5 minute read
Noteworthy
CELEBRATING SUCCESS
St. Croix Valley business grows from boutique balloon garlands to custom event décor.
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BY ANGELA JOHNSON
AN ORGANIC IDEA born in 2020 blossoms into a growing celebration business for a Hudson mother/daughter team. Founders of Dot & Daisy, Jen Driscoll and Jordan Stewart, are creative by nature. So, when friends tapped them for ideas about how to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries during the pandemic, they leapt at the chance to flex their creative muscles. Dot & Daisy began with balloon garlands, a beautiful and joyful celebratory surprise for people of all ages.
Stewart loves working with her mom and when the two realized the growth potential of their business, they invited Driscoll’s mom to participate too. “My grandma is 74 and was doing very little over the past year,” says Stewart. When Dot & Daisy expanded to include indoor sleepover tent rentals for kids’ parties, Grandma offered to sew the tents, pillows, garlands and pendants. It was her idea to sew a fun felt fireplace that adds even more whimsy to the company’s rental glamping experience.
This past summer, Dot & Daisy also began offering outdoor photo backdrops for things like graduations and bachelorette parties. With an infectious enthusiasm for any event worth celebrating, from weddings to baby showers, Driscoll and Stewart look forward to creating more and more elevated events for parties all around the St. Croix Valley.
DOT & DAISY 651.295.3000 info@dotanddaisy.com @dotanddaisycreative Dot & Daisy Jen & Jo | Event Décor & Rentals
READ RACH THE BOOKSELLER RECOMMENDS
Things My Son Needs to Know About the World by Fredrik Backman
I’ve fallen in love with Fredrik Backman’s writing the same way he states in this book he wants his son to fall in love with words. “Like whirlwinds in your head. Like a punch to the gut.”
Backman connects so naturally and easily with his readers, and once again, I laughed and cried my way through this book. This is his collection of short and sweet essays to his son on topics like love, about how we protect the weakest among us, about mastering the art of the “preeating” hot dog and about the value of family. This book is the very best combination of hilarious and poignant.
This book is available at Valley Bookseller; 217 Main St. N., Stillwater, Minn.; 651.430.3385; Stop in or order online at valleybookseller.com
TASTE The Most Important Oatmeal of the Day
Back to school means back to a good, healthy breakfast.
For many of us, some form of cereal is a staple in the morning meal rotation. Boxed cold cereals and precooked grains are convenient and can be particularly nutritious when done right. The darling of the internet, overnight oats, makes oatmeal easier than ever because you prepare it the night before. It’s a simple, versatile and healthful recipe that’s portable too!
Another make-ahead idea for oatmeal-on-the-go is granola. Chocolate granola combines bittersweet chocolate, flax seeds and honey and is customizable with your choice of dried fruits and nuts. On its own or with a bit of yogurt or splash of milk, granola is a delicious and decadent way to start the day.
Other grains worthy of breakfast status include amaranth, barley, quinoa, bulgur, buckwheat and sorghum. Each offer unique textures and flavors as well as special health benefits. They can be cooked ahead of time and allow for a lot of variety in breakfast bowls.
A good ol’ box of cereal is not to be discounted. This fast breakfast-onthe-fly can get a health boost in a number of ways: • Add flavor, texture and boost nutrition with a few toss-ins, like fresh or dried fruit and nuts or seeds. • Mix flakes with granola or biscuit-like cereals, O’s with bran buds or puffed grains with checkered grain squares. • Make a cereal smoothie by blending 1 cup each cereal, frozen fruit and dairy or non-dairy milk or yogurt.
Find Perron’s recipes for overnight oats, chocolate granola and breakfast bowls at stcroixvalleymag.com
Contributed by Rachael Perron, culinary and brand director for Kowalski’s Markets, where she specializes in product development and selection, culinary education and communications.
AWARD Leaving a Legacy
Scholarships awarded to students passionate about the outdoors.
The Dr. Greg Seftick Wilderness Scholarship was awarded to two Stillwater Area High School students, Adam Gaertner and Johnna Teegarden, this past spring. Each received a $1,000 award.
Dr. Greg Seftick was from Afton, Minn. and was a 1998 Stillwater Area High School graduate who competed on the alpine ski teams at Stillwater High School and at St. Olaf College. Seftick was an avid outdoor enthusiast and a passionate backcountry skier. He loved the mountains and the wilderness. Sadly, Seftick died in an avalanche in Grand Teton National Park in 2011 at the age of 31. His family and friends established an endowed scholarship fund in 2013 via the St. Croix Valley Foundation to forever honor his memory and support graduating Stillwater Area High School students who have similar passions for alpine skiing and the outdoors. Gaertner and Teegarden are the seventh and eighth scholarship recipients.
On April 16, 2021, on the 10-year anniversary of Seftick’s death, his family and friends honored his life via a “Night of Light” candle lighting and remembrance that they hope will renew interest in and support for the scholarship that now bears his name.
To learn more about The Dr. Greg Seftick Wilderness Scholarship, visit scvfoundation. org/fund-support-greg-seftick
—ANGELA JOHNSON
Opening in Mid August for Apples.
(Closed until Mid August when apples are ready).
Apples for everybody! Apples in pies, doughnuts, rollovers, muffins, bread and cider. FUN for the whole family with a corn maze and pick-your-own pumpkins. P T A O
North of White Bear Lake off East Hwy. 96 651.429.7202 | www.pinetreeappleorchard.com See our website for our calendar of events!
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