Adele's Frozen Custard, Excelsior, MN

Time for a trip to Adele's!?!?!

Sign. Me. Up. 

Since I'd only heard about this gem this year, I'm not surprised I haven't been before, but a little surprised I hadn't gotten to this place already. Well, tonight was the night. 

Right off the bat, I felt they had plenty of inviting seating, perhaps it's even enough for the summer throngs, but I'll have to "test" that theory later this season. 

They have some very helpful references for newbies, including their flavor of the day menu, daily board, and normal custard menu (not shown - full food menu too). 

Now, down to brass tacks, or in this case, custard. I chose a small scoop (really a healthy scoop) of their flavor of the day, Red Velvet. It looks well worth the price...

And tasted glorious! It even featured a ribbon of cream cheese frosting through it. Look closely, you can see it too. Very impressive, Adele. (keep your songstress references to yourself)

Finally, a few more small details to really get you out of your BarcaLounger:

They seem pet friendly...

And they have a drive-thru, Saddlebags. 

Make no mistake about it, I will be back. It's going to be a tough call each time I'm faced with a Licks Unlimited vs. Adele's decision in Excelsior... How will I live?

Bucketfeet, Chicago, IL

Do you love shoes!? I love shoes!

Check out this funky, "crowdsourced" shoe store/brand in Chicago. Their designs are submitted by regular Joes and Janes and curated by the company. Then they make your design! Sounds kinda cool (and somewhat like Threadless of t-shirt fame). 

Prices range from $60-ish to $120-ish, not too crazy for wearable art. And last but not least, they have removeable insoles, unlike similar shoes. You can replace 'em when they wear out or start from scratch with your favorite kind, keeping your feet happy and stylish. 

Go get your kicks with some Bucketfeet kicks. 

West Coast Trip in Review.

Good times and great views were had on this latest trip. I didn't even dip my toes in the ocean this time. 

Cold-press Coffee Taste Tests

Many of you that know me know I can't drink straight-up leaded coffee (full caffeine). It makes me even more talkative and more likely to interrupt our conversation. But, I have recently been given the chance to try some cold-press options, and I couldn't say "no".

To start, we have a canned "nitro" variant from the state that brings us hipsters and Portlandia - Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee out of Portland, OR.

Looks promising, I love nitro in beers.

And although the can clearly states it should be given a healthy shake, this thing was a mess from the get-go. Why did they add bubbles to a canned coffee? I don't know. 

Despite its mess, I will admit that it did taste good. It's a fine morning cold brew, but maybe leave out the extra suds.

Second, we have a selection from the state that brings us the only Democratic city in the US' 2nd largest state - Chameleon Cold-Brew Concentrate out of Austin, TX.

I'd pity the fool that didn't realize this is a concentrated coffee product and guzzled it down. I'd say the labels gave adequate warning, but maybe still a bit dangerous for a bleary-eyed fool just waking up. 

That said, I like that you have about four coffee drinks in one bottle. You can also choose to "cut" the concentrate any way you choose. With agua, sure. Want to pour it over melty ice, why not? Add a bit of cream and ice and you have a very tasty beverage. And that's the important point, the coffee taste and flavor from this brew is good. I'd give it a thumbs up.

That's it for now.

This really blows! FOCI, Part2, Minneapolis, MN

After getting a chance to make our own hand-blown pint glasses, and seeing all the wonderful art that the actual artist working at FOCI create, I wanted to highlight some of it here...

You can see the artists' names placed near their pieces, and I believe all of it is for sale, open to the general public at FOCI. I mean, if I was looking for a gift to really wow someone, this is the place to go.

I have very little idea how they create such beautiful works. I was "blown" away. Get it!?

And remember, FOCI is open to the public, offers classes to all, and seem to encourage inquisition and purchasing of their fine art. Go buy something truly amazing. 

This really blows! FOCI, Part1, Minneapolis, MN

As someone that has always enjoyed making things with my hands, I was excited to finally get a chance to experince hand-blown glass (why not "mouth-blown"?) firsthand at an artists' community known as FOCI, in the Northeast area of Minneapolis.

Just getting into the right building (#10) was an effort and adventure all its own.

And finally, we arrived to the coolest, non-creepy, dungeon-like building I've ever been in...

It was awesome, open, and full of light. Along one wall of the basement floor, they had all the furnaces up and running, some never being turned off...

The class we'd signed up for was going to allow each of us to produce our own pint glass. However, our instructor started by showing us all the equipment and process for making a glass, well, glass. 

She was great all the way through, and after 40 minutes or so, and somewhat shockingly to us, she was done with her own glass example and told us we were ready to make our own glasses too. Are you sure, lady? We just walked in off the street. Are we ready to be near molten glass? I'm clumsy. What? We can? Ok, here we go...

The first step is "gathering" molten glass from the ever-running crucible furnace, slowly winding the 2300-degree Fahrenheit molten glass onto a pipe at least two times. It's a cross between making a caramel apple and cotton candy...but with molten glass. 

That'll get your heart racing and your forward hand feeling like it was placed under a broiler for a few seconds. Ouch. 

You then dunk this ball-on-the-end-of-a-stick of molten glass into the color(s) of your choosing...

Take this to your own working furnace, literally called a "glory hole", and melt in the color coating, perhaps even twisting and pinching it in, to mix more than one color into a nice pattern. Finally, smoothing it out into a nice shape...

Next, go back to the crucible furnace of fresh glass and coat your colors in new, clear, pristine glass. This keeps the colors from being introduced into the human body as you drink out of or eat off of any glass items. 

Then you're ready to start a bubble in the molten glass. You repeat the steps of re-heating the glass in the glory hole, then continuing the shaping steps, from solid molten metal stick to single bubble-filled hot molten glass...

Then, it's time to move the glass to the punty pipe...

This step allows you to stop blowing up the air bubble and open up the opposing end to form the mouth of the glass. 

I will say at this point, through virtually all the processes, you have to keep the molten glass rotating. In the oven. On the workbench. Walking to and from any work stations/ovens. Always rotating. Always. 

Next, open the mouth of the glass, cut the edge, and finish it off...

After the basic shape had been finalized, our instructor took over from there, taking the glass to a finishing table. She removes the finished glass from the punty pipe, smooths the bottom edges, stamps in our initials in that smooth bottom, and puts it into the annealing oven for 24 hours. 

This final series of four ovens (at lower and lower temps) allows the glass to reduce its temperature over time, rather than all at once, which would likely create cracks and allow it to break. 

We went and picked up our glasses two days later, and really liked the results...

They definetley have many unique inclusions, bubbles, and bits off odd color that only add the the first-timer experince and uniqueness of each glass. We'll take it. 

Here's my behemoth next to a standard pint glass...

Mine really could be a small vase. But no matter, it was an awesome afternoon and I'd really like to go back to do and learn more. Thanks, FOCI.