Favorite Twin Cities Breweries

My husband and I spent the first five years of our marriage living in Madison, Wisconsin before moving back to the Twin Cities. We loved it there. Wisconsin is known for many things: cheese, Packers football, and, my favorite, beer.

We were immersed in the craft beer world. Not only did we live near fabulous breweries, but each restaurant we frequented had beer lists that read more like chapter books, with double-digit amounts of local, craft beers on tap. I quickly moved on from the Bud Light of my college days and picked up on the difference between ales and lagers, appreciated the hoppiness of IPAs, and learned the correct way to pronounce "hefeweizen."

While the craft beer movement has exploded throughout the country, we're especially lucky in the Twin Cities. There are over 130 breweries in the state and most of them are located in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the surrounding suburbs. Local taprooms have even become a favorite hang-out for my husband, though he prefers not to drink himself. We love to check out new ones on date nights, bounce around a few with a group of friends, and sometimes we even bring our three kids along. Here are some of our Twin Cities favorites.

Find out my favorites over on the Twin Cities Moms Blog!

Southwest-style Corn Chowder

We’re straddling seasons right now. August screams “summer!” to me while September shouts “fall!” and, though it’s still technically August, one foot seems to be firmly planted in each.

We’re soaking up the last bits of summer while also preparing for the school year. I made an inaugural school supply run with Caden and Brooklyn last weekend. It reminded me of my own days of school shopping (also at Target, also in the cardboard bins set up all the way in the back of the store, though without those fancy Twistable crayons) and I envisioned the years we have ahead of this particular tradition. We’ve practiced using lunch boxes and next week we’ll see their classroom and meet their teacher.

The kids still have a couple of things on their summer agenda: a movie night, to visit the children’s museum, a day at the State Fair. But for the most part, we’re summer-ed out. Just yesterday the kids splashed in the pool in the backyard, set up for one last summer hurrah. It didn’t last long. Not even a half hour before they were blue-lipped and shivering, “Can I go inside and put my regular clothes on?” Seventy-seven degrees just doesn’t feel the same at this time of year as it did in July.

I told Tyson to drain the pool, to completely deflate it and pack it away for next year. Part of me screamed, “Not yet! Too soon! What happened to the lazy days of June?” and the other part of me is entirely ready to move on to regular schedules and routines, no matter how much they might be changing for us this year.

The days have been cooler lately, a completely welcome change as far as I’m concerned. The highs, while they’re still near 80 during the warmest part of the day, dip down into the 50s at night. I’ve been cozying up at the end of the day in my favorite pair of joggers which have emerged from their summer hibernation. It’s my favorite way to end any day. Let’s be honest, it’s hard to be any sort of cozy while wearing shorts.

This soup straddles the seasons in the same way we’ve been. It can hold its own as we feel the first hints of fall yet features an ingredient associated with the height of summer. You can eat a bowl of this out on your patio wrapped in a sweater - provided it’s a lightweight one. (At least here in the Midwest. I know you southerners are still sweltering.)

I often find traditional corn chowders to be too sweet, especially when using corn at the peak of the season. I mean, it’s grown to be sweet, and while I love a cob slathered with some butter, salt, and pepper on it’s own, that flavor feels off to me in a soup. The added spice here balances out the sweetness. So does the acid from the lime. 

You can serve it with hearty bread to mop up all the goodness at the end. I prefer to eat it with tortilla chips and it basically becomes a dip. However you eat it, do it soon, before all the best summer sweet corn is gone.

(P.s. The kids still won’t eat soup, though Nolan will attempt it sometimes. I serve them a couple ears of corn, some chips, shredded cheese, fruit, and chicken nuggets and call it good.)

Southwest-style Corn Chowder
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This chowder is basically a combination of this traditional corn chowder recipe and Smitten Kitchen’s elotes-style one. I pretty much mashed them together until I had what I consider to be the best of both worlds. And a San Antonio Margarita with a bowl of this never hurt anyone, either.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ears fresh sweet corn, preferably from the nearest Farmer’s Market, husked, silks removed, and kernels cut from the cob

• 2 Tablespoons butter

• 4-6 slices bacon, chopped (quantity depends on how thick they are…and how much you like bacon)

• 1 medium red onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 7-ounce can diced green chilies

• 1 Tablespoon chili powder

• 2 Tablespoons flour

• 5 cups chicken stock

• 1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into thin chunks (1/4 inch or so)

• 3/4 cup whole milk

• 1/2 cup cream

• salt and freshly ground pepper

• Toppings (optional): shredded cheese, chopped chives or green onions, sour cream, sliced avocado, cilantro, a squeeze of lime (though this is not optional, in my opinion), and also don’t forget the bacon from earlier

• Tortilla chips or bread, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

• Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside until the very end to top your chowder.

• Turn heat to medium-low and add onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is almost soft, about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic, chilies, and chili powder and cook for a minute or two more.

• Add flour and stir together until it disappears and things kind of clump together. Cook another minute more, stirring frequently, to prevent sticking and remove any “flour-y” taste. Add chicken stock, corn, potatoes, and milk and bring to a steady simmer. (Not quite a boil: be careful with that milk!) Simmer, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender and corn is cooked through.

• Add salt and fresh black pepper to taste. Finish with cream, stir thoroughly to combine, and let simmer until thickened slightly, about 2-3 minutes more.

• To serve, ladle into bowls and top generously with chosen toppings. My personal preference is for bacon, sour cream, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, cilantro, and a hefty dose of lime. Serve with tortilla chips on the side, or just use them to scoop everything up because chowder is essentially dip in a bowl.

NOTE

• Yes, cutting the kernels off the cob is a pain but I promise it’s worth it. Do not use the frozen stuff - it’s not at all the same. My best advice is to cut one end off the cob (so you’re working with a flat surface), set it inside a deep, wide bowl, and chop straight down - no sawing motion here, unless you like finding corn kernels all over your kitchen for the next several days.

• You could also sub jalapenos for the diced green chilies. And add cayenne pepper to taste. Or take the amount of chili powder up or down. Definitely a personal preference on the spice level here.

Rest and Routines and Afternoon Target Runs

“What about this silly thing?” became a game during the last five minutes of our Tuesday afternoon Target run.

“What about this silly thing?” one would ask, and then make a goofy face or point at something, like a rack of clothing, which looked innocent to me but sent all three kids into peals of laughter. The first twenty minutes of calm vanished almost instantly as their energy bubbled to the surface. They weren’t naughty per se, but they weren’t exactly model children, either. They were mostly loud. (As one might expect with two five-year olds and a three-year old who don’t suffer much from shyness.)

We made it through the check out lane (barely - one kid was banished from the cart aka banished from being in close proximity to his siblings) and out to the car. They were nearly hysterical with laughter at this point. I tried to map the quickest route to the dentist in my head, our next stop, as I loaded both kids and Target bags into the van.

“Guys!” I finally cried, pulling out of the lot, “Be quiet! I just need to think!”

Their giggles filled our minivan and set my teeth on edge. My fingers gripped the steering wheel tighter than was necessary. I took what I thought was the turn for the dentists office and realized almost immediately I’d turned one intersection too soon.

“Why did you go this way?” Caden asked, giggling now at my mistake.

“Because I can’t think!” I said. “You can run around and be loud when we get home but right now I need you to figure out how to control your energy!”

And that’s what they should have been doing before this dentist appointment: running around the backyard, being loud. Needless to say, an afternoon trip to Target is not a part of our normal routine.

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Our days have followed a pretty set pattern during the past five-and-a-half years. Routine anchors our days. I’ve read how rhythms and routines are so important for small children, seen how my own kids are thrown off when our groove is broken. Really, though, I’ve created these routines as much for myself as for anyone else. (Enneagram 1, anybody?)

The kids have glommed onto these rituals, too. They know that a 7 on the clock in the am means it’s time for breakfast, while at night it equals bedtime. An 8 indicates it’s time to get ready for the day and a 5 in the late afternoon means dinner is imminent.

They know the pattern of our days: eat breakfast, dress and brush teeth, outing or activity, home for lunch, nap/quiet time, screen time, playtime at home, dinner, bed. They know that Wednesday is grocery day, Saturday mornings are for video chatting with Grandma and Grandpa, that we eat tacos on Tuesdays.

Lunchtime is an important anchor in the day for us all. The kids eat before I settle them in their bedrooms with crayons, paper, puzzles, and LEGOs for quiet time. Occasionally, all too few and far between these days, Nolan takes a nap. I retreat back downstairs to sweep the crumbs off the counter and make my own lunch, sit down and read a book where there was chaos only moments ago. 

These fifteen minutes or so are all mine and I savor every bite. It’s the one meal each day where I’m not interrupted with requests for more water, or more pasta, or more of anything. There’s no spilled milk, no reminders to please sit on your butt facing the table, no pleading to eat just one more bite.

Our post-quiet time TV-watching emerged from my reluctance to let go of the quiet. To return back to Earth and the chaos so suddenly once the clock gave them the go-ahead to stampede back downstairs. Instead I turn on the TV and they watch a show or two to ease our return to the real world. I often join them on the couch again with my book or (reality check) some laundry to fold.

 I hold tight to these daily rhythms, afraid that if I let them go I’ll lose myself altogether.

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Target became a part of our afternoon on Tuesday after Nolan acquired the fifth and final sticker on his quiet time chart, earning him a LEGO set of his choice.

“Let’s go to Target! Let’s go! Let’s go!” he cheered. I couldn’t deny his excitement, especially since we had the time before their dentist appointments. And Target is only a four-minute drive from the dental office, after all.

That Target trip/dentist combo wasn’t the only thing to disrupt our schedule this week. Our routine was also thrown off by afternoon swim camp. Combined with two nights of early evening t-ball games it feels as though our days have both been cut short (dinner at 4:30!) and stretched out longer (bedtime at 7:30...if we’re lucky). I’ve been scarfing my lunch down with the kids, quiet time has been nonexistent, the book I’m reading sits abandoned until I fall into bed at night. 

“I haven’t had any time to myself this week!” I told Tyson on Wednesday night, overwhelmed with writing deadlines and grocery orders and emails - things I usually tackle after lunch during the remainder of quiet time. Instead I was with the kids (including a particularly unruly three-year old) from morning to night without even a screen time break. The only time I had to myself (theoretically) was during swim lessons, where I kept one eye on my two swimmers in the water and another on Nolan in the adjacent activity room while also attempting to create a grocery list with the swim school’s spotty Wi-Fi.

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I realize now that I’ve structured our days to facilitate rest, both for myself and for the kids, to help prevent any of us from getting burned out. The middle part of our day is so important: the lunch/quiet/screen time part. A breather from the morning hours before tackling the afternoon witching ones. Our routine gives me stability just as much as it does them. When these habits are interrupted it throws me off, as though my very center is off-balance.

This week showed me that my fear is a valid one: once I let go of our daily anchors my day does become unhinged. And so do I.

I had a professor in college who would remind us, during particularly challenging courses, that the semester was only sixteen weeks long. “You can do anything for sixteen weeks,” she would tell us.

It’s only for this week, I remind myself. I can do anything for a week.

And I can. I did. We made it to Friday. The next couple of weeks sit heavy in front of us, without much on the calendar before school begins and we fall into an entirely new routine. But at least in the next two weeks there will be time for regular lunches, normal quiet times, and even — glory hallelujah — daily doses of screen time.

This post was written as part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to read the next post in this series "Rest."