Iowa Girl Eats » Travel

Creating My Own Blue Bunny Ice Cream Flavor + Free Ice Cream Giveaway!

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:15:31 +0000

Good morning!

Some early bird thunderstorms rained out my morning Mom walk (again!) but they’ve since cleared up, and it’s actually shaping up to be a real dazzler of a day!

I got it started with a nice breakfast, that I even tweeted my excitement about last night. Let’s see, what do we have here…

A steaming, hot cup of coffee made in my lovely, oh-so-convenient Keurig.

Getting breakfast ready to the smell of freshly brewed coffee is the BEST!

I drank mine black today, because I was feeling hard core. I never drink mine without any mix ins – and now I am feeling all caff’d UP!

Brewed directly into my Las Vegas Starby’s mug. I always thought the LV mug should be hot pink or something, and embedded with rhinestones…just a thought.

I also whipped up an English Muffin slathered in raspberry jam and almond butter.

I picked up these Thomas 100% Whole Wheat English Muffins at the store this weekend.

They’re super fluffy, squishy and light – SO GOOD.

And even better when simply dressed.

Rounded out with half a ‘loupe. I can tell this one is going to be juic-ay!

Don’t get me wrong – oatmeal breakfasts with tons of toppings are fun – but sometimes the simple things in life are the best. Don’t ya’ think?!

I packed a leftover Mozzarella Stuffed Bruschetta Turkey Burger for lunch. Good news – Ben declared that these have officially taken over BBQ Chicken Quesadillas as his favorite food!!

There’s just so many layers of flavor, and the mozzarella cheese stuffed inside the burger keeps the turkey so moist.

Along for the ride are some crunchy Wheat Thins and silky, whipped Basha Hommus.

A couple readers told me that “hOmmus”, spelled with an O, is the authentic, Middle-Eastern way to spell hommus. ”HUmmus”, spelled with a U, is the Americanized way to spell/pronounce it. Interesting!

However you spell it, I want to eat it. I love this meal!

Wells Blue Bunny Trip Recap: Create Your Own Ice Cream Flavor!

After the unforgettable ice cream factory tour and delicious 5-course lunch prepared by Blue Bunny’s corporate chef John Kennedy (here are two of the recipes he used in our dessert course!) we sat through a fascinating presentation about snacking & dessert trends with Blue Bunny’s Director of Insights & Innovation (seriously, it was fascinating. I eat this stuff up! Pun intended.)

Afterwards we returned to Chef John’s kitchen, where we were greeted by THIS!

Holy ice cream toppings, batman! It was clear that we had entered the make your own ice cream portion of the tour!

Every ice cream topping, mix in and swirl in under the SUN was laid out before our very eyes. We’re talking chocolate chip cookie dough, snickerdoodle cookie dough, sprinkles of every color, cheesecake, red velvet cake, chocolate cake,

brownies, dark chocolate, apple-cinnamon crunchies, chocolate covered waffle cones, peppermint pieces, nuts, chocolate covered nuts, caramel pieces, sea salt caramel crunchies… That doesn’t even include the ice cream base flavorings like peanut butter, chocolate and black raspberry – oh my!!!

Us bloggers could hardly believe our eyes!

Before we got started we settled in to listen to a presentation about how Blue Bunny develops new products from one of their resident food scientists.

It’s surprisingly technical, and the scientists are heavily involved in the process. Lots of checks & balances to make sure the finished product isn’t too sweet, too tart, or really, too anything! Every flavor and product should have a perfect balance. It’s hard work! (Please note how giddy I am.)

The presentation wrapped up not a moment too soon. I mean, hello, look what we were staring at!

It was time to get to work.

Chef John gave us a demo on how to create our own flavor (as if we needed any help ) He started with several scoops of premium, Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream, then added in a peanut butter base, to flavor the ice cream, and several mix-ins. After a quick whirl in a mixer, his combo was good to go!

Our turn! Clearly, we were not shy about digging right in.

Here’s the thing – the food scientist told us that a really good flavor of ice cream has good balance. For instance, if there were chunks of brownie in the ice cream, then maybe they’d add a ribbon of peanut butter to add a hint of savory to balance out the sweet.

If strawberries were the mix-in du jour, maybe they’d use a more tart ice cream base to create a sweet/tart balance.

I took all these helpful hints into consideration when creating my ice cream flavor.

I really did.

In the end though, my inner 8 year old dominated the situation and I ended up with THIS! Muwahahaha!!

Let’s see here…we’ve got premium vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, snickerdoodle cookie dough, caramel bits, brownie chunks, chopped nuts and peanut butter flavoring. I know.

I patiently waited until it was my turn to get have my ingredients whirred up to become real ice cream.

Presto…

chango!!! Best ice cream I’ve ever had. Sweet, peanut buttery, chewy, crunchy, salty – AMAZING!!

Over the top? Sure. Obnoxiously sweet? You bet. But like I always say – go big, or go home baby!!!!!

We all silently devoured our luscious, creamy-sweet creations with delight.

Even our hosts got in on the action!

I made a second bowl, but we won’t talk about that…

Best afternoon EVER!

There you have it folks! Creating your own ice cream flavor. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!

Time for another Blue Bunny free ice cream coupon giveaway! Today’s question, which you have until 10pm tonight to guess correctly, is…

What is Blue Bunny’s most popular flavor of ice cream?

a. Bunny Tracks

b. Vanilla

c. Chocolate

d. Peanut Butter Panic

The answer to yesterday’s question was “c”. You could fill 1,000,000 pies with the amount of strawberries Blue Bunny uses in their products every year! Woah! Congrats to winner:

Ashley: My answer is C! And the picture of the Big Bopper Sandwiches is definitely a money shot!! Thanks for sharing

Congrats Ashley! Email me your address at IowaGirlEats@hotmail.com so I can get your free ice cream coupon out to you in the mail. Good luck to today’s entrants!

Wells Blue Bunny Factory Tour + Free Ice Cream Giveaway!

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:14:53 +0000

We’ve had quite the dark and stormy start to this Monday morning – lightening and thunder galore!

I made a cozy, comforting breakfast to combat the wind and rain, Apple Crisp Oatmeal.

In the mix:

1/3 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup water
vanilla extract, cinnamon
Stewed apple (chopped apple nuked for 2 mins with a splash of water, vanilla, cinnamon and agave nectar)
Sliced almonds
Honey Roasted Peanut Butter

You know the homemade Honey Roasted Peanut Butter that I eat and eat and eat every weekend at the Farmer’s Market?! A friend gave me a WHOLE TUB all to myself as a birthday gift!!!

I cannot tell you how excited that makes me!

Think sweet & salty honey-roasted peanuts, ground up into a delectable peanut butter paste.

It’s the closest thing I have ever tasted to the peanut butter in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup – life changing!!!

I added a healthy dallop of it to my sweet, cinnamon apple and warm & creamy oats. Yum!

In the spirit of recovering from WAY too much ice cream, cookies & cake over the past 5 days, I packed a huge Kitchen Sink Salad for lunch.

In the mix:

Mixed greens
Spinach
Cucumber
Tomato
Carrots
Broccoli
Pepper Jack cheese

Makes me say “ahhhhh…” I love veggies!

I also packed a Pomegranate Chobani Greek Yogurt. I can’t remember if I’ve had this flavor or not – but I sure hope it has some pom arils in it!

It may seem like there’s a lot of sugar in here – and there is added sugar – but the majority of it is from the natural milk sugar lactose.

This is a feel good meal!

Wells Blue Bunny Trip Recap: Factory Tour!

~~~~~

In case you’re just catching up, or are a new reader, I was lucky enough to spend two days in Le Mars, IA last week – the ice cream capital of the world and home to Wells Blue Bunny – for two days of all things ice cream!

Among a 5-course lunch, featuring Blue Bunny ice cream in EACH course, was a factory tour, create your own ice cream project, and many more once-in-a-lifetime experiences. I’ll be re-capping the trip over the next three days, starting with the Blue Bunny Ice Cream factory tour!

~~~~~

What happens when you take two booties, one hair net, a set of ear plugs, a giant lab coat and safety goggles?!

You get 5 bloggers that look like THIS:

HOT!

On Thursday afternoon, we suited up and headed into the Wells Blue Bunny ice cream factory – eager for an adventure!

First, a little background info:

Wells is the largest family-owned and managed dairy processor in the US, producing more than 500 Blue Bunny branded ice creams, frozen novelties and desserts. Their products are available in all 50 states in grocery stores, restaurants and convenience stores.

The company operates two plants in Le Mars, IA, one of which is the largest in the WORLD, and one in Utah to serve their customers in high altitude locations (so when those people open their cartons of ice cream, it hasn’t shrunk down 3 inches from the change in pressure during shipping!)

Our first stop was to see the trucks that come in day in and day out, filled to the brim with raw ingredients. Think milk, sugar, etc – everything you need to make rich and creamy ice cream!

After the ingredients are pumped into storage tanks, they are mixed together to create an ice cream base.

Fun Fact: Wells produces over 100 million gallons of ice cream per year, which is over 250,000 gallons per day. Veeeery interesting!

Next, the ice cream gets flavored and combined with any “mix-ins” that might be in the flavor they’re running that day. The line we visited was making Rocky Road which has ribbons of soft marshmallow and salty peanuts!

The peanuts get added to a hopper and are pumped through those white pipes to get added to the cold ice cream base.

Then everything is swirled together and deposited into a carton.

Wheee!!!

Fun Fact: Blue Bunny’s premium ice cream cartons are designed to be extra wide, as to avoid “knuckle muck” – ie the ice cream you get on your knuckles and wrists when trying to dig down into a narrow ice cream container. The worst!

Ice cream was seriously everywhere! Running down the line, over our heads – everywhere! Heaven!

Next we stopped at the ice cream sandwich machine. Oh baby! The fresh, vanilla ice cream gets pressed out from a mold, and is quickly sandwiched between two cookies.

Fun Fact: The cookies on the outside of an ice cream sandwich are actually super crispy. They absorb some of the moisture from the ice cream as they sit, which makes them perfectly soft by the time they get into your hands.

This is when it got GOOD. Bill, our tour guide, grabbed some fresh ice cream sandwiches off the line for us to taste! There IS an ice cream god!

Knowing that the cookies were hard, Bill warned us not to bite into the sandwich the way we normally would, or else the soft, fresh ice cream would just squirt out the sides. We broke off chunks of the cookie and scooped the creamy, cool ice cream straight into our mouths.

Ummmmm…imagine the sweetest, thickest, creamiest CUSTARD you’ve ever had, and times it by 10. 10. The ice cream tasted like decadent custard!! It was truly one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had.

Fresh ice cream, right off the line. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Remind me to never get horn-rimmed glasses…

After oohing and aahing over our ice cream sandwiches, we moved on. Lots to see!

Our next stop was arguably the most eye-popping sight of the tour. Wait for it…

Wait for iiiiiiit…

THERE’S the money shot!!!

OMG! Hundreds and hundreds of chocolate chip Big Bopper Sandwiches!!!

Fun Fact: Stacking the total number of Big Bopper sandwiches produced in a year would extend over 500,000 feet into the sky. That’s more than 12 times higher than the flying altitude of commercial airplanes!

Unlike the ice cream sandwiches we had just tasted, these babies were frozen solid.

They had longer to travel to get to the storage freezer which, fun fact: is 12 stories high, a city-block long and holds 53,000 pallets of ice cream, and they don’t want them melting before getting there!

Next we saw some buckets getting filled with rich, chocolate ice cream,

Jolly Rancher Bomb Pops getting packaged up for some lucky kiddos,

and made a final stop at the ice cream bar machines!

Bill explained to us that ice cream gets poured into ice-cold molds,

then, when they’re frozen just enough, sticks are inserted into the middle.

Fun Fact: It takes over 1.5 billion sticks a year to make Wells’ Blue Bunny frozen novelties. If you placed them end to end, they would stretch over the earth’s equator three times!

Next, in the case of these Orange Dream Bars, the ice cream is loosened from its mold then dipped several times in the sweet, orange flavoring that coats the creamy, vanilla ice cream.

Or in the case of these Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars,

they’re dunked in sweet & chewy strawberry shortcake pieces! I wanted to DIVE IN!!!

I heart strawberry shortcake bars!!

Our tour concluded shortly after that – and we all left so impressed and happy. I mean – HAPPY.

Stay tuned tomorrow for CREATING YOUR OWN ICE CREAM!

Ice Cream Giveaway

I’ve accumulated some “Bunny Bucks” over the past couple of weeks, which are coupons for a free carton of ice cream or box of frozen novelties. I’ll be giving one away after my recap for the day, over the next three days. All you have to do is answer the trivia question at the end of the post to be eligible to win. You have until 10pm the night of the post to answer. Good luck!

Today’s question:

How many pies could you fill with the amount of strawberries Wells Blue Bunny purchases every year to add to their ice cream and frozen novelties?

a. 500,000

b. 750,000

c. 1,000,000

d. 1,500,000

Is This Heaven?

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:46:02 +0000

And just like that, I was home!

I couldn’t have asked for a more picture perfect drive.

Is this Heaven? No, It’s Iowa!

I am going to relax and take it easy this evening, then finish up my posts on this amazing, spectacular, once in a life time trip starting Monday. I want to make sure everyone get’s the full scoop!! In the meantime, here are some of the shots the Blue Bunny photographer took of our lunch yesterday!

Isn’t this such a blogger table?! Cell phones, laptops and cameras, oh my!

Excited to share, and hoping you all have a fantastic weekend – TGIF!

5-Course Lunch from the Wells Blue Bunny Chef!

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:19:03 +0000

Hello!!

I love it here. I may never leave! Look at the view of the sunset from my room last night. Gorge!

Ok – Wells Blue Bunny Blogger Summit 2K10!!!!

First of all, let me just tell you how incredibly nice, thoughtful and caring all the employees of Wells (the company that owns the Blue Bunny Ice Cream name) and their associates have been to us bloggers. As if coming up here for two days of pure indulgence wasn’t enough, they had to go and be the nicest people on earth, to boot!

We got things started this morning with breakfast at the Well’s owned Habitue Coffeehouse & Creperie in downtown Le Mars.

The eatery is owned by Mike & Cheryl Wells, of the Wells Blue Bunny family, and all profits are funneled into a private ministry foundation they started for the community. Nice!

The inside is so cozy – like being in a friend’s living room.

I could have stayed and cozied up in one of the overstuffed couches and chairs they had around the place for hours. But I had things to do, and ice cream to eat.

Peach Amaretto Crepes, too!

Thin, chewy and smothered in freshly sautéed peaches, almonds and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. So delectable.

We all enjoyed our breakfast while listening to Dave Smetter, Senior Director of Corporate Marketing & Communications, educate us about the Wells company. For such a big title, he was such a laid back and approachable guy. The best kind!

He told us how the company got started (over 95 years ago as a local milk delivery service,) how Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream got its name (an entry in a “name that ice cream contest” from a father who noticed how much his son liked the blue bunnies on display at the local department store around Easter,) and how much the employees of the company loved their jobs, among other things!

After breakfast, it was off to the ice cream factory for the big tour!

This is me covered in head-to-toe, factory tour required gear. Please don’t blackmail me with this photo later…

Sweet news (pun intended) – we’ve actually had an event photographer following us around all day, and since we weren’t able to take any personal photographs inside the factory, I’ll share the professional shots when they give them to us tomorrow!

After the tour (think pipes, holding tanks and lots – and LOTS – of ice cream, popsicles, ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches, including some that we got to eat FRESH FROM THE LINE!!!!!) we, thankfully, ditched our getups and headed over to corporate headquarters. What a beautiful building!

I was impressed.

The rest of the bloggers were too!

The story goes that as Wells began to grow, they’d slowly buy building after building in the community, to hold all its employees and operations.

At one point, their employees were driving a mile away for meetings in different buildings, so in 2007 they finally built the facility we were in today, to hold everyone in one spot.

Oh look, they had a welcome message to us bloggers on the flat screen televisions around the lobby! So great!

After arriving, we were whisked off to lunch prepared by Wells’ Corporate Chef John Kennedy. John has a culinary arts degree and is also a Certified Culinary Scientist – one of only 70 in the world! He is a down home Nebraska boy, though, and couldn’t be more down to earth and ridiculously NICE.

There was an intimate table set up in the middle of his kitchen for us. The menu was titled “Ice Cream for Lunch”. Ummm, yes please.

Seriously though – there was Blue Bunny Ice Cream worked into every one of the 5 courses (!) we had for lunch.

Starting with the aperitif (the appetizer’s appetizer): Blue Bunny Strawberry Spritzer.

Chef took Blue Bunny Strawberry Ice Cream and blended it with fresh mint, fresh strawberries and club soda.

See?

Then he processed some mint chocolate chip ice cream that had been frozen solid in dry ice, to sprinkle on top. It was kind of like mint chocolate chip ice cream dust. So cool!

Mmmm – refreshing, sweet and that fresh mint totally POPPED!

Next was our Amuse Bouche: Citrus Ceviche.

Ceviche happens to be one of my very favorite things in the entire world, so I was so pumped to see this on the menu!

Fresh scallops & prawns mixed with lemon sorbet, then added to tomatoes and cucumbers that the chef had picked up from the local farmer’s market the day before! So light and refreshing. Plus, you know how I feel about scallops!

Our Salad Course was next.

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Panko-breaded & fried Maytag Bleu Cheese balls, candied walnuts, homemade croutons and clementines over local, organic greens and topped with a raspberry sorbet vinaigrette!

Look at the oozy meltage!!! Crispy, tangy and amazing. I absolutely loved that it was Maytag bleu cheese too – another Iowa delicacy!

Best salad ever.

By this time I was feeling pretty full – but I somehow made room for two more courses. Starting with our entree: roasted chicken with whipped, baby Yukon gold potatoes, fresh asparagus and a citrus buere blanc sauce.

I’ve run out of adjectives, but let me tell you that this sauce was lemon-butter AMAZINGNESS and those potatoes!!! These were chef-made mashed potatoes, that’s for sure.

He topped the roasted chicken, marinated in raspberry sorbet, with fried local cabbage which I would have never thought to do in a million years. It was chewy and salty – so fabulous.

Ok, last course – dessert!

A trio of ice cream novelties, obvi, finished right in front of our eyes.

One even came adorned with edible gold leaf. Fance!

This was a Chocolate Cherry Cordial.

Surprise!

A White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Lollipop complete with WCMN ice cream in the center.

And a Chocolate Covered Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Sandwich! Got that?!

Luscious!

By this time, I was full. I mean, I. Was. Full. But so impressed! You could tell Chef John was an innovator. Someone who LOVED his job and whose mission in life is to find the craziest, most clever way to use ice cream. I think he may have hit the nail on the head with lemon sorbet in my ceviche. Genius, I say!

As full as I was at that point, I somehow found a way to say yes to this:

Which made me feel like this:

More details to come on exactly what you are seeing in the above photographs, plus photos from the plant tour, a scientific taste testing session at headquarters, and much more!

I’m off to rest and attempt to conjure up an appetite for dinner with the group tonight. Thanks again to the Wells Blue Bunny employees for such an amazing day!

Free Ice Cream for a Year!

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:34:50 +0000

Greetings from the Ice Cream Capital of the World – complete with dairy cows right off the side of the road (to make all that ice cream, don’t ya’ know!)

The drive took a little over 3 hours during which I entered one crazy storm,

came out the other side to witness this beautiful scene,

and had myself a nice little sing-along to Whitney Houston’s "I Will Always Love You". You should have heard it. Epic, I say!

I arrived at my hotel and walked straight into this little welcome package as I entered my room. I’m sure the whole floor heard my "AWWWWW!!!!" as the door closed behind me!

Do not adjust your computer monitors, that booklet does indeed say "Free Ice Cream for a Year." omg.

Oh, I have to show you the view from my room. Hello, Iowa!

This just cracks me up. It’s so Iowa, and I couldn’t love it more.

I’m going to go drive around town for a little bit and get a bite to eat before the sun goes down. Perhaps I’ll check out Bob’s Drive In that so many of you are raving about!

See you tomorrow, friends!

~~~~~

What state do you live in? What do you like best about it? What’s it known for?

IGE Does Dallas, Part 2!

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:48:09 +0000

How much can three girls possibly pack into two short days in Dallas, Texas? Apparently, A LOT!

After our Mexican lunch/shopping/sight seeing extravaganza on Friday afternoon, we got gussied up and headed to Sambuca Restaurant for some appetizers, drinks and live music!

Sambuca is in the Uptown area of Dallas, and features an eclectic menu with goodies like savory beignets, funky drinks like lavender martinis, and live music 7 days a week!

We nestled into a booth in the bar area to listen to the band, nosh on some appetizers, and cheers to friends and our first evening in Dallas with some cocktails.

We stayed at Sambuca for awhile, then hit the town to explore my friend’s new neighborhood, and show Dallas how Iowa girls like to vacation!

The next morning we headed straight to Bread Winners Bakery & Bistro for a nice, Saturday brunch!

My friends had received several positive recommendations about the restaurant, and it did not disappoint.

The inside looked like a charming old home, but we learned from our waiter that the building had actually started as a Chinese pharmacy in the 50s.

Since then, it had been everything from a Neiman Marcus factory, to a laundromat, before becoming the present day bakery & bistro. It was so charming, unique and absolutely gorgeous on the inside!

The bakery up front provided drool-worthy eye candy at every turn. Tray after tray of freshly baked cakes,

pastries,

(omg!)

and racks of freshly baked specialty breads tempted us at every turn. There was no need to panic, though, because they bring samples of pretty much everything to your table for FREE to nibble on as you ponder what to order!

Their signature banana bread, cranberry sour cream loaf and whole wheat bread was promptly DEVOURED as it was set down at our table. Sweet and moist – the banana bread even had the sugary, crunchy strudel topping that all banana breads require. Simply spectacular.

Everything on the menu looked insanely fresh,

but I settled on some of their homemade granola. Because, hello! Homemade granola?! Yes please!

My homemade, still warm granola came topped with fresh, ripe strawberries and a sliced banana. Plus a cup of cold skim milk.

So. Amazing. Crunchy, sweet, filling, light – I was so impressed!

I also slammed this fresh orange juice. Perhaps the tastiest, most refreshing OJ I’ve ever had?!

So content in this unique little eatery!

The day was HOT but gorgeous, so we headed outdoors to walk off our breakfast on a fabulous trail running right through the middle of the city.

Katy Trail!

One thing that impressed me so much about Dallas is how GREEN it is. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but I was so pleasantly surprised to see such lush trees everywhere we went!

The trail was bumpin’, despite the choking heat and humidity. We were seriously dying, but a nice long stretch of our legs felt amazing.

Besides, we knew what we’d be cooling off with AFTER finishing our walk… PINKBERRY!

Pinkberry is a frozen yogurt shop that’s uber trendy on the West Coast.

All three of us girls have been dying to try it for years, so we semi freaked when we spied it while out shopping on Friday!

I chose a swirl of coconut and pomegranate yogurt, plus fresh mango, raspberries, mochi and fruity pebbles for toppings – oh yeah!

Oh, plus a little side of strawberries that the girl working gave me for free, because it wouldn’t fit in my cup and she could tell I desperately wanted it.

It was everything I could have hoped for, and more! Fruity Pebbles = key. LOVE Pinkberry!

One shower, makeup application and dress later, we were off to the 24th annual Taste of Dallas for dinner!

The Taste of Dallas brings small plates of food from the area’s top chefs and restaurants to one place, so everyone can get a taste for a tiny little price. Think a small plate of ribs from one of Dallas’ best BBQ joints for $3.

Most major cities have events like this, and we couldn’t pass up on opportunity to go and taste Dallas’ finest!

I was on the hunt for some ‘Q.

I found it at Dick’s BBQ where I got a pulled pork slider for just $2!

MMMMM – tangy, tender and juicy. It was incredible!

The event also had a ton of free nibbles that we enjoyed as we strolled – people watching and seeing what the culinary community in North Texas had to offer. Yum!

Afterwards we headed back to my friend’s place to kick back on some super comf couches in her complex’s community area.

What a nice area to come and relax to!

There were even outdoor fireplaces for those cool, Texas evenings in the Fall. SO cute.

We brought out some tunes and kicked back with some Corona’s and convo ’til the sun went down.

Then rounded out our final night in Dallas with a couple sips at the oh-so-English, UK themed bar – the Londoner,

and rockin’ tacos from Rock ‘n’ Taco!

This is a new taco joint in my friend’s neighborhood, and we just thought it was too funky to not check out!

Cool huh?

I am SO GLAD we did, because I had the best carne asada tacos I have ever had in my life. Hands down. Dallas folks – you’ve got to try them!!!

The following morning, we may or may not have not gone back to Bread Winners for a quick brunch of banana bread, MORE granola,

and THIS gigantic, warm cinnamon roll before heading out of town…

Ok, we did!!! That place called to us!

Two short flights later, I was home and climbing into the waiting car of IBE! It never ceases to amaze me how you can be in one part of the country in the morning, then be in a completely different part in the afternoon. Love it.

Overall, I am so impressed with Dallas. Like I said, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I haven’t spent much time in the South besides vacationing in New Orleans, Florida and quick pit stops in hot airports. The dusty, desolate land that I’ve seen in parts of Mexico and south Texas couldn’t be farther from what I experienced in the city.

It was clean, walkable, very new feeling and packed with fun shopping, nightlife and restaurants. One would certainly never go bored living here!

Plus, how can you not love those sweet Southern accents? Gets me every time.

Dallas gets 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up from me. I can’t wait to go back and am so happy that my friend can now call it home!

Be back tonight with your regularly scheduled programming! Have a wonderful day and start to your week!!

~~~~~

What part of the country do you live in? What are some of your favorite parts around the country?

International friends – where do you live?

I, obviously, hail from the Midwest but have a special place in my heart for all parts of the country. The South for its uniqueness, the West Coast for being the West Coast, the East Coast for its history, and the north for its beautiful land. Maybe I should become a nomad?!

IGE Does Dallas!

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:10:01 +0000

Greetings from Dallas, Texas!

After two quick flights and a slight snafu with the girls arriving to pick me up at the wrong airport (there are two in Dallas!) my friends and I were reunited at last – whee!

The consensus was that we were all STARVING – so we headed right to lunch!

We drove past TONS of cute Mexican restaurants and taco joints, but settled on Mi Cocina in a little shopping district near my friends house.

Sitting out on the patio, we chattered away as girlfriends tend to do when it’s been months since they were last reunited!

It’s actually been a semi-cloudy afternoon, but the humidity…my God the humidity! Don’t ever let me complain about how humid Iowa summers get – it is sweltering down here!

Problem solved.

x2.

We looked over the lunch menus and decided on combo #1.

OMG

Tender rice,

creamy refried beans, and the most savory, cheesy enchiladas ever. So amazing. So authentic tasting, too!

We walked off our food babies by shopping in a little area known as the West Village in the Uptown area of Dallas.

Entertaining myself while the girls tried on clothes at Banana Republic! Oh, I decided to keep my hair short for now and got it chopped yesterday!

We made sure to make a stop at Starby’s so I could get my mandatory collectors mug from Dallas!

And an iced coffee to boot.

We drove around for the rest of the afternoon, gawking at the GORGEOUS homes in the area. Seriously, palatial. Oh! And we saw George & Laura Bush’s home!! I finally finished Laura’s memoirs on the plane here, and she spoke of their Dallas home in the final chapter. How fitting that we were right near it!

The house and street itself are gated to keep creepers like me and my friends away, I suppose, but it was still cool!

Then we went and saw the Texas school book depository building where Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. The experience of seeing the building and the street on which his motorcade drove on was surreal.

On a happier note – I’m signing off for the evening to go pop open THIS:

TGIF!

I Won a Free Year Supply of…

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:15:38 +0000

Sooo, that “funny” package I told you I was picking up yesterday??

It was a free year supply of eggs!

HA! Yes! 52 coupons, for 52 free dozens of Eggland’s Best eggs! Foodbuzz had sent me a coupon for a free dozen awhile ago,

which I used to make a Tofu Veggie Scramble. Apparently the recipe got entered into a contest they were throwing…and it won!

Oh man, life is so funny. Now the real question is – what am I going to do with a free dozen eggs each week?? Better get those recipe ideas crackin’! (pun intended.)

In other news – this may be the luckiest week ever, because not only did I win a free year supply of eggs, but I got to have oats in a jar twice! Wheee!

I was actually pretty sad to see this jar of Roasted Flaxseed Almond Butter run out. I got it in Chicago at Trader Joe’s the last time I was there, and it’s pretty much the best thing ever.

Sorry, I had to…

This pretty much made my sadness disappear!

In the mix:

1/3 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup water
1 banana (1/2 sliced in while cooking, 1/2 on top)
vanilla extract, cinnamon
Almond butter jar

So.Amazing. Viva OIAJ!

I packed a HUGE Spinach Salad for lunch.

In the mix:

Baby spinach
Cauliflower
Carrot chips
Pepper jack cheese cubes
Sliced almonds

I just cut up a pepper jack cheese stick to make cubes. I HEART cheese cubes in my salads.

Also packed a cup of grapes for 2:00pm snackeage.

Only the snappiest ones made the cut!

So last night I consulted my trusty 1,000 Places to See Before You Die book to see what they had listed for Italy!

I’ve had this book for years and always highlight/date the places that I’ve been to, as I visit them. Such as Las Vegas…viva!

Coronado Island and San Francisco.

Washington D.C.

New York City (a couple times!)

New Orleans (miss it soooo much!)

The Iowa State Fair - whoooop!

Hawaii & Denmark

And my beloved Japan!

GUESS what I found when I turned to Italy?!

I had already dog-eared all of Rome and the Amalfi Coast – EXACTLY where Ben and I will be traveling to this Fall!!!

I have NO idea when I did it, but clearly this part of Italy has been on my mind for a loooong time.

I cannot wait!

Oookie, dokie, time to get this Friday morning started! Have a wonderful day everyone!

~~~~~

Have you ever won anything?

When it comes to vacation, are you planner or do you like to fly by the seat of your pants?

The Best Burgers in Minneapolis

admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:27:03 +0000

Graduation was a success!

The seminary graduation ceremony was held in an enormous, expansive hall on Bethel’s campus, that highlighted an impressive and awe-inspiring organ.

Look at the size of this place!

Ben and I were impressed.

The ceremony was typical of most graduation ceremonies. Some people find them boring, but I find them inspiring. Hearing the guest speakers talk about the graduate’s possibilities for the future reminded me of how I felt when I graduated college. It was a great pep talk.

There’s my bro – the tall one.

Just like that – 4.5 years of toiling, studying and dedication, culminated into one moment. Masters of Divinity = EARNED!

He was quite ecstatic.

The whole fam was!

We all met up after the ceremony for pictures and a nice reception that featured…

CAKE! Oh yeah…

Afterwards we all headed to downtown Minneapolis for a celebratory dinner at Ike’s Food & Cocktails!

I had been to Ike’s several times when I lived in Minneapolis, and thought the restaurant would be perfect for the fam.

The restaurant has a 40’s supper-club kind of feel,

with warm lights, long booths,

and a full bar running right down the middle of the place.

We were all ready to dig in by the time we got there!

First, some congratulatory bevs. I got a Blue Moon, which I actually got hooked on while living in Minni!

Ike’s is known for their hand-crafted, juicy burgers, which you just have to get when you come. I had a tough time deciding between all the different combos, but ultimately went with the Serious Patty Melt.

Serious indeed!!!!

My patty melt had a thick, medium rare burger topped with cheddar cheese and caramelized onions, which was smushed between two slices of parmesan garlic bread.

O.M.G. BEST BURGER EVER!!!! Perfectly seasoned, indulgent and juuuuust right. Every single person loved what they ordered. Ike’s rocks!

The homemade shoestring fries took my meal over the top.

No, the warm chocolate chip cookies they give you at the end of your meal took it over the top…

No, the FOUR LAYER CHOCOLATE CAKE they gave us for free took it over the top!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures cannot do this thing justice – it was literally the size of my head and one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had. Fudgy, sweet and decadent.

It was so big that the SIX of us couldn’t even finish it! Whew!

What a fun, FUN day we all had together. Congrats again to my bro – what an inspiration!

The next morning, even though the majority of us were still full from dinner, we met up at our spot for breakfast – the Uptown Diner!

No matter what, we must always have breakfast at the Uptown Diner before leaving Minneapolis/St. Paul.

The funky, homey, kick back and relax, Uptown Diner.

Where the meals are as big as a boat,

and the best in town. I got my fave, French Toast!

Cinnamony-sweet, thick and chewy.

Drizzled with maple syrup = pure perfection!!

I had half and gave the rest to my Dad. Like I said, I wasn’t hungry, but had to have a taste!!

I’m so glad we could all be together as a family this weekend (minus my little bro.)

It’s so rare these days, and I treasure every moment together!

The drive home was uneventful, but beautiful.

There’s something so calm and serene about the Midwest.

I just love it…and need to remember these moments when it’s -10 degrees and I’m miserable in February!!

On the way home I finished The Perfect Wife and was itching to get started on Laura Bush’s memoirs, Spoken from the Heart. The Perfect Wife was good, although I prefer memoirs and autobiographies to biographies. You just never know what gets lost in translation, know what I mean?

I’m 39th on the waiting list at the library for her memoirs, and decided that I just couldn’t wait to get it, so Ben and I drove to Costco where I picked it up for almost 50% less than it costs at major bookstores – boo yah!

After we finally got home, I went for a nice long bike ride. It felt amazing to stretch my legs after two days of driving…ahhhhh.

I’m going to get cleaned up, prepare for the rest of the week, and dig into my new book. Don’t you just love getting new stuff?

Have a good night!

Road Trip!

admin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 14:07:23 +0000

WOWZERS – thank you guys so much for all your book recommendations! I have a nice little summer reading list to look forward to now.

I was actually up and at ‘em pretty early this morning, as I’m heading up to St. Paul, Minnesota today, to see my brother graduate from Bethel Seminary! He will be receiving a Masters of Divinity degree. Umm, cool!

It’s been a long road to graduation day, and I don’t think any of us can believe it’s finally here. We couldn’t be prouder of him!

I packed some snacks for the road in lieu of a hot breakfast. It’s fun to snack while you’re driving long distances and helps beat the BOREDOM that comes along with car trips!

I’ve packed a nice colby jack cheese stick. I bought these because they were on sale at the store – but I really love ‘em and think I’ll keep purchasing. They’re such a no brainer snack. Just grab and go!

A Pink Lady Apple. To be eaten whole, which I don’t prefer, but what are you going to do…

And carrot chips with roasted flaxseed almond butter!

My Mom recently told me she thinks carrot chips are more fun to eat than their baby or regular sized counterparts. I have to say that I concur!

Plus, they’re easier for scraping out that luscious almond butter and licking it off. MMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

Time to hit the road. I think I may grab a Starbys on my way out of town – wheee!

Have a GREAT Saturday!

~~~~~

Where did you go or where are you currently going to college? What was your degree in?

I went to the University of Northern Iowa and majored in Marketing with an emphasis in sales and advertising. I think it was just last year that I finally stopped being depressed everyday that my college days were over. I LOVED it!!