« December 2006 | Main | February 2007 »
We explored a new diner this morning. Not new overall - apparently, it got Ben Affleck's vote for Best of Boston back during the Good Will years, but we'd never been. Lots of great greasy food - perfect for that Sunday morning hangover - and ketchup in bright red bottles!
I had a craving for the pesto that had been sitting in the fridge a little too long... but mahi mahi was on sale at the supermarket and we hardly ever splurge on fish. Here was our surf 'n earth creation: pesto pasta topped with chopped tomatoes and grilled mahi mahi.
There is lots of new construction in Somerville and Cambridge - here's a new place that has been going up over the past year in Porter Square. I like how the reflection makes the building look bulbous and warped, particularly since the design is so modern in the first place.
A great mushroom risotto recipe, courtesy of my friend Karen. It's very easy to make, although it takes some attention and constant stirring (if you don't want to ruin your pans). I just added the brussel sprouts (and walnuts) because brussel sprouts go with everything.
KAREN'S FAVORITE MUSHROOM RISOTTO
1 C arborio rice
5 C boiling water (2 veg. bouillon cubes) to make stock
1 diced portobello mushroom (or more, if it's small)
2 tbsp olive oil (enough to almost cover bottom of pan)
Grated Parmesan cheese
fresh rosemary
(I also added some chopped onions, white wine, and parsley to my version)
1. Boil water then add the bouillon cubes. Add chopped mushrooms to the boiling water. (This way they flavor the broth while also softening up.)
2. In separate pan, heat olive oil. Add arborio rice. Stir to coat rice with oil and cook for about 1 minute until lightly browned. Then add broth a little at a time, stirring in and letting it all get absorbed (at least mostly) before adding more. One ladle at a time is a good amount.
3. Add some crushed rosemary (or other herbs) and wine to rice fairly early on in the process. Stir almost constantly adding broth every couple of minutes, until you are out of broth or until you are satisfied with the flavor and softness of the rice. This usually takes about 25-30 minutes.
4. Serve on a plate or bowl with some black pepper and parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
These pancakes look fit to thumb through! My dad has a talent for creating these thin, crepe-like pancakes that taste much heartier than they look. The secret is using a very hot cast-iron frying pan to cook them, but while I've tried this recipe many times, I never seem to get them to turn out like this. They're an art form!
Here's a strategy garnered from the movie "The Good Shepherd" for carefully and thoroughly eliminating all recognizable content in a document. This method not only works perfectly in real life, but is also a very beautiful process to watch. Much better than a shredder if you have the time and fire insurance.
In my family, if there isn't water being boiled, spoons stirring, or tea being drunk, that means it's time to put on the kettle. Here's a shot slowing the process down a bit.
My poor sister has a birthday directly following Christmas, and delays in celebrating are routine, just because it quickly becomes one of the busiest times of the year in our family. But at last, we got around to celebrating as a family in early January, and she got her cake. This one was courtesy of Wilson's Farm and delicious! Not too rich and with frosting that didn't remind me of eating butter straight out of the fridge...
One of my parents' favorite pastimes - Antiquing! We must have gone into three or four antique stores in the town - all with their own style and musty heat from their airless attic rooms. I was browsing for a tall old-fashioned coat rack for my parents, but not a one to be found! We did see plenty of ancient English domino sets appealing to my mother!
The creative store-front sign to one of my favorite kitchen shops. All kinds of exotic kitchen gadgets line the aisles of the store, almost luring me to buy something I definitely don't need, like a silicone slotted spoon or an engraved bacon press! The main streets of Concord are full of tourist-grabbing novelties carefully placed in adorable window displays.
Went into the town of Concord today to visit the graves of Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts. A very pretty cemetery, well protected from the traffic of the town by steep hills and valleys, that actually made a nice walk on this weirdly warm winter day. We must have been at 70 degrees in the sunshine out there, all dressed inappropriately for the warmth!
Jason is good to put up with me snapping pictures of our food before we sit down to eat... We tried a new yellow rice and tomato salad with our special occasion pork chops last week and if you stare at the image and let your eyes unfocus, the result resembles a painter's palette. (I think.)
And yet another creature of the sea. These things are called Leafy Sea Dragons, and although this one is in motion, you can make out its essential shape. In real life, it resembles the end of a feather duster floating around in the water, and it moves pretty quickly. I think this variety of fish is new to the aquarium, although perhaps I'm not the best to judge, since during my last visit to the museum, upon asking where we could catch the dolphin show, I was informed that the dolphins had not performed there since 1992. My mistake.
This image is a little distorted, of course, because it was taken through the glass of an aquarium tank, but it was my clearest low-light shot of a fish all day, and I liked the urchin look of the tank plant life as a backdrop.
The fin/leg of a giant old sea turtle "Myrtle the Turtle" at the Aquarium last week. I took the day off on Wednesday to hang out with my cousin and siblings, and we chose the Boston aquarium, the North End, and Harvard Square as our tourist destinations for the day. Aparently, this chick can spend up to 60 minutes to 2 hours underwater (depending upon whether she's sleeping, which requires less oxygen).