My Vegetable Blog

Fooding n. the planning, cooking, talking about, eating and enjoying of food, preferably while in the company of good friends. At least, that's what my friends and I came to call our eating adventures over the past week while on vacation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I think it might stick. 

We stayed in the western part of the U.P., home to waterfalls, bears, a mysterious light phenomenon, lots of mosquitos, and a wonderfully hearty delicacy known as the pasty (pronounced pass-tee). We only missed out on the bears, which is probably for the best.

Restaurants (and towns for that matter) are pretty few and far between in this region, so we cooked most of our meals at our cabin, which was actually more of a well-appointed house. This was just fine with me, and meant I could try out some new recipes, as well as a few old favorites like this strawberry mascarpone tart.

It also meant I could spend some quality time at the grill, and since I don't have one at home, I couldn't get enough. I grilled just about everything I could think to grill: portabello mushrooms, sausages, barbecued chicken, onions, cheese, pizzas, pineapples for salsa, tomatoes and peppers for more salsa – I'm quite certain that I left no grillable item ungrilled.

We did venture out for a few treats – ice cream (I went with the maple nut for a true North Woods flavor) and the aforementioned pasty from Joe's Pasty Shop in Ironwood. Everyone else got the "traditional," which comes stuffed with chopped beef, potatoes and onions – ketchup is optional. I chose the "chicken-pot-pie pasty" stuffed with a nicely seasoned blend of chicken and vegetables and served with a side of gravy. It was delicious, and the perfect meal after a particularly strenuous hike.

Good times, you betcha!