Tuesday, July 1, 2014

My 10 Favorite Things in June

June has been a month of big changes for us. We have uprooted our life, moved it 2,000 miles across the country, and here we are back in Texas without our car, without our worldly belongings, and without a home. But hey, other than that, it's life as usual!
 
So the month was filled with goodbyes to friends and favorite restaurants in Boston, a stressful house hunting trip, preparing our home for movers (we threw away and donated a lot), packing up and shipping our belongings and car, and finally settling in and starting new jobs. Phew. It makes me tired just thinking about it all. In the midst of all of this, thankfully there has still been time for a little bit of fun. So here goes:

1) Pennypacker's Porchetta Sandwich
It may look like "just a sandwich." but I think this is as close to life changing as a sandwich can get. I'm still kicking myself for discovering it only a few weeks before we moved.
2) Chicken Fried Steak as big as your head
On our house hunting trip, we discovered the massive (and massively delicious) Chicken Fried Steaks at The Pantry in downtown McKinney.
Back in Boston, we stirred up some Orange Pimm's Cups, a refreshing summer drink if I've ever had one. 
We love hanging out with these two. We love it even more when we're in an adorable little college town nestled up against Lake Champlain in the beautiful Vermont countryside. 
 5) Night Shift's new brewery and their Harborside Gose
Night Shift's new digs are super cool and much roomier than the original. Still in Everett, they continue to make some wonderfully weird brews, like this ridiculously delicious Harborside Gose brewed with Wellfleet oysters.
 6a) Farewell to Lobster Rolls at The Barking Crab
The Barking Crab may feel a tad touristy, but it offers one of my favorite views of the Boston waterfront while sitting out on their patio. It's hard to beat one of their lobster rolls, a cold glass of Barking Crab White Ale brewed for them by Harpoon, and some summer sunshine.
6b) Farewell to Kevin and Andrea at The Barking Crab
Kevin and Andrea kept us good company while enjoying some of our last New England seafood. We've loved hanging out in Boston with these fellow Texans!
 7) Strawberry and Honey-Preserved Plum Crisp
Featuring strawberries that we picked with my family last spring, white plums I preserved in honey syrup last summer, and some chopped Texas pecans from my mother-in-law, this crisp was the last thing I baked in our kitchen. Not a bad way to say goodbye to a kitchen filled with many years of good memories.
8) Spoke's Asparagus Carbonara
Yet another farewell dinner around town (there were lots of farewells this month). Spoke, to me, is the perfect wine bar. I wish I could convince them to move to McKinney with us! Alas, we paid them one last visit, and while the food, cocktails, and wine were stellar as always, we were particularly blown away by this asparagus carbonara of shredded asparagus, bacon lardons, an oozy soft cooked egg, and grated parmesan!
Not two hours after stepping foot off the plane and onto Texas soil, we found ourselves at Rio Bravo Tex-Mex Cuisine with a very large margarita and a plate-full of enchiladas. It was not a bad way to begin adjusting to life back in Texas!
I love any type of concert in the park whether it be Shakespeare, community bands, local singers, you name it. We were lucky enough to catch McKinney's last Jammin' in June concert, and we had the best time. It was a perfect evening for it, warm and sunny with a great breeze, the scenery was lovely, and the music was entertaining.
 

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