Brunch

Gallery of Fun

Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5 comments

I had a near perfect weekend in New York. I felt great, I ate devine food, I danced, I drank summer beer and mimosas, I reminisced, I indulged, and I lived in the moment. And all in the wonderful company of good friends.

[yes, that would be a mac and cheese sampler]

As my friend Liz said over a glass of wine and great Indian food last night , Happy Birthday to Marty. How did you celebrate the holiday weekend?

New Years Re-do

Posted on Jan 5, 2012 | 7 comments

On our last day of vacation, we went all out and totally made up for stomach aches and early nights. It may have been my favorite day of the trip!

We slept in, had tea, and then ventured to the famous Huey’s on the River for brunch. We obviously got the beignets. They were warm and doughy and fabulous. Totally hit the spot!

On the side of doughnuts, I got the most delicious crab cake. Seriously one of the best i’ve ever had. It was broiled and packed with meat.

Dipped in parmesan garlic grits! Twas the perfect brunch!

After brunch, I went and laid in the sun in a park on the glorious 70 degree day. It felt sooo good to be warmed by the sun. A little rest = time for beer. Matt and I split a sampler at Moon Riving brewing company. I actually liked each and every one of them!

I got the Belgian wheat in a to-go cup, so we could walk over to city market and listen to live music.

But the day gets even better! Waterfront bars and roof decks are too of my favorite things on the earth. We found both at Rocks on the River.

We chatted and enjoyed the beautiful pink and purple sunset. I live for those moments.

And then a jumbo barge appeared out of nowhere! And it got cold, so we continued on to the Pink house.

We had dinner at the Pink House long ago, on one of our very first trips, so we decided to duck into the tavern for a drink.

I had a perrrfect mint julep and we shared seafood spring rolls.

And then Matt declared that he wouldn’t go home until we located and consumed fried pickles. So I got to Googlin’ and we had some of the best fried pickles EVER at Congress St social club.

And $2 pork tacos!! They were packed with flavor. We resisted ordering 5 more.

This day will live in my memory as complete awesomeness. Tomorrow’s another weekend. Yipeeee.

Mothers and Other Lovely Things

Posted on May 8, 2011 | 3 comments

It was so sad seeing everyone go this afternoon, but this weekend couldn’t have been more perfect. And, thank you guys for your sweet comments and congratulations:)

Yesterday, we strolled around the city and ducked into the Otherside cafe for lunch to seek shelter from the thunderstorms. Though we spent the afternoon eating cake, we somehow made room for a fabulous dinner in Boston’s North End. But first, I took the gang to the Liberty Hotel because I love the atmosphere and architecture of the building, which used to be a jail. We enjoyed cocktails in the bar, where there are still bars on the windows.

I had a mojito with blueberry puree. It was quite strong!

I have heard wonderful things about Carmen and I somehow managed to get a reservation for 7 in the petite space. It was sooo cozy and charming. I highly recommend it for a date.

My dad choose a couple of Italian reds, so I’m not actually sure what I drank, but it was great. In addition to a classic bread basket and some roasted sweet peppers, Matt and I split the short rib ravioli in a gorgonzola sauce as a appetizer. It was to-die-for and we sopped up the rich sauce with the bread. Mmmmm.

For the main event, my mom and I split the seafood risotto with scallops, bacon, and sweet pea puree.

The scallops were flawless. The risotto was great too, but it tasted pretty similar to others I’ve had.

But, Matt’s bowtie pasta in a black truffle goat cheese cream sauce was probably the winning entree of the evening. Needless to say, I was VERY impressed with both the service and the food at Carmen. I’ll be so sad to leave such an incredible little Italy in Boston.

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And for the grand finale of the weekend, we celebrated our wonderful mothers with brunch at the Union Bar and Grill in the South End.

SOOOO glad I asked for a bread basket – the cornbread and dried cherry muffins were the highlight of brunch.

I ordered probably the best cobb salad I’ve ever had. The chicken was spicy and the local blue cheese blew me away. I was a little hesitant about getting a salad with all the other delicious-sounding entrees, but I was so happy when I tasted it.

Once our families left, I took a glorious mid-afternoon nap and went to Whole Foods for a quick trip. This week is another short one because Matt and I are going to CALIFORNIA on Thursday!!!!!! Matt is in a wedding in Santa Monica, and I decided that life is too short to pass up an opportunity to go to the west coast. So, yeah, I need to get myself organized for this week.

I’m about to have one last piece of cake for dessert, and then I’m freezing the rest for a rainy day. Good night friends.

Eat, Drink, Repeat

Posted on Apr 3, 2011 | 5 comments

Good evening,

Anything exciting happen this weekend?

If you guessed that I ate and drank my way through the weekend, you’d be correct! I also laughed, a lot. You see, Kath gave Matt a gift card to a local comedy club for his birthday and we cashed it in last night for two tickets to see a visiting comedian. Matt was playing soccer yesterday afternoon, so we didn’t have a whole lot of time to grab dinner before the show downtown, so we decided to duck into one of the authentic pizza places in Boston’s North End to grab a calzone and a slice. Unfortunately, our order took a long time and we were left with only ten minutes to eat! One bite of this mushroom and mozzarella calzone though, and I didn’t really mind having to scarf down dinner because this was to-die-for. Either we’ve been eating too healthy or the Italians just know their stuff because this was seriously the best thing I’ve had in weeks (duh, cheese + dough).

Despite the appearance, this slice was actually delicious as well.

We took the last bites with us on our walk over to the comedy club. I enjoyed a whiskey sour during show.

Time for laundry folding. k bye.

Will NOT Run for Beer

Posted on Mar 14, 2011 | 10 comments

So about yesterday….

I had been planning on my typical lazy Sunday when Matt got the opportunity to take someone’s place in the Ras na hEireann, a 5k in honor of St. Patty’s day that takes place in Davis square. Though I’m not a runner myself, I love going to races because of the prime people-watching opportunities. And I obviously like to support Matt!

I knocked out a little workout of my own at the gym before heading up to Davis and finding a good spot at the finish line. I didn’t even have to kill any time because the first runner crossed in just under 15 minutes. I’ll never know how these people do it…

  

Oh, and there was food involved! This was a Mediterranean scramble with chorizo and tomatoes and it actually wasn’t very good:(

Serious Toast

Posted on Jan 9, 2011 | 7 comments

I blinked and the weekend was over.  It was a good one though.

Yesterday was spent trekking all over the city, running various errands and re-stocking the refrigerator.  Matt and I made the last-minute decision to meet a blog reader and other foodies at the Lower Depths Tap Room for a gathering hosted by Serious Eats.

I was excited to see Harpoon’s latest 100 Barrel series (an oak aged bock) on tap, but I actually didn’t like it at all.  It was wayyy too watered down for a bock. 

I drank about half, and had some of Matt’s Pretty Things Our Finest Regards, a new fav.

We had a blast chatting with new friend Heather and other serious Boston eaters, and we got a few tips on restaurant gems to try.

By nine, I was pretty hungry so we headed over to the Parish Cafe, where I knew we could get an inexpensive sandwich and more beer.

Enter Weyerbocker Harvest…ehh, just ok.  Kind of bland for what the waitress described as an Octoberfest. 

 I had a roasted pork sandwich with green chili sauce and a papaya slaw with peanuts.  It was very enjoyable, but not as good as Matt’s.

Last time I was at the Parish, I had the most incredible banana bread sandwich with ham, havarti, and mango chutney, which I recommended to Matt.  I had bites and it was even better than I remember.  The banana bread is out of this world, especially with savory toppings.

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This morning, I met up with a few friends at the Friendly Toast in Cambridge for a somewhat impromptu brunch.  Though we waited over an hour for a table, the place was too cute, and I def. want to go back.

I ordered the peasant – a pile of eggs scrambled with corn, carrots, and dirty rice (although I don’t believe the rice made it into this and I didn’t feel like sending it back) and a pile of sautéed spinach, feta, and black beans with cayenne cheddar toast!!!

The piles were just ok, but the toast was superb.  Actually, it might have been the best toast I’ve ever had.

I just got back from the gym and realized the Duke-Maryland game is on, so I’m going to throw together something for dinner and grab a beer to watch the game.  Matt has been a Maryland fan his whole life, but now that he’s going to be a Blue Devil, I’m curious to try and figure out who he’s cheering for.

Ta-ta.