"Twin Cities Insider" talks snow cones

A recent "Twin Cities Insider" article in Better Health & LIVING (yes, all caps) features local restaurant proprietors: Heartland executive chef Lenny Russo, local chocolatier Brian McElrath and Kopplin's Coffee owner Andrew Kopplin.

The three (and others) briefly dish suggestions for Winter Carnival and Valentine's Day dates.

Russo's suggestion that the Winter Carnival have a snow cone competition is a fantastic one. However, while a great idea in general--and the Twin Cities could def. benefit from a more diverse snow cone selection, or selection at all--probably the last thing you want to consume while at an outdoor winter festival in Minnesota is a block of shaved ice, even if it IS blue coconut flavored.

Hopefully, you all watch "30 Rock" and this reference distracted you from the improbability of consuming ice in winter and redirected your brain to the terriff food references in last week's episode, namely Jack Donaghy's introduction, via new crush Salma Hayek, to Puerto Rican snow cones.

Donaghy breathlessly recounts the experience to Tina Fey's character, Liz Lemon: "Have you ever had a piragua? It's like a snow cone, except it's called a piragua."

The show also had funny references, from Hayek's character, to the Puerto Rican equivalents of McDonalds' McFlurry and McRib.