Girl Friday

Girl Friday's 2009 in Review

My babies. I know I slacked off a little towards the end of the year. I know Girl Friday hasn't been jammin' like it has in the past. But I've been busy; I've been busy trying to wrap up a cookbook for publication by spring 2010. I've been busy finding the right investor for my business partner and me in our next venture, which will be food-related. Details to come on that, but for now it's tucked pretty tightly under our hats.

Since it was a sorta quiet year for blogging for me -- unless you follow me on Twitter, then I'm sure there were days when you wish I'd just shut the f**k up -- and since I've run out of time to compile a lengthy end-of-year post encompassing the works and highlights of all my fellow bloggers, writers and otherwise creative artists, I'll just post some pivotal Girl Friday moments from 2009.

January: I lost two pets. Coco and Steve, the most awesome goldfish in the world, may you rest in peace.

February: I finally hit the big time. In North Branch. I was profiled on the front page (above the fold!) of my hometown paper.

March: Fugaise, the best restaurant in Minneapolis, closed, but at least I got in for one last meal. (And someone else picked up the tab.)

April: Johnny Michaels and I threw a fundraiser for the animals and raised $1,178.00 for Home for Life. We've since had trouble securing a liquor sponsor for future events, but we definitely still want to turn this into a regular, roving event.

May: Star. Trek. 

June: Gabby's Saloon and Eatery fought the law... and Gabby's won! Score one for the businesses of Northeast Minneapolis.

July: I became a Nintendo brand enthusiast -- yes, we all hate the term and, no, I've never once been under obligation to blog, Tweet or Facebook about it -- and I'm glad I did. They send me free stuff all the time, including over $50.00 worth of LORAC makeup.

August: I joined forces with two other lovers of Tego Calderón to create the crusade to bring Tego to Minneapolis. He will come, because we will bring him here.

September: I got a new tattoo! It's a kitty.

October: October sucked. Let's talk about something else.

November: I participated in Erik Janzen's "Stories from Exile" short film series, and it was a hit. Erik's just been invited to screen the series at the University of Minnesota Duluth where he will speak on a GLBT panel, and Erik is also planning to take the films on a Midwest tour.

December: I was reminded just how much fun being a freelance writer can be.

Have a great night tonight, everyone! And a wonderful new year! 2009 sucked for a lot of us for a million different reasons, but 2010 looks pretty promising already.

Reader Mailbag: What's Open on Christmas

Merry Christmas! I was wondering if you could do a piece on restaurants or buffets for us non-cooking people for Christmas day. I figured if anyone would know of a few it would be you!

Feliz Navidad! OpenTable.com is my go-to website for what's open on Christmas Eve and Day. Just type in your preferred neighborhood, party number and what time you want to eat and there you go.

For example, here's what's available in the metro at 7:00pm on Christmas Day for 2 people.

If you want Chinese, TCJewFolk.com lists 6 Chinese restaurants that are open Christmas Day. Just beware of a few other links listed on that page. TwinCitiesDiningGuide.com has a tendency to have outdated listings (i.e. closed restaurants) and the StarTribune.com and Chow.com links are both from last year, so they may not be applicable this year.

***

I'm stranded at home for Christmas, with plans to drive up and see my family on Saturday or Sunday instead. I was going to hoof it to the store for cookie-baking supplies and Strongbro but I'm looking outside and starting to second-guess the ability of my winter boots to get the job done. Does anyone have any snowshoes I can borrow?

Saturday morning, my homegirl Janelle and I are going to get up a little early and hit some after-Christmas sales at Eden Prairie Center and Mall of America.

Who else is stranded due to inclement weather?

Holiday Drinks

This is one of my personal favorites. Check out this week's issue of Vita.mn for Holiday Drinks: Making Spirits Bright. I rounded up 5 specialty cocktails of the season from local establishments and charmed the bartenders into sharing their recipes so we can make them all at home.

Would you use wifi at McDonald's? Something about the ambiance, the smell and the fact that it's the genocide-committing, Earth-destroying McDonald's would really deter me from plopping down with my laptop.

Gridskipper's Foodie's Guide to Minneapolis. I'm the second "guest" commenter because of course I couldn't resist setting them straight.

Alie's cat needs our help. Agent has a necessary surgery coming up and Alie is looking for any donation you can spare to help offset the vet expenses, which will wipe out her savings. 

Sorry for the fly-by blog post but I'm having quite a week over here, and not in a good way. I'm on day 3 of no heat or hot water due to a boiler replacement gone horribly wrong. The gas company is here right now repairing a broken line, so hopefully these radiators will be back in business by the end of the night. Thanks to my friends who have offered up their showers, laundry facilities and beds. And have tolerated my increasing crabbiness.

You are All Getting This for Christmas

Hot Guys and Baby Animals 2010 Calendar

Many animals in the calendar are rescues and most are still looking for homes. A portion of the proceeds go to Bunny World Foundation, PAL Rescue, Karma Rescue and Adopt-A-Chow.

Local shelters, why can't we do something like this here? I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'd happily strip down for a pumas and big cats calendar.

Friday Night Rollerdisco!

Whoops, I guess it was a little quiet this week at GF HQ. Here's a quick reminder about the vita.mn event tomorrow (Friday) night at the Roller Garden in St. Louis Park:

Snowball: An Old School Funk and Rollerdisco!

Vita.mn and Ragstock present the second annual Snowball: An Old School Funk and Rollerdisco. It’s hosted by Alexis on the Sexes and the North Star Roller Girls, starting at 9 p.m. and running through midnight at the Roller Garden in St. Louis Park.

Ragstock will be on-site for all to purchase holiday gear. $7 to get in and on skates, and includes dessert treats courtesy of Red Stag Supper Club. The first 70 in the door will receive the brand new Alexis t-shirt from Vita.mn. Oh, and best dressed will win a prize package from Roller Garden including brand new roller skates.

The Roller Garden is a dry venue, so plan accordingly.

The free tee shirt is hot. It doesn't look like this, though. It's much cuter.

Weekend Hodge Podge: Local Gifts, Fancy Jewelry and Cheap Drinks

The Sequin and Badgely Mischka Sample Sale is going on today through Saturday:

What: Jewelry will be 50-80% off retail prices. (Retail prices range from $40-500.) Great for holiday parties and holiday gifts. Cash accepted.
Where: International Market Square, Suite 436
When: Today December 3rd, 11:00am-7:00pm
Friday December 4th, 11:00am-7:00pm
Saturday, December 5th 10:00am-3:00pm

The fourth annual No-Coast Craft-O-Rama happens tomorrow through Saturday at Midtown Global Market:

What: The No Coast Craft-o-rama (NCCOR) is a craft event that began in December 2005 as a way to feature a variety of designers, artists, crafters and other talented creators of unique handmade goods.
Where: Midtown Global Market. I already said that.
When: Friday December 4th, 3:00pm-8:00pm
Saturday December 5th, 9:00am-5:00pm

Also starting tomorrow and also featuring local artists is Three-Day Local Artist Gift Mart:

What: More than 20 local artisans will display their one-of-a-kind jewelry, personal and home accessories, tee shirts, artis books, toys, letterpress cards and more. All members save 20% on their purchases.
Where: The Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave
When: Friday December 4th, noon-4:00pm
Saturday December 5th, noon-4:00pm
Sunday December 6th, noon-4:00pm

Toys in the Attic happens tomorrow night at Soo-VAC, featuring toy-inspired art for sale from local and national artists. Guests are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots (no military toys, please). Suggested donation at the door is $1-5, with all door proceeds and 25% of the evening's sales going to Toys for Tots.

What: Toys in the Attic exhibition benefiting Toys for Tots, featuring toy-inspired art in the form of limited edition signed poster prints and custom one-of-a-kind toys.
Where: Soo Visual Arts Center, 2640 Lyndale Ave S
When: Friday December 4th, 6:00pm-9:00pm (silent auction ends at 8:30pm)

Thom Pham has remodeled and renamed his Anemoni Sushi Bar, now it's A25 Anemoni Sushi + Sake Bar. This weekend is the official grand opening to show off the new space, which is now equipped with a full bar, more sake selections than ever before and a list of specialty cocktails from Brad Smith. A25 retains its huge sushi menu but has added an array of traditional hot and cold Japanese dishes. I've spent a lot of time in the new A25 space the past couple of weeks and I find it to be really warm and cozy, despite Thom's intent of recreating a Tokyo streets and subways feel. The closed-circuit TV over the sushi bar that shows you what's going on at Azia's front bar is a nice touch.

What: Grand opening weekend, featuring non-stop happy hour for the next three days. Half-price sake and select bottles of wine, discounted specialty drinks and appetizers.
Where: A25 Anemoni Sushi + Sake Bar (at Azia Restaurant), 2550 Nicollet Ave
When: Friday December 4th, 4:00pm-2:00am
Saturday December 5th, 4:00pm-2:00am
Sunday December 6th, 4:00pm-2:00am

Finally, happy birthday to The Herkimer! The Uptown brewpub celebrates its 10th anniversary this Saturday (I feel old) with $1.00 beers all day. Congratulations to proprietor Blake Richardson and all his amazing staff for defining restaurant longevity.

What: Celebrating 10 years in business with $1.00 beers from open to close, free birthday cake, trivia with prizes all day long and DJ Double Trouble from 10:00pm-close.
Where: The Herkimer, 2922 Lyndale Ave S
When: Saturday December 5th, 11:00am-2:00am

Il Gatto Now Open

If you're looking for the website for Il Gatto, the new Parasole restaurant in the former Figlio space at Calhoun Square, you can find it at IlGattoMinneapolis.com (or even Figlio.com for the time being). Browse the menus and you'll see that Il Gatto is carrying on the legacy of Figlio's famous $3 happy hour as well as the same emphasis on Italian specialties (in case the name didn't tip you off already).

I was fortunate enough to get invited to a test run dinner at Il Gatto on Saturday and I was wholly impressed. I tried the artichoke appetizer, which was a small glass jar of chopped artichoke hearts, mint and red chile flakes. Scooped up and piled atop the accompanying olive oil grilled bread, it was snappy and satisfying without being heavy.

The pasta and entree menu is not overly vegetarian-friendly but I found solace in the standard cheese ravioli with marinara. Nearly all the pastas at Il Gatto are made in-house, and my ravioli had a pleasant chewy texture that only fresh pasta can have. The pureed marinara was very reminiscent of Figlio's ravioli but, thankfully, the 3-cheese blend inside was mostly ricotta and not the cream cheese situation previously presented at The Fig. Also, props for dusting the plate with a little bit of parmigiano as opposed to the heaping handful of mozzarella most mid-priced restaurants gob on top of an already cheesy dish. The other vegetarian pasta option was a tagliatelle with beets, however I loathe those vile root vegetables and await the day when our beloved chefs who are endlessly (and admirably) dedicated to cooking seasonally realize that I am far from alone.

My dining companion ordered the baked oysters with shrimp, pancetta and parmigiano, as well as the boiled gnocchi with lamb ragu. I tried neither, of course, but the man had no complaints.

We attempted to order the limoncello tiramisu for dessert but it was completely sold out, leaving us completely heartbroken.The pain subsided when the chocolate budino arrived at the table, courtesy of the always-amazing Adrienne Odom. It's a warm chocolate pudding cake with a gooey crown of molten chocolate, served alongside a scoop of heavenly salted caramel ice cream. I barely had room for a bite of the spumoni (much less three bites), which was a trio of chocolate, strawberry and pistachio ice creams from Sebastian Joe's topped with hazelnuts, maraschino cherries and pistachios, respectively.

I think it was about this time that the limoncello made its way to our table, served Italian-style from a smiley server toting a freezing cold bottle of the house-made concoction. The presentation here is noteworthy: the bottle is fused inside a small steel bucket of frozen lemons and lemon leaves. The digestif itself is also noteworthy, as it's an ideally sweet, tart, and icy finish to a great meal.

Our server recommended the Pistol Tease cocktail, a sweet citrusy rocks drink with St. Germain elderflower liqueur and a muddled edible orchid. I loved the floral flavors but was a little too sweet for my taste. I did fall in love with my friend's Smitten Kitten, though: a martini of pineapple-infused vodka, cracked black pepper and a kiss of simple syrup.

Price points at Il Gatto are ridiculously reasonable, particularly for a seafood-focused restaurant, with small plates at $4-9, wood-fired pizzas at $9-13 and entrees at $12-25. Martinis top out at $10, house wines (served in Il Gatto's soon-to-be-famous "glass and a half" are just $5 glass/$14 bottle/$26 double bottle, and even top shelf scotches and brandies will only run you between $8 and $11.

Even on a test run night, the service was seamless, friendly and well-versed in the menu, and the course arrivals were timed perfectly, with nothing cold or out of order. We can safely chalk this up to Il Gatto retaining much of the same overall staff as Figlio, not changing the kitchen layout one bit, and putting Executive Chef Matt Kempf at the helm.

I'm not so good with the quantitative math, but I'd say the space's remodel added a metric assload of seating. The main dining room feels about the same, but the bar has moved completely (it now divides the restaurant in half, stretching from the main entrance to the bathrooms), making room for a string of 4-tops in the bar proper, as well as creating an entire second dining area, complete with booths, along the windowed side of the restaurant that overlooks Lake Street.

Oh! And you no longer have to walk through the service stand to get to the bathrooms. They're still in the same spot, but with a less-intrusive entrance that doesn't suddenly make you feel like you should start rolling silverware with the wait assistants.

Dude, Parasole got skillz. Il Gatto will be around for a long, long time; as long if not longer than Figlio's 25-year run at one of the most historic corners in Minneapolis.

Il Gatto: 3001 Hennepin Avenue South, 612-822-1688
Hours: Monday-Friday, 4:30pm-2:00am
Food served until 1:00am Sunday-Thursday, 2:00am Friday-Saturday
Happy Hour: 4:30pm-6:30pm daily, 10:30pm-12:00am Sunday-Thursday

Pantry Check: Veggie Moroccan-style Curry

I haven't done a full-on grocery shop since moving into my new place a few weeks ago, so I haven't been able to do the amount of cooking that I like to do and hence haven't posted any recipes lately. Tonight I wanted home cooking for dinner that was slightly exotic, but I didn't want to leave the house (still wearing pajamas at 11:00pm, thankyouverymuch). The result was delicious -- savory, sweet and fragrant -- and, best of all, made with simple ingredients I already had on hand. This recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

Veggie Moroccan-style Curry
© 2009 by Alexis McKinnis
Yields: 4 servings, with rice

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup dried Mediterranean apricots, cut into thin strips (raisins would also work well)
3 handfuls fresh baby spinach (very scientific measurement, I know-- it was one of those plastic cartons minus a salad's worth)

In medium skillet, saute the onion in the olive oil until soft. Add all remaining ingredients except spinach. Bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in spinach, cooking for 2 minutes or until it fully wilts. Remove cinnamon stick and serve over rice.

*****

I posted the question to Twitter a few days ago, but I want to ask it here: What coffee shops offer rice or almond milk as an option?

My body hates cow and soy milk equally, so I'd love to know about a place I can go for yummy coffee drinks and not feel like total crap afterward.

megacita suggested The Wedge's coffee bar, since they have both rice and almond milk, and kjtten suggested Dragonfly Coffee at 50th & Penn, which offers hemp milk. Anybody know of a place in or closer to Northeast, or am I asking too much? Not being a regular coffee drinker, I'm not super hip to the scene.

Stories from Exile Tonight at LUSH

I meant to post this last night but social obligations can really occupy a girl's time. Here's your social obligation for tonight:

Stories from Exile Presented by Red Card Production

Join us tonight at LUSH for the premiere of 9 short films (and when I say "short" I mean like 2-3 minutes) by Erik Janzen of Red Card Production. Each film is a visual interpretation of a different poem by poet (and podcaster) Ragan Fox, from his collection, "Exile from Gayville."

Doors open at 7:00pm and the short films will run from 7:30-9:00pm, with a little music in between films. The event is free, but you have to buy your own drinks. LUSH is located on Central and Spring Street, in the former Healy Spring Co. building. They're not usually open Tuesdays, except for incredibly sexy people who are having incredibly awesome events.

Holiday Shopping Season Begins

So this is my new favorite food blog: Cook to Bang: Recipes to Get You Laid. Aside from the genius concept and quirky commentary, the recipes are actually pretty promising. The photos are good -- though any food photos are good compared to mine -- and several of the recipes are vegetarian or easily convertible.

Speaking of which, any recipe requests for me? I haven't seen much reader mail the past couple of months and I'm dying for a challenge. Hit me.

I hope you have a little spending money because it's officially holiday shopping season. Last year, most retailers offered special discounts and extended sales above and beyond the usual, so I expect that to be the case again this year. Cleaning out my inbox, I came across a few good shopping events this weekend:

Tomorrow through Sunday, martinpatrick3 is having a pre-holiday sale where nearly everything in the store will be 20% off. It's worth a look, if only because this is one of the few good men's boutiques in the Twin Cities.

Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm is "Presence of the Holidays" at Suburban World Theater in Uptown. The event is free and will feature 35 local artists and retailers peddling jewelry, clothing, food, desserts, bath and body products, pet items, hats, pottery, wall art and home decor, as well as live music all day.

Saturday is also the Local-to-Global jewelry event at the Walker Art Center. From 11:00am to 5:00pm, shoppers will find "unique gifts to suit unique tastes by jewelry artists and designers from Mexico City to Minneapolis; and from Brooklyn to San Francisco." Local chocolatier B.T. McElrath will also be on hand from 11:00am to 3:00pm with chocolate samples.

And I would be disowned by my family if I failed to mention the grand opening festivities this weekend at WillowBridge Center in Cambridge. WillowBridge is a family business owned and operated by my sister. It's a massive facility where things like massage, skin care, salon services, acupuncture, natural health consulting, yoga, dance and a ton of other services are available. There's also a large gift boutique and a bead shop operated by my mom.

This Friday and Saturday, all items in the gift boutique will be 10% off, and there will be complimentary wellness seminars, auriculotherapy, beverages and treats, as well as free makeup consultations and Aveda consultations. There will also be $5.00 brow waxes, 50-cents-a-minute chair massages, and discounts on regular massages, facials and yoga classes if you book on Friday or Saturday.