Saturday Stroll

This past weekend was a gorgeous one in Boston.  After an excruciatingly long winter, the bright sun and warm temps felt like much-needed proof that spring really is on its way this year. Deciding that I had to get out of my apartment and soak up some of the sun, I made my way from Cambridge to the South End of Boston.  After wading through the Easter travelers at South Station, my feet carried me to the waterfront for a mosey along the harborside.

Although there was the occasional chilly breeze, the sun felt delightfully warm and I think that the salty sea air was just what I needed.

 I strolled the harborwalk and tried to imagine what this area looked like when Boston was a much younger city, admiring both the land and sea views, which have surely changed drastically over the years.

After a few hours, I felt rejuvenated and calm, and I left the sea behind and made my way back through the city.

 

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon outing, followed by an even lovelier Saturday afternoon nap.

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Le Baguette

I've been really into bread lately.  And by "lately," I mean the past 26 years.  One of my like-minded coworkers and I even joke about how, if we were ever thrown in jail and sentenced to having meals of only bread and water (like they used to do to people in old, romantical times), we'd be cool with it.   However, I have to admit, I'd be even happier if I had to finish out my days eating bread topped with this bruschetta.  It's so simple and takes no time at all to make.  But since it's also so colorful and zesty, it feels and tastes fancy.

 I used part of a baguette and some Trader Joe's Rustico bread, just to mix it up. 

If you're like me and pile so much bruschetta on your bread that it falls off before you can get it into your mouth, than you'll probably finish your bruschetta before you've made it through your entire baguette.  Letting good carbs go to waste is one of the saddest things I can think of, so I recommend piling on some avocado, a bit of pepper, and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Toast the bread a bit first in a buttered pan, and then smother on the goodness! 

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Weekend in Buffalo

At the end of February, I took a trip to Buffalo, NY, to visit my sister and brother-in-law for the weekend.  While the dead of winter is perhaps not the best time to see the sights of this region, we managed to have a ridiculously fun visit anyway.  As is usually the case when we get together, there was a lot of laughing, eating, playing with adorable doggies, eating, drinking, eating, and British period drama-ing.  Oh and eating.  But first, the doggies!

Mika (the looker in black) spent most of the weekend building tents with blankets and trying to figure out why there were suddenly two of her mommy (my sisters and I really look alike), while Skye (the aloof lady in white) spent most of her time either patrolling for squirrels or exfoliating my face.

And now, on to the food!  The dining-out highlight of the weekend was when J & J took me to brunch at The Roycroft Inn in East Aurora, NY.  With its lovely Arts & Crafts architecture and decor and its large windows that look out onto its courtyard, it was the perfect setting to watch the falling snow while indulging in mimosas, poinsettias, and more than one plate of scrumptious food from the buffet (we're no amateurs). 

The pretty view from our table.

Plate #1

The buffet spread was quite impressive in its size and variety, but I think that the coddled eggs with spinach cream were my favorite.  I also made a happy, accidental discovery when some of my syrup for my french toast wandered over and made friends with the au gratin potatoes.  Would never have put those two together, but it was a match made in heaven!  It sounds crazy, but seriously, try it sometime!

J can always be counted on to pose for an inappropriate picture.

After thoroughly stuffing ourselves, we did a bit of shopping and then rolled ourselves home to nap.  Always a necessity after an inebriated brunch.

The next day, we decided to put our own culinary skills to the test and made quite the impressive dinner.  First up:  Melon and Prosciutto

 J & J and I took a trip to Italy together last summer, and this dish will forever remind me of our night on Capri, when we had it at a lovely restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean.  *Sigh*

Next up:  Brown Butter Squash and Sage Pasta.

I am seriously obsessed with this recipe.  It's so flavorful and delicious, but it's so easy to make.  It also seems fancy, so make it for your friends.  They'll be impressed and wonder how you became such a good cook, I promise.

The motherload:  Baked Brie.

 

Need I say more?  This world would be such an empty, sad place without molten cheese.

A lovely dinner to mark the end of a great weekend!  And yes, we ate ALL of the brie.

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Blonde Ambition

I can't say that I've ever been a big fan of blondies.  I never really understood the need for an alternative to brownies (why would you not want to eat their chocolately, gooey, deliciousness? Why?) and the few that I did try (when there were no other dessert choices, obviously) always seemed dry and lackluster.  However, all of this was before I tried this recipe.  I'll never bad-mouth blondies again.  Of course, these are not your average blondies.  With two superstar ingredients (peanut butter AND oreos), how could you go wrong?

The peanut butter gives the blondie layers a rich, moist texture while the oreo surprise in the middle really gets the party started.  The hard part is not eating the raw batter or all of the oreos as you're assembling them.  But trust me, the baking time is worth the wait.

Peanut butter + oreos = GENIUS.

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Snow Days

Two weekends ago, Boston was hit by a blizzard.  It started snowing around 10am on Friday and the flakes continued to fall fast until Saturday morning.  When it was all over, we had about two feet of snow (friends and family in Buffalo were unimpressed, but this was a lot of snow for Boston, the most it has had in years).  Everything shut down in advance of the coming storm, which means we all got a snow day on Friday, and I was just as excited as I would have been in elementary school.  So was my sister E:

  

A driving ban was put in place, so once the snow stopped, we were free to walk the streets to survey the damage.  It was almost like stepping into another time...everything was so quiet and there were no cars whizzing by.  Some people took advantage of this to break out their skis:

 

 

The weekend turned out to be a great excuse to stay home, catch up on tv and sleep, and just take a break from busy schedules.  It was also the perfect opportunity for my sister and me to experiment with our alcohol supply and concoct tipsy milkshakes.

Our very unscientific recipe:  scoop several generous servings of vanilla ice cream into a blender.  Add crushed oreos (Double stuff.  Obviously.), peanut brittle ice cream topping, a large splash of Baileys, another of vodka, and a glug of milk.  Blend well and pour into glasses.  Top with chocolate sprinkles and more peanut brittle.

I'm happy to report that the experiment was quite successful.  If we hadn't used the last of our ice cream for the first round, we probably would have made three more.

Just the thing to take the chill off!

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