Friday night, Dan and I had tickets to the Varsity Theater to see Retribution Gospel Choir and Mark Kozelek, of Sun Kill Moon and Red House Painters. RGC was awesome -- their drummer was super crazy and show-offy (but in a good way,) they had tons of energy, were super loud and jammy, and just generally put on a good show. Mark Kozelek left a little to be desired -- he writes beautiful songs and has an amazing voice, but his set lacked energy and momentum. (Probably because he changed guitars and tuned between EVERY song.) And then he broke a string. We left early, for fear of falling asleep standing up. :) Too bad, really, because the tickets were $15 apiece! Bah.
Saturday, Dan and I headed out to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. We explored all of the stalls (both the produce and soap/craft/other vendors,) sampling everything we could, and sort of snacking our way through the market. We had freshly roasted sweet corn, limeade, and I also had a veggie burrito, while Dan had a locally-raised spicy Italian sausage. I didn't buy any produce this week, but I did pick up some locally-grown beans!
I had never heard of Crowder or Lady Cream Peas before, and am now excited to try them. The grower included a recipe on the back; one of the ingredients includes "seasoning meat," which I'm obviously not going to use. :) My best idea for a substitute would be a canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce (or two -- it is two pounds of beans, after all.) Anyone have any other suggestions?
After the farmer's market, we went to Target (Dan needed socks,) and then to Barnes and Noble, so I could spend my birthday gift card from Dan's parents. I bought a cookbook, of course. I hear this one comes highly recommended:
I've been reading through it . . . it looks awesome. I can't decide what to try first! Suggestions?
We took it easy the rest of the afternoon. I made dinner a little later:
(Moroccan Chickpea Stew over whole wheat couscous, with a big salad,) before we headed to The Theatre in the Round to see "Harvey." The play way excellent! Dan and I had realized we'd never been to a play together, too! We'll have to fix that in the future. :)
P.S. The Theatre in the Round is my most favorite theater in the Twin Cities. The tickets are reasonable, their productions are always very good, and the layout of the theater is such that you are practically sitting on stage with the actors! Very, very fun. Plus they sell cookies at intermission. :)
AND NOW, on to "30 before 30."
I can't remember who gave me the idea for creating a list like this, (it may have been Bazu?) but since my 29th birthday, I've been working on a "30 before 30" list -- a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30. Here it is:
1. Sleep in a tent.
2. Put 200 miles on my bike.
3. Leave the country at least once.
4. Renew my teaching license (which has expired . . . oops!)
5. Make tamales from scratch.
6. Learn how to play three chords on a guitar.
7. Go camping with Dan, my dad, and my uncle Stu.
8. Contact friends that I haven't heard from in a while.
9. Take a yoga class.
10. Read 10 books.
11. Try 100 new recipes.
12. Walk around Lake of the Isles 25 times.
13. Learn how to steer a canoe.
14. Find a consistent (monthly at least) volunteer opportunity.
15. Go through my things, (clothes, kitchen stuff, books, etc.) and make a big donation of stuff I'm not using to the Goodwill.
16. Frame the "lucky" $2 bill my great-grandmother gave me.
17. Go visit my brother and his wife in Idaho.
18. Expand my charitable giving to include the Minnesota DNR, Theatre in the Round, and my church.
19. Replace at least 2 pieces of my cookware.
20. Make yoga a habit (at least 4 times per week.)
21. Learn how to knit.
22. Save at least $1000.
23. Open an IRA and start contributing to it monthly.
24. Bake bread and make it a habit.
25. Make flossing a habit.
26. Go vegan (at home) for one month.
27. Buy a bike that is the proper size for me.
28. Buy a new bike helmet.
29. Learn how to drive stick shift.
30. Take a beginning photography class.
So, that's that! I'll post updates occasionally to let you know how it's going. Advice/ideas are always welcome!
11 comments:
Your list is fantastic, I hope you achieve everything on it!
It sounds like you had a good day yesterday! I am excited to see how your beans turn out--they look beautiful dried in the bag :o)
V-Con Suggestions:
*Quinoa Salad with black beans and mango
*Chickpea cutlets
*Vanilla-yogurt pound cake
*Pumpkin crumb cake with pecan strusel
*Mediterranean style baked lima beans
*Mexican Millet
*Snobby Joes
*Carrot-pineapple sunshine muffins
Those are my favorites...I have tried others that were good too, but those ones really stand out. Enjoy your new cookbook!!
Hopefully I will be able to help you reach that 200 miles on your bike before the summer is over--forget year--with some fun bike rides this summer! Greenway, trails, and farmers market here we come!
Courtney
I agree, great idea for a list like that. Im tempted to do one just even for the year.
And recipes from Veganomicon, I still havent made much from my library-rented version, but everybody is telling me that the Chocolate Chocolate Walnut cookies are to die for.
As for milwaukee, so far I havent the greatest experience with restaurants being so vegan friendly. I know of Beans & Barley, but I dont even think they have that many vegan options. Im hoping near UWM there will be more vegan places of eat and buy just because the school is more liberal. We shall see.
One of the things I need to get to this summer is making a similar 30 before 30 list. Yours is very inspiring. :]
Oh, VCON. Quite an awesome cookbook. I would recommend the Lower Fat Banana Bread, Black Bean Burgers, Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Mufaletta, Quinoa Salad with Mango and Black Beans and the Simpler Seitan recipe comes out perfect every time. Good Luck!
Happy belated birthday!
I like that we are both 29 and can peek at each other's 30b/f30 lists. I like yours- and it reminded me that I have a lucky $2 bill that should be framed, too! My own journey to veganism started with a 1-month experiment a few years ago.
Oh, as for Veganomicon, the first recipe I made from it was the pound cake. It was goooood.
Very nice list. Reminds me that my next list is 50 B4 50.
I would just say "enjoy and appreciate."
V-con--make the chickpea cutlets...they are so yummy and versatile.
I've never heard of those bean varieties B4--it's such a huge world. Humbling, isn't it?
Speaking of humbling, there is some weird problem with RSS that me, with my lack of coding expertise, am unable to correct. I'm sorry--working on it! Light a candle to the RSS gods for me, please.
Thanks for giving me the bread recipe! I can't find "whole wheat" bread flour...could I just use regular ww flour you think? Or ww pastry?
I love your 30 before 30 list because it seems totally doable. I've started making my own list, but it's going to take years to accomplish (30 before 50? Kidding). Bravo - very inspiring!
congrats on getting vcon!!!
I was overwhalmed at first too.. i had absolutely no idea which ones to try!!!! Its a great book though.. good luck with it!!
I like your list... i absolutely share many of your goals.
I guess I'm just lazy, because I don't know if I would finish your list before 30... and I'm 23.
Maybe I should work on a 25 before 25 or something. Work my way through some of my 43Things.
The tamales in V'Con are unbelievably yummy. So #5 will be easy and delicious.
Your list is a fun read! I have to say, sleeping in a tent is highly overrated, but I agree it's something you need to do at least once. Good luck!
Post a Comment