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Franklin County Harvest Bloggers Tour

October 9, 2014 / / 4 Comments

Disclaimer: The Franklin County Harvest Bloggers Tour was sponsored by the The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce & Franklin County Farm Bureau who provided our lodging, meals and activities. All opinions and thoughts are my own. 

At Jeni Eats, I don’t just eat.

Although I primarily blog about experiences through the lens of food, I whole heartedly seek opportunities to explore new communities, whether near or far, and learn about lifestyles different from my own. The topic of food can be extremely divisive, but it can also bring people together. Three and a half years of blogging has brought me new experiences and connected me with people I’d never meet through my day-to-day interactions. It’s also given me the courage to break bread with strangers and for this, my life is richer and much more interesting.

When the Franklin County Harvest Blogger Tour extended an invitation to spend the weekend in Hampton, I gladly accepted.

We received the warmest welcome possible. I was most struck by the hospitality the community showered upon us. Most everyone who hosted components of the event did so on a volunteer basis, whether providing us with tours or showing us around their farms. Volunteers fed us home-cooked meals prepared during their time off and joined us during early mornings and evenings, often introducing us to their families.

Through my travels, I’ve observed that there’s something remarkably humbling about being cared for by strangers while away from home. Humble pie can taste harsh or sweet, but either way, there’s always something to be learned.

Here are some vignettes describing our whirlwind weekend:

Our Digs

Country Heritage Collage

Most of us stayed at the Country Heritage Bed & Breakfast. My GPS led me astray on the way to the B & B. I thanked my lucky stars when Donna randomly found me on the side of the road with a dead phone, cursing my brains out. She led me to Country Heritage where we turned right at the pink sign advertising their Giggling Goat gift shop.

My home away from home was the Inspiration Suite. We joked that I’d have to live up to its namesake. It provided a comfortable place to unwind after busy days. Each room was equipped with a whirlpool bath and private balcony.

I was especially taken with my sparkly chandelier.

Chandelier

The owners were gracious and helped us get situated. On Saturday night, they warmed us with a comforting meal of three homemade soups. Jake joined us for dinner and our favorite was beef and vegetable. Simple foods are not so simple when someone nails them. We were surprised to learn that Lacey, who prepared this soup, did so for the first time and without a recipe.

Beth and I greeted their trio of 10-month old Pygmi goats each morning with a handful of corn. They giggled as they hopped and skipped around their yard. I tried to snap the perfect photo all weekend.

Goat Collage

Where have these been my whole life?

Reeve Electrical Association Plant
Our first stop took us to the REA Museum, a former power plant that became operational in 1938. According to the official website, it was the “First Coop in the nation to put farmer-owned generated electricity out on farmer-owned lines.” The plant was renovated in 1989 and is listed on the National Registered of Historic Places.

Outside electric museum

Darwin Meyer, a board member on the Franklin County Historical Society, volunteered as our tour guide for both the REA Plant and historical museum. We peeked at components of the original plant and looked at displays of household appliances from years’ past such as old stoves and a gas-powered washing machine.

I can’t remember the intended purpose of the giant wheel, but it reminded me of the Iron Throne so I got a little bit Cersai Lannister with my selfies.

REA Plant One Collage

Beeds Lake Spillway
This evening was teeth-chatteringly cold and windy at sunset, but worth this shot.

Beed

It’s one of my favorite photos from the trip.

Carlson Tree Farm

carlson Collage

The Carlson family operates a Christmas tree farm in Hampton, along with a lodge that the community is welcome to reserve for personal events at whatever cost the party is able to pay. They also teach wreath making classes around the holidays. Dennis Carlson provides outdoor educational opportunities for many school groups and Cathy Carlson (pictured above) produces locally grown and milled whole wheat flour, which I recently added some to an all-butter pie crust that I used for mini quiches.

We unwound in the lodge during our first night over appetizers and wine from TownsEnd Winery located in Hansel, Iowa. Fortunately, wine tasting commenced after Donna and I started running into things with the Carlsons’ wiggle cars. My favorite wines were the cranberry and gooseberry varieties. Our hosts sent us home with our own bottle of cranberry wine, which has had me singing “Cranberry wine, thiiiiirty,” all week. Believe it or not, it’s not getting old.

It was all fun and games until Dennis brought out a bowl of bugs. As part of his nature education sessions, he challenges kids to try eating a mealworm or cricket. If they succeed, they earn an “I ate a bug today!” sticker.

Bug phobia and all, I wanted that sticker. I reluctantly stared at the mealworm in the palm of my hand. “Eat it, don’t pop it like an Aspirin,” exclaimed a friend as I consumed it with swig of cranberry wine. And when I got home, I caught my dog trying to eat the “I ate a bug” sticker.” I had to pry it out of his mouth.

Combine Rides
Until this weekend, I’d never even touched a piece of farm equipment. We got up close and personal with the Plagge’s. Val Plagge of Corn, Beans, Pigs & Kids is actually one of the first bloggers I met after moving to North Iowa. We’ve spent time together on many occasions, but never before at her farm. She introduced Jake and I to the Franklin County Fair last July where we won green ribbons in a cake decorating contest.

Farm Scene

Val’s husband took each us on combine rides as he harvested corn, patiently explaining the difference between a combine and a tractor and red vs. green. Their son literally couldn’t believe his ears when we told him it was our first time riding a combine.

Combine CollageA monitor next to the driver’s seat is equipped with GPS and monitors data such as the corn’s moisture and quantity harvested. The points on the front of the combine effortlessly moved between the rows of corn trimming the stalks into little nubs we kept tripping over because we forgot to lift our knees up high. It reminded me of the time-eating Langoliers I once watched in a movie, except that it consumed corn.

Tractor Tire

I got a kick out of the “pew pew pew” noise it made at the end of each row.

Farm Kitties Are The Best

Farm Kitties Collage

Cute critters turn me into a googly-eyed fool. I got to snuggle lots of farm kitties at Carlson Tree Farm and Roy and Jeannie Arend’s farm in Alexander. The Arends spoke to us about their farm and described the challenges our weather poses. They offered us apples from their trees and took bloggers on combine rides through their soybean field. In the top right photo, Jeanie introduces one of her snuggliest kitties to Beth & Nic’s daughter.

Historical Museum & Latham Hi-Tech Seeds
In addition to combine rides, Saturday’s activities also included a trip to the Franklin County Historical Museum and a tour of Latham Hi-Tech Seeds. I found my childhood in the historical museum as part of a display about top toys throughout the decades. What is happening?

Game boy

After touring Latham’s seed processing facility and learning about what operations are like during harvest, we enjoyed a lunch of smoked pork sandwiches and Val’s much-talked about Sweet & Spicy Hog Wild Beans while two ladies from Ag in the Classroom program shared examples of their lessons with us. I was mind-blown when they explained that each stalk of corn only grows one ear.

Latham Collage

Main Street Hampton & The Windsor
Hampton has a vibrant Main Street. Beth and I ordered our usual Dirty Chai’s (chai with a shot of espresso) at Rustic Brew to fuel us through a brief tour of the shops. Rustic Brew also houses a microbrewery.

Hampton Main Street Collage

Hampton’s Main Street is also home to the Windsor Theater where we we attended a vaudeville show called “An Evening Like It Used To Be.” The theater was built in 1913, remodeled in 1999, and rumors say it’s slightly haunted.

The two women collecting tickets were striking. They donned glamorous capes and pink feather boas while many others also dressed the part.

We found our seats among a full house. I’ve never seen a silent film before and was surprised by funny and relevant I found it. The rest of the variety show included singing, dancing, and comedy sketches. We had a grand time laughing at dad jokes, participating in a group sing-along and eating buttery popcorn. Did you know there’s an Iowa song?

Our tour ended over a breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and eggbake at the ABCM Rehabilitation Center. Like the Wandering Tourists describe, our visit to the care facility made me feel bittersweet. I thought of my grandparents who have since passed away and reflected on the twists and turns life has taken me on since I began blogging.

Three and a half years ago, I was a graduate student and herbalist’s apprentice who typed posts from the center island of our old condo in Bloomington, Minnesota. I never imagined blogging would bring me to Franklin County, Iowa where I would become obsessed with cranberry wine and pygmi goats and ride a combine.

Cheers always to new adventures.

Girls combine

Extra special thanks to Jennifer Healy of the Franklin County Farm Bureau, Kristina Raisch of the Chamber of Commerce, Larry Sailer, & Larry of ABCM for spending the entire weekend with us. 

Fellow Harvest Blogger Tour Participants:
Donna: Donna Hup
Beth: It’s Just Life
Bethany & Nick (and twins): Sawdust and Embryos
Lisa & Tim: The Walking Tourists

An Update After Nine Graze Boxes: Our Favorite & Least Favorite Snacks

October 2, 2014 / / 4 Comments

*I received two boxes of snacks composed of flapjacks & popcorn compliments of Graze. Jake and I continue to pay for our own Nibblr subscription. All thoughts are 100% honest and my own. 

We’re nine Graze Nibblr boxes deep.

Since my initial post comparing Naturebox to Graze Nibblr boxes, we’ve had an opportunity to try many more snacks, so I thought I’d share an update. Interestingly enough, my most viewed posts are about subscription boxes.

Jake prefers the big Naturebox bags of snacks while I prefer Graze. I like the quirky variety of snacks and appreciate the ingredients’ freshness. Nothing has tasted stale or dried-out. As downsides to the Nibblr boxes, the portion sizes are truly single serving and you can’t choose which ones arrive. You can rate the snacks, though, and indicate if you want to “trash” or “try”, “like” or “love.”

However, Graze is offering a waiting list for their upcoming Big Box option where subscribers choose five bags of snacks each month for $25. I love this idea, but we’ll stick with our every other week schedule since we’re trying to save money for a vacation.

We began our subscription by using a friend’s referral code that gave us our first and fifth box free, while paying $6 for the other boxes. The price has increased to $6.99 per box, but it appears we’re still locked into the $6 price. Everyone who subscribes to Graze has a referral code. Feel free to use my friend Beth’s. She blogs at It’s Just Life: Finding The Extraordinary in the Ordinary: BETHC8WQP 

UPDATE (12/7/14) We did decide to cancel our subscription. We enjoyed our subscription, but wished we could handpick only savory snacks, since we generally dislike sweet ones. When I asked a Graze representative if it was possible to “trash” all of the sweet snacks and only receive our favorite savory ones, she replied that it’s possibly “in theory” but makes it difficult to fill an order this specific. Graze is still offering a waiting list for their Big Box. This looks like a fun option, but not one we want to budget for at the moment. 

In early September Graze sent me some Flapjacks & Popping Corn to try.

Graze

These are are favorite and least favorite snacks from the snacks Graze sent us to try and our regular Nibblr deliveries:

Favorites:

Savory Collage
Twist of Black Pepper Popping Corn: Graze sent me a complimentary box of their black pepper and lightly salted popcorn to try. My favorite flavor is the black pepper because I like the peppery bite. At first I thought the popcorn was popped in butter, but see it’s actually palm oil. The portion size is substantial.

Chili & Lime Pistachios: If I were to subscribe to the Big Box, I’d want to choose a bag of these. Jake and I competed over these pistachios more than any of the other snacks. They randomly showed up in our second box and I hope we see them again.

Fruity Mango Chutney: I’m mildly obsessed with dips. Possibly because they are one of those fun foods I indulge in at parties, but have a difficult time justifying making at home for just the two of us. I especially liked that the rice crackers were spicy.

Sweet Collage

Brownie Flapjack: Graze calls their granola bars Flapjacks. They are soft in texture and almost cakey. I liked this brownie version even though I don’t typically gravitate towards sweet snacks, because brownie of course! The shortening Graze lists in its Flapjacks’ ingredients is non-hydrogenated margarine. I’ve usually split a pack with Jake.

Salted Fudge & Peanut Cookie: The cookie bits are shortbready and the tiny cubes of salted fudge have a texture like Starbursts. It’s a quirky sweet and salty mix that’s fun to eat.

Graze’s Smokey Hot Dog (Update 12/7/14): This is my favorite Graze snack to date. It’s salty, cheesy, and a little spicy. It sounds gross, but tastes really good. The smoked cashews taste remind me of smoked gouda.

Least Favorites

  • Key Lime: We liked the whimsy of this snack with the little meringue and cookie bits, but this mix was too sweet for us.

key lime

  • Fruit & Seed Flapjack: Even though I enjoyed the brownie and berry flapjacks, I found this variety too sweet.
  • Dried Fruit Mixes: Pure, dried fruit mixes aren’t our personal snacking preference.
  • Plain Fruit-nut Mixes: We’ve received a couple of plain fruit-nut mixes like Born in the USA. While the ingredients are fresh and the snack is substantial enough to tide me over until the next meal, I’ve found them bland since they aren’t seasoned or salted.
  • My Thai Dippers (Update 12/7/14): Something about this snack just did not taste good to us. This is the only snack we threw in the trash.

Have you ever tried a food subscription box? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received two free boxes containing popping corn & flapjacks for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Ecstasies & Horrors Of Trying Eight Flavors Of Oreos: North Iowa Bloggers Taste Test

September 27, 2014 / / 14 Comments

I don’t want to eat another Oreo for 10 years.

Seriously. I saw some at a picnic yesterday and passed.

It’s been two months since the North Iowa Bloggers got together to taste weird things, which is way too long. We reconvened this week to test taste weird Oreos and celebrate fall birthdays.

Beth set up this impressive Oreo tasting station complete with a smiley face voting system. She really is the hostess with the mostest. You’ll notice the table is not only decorated with flowers, but photos of Donna & Laura. We make “flat” versions of bloggers who can’t attend our taste testing events because we’re like that.

flat people

Here’s a glimpse of our potluck buffet. I brought bacon-wrapped figs stuffed with basil-lemon goat cheese pictured below on the left.

meal Collage

Potlucks are the best because they feed my dip obsession. We enjoyed Pulled Pork, baked potato dip, bagel dip, caramel apple dip, strawberry-basil balsamic foccacia, savory cheese dip & that Midwestern Snickers salad, something I’ve only seen in Iowa. It was imperative that we create a substantial base in our stomachs in preparation for the Oreos.

We sacrificed one of each cookie to create this artwork. So yes, exactly eight Oreos were harmed in the process.

oreo raibow Frame

Top Row: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Berry, Root Beer Float, Peanut Butter
Bottom Row: Pumpkin Spice, Caramel Apple, Chocolate Birthday Cake, Vanilla Birthday Cake

My three favorite flavors are Pumpkin Spice, Peanut Butter, and Cookie Dough.

Good Oreo Collage

Pumpkin Spice: I was surprised this cookie tasted more like cookie butter than a pumpkin spice latte. “Hey guys, it tastes like Speculoos!” I shouted.

Everyone’s mouth dropped and then there was silence.

My mouth was full of cookie. And since I had no idea how to pronounce “Speculoos,” having only read the word but never hearing it pronounced, everyone thought I said the cookie tasted like a speculum. I promise you it didn’t, unless speculums taste like Speculoos or you really hate pumpkin spice. Not that I would know or anything.

Peanut Butter: Unless you hate peanut butter, this chocolate-peanut butter combo will not offend.

Cookie Dough: This was the last Oreo I tasted. Frankly, there’s nothing that exciting about stuffing a cookie with cookie-dough flavored frosting, but it tasted innocuous enough and didn’t make me cringe, so, up it went up into my top three.

The Oreos that made my face go like this were banished to the bottom five.

Bad Cookie Collage with poopy

My least favorite flavors were Root Beer, Berry, Birthday Cake and Berry.

Root Beer: I took this shocked and appalled selfie (Oreoelfie?) with root beer Oreo residue still clinging to the sides of my mouth. The root beer flavor in the frosting was strong. Like Vicks Vapor Rub strong. I could feel root beer vapors wafting from my tongue into the deep recesses of my brain with each inhele. I wouldn’t say that I wanted to die, but I can’t say I didn’t want the Oreo to die. Root beer cookies just no.

Berry: I hated this icky, fake-fruit flavor. Many of us thought it smacked of pink medicine.

Caramel Apple: Again, I disliked the fake fruit flavor, this time in green apple. It wasn’t medicinal like the berry, but still gross. Are these fruity flavors the precursor to Jolly Rancher Oreos? We couldn’t find the fruit punch flavor in our local stores and none of us cried about it.

Birthday Cake (Vanilla & Chocolate): I spit out my first bite of Vanilla Birthday Cake Oreo before forgoing the chocolate. Until this day, I’d avoided Birthday Cake flavored everything, which makes me biased. I don’t even like real birthday cake.

North Dakota blogger Molly Yeh writes about Funfetti and Birthday Cake flavors in a post about Funfetti Biscotti. She hits the nail on the head when she identifies clear, artificial vanilla extract as tasting like nostalgia. For many, this tastes like the grade school birthday parties and vanilla lip glosses Yeh mentions.

For me, the flavor tastes like the smell of the tweeny body splashes my friends used to douse themselves in after gym class that always made me nauseous. Birthday Cake and Funfetti enthusiasts will like these Oreos.

Visit my fellow North Iowa bloggers to find out which Oreos brought them ecstasy or horror. Our opinions differ widely. Who knows what we will try next!

Group Photo

Don’t ask me why I’m holding a Berry Oreo.

My Fellow Taste Testers
Amy, Modern Rural Living
Beth, It’s Just Life
Katy, Learning As I Go
Sara, All In An Iowan Mom’s Day & Travel With Sara
Val, Corn, Beans, Pigs & Kids

(In Absentia)
Donna, Donnahup.com
Laura, All Things Travel 

For Better or For Worse: Most Memorable School Cafeteria Foods

September 26, 2014 / / 12 Comments

Next month, I’ll return to Waverly, Iowa for the first time since my college graduation and it’s got me in a school [food] state of mind.

A Chowhound discussion about memorable school cafeteria food continues to pop-up and I never get tired of reading people’s memories. School cafeteria food is vividly burned into my memory and I can still taste and smell meals decades later.

It’s interesting to learn about the different iconic school cafeteria meals that exist even between states within the Midwest. Many of my Iowan friends fondly remember chili and cinnamon/caramel roll day and Crispitos, which I never saw in Minnesota. My college roommate grew up in a small town in Iowa and recalled the combination of “Pork shape on a bun” and butter sandwiches, which were spread with something that was definitely not butter. In fact, I don’t remember seeing pork served on lunch menus at my Minnesota schools during grade school.

These are the school cafeteria foods that are burned most clearly into my memory. Feel free to add yours in the comments section:

Elementary School (Diamond Path, Apple Valley, Minnesota)
Diamond Path became a “magnet school of international studies” in 2007. I have especially vivid memories learning about Frank Lloyd Wright in art class and making homemade pizza as part of a unit about Italy. As you can see in this photo, there’s a tiled pool in the entryway. During the year this pool was built, we all designed and painted our own clay tiles which I believe are still there.

Picnick

In 3rd grade, I was a picnic table. Where are those dunkers?

Memorable:

  • Turkey Gravy: This was the most popular lunch item. The meal was simply a clear gravy with cubes of turkey served over mashed potatoes, but even the teachers would forgo their sack lunches on Turkey Gravy Day.
  • Tony’s Pizza: Our lunch menus always specified that it was Tony’s Pizza. Of course, there were the big rectangles of cheese, sausage & pepperoni covered in pale cheese that never browned. The Mexican pizza (technically called a Fiestada) was extra special because it was octagon-shaped and covered with bright yellow cheese. Tony’s still produces Fiestadas but only sells them through distributors like Schwan’s by the case of 96! They’re listed under the “Sheeted-Pizza” category because how else do you produce pizzas shaped like octagons?
  • French Toast Sticks: I actually bought a box at the grocery store last year for giggles. Sure, I can make my own french toast now, but these still tasted good.
  • Flavored/Seasoned Rice: This is the only food that stands out as being especially unappealing. And if I remember correctly, the menu literally this “Flavored Rice” and flavored it was. With something nose-wrinkling salty and chicken-bouillonesque that also turned it bright yellow.

Middle-High School (Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis, MN)

All of my former schools’ menus have changed to include more fresh vegetables and fruit. In fact, I am gawking at the current elementary school menu that lists fresh spinach salad and fiesta bean dip and the high school menu which offers kidney beans, cauliflower and cherry tomatoes. These foods totally weren’t on our menus a decade ago. Times have changed! Italian dunkers are here to stay, though, I see no mention of that infamous elementary school turkey gravy.

Memorable:

  • Italian Dunkers: Italian Dunker Day was as popular as Turkey Gravy Day. Our cafeteria didn’t serve pizza, so this was the closet thing. Everyone left their sack lunches at home for hoagie halves spread with margarine and garlic powder, toasted with cheese and served with pizza sauce. My mom always complained that I reeked of garlic whenever I ate dunkers for lunch. And when I posed the topic of memorable school lunches on my Facebook pages, Minnesota friends mentioned Italian dunkers most frequently with favor, while Fargo friends mentioned them with loathing.
  • Salad Dressing: At Minnehaha, the cafeteria ladies would squirt the salad dressing onto our salads from big jugs with pump dispensers. Our choices were french or ranch, but all of the cool kids got both. Every once in a while when I’m at a salad bar, I’ll drizzle a sald with both and think of those giant salad dressing jugs.
  • Squishy Bagel Breaks: The cafeteria opened in the mornings and during breaks. The most popular snack among students were these squishy $1.25 bagels in which the cafeteria ladies would melt a slice of white or yellow American cheese for exactly 90-seconds in the microwave. The trendy thing to order was to dip a bagel with white cheese into cream cheese. I’ll recreate this snack about once every two years.
  • Weird Croutons: We always noticed our salad bar croutons were different the day after grilled cheese day. They transformed from their normal crunchy selves into cubes sandwiching a terribly chewy layer. Cutting leftover grilled cheese into croutons is a good idea in theory, but the fact that they were impossible chewy and kept at room temperature made us whisper.

College (Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa)
For a small liberal arts college, Wartburg’s Mensa (a.k.a. the caf) offered many choices. It wasn’t the wonderland of food that was the St. Olaf cafeteria, but good nonetheless. Our cafeteria meals were set at a single, all-you-can-eat price.

Our cafeteria featured several stations including the main hot food option, vegetarian, make your own sandwich and salad bars, grill & “International” dishes. You could sign-up on a hardcopy paper list located at the campus coffee shop and diner to transfer meals. I see the sign-ups are now online. Have I mentioned times have changed? The school also offered special, themed lunch buffets of which students could sign-up for $.50.

Towards our graduation, the cafeteria started providing more locally grown vegetables and vegetarian options. The staff also invited students to submit their favorite recipes which they would try to recreate and serve during meals.

Memorable:

  • BLT’s: Every once in a while, the main lunch line would feature hotel pans of toast, crispy bacon, lettuce, sliced tomato and mayo of course.
  •  Goulash: I was confused to find this was not Hungarian goulash, but ground beef and macaroni noodles mixed with a bland, slightly sweet tomato sauce. It never became a favorite, but was comfort food to the students who grew up eating it.
  • Inferno Wings: The Den was our on-campus diner that was open into the evening. I was obsessed with their Inferno Wings, a frozen product that the employees deep-fried to order. The wings were coated in a spicy batter, hense the name inferno. I’d squirrel a bag of these back to my dorm where I’d enjoy them with a Michelob Golden Light or Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss, beers that seemed fancy at the time.
  • Cool Cookies: The den also offered ice cream sandwiches made with homemade chocolate chip cookies and a variety of soft-serve ice cream flavors like chocolate-mint and cherry-almond.
  • Fish Fillet & Nachos: Whenever the cafeteria served fried fish fillets in the main hot lunch line, they were always accompanied by corn chips and cheese sauce. I always wondered what kind of pairing this was!
  • Wartburger Sandwich: I think these were Warburg’s version of a loose meat sandwich, but I avoided them due to the name.

What were your most memorable school cafeteria lunches? 

A Surprise Birthday Party & Third-Life Lessons

September 21, 2014 / / 6 Comments

This year I was honest about my age. Mostly honest.

I did try to blow out the candles on Gabe’s cake that said 25, but other than that.

My in-laws planned a surprise party for my brother-in-law and I at their house in East St. Paul. If there’s anything you should know about my mother-in-law, it’s that she has a long, sordid history with popping surprise parties on people. She absolutely loves throwing surprise parties. The boys literally grew up with a childhood full of surprise parties for themselves and everyone else, so it’s their norm. Gary Chapman might as well add throwing surprise parties to his five love languages.

Anyway, they really did plan one heck of a party and we were honored to see so many of our family and friends.

Happy Birthday

There were margaritas and a feast of tacos and enchiladas from Acapulco. And cheese sauce. Lots and lots of cheese sauce. I knew we had an epic weekend when I had trouble finding clothes for the ride back home not splattered with queso.

I was especially taken with the “Jennifer book” my folks made for my birthday. It was both touching and hilarious.

Birthday Book Collage

So much tie dye and even a Blossom hat. I never did inherit my mom’s love of gardening, but I have fond memories of helping her tend the church’s, which was sadly paved into a parking lot.

This might be my favorite page.

Does anyone else remember attending a birthday party or school field trip at the Diamond T Ranch in Apple Valley, MN? 

Watermark fun page

So I’m 30. Probably not an age traditionally associated with sharing words of wisdom, but I’ve made enough mistakes to dispense a few pearls. We’ll see what I come up with in the next 30 years, but, for now, I’ll continue to work on these:

Learn How To Say No: I lived for 24 years unaware of my choices and that I could say no. I’ll never forget when someone I looked up to asked me why I considered everyone else’s feelings more important than my own and that changed my life. With practice, I now feel freer to say no and it’s very liberating.

Of course, I don’t want to say no all of the time; sometimes we do need make sacrifices to help others and attend certain events, but we should be aware of why we’re saying yes or no. Also, saying yes doesn’t equate writing someone a blank check. We can still say yes with boundaries and we don’t necessarily owe others explanations for our choices.

Don’t Burn Bridges. Not with people, not with companies. With few exceptions, how can we be 100% sure that we won’t ever need to cross them again?

Overestimate & Over-Insure: If you plan to purchase a fixer-upper house, gather estimates on the work that needs to be done and double them.

Forgive Yourself. Why do we find it easier to forgive other people than ourselves? Apologize to those you’ve hurt and give yourself a break.

Say Yes To Wanderlust. If you are like me and feel that restless urge to explore new places and veer from the beaten path, give in. Wanderlust has taken me on some of my greatest adventures.

Step Outside Of Your Comfort Zone: I’m an introvert who prefers one-to-one interactions, but I’ve learned that good things can happen when I step outside of my comfort zone. Sometimes it’s necessary to be the one that puts the effort into driving to a new place or attending an event of which you don’t know the other attendees. My friend Sara speaks from experience in her blog post Stepping Outside of Your Comfort Zone when she writes, “It’s up to you to make things happen in your life, nobody else can do it for you.”  She’s absolutely right.

Meet people online: I am a child of the 90’s when we first started chatting with people online and meeting them was initially considered dangerous. The first time I met people online was in 2008 at Qoraxlow, a Somali restaurant, where I attended a Chowhound meetup. This experience was exciting and slightly scary, but I had a blast trying new foods with new people.

Social media interactions have connected me with real life opportunities to meet people I wouldn’t have met in my day-to-day interactions and helped me become more outgoing and confident. I even met my husband online. [Of course, it goes without saying that one should always exercise common sense].

From my experience, social media friendships have always translated to real life friendships. I’ve had the time of my life exploring Iowa with a new group of friends that I met online.

Accept Food Hospitality: I’ve always looked up to Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern. If you watch their television shows you’ll notice how they always accept the food hospitality from others, unless it poses a serious health risk. People put their hearts and souls into their cooking. That brownie or casserole isn’t just a snack, it’s someone’s pride and joy. Or possibly an attempt to welcome or nurture. Food has the amazing ability to bring people together and build bridges. When someone offers you a gesture of food hospitality, consider accepting it, or at least take a small bite.

Be Wary Of Extremes And Work With Those Who Demonstrate Kindness: During college, I got caught up in choosing sides and surrounding myself primarily with those who held the same religious and political beliefs. It’s not that I don’t hold values anymore, but feel that my life is richer now that I’ve broadened my interactions to people of differing viewpoints. Those who cling to extremes often set themselves up for failure, as extremes leave little room for hypocrisy.

Anthony Bourdain said, “I don’t have to agree with you to like or respect you” and I’ve adopted it as one of my mantras.

I love seeing people find their passions and 100% support the act of advocating for what we believe is good and just. I just don’t believe any cause gives someone permission to be mean. After watching people on every side of every food issue throw stones at each other, I made my rule short and sweet: I’m open to collaborating with people who treat others with respect.

Ask For Help & Don’t Be Upset With Others For Not Having The Ability To Read your Mind: Take the time to figure out what you need and what you want. And remember there isn’t anyone in the whole world who doesn’t need support to get through difficult times. I struggle with asking for help, so I try to remind myself that if the tables were turned and a friend asked me for help, I would want to be there in a heartbeat. I would never look down on a friend for asking for or consider them weak, so why would I expect a friend to respond to me any differently?

Do What Makes You Feel Alive: Because life’s too short. When I tune in to activities and people who make me feel alive, I have an easier time making decisions and find myself saying “I don’t know” less often. I feel most alive when I seek new experiences and travel to new places (even if they aren’t very far away), walk my dog, and spend time with people who make me feel comfortable being myself.

What lessons have taken you your whole life to learn? What experiences or people you feel truly alive?

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