This weekend I decided to follow local signs around for food.
The suburb we moved to hosts a weekend celebration that includes live music, inflatables, food trucks, parades, and fireworks.
Signs around town promoting the festivities and Lions Club pig roast caught my eye.
I met my family at the park and we enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches. It was some of the most tender and flavorful pork I’ve ever enjoyed.
Life with a toddler is certainly different than our many years without a toddler. We don’t dine at restaurants as frequently as we used to. We order take-out during the week when we’re too tired to cook after work. And weekend dining is mostly revolves around our trips to the farmers markets or home-cooked meals with family.
Simply eating pulled pork, ice cream, and watching the toddler jump around a bounce house filled me with joy.
The owner of the home cleaning business we hire recommended going to the festivities and trying the Firefighter department’s booyah – he has a lot of experience preparing it.
Booyah is a very Midwestern thing but somehow neither one of us of us had ever tried booyah.
It’s a slow-cooked stew made with meats and veggies served in giant pots. Everyone’s got their own intricate, secret recipe.
The festival listed Booyah at 8 am. I wondered if people actually arrived that early and hoped I wouldn’t be the only eagerly showing up for breakfast soup at 8.
We arrived shortly after eight and joined a growing line of people in the Booyah line. Many people brought boxes to haul pails of booyah.
The flavorful broth was filled with shredded meats (chicken and pork?) and lots of vegetables including carrots, green beans, corn and lima beans. Comforting and filling. The toddler loved it too.
Every once in a while you’ll see handwritten signs posted around East Saint Paul advertising eggroll sales.
Earlier this summer we drove by an eggroll sale at a little church and I’ve regretted it ever since.
Some Googling led me to Obedience Alliance Church. This weekend I was determined not to miss the sale.
Obedience Alliance Church, Hmong-speaking church, is located near the Maplewood Mall. You can find updates about their eggroll sales on Facebook.
Look for the dancing Eggroll inflatable. They set up the eggroll stand in their parking lot.
The sale appears quite popular, as many cars came and went during the short time that we visited. I saw someone from the church carry out a fresh trays of eggrolls.
Each costs $1.50 and comes with a sweet and slightly spicy dipping sauce with a mild fish sauce note.
I buy eggrolls every chance I get and these are really good eggrolls. Perfectly sized, crisp wrapper that’s fried well and not too oily, flavorful noodle-meat filling. And that excellent sauce.
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