30 November 2009

Treasure in a small town







There isn’t much in the small town of Rush City, Minn., but residents can now lay claim to the cutest coffee shop north of the Twin Cities.


Firefly Coffee & Bistro at 255 West 5th Street is worthy of anything you’d find in downtown Minneapolis. In fact, the owners operate another location near Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis.


Firefly is a vibrant bistro with great food. We had pannini sandwiches and hearty soup. I washed mine down with a mocha that wasn’t too sweet or too strong. The bistro also offers gourmet pizzas, salads, burgers, breakfast and a weekend brunch.


There were newspapers to read, and free Wifi. Didn't bring your own computer? Use theirs.


It was pretty quiet when we were there on a Sunday morning — perfect for catching up with good friends. I’ll be back, that’s for sure.


More at: 320.358.0882 or www.fireflybistro.net

Hours are: 6:30am-4pm Sunday-Wednesday

6:30am-8:30pm Thursday-Saturday

Tea from the other side of the world

I tried Bubble Tea in China, but had no idea it was available in Minnesota until last month. How exciting!


Although I sipped my first bubble tea in Beijing, it actually originates from Taiwan. What makes this type of green or black tea unique? It’s all about the bubbles. The bubbles are actually tapioca made from cassava plants. At The Tea Garden, bubbles also expand to 9 varieties of fruit and coffee-flavored jellies.


On the Saturday we went to the Tea Garden in Uptown, it was a gorgeous Indian Summer day. Thus, the place was packed. Half the time we were there the line went out the door. Wow. Needless to say, it wasn’t a place to sit and chat with your friends. It was a place to try new things, however.


The menu is extensive, ranging from hot or cold lattes, chai, iced teas, coolers, shakes and hot cocoa. PLUS, you can pick from a range of jellies and bubbles. You could go to the Tea Garden every day for a year and try a different combination. For the newbie, the menu is a bit intimadating. Thank goodness for “Specialty Shakes”. I went with Calvin’s topical shake: sour sop, guava and mango. Yum! Bubbles made up half my shake. In the future, I’d ask for half as many.


Flavors range from the typical (strawberry and chocolate) to the exotic (guava, star fruit, kumquat) to fruits I’ve never heard of before (taro, coconut mung bean, lychee, and matcha). Here we were in Minneapolis, but I felt a world away. I’d recommend bringing anyone to the Tea Garden. Even the 8-year-old girl with us loved it.


According to teagardeninc.com:


The Tea Garden has four “categories” of bubble tea.


• Fruit teas come with your choice of green (jasmine) or black tea, shaken in a cocktail shaker with your choice of fruit concentrates. Served hot or on ice.


• Tea lattes also come with your choice of green or black tea, shaken or blended with your choice of fruit concentrates or flavors such as cappuccino, coffee, chocolate, etc, plus non-dairy cream is added to give the drink a smooth, creamy taste. Served hot or on ice.


• Coolers are slushes/icees — Ice blended with fruit concentrates or flavors.


• Shakes are creamy smoothies — Ice blended with fruit concentrates or flavors such as cappuccino, coffee, chocolate, etc, plus non-dairy cream is added to give the drink a smooth, creamy taste. In addition, chai - a popular tea from India - is available in lattes or shakes.


Of course, tapioca pearls and/or jellies can be added to any of these bubble tea categories.


Pearls and Jellies: The tapioca pearls are about half inch in diameter, made from cassava plants. They are slightly sweet and chewy. The dark coloring is natural for unbleached tapioca. In addition to pearls, there are nine varieties of jellies: mango, green apple, lychee, pineapple, coffee, strawberry, passion fruit, crystal, and tri-color (strawberry, coconut, and passion fruit). They are made of either carrageenan or agar-agar (seaweed-based), and are vegan-friendly.


LOCATIONS

There are 5 Tea Gardens located in the Twin Cities: Uptown at Hennepin and 26th, Mall of America, 1692 Grand Avenue in St. Paul, Stadium Village Mall on the U of M campus, and in the US Bank Building Skyway in downtown St. Paul.


Great place for a tree




We ventured down a dirt road for our Christmas tree this year.

Based on the

recommendation of my sister’s new mother-in-law, we headed about 10 minutes from Cambridge to Anderson’s tree farm. According to Mrs. Anderson, they’ve been living on the property since 1971, and have operated a tree farm there for several decades.


The place is family-run and it shows. We parked next to the home and treehouse. I headed inside the gift shop to get the lowdown. Mr. Anderson told me to grab a saw, walk on back and pick my tree. Jesse was disappointed he couldn’t take the Avalanche off-road. I enjoyed the walk - until on our way back, anyway. My baby gets heavy without a sling.


We usually get a Blue Spruce, but opted for a tree with long, soft needles this year because of the baby. (Good thing too, because Blue Spruce were hard to find.) Trees are just $20! They are by far the cheapest around.


Once back, I headed in to the gift shop and couldn’t resist a hand-crafted ornament. The hot cocoa and coffee was free - again, another benefit you usually have to pay for these days.


The owners were warm-hearted, and the tree the right price.


DIRECTIONS: Take CR 5 west of Isanti. Pass through the CR 5/Hwy. 47 intersection. You’ll see your first sign there pointing the way. Proceed past Oxlip Free Church to Zuni Street. Turn left. Proceed south several miles, until you see a sign on the left side.


OTHER LOCAL TREE FARMS:

• Rudolph Tree Farm, two miles south of Isanti off Hwy. 65

• Pinestead Tree Farms, Isanti, MN (763) 444-8206

• Wolcyn Tree Farm, 4542 Highway 95 NW, Cambridge, (763) 689-3346, http://www.wolcyntreefarms.com/minnesota_tree_farm_about.html

• 15 miles west of Cambridge (I can’t remember the name). Huge Belgium horses pull a haywagon out to the field. My nephew loved this place.


Related Posts with Thumbnails