June 2007

Best Local Bakery Item…continued

Posted on June 17, 2007 by Ben Trudeau - Edina Realty

My colleague has espoused the sugary goodness of the apple fritter from Mel-O-Glaze. I’m sure it’s good. But is it the best treat in town?

I say go North!..six blocks to A Baker’s Wife. Located at the corner of 28th Ave and 42nd St. If you don’t melt at the smell of Gary’s fresh lovingly prepared pastries perfuming out the door, you’ll make it your next obstacle–choosing which one to try! If it’s your first start with the pear tart. At first its size will intimidate you. But you’ll soon learn that the best way to eat it, is to share. That way you can pick out more treats to try and split them.

Mmmmm…the light flaky pastry makes a nest for half of a pear swimming in custard. It is simply the best Father’s Day gift you can get for under $2.00.

Cape Cod Style – 200 Years of American History

Posted on June 11, 2007 by Ben Trudeau - Edina Realty

As settlers in New England started to build cities and permanent homes in the late 1700’s, they called upon the influences of the English style they were accustom to and invented the original American starter home. They were economically designed and the steeply pitched simple roof lines and clapboard siding helped them hold up to the area’s notorious weather.

The homes made a comeback in the 1930’s when depression era economics made the affordable style more popular, but also satisfied the fashion of colonial revival. Common features are decorative shutters framing the windows and coved ceilings in the living room.

Then in the late 1940’s there was a booming demand for easy-to-build small homes for returning veterans and their young families. Entire communities and neighborhoods were built with nearly identical Cape Cod homes. Levittown, New York being the most famous example. You can find entire Cape Cod blocks in the Nokomis neighborhood.

The home allows for expansion, either off the back or up into the half story with a variety of dormers. Hundreds of once identical homes have since evolved to be as varied as the rest of the homes and the people of Minneapolis.