The Hit List - Breaking Bread

You know what I love the most about travel? Meeting up with cool people and kicking back over some good food (yes, it almost always comes down to food with me).

This year, I hit Minneapolis twice (and hard!) for two different workshops and met up with some mighty nifty women (those workshops were Write Yourself Into Motion and Blogcademy – be sure to shimmy your booty over to those when they show up at your hometown). So when I went back to the Twin Cities last week, I made sure to hook up with a few gals that I thought were intriguing (PS I thought you all were ab fab by the way…but a tarot thug only has so many hours in the day for eatin’ and greetin’).

Here’s my rundown and why you need to check out their work:

Brunch:

What I ate: delicious corn fritters at Haute Dish. These crispy yummies were served with chopped berries and powdered sugar. To die for and then resurrect like a zombie and to die for again! I’m still dreaming of those bad boys. In fact, that got my cronut craving tamed down to a distant memory.

Who: I got to hang with Tara Cole of RealityTC. Are you reading her blog? You should. She’s smarter than all get out, has impeccable taste in music – and the woman is freaking stylish. (Memo to self: dress smarter next time and sit up straight.) If I lived in MPLS, I might just stalk her – she’s THAT effing awesome.

Dinner:

What I ate: I headed to one of my favorite haunts, 112 Eatery for blue ribbon chicken with artichokes and potatoes in a velouté sauce. DIVINE. Crisp, creamy, rich and probably forever on my hips but I don’t give a damn.

Who: Popular children’s author and artist, Marianne Richmond. I really liked Marianne the first time I met her – partially because she reminded me of a favorite client but also because her warmth emanates like a mini sun. Our conversation was deep and familiar – like old friends who knew each other forever. (I hope we do get the opportunity to be life long friends.)

Once I got home, it was time to get back to conversations ‘n cooking in my own crib. And this week, all we are talking about is the upcoming season finale of Breaking Bad. In fact, hubby has been on a BB marathon and although I love the show, my brain is spun from all the drugs, drama and violence. Don’t get me wrong – I dig it (ex: one of my favorite movies of all time is Requiem For A Dream – so yeah, BB is right up my alley). But a gal can only take so much of this.

So what’s a food lovin’ tarot chick to do in that case? Make seafood soup! Here’s my easy recipe: heat olive oil in a pot over medium high. Saute chopped garlic clove for about a minute. Add a thinly sliced fennel bulb and cook for about 3 minutes. Add 1 large chopped tomato. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3 more minutes. Add 4 C. chicken broth – bring to a gentle boil. Add about 12 oz firm white fish (cod works great) and a pound of shrimp to the soup. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve with crusty bread. Use fennel fronds for a garnish. Takes less than a half hour!

Other stuff:

It’s no secret that I love to eat (duh – see stuff above) but here’s the deal: I NEVER feel guilty about indulging in good eats. Do you? I know lots of women who do. Here’s a post from Rookie to make you think differently on your apologetic food loving ‘n eating – Eating: A Manifesto.

Do you have words you loathe? (Moist is one of my most despised.) I love this post on hated words over at XOJane.

These photos of homeless people in Los Angeles are stunning. Hard to believe that the photographer is only 22 years old!

Goddess Leonie shares some tough yet tender wisdom: 10 Lessons From Building A Heart Centered Half Million Dollar A Year Business

Thug Kitchen cracks me up + makes me hungry at the same time. Get yer cookin’ rap on, playas!

I adore “evil eye” jewelry – this bracelet gets me all kinds of excited and glassy eyed.

Buying gifts for kids – a favorite pastime around here. I just grabbed a copy of The LEGO Ideas Book for my nephew’s birthday. Rumor has it that he loved the book so much, he slept with it!

What I’m Grateful For:

The uber slick ‘n trill plans for 2014 (thanks Alex!)

Meeting new people

Staying in touch with old pals

My new kettle for soup making

Gorgeous weather

Breaking Bad will be done this week

Soundtrack for 9/28/13: Line of Fire by Junip (they’ve been playing this over and over in the Breaking Bad ads so now it’s stuck in my craw! Ack!)