I Aint Never Had A Beef Like You

b.good - Cambridge, MA
http://www.bgood.com/index.php
   

Frank's Potatoes

     Eons ago, after a cleverly crafted tweet, the b.good truck came to my work and delivered free chocolate

milkshakes to us. It was THE BEST way to end the work week. So, that was my introduction to b.good and I've been following them and getting their emails ever since because I'm technically part of their "family." I'm not sure if I've explained their story yet, but their focus is making fast-food "real" by making it the way it should be... by people, not factories. I still hadn't visited one of their actual restaurants yet, when I got an email about Frank harvesting his potatoes, and if you came in before Sunday, you'd get a free order of fries. Also, I still had 2 other free orders of fries loaded onto my "family" card that I hadn't taken advantage of yet. Well... it's impossible for me to turn down free food, so one Saturday after the workout, Meagan and I went over to b.good to take advantage of two orders of free fries. On the wall right when you walked in, they had a picture of Frank on his farm and a little blurb about his potatoes from Hatfield, Massachusetts. Along with Frank were photos and information about two other families that b.good was sourcing their beef and other ingredients from. I'm a real big fan of this. Locally sourced and "real" ingredients. It's comforting to know who I'm supporting when I'm eating out. Not to mention, the environmental impacts of buying local.
     As I mentioned before, we went for our free fries and they were phenomenal! They came out looking just as I expected. Real. All different shapes, sizes, and textures. As if an individual, rather than a machine, had imperfectly sliced all different sizes of potatoes. The first thing Meagan said was "they're kind of creamy," and she was totally right. The outside was slightly crispy, but the potato inside was so moist and practically creamy. They also had some sort of delicious seasoning on them, perhaps with a little paprika? I'm unsure. But I do know that I can't wait to go back one day and try their burgers.


Coolidge Corner Clubhouse - Brookline, MA
http://www.thecoolidgecornerclubhouse.com/index.php

Mile High Nachos

     Remember my "nacho average run" pre-CRASH B? Well... I'm slowly checking off the six restaurants that I visited with "the best nachos in Boston." Very very slowly. I've currently only been to one. However, Coolidge Corner Clubhouse was highly recommended by everyone and their mom, so one Saturday evening after sitting outside at MixFest downtown, Meagan wanted to go get food. We scooped up Jimmy and headed to Coolidge Corner Clubhouse where I could finally put their nachos to the test. I was pumped. The place looked like your standard sports bar, but a little older. By that I just mean there weren't seven thousand TVs and the look and feel wasn't very modern. I will instantly love a place if they offer me something free before my meal. For example, bread, popcorn, peanuts, or in this case, small packets of breadsticks. I care not of the quality because it's free and delicious. Jimmy and I decided I'd order the half plate of Mile High Nachos, he'd order a greek salad and we'd split both. That's a lie. We didn't agree on the half plate size. I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes when I told the waitress I only wanted the half order.
     The greek salad was actually really awesome. It had a bunch of grilled chicken, green peppers, a few tomatoes and they used a mix of romaine lettuce, spinach and a bunch of other mixed greens. I love when places do that. Makes me respect them a little more. Maybe because it makes me think that they value nutrition and are willing to spend a little more on greens rather than just romaine or iceberg lettuce. I'm weird.
     The nachos were, in fact, a mile high. Never have I ever seen a place do such an incredible job layering cheese and chips. The entire bottom of the plate was covered in cheese, and it seemed like each chip in the entire stack had cheese on it. It was incredible. And it was a good blend of cheddar and monterey jack cheeses. The meat chili that came on top was great too. It was practically all meat and full of flavor, but I wished there was more. It also came with jalapenos and salsa with huge globs of guacamole and sour cream thrown on top. There was no skimping on these guys. I'd definitely say they're the best nachos I've had here in Boston so far. They beat out the nachos from Cambridge Brewing Club, the Hill Tavern and Tavern in the Square because of the cheese layering technique and the delicious chili.


Sloppy Joes - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

   

My Heavenly Sloppy Joes

      I do like sloppy joes... I do. But when they're at some sort of function, I'm never going to be super excited about it or anticipating seconds before I even finish my first. Don't get me wrong, they're tasty, but generally, I feel like they're pretty standard and generic. However... I stumbled upon a sloppy joes recipe on pinterest (from Ellie Krieger on the Food Network) and thought I'd try it out for myself. Real homemade sloppy joes. No packets. No cans.
     Conveniently, that week Whole Foods had a sale on grass-fed, free range, antibiotic and hormone free 90/10 ground beef from some family farm in Missouri. I picked up about a pound and a half of it and knew it was sloppy joes time. First of all... this was the most amazing ground beef I've ever eaten. "The look of it, the taste of it, the texture... "(-Goldmember) was so different than any other ground beef. There was very little fat that cooked out, and it almost smelled game-y. The taste and the feel of it in my mouth felt so clean. I know that's really really weird, but it was just different and eye opening. I had no idea that ground beefcould be different in so many ways.
     Anyway, I threw in some kidney beans, a ton of spices, onions, garlic and a few other key ingredients (similar to the mountain meatballs recipe Jake and I made a while back) like molasses and Worcestershire sauce. I'm sure if I followed her recipe exactly it would've been delicious, but I made a few additions and substitutions, as always. I omitted the jalapeños and red peppers (simply because I didn't have any on hand), and instead of using a mix of tomato sauce and tomato paste, I used only a tomato basil tomato sauce from Trader Joe's (it's my favorite). I also added from fresh basil from my mom's garden. I would definitely say that this is up in my top 10 favorite dishes I've ever made. It's incredibly easy and incredibly delicious. I spent everyday at work dreaming about getting home to eat it. Here's my version of her recipe.

Sloppy Joes

1.5 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 3/4 cups no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4/5 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1. Brown the meat and the onion in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks. Pour the drippings out of the pan and discard.

2.  Add the garlic and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes more.


Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

She's pretty

     I want to bake everything... all the time. Brownies, cookies, cakes, muffins. You name it. But I can't for lightweight reasons. So whenever the opportunity arises where I can make a recipe I've been wanting to make for a while, and I can count on other people being there to enjoy 95% of the fruits of my labor, I seize it. Thank you Head of the Kevin 2! For the breakfast post HOK2 I decided to make these peanut butter banana oatmeal muffins. The picture looked great, they had great ingredients and they really caught my eye when I found them on Annie Eats. I've made similar breakfast banana-y muffins before, but these ones took the cake. They were so easy to make and incredibly tasty, especially when they were fresh. With a slight hint of peanut butter in the muffin, creamy peanut butter on top and the sweet taste of banana all throughout, it kind of felt like a treat but was still full of nutrition. An energy powerhouse.  I think it also helped that I used some super ripe bananas that were plenty sweet. This is key.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. applesauce
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
6 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1 cup low-fat buttermilk (I mixed 1% milk and a tbs of lemon juice)

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin cups with paper liners (this recipe made about 15 muffins for me). In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with a fork.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the applesauce, brown sugar, eggs, banana, peanut butter and buttermilk until smooth. 

3. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients gradually and mix just until fully incorporated.

4. Divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

     

   

I wish you could've smelled these shrooms

     It's finally getting a little chilly outside and it's making me super eager to make soups. It's a very exciting time. I've had this Adventures in Cooking recipe for a Hungarian Mushroom Soup on the back burner since the spring. A little more rich than my normal soups, this one is up there in the top 5. I made it with sliced baby portabella mushrooms, sliced large portabellas, and a ton of paprika and dill. I wonder if the paprika and dill are what make it Hungarian. Hmm... Also, instead of sour cream like the recipe called for, I used greek yogurt (which I feel like is practically the same thing), and it gave it an awesome creamy texture. I'm pumped to have a huge pot of this in my fridge for dinner all week.

Final product

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

8 Ounces Crimini Mushrooms, thinly sliced
6 Ounces Small Portabello Mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 Cups Vegetable Stock
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Sour Cream (or Greek Yogurt)
2 Cups Onions, chopped
5 Teaspoons Hungarian Paprika
3 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 Tablespoons Flour
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Dried Dill
1 Teaspoon Fresh Dill, finely chopped (I used only dried dill)
1 and 1/2 Teaspoons Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Thyme
1/4 Teaspoon Marjoram

1. Sauté the onions in a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 1/2 cup of vegetable stock, paprika, thyme, marjoram, dried dill and soy sauce. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until the mushrooms soften and become dark in color (This smell will blow your mind).

2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then whisk in the flour and continue whisking while the mixture cooks for another 3 minutes. Add the milk and continue cooking over low heat for 10 minutes allowing the mixture to thicken, stirring once every minute or so. Empty the mushroom mixture into the milk mixture. Add the remaining 1 and 1/2 cups of vegetable stock and the lemon juice. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and watch mixture until it stops boiling. When the boiling ceases, stir in the sour cream, salt, pepper, and fresh dill if you have it.

Cupcake Game Changer

Mojito Cupcakes - Jimmy's Kitchen, Brighton, MA

Mojito Cupcake/Best Cupcake on Earth

     I really do struggle from time to time deciding which burger is the best burger I've ever eaten, which taco is the best taco or which cupcake is the best cupcake I've ever eaten. Now... I'm a HUGE chocolate fan. Duh. I'd take a hunk of a chocolate over a cocktail any day. So I would think that I'd think the best cupcake would be a big fat chocolate cupcake filled with chocolate, topped with chocolate, and sprinkled with chocolate shavings or something. But this recipe... this recipe for mojito cupcakes that I found on Brown Eyed Baker... may have just changed the game. I had a mojito cupcake once or twice before from Kickass Cupcakes and they were good, but this one was a kajillion times better. Jimmy and I were going to purchase some for Karl just for the fun of it, but then we thought "why not just make them instead?" Such a great idea. The cupcake has rum in it, there is a rum glaze on top of the cupcake, and the frosting has rum in it. It's sweet (but not overly sweet), refreshing and minty. It's just to die for. They're the absolute best about an hour out of the oven when they're about room temp, the rum glaze has crisped up the top just a tad, and the frosting is room temp and perfectly creamy. I swear I ate a gallon of that frosting before putting it on the cupcakes. I attribute part of our success to Jimmy's kitchen aid. That thing whipped up butter like I've never seen before. Anyway... it may seem a little complicated, but these cupcakes are a real crowd pleaser, even if it's a one person crowd.

Mojito Cupcakes

For the Cupcakes:
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup mint leaves, bruised
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice of 1½ limes
2 tablespoons white rum
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

To Brush the Cupcakes:
2 tablespoons white rum
2 sprigs fresh mint

For the Frosting:
1½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
4¼ cups powdered sugar
1½ tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons white rum

1. Combine the buttermilk and the ½ cup mint leaves in a small saucepan over medium heat. Warm until just starting to steam (do not simmer), then remove from the heat and cover. Let steep for 15 to 30 minutes. Once finished, strain the milk into a bowl using a fine mesh sieve. The milk may appear curdled or clumpy, but it will come back together. Press on any milk solids and mint leaves to extract all the liquid possible. Give the milk a quick stir to smooth it out and set aside.

2. While the mint is steeping in the milk, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

4. In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

5. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at at time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

6. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and rum. Mix until combined. 

7. Reduce the mixer speed low. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches. Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

8. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a skewer shows only moist crumbs attached, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

9. While the cupcakes are baking, combine the rum and mint sprigs in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat until the rum is heated through (do not let it simmer). Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let steep until ready to use.

10. Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 to 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack. Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the mint-infused rum. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.

11. To make the frosting, whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated. Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the lime juice and rum and mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy. If the frosting appears a bit too soft, add some additional sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes once they've cooled and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

Zinnekens - Cambridge, MA

Fruit Delight

     You know those places where you walk by the front door and the sweet sultry aroma brings you to your knees? Zinnekens is one of those places. Thus the reason for me loading up when I found them on Groupon. I mean.... come on... their front window says "Coffee, Chocolate and Waffles." How could I go wrong? They offer gourmet Belgian waffles with a multitude of toppings. Meagan, Jimmy, Karl, Dave and I all went and Meagan and I split the Fruit Delight with Belgian chocolate, bananas and strawberries. The waffle itself was, hands down, the best part. It was totally unlike any other waffle I've ever had in that it was mildly chewy. It was just so simple and delicious. Plus the warm melted Belgian chocolate. Oh man. I also tried a bite of Jimmy's, which was the Gourmand with bananas whipped cream and caramel, and Dave's, which was the Zinneken's with whipped cream, Belgian chocolate and speculoos. Dave's was DEFINITELY my favorite. That speculoos filled every little square of the waffle and had warmed up ever so slightly. With a little chocolate drizzled on top, it was a sugary death trap. I debated going back in and getting my own. A return trip to Zinneken's is definitely in order.

Border Cafe - Cambridge, MA
http://www.bordercafe.com/

Corn and Bean Empanadas

     I know I've blogged about this place before, but I was reeeeeally watching weight for an upcoming race at the time, so I had a piddly 3 chips or something and a salad while there (don't get me wrong, the salad was incredible). This time, I went for the real deal. I wanted to devour 3 baskets of their piping hot chips myself... and I did. Ok not really, but I could've. After Zinneken's Jimmy, Meagan and I wanted something salty to follow our sugar overdose... naturally. We were just going to "get something small" at Border..... riiiiiight. Either way, we killed a few baskets of their phenomenal fresh tortilla chips with some queso dip before our "meals" arrived. I ordered the corn and black bean empanadas because I don't think I've ever actually had one. To me, they seem like the Mexican version of a pastie (a meat pie that us Michiganders are quite fond of). The little pockets of heaven were absolutely incredible!  I loved the crispy dough on the outside and I was really happy that the insides weren't stuffed full of cheese. That would've been too much I think. Instead it was just corn, beans and a little bit of melty cheese. The best part was the sauce in that little dish in the top of the picture. It was so good that I had to ask our waiter what was in it. It tasted like a pesto, had all the pesto flavors, but also had something different. Apparently it's some sort of roasted red pepper pesto with parmesan cheese, basil, garlic, etc. It was incredible on it's own and along with a forkfull of the empanada. So good. Great food, great service, great atmosphere.

An Out of Body Tot Experience

The Lower Depths Tap Room - Boston, MA

http://thelowerdepths.com/

     I had an out of body experience with tater tots. After making average at Senior Trials and working on weight for months on end, it was to be expected... in my opinion. 

Heaven's Food. Really. Chili Cheese Tots

What?

      I've been wanting to go to the Lower Depths Tap Room forever. It's this little semi-subterranean restaurant on Comm Ave just past Kenmore. Jim and Audrey were in town visiting, so Meldrim and I got them together with Audrey's friend Libby, Jimmy and Karl and we headed out. The Lower Depths is a tiny little place with an absolutely hilarious menu. It's rather rude and mildly vulgar, but hilarious. They have a section dedicated to tater tots. I was so glad Jimmy was on board. We ordered the Chili Cheese Tots: Coffeehouse Porter Chili, beer cheese and scallions. I think I weird-ed Audrey and Libby out with the moment I had with these tots. The chili had big hunks of meat in it and was chunkier than most chilis. A lot of chili you get on things like nachos and chili cheese fries is a bit more liquidy and ends up making everything soggy. This didn't. I would almost not qualify it as chili. It was more hunks of meat and sweet black beans. It was incredible. The tots themselves were absolutely perfect. Lightly crispy on the outside, piping hot and soft on the inside. Then the beer cheese wasn't really all that beer-y, but it was so melty and delicious. It was a real cheese sauce with pieces of peppers in it. Not that fake nacho cheese. This was on a whole other level. Jimmy and I made a deal to make sure we come back and try all of the varieties. I can't wait.

 

Tropical Steakhouse Burger

For my meal I ordered the Tropical Steakhouse Burger with bacon, cheddar, mango chutney, habanero aioli, lettuce, tomato and onion on a toasted bun. There are many things to note. On the downside, you couldn't really taste the mango chutney (I think there just needed to be more) and the slice of tomato and onion needed to be bigger. They just kept sliding off and weren't nearly large enough for the burg itself. These are minor issues however. On the plus side, the burger was perfectly plump and cooked just as I like it. I love when you can tell a burger patty is homemade because it plumps up in a way that makes it almost impossible to eat. Oh and the melty cheese and bacon? Shoot me. The habanero aioli (basically a spicy mayo) was very light and thin but really added an awesome flavor to the whole burger. I didn't really notice the heat in the mayo until after I killed the burger and my mouth was burning o-so lightly. OH and it's worth mentioning... the lettuce. I don't care how insignificant it may seem, but this lettuce was great. It was perfect. It was one big, darkly colored romaine leaf and was full of flavor. And it was the fatter part of the leaf, so you didn't have to deal with the stiffer core part of the leaf. Yes I notice these things.

   

Red Skies at Night

Another added bonus: The Lower Depths has 160-180 different bottles and 17 rotating drafts. I had one called Red Skies at Night by Heavy Seas. Upon further investigation, it has hints of banana, apricot, clove, allspice and honey making it a slightly herbaceous beer. It was cask conditioned, which I learned means that it is unfiltered and unpasteurized and served from a barrel without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure. Neat. It was delicious. I feel educated.












PJ's Pancake House - Princeton, NJ
http://pancakes.com/

Blueberry, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, S'mores

     Mary and I had another "maybe they haven't eaten in a while" caliber eating event post trials. The
moment is generally filled with extended silence, followed by laughter and repeated "oh my gosh it's so delicious" comments, followed by more laughter, silence, shock and awe, shock and awe, heavy eyelids and elation. We finally made it to PJ's Pancake House in the heart of Princeton and it may have been the best decision we had ever made in our lives. It's a cute little place, and we sat outside on their little patio. It was lovely. We decided we wanted to split a savory dish and a sweet dish. We work so well together when we eat out. We really maximize our exposure to what restaurants have to offer. Anyway...pancakes were on the menu and making a decision on which kind we wanted was a chore. I feel like writing about this is useless because it is absolutely impossible to describe just how incredible and different these pancakes were. Ok.... I'm just going to write it as I'm thinking about it in my head. They were more dense than normal pancakes. But not an uncomfortable I-feel-like-I'm-eating-bricks dense (like buckwheat pancakes seem like sometimes). Like a this is a hearty pancake that can't possibly be just empty calories. They were also more yellow than normal pancakes. Maybe they use cornmeal? I'm so confused. I don't care. The consistence, texture and bounce-back was just unlike anything I have ever had before in my 25 years of existence.

So much happy

     Ok, now that I've done a terrible job explaining the texture... the flavors. We got the sampler and got 3 different kinds. One was a blueberry pancake; classic but above and beyond your standard blueberry pancake based on their pancake mix recipe I just explained. Soaked in syrup with a little

    The savory dish we got was just an english muffin, 2 eggs, 2 sausage links and a glob of their homemade hash browns. I know these things seem insignificant and standard, but the hash browns were chocked full of pieces of peppers and onions and were just delicious. The best part was the sausage. Being on the lightweight diet, you forget was such a flavor punch a sausage link packs. Meat. Salt. Spices. Mmmmmm.

    PJ's trumped the Princetonian a gazillion times over. I cannot wait to go back and try some of the other pancake varieties. Oreo pancakes? Yes please.
whipped butter? Woah. The second one we got was a peanut butter chocolate chip pancake. It had chocolate chips AND peanut butter chips. The combination of the two melty chips was to die for. And PJ didn't skimp out on the chips. Those cakes were loaded. The third kind that we got was s'mores. I know. I know. Hunks of chocolate, melty marshmallow, and graham cracker crumbles. This may be the best invention anyone has ever had... ever. Tasted like the world's best s'more infused in the world's best pancake.

Froyo. I Need It Three Times A Week To Heal My Broken Bones.

Yogurt Land - Cambridge, MA
http://www.yogurt-land.com/

There is yogurt down in there somewhere.

     Well, you-know-what pretty much hit the fan. Some external force was telling me not to go to camp. My body was freaking out, making me immobile and unable to breathe. Joanie was nice enough to take to the ER on Friday night, and afterward, we treated ourselves to some AWESOME froyo at Yogurt Land in Harvard Square. This place is definitely in my top 3 favorite froyo places here in Boston, up there with Zinga and Mixx. Self serve is totally the way to go. I really liked their flavor options here because they had a good mix of refreshing fruity ones, standard ones, and unique ones like bananas foster, pecan pralines or new york cheesecake. I made sure to try most of the ones I knew I wouldn't get. I know this is kind of the opposite of what most people do, but I don't care. I wanted to sample the red velvet cake, pecan pralines and New York cheesecake because deep down, I knew I'd want the dutch chocolate, a fruity one (that was bound to be good anyway) and a unique one. I ended up going with the chocolate, passionfruit guava, bananas foster and double cookies and cream. Topped that sucker with some brownie pieces, cookie dough (which was absolutely perfect), resses peanut butter cups, reeses pieces, malt balls and a frosted cookie. Their topping selections though were phenomenal. Tons of kinds of fruits, chocolates, gummies, syrups, cookies, etc. It was overwhelming. I've been 4 times now. It's becoming a problem. I wonder if they'd let you just buy a bowl of toppings?

Not Your Average Joe's - Watertown, MA
http://www.notyouraveragejoes.com/watertown/

Pulled Pork Pretzel Bites

   Being practically bed ridden is not fun. I had to get out of the house on day two of my muscle flair-up.
Jimmy picked me up and we headed to meet Dave, Karl and Mr. and Mrs. Harshe at Not Your Average Joe's in Watertown. The place had a really neat modern vibe full of bold colors and simple wall decorations.
You would definitely describe it as classy casual. I wasn't super hungry but they offered the most amazing bread dip to go with their onion bread. The dip was basicaly mashed up garlic, parmesan cheese, and olive oil with red pepper flakes. It made it a little bit spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. Just garlicy and cheesy with a touch of heat.
     Instead of getting a meal, I ordered two appetizers. The one I split with Jimmy were these Pulled Pork Pretzel bites. Oh my gosh. They must've taken a big slice of a pretzel stick, topped it with this delicious bbq pulled pork, added some coleslaw on top, and covered them with thin crispy onion rings and sprouts. Shoot... the different kinds of flavors and textures in these babies were out of control. The warm pulled pork had a lightly sweet bbq flavor that was balanced with the light, cool and refreshing coleslaw, and the onion rings gave it and awesome crispness. So many flavors and textures in each bite.

Buffalo Caribbean Chicken Tenders

     For my second appetizer I got the Buffalo Carribean Chicken tenders. Oh man... they were incredible. Each tender was tossed in a buffalo mango barbeque sauce. They were a tad sweet but spicy, and you could really taste the mango flavor in the sauce. Another bonus was that the breading underneath the sauce was still a tad bit crunchy, as in, it hadn't softened up and gotten soggy when they covered it in the sauce. The whole dish was served with a little bit of pineapple jalapeno salsa and blue cheese. The salsa was nice to finish with because it was light and refreshing. Both of those dishes had such unique flavor combinations that I wasn't really expecting from a classy casual American cuisine restaurant.


UpStairs on the Square - Cambridge, MA
http://www.upstairsonthesquare.com/

     Well, this place was ... interesting. If something wasn't pink, it was purple. If it wasn't purple, it was a

Mexican Street corn... and Meldrim

zebra. The decor in UpStairs on the Square was definitely unique and out there. Oddly shaped tables and zebras all over the walls. Aside from horrendous service, it felt like a treat to be in such a strange place. Meagan's grandparents took us out to dinner there the evening she moved in. The menu was pretty small, and most dishes were complex. Complex in that I had no idea what they meant. Jimmy and I decided to do the whole splitsies thing.... again. It was some special grill night, so he got 1/2 a grilled lobster and an ear of Mexican street corn. The lobster was pretty decent, but nothing extraordinary. I thought maybe grilling it might give it some awesomely different flavor, but it really didn't. It was still delicious obviously... because it's lobster... and because they filled half the shell with butter. I had a bite of his corn and that was incredible. It had some sort of chipotle mayo, some kind of cheese and a bunch of spices on it.
   

Pizza d'oro

I ordered the Pizza d'oro, which was this crazy pizza with a "type of bacon" (which I swear I never tasted or could find), hedgehog mushrooms (which were marinated in something), and a "pullet egg," which is basically an egg cracked on top and lightly cooked. I thought the pizza was fantastic. I absolutely loved the fluffy crust and the mushrooms, and dipping the slices of pizza in the cracked egg was just incredible. I also tried a piece of Todd's White Pizza, which was duck fat potatoes (oh ... I know), caramelized onions and wine grapes. I can't say I tasted the wine grapes or was really even looking for them because the duck fat potatoes stole my attention. I still want to go back for that Rhubarb Brown Butter Tart.



Cambridge Brewing Company - Cambridge, MA
http://www.cambrew.com/

Famous CBC nachos

     Dinner #2 with Babcia and Poppy. They wanted a diner... so I took them to Cambridge Brewing Company. That is not a diner. I knew that. I also knew before I got there that I had to get the CBC nachos. If you recall, Cambridge Brewing Company was on my list of the top nachos in Boston from my "Nacho Average Run." Apparently these babies were huge and delicious, so I couldn'tnot get them. They were just that. HUGE and delicious. They looked like a mountain. An enormous pile of multicolored chips with layers of a seriously awesome cheese, vegetarian bean chili, green onions, salsa, sour cream and jalapenos. They did it the right way and did a layer of chips, toppings, chips, toppings, etc. I definitely could've eaten the entire plate.


Legal Harborside - Boston, MA
http://www.legalseafoods.com/restaurants/boston-legal-harborside

     Legal Seafoods is one of those restaurants I hear people talk about a lot in Boston. Apparently there are

Crispy Montauk Calamari

a bunch, but I believe they started here in Beantown. Dinner #3 with Babcia, Poppy and Meagan was at Legal Harborside. After taking them on our self-guided tour of Boston and visiting the ocean, we were in the mood for seafood. I couldn't believe how crazy this place was, but oh my was it beautiful. I never went upstairs, but the main level looked right out onto the harbor and they had the huge bay doors wide open, letting the smell of the sea roll in. We had a seat by the carry-out section because there was no wait, as opposed to the hour and a half wait for the main dining area. First of all, the rolls they brought, were probably the best rolls I've ever had at a restaurant. Each one was like a freshly baked loaf of bread that's crispy on the outside, but super hot and fluffy on the inside. I couldn't believe it. I could've eaten zillions (with endless butter of course).
     I ordered some calamari for the table as an appetizer, and it was better than I expected. A lot of times when you order calamari it comes, in only the little rings, but this dish had the little rings as well as full little fried squids. They were adorable... and delicious. They were lightly breaded and fried along with a few pieces of hot peppers. A really unique addition I've never heard of in standard calamari dishes.
   

Looks like a cheese pizza, right? Far from it. 

     For my meal, I had to order the Crab and Pepperoni Pizza. Sounds weird right? That's why I got it. Crab and pepperoni. I had mixed feelings and needed to sort them out. It. Was. Amazing. I'm not kidding. This thing wasn't overloaded with either the crab or pepperoni, but had moderate sized pieces of crab interspersed among the pepperoni. So it wasn't overly seafood-y, but definitely not your standard pepperoni. It smelled deadly and tasted even better. The mozzarella cheese they used was also amazing. I think it picked up a bit of the crab flavor, so even though there wasn't a ton of crab all over the pizza, the crab flavor was throughout the entire thing. Of course, I also helped Meagan finish her fish tacos, which were pretty good. I wished the fish had been a little bit crispier (it was fried), and I wasn't a fan of the corn tortillas. I'm trying to like them. That pizza though... oh man.


Slutty Cheesecake Bars - Antonia's Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

This really is a beautiful thing. 

     Ok, I have no idea why they're called Slutty Cheesecake Bars. Everyone kept asking, but I have no Wallflour Girl and needed them. Definitely a treat meant for those in love with sugar. Beware, this is rather involved. A two person team makes it a lot easier.
answers. And truthfully, it doesn't matter, because once you taste them, you'll forget about their name... and practically everything else in your life at that moment. In short, these guys were a chocolate chip cookie layer, a layer of oreos, a cheesecake layer, and then a heafty topping of crumbled oreos and chopped malt balls. You can't breathe. I know. Serious sugar overload but SO worth it. Antonia and I made these for Joan's birthday because she had shown me the recipe  a few weeks prior from a blog called

Chocolate Chip Cookie Base:

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened butter and both sugars until fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt until just incorporated. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
2. Set bowl aside and make cheesecake layer.

Cheesecake layer:

• 12 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Cream together softened cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat in until completely smooth, but be sure not to overbeat.
2. Set aside cheesecake layer as you assemble.

Assembly:

• 21 Oreos (16 whole Oreos and 5 chopped Oreos, divided)
• 5 oz. Whoppers, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan.
2. Spread cookie dough evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Your cookie dough layer should be about half an inch thick–if you have leftover dough, you can bake it immediately as individual cookies or simply toss it into the fridge for baking at a later time. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, until the dough is just cooked through and firm. Remove from oven.
3. Layer 16 whole Oreos on baked cookie crust. Pour cheesecake filling evenly over Oreos. Sprinkle 5 chopped Oreos and 5 oz. chopped Whoppers over the cheesecake.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until cheesecake is pretty well set. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in pan before cutting. Best served chilled from refrigerator (but make sure you store it in the fridge either way).

Banana Soft Serve - Jimmy's Kitchen, Brighton, MA

     Since Jimmy wouldn't make Meagan and I brownies (something about it being over 90 degrees and not Chocolate Covered Katie. Love.

Banana Soft Serve. Hard to capture how delicious it was. 

wanting to turn on his oven... I don't know), I decided I was going to make us all this banana soft serve I'd been wanting to make for a while. It is literally frozen bananas, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Put it into a food processor and it comes out just like soft serve ice cream and tastes amazing. If you have a super freezer, you may have to add a little milk to get the bananas chopped up, or let them thaw a tad. I also threw in some chocolate chips, because honestly, there's no way they'd screw anything up. The recipe I used was off of

Chocolate Banana Soft Serve

• 3 chopped medium bananas (the riper the better)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/16 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder
• optional: sweetener (depending on your tastebuds and ripeness of the bananas)
• optional: 3-5 tbsp peanut butter or another nut butter of choice

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor. If you want the look of ice cream, freeze about 10-15 minutes and the texture will also become a bit firmer. Done!

Long Beach Dairy Maid - Gloucester, MA
http://www.longbeachdairy.com

     I'm not sure if I've blogged about these guys before, but I just have to bring it up anyway. After a visit to

The "small" portion

Good Harbor beach, Jimmy, Meagan and I stopped at Long Beach Dairy Maid. They have 24 flavors of soft serve, 8 flavors of frozen yogurt and literally 60 flavors of "Super Premium Ice Cream." I was so overwhelmed. I was even more overwhelmed when I saw Meagan's "small" ice cream in a waffle cone come out the window. I got a regular cone assuming that I wouldn't get as much. Nope. Still more than a pint of ice cream. I am seriously not kidding. Not one bit. It was outrageous. I got a "small" peanut butter oreo cookie and finished every bit. Totally could've eaten a second one. By far the best value and selection I've ever experienced at an ice cream shop.

Sleeping Bag of Beauty

Mountain Meatballs - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

     I'll tell you right now, this may be one of the more complex recipes you'll ever have to follow, but I guarantee you it's completely worth it. I found this recipe on a blog called Kayotic Kitchen, and she apparently got it from Jamie Oliver. I have one of his cookbooks, so I knew this would be a good one. I'd been wanting to make these for months and months, and finally decided it was time. Jake offered to help, which would make the process easier... not to mention I'd have someone to share the meatballs with. Truthfully, sometimes that's my main deterrent when deciding to attempt a recipe or something. If it's good, I get so excited about it, but then have no one to share it with. Yes, I can write about it, but that's just not the same. Anyway, so during the process of making these meatballs, we got a little nervous. In throwing together the sauce that the meatballs were to brew in, we had all these crazy bold flavors going on, namely molasses, chili peppers, apple cider vinegar, coffee, dijon mustard, and cocoa powder. Things I wouldn't necessarily think would be good for meatballs to mellow out in. The smell was quite pungent, and I was really nervous that all these bold flavors wouldn't mix well. Goes to show how much I have left to learn about cooking, because the sauce cooked down and all those flavors blended absolutely perfectly to make a slightly sweet and unique masterpiece.

     A couple things I did differently: I used stale sourdough bread from a bakery to make the breadcrumbs, and although it's hard to tell with a zillion ingredients in this recipe, I feel like it make it better. The cheddar cheese I used was a sharp white cheddar made by Cabot. It's incredible. I suggest you buy it and eat it like an apple regardless of whether or not you use it in this recipe. Also, I didn't really add much salt, used 1 tbs of molasses instead of the recommended 5, 3 tbs of worcestershire sauce instead of 6, didn't use the beef bouillon cube, and my paprika wasn't smoked paprika. I made my changes to the recipe I found and they're shown below. Why? Because there is nothing I would change about what we created. Throw these bad boys in with some pasta, make a sandwich, or even use the sauce as a base for a pizza (I did that and it blew my mind). Good luck!

Mountain Meatballs

Meatballs:
2 pound ground beef
4 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 small onions
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 large eggs
2 handfuls breadcrumbs

Chili sauce:

1 large onion
2 bell peppers
2 chili peppers
3 plum tomatoes
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp brown sugar
5 tbsp cider vinegar
6 tbsp ketchup
5 garlic cloves
3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp sweet smokey paprika powder
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 heaping tsp granulated coffee1 handful flat-leaf parsley

1) First start by preparing the chili sauce. Chop all of your onions for the entire recipe (including those for the meatballs) and sauté in a little bit of olive oil. Divide the onions in half and let half cool off. I just stuck them in the freezer for a little bit. The cooled onions with be for the meatball portion of the recipe. 

2) Remove the seeds from the peppers and give them a coarse chop. Grate the garlic and cut the tomatoes in fours. Sauté the bell peppers and chili peppers for 10 minutes before adding the garlic and already sautéed onions, and then sauté another 5 minutes. Add in the smoked paprika, molasses, worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, ketchup, Dijon mustard, cocoa, brown sugar, tomatoes, and your coffee crystals mixed with 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a low simmer. 

3) For the meatballs. Mix your ground beef with the cooled off onions and all of the other ingredients listed under Meatballs. Form 8-10 big meatballs. Use your thumb to push a hole into each meatball, fill them with the grated cheddar and close them up again. Heat some butter and brown the meatballs over medium heat. Give them a really nice tan all around.

4) Place the meatballs in the sauce and bring it to a boil again. Reduce heat and let simmer uncovered 25-30 minutes. 5 minutes before serving, add in chopped flat leaf parsley. 

Buffalo Chicken & Cheese Dip - Jimmy's Kitchen, Brighton, MA

     This is NOT really a lightweight friendly food, but DAMN is it delicious. Like buffalo chicken? Like

Buffalo Chicken & Cheese Dip 

cheese? Then you'll like this. I had this once at Amanda's house last year and knew I had to revisit the recipe in the future. Jimmy, Karl, Dave and Alyse had tons and tons of leftover corn tortillas from an Anna's catered event at the boathouse, so we decided to make homemade lime tortilla chips to dip in this deadly dip. They also had bunch of chicken, so that's what I used in the recipe. The recipe is super easy, and it's really hard to screw up the warm cheeses and buffalo chicken. Other recipes add ranch dressing. I think that's unnecessary. 

Buffalo Chicken & Cheese Dip 

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 bottle Franks Red Hot sauce
8 oz container cream cheese
1 cup Mexican cheese blend (or just the whole bag... whatever

1) Poach, bake, grill, or fry (whatever you feel like doing) your chicken breast and shred when cool enough to handle. Toss chicken with the hot sauce and let sit until ready to use 

2) Spread cream cheese onto the bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Top with chicken, add cheese, and sprinkle on a little extra hot sauce on top if you desire. OR, layer all the different ingredients if you're feeling crazy. 

3) Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Presto. 


Boloco - Cambridge, MA
http://boloco.com/

Feeling inspired by a Tikka Masala Burrito. 

     I will never pass up free food. Well... almost never. Definitely not in this case. I had a coupon for free small burrito from Boloco, and I had to try it out. Naturally, I waited until the day it expired. For those that don't know, Boloco is not your standard burrito place. They're slogan is "globally inspired burritos," meaning they offer some really unique flavor combinations in a burrito that are unique to different areas. For example, their bangkok thai burrito, classic mexican, teriyaki, and memphis bbq. Not what you'd expect in a burrito, right? We had Boloco delivered to the office once, but they were these mini burritos that were practically bite sized, and I couldn't eat much. I never got the full effect, so I was pretty pumped to get my own full sized burrito. I was feeling the tikka masala burrito, which came with a creamy masala sauce, brown rice, and choice of meat. I went with the grilled chicken and had them add shredded carrots and cucumbers. I tell you... I sat outside at a little table eating that sleeping bag of beauty and people must've thought I was on something. That masala sauce was so good. Creamy and with a tad bit of that Indian heat. The carrots and cucumbers brought it a freshness that paired so well with the sauce.


Lonestar - Allston, MA
http://lonestar-boston.com/

Just look how pretty that guac is.

    I've been in love with Deep Ellum since my first visit, so I knew that when the owners of Deep Ellum opened up their sister restaurant, Lonestar,  right next door, I had to go, and it was going to be amazing. The atmosphere was just as I expected. Deep, dark woods with a modern western feel. I met Malcolm and a friend of his there for some grub one Saturday night as was definitely NOT displeased, aside from the fact that the waitstaff was pretty terrible and slow. The food... not terrible. We started with their chips and salsa

Beef Barbacoa on the top right, Carnitas pork bottom left

and this beautiful bowl of guacamole. This guac was probably the best restaurant guac I've ever had. It was super creamy, but still had hunks of onions, avocado and tomatoes. I don't know what made it so good, but I could eat it straight for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Seriously. And their tortilla chips were definitely homemade with super coarse hunks of salt. I love salt. 
     We still hadn't gotten a table after sitting at this bar type area for over an hour and a half, so we finally decided to just order our tacos. The first in my face was their Beef Barbacoa. It was shredded smoked brisket, pickled red onion, avocado crema, and cotija (apparently a Mexican cow's milk cheese). The beef was still juicy and was complimented perfectly with the pickled flavors in the onion and the cool, thin avocado sauce. They served their tacos on soft corn tortillas, which was different for me, but I definitely liked the flavors. The only downside is that they start to break when they cool down. 
     The second taco I had was their Carnitas Pork. Always a huge fan of carnitas. Theirs was homemade, and I just realized why it was so incredible. Their carnitas is confit pork shoulder, cilantro, queso fresco, and what I think were pickled radishes or something. Remember what confit means? It means it was cooked in fat. Holy crap. This reminded me of dami? Dayme? Daeme? However you spell it, it's this Lebanese dish my Grandma and Great Grandma make that is practically ground lamb cooked to hell in butter. Pair that with some kibbeh, a slice of onion and stuff it in a pita... MMM! Anyway, back to Mexico... this pork shoulder from Lonestar must've been cooked similarly. It basically looked like ground meat broken up into even smaller pieces. The only way I can think to describe its form is like that of nerds (you know... the candy), but not nearly as crunchy. Little tiny bits, mixed with their cold, pickled radishes and cilantro to balance freshness with the fats. It was definitely my favorite of the two tacos. A return visit is definitely in order to try out the others. 


Veggie Pizza with Pesto - My Backyard, Cambridge, MA

     Some of my favorite texts I get from Jimmy generally involve him asking "Can we make this today?" One

Loaded

Sunday I got this message with a link to a veggie pizza with broccoli pesto. Yes. Yes and yes. So him and Karl came over with their grill and all the ingredients and we hit the ground running. After grilling up some peppers and topping some fresh baked bread with grilled peppers mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper, we finally started on the pizza. The key ingredient here was the broccoli pesto. I had never made such a thing, but was pumped about it especially because we were grilling the broccoli. We kind of created the broccoli pesto without following the recipe, so I'm not even going to attempt to write it out. Basically just throw your broccoli and other standard pesto ingredients into a food processor. Olive oil by the gallon, pine nuts, salt, and pepper. We forgot the cheese, but it was still incredible. Grilling the broccoli brought out such a different flavor. Big fan. 
     Anyway, we took this big ball of premade pizza dough that Jimmy got from Russo's (the most incredible store with produce and baked goods to blow your mind) out in Watertown, and spread it out on the grill. Let me just say, I don't know why I've ever bothered making pizza NOT on the grill. It's just stupid how delicious the crust gets. Unfortunately (...not), the edges didn't really cook completely, so I haaaaaad to pick at the doughy parts. I love eating dough. Second step was dressing our two pizzas. On one we put the homemade basil pesto we made a few weeks ago, and on the second we put our broccoli pesto. Then we topped both with onions, thick slices of mozzarella cheese (also fresh from Russo's), dollops of ricotta cheese, shredded grilled chicken and some of the leftover grilled peppers. Now... I'm not kidding when I say, I would literally drop $30  on a pizza like this at a restaurant. Either of them. The flavors on both pizzas were OUT OF THIS WORLD. The dough? Crisp on the outside and soft inside, but still slightly doughy. The cheeses? Perfectly gooey and warm but both were such different flavors. The pestos? Freshness level 10. I seriously couldn't believe it. It was possibly the best creation I've ever had part in cooking on a grill. Grilling pizzas, is the way to go. Especially with pestos as the base. I could go on and on forever. 

Basil Pesto pizza on left, Broccoli Pesto pizza on right

Veggie Planet - Cambridge, MA
http://www.veggieplanet.net/

     This get together was 2 years in the making. Cheryl, Kate and I (friends I met during my trip to Ecuador) were meeting in Harvard square for lunch and to catch up. I took recommendations for places to eat from a few different people and we finally decided on Veggie Planet. Veggie Planet is the parent restaurant of Veggie Galaxy, so I knew it had to be good. Plus, Mary knows her food, so I was sure she wouldn't steer me wrong. Veggie Planet is a little place in the basement of this building down a small walkway in Harvard Square. Very simple. Small tables. Plastic cups. Simple menu. And a very cool menu. They offer a variety of different dishes, and you can get them either on a pizza crust, coconut rice, or brown rice.
     Also per Mary's recommendation, I ordered Henry's Lunch. This creative masterpiece was roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, goat cheese, rosemary and sage. I know... your jaw is on the floor. I got it on their pizza crust and couldn't have been more happy with my choice. Oh. My. Goodness. Ok first, the crust was so different. It was thin, but dense. It seemed like the flour or whatever they used was more coarsely ground. More like the texture of cornmeal. And the crust on the bottom of the pizza wasn't different under the toppings compared to the edges. Unlike normal pizza, where the crust is thinner under the toppings and thicker and fluffy on the edges. You know what I mean? Anyway, it was incredible. Then the butternut squash was perfect with the caramelized onions. Uggggh! The sugars in both crystallized the edges and gave them a delicious sweetness. Then the slightly sharp flavor of warm and melty goat cheese with this sweetness was just divine. It all wouldn't have been the same without the rosemary and sage. Both were prevalent in the whole dish and made it such a savory treat. I was so impressed with this little hidden gem and couldn't believe how amazing of a combination all of those flavors were. I really want to try to make something like this on my own. Then again... why not just go back?

"I Don't Really Have a Sweet Tooth"... PUHLEEEASE

Stone Hearth Pizza - Cambridge, MA
http://www.stonehearthpizza.com/

Spicy Banana Pepper Pizza

     If you do it right, pizza can totally be a good post-workout food. After a Saturday workout, Jake and I headed to Stone Hearth Pizza to use up a Living Social deal I'd been hanging on to for eons. Stone Hearth's motto of "Know Better Pizza" is based on their principle of using local, sustainable and organic ingredients to make everything from scratch. Love it. We went with their Spicy Banana Pepper pizza, which had their signature tomato sauce, a mozzarella/provolone blend, housemade sausage, spicy banana peppers, scallions and dollops of ricotta cheese all over it. Everything about this pizza was awesome. The sauce definitely had a unique homemade flavor and wasn't full of sugar like some sauces pizza joints use. The juice from the banana peppers gave the already delicious cheese and even better flavor. I'm not too familiar with ricotta cheese, but every bite that had a dollop of the it was just incredible. And I'm totally convinced that scallions with cheese always take whatever you're eating to the next level.
     It's impossible to get just one thing when the menu looks so great, so we also split a Chicken, Spinach,

Chicken, Spinach and Sundried Tomato Stromboli

and Sundried Tomato Stromboli. It had roasted chicken, fresh spinach, sundried tomatoes mixed with local goat cheese, garlic-infused olive oil, and sprinkled with fresh parmesan. This was by far the best stromboli I've ever had. Yea, that's not saying much because I've only had a few in my life, but it was SO good. The best part? Totally the goat cheese and sundried tomato combo. Those two strong flavors just played so well off one another. Another thing I liked about it was that there wasn't too much breading. The other stromboli's I've had before had much thicker crust and not as much internal beauty. This one had a thinner crust, and there was more room for goodies inside.

Emack & Bolio's - Cambridge, MA
http://www.emackandbolios.com/

 

 I keep hearing all this huff and puff about Emack & Bolio's being some of the best ice cream in Boston. So, naturally, after having "lunch," Jake and I hopped over to the one in Porter Square to satisfy our sweet tooth. Aside from the guy behind the desk being a total loser and not liking ice cream, I was impressed. They had a ton of really unique flavors you wouldn't normally see at other ice cream shops. I ended up going with the salted caramel chocolate pretzel ice cream in a chocolate dipped, sprinkle covered cone. Such a good choice! I would've liked the ice cream base to be chocolate rather than vanilla, but it still was amazing. It was even slightly refreshing because it wasn't overly sugary or overly caramel-y. My favorite part though were the nearly full chocolate covered pretzels.
     And of course we HAD to get a piece of chocolate dipped pineapple, a peanut butter cup, and a piece of peppermint bark. All were delicious, especially the peppermint bark. I tried to save half of it, but Jake was not having that. Dude behind the counter must've been able to tell we were lightweights because he gave us the smallest piece. Butthead.


Swiss Bakers - Allston, MA
http://www.swissbakers.com/

     I had seen that this place posted up in a really random location in Allston, and anything with the word "Bakers" in the name has to be pretty hard to screw up. Alyse had been talking about it to Jimmy and I, so

the next day we decided there wasn't any other option but to go. The whole restaurant had an interesting/weird feel to it. There were literally a gazillion people working behind the counter, following us as we browsed through everything, and telling us about each one of their products. Kind of annoying, kind of informative, kind of unnecessary. Whatever. After about 20 minutes of indecisiveness (for good reason), I got their Pretzel Longstix and a MiniSwirl Croissant. The pretzel longstix was incredibly fluffy and had an amazing harder thin shell on the outside, like the most perfect pretzel you could ever imagine would have. And the coarse chunks of salt... mmmm. I love salt. The MiniSwirl Croissant was kind of like a cinnamon roll in croissant form. It had what seemed like finely chopped hazelnut hunks all throughout it and it had a crispness on the edges from whatever sweetness they must've brushed it with. Oh and the white hunks on top of in the photo isn't salt, it's pearl sugar. "Everyone asks that." Yea... duh... because it looks like salt. Hahaha, but it reminded me of puffy rice cereal, in sugar form. The whole thing was delicious.
     Jimmy also let me try his pretzel croissant, which was not as pretzel-y as I expected. More just croissant like. He had a puffy little doughnut "filled" with some raspberry goo that was good, but not crazy exceptional.  However, his ham and swiss cheese stuffed croissant? Lord that incredible. I'd smash 10 of those. Easy.


Banana Trail Mix Bread - Jimmy's Kitchen, Brighton, MA

Banana Trail Mix Bread

     Things I could eat non-stop and never get sick of: baked goods, trail mix (and a ton of other things, but we won't get into that). I found this recipe for Banana Trail Mix Bread on Pinterest and Cookie + Katie, but I still tweaked it a little bit. Apparently you can make muffins if you want too. Truthfully, you're totally fine to just throw in any trail mix ingredients you feel like, so these quantities are only estimates. I just dumped. I roped Jimmy into making it with me because he had ten thousand bananas in his freezer waiting to be used. If I could summarize, this bread is basically banana bread with any sort of trail mix ingredients you like. If that means double the chocolate chips, double the chocolate chips (I doubled the chocolate chips). This bread is pretty dense, but absolutely delicious and amazing with some melted butter. Truthfully, it's not all that bad for you either!

Banana Trail Mix Bread

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips (went a little overboard)
1/4 cup canola oil (Kate used 1/2 cup coconut oil)
2 ripe bananas, mashed 
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla


1) Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded coconut, then mix in all your trail mix ingredients.

3) In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the oil, mashed banana, honey, egg and vanilla.

4) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup coconut.

5) Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes or longer. Let the bread cool in the pan before slicing. Warning: This bread is dense and not very easy to slice.