Calorie Count

The past month has been surround by food...

Last weekend Steve's parents and sister were in town to move Ali back to Bethel. Fortunately their visit coordinated with the 'great MN get-together.' I've been going to the MN State Fair for as long as I can remember... there's nothing like the people, attractions and best of all the food! Between the five of us, we managed to pack in cheese curds, pronto pup, chicago dog, pretzel, Sweet Martha's cookies, italians fries, Hawaiian shaved ice. Needless to say, I took a great nap that afternoon!

Then, one of our favorite TV shows is Top Chef on Bravo. It's a reality show where a couple dozen aspiring chefs compete with various tasks to become the top chef. Recently they did a 'Masters' version with world-renowned chefs to see how they would do. Steve and I were ecstatic to see Rick Bayless win the competition. Rick is known for his authethic mexican cuisine like nothing you've ever had. He owns a couple restaurants in Chicago that we love called Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. We went to Frontera with Dana and Ryan earlier this summer for our Twins/Cubs weekend.

In our kitchen, it has been a summer of fresh food thanks to the Saint Paul Farmer's Market, the new Trader Joe's in Saint Paul and a little extra free time compared to years past.

Pan-seared salmon with herb butter, fingerling potatoes with rosemary and carmelized sweet onions, and brussel sprouts with bacon.

Braised beef short ribs with mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet corn and brussel sprouts.

I don't want to even consider what our calorie intake has been in the past month... (Sigh) thank goodness for our gym membership!