Twin Cities on my mind

I just returned yesterday afternoon from a fantastic weekend in the Twin Cities with my friend Deb.  Our primary focus was the Well-Read Mom Conference in St. Paul on Saturday, but we also stuffed as much food and fun as we could in between our arrival and departure.

I must share our food experiences:

The Local - an Irish bar restaurant with much architectural character and atmosphere.  This was suggested to us just as we were leaving, and it was a great, fun suggestion.
Hell's Kitchen - We were advised to make reservations for this underground restaurant even for brunch, which we did.  The only down side to this restaurant is that we only had reservations for one meal on our visit.  I will dream of the Lemon-Riccotta Hotcakes and plan what I will order on my next visit with their online menu!  The Angel Food bakery on the street level is also a feast for the eyes after one is stuffed with breakfast!
Cafe Latte -  I returned to St. Paul's restaurant/coffee shop Cafe Latte for my third time, but it had been--wow--probably 15 years.  It was also my first time actually experiencing a meal there, which was delicious.  If you plan to visit, arrive hungry and don't let the cafeteria-style line fool you.  The coffee, soups, salads, spreads and sandwich options go on forever and are anything but ordinary.  After that, take a left and check out the dessert counter.  The generous slices of cakes and cheesecakes of all kinds can be a meal in themselves, which of course, I would also be perfectly happy with!  It's about a 15 minute from downtown Minneapolis, and a little way into St. Paul, but it is well worth the drive.  I promise.

As for the conference, it was nice to finally make a campus visit to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul that I never made in high school.  Thanks to the conference, I also now feel better equipped to tackle Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in a few months.  It's just under 1000 pages . . . we'll see how that goes.

What fun to go to a place and hear and learn all about great literature for 4 hours.  Now I know how farmers feel at chemical meetings.

Something like that.

We were home in time for Super Bowl.  Whew!
It should come in no surprise that I wasn't very hungry for Super Bowl snacks this year!