Mom’s Tea and Relay Week!

Another rainy day here in Boston, but at least we were gifted with a gorgeous weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day!

My Saturday morning started out with a beautiful run with Elizabeth! We did one of my favorite running routes in South Boston along the water.

It was a tad warm as far as ideal running conditions go, but I couldn’t complain…it was so nice to feel the warm sun!

We did about 5.5 miles.

That was probably my last run before the Reach the Beach Relay this Friday!!!  I seriously can NOT believe it’s here already and I’m getting SO pumped!  The total of my 3 legs is 15.5 miles.  I haven’t had too many long runs these days but I’m confident that I’ll be just fine :)

Came home, showered, came out of the shower to find this furball on the living room chair…where he is NOT allowed, and he knows it.  Sly little guy.

 

He made himself quite comfy. 

That afternoon was my mom and my annual Mother’s Day tea!

Mother’s Day 2009 – The Taj
Mother’s Day 2010 – Boston Harbor Hotel
Mother’s Day 2011 – L’Espalier

And for Mother’s Day 2012 we did a repeat and went to L’Espalier again! 

We’ve gone to most all of the high teas in Boston…years before I had the blog of course, and once at Christmas Time.  So I feel like we now can repeat our favorites or go to another city :)

Honestly though, what made me pick L’Espalier again is their cheese tray!

In addition to the usual tea sandwiches and pastries you can also order a sampling of 5 cheeses with their accompaniments.

One new aspect of the tea this year though was that they now employ Tea Sommelier Cynthia Gold!  I remember her from tea at the Park Plaza hotel and at the time she was the only Tea Sommelier around.  So it was a nice surprise to see her at L’Espalier.  

The presentation started with a waiter pouring hot water into a wine glass at each of our table settings.  Confusing at first.

But then Cynthia came over with a hand tied flowering tea satchel/pod.  We were instructed to drop it into the hot water. 

We were told it would slowly open and gradually release 3 different type of flowering teas.

It was quite fun to watch it change over the course of our tea service.

 

For my  first tea from the menu I ordered the L’Espalier Afternoon Blend – This signature tea consists of a blend of Darjeeling and three Sri Lankan Estate teas as well as two Chinese green teas lightly scented with jasmine, Italian oil of bergamot, and grapefruit peel.

I loved this blend!

Although I think my favorite of the day was the Chefs Blend my mom ordered later.

 

Tea Sandwiches

As good as they were I was pretty disappointed we were missing the warm ham and cheese sandwich that was on last year’s plate.  But the crab salad was a nice change and I’m always happy when there is NO egg salad ;)

Cheeses:

All were delicious except for the one on the far right.  It was a VERY strong blue cheese…clear your sinuses strong, and just not very pleasant to my mom and I.  Otherwise there was a mild creamy cheese made from a combo of goats, sheep, and cow’s milk; a soft goat blue, one in a gruyere style, another in the raclette family, and another sheep’s milk cheese I can’t remember. 

Accompaniments:

After the cheese and sandwiches were done it was Sweets time!

Very similar to last year, but delicious none the less.  At the top of that picture you can see the scones as well.  Served with Devonshire cream and jam.  I could just eat the scones and skip dessert entirely…so good. 

Delectable and Cute…

 

At this point we’re usually pretty full so we ended up bringing some leftovers home to Brian…lucky guy! 

Somehow missed a shot of mom and I :(  But did grab and outfit pic!

• Blue Dress – H&M
• Neon pink belt – Express
• Sandals – Nine West (via Macy’s)

Loved that it was warm enough for bare legs AND arms!!

Speaking of mom… she’s going to be spending a LOT of time in Seattle this summer and into the Fall!!  No one in my family has ever been so we’re no help but do any of you know any good places out there??  Restaurants?  Must-see sites?  Stores?  Bakeries ;)?? 

Hope you all had a great Mother’s Day!  Especially my friends (blog and “real life”) who celebrated their first Mother’s Day this year!!

Sweet Cheeks Q & Some BBQ For You

Last night Brian and I finally got to try the new-ish BBQ place near Fenway Park that everyone seems to be raving about: Sweet Cheeks Q.  Sweet Cheeks opened in November 2011 and is chef-owned by the well known Tiffani Faison of Top Chef fame. 

I love some good BBQ and there aren’t too many place in and around Boston to get it. 

We had Red Sox tickets that night, so I met Brian after work for an early dinner before the game!  He got their before I did and grabbed 2 seats at one of the communal tables (basically you share with whoever else needs a seat).  In this type of atmosphere (casual & kind of noisy) I don’t mind that seating.  Wouldn’t recommend it for a first date or anything though.

Brian had already ordered a beer, so I scanned the menu and picked my own.

I’ve had Sweaty Betty before and remember liking it.  Refreshing, flavorful blonde ale.  They didn’t have too many beers on tap, but they did have a fantastic selection of bottles and cans!

To start we ordered the Fried Green Tomatoes.  Neither of us have ever had them.

Thick slices of juicy tomato, and a crispy browned coating.  They came with a sort of ranch dressing that had a nice kick to it!  With the ranch these were awesome!  The tomatoes themselves weren’t the most flavorful, but it’s not tomato season so it’s hard to complain. 

Maybe 1 minute later our meals came out!

I ordered the pulled chicken tray with sides of heirloom baked beans and the farm salad.  I also ordered a single biscuit instead of the sliced bread that usually comes with the meal.

If you only order one thing there…GET A BISCUIT!!!  O.M.G.  The menu has an order of a basket of 4 with honey butter on the side, but you can order just one even though it wasn’t on the menu.  AND make sure to ask for some of that honey butter.  WOW.

First of all the biscuit was HUGE.  Easily 4” diameter and so thick and fluffy.  Warm, crisp on the outside, tender and flaky on the inside.  That with the honey butter was a match made in heaven.  I’m drooling on my keyboard right now.

       

Brian’s tray:

Ribs, collards, and potato salad.

The pulled chicken was delightful.  Tender, juicy, flavorful…especially with their housemade BBQ sauce.  The table also had a bottle of their housemade vinegar sauce, and habanero lime hot sauce! 

The farm salad had tons of seasonal veggies, nuts, grapes, arugula, parmesan, and a mustard vinaigrette (I believe).  I loved all the veggies and it would of been perfect with just a tad less dressing.

I stole a lot of Brian’s collards.  Vinegary, and cooked with some type of pork which gave the greens an awesome flavor. 

I also stole a bite of the potato salad, 2 thumbs up.

The ribs were incredible tender, and not overly fatty.  I don’t mind fat, but hate actually biting into it. 

The one thing I wasn’t crazy about was the beans.  They were pretty good, but tasted way more like chili than baked beans.  Too smokey, too much cumin for me.  But they were still sweet, which I wouldn’t like my chili to be so it was just a conflict of flavors for me.  Brian really liked them though.

We still had time to kill before the game so we went with another round of beers.

Brian HAD To order this as we never see it ANYWHERE

I tend to not like overly hoppy IPA’s because they are usually bitter, but this one is just the opposite.  No bitterness, but just tons of hop aroma.  Delish.

All in all it was a great night.  Would have been better if the Sox won but what can you do?

 

Pretty good seats too!

Now with all this BBQ talk, I have the perfect contest you can enter!!

Eversave is giving away 2 of these prizes of $250 worth of delicious BBQ catering from Dickey’s Barbeque Pit! 

Now, there aren’t any Dickey’s in Massachusetts (closest ones are in CT, or in Portland, ME)…but this is open to anyone so maybe there is one near you.  But if there’s NOT…don’t fret, if you win you could also choose a $250 gift card to Omaha Steaks!!   Create your own feast with that prize!

Just enter HERE!  This contest goes until Sunday, May 6, and they will notify the winner on Monday, May 7!

And in case that doesn’t pan out for you, the folks at Eversave are letting me give away a $10 save reward (to use on any Save) to one of you!

In the spirit of BBQ, to enter for the $10 save reward, leave me a comment with your favorite side dish to order at a BBQ joint.  If you’re not a BBQ fan, then just your favorite other restaurant side dish!

I’ll choose a winner for the $10 save reward by 10 p.m. EST on Monday May 7th!

Valentine’s Dinner @ Catalyst

Apparently Valentine’s day “snuck up” on us this year, or should I say snuck up on a certain husband of mine ;)  When the topic of dinner on the 14th came up the week before, I knew our top choices of restaurants would have to be put on the back burner unless we wanted to eat at 9:30pm…no thanks.

(pink sparkly V-day nails)

So on Feb 11th I just decided to check out my options on Open Table!  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a 6:30pm reservation open at Catalyst!  I was sure I had checked there a few days earlier with no such luck.  It was our best option at the time, and so I booked it! 

I usually like to try new places, since my list of “to try” restaurants is ever growing, but I knew Catalyst had great food and would provide an inviting atmosphere with it’s modern decor and cozy fireplace and open kitchen. 

The other time I had eaten here was for a blogger dinner not long after it opened.  I was looking forward to a different kind of experience as a table of 2, and was excited to try out a cocktail as I skipped on the drinks last time. 

HOWEVER, when I checked the website again the day of Valentine’s Day, I noticed a Prix Fix Valentine’s Menu…  I was not too pleased. 

Generally, I try to avoid places with prix fix menus and did not see this on the website when I made the reservation…good thing too, because I would have missed an INCREDIBLE dinner. 

When we arrived, things got off to a great start when, instead of being seated in the big open dining room where I sat for the blogger dinner, we were escorted to the other side.  Behind a long fireplace built into a partition wall, was 4 tables of 2 with bigger comfy fabric chairs…and they were nicely spaced so you didn’t feel like you were sitting with your neighbor.

It was also nice to keep warm from the fire place. 

I knew I wanted to try “The Undecided” off the cocktail menu.  This is bartenders choice; you just tell them what you like and don’t like.  I said I liked NOT sweet, citrusy, and tart. 

They delivered.

 

This was gin, lemon juice, and a French aperitif called Lillet.  I had never heard of Lillet before, but I LOVED this cocktail and now am on a mission to find it.  It was just what I asked for.  The fresh lemon flavor came through, it was not sweet at all, and I could barely taste the alcohol.  I had no trouble finishing it. (I’m notorious for ordering a “fun” cocktail and leaving half in the glass)

On to the food.

We had 4 courses…an appetizer, pasta course, main, and dessert.

For the appetizer I went with the Warm Lobster Strudel, Braised Leek, Tarragon, Herb Salad…

while Brian ordered the Arugula Salad, Asian Pear, Candied Walnuts, Berkshire Blue Cheese, Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

The salad was crisp and refreshing with a bite to the mustard vinaigrette, but WOW, the lobster strudel!!  Warm, flaky, filled with warm lobster filling…melt in your mouth delicious.  Don’t worry, we went “halvsies” on the appetizers.

I was looking forward to the pasta course as I remember the pasta as being my favorite from the blogger dinner…they were all stand out dishes.

There were 2 options and we got 1 of each.

I got the Mushroom Ravioli, Roasted Oyster Mushrooms, Parmesan.

 

I had this at the blogger dinner, but it was good enough to order again!

Brian had the Goat Cheese Tortellini, Braised Brisket, Smoked Paprika-Almond Crumble

We shared.  Both were outstanding…this place does some amazing pasta dishes!

For my entree I ordered the Roasted Blue Cod, Bacon, Olive Oil Crushed Potato, Chowder Nage

I had to ask what “Chowder Nage” was and I was told it was a lighter version of a clam chowder which the Cod is served in.  Our waitress said it was delicious and one of their best dishes…sold

I could have just eaten a big bowl of that chowder you see surrounding the Cod…it really was light, delicate, but so so flavorful and I loved the big whole clams.  The Cod was tender and cooked beautifully.  I did everything but lick my bowl clean.

Since I had finished my cocktail, I decided to order the wine that my entree paired with.

2009 Pinot Noir, Copian, “Tous Ensembles”, Andrew Valley, CA

I also loved the wine and finished it!!  (hey this is unheard of for me…a cocktail AND wine)

Brian chose the Braised Kurobuta Pork Shank, Caramelized Apples, Herb Spaetzle

I had a few bites.  Incredibly flavorful with some great textures from the meat and the spaetzle. 

Lastly it was dessert time. The Butterscotch and Passion Fruit Pudding with Warm Pound Cake Croutons was on the menu and I decided one of us HAD to order it as it was my favorite dessert from the blogger dinner!!

Brian took care of it…

Those pound cake croutons?  Yeah, deep fried.  So good.

I opted for the Salted Caramel Ice Cream, Toasted Marshmallow, Peanut Brittle.

I mean you can’t go wrong with salted caramel anything right!? 

As good as they were, we couldn’t finish either dessert…so full!! 

I’m SO happy that we ended up at Catalyst!  I couldn't stop raving about how good my meal was while we were eating it.  We had a fantastic date night out!

Aside from the delicious food, flowers, and candy…my other favorite part of Valentine’s day is wearing PINK!  And lots of it!

 

So glad “color blocking” makes it okay for me to rock hot pink AND bright red!

• pink dress – Old Navy
• gold belt – was my grandmothers
• red cardigan – Banana Republic
• purple/pink paisley scarf – Banana Republic
• grey tights – DKNY @ Nordstrom
• grey/yellow/gold t-strap heels – Seychelles

 

And to think we almost said “screw it” to going out on V-day.  I realized we hadn’t had a nice dinner out like this since our trip to CA in November!  Reminds me that we need more date nights out! 

Prix Fix Menu’s…love or hate?  How often to you get out for nice dinners with your significant other or good friends??

My Birthday in Wine Country

While my birthday was not the reason for the trip, I was thrilled to be able to celebrate my special day in such a beautiful part of the country!

Nov 7, 2011

Woke up to the smell of bacon and French toast at our B&B in Healdsburg.

Why can’t there be platters of fresh fruit waiting for me every morning??  (Brian I’m talking to you…;)

Coffee, of course, and I really want these mugs!  Best part is that I saw them at Sur La Table a few days later!! 

One thing I really wanted to do on our vacation was go for a hike and see some Redwoods!  So that is just what we did after breakfast.  

We swung by the market to grab sandwiches to pack for lunch and drove out to the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve.

That old stump makes Brian look like a miniature size person!!!  

Seeing those trees in person is indescribable…they are just so marvelous, and HUGE!

After hiking and a picnic lunch we stopped by a couple wineries on our way back to the B&B.

The properties were all so gorgeous.

Once we returned, changed, rested, and enjoyed cocktail hour at the B&B…we headed to dinner.

Cyrus restaurant.  I debated for a while on where I wanted to have my birthday dinner….there are just SO many amazing restaurants out there!!  Ultimately I chose Cyrus because I’ve never been to a Michelin star restaurant (Cyrus has 2 Michelin stars), and have never had this type of multi-course dinner “experience” before. 

And an experience it was! 

The photo above was taken at the end of the night…we had 7:30 reservations (ideally you would go earlier), and didn’t leave until around 11!   The place was packed when we arrived though.

 

I’ll apologize now for the low-lit craptastic iphone photos, but I HAD to document this meal and it was NOT the time or place to be whipping out my big DSLR…so discrete iphone photos it was!

After sitting down and starting to look over the menus, a cart (the first of many that evening) comes rolling over with a selection of champagne and caviar.  The cart also contained an old fashion scale to weigh out your selections. 

We decided to pass on the caviar this time ;)

Next up was a tower of canapés to stimulate all the different taste buds and flavors: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and Umami

 

Starting from the bottom:

Umami - a mushroom broth (can’t remember the type of mushroom). 

Sweet - Next level on one of the spoons was a grape “bubble”: not quite sure how it’s done but it was a bubble that popped in your mouth containing a sweet grape liquid.  So interesting!

Bitter – Another spoon held a grapefruit gel with candied grapefruit peel

Salty – A small gruyere cheese puff (delicious!)

Sour -  carrot pixi stix!!  (shown below), inside those straws was a sour carrot powder that you ate like a pixi stick!!  So creative!  Granted mine went down wrong and I was coughing for a while after, but I loved the concept.

I enjoyed a refreshing cocktail:

The “Pomiranian”
Hangar One Orange Blossom Vodka, Pomegranate Juice, Lime Juice, Black Pepper-Allspice Syrup,
Pomegranate Seeds, Fresh Mint

 

The Amuse Bouche was a parfait of 4 squashes.  I don’t have this one written down but it was four different squashes in different forms/textures all layered.  We were told to dig down to the bottom to get all 4 layers in a bite.

One of MY favorite parts was a warm bread basket that kept coming around with 5 or 6 different types of bread, rolls, and biscuits all waiting to be tasted. 

I started with a pretzel croissant and a brioche bun…

2 types of butter: cows milk and goats milk
and 2 types of salt: sea salt and pink Hawaiian salt

For our meals I opted for the 8-course tasting menu and Brian went with the 5 course but with wine pairings.  There is no way I’d be able to drink all that wine!! 

They are also very accommodating in that you could switch items from the vegetarian tasting menu if something catches your eye. 

I did just that with my first course: Chestnut and Sherry soup with chestnut confit, fennel cream.

Brian’s was the Shima Aji Sashimi with Oxtail-Umeshu Consommé, Quail Egg and Myoga

Next up for both of us was the Roasted Lobster with Cauliflower Cream, Uni Emulsion.

One of my favorites of the night (lobster…no brainer there), but that cauliflower cream was delightful and paired SO well with the lobster.

Third course for both of us: Halibut with Braised Romaine, Yuzu Kosho Butter.

Such a tender piece of fish.  I’ve never had halibut this rare but it melted in your mouth.

Next was my 4th course while Brian “sat out” this round. 

Steamed Matsutake with Pine Nuts, Junsai and Mitsuba.  For someone who doesn’t exactly “love” mushrooms (texture issue), I was proud of myself this night. 

This was served with the paper thin slices of Matsutake in the bowl and the hot broth was poured over table side, collapsing the mushroom slices like tissue paper.

Course 4 For Brian – Prime Striploin with Potato, Short Rib, and Crimini, Sauce Bordelaise.

I loved everything about this!!  Those little light colored cylinders were the potato, the little cubes were the short rib, and the little circles were crimini sauce. The flavors were incredible.

Course 5 for me: Crispy Chicken thigh with truffled risotto and celery, parmesan foam.

This course for both of us was a huge hit!  The chicken was so tender with a contrast of the crispy skin, and the risotto was divine and creamy.  

My 6th course might have been the best…it involved another cart rolling over to the table but this time it was full of CHEESE!!!

You can kind of see the cheese cart in this pictures behind the table.  The tower in front is all of the accompaniments.

The menu stated a selection of 3 cheeses, but our waitress was awesome and let us taste more.  I chose 4 but she was ready to slice off even more for us.

Again, I do not have the names of these. but I know there was a triple cream in there, a bit of Epoisses which is a very stinky cheese!  (I looove stinky cheese),  a goats milk cheese with ash rind, and the hard cheese was a sheep's milk.

Brian’s 5-course didn’t have a cheese course, but this was plenty for the two of us!

Next up was my most anticipated item of the evening as I had read about it in reviews!

The Birthday surprise!!

That contraption right there has a balloon attached to a valve connecting to this lit up dome covered plate.  Inside the dome are two perfectly warm chocolate chip cookies and cocoa powder scattered throughout.

The birthday person gets to flip the lever on the valve, and all the air inside the balloon is released into the dome causing all the cocoa powder to fly around like a snowball shaker!!

It’s just a fun way to acknowledge the birthday!

Plus those cookies might have been my favorite part of dessert…fresh, warm, gooey…

Along with the cookies, we received mini chocolate egg creams 

Next were the real desserts.  I had a 7th and 8th course dessert.  The first one was

Yuzu Cremeux, Bergamot Meringue and cream
cheese ice cream…

Those “pieces” in there are the meringue but also the ice cream!  The cream cheese ice cream was flash frozen (liquid nitrogen can do that) and broken into pieces…it was like grown up Dippin’ Dots!

For our final dessert choices, I went with:

Warm Bananas with Hazelnut and Milk Chocolate…

Brian had the:
Vanilla Bean Fontainebleau with Apple Ice, Farina Fritters

The fun didn’t stop there though… 

The final cart they roll over to your table is the Sweets Cart!!  At the end of your meal you can choose any of the candies on this cart and as many as you’d like!

There were homemade lollipops, jellies, marshmallows, caramels, chocolates, truffles…anything!

They also give you a little gift box containing a little pastry to take home and luckily there was room in the box for our candies because I was WAY too full to eat them then.

But if that wasn’t the icing on the birthday cake…with the check came two mini hot bourbon glazed donuts..

Yeah.  Don’t worry those were eaten right then and there…I mean they were hot!  

If you add it all up it’s more like 12 or 13 courses…also the most expensive dinner we’ve ever had, but it was definitely worth it!  You’re paying not only for the food but for the amazing experience and top notch service.

 

They also provide you with a nice print out of the menu you selected all night with the date, your name, and what you were celebrating!

I’ll always remember this birthday!!  Good thing too since I plan on having many more 29th birthdays in the future ;)