christmas recap

This Christmas was packed with food...so much food, so little time to fit it all in. All week we have had a crackling fire glowing away in the background of all of our activities.

We opened an early gift of rum my parents picked up from Barbados (as they don't export this type & it was engraved as a gift)...

 

 ...before making some festive Christmas tree cookies...lots and lots of cookies...

 

...followed by a taste testing of champagne.

 

 

 

 

We settled in for a movie before Christmas eve dinner of steak au poivre and lots of Alaskan King crab legs (my favorite food in the wholeeee world).

 

 

 

 

Christmas morning we skipped down the stairs to our full tree, and opened our presents while the paparazzi followed Erin.

 

 

 

Christmas dinner fell in my hands as everyone watched sports on TV (no thanks). I made a Christmas turkey stuffed with butter and herbs to retain the moisture, ham, green beans with toasted pine nuts and shallots, cornbread stuffing & scalloped potatoes served with the necessary crescent rolls, olives, cranberry sauce & meim's gravy.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a huge Christmas dinner we took a break, watching a Christmas movie by the fire before....chocolate soufflés for dessert of course! I added a touch of salt and a pinch of cream of tartar to the recipe for some extra depth & topped them with Toscanini's french vanilla ice cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day after I'm still recovering from all of the food...but definitely looking forward to some leftover "Thanksgiving" sandwiches for dinner!!

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boston restaurants: i

The highest rated "I" restaurant in Boston is Island Creek Oyster Bar, in Kenmore. On the same block as the Kenmore T station, ISOB. Owner and operator Skip Bennett opened Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, which now provide the restaurant, along with many other Boston restaurants, with extremely locally sourced farm-to-table bivalves. With a 25-seat bar and plenty of dining space, the modern decor mixes well with the remnants of fallen oyster shells that are caged to the walls.   

 

Opening at 4 for the raw bar & drinks, dinner does not start until promptly at 5pm. We headed to the bar for an amazing cocktail.  Although a lengthy list, we both decided on the "Death in the afternoon", a mix of champagne & absinthe (two of my favorite drinks!) with a twinge of lemon zest.
 

 

At this point I was pumped, an amazing cocktail, a hopping bar scene, what else do you need? Unfortunately the meal went downhill after the cocktail. We headed past the large raw bar to the dining room.
 

We took our seats and were given our just-printed-fresh menus. With an informative raw menu providing a variety of locally-sourced oysters and shellfish (but no crab), I could see how this place is so popular. Not the biggest fan of raw anything, I passed on the raw bar (which may be why the meal went downhill) and went straight to the fried clams.
 

 

 

I usually love all fried clams, or anything fried really, but in each bite I had bits of sand, so I was sadly disappointed. My date had an oyster slider which she reported was tastier than the clams.
 

For dinner I went with the lobster roll, having heard this roll was the best in Boston (even better than my warm favorite at Neptune Oyster) I had to try it. A nice toasted bun hugged the lobster meat which was well prepared, but the killer of the whole dish was the overpowering raw red onion bits. Each bite tasted a bit like lobster, a bit like mayo, and a bunch like onion. I love onion, but I did not order an onion roll!
 

My date went with the seafood casserole, a mix of scallops, lobster, pollock, and vegetables in a lobster cream sauce topped with a crust. Although a bit heavy from the cream sauce, she was almost able to finish the dish. It smelled amazing & she seemed to enjoy it as well.
 

It seems like my date had better luck in the ordering-department. If it weren't for the amazing cocktail, I may not have the guts to go back, but at some point I will go back to give it one more chance (and have a few more tasty cocktails) since it's rating is so high from everyone else...and I do love clam chowder.

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simple weekend recap: edition 12

This weekend was spent celebrating my birthday a week early with some champagne...

 

and Swiss chocolate brought back by T...

 

before a dinner out at Blue Ginger on Saturday. 

Sunday night dinner was pot roast (recipe tomorrow)...

 

followed by snuggling up...

with homemade hot chocolate and 

vodka whipped cream (recipe Wednesday)!

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