Great Taste

Eat for Equity helps out Lanesboro Local

If you haven't checked out the Lanesboro Local Marketplace, add it to your list -- it's a great little shop with plenty of fresh local/area meats and produce.

Eat for Equity Feast Coming to Lanesboro
 
LANESBORO MN (February 1, 2012) Eat for Equity is coming to cook up a local feast in Lanesboro, to benefit Lanesboro Local’s Marketplace.
 
You may have read about this incredibly fun and conscientious non-profit funding-raising group based in Minneapolis. Founder Emily Torgrimson and board vice president Laura Nethercut both grew up here and attended Fillmore Central, Class of 2002. The Eat for Equity concept is simple. They organize volunteers to prepare a special meal, tied to a cause, engaging the generosity, ingredients, cooking skills and good will of many individuals to raise funds and create a better, more equitable world.
 
Eat for Equity has volunteered to put on a pre-Valentine’s Day spread of locally produced delectables in Lanesboro. The dinner will benefit Lanesboro Local, which helps rural southeastern Minnesota growers, producers and artisans secure better opportunities to produce local goods and find local markets for their products.
 
The evening begins at 6:00 pm on Saturday, February 11, at the home of Peggy Hanson and Frank Wright at 500 Calhoun Ave S, Lanesboro (formerly the Cady Hayes Bed & Breakfast establishment). Drinks and dinner will be prepared and served by volunteers.
 
The Eat for Equity message is, “Come as you are. Give what you can.” Participants will be helping to strengthen our rural communities while enjoying a delicious feast of cooked-from-scratch local food. Who knows? Such good eats may cause you to imagine a bigger role for local foods in your household. Good folks, good food, good times. All for the greater good.
 
A $20 donation at the door is suggested, or a higher level of generosity if it suits you, to raise funds for Lanesboro Local to sustain its programs and the Marketplace. Reservations are encouraged. Email info@lanesborolocal.org or leave a message at the Marketplace, 507-467-2944. Better yet, stop in at the Marketplace and sign up, from noon to 6 PM Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays through the winter.

                                                                                                                        For more information contact:
                                                                                                                        Andrea Miehlisch andrea@lanesborolocal.org
                                                                                                                        507/467-2944
 
 
Julie Kiehne
Executive Director
Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce
www.lanesboro.com
800-944-2670
Partnering with Explore Mississippi Bluffs www.exploremississippibluffs.com

Final words on bread pudding

Readers had plenty of tips on good sources for bread pudding, after last week's Four Stars report:

I haven’t tasted the bread pudding at the places mentioned, but I can’t imagine that they could be better than that served at Michael’s and it has raisins in it.  I never used to order dessert, but after sampling theirs, I can’t resist.  I’m going there for dinner tonight and I can hardly wait.
 
Jane M. Scanlon, Rochester

++++

the bread pudding at famous dave's is excellent and big enough for two people if one wants to share.  if you fill out the survey on your receipt you can get a free dessert the next time you shop. we usually take ours home and share it.. rick wood

++++

Hi Jay,

Good article on bread pudding.  I concur 100% with Area 57.  Another really good and new restaurant you need to go to is Reads Landing Brewing Company.

It's got a charming old decor.  The food is very good and very different than anywhere else around her.  It has a southern flair.  The menu is small but has a lot of unique combinations of foods.  You have to trust the chef's tastes and go with it.  You won't be sorry.

Tim Meyer
Zumbrota

++++

Boy, what a great job tasting all that delicious food, I have not tried any of the places you mentioned to have bread pudding, but I have saved the article in the hopes of doing so. I was surprised that there was no mention of the Hubbell House `s bread pudding, the only one I have had, it is to die for. I enjoy your sense of humor and look forward to reading more. English bread pudding is totally different, more solid, but good. --  Maureen "Mo" Maass

++++

I have never taken the time to respond to any article in the paper, but I just had to tell you about the Banana Bread pudding at Saints on 2nd.  It is so very good with a vanilla caramel sauce and no raisins.

Yummy!
Please check it out.

Thanks.   TJ

++++

The raspberry bread pudding with whiskey sauce at Hubbell House is worth saving room for!
Carol Gronseth

 

Bravo for bread pudding

Bonnie in Dodge Center sent this note, in advance of the Four Stars column coming up on Dec. 27, calling out the best bread pudding in the area:

Hey Jay, I have two places where the best bread pudding can be found.

Number one, Chester's in Rochester, and number two, the Old School Cafe in Mantorville.

Have a merry Christmas -- I love your column.

P.S. --- where are the best homemade brownies?

Regarding the latter -- at my house, of course. But I'll let readers help with brownie ideas while I finish eating a lot of bread pudding this week.

Donate a book, receive a free coffee

Through Dec. 15, Starbucks Coffee on the second floor of Doubletree Hotel in downtown Rochester, donate infant and young adult books in new or gently used condition and a get a tall drink, free!

The Doubletree is collecting the books for children undergoing cancer and diabetes treatment in Rochester. The books be given to them to read while undergoing treatments.

Starbucks in Doubletree is open from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays and Sundays.

The absolute worst Thanksgiving food idea you'll read today

A news release to take away your appetite:

Hi There,
 
Hope you’re doing well. Sweeten up your Thanksgiving weekend by turning your leftovers into decadent milk shakes using recipes from The Milk Shake Factory by Edward Marc Chocolatier! Below please find three recipes to help you create the following delicious shakes: Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie and Pecan Pie Milk Shakes.
 
Please let me know if you are working on any stories where you think they would be a fit, and I’d be happy to send you additional information or high-res images.
 
Best,
Katie
 
 

If you insist on seeing the recipes, I'll post them, but don't ask for the high-res images.

 

'We don't give in to tantrums'

I love this report from a new local restaurant, posted in Kiger's Notebook -- it belongs here, where restaurant-goers can empathize:

So we tried the new restaurant last night.  At 6 PM the wait was to be 30 minutes.  It wasn't quite that long. The food was great as always but we were seated near a family with 4 kids under the age of 8.  They had to be the rudest family we ever saw.  At one point a girl around 3 or so was laying on her back in the middle of the aisle kicking her feet and screaming.  The mom said they don't give into her tantrums!  HELLO!  I felt sorry for the staff who spent 15 minutes cleaning up after they left.  How rude.  If the kids are savages leave them home.  I wish they had kid and no kid sections.  It ruined a otherwise great meal.

At the 11th hour on the 11th day...cheese was cracked

News from Hy-Vee -- if you're a Parmigiano-Reggiano fan, you'll want to be at Hy-Vee North at 11 a.m. today:

Hy-Vee sponsors “The Crack Heard ‘Round the Midwest”
 
Parmigiano-Reggiano has been called “The King of Cheeses.” The original parmesan cheese, handmade for centuries in a small region in northern Italy, is lauded by cheese-lovers throughout the world for its distinctive flavor and texture and remarkable health benefits.
 
Hy-Vee has imported its largest purchase ever of this celebrated cheese – more than 19,000 pounds of it, to be exact – and is marking the occasion with a special event dubbed “The Crack Heard ‘Round the Midwest.”
 
This Friday, November 11th, at 11:11 a.m., more than 135 Hy-Vee stores in eight states will simultaneously break open 85-pound wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese using a traditional process known as “cracking.” This painstaking 30-minute process involves the use of special tools split the wheel of cheese along its natural fault lines and break it down into smaller pieces, which preserves the cheese’s creamy flavor and flaky texture.
 
Customers are invited to view the cracking, sample the freshly cracked Parmigiano-Reggiano, and pick up recipes and serving tips.
 
Join us and witness Hy-Vee history being made at the “Crack Heard ‘Round the Midwest”:
 
WHEN:   Friday, November 11th
                                11:11 a.m.
 
WHERE:   Hy-Vee North  500 37th Street NW Rochester, MN
 
 

Sink your claws into the new Red Lobster

I checked out the new Red Lobster near Apache Mall last night and, as my friend pictured above indicates, they're looking good. Attractive new room, especially as compared with the dark and almost clastrophobic former location downtown, and the fresh-steamed lobster was excellent.

This month's Four Stars mission is to tell you about four outstanding places for lobster. Since nowhere else in the region has fresh lobster on the menu every night, you can assume Red Lobster will be on the list. But who else? Pass along your recommendations.

Michaels in Rochester just wrapped up their lobsterfest, and I didn't miss it; and the Hubbell House in Mantorville is featuring steak and lobster this month. Two more can't-miss locations.

 

Red Lobster ready to open in new location

Red Lobster will be open for dinner Nov. 7 though 11 in its new location at Apache Mall, in the former Macoroni Grill location outside near Herberger's. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner beginning Nov. 12.

How about a 25-percent tip for servers?

Here's a conversation starter from a Food Channel e-newsletter. What do you think? More important, how much do you tip?

Servers Seek Tipping Standard of 25%

There were media reports earlier this month that restaurant servers in San Francisco were seeking to have 25% adopted as the standard tip amount for service.

While it was initially reported by the Contra Costa Times that this was an organized effort backed by some area restaurants, it now appears that this was simply an opinion expressed by several restaurant workers who were interviewed. The newspaper issued a retraction.

But it raises the age old question, what is a fair tip to leave for good service at a sit-down restaurant? Should 25% become the unofficial “standard” tip?

For most diners today, the usual tip seems to be between 15% and 20%. According to the restaurant review source ZAGAT, the average tip is now 19.2%, having creeped up a fraction in the last couple years.

When the “25% tipping standard” story first broke, most consumers interviewed were opposed to the tip hike, saying that 25% went too far. One person commented, “Tips should be earned, not expected.” Another said, “The government puts 15 percent as the tax tab for individuals getting tips. Does anyone really think restaurant workers will admit to the additional income and report it to the IRS? I’m sticking with 15 percent as my restaurant tip.”

But there were some supporters of the proposal. “Given the state of the economy, I think 25% is not unreasonable,” Valerie Green of Oakley, Calif., said. “I usually do 20 percent, but everyone needs some extra money now and I’m all for it. I’m going to go with 25 percent starting with my next meal out.”

The CNNMoney website publishes a quick guide, provided by the etiquette people at the Emily Post Institute. Here are its guidelines.

Waiter/waitress: 15% of bill (excl. tax) for adequate service; 20% for very good service; no less than 10% for poor service

Headwaiter/captain: often gets a cut of table server’s tip; so tip your server extra to reward captain, or tip captain separately

Sommelier or wine steward: 15% of cost of the bottle

Bartender: 15% to 20% of the tab, with a minimum of 50 cents per soft drink, $1 per alcoholic drink

Tipping is generally seen as a reward for good service, but there are other underlying reasons, according to Cornell professor Michael Lynn, who has studied tipping behavior for two decades.

“The major reason people tip,” according to Lynn, “is to avoid social disapproval.”

Lynn found that the quality of service had little to do with how much of a tip people left on the table—a variability of around 4%. He did find that people tend to tip more on a sunny day.

Tipping is also a way for the equality-minded to feel less guilty about being served, Lynn says.

Psychology aside, tipping is part of the cost of a meal out. It’s not really optional, even though the amount is discretionary. And the next time you’re tempted to leave a tiny tip for a surly server, think about this: a tip is often shared by the busboy, bartender, and hostess. When you leave your server a lousy tip, you’re probably punishing them all.