What I learned about leadership in Marching Band

I'm writing this during teacher appreciation week. People are supposed to use social media to recognize teachers who made a difference in their lives. I'm already at an age when most of the teachers who made a difference in my education are dead. But if you can consider a band director as a 'teacher,' then I'd like to recognize Fred Nyline who is still alive and who was the associate director of  bands when I was in the University of Minnesota Football Marching Band.

I certainly learned more about leadership from being in the Marching Band than I did in any of my academic classes.

Just in general, the Marching Band was a very important part of my college experience. I grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota and attended Albert Lea Senior High. Albert Lea was a decent size town. But Minneapolis was definitely 'the big city' and student enrollment at The U was twice the size of the whole town of Albert Lea. The band was my niche that gave me a way to connect in the big university. Most of my close friends at the U were fellow band members. I still see several of them.

Marching Band was a big time commitment. But it was fun and satisfying. I was a decent trumpet player, but not a virtuoso by any definition. (Mr. Nyline used to tell us, at hockey and basketball pep band, "We may not be good, but we sure are loud!) In Marching Band, we took the music seriously, but we also had to march and do the routines accurately and with some panache.

When I reported to band at the beginning of my Junior year, I was excited to learn that I'd been chosen to be a rank leader. I don't recall seeking out that position, but it was an honor to be selected. I didn't have anything to do with the music. My role was to make sure that the 10 musicians in my rank knew the routines and marched well on the field.

As rank leaders, we would receive the charts for the week's half-time show in advance. We were supposed to learn the routines and then teach them to the other musicians in the rank. The object was, as the band played the music, each rank would march to the right position on the field ... and at right time.

One week, fairly early in the season, during rehearsal, I lead my rank across the field and we halted with a dramatic flourish. Mr. Nyline stopped the band. He pointed at me and yelled, "Krikava. What are you doing there?" Oops. We were in the right place. But we were 8 beats too early. As we reassembled to try it again, Mr. Nyline growled, just loud enough for me to hear, "Someone said you were supposed to be good."

I didn't really think about it too much at the time. It was a mistake. We corrected it and went on. But at least subconsciously, it must have sunk in because now, 46 years later, I can still remember it like it was yesterday.

Here's what I learned from that incident.

First, "someone said I was supposed to be good." That meant that other people - directors and senior band members - had expectations of me. My mistake had let them down.

Second, it wasn't just me. My mistake affected everyone else in the rank. We all ended up in the right place at the wrong time, but I was the one who was responsible. I had let my rank members down as well.

Third, mistakes happen. You can't let the fear of making a mistake paralyze you. You learn, make a correction, and try to do a better job in the future.

Anyway, from then on, I was extra careful to make sure I understood both the positioning and the timing. I probably made more mistakes. But none were as dramatic nor called down the wrath of Fred Nyline as much as that particular incident.

By the end of my Senior year, I was respected as a band leader, and the lessons I learned being a band leader definitely helped me be a better leader professionally.

So, thank you Fred Nyline.

This my rank from the 1972 Marching Band season. That's me, front row, far left.

A Peachy Outcome from a Musical Encounter

I always said that while Krik’s Picks is mostly about food, it also would include thoughts about other things, such as music and politics. (And lately, cars too.) But this post ties together several different strands. Kinda what makes life interesting.

So let’s start with music – Edina Bands. You may know about Next Door, the online social network for neighborhoods across the nation? My neighborhood, Parkwood Knolls, participates in Next Door. One day in early August, I got an email alert from Next Door about a kid selling peaches as a fundraiser because he was going into the Edina Marching Band in the fall.

Ok, as a band kid myself (Albert Lea High School band, 1968-70; University of Minnesota Marching Band, 1970-74) I was sympathetic to his appeal. My own children graduated from Edina High School, but they weren’t band kids. But the clincher (and segue to the next strand) – I saw that he’s the grandson of a former Member of Congress who I knew fairly well – David Minge. I had met the student’s parents at another Parkwood Knolls event, so I knew they lived in the neighborhood.

David Minge served in Congress for 8 years. I was an ag lobbyist before I retired. Rep. Minge represented a very rural agricultural district in southwest Minnesota and he served on the Ag Committee. I got to know him quite well. But more importantly, I had a very high degree of respect for his sincerity and commitment to public service. There was no question that Rep. Minge was in Washington to serve the interests of his constituents and the nation.

He lost his re-election bid in 2000 by 155 votes. It was the final year of Bill Clinton’s Presidency and a tough year for Democrats. Minge knew he’d have a close race. It’s often the case that if Congress has not finished its business by October before an election, they’ll take a recess and come back after the election to finish up (in a Lame Duck session). Unfortunately for David Minge, Congress held votes all thru October, right up until a week before Election Day. I, for one, am convinced that if Minge had decided to skip votes and campaign in Minnesota, he would have gotten the votes he needed. But instead, he put the people’s business ahead of his political interest, stayed in Washington, and ultimately lost the election.

Unlike many defeated politicians, David Minge did not stay in Washington and join a lobbying firm. A year after he lost his election, then-Gov. Jesse Ventura appointed him to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. He retired from that position in 2012.

So with that little political side note, and my predisposed sympathy for band kids, I ordered a case of peaches from David Minge’s grandson. $30. The case had 45 peaches. They were big beautiful and lusciously ripe. We ate a lot of them just straight, and we gave some to each of our kids’ families.

Here’s what I cooked with the rest of them:

Grilled Scallops with Peaches, Corn and Tomatoes: I grilled the scallops and the peaches on a stove-top grill pan, not a charcoal grill. But it still turned out great. Here’s a photo =>

I made a Peach Vinaigrette. I had a recipe for a salad that called for it. But I can’t now find that recipe. But here’s the recipe for the vinaigrette. It was good, but not something I’d make regularly.

Ginger Peach Jam: This turned out really nicely. Definitely worth making again.

Sam Sifton’s Perfect Peach Pie from the New York Times. This was my first time making a peach pie; I usually make apple pie. I really liked how it turned out. But I substituted a butter crust from Land O’Lakes. This is my favorite pie crust, and I routinely use it instead of whatever other crust might be called for in a recipe.

Peach and Coconut Macaroon Cake: This has been in my recipe file for so long I almost forgot where I got it. But it’s from the Washington Post. I love this cake. But even more importantly, my wife loves it. I made it for her birthday cake in September.

Of course, all of this is sort of moot, since it’s long past the season when you can get fresh peaches in the market. Sorry. I think you could use frozen peaches for the cake and for the jam. Otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until next summer when peaches are available again.

By the way, here’s a picture of the peach pie:

Bogart’s Doughnuts trigger happy memories

I love doughnuts.

I have a particular happy memory about doughnuts. When I was in the University of Minnesota Marching Band (oh so many years ago) we had a couple of food rituals. One was apples. We always got apples in the stands after the halftime show. The other was doughnuts. After the game, we’d march back to Northrup Auditorium (the band office was in Northrup in those days) and there’d be boxes of doughnuts (and apple cider) for us in our main rehearsal room. (I think it was Room 5, if I remember correctly.)

I have no idea where the doughnuts came from. I particularly liked the cream-filled ones, either the vanilla cream or the chocolate cream. I didn’t particularly like the lemon filled doughnuts, which perhaps should be more properly called a Bismarck or Berliner. (Check the definitions from Serious Eats: Click here.)

Any of my old band mates who happen to read this post are welcome to fill in the blanks or correct my memories. But, I loved the marching band, and I loved the doughnuts after the game.

As much as I love doughnuts, I don’t eat them very often. I tried to make them several years ago; too much work. (Although, last year I found a recipe for Apple Butter Baked Doughnut Holes. They were fairly easy to make and turned out great. I served them for dessert after a Friday night dinner with our kids and grandkids. But a baked doughnut hole just isn’t the same thing as a crispy, hot fried doughnut.)

Earlier this year, I became aware of a neighborhood doughnut shop in South Minneapolis – Bogart’s Doughnut Co. “Hmmm,” I thought. “That would be a fun biking destination. It’s about a 7-mile ride. I could ride over, eat a doughnut and ride home.”

Well, you know how it is with good intentions. (The road to Hell is paved with them, they say.) So here it is October and while technically I probably could still be riding my bike, it’s starting to get cold (and dark) in the early morning when I ride. So, it’s probably not gonna happen.

But the other day, I happened to be in the neighborhood around mid-morning, and I just parked my car and bought a doughnut. They have a vanilla bean and butter cream filled doughnut made from brioche dough. I was tempted to see how it compared to my memory of the vanilla cream doughnuts from my marching band days. But instead, I opted for the Nutella filled doughnut (also made with brioche dough). It was great, and nothing like the chocolate cream filled doughnuts that I liked in my band days.

Bogart’s gets a lot of favorable press. They deserve it.

At long last! Tomatoes from my garden

I think it’s been about 25 years since I successfully grew tomatoes in my garden. I used to have great success with tomatoes as well as zucchini, snap peas, string beans, even one year Brussels sprouts. And roses, too. I grew beautiful roses.

That was in our first house in Minneapolis on Vincent Ave. I had a great garden then. I think that’s at least partially why my son has become an enthusiastic gardener. It reminds him of his childhood when he would go down to the garden and pick fresh vegetables. Now his kids do the same thing.

(A short anecdote: I also had a lot of success growing peppers, especially jalapenos. Our neighbor to the south was a very nice man, I suppose about the age of my parents. He was nice but a bit of a curmudgeon. In one of the houses abutting our backyard was a nice young family, just a little older than us. One of their kids was a bit of a rascal; nothing really bad, just noisy and rambunctious. One day the curmudgeon slyly picked a jalapeno and gave it to the rascal, innocently encouraging him to take a bite. Of course the boy went yowling home. Just a little bit of neighborly revenge in Linden Hills.)

We lived in that house for 10 years, but eventually outgrew it and moved to Edina. Our first house in Edina had a great yard. But for some reason, it was impossible to get a garden started. Nothing got well established. Not tomatoes, not roses, not even peppers. (In retrospect, I think I should have excavated a patch of grass and brought in some good garden soil. Instead, I tried to make due with what I had.)

After 9 years there, we moved again to another house in Edina, where I still live. This house has also has a great yard, but it’d heavily wooded. There’s so much shade that it’s been nearly impossible to grow vegetables. Year after year I’d buy a flat of tomato plants. Year after year, we’d harvest one or two tomatoes per plant. Sometimes we wouldn’t even get that much. My wife and I sadly lamented our $3 tomatoes. Finally I gave up.

I accepted the fact that I needed to treat my yard like a shade garden. So I put in a lot of hostas and other shade-loving perennials. In a very small plot that got a decent amount of direct sun, I planted various herbs and pepper plants. Peppers, by the way, have thrived in my garden. Especially jalapenos.

My son, as I’ve mentioned, is an avid gardener. He even starts his own tomatoes (and other plants) from seed in his basement while there’s still snow on the ground. This spring, he said that he had a few extra tomato plants and some Serrano peppers. He asked if I wanted some.

The peppers were easy. But I was reluctant to take the tomatoes. Even with free plants, did I want to risk the humiliation of a crop failure? I had a couple of trees removed and hoped that would increase the amount of light in my small patch. Against my better judgment, I agreed to take four plants.

Well hallelujah! I don’t know if it was getting rid of the trees or if the basement-started plants were more productive or if the weather this year was just right. But for whatever reason, I had decent tomatoes. All four plants grew and thrived and bore fruit – not just a few shrunken consolation prizes, but real, delectable, juicy ripe tomatoes. We’ve eaten them all either on their own or as part of salads. For my various recipes that call for fresh tomatoes (pizza, ratatouille, tomato jam, oven roasted tomatoes), I still used ones that I bought at the Minneapolis Farmers Market.

Now, as autumn makes its inexorable journey, I’m still harvesting ripe tomatoes from my plants. And most of the plants are heavy with green tomatoes. I’m planning to leave them on the vine until the threat of frost. Then I’ll harvest the green ones and hope that they ripen.

I hope that my son has a few extra plants again next spring.

Northern California lodging for any taste, any occasion

I had two trips to northern California this fall, one in October and one in November. On both trips, I had some business and on both trips, my wife and I spent some additional time on our own. I’ll be posting information on some of the great restaurants we ate at. But this post is about where we stayed, because we stayed at four very different styles of lodging.

Here’s the list. Read on for my review of each:

• Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay
• Inn at Occidental (CA)
• Vintner’s Inn, Santa Rosa
• Prescott Hotel, San Francisco

I was at the Ritz for a meeting. Half Moon Bay is a small, artsy, and intensely organic agricultural town. A long time ago (1975), when my wife and I lived in San Francisco for a year, we drove down to Half Moon Bay (about 45 minutes) not really knowing what it expect. It was late October, and we discovered that they have a pumpkin festival. Well since then, the Half Moon Bay pumpkin festival has become a BIG deal. The cars are backed up for miles making their way into the town. That got to be an issue one day when the group I was meeting with went to Palo Alto for the day for a seminar at Stanford University. Our trip back to the hotel was significantly delayed because of the traffic.

The word ‘pretentious’ has negative connotations. I don’t mean to be negative about the Ritz, but pretentious is the best word I can come up with. It is self-consciously elegant. The location is fabulous. It overlooks a beautiful stretch of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a short and easy walk down to the beach. The golf courses are supposed to be fabulous (I don’t golf). And it has a highly rated spa (I didn’t use any of the spa offerings). It was a great place to have a business meeting. The staff is very accommodating and friendly (in an unpretentious way). But it would not be the kind of place we’d pick for a vacation spot.

After our stay at the Ritz, we drove to Wine Country for a stay in a bed and breakfast in the little town of Occidental. We prefer bed and breakfast accommodations when visiting wine country. It doesn’t matter if the rooms are a little small. We don’t spend much time in the room anyway.

For this particular visit, we had a hard time finding a bed and breakfast in our usual haunts. We knew we wanted the Sonoma Valley. We checked Healdsburg and the town of Sonoma, but the places we’d stayed previously had no availability. We considered staying in Bodega Bay, which is on the coast west of the Sonoma Valley. But as I was looking at the map, I saw Occidental and was pleased to discover that it has a very highly rated B&B – the Inn at Occidental.

It was a great choice for our long weekend in Wine Country. The proprietors were friendly and gave some great suggestions on wineries to visit. The morning breakfasts were delicious. They have an evening wine reception. We like B&Bs that do that. We like meeting people and comparing notes on wineries to visit and things to see or do. One minor quibble – in some B&Bs they offer creative appetizers with the wine. At the Inn at Occidental they offer a plate of cheese and crackers, but nothing particularly creative.

Occidental is a small town. I mean really small. They do have a couple of restaurants in town, including a really wonderful one, Bistro Des Copains, which I will review in a later post. But if you’re looking for a town with lots of dining options, this isn't it. During our three-night stay, we ate once in town, once in Sebastopol (20 minute drive, including getting lost once), and once in Graton (10 minute drive).

One more thing – the Inn’s web site says it’s an hour drive from San Francisco. But driving up out of The City on a Friday afternoon, it was about 3 hours to Occidental.

When we came back to northern California in November, my meeting was being held at the Vintner’s Inn in Santa Rosa. This time the drive on a Wednesday afternoon from San Francisco was mercifully quick. Vintner’s Inn really is a wonderful place to stay. It has an excellent restaurant on the premises and good meeting facilities. But the accommodations are extra special. There are 44 rooms, located in three or four separate lodges. The whole resort sits within a working vineyard, and guests can walk through the vineyard and see some of the work being done.

The rooms themselves are very spacious and nicely decorated. Each room either has a little private patio or a balcony. Ours overlooked the vineyard. When we checked in, there was a small bottle of the wine made from the Inn’s grapes. We uncorked it and sat on our patio and watched the sun set. Wow.

As I mentioned, the resort has an excellent restaurant on premises. But there’s nothing else nearby. So guests would have to drive to Santa Rosa or Healdsburg or Sebastopol (or any of a number of nearby towns) for other dining options.

After our wonderful stay at the Vintner’s Inn, we finished our northern California sojourns in San Francisco. There are two small chains of boutique hotels that we like to stay in when we’re in The City. This time we stayed at the Prescott Hotel, which is a Kimpton Hotel. The Kimpton business model is to take older hotels, renovate them and run them as boutique hotels. We have always found them to be friendly and fun, though often the rooms can be small and/or quirky.

We liked the Prescott very much. The location is ideal, just two blocks to Union Square. We had countless restaurant options all within walking distance. Like all Kimptons, it has an evening wine reception. Several years ago at another Kimpton in San Francisco (the Serrano), we met a young Irish couple and struck up a friendship. My wife still exchanges e-mails with the young woman.

There are a couple of other Kimptons in San Francisco that I like better than the Prescott. But we had a great time.

Of these four lodgings in northern California, my wife’s favorite was definitely the Vintner’s Inn. For me, I think I liked the Inn at Occidental the best. We definitely would look for a Kimpton hotel for our next stay in San Francisco. And we’re not likely to stay at the Ritz Carlson in Half Moon Bay in the future.

Krik picks from the 101 ‘best’ restaurants

I came across a blog post for The Daily Meal’s list of the 101 best restaurants in America. I couldn’t help looking at the list and checking how many I’d eaten at and how many I’ve reviewed on Krik’s Picks.

Turns out not a lot. There are only two, actually, that I’ve posted on this blog. No. 65 on the Daily Meal’s list is minibar in DC. I went there in early 2010. I might argue that it should be higher on the list, but I certainly agree that it belongs there. The second restaurant on the list that I’ve reviewed on Krik’s Picks is Bouchon in the Napa Valley, CA.

Then, there a couple of close calls. The Daily Meal’s list has Frontera Grill in Chicago. I don’t have a review of Frontera, but I do have a review of Topolobompo, which is Rick Bayless’s sister restaurant to Frontera. In fact, I kind of had the impression that Topo is supposed to be superior to Frontera. But I can’t say from experience. Then the list has Jaleo in Las Vega. I’ve reviewed Jaleo in Washington, DC. I can’t imagine that Chef Jose Andres would do things dramatically different in Las Vegas compared to DC. But again, I can’t say from experience.

Then finally, there are two restaurants on The Daily Meal’s list that I’ve eaten at but never reviewed on my blog. In both cases, I wasn’t writing this blog when I at there. Since I started Krik’s Picks in August 2006, that tells you how long ago I’ve eaten at these two. The first was Le Bec-Fin in Philadelphia. At the time, it was the most expensive meal I’d ever ordered. Truth is, I had a bet with my former boss (now retired) whose home was in Philadelphia. I don’t even remember what the bet was for. But I was supposed to buy him the prix fixe dinner at Le Bec-Fin. It was an amazing meal. The second restaurant on the list that I haven’t reviewed on my blog is Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. The sad postscript for me is that I haven’t been to New Orleans since the hurricane. Time to go again, I say.

So it was kind of fun to go thru the list and reminisce about these fabulous restaurants and regret that I haven’t been to more of them. But I also have to question the selection criteria. I mean, after all, not a single Minnesota restaurant on the list? When earlier this week, so many Minnesota restaurants received nominations in one category or another for James Beard Foundation awards? Seems like at least one of them belongs on the list.

I also have to quibble about some of the choices. So I concede that I haven’t been to Ben’s Chili Bowl in DC, No. 83 on The Daily Meal’s list. But I’ve read enough about it to make me wonder, if President Obama didn’t eat there, would it really be rated that high? Hey Mr. President! Come to Minnesota. I’ll take you to Al’s Breakfast or Good Day Café. If you like diner food, either one of them I’m sure matches the quality and ambiance of Ben’s. I bet you’d even find a lot of people there who plan to vote for you.

Hooray for soup!

There’s a poster at work (Land O’Lakes) that says January is National Soup Month. OK, so the weather this winter is unusually warm. But soup is still a good idea.

In the past I’ve posted two recipes for soup. So in honor of National Soup Month, I’m offering them up again for you to try.

The first one goes back to the year I started Krik’s Picks – 2006. I wrote a post about my parents’ garden and the luscious tomatoes they grow and then can for enjoying year ‘round. Then I posted my wife’s favorite recipe for homemade tomato soup. Click here to read it.

I posted the next recipe in 2009. I wrote about how my kids used to like having fresh soup and homemade bread on Sunday mornings when they were growing up. Their favorite was a cream of spinach soup. Click here to read it.

That cream of spinach soup was a Land O’Lakes recipe. I can’t find it on the web site, but they do have several good soup recipes there. Check them out.

Stay warm.

Let’s do something about food waste

Most of my Kriks Picks posts are not particularly time sensitive. Really the only posts that are time sensitive are ones about restaurants that have since closed.

But this one is about a fairly immediate topic.

On Jan. 14 and again on Jan. 15, the Food Network is airing a special called The Big Waste. (Click here for details.) It’s about how much food gets wasted in America. I caught most of the special when it aired earlier this week. It’s both fascinating and appalling.

The set-up  for the show was interesting. Four chefs compete to prepare a banquet using food that is going to be thrown away. For the most part, the food that they find is perfectly good food that is either unsalable or otherwise rejected because of minor imperfections or excessive variation in size or quality. (Examples: We see a butcher who is going to toss the odd-sized ends of beef short ribs after trimming them all to a uniform size. We see a farmer with a field of pick-your-own sweet corn who can’t sell it because a wind storm knocked down the stalks and now people won’t buy it.) As part of the set-up, a food safety inspector checks it all out and except for one item, approves the whole salvaged banquet as safe.

I’ve had some exposure to the issue of food waste. Anyone who’s worked on the hunger issue quickly becomes aware of how extensive food waste is in America. This show illustrates the problems that make food unsalable. But there’s also a lot of consumer waste – people who toss leftovers, or who buy more than they can eat before it goes bad, or who toss perfectly good food because they don’t have a realistic understanding of how long it can keep.

The show initiates the first step toward finding solutions by educating people about the problem. But that’s where it stops. It doesn’t do much to find ways to change behaviors.

After the show, I did some online investigation, and I discovered a blog called Wasted Food. It’s by an author who wrote a book called American Wasteland. I haven’t read the book yet, but I’m planning to download it to my new iPad.

The blog does include facts about food waste. It provides tips for consumers on how they can reduce waste. And it stimulates discussion of what can be done about food waste.

Please watch the show and think about what you can do to stop wasting food.

Apple picking at the Farm … and applesauce

When I first launched this blog, one of my first posts was about my parents’ garden. That particular post was about their tomatoes. I said that I’d write later about their apples. So now, five years later, here it is.

Mom & Dad have a lot of apple trees on their farm. They always have a lot to harvest. My brothers and my sister always plan trips to the farm in September to help pick apples. We went last Sunday.

Actually, my son and his daughter went on Friday. (She’s five years old. I started Krik’s Picks when she was born. She’s my oldest grandchild.) My wife and daughter-in-law came on Sunday with the two grandsons.

We picked a lot of apples. They have several different varieties, and we didn’t even take some of each. We mostly took Regent, Prairie Spy, Red Delicious, and a few of a yellow apple variety that dad couldn’t remember the name.

On the counters in our kitchen, we now have eight bags of apples. We’ll give some as gifts. I’ll make several batches of applesauce (and freeze them). I’ll also make some apple crisp and if I’m ambitious, a couple apple pies. (My daughter-in-law taught me a technique for making pie crust in the food processor. It works, but I’m still intimidated.) And we’ll be eating a lot of fresh apples for several weeks. (Picked fresh from the farm, they keep very well.)

Pictured in the pot on my stove, I have my first batch of applesauce. I’ll serve it with our dinner on Wednesday night. I cut up about half a bag of the Prairie Spy variety. Dad warned me that they’re not an ideal cooking apple. He was right. After about 45 minutes of cooking, they still were not breaking down to a saucy consistency. I like applesauce with some apple chunks in it. But this was too much. So I facilitated the process by using a potato masher. Still pretty chunky, but it did the job.

I don’t use a recipe to make applesauce. I just peel and cut a bunch of apples into chunks and put them in a Dutch oven. When the pot is about three-fourths full, I add a cup of sugar and some cinnamon (one tablespoon, or or less, depending on how you like it). Then I add water about halfway up the pot. The more water you use, the longer it takes for the apples to cook down. But the longer they cook, the more the apples break down into a saucy consistency. I don’t recommend adding too much sugar. The tartness of fresh apples is good, and if you like it sweeter, you can always add a dollop of ice cream. (Vanilla is good, but if you can get cinnamon ice cream, that’s the best.)

Bahamian Beer: Sands or Kalik?

I spent two nights in the Bahamas last week. Believe it or not, it was a business trip. Why I only spent two nights is a long story. But the consequence was, I don’t have anything to post on Krik’s Picks about Bahamian food. All of the meals I had during my stay were buffets for the large group I was with. The food was good, but certainly not a memorable dining experience.

But I can comment on Bahamian beer. They served Sands beer during the receptions and dinners at the meeting I attended. I thought it was pretty good, and it went well with the food on the buffet.

I also had a Kalik Gold beer at the airport while waiting for the plane to board. I liked the Kalik better than the Sands. It had more body and was more like an amber, which I tend to prefer.

The label on the Kalik was kind of intriguing. (You probably have to click on the photo and enlarge it to see what I’m referring to.) It has a picture of a very colorful Caribbean costume and it says “Junkanoo 2010” on the bottom. I didn’t know what Junkanoo was. The co-workers I was with speculated that maybe it was a kind of carnival celebration, like Mardi Gras.

While I was researching this blog post, I learned that ‘Kalik’ beer got its name from the clanging of the cowbells that are rung during Junkanoo. Junkanoo (I learned from Wikipedia) is observed with costume parades around Christmas and New Years. It has its origins as a slave festival that celebrates freedom from slavery.

Freedom from slavery – that’s a sentiment that I’ll drink to.

All the Milk You Can Drink for $1

I volunteered at the All the Milk You Can Drink booth at the Minnesota State Fair on Monday, Aug. 30. It’s something I’ve thought about doing for a few years now. Though I used to attend the state fair regularly, I hadn’t been for about 10 years. This seemed like a good excuse to go to the state fair while also helping out the dairy industry.

The milk booth is a project of the Midwest Dairy Association. The University of Minnesota Ag Education Club organized the volunteers. In the weeks leading up to the fair, when I would mention that I was volunteering in the milk booth, I was surprised by how many people commented that it  was one of their favorite parts of the fair. It also gets mentioned frequently as one of the best bargains at the fair.

When I arrived for my shift, the morning volunteers got our orientation. As you might expect, hygiene and sanitation is a major consideration. The supervisor went through the rules – each customer pays $1 for their first glass of milk. They can have as many refills as they want. But they can’t share the glass with others, and they can’t come back later for more refills. Make sure you make the correct change. Watch out for scammers – they give you a $10 and when you give them their change, they claim they gave you a $20. (We were told to keep the original payment on the counter until we’ve given the customer his change.) We could accept anything up to $20. If someone wanted to pay with a $50 or $100, we had to call a supervisor.

I did get one guy who said the only bill he had was $100. He stood there and drank three glasses of milk (two white, one chocolate) while the shift supervisor looked over the bill to make sure it was legit. Then he got $99 change and went on to the rest of the fair.

One kid who bought a glass of chocolate milk from me had what looked like a Mohawk haircut that was growing back out. So it was pretty distinctive. When he came back for a second glass, he said “That wasn’t me who was up here a few minutes ago.” “Yes it was,” I said. “I recognize your haircut.” When he came back for his next glass, I said to him, “Your brother was here just a minute ago. He looks just like you.” The kid said, “No, that was me.” When he came back for a fourth glass I said, “Wow. Four glasses. You must be pretty thirsty.” “No,” he said. “We have eight in our family, but my dad said he doesn’t want a glass.” Oh. That was the last glass he got from me.

I had several people ask for half white and half chocolate. So I started asking which they wanted me to pour first. One kid said it didn’t matter, so I said, “How do you know? For this glass, I’ll put in white first and then chocolate. For your next glass, I’ll put in the chocolate first. Then you can tell me which is better.” Sure enough, when he came back for his second glass, he reminded me to put in the chocolate first.

Sometimes, a customer would ask for one white and one chocolate. “Which do you want first,” I’d ask. Most just acted confused by the question. But one kid was very definite - “Chocolate first.” I poured the chocolate and asked, “Whose is this?” “Mine,” he said. I poured the white. “Whose is this,” I asked. “His,” the kid said, nodding toward his dad. Then he put $2 on the counter. “You’re paying?” I asked. “Yup,” said the kid. “Cool,” I replied.

With breaks and everything, I worked for only about 2 1/2 hours. I sold 166 cups. But I couldn’t keep track of how many refills. The most refills I counted was four (not counting the kid who was actually sharing his milk with his family).

Breakfast bakery: Local independent vs. Local supermarket

One of my co-workers celebrated his birthday today (63). To celebrate, he brought in some bakery items from Hi-Quality Bakery in Cannon Falls. It’s a nice local independent bakery.

Unbeknownst to Dave, someone else in the department also brought bakery in honor of his birthday. Hers came from Byerly’s, a nice local supermarket.

With the unexpected bounty of bakery goods, we joked that one of the boxes was for President Obama who also celebrated his birthday today. Sadly, he spent the day in Chicago and didn’t stop by to claim his donut.

So we took an informal poll – which is better? Local independent bakery or local supermarket bakery?

Here are a few of the votes:

“I vote the (Hi-Quality) bakery. Donuts get hard really quickly, but the bakery donuts were still very soft and fresh. Yum!”

“I tried to pick similar donuts and the Hi-Quality Bakery was too greasy and sugary. Byerly's was a
smoother texture (popover egg consistency) and frosting was creamy. My vote is for Byerly's.”

“Hi-Quality - A+ on appearance for Byerly's, but overall better taste for HQ!”

“The almond pastry I ate from Byerly's was heavenly - I vote Bylery's!”

Well, I also had the almond pastry from Byerly’s. It was good, but too dry. Dave’s solution was to put butter on. I agree. Butter would make it better. But the ‘caramelized croissant’ from Hi-Quality was to die for. Later in the day, I had a sugar donut from Byerly’s. It was very good.

I’ll give the last word to Dave. He favors Hi-Quality. (Duh. That’s what he brought.) He believes HQ gets the edge on freshness. As a small independent, everything is baked fresh overnight so when you arrive in the morning, it’s as fresh as you can get.

Oops! What happened to April?

Whew. Six weeks since my last post. You might think, 'Well, nothing much happened.' But you'd be wrong.

Actually, April was very busy with lots of travel, both for work and for fun. And we went to lots of really good restaurants. And I was able to keep my Yelp reviews pretty much up to date. I just neglected to update Kriks Picks. So here goes.

Next up ... a really great visit to Cafe Atlantico in Washington, DC.

Recipe: Godfather (cocktail)

This isn't just a recipe. It's also a gadget review.

I got my wife an ice crusher. She wanted one so that we could have crushed ice with cocktails. In the past, we would wrap a couple of ice cubes in a towel and use a hammer to crush them. Not too cool.

I looked around and checked online reviews of different styles. It came down to either an expensive electric one or an inexpensive hand crank crusher. The thing that finally sold me was a user review for the hand crank crusher. She said that it was perfect for crushing just a couple of ice cubes for cocktails. It seemed like most of the electric ones were really for crushing lots of ice at a time, like maybe for a party. So I decided to get a Metrokane Retro Ice Crusher. (It's made from stainless steel and is so reflective, you can't hardly see it in the photo. It's to the left of the martini glass.)

We got the cocktail recipe from West End Crave in St. Louis Park. You can read my review of the restaurant on my new Yelp page. My wife got the recipe, and it's the first thing we made with our new ice crusher. It's good. Try it.

2 oz. scotch whisky

1 oz. amaretto

Pour the scotch and amaretto over cracked ice. (The bartender suggested a low-ball glass, but as you can see, we prefer martini glasses.) Stir and enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Trick or Treat! Hooray for Pearsons

My granddaughter always thinks I'm joking when I say that I don't like chocolate.

“Poppy,” she says with an exasperated tone. “Just try it.”

Of course, I'm exaggerating a little bit for effect. But the fact is that when it comes to preferred sources of empty calories, chocolate falls pretty far down on my list.

That's kind of a roundabout way of explaining why Pearson's Salted Nut Rolls are my favorite candy bar – no chocolate. And that brings me to the real point of this post: Pearson's Candy was founded in St. Paul, MN in 1909, and they are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. (Click here to see their web site. Lotsa interesting history about the company.)

So happy anniversary to Pearson's, a food company neighbor to Land O'Lakes. I wonder if eating Salted Nut Rolls counts as eating local?

By the way, even though chocolate isn't my favorite, I do like fudge. And I also like Pearson's Nut Goodie Bars.

Hennessy House B&B, Napa, CA

Guest post by Lisa Novacek Hertel

On a recent vacation, our family stayed at the Hennessy House B&B in Napa, Calif. The experience merits mention given the consistent quality of comfort, hospitality, and yummy provisions we enjoyed.

Heath, Lil (our 4-year old) and I arrived early enough on a Thursday afternoon to participate in the complimentary wine and cheese tasting provided to all guests each day. The selection hit the spot, with an array of hearty cheddars and white cheeses to soothe the appetite, fruit to complement the cheeses and satisfy Lillian, and a mix of local wines to sip and savor. We especially enjoyed a Cabernet Sauvignon from a familiar name but one we had not previously associated with wine production -- the Francis Ford Coppola collection. We were very pleased with our discovery (and you can learn more at http://www.franciscoppolawinery.com/).

The Hennessy House afternoon taste fest managed to tide us over very well until dinner. The B&B is well placed in the heart of Napa with several fine dining establishments within walking distance. We chose an Italian restaurant, Uva Trattoria Italiana (http://www.uvatrattoria.com/), which had an inviting menu and something for everyone. Naturally, Lil wanted cheese pizza, but it was such a delight, her parents helped her devour it! Heath ordered the Fettuccine Pollo with mushroom-cream sauce, and I settled for the simple Penne Pesto. Both of us were pleased with our choices as well. A very satisfying meal from start to finish.

Now, back to the Hennessy House. Returning to our room, we found that staff at the Hennessy House had helped to ensure a comfortable evening with in-room services of sweet sherry and gourmet chocolates, movies to delight younger guests, and at least five pillows per occupant! We appreciated the cozy end to a travel-heavy day.

The next morning, we made our way to the dining room while taking in the lucious smell of breakfast cooking and baking. Freshly squeezed orange juice, hot coffee and a tea lover's paradise of flavors welcomed us as we took our seats. Soon, staff entered and placed full sundae dishes of fresh fruit on our china plates. This was act one of a three-part production, which segued into a delicious slice of cranberry bread pudding accompanied by sizzling bacon. While we may have been content to stop at this point, we managed to find room for the third and final offering, fresh-from-the-oven, homemade muffins. Lil and I chose sour cream raisin, while Heath enjoyed a parmesan cheese muffin. These delights were served with butter and divinely melted in our mouths.

The Hennessy House staff members were as attentive and gracious as we completed our stay as they were at the beginning. We were given extra muffins for the road and bottles of water to keep us hydrated. Directions were shared to a local park that is a favorite of the owner's children. And no goodbye could be complete without a few photos for the scrapbook, which the innkeeper personally took for us.

We left the Hennessy House with a very positive impression, and we know we'll be back.

Guest Post: Paris chocolate shops

By Vicki Hicks

(Krik's Note: You've seen my friend Vicki Hicks in a previous post. She jets off regularly to Paris and then regales me with tales of her culinary ventures. After our dinner at Founding Fathers earlier this year, I asked her to write a guest post about her visits to Paris chocolate shops. Read on ...)


During my most recent trip to Paris in February I was only on the ground for four days. I have visited Paris many times and have hit most of the tourist highlights and a few obscure places as well. What to do with such little time? We decided to take a tour of some of the best chocolate shops Paris has to offer. To begin our search for the ultimate in chocolate decadence, we referred to an article in last December's New York Times. While we did not visit each of the shops mentioned in the Times, we did manage to identify two standouts from our tour.

It just happened that our chocolate tour was conducted on Valentine's Day. Our first stop was Patrick Roger's shop on Avenue Victor Hugo, not far from where I was staying with a friend who was living in Paris on assignment. I had visited Patrick's former location on St. Germain, so I knew we were in for a treat. Squares of chocolate ganache mixed with hazelnut were my favorite, and the chocolate covered orange peels my least. From there, we headed over to the area around the Luxembourg Gardens, to a chocolate shop I had visited before and is famous for its macaroons. I can't remember the name of the shop but it is just down the street from a candle store that has been around for centuries. We purchased several types of macaroons each, including pistachio, milk chocolate and dark chocolate.

From there we walked to Christian Constant, another chocolatier. After peering through the window we decided not to enter. Most of the chocolates were infused with a variety of spices and flowery flavors. We were looking to mainline chocolate and did not need any interference. As it turned out, our next stop was nirvana.

Upon reaching Pierre Hermé’s shop at 72, rue Bonaparte, we discovered we were not alone in our quest for the best chocolate in Paris. The line to enter the tiny shop was out the door and down the street to the corner. My friend pronounced that no chocolate was worth standing in line for and I said that a line that long indicated we had found the best chocolate in Paris. After about 20 minutes or so, we entered a shop that was filled with the most incredible chocolate desserts and macaroons I have ever consumed. We ended up buying one dessert that was a mound of chocolate mousse and ganache, with crunchy caramel - just as described in the Times. We also bought a dessert that was several layers of different types of chocolate, with a couple of layers of crunchy hazelnut. And, most importantly, we found the best macaroons I have ever tasted - filled with Pierre Herme's delicious chocolate. I sampled Mexican and Venezuelan chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, hazelnut and pistachio. Inserted in the box of macaroons was a full color booklet to identify the chocolates and macaroons.

Three days later, it was departure day. I decided I simply had to bring a box of Pierre Herme's macaroons back to DC with me. That morning we hopped on the Metro to make the trek across the city to Pierre Herme's. Not surprisingly, at 10:30 in the morning, a line was out the door and down the street. Upon entering the store, I quickly bought a small box of macaroons and ran back to the apartment to gather my bags and leave for the airport. Since I do not know when I will be in Paris next, I rationed the macaroons and allowed myself to have one a day for the next week. Yes, the delicate cookies had lost some of their freshness, however the chocolate was as luscious and creamy as when they were fresh.

For information on these two chocolate shops, along with several others, I refer you to the New York Times article:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/travel/14journeys.html, and for a map showing the location of the chocolate shops:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/12/14/travel/20081214_PARIS_CHOCOLATE.html

Island Lake family gathering (Duluth)

My sister-in-law and her husband have a lake cabin north of Duluth. It happens to be the cabin that their family had when they were growing up. Every summer, we have a big extended family get-together at the cabin. That started this weekend.

Food becomes a big part of the celebration. Nothing fancy, you understand. Actually, this is one of those occasions when the meals get judged on quantity, not necessarily quality. One year, when I burned the chicken almost beyond recognition, the meal was still a success because everyone got enough to eat.

Krik’s Picks gets mentioned from time to time. It’s usually in the context of, “Steve, you should write about this in your blog.” That happened on Saturday night. Blake (Linda’s brother) grilled burgers and Cindy (Blake’s wife) made a pasta salad. It was great! By the time the meal was over, people were complimenting the salad and someone said, “Steve, you should write about this on your blog.”

As luck would have it, I had my camera. So Cindy and Marcy (Cindy’s sister) picked up the nearly empty bowl of salad, and I shot a pic. Above is the recipe.

Check out the Strib's new food blog

I like how the Minneapolis Star Tribune is using social media to complement and supplement its treeware version. I became a fan of Taste on Facebook. Now they've started a food blog. So I'm including it in my blog roll on the left. Check it out.

Check out a new blog I've found

I added a new blog to my Blog list. It's called matzo&rice. I found it pretty much by accident. I was playing around with Wordpress (another blog publishing site) and saw it listed there. When I checked it out, I kinda liked it.

To be honest, I've been feeling bad that I haven't been including many recipes in Krik's Picks. matzo&rice seems to be mostly recipes and homecooking food experiences. So I thought I'd add it as a vicarious source of that kind of content.

Anyway, check it out.