Weekend Treats

Treats from Little Pearl Cupcakes. Four flavors taste tested. All were divine.

http://www.littlepearlcupcake.com/

A Week of Beauty

For one week every spring, this tree peony blooms lovely red flowers. Since they're so short lived, so I try to photograph the flowers as much as possible while they're open. Here's this year's batch of blossoms:

Results: Photo Assignment Festival Food

On Friday I posted a blog about Festival of the Arts in Grand Rapids, Michigan and specifically, about my love of the food booths at Festival. My self-imposed photo assignment for the weekend was to document the food at Festival. Here are the results:

Dinner on Friday:
Who made it?: Booth #10 - The Great Wisdom Meditation Center
What was it?: Vegetarian Stir-Fried Noodles with Vegetables
What did it cost?: $4
How was it?: Delicious! The noodles were a great texture and not too mushy. The veggies were perfectly crisp-tender.

To go with those noodles (from the same booth):
What was it?: Vegetarian Spring Roll with a hoisin & peanut dipping sauce
What did it cost?: $2 
How was it?: This was my first-ever non-fried spring roll and it was awesome. Though I'm not a vegetarian, I feared for my veggie friends when I bit in and discovered chicken. Turns out, it was faux veggie "chicken" and my meat-eating tastebuds couldn't tell the difference.  And that sauce? Divine. (I poured the extra over my noodles, making them even better.)

Post-Dinner Snack:
Who made it?: Booth #27 - Buddhist Association of Michigan: Tam Quang Temple
What was it?: Cream cheese wonton with plum sauce
What did it cost?: $1 per wonton
How was it?: It was mostly wonton wrapper, with just a touch of cream cheese. Not the way I like my wontons, but I couldn't find my usual wonton booth so this was an acceptable substitute.

Breakfast on Saturday:
Who made it?: Booth #31 - Wyoming South Kent Kiwanis Foundation
What was it?: Homemade grilled cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing
What did it cost?: $3
How was it?: Warm and sweet, the cinnamon roll is split in half and grilled before being slathered in warm cream cheese icing. As someone with a major sweet tooth, I can't think of a tastier way to start my day.

To go with that cinnamon roll (from the same booth)
What was it?: Iced coffee with hazelnut syrup and whipped cream. (The drink comes with your choice of sweeteners - sugar, hazelnut syrup or vanilla syrup - and creamers - regular or whipped cream.)
What did it cost?: $2.50
How was it?: Not too sweet (even with all that sugar in it), this was a great way to get my morning caffeine fix even though it was already 80 degrees outside. The cold coffee was also a great contrast to the warm cinnamon roll. 

Lunch on Saturday: 
Who made it?: Booth #3 - Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
What was it?: Souvlaki (marinated pork sandwich)
What did it cost?: $5
How was it?: A Festival staple. This booth, always in the same location, always with a huge line, is the best way to get your Festival "meat on a stick" fix. The sandwich is juicy, grilled pork, on a stick, in a bun. No extras. No condiments. You don't need them. The sandwich is delicious in its simplicity.

 Afternoon Snack: 
Who made it?: Booth #33 - Chinese Association of Western Michigan
What was it?: Crab cheese (wontons)
What did it cost?: $2 for 3 wontons
How was it?: My crab cheese booth! I found it! This booth had moved a long way from its previous location and I was thrilled to stumble across it along the back of Calder Plaza. These wontons were fresh, super crunchy, filled with a good amount of crab-infused cream cheese and (if you choose) topped with that familiar bright red sweet and sour sauce.

Afternoon Snack #2:
Who made it?: Booth #2 - Bethesda Baptist Church 
What was it?: Hawaiian shaved ice
What did it cost?: $3.50 for the large size
How was it?: (Disclaimer - According to the weather app on my phone, it was 93 degrees with a heat index of 103 when I ordered this.) Thanks to the weather, this was a popular booth and this treat was fantastic. It came in a variety of flavors - I chose orange mango. The ice had a snow cone consistency. That snowy texture of true Hawaiian shaved ice wasn't there. But who cares? It was crazy-hot outside and I had been thinking about ordering this all day.

Festival runs today until 6 p.m., so if you're thinking of going out to eat this afternoon - head downtown. You'll find good food, lots of free entertainment and your money will be going to help support local non-profits. What could be better?

This Weekend's Photo Assignment: Festival Food

The 2011 Festival of the Arts is happening this weekend in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. The city streets are closed off and there are six stages full of every kind of dance and music you can imagine. There's a Regional Arts Competition and two large tents full of local artists selling their creations. There are activities that allow kids and adults to create art. It's the largest all-volunteer arts festival in the country. (Did I mention it's free?)

Festival is a celebration of everything I love about Grand Rapids and West Michigan - the art, the music, the people and the warm summer days. But here's my big confession: the entire reason I go to Festival is the food. Local non-profit organizations set up booths (33 this year!) throughout the city and sell the largest variety of fair food you've ever seen. On the 2011 menu: elephant ears, foot-long hotdogs, halava, ribs, grilled shrimp, falafel, kafta, fried catfish, souvlaki, Hawaiian shaved ice, ice cream, cheeseburgers - the list goes on. (See Festival's website for the full list of food offerings.)

As you can guess from my blog, I take pictures. And clearly, I love Festival. I also love food. So this weekend, I'm giving myself a photo assignment. In celebration of all of the food I love so much at Festival, I'm going to document it. Photos of Festival Food is my assignment. The results will be posted here. Stay tuned...

Pileated Visitor

Pileated woodpeckers are one of my favorite birds - love their huge size and that red crest! This gorgeous bird surprised me this weekend with a visit to the yard.

Marshmallow inspiration?

This little yellow warbler reminds me of a marshmallow peep:

Especially this view:

What do you think? :)

Lake Huron Ice

Winter has the amazing power to transform ordinary objects into something extraordinary. Case in point: the pier at the mouth of the AuSable River.