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Ideas for National Brownie Day From Your Rochester Apartment

This month, the 501 on 1st Blog is bringing residents ways to celebrate National Brownie Day on December 7th. Try one of these brownie recipes at your apartment, or check out local Rochester, MN bakeries like Daube's Cakes and Bakery and Gingerbread House Bakery. Read on to learn more about these in today's blog post. Make Brownies at Home Super Fudgy Brownies from The First Year Super fudgy brownies pair perfectly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. These super fudgy brownies can be made with all-purpose flour, salt, unsweetened cocoa powder, unsweetened baking chocolate, butter, sugar, vanilla, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed S’mores Brownies from Melanie Makes Clearly peanut butter and chocolate is one of the most iconic duos of the dessert world, and this recipe makes the most of that fact by amping up your s’mores game by a few delectable degrees. This takes a bit longer to prepare because you’ll make a graham cracker crust and brownies as you put this concoction together. But it’s definitely worth it! Invest an hour in making this and then share the fruits of your success with your friends or neighbors for a treat that will wow anyone. Triple Dark Chocolate Truffle Brownies from Sprinkle Some Sugar Had a bad day at work? Destress with a pan of triple dark chocolate truffle brownies. These fudgy brownies are loaded with chocolate. You use regular cocoa powder, dark cocoa powder, Oreos, and chocolate chips to make this treat. It’s also loaded with a lot of butter (and not very much flour) making for the fudgiest brownies we’ve ever tried. Remember to have these brownies with a scoop of ice cream or a tall glass of milk. Local Bakeries Daube's Cakes and Bakery Besides brownies, check out Daube’s for other baked goods. They are of course most famous for their carrot cake, complete with cream cheese frosting, and they bake from scratch, too, with over a dozen different cakes. Tarts, tortes, pies, cheesecakes, and more round out the bakeries offerings. Shoppers can simply drop in and pick up baked goods, or order ahead for a special occasion. Daube's Cakes and Bakery is about 8 minutes from 501 on 1st. Gingerbread House Bakery “Baking has been in the Fish family for four generations. Our bakery has served Rochester and the Rochester area for over 58 years and we are proud to serve you.” Gingerbread House Bakery is about 6 minutes from 501 on 1st. Thanks for reading our blog post this month! We want to wish everyone in our apartment community happy holidays! We’ll be back next year with more DIY ideas, apartment living topics, and holiday tips. Thanks for coming along with us this year.

Fall Pumpkin Traditions

Halloween is here! You’ve got all month to plan your evening, but sometimes it can really sneak up on you. The 501 on First Blog is helping you celebrate. Try some of these ideas for the big day! We found a great recipe for stuffed bell peppers — Jack-o-Lantern style — that you can try for dinner. This shredded chicken and rice-stuffed Halloween peppers recipe from Everyday Jenny will keep your belly full while you enjoy your evening. Need something to sip on? Head over to Lauren Conrad’s blog for a list of festive Halloween cocktails . All About Pumpkins has a Pumpkin Guide to help you pick the kind of pumpkin you want to bring home for your decorating or baking. Between trick-or-treaters, you can enjoy your own homemade snack with roasted pumpkin seeds. We have the rundown on how to make your own. Stop by your Rochester, MN farmer’s market or pumpkin patch soon and choose the best pumpkins for the job and get started with some pumpkin fun. Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Ingredients seeds from 2 large pumpkins ½ teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt ½ tablespoon olive oil dash of salt Instructions — Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. — Scrape out and remove seeds from your two pumpkins. Wash and clean your seeds from your pumpkin, making sure you remove any unwanted pumpkin rinds or deformed seeds. Wash in a colander and once again remove any unwanted items. — Soak the clean seeds in a bowl full of water for ½ hour on kitchen counter or overnight in the refrigerator. Drain the seeds, discarding the water. — Fill a pot with water and a dash of salt (enough water so that it will cover the seeds). Bring the water to a boil. Place seeds into the boiling water and boil gently for about 10 minutes. This helps cook the insides of your pumpkin seeds so when you go to roast them you will get perfect pumpkins seeds crunch, ensuring the insides are cooked. — Turn off the heat. Drain the seeds and place them back into your empty bowl. Toss seeds with olive oil. Lay out seeds in a thin layer onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Place in the oven. Move and turn the seeds over about every 10 minutes, making sure they are not burning. Seeds are done after about 40 minutes or when they are no longer soft. You do not want dark spots on your seeds; you want them to be a darker yellow. Season with additional salt if desired. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Place into a clean mason jar. Enjoy! These are the perfect companion for a Halloween activity. If horror movies aren’t your to your liking, this printable for Halloween Bingo is a cute, festive way to spend the evening. Grab some friends and use candy corn for your board markers! Enjoy!

Celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day

On September 19th this month you may hear some unusual words all around you. Words like blimey, ahoy, and swab. So get a jump on the day, which is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and get ready to talk like a pirate, too. To help you get in on the fun, the 501 on First Blog has pulled together some piratical resources so you can speak like a piratical pro, plus we have some additional ideas about how to get in the spirit of the day. Talk Like a Pirate Talking like a pirate takes a bit of practice, but with the right terminology at your fingertips, you can be a pro in no time. We’ve included this Pirate Glossary to give you a foot up in preparation for the big day. We bet you’ll learn things about pirates, ships, and the seven seas that you didn’t know before. Watch a Pirate-Themed Movie If simply talking like a pirate for the day isn’t enough, check out this list billed as the “Complete List of Every Pirate Movie Ever Made” and choose one to watch tonight. One of the best pirate movies from the list is Pirates of Penzance , a Gilbert and Sullivan opera that despite being written in the 1800s never gets old. Follow The Pirate King, Frederick, Mabel, and Ruth as they untangle a twisted plot to discover what duty truly means. Host a Pirate-Themed Dinner Party Break out the stops and host a dinner party with pirate-themed decorations and food. Allrecipes.com has a variety of piratey food options to consider. Play some pirate-themed background music, and perhaps make someone walk the plank if they don’t eat all of their dinner. However you decide to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, the most important thing is to have fun in your apartment community, at the office, and about town in Rochester, MN. Thanks for reading today’s blog post.

Celebrating National Ice Cream Month

Summer is heating up here in Rochester, MN and we’ve got just the thing to quell the heat, homemade ice cream! We have recipes to share just in time for National Ice Cream Month. Try one of these sometime this month, or head to your favorite ice cream shop for a couple of delicious scoops. No-Churn Roasted Berry Vanilla Bean Ice Cream We love this recipe because it incorporates plenty of fresh fruit! We hope that you use fresh fruit from a local farmer’s market or farm to make this dish. This ice cream makes for a refreshing dish, and the Roasted Berry Sauce isn’t just for ice cream — it also tastes great on cakes, cheesecakes, and pancakes. Coconut Ice Cream This is a very luscious coconut ice cream. This recipe is very easy and extra creamy. Be sure to use the correct type of cream of coconut as there is a huge difference between cream of coconut and coconut milk. It is like the difference between evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. Two brands to look for in cream of coconut are "Coco Lopez" and "Coco Colada". Raspberry Sorbet This fresh raspberry sorbet only takes 30 minutes to make, so be sure to prepare this for your next summer outing for a fun, creamy, delicious treat. We think adding lemon juice to the mix is a great way to add a bit of tang to the sweetness of this thick dessert. Garnish with some fruit or sprigs of your favorite seasoning to add some complementary color and texture. With some help from Yelp, we have a list of places you can stop by for ice cream this month. Check out the reviews to find the perfect place to visit. Please feel free to share your favorite place to get ice cream in the comments. Thanks for reading the 501 on First Blog today!

Organizing at 501 on First

When we move into a new place, like 501 on First in Rochester, MN, we often have good intentions of getting everything out of the boxes and organized. But then life happens, and one week leads to another, and several months down the road we’re still tripping over the stack of boxes in the corner of the room. If that’s where you find yourself, or if the clutter has just built up over time, perhaps it’s time to get organized. In today’s blog post, we will provide some timely tips for whipping things into shape. To begin with, don’t get overwhelmed. Start small. Organize the desk drawer, the coat closet, or the spare room. A good idea is to break the task down into tasks that can be accomplished in 15 to 20 minutes. Over time, those chunks will add up to success. Whatever you are looking to organize, start with surveying what you have, and designate its destination by giving yourself three options: 1) Keep, 2) Give Away, and 3) Throw Away. Doing this sorting is half the battle. For the things you decide to keep, find a home for them in your apartment that makes sense for their function. There is definitely something to be said for the adage from your grandmother’s day, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Be prompt with the items to give away; if you don’t get them to their intended destination within a week or two, toss them. And if you are going to throw things away, just do it. Also, those things that you are going to mend? If you don’t have the tools and time, it’s probably never going to happen, so you will be better off just getting rid of it. (Unless it is something highly sentimental, or you have a specific plan and time frame for repairing it.) It may not sound like much, but these three designations can set you on a path to getting those boxes, overflowing closets, and junk drawers, contained. What are your favorite organizational tips? Please share in the comments.

Ten Photography Tips

Living at the 501 on First in Rochester, MN means scenic places teeming with history and beauty are close at hand. The South Fork of the Zumbro River of course offers many places that make the perfect canvas for taking pictures. Whether you snap sunsets with your camera phone or you have full-blown photography equipment, there’s a place for you with the Rochester Camera Club or the Red Wing Photo Club . Today, we thought it would be fun to put together a list of photography tips for members of our apartment community. Here are some of the best we came upon: Look for and capture the beauty of the everyday to create winning photography. Backup, backup, backup. It would be a shame to lose your work, so be sure you have backups of your photographs. It’s heartbreaking to lose them. Get up close. Getting up close and personal when taking photos can be a great way to focus on something, so fill the frame by moving closer to an object. Being closer often means a better picture than if you were to pinch and zoom. Focus more on the composition of your photography and less about the technical aspects. The technicalities can certainly do a lot to improve your photos, but if you’re not sure about how they work, focus on how you can work with the elements you’re working with to compose an interesting photo. Experiment. Trying different angles, exposures, and apertures of the same scene can teach you a lot about how they work. Trying out different settings, angles, and techniques can lead to stunning, unique photos. Get permission to shoot on private property. Be respectful when taking photos of people or places. Staging the “perfect” picture is, for the most part, a myth. However, simply being in the moment with a camera ready will lead to capturing it. Let moments happen, and take lots of shots to capture one you’re happy with. Become a minimalist. The more gear you have to pack around with you, the less you will enjoy the experience. Use a messenger bag instead of a backpack to carry your extra gear; it’s more accessible for getting to your camera, lenses, and other supplies. It’s a well-known but worth-repeating mantra: Natural light is the best light. Early mornings and late afternoons typically have the best light for photography. Have fun! Taking photographs can be intrinsically pleasing. Simply get out and enjoy your time capturing the perfect (and not-so-perfect) photos. We hope these tips are helpful! We would love to know where your favorite places to shoot are located. Please share in the comments.