simple weekend recap: edition 20

Superbowl weekend started with some homemade spinach & artichoke dip along with teriyaki chicken lettuce wraps (recipe tomorrow)...

 

...before looking through an old vacation diary which foreshadowed my love of food (looks like I had a lot of spaghetti, chicken, and a bunch of "super time"s!).

Saturday, a friend had their birthday dinner at the Elephant Walk (review later this week).

 

 

Superbowl Sunday was filled with prepping for homemade pizzas...

 

 

 

...before enjoying some guacamole...

 

 

...and pizzas! I made mine with ricotta, garlic olive oil, blue cheese dressing, hot sauce, mozzarella, baked chicken tenders, pepperoni & mushrooms. Mmmmm!

 

 

Dessert was bananas foster (recipe later this week)!!

 

 

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simple weekend recap: edition 19

Friday kicked off the weekend with some guacamole in my Christmas molcajete. My favorite & easiest guacamole is just 2 avocados, 1/2 lime's worth of juice, 1 small tomato, 1 tbs cilantro, sprinkling of salt & pepper, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/2 tsp onion powder all mashed together.

 

Saturday Erin had a date with one of her boyfriends, Mickey, at the dog park...

 

...before the pup-parents headed out to dinner at 80 Thoreau.

 

I started with the crisp gnocchi with bacon, oysters, and cauliflower...

 

..before having the outstanding roasted & braised chicken with potato gratin, brussel sprouts, and almonds. I can never pass up their chicken...it's always so moist!

This weekend we also ended up at the Tip Tap room for some snacks. Started with the mashed sampler, a tasting of horseradish, goat cheese, creamed corn & olive tapenade mashed potatoes. Sadly the only one I enjoyed (but really enjoyed) was the creamed corn version.

 

The dessert saved the visit though...I will definitely return if not just for the perfected bread pudding dessert. Mmmmm.

 

Weekend home-cooked dinner was a chicken lasagna roll-up, a new recipe I thought up while craving both lasagna and chicken cacciatore.  Tender shredded chicken simmered in a tomato sauce rolled up with cheddar inside pieces of lasagna. T almost ate the whole batch himself, as these are delicious (recipe will be posted Tuesday)!

 

 

 

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lolita

For weekend date night, T and I headed over to Lolita in Back Bay. Lolita, a Tex-Mex restaurant tucked away on a corner of Newbury Street, is an unexpected mix of vampire lounge (with the red velvet couches, damask wallpaper, and dark nooks) and a carnival (with the dry-ice palate cleanser, and the cotton candy & pop rocks dessert), a nice change of pace from the sometimes serious Boston dining scene.

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Upon arrival, we were greeted with a grapefruit-tequila granita as a palate cleanser; a nice crisp & refreshing start.

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For beverages, I went with the Lolita Margarita, a combination of zapopan resposado, patron citronage, fresh lime, cane syrup, and grapefruit. T went with the Bourbon Smash, with bulleit bourbon, lemon, fresh mint, cane syrup & soda water.
 

 

We couldn't agree on a guacamole to start with, so we went with the sampler; one with tomato, serrano chile, diced onion & cilantro, one with jumbo lump crab meat, atlantic lobster, and a garlic-wine butter drizzle, and one with pork belly, adobo chile & fresh tomato. The sampler was a perfect size, little bits of each perfect for sharing.
 

For an appetizer, we shared the spicy mahi mahi flautas with roasted corn, pablano & chiptole chiles, habanero sauce & mango jicama salad.
 

As an entree, I had the crispy pork tacos with salsa verde (shown below) while T went with the carne asada with corn tortillas, salsa roja, red onions & jalapenos.
 

We also had a side of the iron pan corn bread, served with a roasted garlic sauce....which was DELICIOUS!! 

At this point, we were stuffed, passed on dessert and opted for the complimentary watermelon cotton candy with cherry pop-rocks.

 

 

We headed home to snuggle the animals & curled up on the couch before slipping into bed.
 

 

 

1. Tripadvisor

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simple weekend recap: edition 2

It's been much too warm to do anything too crazy this past weekend. Went out for drinks and apps with a friend last week at Scollay Square...had some delicious drinks (The Absolut Lemonade made of Absolute Citron, St. Germaine, fresh Lemon and Champagne...also known as delicious) with some tasty apps of guac and pulled pork sliders with cole slaw.

 Made some granola (recipe later this week!)...

 

Went to a nearby vineyard for another friend's bachelorette party...

 

  

Now I'm off to make chocolate chip cookies with banana insides and vanilla sugar (recipes this week!) for a birthday tomorrow...while Erin rests by the fan trying to survive this heat!

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