I was lucky enough to be one of the judges for the 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off this year. It was a huge responsibility—we gave away more than $1 million in one afternoon. And while it was a blind tasting, I’m happy to report that one of the winners was from Minnesota. In the appetizer category, Edgar Rudberg, of St. Paul, won $5,000, plus a new oven for his salmon pastries with dill pesto. All the winning recipes can be found at Pillsbury.com.
I hope you’ve tried some of the great new restaurants that have popped up during the last few months, such as Taher Catering’s latest, Nordeast Eatery (2100 Summer St. NE, Mpls., 612-742-5001), which joins suburban sisters Wayzata Eatery and Alaska Eatery. Nordeast Eatery has a great atmosphere and fantastic food to match the other eateries’ standards.
Minnesota Monthly alum Nick Fauchald, now an editor at Food & Wine, has written a series of cookbooks for kids with great pictures and easy directions. I love the titles, among them: Holy Guacamole and Other Scrumptious Snacks and Puffy Popovers and Other Get-Out-of-Bed Breakfasts.
Did you know there’s a marvelous Nordic Ware outlet store at the crossroads of highways 7 and 100 where you can get everything (and anything) for your cooking needs? From outdoor grills to bundt pans in every shape and size—and all priced right.
Sue Zelickson is host of WCCO’s Food for Thought.
