Recipes

Monday, June 6, 2011

Beer and Blunders: A Weekend Recap

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  The weather here in Mass was AMAZING.  Dry, sunny, and in the low 70’s. 

Our weekend was moderately busy.  A lot went on, but I still felt relaxed. 

Friday started the busy-ness with the first run of one of the pieces my dance company is doing!  We have a show in September, but our director was involved in a showcase at a high school in NH where she coaches the dance team, so we decided to perform a piece!

It’s a long 12 minute number, but it’s really interesting with a LOT going on so you don’t get bored.  Anyways, it was fun being on stage again, the dance still needs some work, but I can’t WAIT for September for the full show!! 

On Friday, Bromely and I also saw a cute Swan Family on our long walk:

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The mom kept diving for food to feed her babies

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It was so cool to watch!!  Then we continued:

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And took breaks in the shade

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Saturday involved a pretty lazy/awesome morning.  Sometimes you just need to not rush, have a leisurely breakfast, and maybe even watch the Food Network. 

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p.s. iced lattes taste even better in fancy beer goblets ;)

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Our favorite French Toast!  With fresh strawberries, sliced peach, and a dollop of TJ’s non-fat Greek yogurt with homemade blueberry sauce.

Blueberry sauce – this is a great way to get rid of berries that are past their peak, but not quite bad enough to toss. 

  • Place berries (any kind) in a sauce pan, add water but just to the point where you’re not fully submerging the berries.
  • Add a squeeze of fresh lemon, and 1-2 T of sugar or sweetener of choice…I used maple syrup.
  • Bring to boil, and then reduce to low and simmer until berries cook down and liquid is reduced.   

Brian had the blueberry sauce on his French toast.

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Finally broke into my gallon of happiness:

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The rest of Saturday was great…well until we missed the Red Sox game, but let me rewind.

After a 4-mile run, we got changed and headed into Boston.  I had gotten Brian Red Sox tickets for his birthday (which was May 23).  We planned to stop by Mead Hall in Cambridge for a beer and maybe a snack before the game.

Brian’s been dying to try Mead Hall.  It’s the latest craft beer bar/bistro boasting 100 different domestic and international beers on tap.

They weren’t kidding:

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After perusing the menu and having a few samples I decided on the Bacchus; a Belgian sour ale from Van Honsebrouck.

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Really enjoyed this beer.   It’s not as sour as some of the other sour ales I love (like Cherry Woods), but it had a mild sourness and was very refreshing. 

We also ordered a cheese plate (which went unpictured).  It was OK, still needs a little work.  Actually too much cheese, not enough accompaniments.   You know how much I love cheese, but I also love the different flavor combinations you can create with a nice cheese plate.

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Overall I really liked Mead Hall and we are looking forward to returning.  I loved this huge bar area, with big windows to let in the natural light.  I feel like so many beer bars in the area are so dark and cramped.  This is nice and open with high ceilings and an upstairs with couches and flat screen TV’s.

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Meadhall on Urbanspoon

Back to the story, the “blunder”.  After Meadhall, we headed over to the Fenway area to look for a parking spot. 

Found a spot a little too easy, but maybe just our lucky day.  Then as we’re walking towards Fenway, I’m oddly noticing some groups of people in Red Sox attire heading away from the ballpark!? 

Then it hit me.  I didn’t even think to check the game time as the tickets say 7:10, but as the Bruin’s playoff game started at 8pm, the Red Sox had moved their game up to earlier that day.

We missed the whole thing :(    So frustrating…not so much missing the game, but wasting the money and the fact that we had to miss one of Brian’s friend’s housewarming party for the game as well.

Boo Red Sox Boo.

The weekend wrapped up Sunday with the first EVER Woburn Famer’s Market!!  The best part is that it’s like a 5min walk from our house!!

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Kringle from Danish Pastry House

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Bees.  Frightening.

Purchases:

  • Kringle
  • Almond Croissant
  • “pop tart”
  • strawberries
  • hummus
  • iced coffee

Home to enjoy my treats.

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Brian’s pop tart from the Danish Pastry House

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Next up was a graduation party for a few of my cousins and my aunt made a spectacular candy themed cake!

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How freaking cute is that!??

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Sadly we had to leave before eating any as I had dance rehearsal to get to, but I had some candy :)

Phew!  That was a long post!!!

I’ll close things out with the winners of the
AllMenus.com giveaway!

Using a Random Number Generator, the 3 winners are:

  1. Shannon
  2. Erica Thomas
  3. Jocy

Ladies, email me and I believe I can have your $10 coupons emailed to you!!  Hope you have a yummy take out dinner soon!!

Thanks Signpost for letting me host this giveaway!

12 comments:

  1. That is awesome you have a gallon of maple syrup. That is happiness.

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  2. Wow, you really had a busy morning! I am dying to check out Meadhall - great review!

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  3. 12 minutes? That is a long dance number! But I'm sure its awesome! Try to get a bit of it taped so we can see :) Your iced lattes always look SO good! And Mead Hall does look like a cool spot. Bars in the boston area definitely have a tendency to be more dark, so and open/bright space is a nice change. Bummer about the game :( Hooray for the farmers market! I went to a new one this past weekend too- love!

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  4. I really want to try Meadhall! That's a bummer you missed the game :( That cake looks out of this world!!!

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  5. Oh man! Such a bummer about the game -- but at least you got to discover the wonder that is Meadhall. It's down the street from me and, though there have been some blunders, the bar is really starting to come together.

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  6. that is just AWFUL about the red sox game. such a travesty. Mead Hall looks pretty awesome and so does that candy cake!

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  7. I'm sorry you missed the game! Mead Hall looks awesome though; it's new since I moved, so I'll have to check it out when I'm back visiting. I also love sour ales, New Belgium's La Folie is my favorite, but I don't think you can get it in MA. I also really like 21st Amendment's Monk's Blood.

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  8. Yum that french toast looks awesome!!! I am an awful french toast maker, i hate to admit it. buti love it....

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  9. I can't believe they just randomly change the game time like that. What a bummer!

    That cake is too cute!

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  10. I love french toast but it's been off my radar for a while. Thanks for reminding me.

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  11. Love the photo of the swan family. so cute.
    Bees totally freak me out. I'm such a baby. Spiders too. ick.
    I think it's so cool you drink your latte out of fancy glasses. I'm going to have to do that. Makes the drink special. :)

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  12. Wow, you were busy! That's a bummer that you missed the game! Thanks for hosting the give-away. I can't wait to try it!

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