When people ask me what I’m up to this summer, the answers always the name:

“Not much, haha.”

If they ask if we’re going on any trips, the answer’s “Nope lol.”

We’re spending time outside with family and close friends. We’re walking the dog a lot – Trayse is having the best pandemic ever. We’re getting home projects done, and grilling on the deck.

I’m watching a lot of TV. Just started Fleabag and the Babysitters Club re-boot.

Here’s a few take-out things I really enjoyed and would recommend.

My reigning favorite summer meal right now is the Tofu Don bowl with some veggie sushi for later from Kado No Mise that I wrote about earlier.  

Tao Natural Foods, Lowry Hill, Minneapolis

Tao Natural Foods has been around since 1968. It’s part restaurant.cafe and part herbary. You can buy an earth or moon potion to drink or good ole cold press. What I really like is the food.

Describing it as healthy is too simple and not satisfying enough. It’s homemade and fresh and flavorful. Perfect for ordering to-go and taking to a park for a picnic.

The menu is muchly vegetarian, with an option to add turkey to many dishes or order a cup of bone broth. Like the other vegetarian-forward restaurants I’ve visited, the tofu in my coconut curry bowl was flavorful and carefully seared.

Keefer Court, Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis

I know I’m 2000 and late to get to Keefer Court.

It’s been open near the University of MN in Cedar-Riverside since 1983.

Somehow this was my first visit.

I liked everything I got – a fluffy steamed BBQ tofu bun, chewy sesame ball filled with red bean paste, pineapple BBQ pork bun, curry beef bun, and hot dog bun. While there are sweet buns and pastries, too, I prefer the sweet and salty combo of the sweeter buns and savory fillings.

I went back this weekend for another box of buns – a fuller box. I added more sesame bean paste balls and a curry mung bean bun. If you go near opening, you’ll get first choice of pastries, many of which are still warm. Carrying the warm box is delightful, even in 90 degree weather.

A selection of buns is marked for vegans (and vegetarians) BBQ tofu & BBQ tofu-kimchi buns, spring onion buns, and curried mung bean buns. The tofu has a nice, firm texture.

Keefer Court is open Wednesday-Sunday. In the past they only accepted cash, but take cards now with a small fee. 

Tangled Up In Food Bakery, Champlain, MN

One of my favorite sweets from the past couple weeks are Stacy’s cornflake crunch cookies. She’s one of my favorite local food writers. The wild blueberry muffins are great, don’t get me wrong. I ate a lot of cornflake crunch cookies each day until they were simple. . . gone.