Minneapolis Taste Buds

My friend is finishing up her first year of law school and is in the midst of finals. I'm having her over for Sunday brunch to give her a break from studying and to feed her some fresh Springy food. What's on tap? Well, probably not alcohol for her, but I suppose I could have meself a mimosa . . . Scrambled Eggs with Chives from my garden Rosemary Potatoes with rosemary from my garden that I froze last year Spinach Salad with Strawberries & Blue Cheese English Muffins with Orange Marmalade Unless Sister Beth is willing to hand over her fabulous whole wheat and honey bread recipe she made for us on Sunday with her amazing Lamb dinner - Note to Beth: Why aren't you blogging about that dinner? It was amazing! I just tried calling her on my new Bluetooth thingy, which I'm embarassed to say I had to have hubby physically put on my ear because I cannot seem to follow the visual instructions that came with it. Cripes.

Recently my dad told me about a documentary he saw on PBS about non-runners training for a marathon. It's called the NOVA Marathon Challenge & you can watch it online here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/marathon/program.html

The Get in Gear was a very fun, yet blustery race this year. The results are in , photos are coming soon - Hubby and I both clocked our best times ever despite having to wear 13 layers to stay warm. He ran a 7:14 and I ran a 9:02, which for me is incredibly fast. We added some distance to our run by sprinting to the car to get out of the wind after the race. I'm heading out now for my lunchtime 60-minute training run. Are we skipping Spring this year? I hope the sun comes back very soon.

The Get in Gear 10K is this Saturday at Minnehaha Park. We're looking forward to running this race for the second year in a row, but the weather looks less than Springy. When I picked up my race packet at lunch today, one one of the other Sea Salt customers told me there could be snow on the ground! Guess we'll bundle up for one more run this year. It will be a great race no matter the weather though as it runs north along the river on West River Parkway and south on East River Blvd. A very pretty course.

Anonymous recently asked for the Boeuf Bourguignon recipe from the Crock-Pot recipe book. This is a family favorite. Enjoy! Boef Bourguignon Recipe 6 strips bacon cut in 1/2" pieces 3 lbs beef rump or chuck, cut in 1.5" cubes 1 large carrot peeled and sliced 1 medium onion, sliced 3 T flour 1 10 oz can condensed beef broth 1 T tomato paste 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp whole thyme 1 bay leaf 1/2 lb. white pearl onions, peeled 1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced 1/2 c. Burgundy wine Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove & drain. Add beef cubes & brown well. Place browned beef cubes in Crock-Pot. Brown carrot & onion. Season with 1.5 tsp salt & 1/8 tsp pepper, stir in flour. Add broth, mix well & add to Crock-Pot. Add cooked bacon, thyme, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and onions. Cover & cook on Low 8-10 hours. Saute mushrooms in 2 T butter and add to Crock-Pot with wine about 1 hour before serving. To Thicken Gravy: Turn Crock-Pot to High. Cream 1