Popcorn on the cob

I love Fall.

Before.....

It is the season of cool weather, my birthday, beautiful leaves, pumpkin everything, squash, jeans+boots, crisp days & nights, fires in the fireplace & (for me at least) popcorn.

I also love farmer's markets & farm stands of all stripes. I bought an incredibly fun treat at Pearce's Farm Stand over my birthday weekend in Wisconsin. This is a family run farm stand which comes fully to life in the fall; they have an annual customer appreciation weekend with live music, corn, bratwurst & kettlecorn. Amazing small town fun for everyone! You can find them on Facebook, you'll see what I'm talking about; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pearces-Farm-Stand

Cob in the bag, bag in the microwave - getting cooked!

As I lose my train of thought; I should be reminded to get back to the popcorn! I saw dried corn on the cob for sale at Pearce's last month and figured I should absolutely buy them, because of my aforementioned love of popcorn in the Fall. 

After! So awesome.

I giggled like a schoolgirl while this was popping in my microwave! Well, to be perfectly honest, the popping took about a minute and a half to start and being that I am more than slightly distractable; the explosions from my microwave scared me so much I jumped and yelped quite loudly at the same time. (the good news is I was at home & didn't need to explain myself to Chris) The minor fright was followed my unadulterated childlike happiness at the silly feat of popcorn coming off of that dried cob after only a few minutes in the microwave!

It tastes delicious - I didn't add any butter/oil/salt/flavoring, yielded a full bowl of popcorn & all of it has been eaten less than 24 hours later. 


Needless to say, I am back in Wisconsin today, went back to Pearce's and bought 6 more of these. They are just too fun. Happy Fall everyone!

Soft Pretzels

I love soft pretzels.

Ger & Volker meet our train

Before this summer though, I loved the soft pretzels I could get at Wrigley Field, or at a bar with dipping sauce; I had no idea what I was missing.

National Lampoon's European Vacation (my pet name for our trip abroad this summer) took Chris & me to Munich, Germany. We stayed with my cousin & her husband; perhaps the most gracious hosts in the world. They were waiting for us in the main train station at Munich when we arrived, carrying signs, wearing an Irish flag (the heritage my cousin & I share), and a German one (partly because they didn't have an American flag to wear & the German flag was welcoming us to the their country!).

Obizda - soft cheese with herbs & Camembert. Amazing.

Olympiapark (Olympians need pretzels!)

Breakfast at Ger & Volker's home.YUM.

Brunch at the Hofbrauhaus

Lunch at the Viktualienmarkt beer garden

But back to the pretzels. Perhaps I am the last person on Earth to realize how perfect a fresh made hot pretzel is? This could be the case, but I was blown away by the salt flecked crust that gave way to a chewy center. The pretzels we enjoyed in Germany came in all shapes & sizes- we made an effort to try them everywhere we stopped! Ger (my cousin) would always be awake before her lazy house guests (us. darn.) and go to her local bakery to buy pretzels as part of our breakfast, then we would get a pretzel at a beer garden, and perhaps another as an afternoon snack. And so it went!

The photos give you some idea of how many pretzels I was capable of eating in 5 days..........

La Tour Eiffel

I love the Eiffel Tower. 

I think it is wonderful that it is just a structure. It wasn't designed to do anything (other than be beautiful & astonish the world; which I'd say it succeeded massively on both fronts).

The first apartment we stayed in while in Paris had a view of la Tour Eiffel from the kitchen window. Granted, it was in the distance, as we stayed in the 12th arrondissement - away from the action in a quiet neighborhood. That being said- being able to look out the window & see the Eiffel Tower within hours of our touchdown at Charles de Gaulle made me abundantly happy.

The view from our 1st apartment - Eiffel Tower at night!

Cheers!

View from a boat cruise on the Seine

Gazing up at this breathtaking structure while sitting on the grass with Chris, sipping wine and enjoying a summer night; I was in heaven. The most romantic city in the world, its most iconic attraction, the love of my life & wine.....what's not to love?

I took about 100 photos of the Eiffel Tower throughout our days in Paris- here are a few of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.