Do you know what weekend it is? It’s Art Sled Rally weekend! Jake and I have been thinking all week about what kind of vehicle we should construct on this Fresh Forkin’ Friday night so that we might hurl ourselves down the sled hill toward cheering immortality. We’ve gone the gamut of ideas, from a long slinking Lady Rainicorn to the simple statement block of cheese, but given the sleds in our shed I think we’ve decided to be burgers. We have a few saucer sleds and figure if we can build some brown blanket patties, we could dress in ketchup, mustard and pickle colors to keep the whole thing real. Sliding sliders, we crack ourselves up.

*****

OPENS

Parka in the Longfellow neighborhood opened this week with a splash! It’s a small cafe inside the new Foraged Modern Workshop space, but it’s packing big flavor from big names. The food is modern comfort food, there’s a “Salisbury” pork chop that will blow you away.

NEW STUFF

Relatedly, Rustica has a new soup and sandwich menu courtesy of Victory 44′s Erick Harcey. I tried a silky cauliflower soup with little sunken knobs of pickled cauliflower, a melty good mortadella sandwich, and a hearty ham and white bean soup with ribbons of kale.

Dixie’s on Grand is finally doing Saturday breakfast (just in time for your pre-Winter Carnival fuel up). Check out the Bayou Benedict or the Bad Head Blues, a true Southern grit bowl.

*****

It’s Winter Carnival time! That means it’s time to get out and chill your tuckus in the name of good Minnesota fun! Hang out at the Ice Bar, warm up with some food truck nosh, or check out Sunday’s World’s Toughest BBQ.

If you’re only slightly excited for the big Red Bull Crashed Ice event, think about stopping be WA Frost’s Frosty’s Bar  event first where they’ll have the famous patio all warmed up for you with a fire pit, drinks, snacks, even a reason not to leave.

*****

If you’re feeling the need to stay indoors, we got that too. The Kingfield/Fulton Farmers Market vendors will gather at Bachman’s on Saturday from 10am – 2pm for a little Fresh from the Freeze winter market. I say hit Gai Gai Thai for a warmer, pick up some salmon, goat cheese, some good bread, maybe a chutney, and you’ll feel like summer is right around the corner.

*****

Sunday is your day to sample soup, sweetie. The Midtown Global Market’s annual Soup Cook Off will run you a scant $5 donation for the Youth Farm Project and in turn will net you a LOT of soup sipping from the myriad chefs and cuisines represented in the market. I can only imagine what the Left Handed Cook and Sonora Grill kids will be putting up. If you can’t make it, check out one of DMG’s picks for top soups.