Lefse

In marrying Kyle I married into a family of Norwegians and became an honorary Norwegian

myself. I think this was actually official when I received my own lefse maker from Kyle's

mom for my bridal shower. I was given all the tools necessary to make this traditional potato

flat bread, but it unfortunately all sat unopened for the last 3 years. Moving around just made

it hard to use, but that has changed!

Last weekend we decided to make a big ol' batch of lefse. All by ourselves! Yikes! We

normally do it with Grandma Lois and lots of other helping hands, but I have to say we were pretty proud of our skills as we turned out a delicious stack of goodness for us to enjoy.

Here's how we did it...

After making a batch of what is essentially thick mashed potatoes (milk, butter, and potatoes),

you let it cool and add flour.

 

 

 

Mix it all up

 

Form the dough into balls

 

 

Roll it out
 

 

 

Place it on the griddle

 

Flip, using the lefse stick

 

Spread with butter and sprinkle with sugar

 

 

Roll it up and enjoy!

 

I'm embarrassed to say that we devoured all the pieces of lefse we made over the last week, essentially eating it for breakfast, lunch, and literally as dinner on its own.

St. Patty's Day

This year's St. Patrick's Day was a very surreal moment for the two of us. It was during this day, 7 years ago, that we visited New York City on a spring break trip our sophomore year of college. We had been dating for 3 years and we came to NYC with my mom and dad to see some of the most famous places in the US, and world. How odd to think that 7 years later we'd be married, Kyle a year away from graduating medical school, living in our very own apartment on the Upper East Side.

At the time, we would have both thought you'd be crazy to ever live here. "Too loud, too busy,

too crowded, too expensive" may have been our chief complaints and I have to say we still agree,

but we've also found so many other great qualities and unique things this city has to offer.

St. Patrick's day in New York will always be special to us.

Sun in the Village

Here's the scoop...

We had a weekend in the mid 50's and we hit the pavement soaking it all in.

We put on our "lighter" coats and left the hats and gloves behind. Yippee!

 

The "warm" temps allowed us to explore a bit of Greenwich Village and taste a few spots we've had on our list. We even enjoyed a beer on a bench OUTSIDE!

 

A Salt & Battery is a fish n' chips place I kept hearing about and therefore had to try. The chef, chip cutter, drinks, and even the radio station are straight from England and our lunch didn't dissapoint. Fresh, flaky, fluffy, and not at all greasy...everything the perfect fish n' chips should be. 

 

 

After some window shopping and celebrity spotting we headed to the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop (only in the village, right?) for some tasty soft serve creations. It was the perfect way to end a divine, and slightly warm, weekend afternoon.

 

 

 

 

Chicago

Earlier this month we were lucky enough to go to Chicago. Kyle had to take a board exam

that's only offered in 5 cities across the U.S. (NYC isn't one of them) and we figured we'd use the

excuse of the exam to visit some friends from AZ, Nick and Jess, who now live in the windy city.

 

Catching up with friends, exploring a different city, it was all fabulous. The weather there

was colder than New York, I was secretly wishing they lived in Hawaii, but we put on our

winter uniform of coats, scarves, gloves, hats, and boots and hit the town.

 

We spent an afternoon sipping on cocktails at the top of the Hancock building.

Strolled through the hipster neighborhood of Whicker Park, shopped the boutiques,

and spent a great deal of time at Emporium, a beer and vintage arcade bar.

Nick and Kyle were like kids in a candy store, popping in tokens left and right.

 

Had breakfast at Toast. One word...heavenly!

 

The menu item I ordered was the Pancake Orgy...1 blueberry pancake, 1 banana pecan, 1 lemon poppy seed. Holy cow! Surround by fruit, dolloped with yogurt, and sprinkled with granola. Again, holy cow! This stack of deliciousness didn't even need syrup. Oh, and I washed it all down with a Wasabi Bloody Mary and a side of bacon. Remember, calories don't count on vacation.

 

 

 

We hit Nordstrom on the Magnificent Mile downtown

where Kyle proved to be the ideal husband. Doesn't he look thrilled? 

 

 

As always, I wish I had taken more pictures but the memories will last in my head forever. We laughed a lot and it certainly made us feel like we were home again, just in a different city.

 

Thanks Nick and Jess for opening your home to us and showing us around!