sriracha day

With yesterday being a chilly and wet day I needed something to warm me up. Sunday turned into Sriracha Day when we found the sriracha cookbook (found here) I got for T for some previous holiday. The book is filled with some regular uses and some outlandish uses for sriracha, from sriracha mayo to the sriracha tropical fruit salad (which I made obviously). While I made the sriracha tropical fruit salad (with pineapple, mango, strawberries, kiwis, and bananas mixed with soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and honey topped with coconut and fresh mint), T made sriracha mac n' cheese.

After a night of spiciness I made some zucchini mini-muffins (and a loaf to freeze for later weekend guests).

 

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thursday culinary hop

Thursday was filled with celebrations and food...too much food!

House-made chips with bacon and onions at West End Johnnie's

Pulled pork sliders at Underbones

Fuzzy vision after eating too many chips and pork sliders

 After initial drinks and apps with co-workers for the work celebration, a few of us continued the culinary tour at Redbones' younger child Underbones. Underbones is the same menu and drinks but underground and looks more like a frat basement than a restaurant. We ordered chicken and pork sliders (not listed on the menu) with coleslaw on mini kaiser buns with their house margaritas. Unfortunately only nonalcoholic drinks of iced tea and lemonade were served in ball jars...I was jealous so now I have planned a summer get-together with ball jars with tasty drinks and close friends.

Now it's onto a healthy eating detox of all of the pulled pork and chips! Starting the day off right with a mushroom and baby spinach omelette.

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slow sunday

A perfect relaxing Sunday was filled with antiquing, dog park, and cooking. Boston and the suburbs are already filled with tourists flocking in for the marathon and Patriot's day. Hopefully tomorrow's public transit won't be claustrophobic, but inevitably it will be! Dang. Good thing I can find an escape in the 'burbs!

After a long walk at the dog park with Erin the only thing that could quench my thirst was a homemade banana raspberry blueberry smoothie!

For Sunday dinner I made Spaghetti with clams in a white wine sauce. Nom!

A nice relaxing weekend to prepare for a new week or work, Zumba, entertaining, and drinks. Happy Sunday!

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happy hot dog saturday!

Proper hot dog season is finally here! 70degrees+sunny=perfect hot dog cooking weather! 

Hot dog, bacon, coleslaw, relish, topped with a mix of shredded cheddar and monterey jack cheeses to melt and keep everything all together. Yum! Happy hot dog season!

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boston restaurants 1-Z

I have also decided to attempt my plan that I have been trying to put in place for the last 2 years.  My goal is to try to best restaurants in Boston...in alphabetical order. I knew there were many talented restauranteurs in Boston, but I had no idea that 800+ restaurants were listed on opentable.com for this area. My plan is simple: Begin with numbers, followed by A and continue all the way to Z. Choosing will be easy, I plan to choose the highest-rated restaurant of the letter and blindly go there, no researching the menu, only the dress-code. I understand that this will create some overlap for places I have already been, but if I have already been there there must have been a reason anyways! Unfortunately there are no restaurants beginning with Q, X, or Y (surprisingly) in the Boston area, so those will have to be skipped! First on the list is one of my favorites where I was already planning to go in a few weekends anyways! 80 Thoreau. Let the plan begin!

photo credit

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spring distractions

Recently I've been distracted by many many things:

1. My best friend's new blog following her incredible journey through the Culinary Institute of America.

2. My new nail color for spring:

3. Zumba...which is addicting and hilarious at the same time. I recommend just trying one and see if you're not hooked!

4. Online-shopping (what else is new)...especially excited for one of my recent springtime purchases: my new glass beverage jar! Super excited to whip up some sangria, infused vodka, or rose lemonade to brew overnight and be perfectly mixed for a warm spring day!

From surlatable.com

5. The biggest-deal-of-the-moment...figuring out the perfect 5-year anniversary gift for T. I know eventually I will be able to think of something, but for now it's weighing on me pretttttty hard. 

6. My mother is visiting within the next few weeks for dinner at our favorite nearby restaurant, 80 Thoreau and a tour of the Louisa May Alcott house, author of our favorite book together, Little Women.

7. And finally: yesterday was Erin's 4th birthday! She celebrated with a frozen yogurt and a mini ham and cheese puff pastry. 4 years old and already rolling in style. 

Then:

Now:

 Happy birthday+1 day you big 28-year-old!


A final reason that I am excited for spring is the fact that the antique shops will have their doors open for the warm breezes that are sure to come soon!

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restaurant week and easter

Back to the Northeast and back to eating, drinking, and decorating.  Unfortunately I was only able to take advantage of the Boston Winter Restaurant Week for one dinner. Fortunately, it was at one of my favorite places that serve the best range of cocktails that I have found in this city, Marliave.

You can find their extensive cocktail menu here.

I started with the escargot with garlic, shallots, butter, parsley, cognac, parmesan, and toasted bread served in a Staub escargot dish that was gorgeous and super functional:

This was the highlight of the meal (other than the delicious cocktails of course!) but I continued with the chicken and ended with the cheese assortment. The cheese was delicious and the perfect size for an after-meal nibble. The chicken was mediocre, but I am a very harsh chicken-judge after being raised with 1,726 different preparations of chicken for every meal of the week by my mother. Some believe ordering chicken while at a restaurant is a waste, but on the other hand, I believe in order for a chicken dish to make it on the menu at a nice restaurant, there must be a reason...somehow these chefs must have jazzed up the chicken in order for it to make one of the coveted 4-7 entree spots.

On the home-front my newest additions are my meyer lemon, key lime, and olive trees along with my white rose wreath!

 I'm in love with them and am already eye-ing the newly-listed herbs and trees in the new Agrarian section of Williams-Sonoma.

In other news, my mother has always been enthused about every holiday that ever comes around; her favorites include Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Easter. Mostly she loves any holiday that has their own soap or boxer collection.  Every year at summer camp, college, or even after school, I receive an overly-stuffed care-package chock full of goodies and embarrassingly covered in holiday stickers. Yesterday this bad-boy arrived on our porch:

I disposed of the bunny-covered box, and apologize for the poor-quality photograph I was just too excited. The big-hitters include the soap in the chicken container, bunny sour patch kids, bubble gum eggs, socks, a bunny dog-toy for Erin, a bunny cat-nip toy for Moosey, Lindt carrots, chocolate covered Jelly Bellys (which are odd and the verdict is still out on these...), and of course the rabbit stuffed-animal. Happy Easter!

Instructions here

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