Minneapolis Summer Fun: Part 2, with Pie
What is a fun summer day (and night) in Minneapolis?
Well, obviously, it must involve eating. Summer picnics should have pie. And watching a spectacular fireworks display from an historic bridge downtown caps it all off nicely.
1. Visiting the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
2. Having a picnic by the Mississippi River, including pie!
3. Watching the Aquatennial fireworks from the Stone Arch bridge downtown
Here are some scenes from our time in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Next: Picnic, Pie, and Fireworks!
Mark is one of my besties, and now that I am coupled up, we like to do couple stuff with our partners. For months we’d been talking about having a picnic in which each person would bring food from their ethnic background.
Mark was hoping my partner, who is Thai, would make papaya salad with stinky fish sauce, which he loves. His partner was planning to buy stuff from the Hmong Market (not a cook, that one) and Mark and I, being foodies and amateur chefs, would make something.
Not cake, but pie
I was supposed to make a German Chocolate cake. That has nothing to do with my ethnicity, but it’s Mark’s favorite cake and I still owe him one from his birthday.
I suggested a rhubarb pie instead. That was okay IF I still make the cake later. Rhubarb pie seems sort of Scandinavian Minnesotan, which I am on my mother’s side.
I’m not really much of a pie maker, I’m a cake baker. The only pie I make regularly is pumpkin or sweet potato at Thanksgiving. For this I use my mom’s “super easy pie crust” recipe. An oil pastry, you stir it all up, pat it in the pie pan, and that’s it. Easy peasy.
(Sorta) famous black raspberry pie
Earlier this summer, I picked a whole lot of black raspberries in my backyard. After much debate (mentally, inside my head) I decided to make a pie with them. Pie crust not being in my repertoire, I bought a package of Pillsbury pie crusts. Made this pie and it turned out to be delicious. More on pie later!
Picnicking by the Mississippi
After having fun in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, we were very hungry. We had decided to picnic, but not where to picnic.
On the spur of the moment, we chose the banks of the Mississippi River. Strangely enough, a paddlewheel boat went floating by.
We recently visited Itasca State Park and the headwaters of the Mississippi River. That is where, and I quote, “the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.”
The river is a little bigger by the time it flows through the Twin Cities. The Mississippi, in fact, is one of the main dividers of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the second-largest drainage system in the United States.
For centuries, the Mississippi River has been an important route for trade and travel. It flows through several major cities, from Minneapolis and St. Paul to St. Louis, Memphis, and on to New Orleans.
On the way it defines the eastern boundaries of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana and the western boundaries of Illinois, Tennessee and Mississippi.
The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest and fifteenth-largest river in the world.
Soon-to-be-famous rhubarb pie
To get back to the important thing—food—my pie saga continues. The pie crusts come in a package of 2, so I thought I’d make my rhubarb pie with the crust I had left.
Day before the picnic, I’m perusing my rhubarb cookbooks (I have 2 rhubarb cookbooks. What can I say.) and see that most recipes call for a double crust. Oops.
Lucky I have a lot of recipes, in my 2 cookbooks, so I found a few that did not require a double crust.
Some had meringue, which was a no-go, of course (can’t make pie crust, sure can’t make meringue). The option I chose was a streusel topping. Yum!
I had all the ingredients, which were rhubarb, sugar, flour, and butter! It also called for pecans but I decided to skip that part.
I love nuts, and I am nuts, but I prefer my baked goods sans nuts. Just a nutty preference of mine. Also involved: some cinnamon.
Technique improvements
This being my second time working with a frozen prepared pie crust, I made some improvements to my technique. First, I didn’t let it thaw as long. I think this was a problem with my first crust. It stuck together a little bit.
- Before the streusel topping, you can see my fluting!
After only the minimum thawing time I found the crust much easier to work with. My edge fluting technique also improved with this pie, as you can see in the photo above. Ahem. Practice makes perfect, or at least, pretty darn good.
The fireworks display of the season
What is this Aquatennial, you may ask? The Minneapolis Aquatennial is the official civic celebration of the City of Minneapolis, helping visitors and natives alike to appreciate all that my lovely city has to offer.
Four days jam-packed with fun events, many involving water (we have 13 lakes within the city borders), beginning with a big torchlight parade and ending with these spectacular fireworks.
The majority of the events are free and open to the public. One involves crowning the Queen of the Lakes! Whee! I’ll have to catch that next year. I love crowns and queens.
The Stone Arch Bridge is the place to be
Apparently, THE place to watch the Aquatennial fireworks is from the Stone Arch Bridge downtown.
Mark is a complete aficionado of the Aquatennial fireworks. According to him, this is the only place to watch the fireworks from. Frankly, I had been thinking somewhere far away with a good view, like on some kind of hill or something.
All about the bridge
Built in 1883 by railroad tycoon James J. Hill for his Great Northern Railway, the Stone Arch Bridge crosses the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls.
In recognition of its architectural significance and community importance, the federal government added the bridge to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The only arched bridge made of stone on the entire length of the Mississippi, it is a pedestrian and bicycle bridge nowadays.
The bridge really is a fine place to watch the fireworks, and you get to see them up close and personal. Downside, I will just say, lots of people. Lots. You can see the river of people in the photo below.
Afterwards there was a complete and total traffic jam with everyone trying to get out of downtown. Aside from the fireworks, there was the X games going on. Whatever the heck that is.
In this photo you can see the Guthrie Theater and the Mill City Museum along the Mississippi riverfront. If you visit my fair city, be sure to see a show at the internationally-known Guthrie and check out the museum.
Built within the ruins of what was once the world’s largest flour mill, the mill complex is a National Historic Landmark.
The Mill City Museum opened in 2003. Here, visitors of all ages learn about the intertwined histories of the flour industry, the river, and the city of Minneapolis. Random fact: Minneapolis was the flour milling capital of the world from 1880 to 1930.
Fireworks and night photography
My photos of the fireworks are not that fab. Apparently there are tricks to night photography. I do not know them. Though one seems to involve having a tripod.
Still, you get the idea: totally awesome fireworks! I could have done without the musical accompaniment, personally, but I digress. Mark took a video of the entire fireworks display, you can see (and hear) it here:
Dear reader, a fun summer day in Minneapolis is quite exhausting! We got home late and went straight to bed. Visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.
For more summer fun, check out my Minnesota road trips. See Minnesota Road Trip: Camping in Itasca State Park and Road Trip to Roseau.
Upcoming: I am going to the Minnesota State Fair this week, and traveling up to the North Shore of Lake Superior on Labor Day. Stay tuned!
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Wow that was quite an eventful day. The Pie pictures were totally droolworthy ! I wish I could just go out and grab one.
It’s about the time of year for rhubarb pie again! I hope I can enact this day again soon.
Very nice article, Cynthia! It brings back memories of when I grew up in N.D., and my mom and Aunts would bake Rhubarb pies.. oh, its been years since I’ve had a piece of pie. Thank you for helping bring back some awesome memories for me. Oh, and those fireworks looked awesome!
Thanks so much, Shannon. Not had a piece of pie for years?!? It sounds like we need to get you some pie, stat!
Next time you bake a pie like that you should invite me over, Cynthia. I LOVE black raspberries and used to find them on the market when I lived in Europe but not here, in California. I was drooling all the way to the end of your post after reading about a black raspberry pie. I’ve never been in Minneapolis and obviously never heard of “Minneapolis Aquatennial.” Sounds like a fun celebration. Hope to make it there someday.
Anda, you are hereby invited! I think the only way to get black raspberries is to grow them. They grow like weeds! In the past I’ve made some jam, but pie might be the way to go. After all, it’s healthy with all those antioxidants, right?? The Aquatennial is a fun celebration, I hope you come to visit one day! Thanks so much for your comment and kind words 🙂
The rhubarb pie looks delicious, although I adore chocolate cakes as well LOL The fireworks pictures are stunning: you could absolutely appreciate them without tripods and effects! #TheWeeklyPostcard
Thanks so much, Anna! I adore chocolate cake too, nothing can replace it, but pie is nice for a summer picnic!
A perfect day – perfect company (hanging out with the 4 of you must be a blast!), mouth-watering food (we want a piece of that rhubarb pie now!), a fair place like Minneapolis parks & downtown – and great humour, courtesy of Cynthia! What an enjoyable blog post! Keep them coming!
Aw that is so kind, thanks, guys! You’d better watch out, maybe the 4 of us will descend on you in Baracoa. Bringing rhubarb pie, OF course!
MMm that sorta famous blackberry raspberry pie looks delicious!! You’re making Minneapolis look interesting and yummy! No wonder that big spoon is there! Thanks for linking up with #TheWeeklyPostcard!!
It may go down in the sorta famous halls of fame, Lorelei! Glad to hear I’m making Minneapolis look good, thanks much for reading 🙂
I love Minneapolis – such a fun city! And I’m jealous of your rhubarb pie. Yum! I grew up in the Midwest but now live in the South – and we don’t have rhubarb. Can you believe it? Crazy! #TheWeeklyPOstcard
Hi Jill! You can’t have rhubarb in the south because it’s too darn hot there! Rhubarb is one thing we can only grow up north. Which is only fair, it usually being the other way around. Whereabouts in the midwest are you from?
Fireworks and homemade pie to top off a day with friends sounds like a winner. Like you, I am not a pie crust expert, and that was a creative idea to make a streusel topping since you only had enough crust for the bottom of the pie. Also, I like the flour theme that runs through your post with pies and the Mill City Museum that was built on one of largest flour mills in the world.
You are so right, Dorothy, I never thought about the flour theme, but I do like being covered in flour! And eating things made with flour. Hmmm. Fireworks did certainly end our fun day with a bang. Thanks much for stopping by.
Sounds like a wonderful way to end your day! I love picnicking and fireworks. I don’t understand nighttime photography either, but luckily my husband does (at least a bit). I love papaya salad and pies of course. I have made my share of pie crusts and used some store bought ones, but I can never get it to look pretty. Now I need to work on my technique with gluten free pie crusts since my mother in law can’t do gluten. It is even harder! Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard
Thank you, Anisa, it was a great end to the day. What can be better than a picnic and a giant fireworks display? I don’t believe you about not having all photography technique down, your pix are always so professional! With pie crust taste is really more important than looks, that is certainly my philosophy with cakes. I’m sure yours were delicious. The gluten-free stuff is a challenge. I have been doing some experimenting with other gluten-free desserts, but pie crust might send me over the edge, haha
Like you, I love pies, I love making them, if someone else makes the crust (meaning I buy it), and I still didnt’ figure out the meringue… so all my pie recipes are “doctored” to skip those. Your pies looked like it came out perfect! Love the idea of the strusel topping – I’ll have to try that one. Looks like you had a great picnic by the river; your fireworks photos are better than mine would be (unusable ;). Your posts make Minneapolis sound like a fun city! Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard
That’s wonderful, will you please make the pie for my next picnic? 😉 I’m usually a stickler for “everything from scratch,” but I like to think I know my limits. I would like to try to make my own pie crust, sometime when I didn’t have to worry about anybody eating it, ha. The streusel topping was really brilliant, only thing, it covered up my great fluting on the edges.
Minneapolis truly is a fun city, come visit!
Hey Cynthia! Enjoyed the post!
1.) I’m always up for a good picnic, as long as the grass isn’t damp and a proper blanket has been spread out.
2.) Summer pie should be had regardless of whether there’s a picnic or not. 😛
3.) Your pies look delicious. I love a good homemade pie. I particularly like the look of that black raspberry one.
4.) Stinky fish sauce is delicious.
5.) No matter how old I get, I’m like a child with fireworks. I love them. But I, too, could do without a musical accompaniment.
Hi Justin, so glad you enjoyed.
1.) Those folding chairs are even better than a blanket. I think you can see if look closely at the group photo–Mark and Chong had chairs with built-in umbrellas for sun protection! Wow 😉 Personally, I have a Bratz butterfly chair. (!)
2.) yes, and then maybe it won’t get smashed on the way home
3.) I think you would have liked it
4.) I’m not there yet. I can eat it, but I’m not a fan.
5.) Yeah cuz how can you hear yourself oohing and ahhing with all that noise?
Thanks much for reading!!
What a fun day! Looks like your pies came out great. That blackberry pie looks to die for! Sunny day, fireworks, pie and good company? Sounds like heaven to me. Thanks for sharing the day!
Thanks for stopping by, Paolo! It was a little bit of heaven on a lovely summer day!
Omg, I want more pie. I’d forgotten how delicious it was until seeing the pictures. Rather saddening you didn’t mention my sauerkraut salad. 😉
Aw Mark, I am truly pentinent to have made such a gross omission! I will have to add the sauerkraut salad as it was very delicious. And German. I also forgot to say, always put a pan under your fruit pie in the oven. Yikes. 🙄
Great photos, fun to read with good info as usual! Love the fireworks video. Sounds like you’ve been having a great summer!
Thank you very much, my dear Anon.