Minnesotans Are Winners!

Before my nap today, I briefly looked through the stacks of food and craft magazines my friend Tammy sends me in the mail. For some reason, looking through magazines I would normally never purchase makes me feel better.

The one thing that I kept noticing over and over is that the majority of the contributors and winners of contests in these magazines are women from Minnesota.

What makes women in Minnesota 1) enter crafty, baking, or cooking contests and 2) more likely to win said contests? Is it in their blood? Is it just something Minnesotans enjoy doing? Are they drinking some special water than makes them Champs of the Kitchen? If so, I want in on that action.

For example, this month's winner in the Everyday with Rachel Ray* magazine is Jamie Miller from Maple Grove. She submitted a recipe for the best cheeseburger. Unfortunately, there's no write up on the website, only her recipe for Jerk Pork Cheeseburgers with Green Apple Slaw. If you'd like to read the mini write up about her, it's featured on page 96 of the March 2008 issue. I'm sure the library or your local supermarket is still carrying it.

Also, there are two Minnesotans who had recipes good enough to make it to this years Pillsbury Bake-Off, where the winner gets ONE MILLION DOLLARS! There are tens of thousands of people who enter their recipes every year and to be in the top 100, well, that's impressive for sure. And, since 1960, SIX Minnesotans have won the top Bake-Off prize. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty impressed.

I've been trying to ask the Internets for the past 20 minutes to tell me what's the percentage of Minnesotans that win competitions, as compared to the rest of the country. I'm really curious to know if Minnesotans just tend to win more competitions, or if they enter more, therefore the likelihood of them winning is higher. Why do people in MN like to compete so much? I can't find anything. But then again, I'm pretty sick, and honestly, this might all be a dream right now.





*i'm not a Rachel Ray fan, but I read her magazine because it's free and sometimes it has a good recipe or two

Some Observations

I love how minnesotans use the word "cocktail". I especially like it when I'm asked "Do you want to go cock-tailing on Saturday?" Sounds a lot better than "Do you want to go drinking on saturday?" The former is much more sophisticated to my ears.

Why doesn't the person nearest to the heat lamp button press it when the lamps go out at [enter metro bus stop here]? Why is it that someone five feet away has to walk up, press it, and then go back to his/her spot? Do you know how many times I've hit the heat button in the Uptown station when the person standing 2 inches from it keeps reading/staring out the window/pretending not to notice?

Audiobooks are underrated

I seem to only be able to listen to audiobooks if the story is in the first person. If it's in the third, my mind drifts and I'm unable to concentrate. I can read third person stories just fine. I just can't listen to them.

Lola has "learned" how to get under the covers and sleep in the middle of the bed. This wouldn't be difficult if the bed was unmade, but she's learned how to get up under the three layers of sheets and blankets and sleep there. I was searching the house for her last night, and I found her when I went to get into bed. There she was as I peeled back the covers, sitting in her meatloaf pose, looking up at me like "what?" Crazy cat.

I work with a girl who is pretty young, but mature at the same time. She's 25, but has had a ton of life experience. Much more than I do. Everything she says cracks me up. The other day she was telling me about how she's a champ at badminton. She said she even has a special racquet that she named The Executive. And on Thursday, she spent the day at work asking me my opinions on different drinks she was making for her Office party. She has one every Thursday and she likes to showcase different drinks. This Thursday she was trying to perfect The Dunder Mifflin Martini. She wanted to know if I thought different alcohol combos would work together. Since I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to that, I just listened to her plan it all out. She totally makes the day go by A LOT faster. I'm going to miss her when this assignment is over.

Speaking of, I have 25 more work days at this temp job. I've neither loved nor hated the past three weeks. I DO hate the commute. I like the people I work with. I like all the free perks that come with working there. Like bagels on Thursdays. I'm hoping that the agency places me in a new job right away once this one ends. Hopefully one that will be permanent.

I can't stop thinking about Smokin' Aces. It was THAT good. Yesterday I met Phillip and we went to Block E to it.



Seriously? I think this is one of the best - If not the best movie I've seen in, oh, a year. Jeremy piven is excellent in it and i was surprised at Alicia Keys' performance. She was pretty good! Jason Bateman had the best lines of the entire film, though. He was perfect.

I loved the editing and the way that certain shots were constructed. The music fit perfectly and the cast of characters were unlike anything I've seen since Trainspotting. That was the main thing that kept running through my mind - it's about time that this kind of movie is made again. If you haven't already seen Smokin' Aces, you really need to. Go this weekend! I think it might have been even more enjoyable if there were people in the theater with us, but there was only one other couple and a weird dude that screamed stuff like "LOOK OUT BRO!" at the screen. ha.