You are currently browsing the daily archive for July 25, 2010.
If you know me or have read past posts, you know that I grew up in Minnesota. Minnesota is beautiful this time of year. Grass and trees are green, flowers are blooming (only downside really is humidity, which for a now desert dweller is hard to take). We just returned from flying up to visit my mother who lives in northern Minnesota now. It was a nice change of pace for us, slowing down to explore is one of the things we do best as humans. Exploring is something I really enjoy doing and really would like to make that an actual occupation…..guess I should have been a scientist or something.
When returning to the area where I grew up I usually find something that reminds me of childhood. Since I grew up in the Twin Cities area, I wasn’t sure what would bring me a reminiscent feeling this time – since we were flying in and out of Duluth (quite a bit north of the cities). When I have traveled to the cities with my husband in the past I could take him to where I went to high school, or the nature center where we would go walk every week and I could even guide my husband to just about every Dairy Queen that exists…he actually finds this pretty funny and it is a subject of loving teasing on occasion. I had visited Duluth when I was young, but I didn’t really remember much of it – besides the aerial lift bridge (which will be a subject of a future post). Needless to say, I didn’t expect that AHA moment at all, something that would get my history juices flowing….until…..
©320photography Nikon D300 ISO 200 f/7.1 80mm 1/13th sec
We went to the grocery store. There we found two sweet items that brought back a ton of memories. Cinnamon crisps and Snack Toast. The image above is a Cinnamon Crisp – it is a flat pastry that is crispy (falls apart when you bite into it crispy) covered in cinnamon and sugar. It is crispy on top and sticky on the bottom and is oh, so yummy. Not a strong taste by any stretch, but one I certainly remember always wanting my mom to buy them when we went grocery shopping. Not even close to nutritious or healthy, its all about the sugar. Yum.
Also incredibly unhealthy, Snack Toast. Snack Toast is hard, crispy and full of cinnamon and sugar. Again with the sugar. If you dip a Snack Toast in coffee or milk it soaks it all up and becomes mushy goodness. My mom always would say “put butter on it, its better that way”, but for me, plain and dipped in wet is the best. I have not seen anything remotely close to this since living in the desert, so having some of these treats was really amazing to me on this trip.
More about our adventures in the north to come.
