with extended family because after I had Chloe I lost some of the weight, then came to a stand still, then turned some sort of curve and started gaining weight again. With birthdays I always think morbid thoughts, like how many more will there be and how many will I be here to see? When my husband and I got married, our gift to each other was quitting smoking (we also do not drink). For Chloe’s birthday I wanted to give her something similar. I want her to have a healthy mommy who is a good role model and knows a lot about nutrition. I want to know how to cook meals that are good for you but taste good as well. I never want her to be embarrassed that I’m her mommy either. I need to lose the gut.

The day after Chloe’s birthday, I went and looked at several “diet” books. I hate using the word “diet” because to me the word diet makes me think of something you do to temporarily lose weight. I want this to be more than a temporary thing. I want it to be our way of life. I’ve always been envious of people who actually appeared to enjoy their health food. I knew there had to be a book out there for me and luckily I found one! What I found was Flat Belly Diet! Family Cookbook.

At first it looked a little gimmicky and the last thing I wanted was a gimmick diet, but when I looked at the recipes everything looked SO GOOD! Basically, it’s the Mediterranean diet. You eat what is called a MUFA at every meal. A MUFA is a monounsaturated fat. On the first day of the diet, I was allowed to have dark chocolate with strawberries and vanilla yogurt as a snack. Believe me, I do not feel deprived at all eating the recipes in this book and that’s what I need to stay on track. Take away my chocolate and I fail. But here, they allow dark chocolate because dark chocolate is a MUFA and eaten with certain other foods it can actually be beneficial. Of course you are not allowed to eat ounce after ounce of dark chocolate on a daily basis, but you get enough to feel satisfied and then your body eventually becomes trained to a new standard. Eventually, what you once considered a small amount of “junk” will feel like a large reward.

The only drawback I can see right now for someone who is wanting to follow this diet is having enough time. Luckily I am at home a lot so I have time to bake muffins, pitas, etc. but for someone who works full-time, preparing most of the recipes in this book could become a challenge.

Now, here is why I am excited about this “diet” . . . On Tuesday I weighed 149 lbs and now I weigh 145! It’s not a fluke either. I’ve been weighing myself everyday for over a month and everyday it has read 149. This week it finally budged. My goal is 135. I think that’s a healthy weight for me. I’ve been drinking my 8 glasses of water a day and that’s really been helping. The book suggests drinking what they call “Sassy Water”. It’s delicious! Cucumber, lemon and zest of ginger all add perfect flavor to something that can become monotonous after a while. I definitely look forward to drinking this water everyday and mix up a big batch every night for the next day.

One of the greatest discoveries that just sort of came about out of happenstance was the discovery that I can make amazing whole wheat pita pockets! I used to HATE these things (I grew up with them and always dreaded having to eat them as a kid) but the secret to yummy ones is freshness. Like, the sooner out of the oven the better. I used this recipe and here they are right out of the oven:

So I had those yesterday with tuna and balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fresh lettuce right out of the garden. Then today I had these:

Olive and Tomato mozzarella Pizzas on sprouted grain English muffins. . .  I’d eat’em everyday, they were that good! For breakfast I had lemon blueberry muffins.

Here’s the reason I started doing this (see picture below!) But now that I am actually enjoying it, I’m doing it just as much for myself now. It’s not a diet but a new way of life!

And who wouldn’t want to be the most in-shape best mommy for that little blue-eyed cutie!

By kristineleuze | Posted in Etc, Family, Food | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (6)

June 1st Delights!

June 2, 2010 – 1:14 pm

We had some things ripen and open on the first of June. The first delight was my iris. I bought some of these a few years ago and I really hope they spread. I think they are gorgeous! Next we had some radishes that looked ready to be pulled up . . . but nobody around here is really interested in actually eating them unfortunately so I’m not sure what we’ll do with them.

We also had a few strawberries ripen, but we were lazy about putting the netting over the top of the strawberry patch and today something had gotten to the reddest berry and took a few nibbles.

The lettuce is ready to be eaten. I had a nice salad yesterday for lunch.

Our daisies were one of the first things to bloom.

Hopefully July 1st brings us much more!

By kristineleuze | Posted in Garden, Photo | Comments (2)

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

May 31, 2010 – 10:42 am

Last week, the kids and I packed up the car and took a trip 45 miles east to visit the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen. First we stopped in Waconia. What a beautiful little town! I sort of have a dream of living there now. The downtown sits up on a hill overlooking the gorgeous lake. And the lake actually looked clear when we got a close-up look!

At the arboretum, we walked from the cafe to the hedge maze and back. And that was pretty much it. It was about 95 degrees and humid as all get out. Plus the friends were meeting had this little one with them:

But we got to see some stuff. Here would be a nice little place for a game of uber lawn bowling. . .

The highlight of the trip (for Andrew and I anyway) was the Uff da Palace. The artist (Patrick Dougherty) sculpts these amazing structures out of willow.

I’ve been trying really hard this spring to get a nice shot of all the butterflies I’ve been seeing around. Sadly, I only own one lens for my camera and it’s not a zoom. . . this is the best I could do:

Now here’s a great concept for a dining room table!

I snapped a few shots of my beloved poppies:

These 2 were born a week apart. It’s fun to watch them grow together. Andrew looks so much taller because Maya is sitting back further on the bench. In reality he’s only about an inch taller.

In conclusion. . . The arboretum is nice but not on a hot day! Too much walking involved and a lot of it isn’t shaded. I think the perfect time to visit here would be a day in the 70′s. I will probably go back sometime in the Fall- it’s probably gorgeous then! They are actually open year round. I think they allow cross-country skiing in the winter which would be fun- it’s hilly there so you’d get some exercise, that’s for sure!

By kristineleuze | Posted in Etc, Family, Garden, Kid Activities | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

May Daring Bakers Challenge- Croquembouche

May 27, 2010 – 8:25 am

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

It always amazes me what deliciousness can be made from just a few simple ingredients! Here we have just a few simple ingredients mixed together and then voila!

Perfect little puffs! Mama’s little helper to make a few holes in the back of the puff so that we have a place to fill them. . .

As you can imagine, my little helper wanted to help me build the tower as well.

The perfect Mother’s Day treat!

This was really delicious! I had always wanted to try it and was surprised at how easy it was. The spun caramel sugar does look nice on the dessert, but it is a little too much crunch. Next time I might try a hazelnut version and dip the puffs in a little chocolate and hazelnut- sort of like a giant homemade Roche tower!

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For Chocolate Pastry Cream (Half Batch Recipe):
Bring ¼ cup (about 50 cl.) milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces (about 80 g.) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.

For Coffee Pastry Cream (Half Batch recipe)
Dissolve 1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder in 1 ½ teaspoons boiling water. Whisk into pastry cream with butter and vanilla.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Chocolate Glaze:
8 ounces/200 g. finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.

Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Assembly of your Piece Montée:
You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place – see video #4 below).

When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy! Bon appétit!

By kristineleuze | Posted in Food | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)