Lidia's, Kansas City, KS

If you're like me and grew up watching PBS, featuring a Saturday line-up of chefs that help you become a foodie, then I think you might know this woman - Lidia Bastianich. 

Though she has a number of locations in the US (like NYC), we had the opportunity to visit her restaurant in Kansas City on a Sunday evening, before flight home. While this looks like a snoozer from the outset, it couldn't be further from the truth.

We had an awesome meal, held firmly in place by the pasta, as it should be. The salad to start was delicious, but the desert left something to be desired, unfortunately. I would absolutely go back anytime I have the chance or opportunity. The service was very good, the drinks were bold and well-portioned, and the restaurant is a nice place to share a meal with someone special, or host a small gathering. 

In case you were curious, our menu wound up like this: Ceasar salad split for two, Lemon Chicken, Pasta Trio (mosticholli with Tuna, pappardelle with short ribs, and a two-cheese ravioli with pear), and a molten chocolate cake with two small scoops of gelato. 

As a final note, I cannot stress how much this pasta was amazing. The ravioli was delightful with an almost too much flavor and sweetness of pear, but also pairing excellently with the cheese inside. And the pappardelle with short ribs was also done so well I can't pick which one was best. I felt like a two-time winner for getting to try them both. 

MNRG's New Year Knockout, St. Paul (The Roy), MN

Great night watching the Dagger Dolls fight the good fight to put points up on the board. Well done, All. 

Antique Taco, Chicago (Wicker Park), IL

This was a great spot to hit on a rainy Friday afternoon. Staff was energetic, warm, and helpful. All the food we ate was delicious and fresh. 

We split ribeye tacos, potato tacos and also shared the creamed corn. It was all so well-prepared, fairly portioned, and tasty. I'd go back for more choices in a New York minute. 

Creamed Corn

Ribeye Tacos

Colossal Cafe, Minneapolis, MN

After 7 years in the Twin Cities, I still hadn't visited this place. Luckily, I've know about it almost the whole time I've lived here, and wanted to get it "under my belt". Well, a recent, rainy weekend day provided the perfect opportunity to do just that, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the place, people, or food. 

If you've been to this location on 42nd, you know there's not much room inside to take great photos, and I tried, but the one above is probably the best and only shot one needs to see. 

My only regret now is not having gone sooner. 

Krueger's Christmas Trees, Lake Elmo, MN

Like any red-blooded American, I've had visions of cutting down and hauling home a Christmas tree of my very own since I watched the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, among others, as a youth. Maybe Clark W. Griswold has modeled proper American holiday behavior for many of us. Discuss. 

When the opportunity arose to visit Krueger's Christmas Tree farm in Lake Elmo, MN, to help pick and cut a Christmas tree, I jumped at the chance. 

After an easy, relatively short Saturday morning drive, we found ourselves surrounded by all kinds of conifers to choose from. Though Krueger's has trees pre-cut and ready to wrap, we chose the traditional method of grabbing a saw and sled, finding our own tree (only the tagged ones, never the flagged ones), cutting it down, hauling it back, having them process and wrap it, and even driving through their pick-up line and having them tie it right to your roof. 

(my favorite, hundreds of pine needles... ever dig those out of a canister vac's hose as a kid? Oh, no, me neither)

Though I'd always thought this kind of adventure would be a day long slog in a  cold, wet, windy forest with grumpy family members (Griswold!!!), it turned out to be a pleasant outing with two other fun people... and really not that physically taxing. Phew. 

Finding the tree was the most arduous part, and even that was rather pleasant as we were able to see what we liked, toss some snowballs, and even "snowboard" on some of their back hills. 

Once found, the cutting of a relatively young, small diameter tree trunk took all of about five minutes, and that's with a hand saw. Plus, tradition of the friends I went with dictated that all of us had a hand in the cutting. So while I started it and got about halfway through, the others finished the job. Done. 

Now, all that's left is to haul it back to the processing and payment area. Once there, they place the tree on a "shake stand" to help remove dead/weak needles, and then send it through the "netting" machine to allow it to be tied down on your car (and frankly, brought into your casa... oh, Mexico). You hand it off and go pay, then jump in your vehicle for pick-up. It's a slick system that they seem to have really dialed. 

They also have things set-up well for kids, big and small. Many had fun around the main out-buildings. There's a teepee, photo areas, and just a general holiday vibe that was nice to be around. Plus, who doesn't like the smell of pine in the morning?

(Pre-cuts)

I would wholeheartedly recommend this establishment to anyone in the market for a fresh-as-they-come Christmas tree and a family adventure for the ole memory book. 

Clark W. Griswold would approve. 

Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, IL

A rainy, cold, dreary fall day are the perfect reasons to see one of Chicago's great museum offerings. The Museum of Science & Industry (MSI) is one such offering, and I don't think I'd been to this place in about 30 years. Time to go back I suppose.  

While there was just so much to see, we had only planned to stay for a couple hours as we had an eager 3yr old in tow. He wanted robots, so that was on our list and whatever else we wanted to find. 

Finding stuff was no problem, but to me the museum seemed a bit thrown together with no real rhyme or reason to it. That's not to say it wasn't fun or interesting, because it is, it just seemed a bit pell mell. 

Here are some highlights:

An entire U-boat, nuts. 

A tornado. Fun. 

Planes. 

And some kind of smoke wall. (maybe hard to see)

The nice part is you can always go back and take a closer look at one section. I would also imagine that students on field trips would get a lot out of it, if they prepare in advance. All in all, a good way to spend a rainy day. 

Moo.

Do you remember this?

Like about 10-feet tall and veiny.