Turkey

I was on turkey duty this year. A job that I enjoy but that carries a fair amount of pressure. After several years of mostly savory recipes, I thought I'd add a little sweetness to this year's bird.

First things first. I ordered a 16lb fresh Wild Acres turkey through the Birchwood Cafe, which meant that I only had to walk one block to pick up the turkey. Keeping it local.

Okay, back to adding sweet to a typically savory dish. A decided to make an apricot-glazed turkey (see recipe on Epicurious). An interesting element of this recipe is that the gravy includes no flour--just blended onions and leaks for thickening.

While carving the turkey, I took a bite and it tasted delicious. Unfortunately it was the only bite I was going to have all evening. It was a rather large piece, and being distracted with slicing, I didn't it chew it enough before swallowing. A moment later, I realized that it got stuck in my esophagus. I won't add any more details, but I spent the next three hours in the ER and went to bed without supper.

All reports have indicated that my first impression was accurate--the turkey was delicious. I definitely recommend the recipe. So tonight, I look forward to eating the leftovers I wasn't able to enjoy yesterday.

However, my project for the afternoon is making turkey stock (ingredients: turkey carcass, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf, white wine, parsley, thyme and of course water).

Ngon Bistro

For good measure, I will make sure to add a little something about every place where a coupon was spent. We have not proved to be as formulaic as last time with our 2nd but every place should get some kind of shout out, right?

Last weekend, we hit up the Fitz for John Hodgman and the Witz. Honestly not as funny as we had hoped. Before hand, we went to Ngon Vietnamese Bistro on University. Tasty Bun and Pho plus these spring rolls, which were a tad too lettucy for Pip's liking. Check it out if you are in the mood for some Vietnamese or just want to support University Ave businesses during the light rail construction.

Coupon: $5 off a purchase $25
Total Savings: $5...I'm noticing a trend here Chinook.

Last Harvest of the Season

Brussels Sprouts in a bowel make a great photo. 

Brussels Sprouts sauteed accompanying mashed sweet potatoes and steak from our recent 1/16 grass fed cow purchase makes a great meal.

The Change of Seasons

Chinooking lead us back to Mother Earth last weekend. With the first snow of the season on November 19th came this lovely winter arrangement. See how it brightens up my back door as you drive up from the river.

And, equally exciting, this adventure included our first mobile app redeemed. Check out Pip's post for instructions. I have never been more excited to see an animated gif in my life.

Coupon: $5 off a purchase of $25 or more.
Total Savings: $5

PS. This cost $50 if you're curious.

Ugali

Tom and Sue have been hosting Macalester students for quite some time...I believe ever since I left the nest. By hosting, I mean inviting to dinner from time to time, not acutally living with them unless you mean my japanese brother from another mother Hiroki Matsui. Anyways, Tom decided to cook John from Kenya some typical Kenyan dishes recently. In the spirit of writing about eating, I wanted to include this meal.

We wonder if John really liked it but he said he did and I think I believe him. After all Ugali, a kenyan starch dish like mashed potatoes, only has two ingredients, Corn Meal and Water.


Photo note to self: When taking photos of black people holding white dishes, pose with the light in the foreground so as to illuminate the face.

The Ugali accompanied a bowl of Kenyan beef stew served with apples, shaved coconut, and peanuts. Who knew apples would be so delicious along side beef stew? It was GREAT. I hope Tom makes it all again.

Crispy Pig Ears

Victory 44 in North Minneapolis is my new favorite restaurant. We have been three times since August and think about going most nights. A good eating story is the one about the time that we ordered marrow and were served a femur, cut in half vertically...then we scooped out the fatty jelly marrow from the inside and spread it on toast, and ate it.  Here I am with my crispy pig ear.

 

So this place has no coupons, it's just good. Small plates great for sharing and ordering many different things. Traditional burgers for the less adventurous types. Not particularly veggie friendly.  Great atmosphere, typically crowded with little to no wait. and not too spendy. We eat/drink/dessert for $60-70. Great date night, especially if you are looking to broaden your palate a bit.

 Victory Salad

 Skirt Steak

 Ahi Tuna

 Short Rib Dumplings

Peanut Butter and Jelly

What do you think of the Hair?

We are growing out Pip's hair. I say we as I am the hairdresser and he is the client, this is how it's been for at least all 4+ years of marriage. I am sick of shaving it short, letting it grow and then repeating the same thing month after month. Enough!

Jack (my paid, trained hair stylist) has been coaching me through next steps during our bi monthly visits.

When really exciting things happen, like Pip's experience loading the Magic Coupon Loader, here is what he looks like. With any luck the months ahead will yield a new look for Pip.

This Ode to Joy video might give you a glimpse into the future of our journey. 

Such a Nice Little Place

Working our way through Chinook brings us back to some spots that we haven't hit since staycation. Today Trotters in St Paul was one of those spots. Pip and I joined Otto, Iris, and Sarah for pre-thanksgiving lunch. Otto had a peanut butter and honey sandwich with cinnamon. I did not ask him to lick his lips for the picture, that's just how good this place was.

Don't forget to stop by your tasty local sandwich shop from time to time.

A Trotter's bonus...Nice Ride gives out coupons to new members so it was double coupon lunch today!

Coupons = 25% of any Menu Item (Nice Ride) and 25% of any Menu Item (Chinook)
Savings = something like $5

PS. Sarah of course had a chinook coupon too!
PPS. Although Iris didn't enjoy the food, we sure enjoyed her company.

Android App

Last week, Chinook Book announced the release of the App for Android phones. The iPhone App had been out for a while (go figure) and Kate has been using it.

However, when I went to download the app, I kept running into error messages. Turns out, I needed to update my phone's operating system. Who knew? I can't believe I waited more than a year to upgrade to the latest Android platform.

Phone upgraded and the app installed, I was treated to a surprise. As one of the first 10,000 people to download the app in the Twin Cities, I got a free set of coupons valid for 90 days!

You can get both the Android and iPhone apps at: http://msp.chinookbook.net/mobile/

In case you're curious how to use a mobile coupon, the good folks at Chinook Book have created a short video:

Chinook Books on Sale!

The 2012 Chinook Book went on sale today. Normally $20 a book, it's now only $15 at stores like the Seward Coop. The books are also on sale online for $17 with free shipping at: http://msp.chinookbook.net/online-store/

And then there were two. The sale runs until December 31. If you've been thinking about getting one, now is the time.

BOGO Wine

We enjoy wine, but we are not wine people. In other words, we know the deference between a Shiraz and a Malbec, but that's about the end of the story. Tannins, oak, nose...no idea. Given that fact, we tend to buy bottles of wine in the $8-$14 range and only buy more expensive bottles if they're on sale.

This week we stumbled into Haskell's fall sale where they had multiple bottles on sale for buy one get one free. And not just cheap bottles, so we decided to take the opportunity to sample a higher grade wine. We bought three different types (a Rioja, a Shiraz and a Pinot) and have tried two so far with friends.

The verdict is that they are great. I couldn't tell you much more, but I will say go to Haskell's for their wine sale. It ends on November 19.

Recipe: Squash and Apple Soup

With the Pacific Natural Foods chicken stock I bought this weekend and leeks from the garden, I made one of my favorite fall soup recipes.

This is a really easy recipe to make vegetarian. Simply use olive oil instead of the bacon and either vegetable stock or no chicken stock.

Squash and Apple Soup

Serves 4-6

1 large leek roughly chopped (2 medium onions if you don't have leeks)
2 medium delicata squash (butternut squash works too) - peeled, seeds removed, roughly chopped
2 pieces of uncured bacon
1 apple (Granny Smith is best, but any type will do) - peeled, cored and roughly chopped
4 cups stock
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a frying pan cook the bacon until crispy. Transfer 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat to a large stock pot. Dry bacon on paper towels and reserve for a topping. 
2. In the stock pot, saute the leeks for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
3. Add the squash, apple, thyme, bay leaf, pepper flakes and stock. Add water if the stock does not cover the ingredients. Bring the liquid to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the squash is soft.
4. Turn off the heat. Remove the bay leaf. Either using a blender working in batches or with an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Crumble bacon pieces on top and serve with crusty bread.

Healthy Provisions

The Chinook Book practically pays for itself in grocery coupons alone. As someone who loves to cook, I am willing to pay a little more for quality ingredients. I also value organic, local, coop, etc.

We end up shopping for groceries at either Lunds or the Seward Coop about 95% of the time with occasional trips to Kowalski's, Whole Foods, Rainbow, United Noodles and Mississippi Market. I'll write a future post about Seward Coop, as this week we shopped at Lunds.

We like Lunds for several reasons. 1) it's pretty convenient as we are members of the Lifetime Fitness across the street, so we can combine trips to the gym with trips to the grocery store; 2) they have a great selection of items and carry many items that the coop doesn't, and 3) it's clean and the customer service is generally really good.

This trip we used a coupon for Lunds as well as coupons for Pacific Natural Foods chicken stock and Peace Coffee. I think Pacific Natural makes awesome stock (I'll post the soup recipe I made tonight with it next). Although there are plenty of coffee businesses committed to sourcing shade grown, cooperative, organic coffee, I particularly like Peace Coffee as they are located nearby us and they offer delivery by bike.


Coupons = $5 off $50 or more; $1 off a lb of coffee; $1 off any one Pacific Foods item
Savings = $7

2 for the Price of 1

Oh My Magic Coupon Loader! In case you haven't heard, the big news on the Chinook Book front this year in Minneapolis...Chinook has gone mobile. iPhone now and Android soon. I just loaded it up and it was the best app activation experience I have had in my year of iPhoning.

Last night we took our printed Broders coupon out with us and left the book behind. Without the app installed, I missed my opportunity to redeem the Blackbird and Pat's Tap coupons instead as Broders involved a 1.5 hour wait in their tiny hallway. No thank you.

Well friends, this is a whole new world.

PS. Buy the book for $20, get the printed coupons plus a second set of mobile coupons. It's a two-fer.
PPS. Yes, Blackbird was delicious and yes, we played Skee Ball for free at Pat's. Like and Like.

Nuts and Bolts

We went to our friendly hardware store, one already reviewed during our staycation, Ace Welna. Highly recommended along the neighborhood small business lines. Everything you expect plus I also noted the "Asalamalakum" from the clerk adding a splash of color to my otherwise bland midwestern day.

Let's see if this hunk of plastic will prove useful to organize my nuts and bolts.

Coupon = $5 off $20 or more
Savings = $5

Seward gets a New Neighbor

November 5, 2011...one year ago today we were busy getting ready for our house warming party. If you went, man that as a fun time. If you didn't, sorry. I think the weather was exactly the same, 50s sunny and very fall like. Well instead of party prep we celebrated another great milestone, the opening of The Donut Cooperative in Seward.

Pip has been following along patiently in the twittersphere awaiting this great day. I never knew he liked donuts so much. The Donut Coop is located in the same place as the Clicquot Club and Cake Eater. We hope this lasts longer than those two and can compete with the adored Birchwood Cafe.

At 11, when we were finally ready to walk over, FB posted terrible news, " Donut Coop is out of donuts." Pip was deflated. Almost but not quite like someone had punched him in the gut. I saved the day with this suggestion, "why don't you call them?"

Of course we tried the peanut butter and jelly donut. Then the cinnamon sugar. Unfortunately, we were underwhelmed. The donuts taste different than expected. This might prove to be a good thing but not yet. We will go back to keep trying the wacky variety and will keep you posted on their progress towards deliciousness.

PS. No coupon for this, just checking out the neighborhood delights.

Mother Earth

This summer was our first real experience gardening. We built a raised bed garden and planted lots of vegetables. With the help and guidance of friends and family, it was a huge success and I've already started plotting next years garden expansion.

About all that's left in the garden is some kale, herbs and the brussels sprouts. It's been quite sad to watch the rest of the plants go, but there's a season for everything right. I decided we should try to save the rosemary, thyme and parsley by bringing them inside for the winter, and thus a shopping quest was born.

We headed over to Mother Earth Gardens, our neighborhood garden supply store where we went several times throughout the summer for supplies and plants. In fact, I used at least two 2011 Chinook book coupons there over the summer.

Mother Earth Gardens is great. I really like their selection and the quality of the products, and they're very friendly. The location is nice too and I appreciate not having to go to a big box store for my attempts at being local. That being said, they are a little more pricey than what you'd find at a larger chain establishment, but the location convenience is great.

We picked up three pots for the herbs and found a base on sale for our potted blueberry bush that we also want to bring inside for the winter.

Coupon = $5 off $25 or more
Savings = $5

Here are some pictures from the summer gardening adventure:

And we're back!

After a fairly successful maiden blogging voyage, we decided to do it again. This time, let's see how much we can save if we look beyond one week and consider fifty two. We all know that the Chinook Book coupons expire on October 31st, so it's fitting to start our year of Chinooking today, when the new coupons work and the old ones get recycled.

Additionally, as of today we decided to hibernate the bikes for the winter. Yesterday it was a crisp 34 degrees at 7:45 when we headed to work.  Naturally blogging can help fill the void during the winter months. Stay tuned as we continue exploring the Twin Cities, while saving money. This year's book has more than 300 paper coupons with and additional 300 available with the iPhone app. Back by popular demand is our savings ticker. Maybe we should have some kind of goal or prize at the end? Let the fun begin...