Downtown Streets

Three policemen and a woman in a fake fur coat in the middle of the street with her hands in the air....I don't know what happened after that but that's what I saw this morning. Crime does occur here and just about everywhere else in the world. Several weeks ago we received an email from the St Paul City Police warning that there have been a rash of purse snatchings in downtown. How did we get on that email list? Should we worry? If you don't guard your purse in all situations you should probably worry. Did you leave your purse in the car at the gas station and quickly ran into pay and it was gone when you came out? I know of that happening. I always wear my purse with the strap across my chest if I am out and about. Generally I feel pretty safe in downtown St Paul. Half the battle for women walking with a purse is to remember to secure it, zip it, don't carry the bank with you, and look like you are fully alert!

Appetite

We ate a salad most days in Buenos Aires...basic ingredients of lettuce, tomatoes, and onion served in a little silver bowl. Plenty for two people. Sometimes corn oil and white vinegar were on the table and it took us awhile to figure out we needed to ask for the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I never saw any other choices for salad dressing so I began to look at salad dressings in the small markets that we passed on our daily walks. If you go to Rainbow or Cub there is a good 20 feet of shelf space devoted to salad dressing and that doesn't include the stuff in the refrigerated section. If you have two people trying to decide which salad dressings to purchase you could be there all day. First you have to look at the ones that have food coloring and rule those out, then consider the sugar content and other ingredients, and finally price. It's exhausting. I like the idea of simplifying the choices for salad dressing. In my survey of 8-10 markets in Buenos Aires I found most of the small ones only carried oil and vinegar. I finally found a market that was about 1/3 the size of the Rainbow on Robert Street and there were four varieties of Newman's Own and one local brand. So five to choose from. I could live with that. What about making my own dressing and unclutter the fridge of all those half used bottles of salad dressing we accumulate? I usually pick up a free weekly copy of the Villager newspaper that is available downtown. An article appeared about salads and making your own dressing in the food section of the 1/26/11 edition. The author Jo Marshall says "Luckily for the cook, the world's most satisfying salad may also be the simplest--an interesting tangle of leaves moistened with just a drizzle of oil and vinegar." I may just start skipping the salad dressing isle entirely!

Fruit Stand

M and I just returned from an adventure to Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was summer there and we had some humid days in the high 90's so returning to the deep freeze of Minnesota was oddly pleasant. They do things differently down there. There are small specialized grocery stores everywhere. We ate more fruit both with breakfast and in a wine drink called "clerico". It is similar to sangria only made with white wine. The food network has a recipe that I think duplicates what we had. Look for the recipe at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michelle-bernstein/clerico-summer-white-sangria-recipe/index.html Generally we tend to buy our wine at Morelli's, a market that would fit in nicely into one of the neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. It is located just a mile out of downtown on Payne and Tedesco. See their online specials at http://www.morellismarket.com because sometimes you need to print out a coupon. This week they offer a deal on an Argentine white wine with a Torronte grape made by Alamos. I had not heard of that grape, but have been enjoying the red Malbec wines from Argentina. An article in the NY Times http://nyti.ms/gucvSq suggests "TORRONTÉS has been touted as the hottest thing to arrive from Argentina since the tango." Ok, we'll see about that.

Art Crawl

Most condos and apartments in downtown have some communal area where residents can post events, services, business cards, etc. Someone may have a service to help you with your taxes or computer problems. Need a parking space or your dog walked? Leave a note on the message board. I enjoy looking at what people have for sale, things they can't take with them on the next move. Sometimes you see an old TV for sale. I wonder if anyone ever sells those. Best Buy on Robert Street will recycle it for a $10 charge, but they give you a gift card for the same. Seems like a good deal to me to just take it off your hands. The bulletin board in my building has a poster for the art crawl in Lowertown. In addition to the larger art crawls that take place in April and October a few buildings also have one on the first Friday of each month. That coincides nicely with the downtown community happy hour that also takes place on the first Friday of every month (4 to 6pm). It is hosted by the Capitol River Council and there are usually 40 to 50 folks who show up. Get on their email list at www.capitolrivercouncil.org to find out what bar is hosting the February event.

Chicken Burrito

Rumor has it that the owner from Bin Wine Bar will be opening a burrito place around the corner on East 7th. Or is that a taco place? Either way I´ll be happy to have another choice in dining downtown. And all the better if I can just get something great to take out and eat at home. A great burrito or taco has to start with the meat and my preference is grilled chicken. I´ll need homemade black beans and pinto beans not ones out of the can. Please don´t try to stuff my burrito with a bunch of cheap rice. Go easy on the cheese and sour cream. I don´t really need that, but I will need plenty of variety of salsas. I like to put both a salsa verde and some pretty hot stuff on there too....not Minnesota nice but the real thing please. See you at the grand opening!

Winter Sunrise

We have just completed our first week in 2011. Sometimes people ask if I have made a new year's resolution. Generally I try not to make grand resolutions that I am unlikely to keep. My standing resolution is that I will try to spill less food and drink on my clothes, something I believe I have been making progress on over the years. I think a good resolution might be "always have something to look forward to". Maybe that is not really a resolution at all, just a good idea. Getting organized is always a good choice for a new year's resolution. A fact of living in downtown is that we have less square footage to our apartments or condos than traditional homes. We can't afford to be pack rats and so we are constantly trying to organize, downsize, recycle. etc. It's a continual effort with all the things that we accumulate on a daily basis. Goodwill on Robert, St Vincent de Paul on West Seventh, the Animal ARC on East Seventh are all good places to unload the extra stuff in your closets.

WinterSkate

Free outdoor ice skating in downtown is available courtesy of Wells Fargo Bank until February 6th. Look at their website (http://www.wellsfargowinterskate.com/) for specific information on hours. I wonder if downtown workers take a skate break during their lunch hour? If you fail to pack your skates you can rent them there or show that you bank with Wells Fargo and they are free. The setting across from Rice Park, the library and the Landmark Center is sweet whether you skate or just come out to watch. I was never great at ice skating and I don't think I'll take it up again. Maybe I would be better at Broomball. No skates are needed for that. Can you just wear your tennis shoes or snow boots or do you need special shoes for that? The rink closes at 5 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to make way for teams that play Broomball. I'll have to stop by on my evening walk and check that out.