Detroit

Alas, the promised Detroit post (a week or so late). If your a regular reader of Munching in the Mitten, you know I spent some time in Detroit this spring. Two months to be exact. I was doing a program through the University of Michigan that gives students the opportunity to live, learn, work and engage in the city for a semester. I was part of the first ever spring semester of the program, so I spent two months there as opposed to the regular four months. During my two months I took a class on the history of Detroit in the 20th Century, completed an internship with an environmental action organization, ate lots of good food and was overall able to experience and learn a lot. Oh, and became a lifetime Detroit lover.

Below is a quick guide of places to eat, places to shop and things to do in Detroit based on my two months in the city. This is by no means a be-all-end-all list, I know there is so much more to do.

Place to Eat:
+ Cass Cafe: I loved the lentil burger, but they also have some pretty tasty daily specials.
+ Motor City Brewing Works: Pretty good pizzas. I split four pizzas with three friends and was able to try the Margherita, Roasted Pear & Fig, Danimal, and the Godfather. I loved the classic Margherita. Pretty decent Root Beer too.
+ Bronx Bar: Three Words. . .Plate of Bacon.
+ Traffic Jam & Snug: I only tried their homemade ice cream, chocolate with fresh raspberries. I've heard mixed reviews on their food.
+ Harmonie Garden: My program ordered Harmonie Garden during one of our orientation days, needless to say I liked everything I tried.
+ Good Girls Go to Paris: A unique treat near the Detroit Institute of Arts, I tried the Savory Pascalle, very goat cheesy, and the White Kristy with lemon, butter and sugar. Bonus, bottomless cups of coffee if you eat in.
+ Slow's & Slow's To Go: I almost always got The Reason Sandwich - pork butt, pickles, slaw and your choice of one of five barbecue sauces. Don't be afraid to make a meal out of sides though - the mac n' cheese, sweet potato mash and baked beans were all favorites of mine.
+ Avalon Bakery: I lived way to close too Avalon and was a frequent customer. The Sea Salt Chocolate Chip cookie is a must if you go but I also loved their granola bars, almond spice and trail mix cookies.
+ Hygrade Deli: My friend Jeneen found this restaurant and we went one Thursday morning for breakfast. We were the only people their by 10AM and enjoyed chatting with the owner, and listening to the waitresses talk about how their front door hasn't worked the same since Detroit 1-8-7 filmed there.
+ Neighborhood Noodle: One of the pop-up restaurants working to establish more permanent status as a food truck/cart/restaurant. I was able to attend their last Noodle Nights at Supino Pizzeria. Hopefully they will be up and running with their Noodle Mobile soon; they, along with many other vendors in the city are working with the city to establish ordinances for mobile food vendors. You can read about my experience at Noodle Night here.

+ Supino Pizzeria: The best pizza I have had in the Mitten, hands down. The crust, the crust, the crust. I was a fan of the Supino and San Gennaro. Supino is located in the Eastern Market District.
+ Russell Street Deli: Located next to Supino in the Eastern Market District, Russell Street serves up delicious, fresh food for both breakfast and lunch. Tons of vegetarian and vegan options to choose from.

Places To Shop for Groceries and More:
+ University Foods: A great grocery for students at Wayne State and nearby neighborhoods. The store is small but offers a wide variety of products, including organic food.
+ Kim's Produce: A small grocer along Woodward that offers fresh produce and popular health food brands. Most importantly they sell Calder Dairy Chocolate Milk.
+ Goodwell's Natural Foods: Another small grocer near Wayne State, Goodwells offers many unique health foods as well as some delicious prepared foods. The Famous Pocket Sandwich is a personal favorite.
+ Honeybee Market: Located in Mexicantown, Honeybee has a wide selection of Latin specialty foods in addition to the staples of your regular grocer.
+ Eastern Market: A gem in Detroit for over 100 years. The Saturday market is an experience you must have if you come Detroit, there are a wide variety of food vendors across several market sheds. I'm partial Shed 2 where you can find many specialty foods. Starting this Tuesday, you can enjoy the market from 11AM-7PM.

+ City Bird: Once you fall in love with Detroit, go to to City Bird for all of your Detroit loving needs. The also have great greeting cards and gifts. Bonus, the store was opened by some University of Michigan grads.

Places to Go:
+ Dequindre Cut and Detroit Riverwalk: Bike, walk or run on this rails to trails path. Read about my experience here.
+ Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History: I took the most impressive museum tour I have ever been on here. Go here.
+ The Heidelberg Project: A community art project on Detroit's east side that is transforming the way people view the conditions of community.

+ Detroit Institute of Art: I never actually went, but I should of and I will. Among other things, the museum is known for it's Diego Rivera mural.
+ Green Garage and the Green Alley: The green garage is basically the mecca of green technology and the re purposing of materials. The building is being rehabbed in a cooperative manner by teams of professionals, skilled tradesmen and volunteers. The group also created Detroit's first Green Alley, planted with native Michigan plants.

This is just a sampling of what Detroit has to offer. If your interested in a structured tour of the city, I wrote a history tour and community visions tour for my History of Detroit class that I would be happy to share.

Dequindre Cut

I feel like I am always saying I have a new favorite place, food, etc. Whatever, I like a lot of stuff - ok?

Anyways my latest favorite place in Detroit is the Dequindre Cut, a walker/runner/biker friendly trail that runs from the area near Eastern Market to the riverfront in Detroit. A former railroad line, the path is currently only 1.35 miles but there are plans for minor expansion. Nevertheless it is completely awesome. On Tuesday night my trusty bike riding buddy B-Rad, my roommate Maureen and I rode about twelve minutes over to the path and hopped on the "on-ramp" to the path towards the riverfront (Detroit's riverfront is an equally gorgeous and vibrant area to bike, walk, run and relax). We snapped some photos and then extended our bike ride through downtown and arrived back at our apartment two hours later. Here are a few photos from our ride:

The entrance to the path near Eastern Market. 

Path. 

We're nearing the riverfront. 

Riverfront. Maureen and B-Rad. Maureen picked up some mad bike skills on Mackinaw Island - no hands.  

Mid-ride snack break. Black Cherry ice cream at Mootown Creamery in Eastern Market district.

Safari Supper Three (and a few thoughts on Protein)

Last night was our third progressive dinner in Detroit (and good news, I think we are having one more). The fourth floor boys kicked off dinner with venison sausage/cheese/cracker plate, guacamole and chips, and bacon wrapped water chestnuts. Everything was great - I don't have a favorite, they were all my favorite.

Special thanks to Tyler for sacrificing the deer. 

The eighth floor girls made tandoori chicken, rice and a tasty lentil salad. I loved the flavor of the chicken and the lentil salad and rice were both light but delicious.

Finally, down on the sixth floor we made strawberry shortcakes and served with vanilla ice cream. I used this Bisquick recipe to make the shortcakes and one of my other roommates cooked down the strawberries with sugar and honey. This dessert made me super excited for Michigan strawberries. I really want go pick strawberries soon and make lots of jams, but I think I will have to wait until my Detroit program is over to do this.

Thoughts on Protein

On to protein. My first month in Detroit I ate almost no meat, which is a good thing but I wasn't being smart about it like I have in the past when I cut down significantly on my meat consumption. I wasn't consciously incorporating vegetarian protein sources into my diet and a few results of this seem to be loss of muscle mass as well as eating more fatty foods. Last week one of my coworkers brought up something similar when she said she needed to start eating more protein because she noticed when she was running her lungs could go for a long time but not her legs. I felt the exact same way yesterday when I was running. 


Nonetheless, I will still continue to eat small amounts of meat but there are a lot of things I hate about the meat industry so I really need to focus on where my meat is coming from. Most importantly though I need to start eating more balanced meals that include protein. I am still hoping to run a half marathon this year and need to prep my body to start formally training in a month and half or so.

If you suffered through those last two paragraphs of rambling - thanks! It was probably much more helpful for me than for you.

Hope your having a good week!

Checking In

Ugh, sorry I haven't been keeping up on my blogging. So much to do lately, not to mention the weather was beautiful today. You may be wondering (but probably not) what I've been eating. Well, in the past four days I have enjoyed a Polish feast in Hamtramck, Middle Eastern food in Dearborn, Latin fare at a wedding, a pulled pork brunch post-wedding, my Mom's french bread, and little bit of Zingerman's. I'm not sure when I will feel hungry again.

In between all that eatin' I got to go home for less than 24 hours. It was so wonderful to go home. I haven't been home for a month - that almost sounds like a record. Anyway, I knew Detroit was a pretty intense place but I didn't realize just how intense until I was away for a bit to process. With less than a month left here I can say it has been a great experience. I have learned more than I ever expected about the city, myself and more. I need to better reiterate all the great things I have learned here soon.

Tonight I biked around with my friend B-Rad (side note, Detroit is a really fun place to bike). We took a short ride to Michigan Central Station, an iconic spot in Detroit. You can't really go inside as it is surrounded by razor wire, but there has recently been a little more talk of the building being renovated.

Michigan Central Station, Detroit. This is a good example of the "ruin porn" people come here to see. I promise some of the beautiful non-ruined things too because there is a lot of that too. 

Safari Supper: Round Two

Last night, was our second Safari Supper. My room had appetizers. I was a little nervous we were going to run into to problems when my roommate and I didn't get back from the movie theater (Bridesmaids, go see it) and grocery until a half hour before our start time. We agreed to "Top Chef" it (or work really fast). Luckily everyone else was running behind too and it all worked out. In fact, we agreed this dinner was even better than our last.

For appetizers we used this recipe for French Fries with Three Dips from Epicurious, except we only made two dips. I'm ashamed to say I have never used the method of boiling and then baking potatoes described in the recipe to make the french fries, but I vow to from this point forward. The dips were the real stars of the show. We made the curry ketchup and rosemary mayo. I loved the curry ketchup, I'll definitely be making it again.

We also cut up a loaf of Italian bread and served it with a selection of tasty jams and EVOO w/ dill and chives. 

The entree was mac n' cheese, fried chicken and green beans prepared by the boys room. Everything was so good. For dessert we have frozen kiwi pops covered in chocolate served by the 8th floor girls, so delicious and light.

Next time we will be serving dessert, any suggestions?

Noodle Night

Read my post on the Semester in Detroit blog on Neighborhood Noodle: Semester D Blog.

Safari Supper

Sunday morning I biked to Belle Isle with three other students in my program. It was the perfect day for a ride and we stumbled upon the Heidelberg Project on the way (I actually ended up there again today). As I understand the project was intended to give Detroit residents an alternative view of the blighted neighborhoods they know all to well. Pretty interesting stuff. I think there may be a similar neighborhood elsewhere in Detroit that I heard about on NPR too.

...and then my camera battery died, so no pictures of Belle Isle this time. BUT, if your unfamiliar with Belle Isle it is a city park/island in the Detroit River. You can get there via bridge and once there have a good view of the Detroit and Windsor, Canada skylines. We biked around the island a bit and visited the Conservatory.

We couldn't stay too late though because my classmates and I had planned a progressive dinner (or Safari supper) Sunday evening. Since we are divided nicely into three apartments, one room did appetizers, another the entree and the last desserts.

Appetizers included some tasty breads and oil, deconstructed bruschetta and mozzarella sticks.

My roommates and I were in charge of the entree and we made spaghetti and roasted carrots, served alongside some bread sticks we bought at Eastern Market the day before. The spaghetti sauce ended up being quite the event. We made a meat and vegetarian version. My roommate "Manni" did a great job with the veggie version and really my only job with sauce was to cook the meat. We haven't been eating too much meat here and so we borrowed some frozen meat from the boys apartment. In an effort to split up the 4lbs of frozen ground beef I snapped off the tip of my chefs knife (thanks TJ Maxx) in the meat as well has "butchering" it in a variety of other ways. The boys think it is still edible though, so that's good. 

Finally, dessert was served in the boys room. This dessert may in fact illustrate how awesome the people in my program are. Warm chocolate chip cookies with two choices of ice cream AND an option of coconut cream pie AND candlelight AND music. It was a great end to a great evening with friends. Next Safari Supper on the calendar - can't wait!

Eastern Market: Trip 2 of Many

Happy Saturday! I don't know about where you are, but the weather here is taking a turn for the better. I even got a little sunburn today at the market. :(

When I say "the market," I mean Eastern Market in Detroit. It is a huge market in existence since 1891 and includes some permanent vendors. Today was my second ever trip, and it was much better than my last off-season visit. Tons of flowers, plants for your garden, produce, baked goods, coffee and everything in between.

I left the market with: MI carrots and apples, honey-almond goat cheese, Parmesan, bread sticks, salad greens (grown in Detroit) and rosemary. I also had some coffee from Urban Grounds and pierogi from Peoples Pierogi Collective that were enjoyed at the market.

From top to bottom: blueberry, mushroom, mushroom pierogi's + sauerkraut.

The trip to the market was a great way to wrap up a busy first week in Detroit. From unpacking, attending program orientation, starting new classes and internships to meeting new friendly faces; life has been both crazy and exciting. I feel like have been able to both appreciate some of the City's gems (I'm talking to you Slow's To Go, Goodwell's and Cass Cafe) and in a very small way, scratch the surface at understanding some of it's challenges (where do I get groceries in the City? And yes, it is possible contrary to popular belief. Although, more difficult in some areas). I am excited to learn as much as I can about the city in the next few months.

Next up, Safari Supper.

Almond Biscotti

I’ve just wrapped up a week at home. My big plans for cooking and blogging elaborate meals were defeated by my need for sleep (and laziness). However, I did check one item off my list of things to make – biscotti.

I love biscotti. Over Christmas break my family and I killed an entire container of Nonni’s Biscotti. This led to an expensive coffee shop biscotti habit, and - well you know how these things can end. I decided to try my hand at making my own biscotti. It is safe to say I will never revert to my old coffee shop ways.

For my biscotti I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I omitted the orange zest and liqueur since I didn’t have them on hand, and instead added the slightest bit of almond extract (less than a ¼ teaspoon). Oh and the chocolaty goodness at the end, that was extra. I eyeballed it and used one part milk, one part butter and three parts semi-sweet chocolate chunks.

The finished product was dense, delicious biscotti with all the features of a decadent almond cookie.

P.S. Remember my hint about hanging in Detroit for the summer? Well, I’m here! Look for weekly updates intertwined with munchings on the latest happenings from me in the D for the next couple months.