Gone To Texas

(Texas Print from Kristin Vasgaard Designs)

Howdy, folks! We're boarding a plane to Texas for the weekend, and I couldn't be more excited! We'll get to poke around Ft. Worth this evening with my good friend Alison, and the rest of the weekend we'll hang out with my parents celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary (that's a lot of years)! Plans include eating lots of TexMex, soaking up some Texas sunshine (keep your fingers crossed that it's not rainy), and going to see my Texas Rangers! Expect a full report once we get back. In the meantime, wishing everyone a fantastic weekend!

Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone had a fun and sunshine-filled Memorial Day weekend! Ours was a good one, though it went by all too quickly.  Friday night we had dinner at The Painted Burro and checked out their recent expansion. The bar area was moved to a separate room, creating a larger and quieter dining area, which we really liked. The food is just as good, and they still serve up a fine margarita. I enjoyed their Paloma cocktail this time around with tequila and homemade grapefruit soda. After dinner, we went to Boston Ballet's final ballet of the season, Coppelia. 

On Saturday, our friends Kurt and Nina came down from New Hampshire to spend the weekend with us. We had a fancy evening planned to celebrate Kurt's birthday and the end of school for my husband! 

Following presents at home, we got all gussied up and braved the cold drizzly weather, excited to introduce them to our favorite snazzy cocktail spot, Drink. We arrived as the doors opened at 4:00, managing to snag a seat before a line formed out the door. Reunited with our favorite bartender, Ray, who mixed up some classic cocktails and then had some fun mixing a few awesomely weird drinks for us. Most notable was my husband's Electric Current Fizz which involved downing an egg yolk topped with bitters before sipping the cocktail itself (it had the added bonus of making him feel like Rocky Balboa).

The evening continued with a nice dinner at Eastern Standard, starting with their jumbo shrimp cocktail and a round of Martinezes (our waiter was even nice enough to snag their Martinez recipe for me after I told him of our unsuccessful attempts to recreate it at home). After sharing their famed butterscotch bread pudding for dessert, our last stop was their sister cocktail bar, The Hawthorne, hidden inside the neighboring Hotel Commonwealth.

After such a fancy evening, we went a little more casual on Sunday morning. We were so excited to introduce them to our favorite brunch spot, Highland Kitchen.

We arrived early to get a good spot in line, narrowly missing the beginning of street closures for the Somerville Memorial Day Parade. We waited outside, bundled up in coats with thoughts of steaming mugs of coffee and piping hot food dancing through our heads. You would have never known it was the end of May. 

The chilly wait was well worth it once we were finally seated in a cozy booth. I tried (and really enjoyed) the shrimp and grits, topped with collard greens, large bits of thick-cut bacon, and savory satueed mushrooms. Everyone else got the practically irresistible Dirty Bird, a biscuit topped with fried chicken, bacon, a fried egg, and copious amounts of white gravy. 

Once Kurt and Nina headed back to New Hampshire, we spent a quiet evening at home, including an indoor picnic for two.  I love indoor picnics, so a gray dreary day is more than enough excuse to start piling up blankets on the floor!  We've been (belatedly) watching older seasons of 24, so we ordered take-out, curled up on the living room floor, and finished Season 2.

We spent Memorial Day at a cookout with some of my husband's LGO classmates, thanks to Brad and Asheligh, our fabulous host and hostess!  It was a tropical celebration with grilled kabobs, corn on the cob, potato salad, cole slaw, and fruity drinks topped with colorful paper umbrellas. Folks played corn hole and ladder golf, chatted, and enjoyed the beautiful weather, as it was finally sunny and warm! 

Finally, I don't want to forget the reason that we are able to enjoy such a fun long weekend. I am so grateful for those who have served in the military and for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we might enjoy life as we know it in this great nation. 

Mid-Week Date Night

On Wednesday my husband and I had a mid-week date night, which is pretty wild and crazy for us. Usually we're fairly boring during the week, preferring to just cook dinner together and then curl up on the couch to catch up on TV shows.  But this week, we had a concert to go to! Ramin Karimloo, a singer from the West End (London's Broadway), was in Boston on his "Broadway to Bluegrass" tour.

I originally learned about Ramin while following the career of Hadley Fraser. I fell for Hadley and his simply amazing voice when I saw him as Marius in "Les Miserables" 10 years ago in London.  Last year, I was lucky enough to see him return to "Les Mis" and steal the show as Javert.  Hadley and Ramin have performed together in various productions and are the singing/song-writing duo behind the band Sheytoons. While Hadley is my favorite, I was excited to see Ramin perform for the first time.

Before the show, we tried Veggie Planet, a cute little hole-in-the-wall vegetarian restaurant.  I got a tart summery Raspberry Lime Rickey and the Portobello Redhead pizza (their items are served over either pizza or rice).  Topped with portobellos and onion, blanketed in romesco sauce, and dotted with goat cheese, it was very good (though maybe a little too oily).

After dinner, we stopped into Algiers to share a pot of tea.  Named after Algeria's capital city, it's a coffee shop specializing in Middle Eastern food. Almost hidden in a typical Harvard Square red brick building, you step in and feel transported -- the decor is eclectic, colorful, and quite beautiful. There's a downstairs seating area, but I prefer to head upstairs to their lovely second floor with a high dome ceiling, large windows, Middle Eastern artwork, and even a little outdoor deck area.

The service is almost ridiculously slow, but if you aren't in a hurry, both the food and drinks are very good. I absolutely love their mint tea and their lamb kebab sandwich wrapped in a fresh pita.  We finished our little pot of mint tea and made our way to Regatta Bar, excited for the concert to start.

Ramin put on a fantastic show with some very talented musicians backing him up, including a Texas fiddle player with some real chops. The "Broadway to Bluegrass" concept may sound like a weird one, but they totally made it work, playing arrangements of showtunes with a bluegrass flair. Ramin about brought the house down with a moving rendition of "Bring Him Home" from "Les Miserables," and I particularly enjoyed "Broken", a Sheytoons number (sadly lacking Hadley's vocals).

I was pretty tired at work on Thursday morning, but it was worth it for a fun night on the town!  Now it's time to gear up for the long Memorial Day weekend.  Tonight we go to the last ballet of the season (Coppelia), and we'll spend the rest of the weekend celebrating and cooking out with friends. Wishing everyone a very happy Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Chimichurri (and Chimichurri Grilled Potatoes)

When I was in college, I spent two summer internships in LA before moving there following graduation.  During one of those internships, I joined my friend Diana for a cookout at the home of an Argentenian co-worker. It was a beautiful California summer day, and they had sausages on the grill. The grill master happily placed one on my plate and pointed to a large bowl of green sauce next to the grill. As he drizzled a large spoonfull over the grilled meat, he told me it was called Chimichurri. I immediately fell in love, never having tasted anything like it.  Following the cookout, he was kind enough to share his recipe, and I'm still using it six years later!

While his original recipe called for two bunches of parsley and 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, I tweaked it a bit. In some regions, cilantro and lemon juice are used, so I added a little bit of both (a great addition for a cilantro lover like me). It's a versatile sauce, good with any grilled meat (or vegetables)!.  Monday, I made a batch to drizzle over steak and then tossed a little bit with grilled potatoes for a wonderful side dish.

Chimichurri

Ingredients

1 bunch of parsley, roughly chopped 

1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped

1 large clove of glaric, roughly chopped

2 cups of olive oil

1/8 cup of red wine vinegar

1/8 cup lemon juice

1 tsp salt 

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you like things spicy)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until it comes together into a sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste.  It's as simple as that! 

This makes a big batch, so store leftovers in the fridge (should last a week or so) or in the freezer (should last a few months).

Chimichurri Grilled Potatoes

Ingredients

1.5 lbs small potatoes, washed and halved (I used a bag of red, purple, and yukon gold potatoes)

~1/4 cup + 2 Tb chimichurri

salt (for parboiling the potatoes)

Directions

Place the halved potatoes in a medium sauce pan and cover with cold salted water. 

Bring to a boil, and let the potatoes simmer for about 8 minutes, until they are almost done (you should be able to insert a paring knife into a potato half fairly easily but still meet some resistance).

Drain the potatoes and toss with about 2 tablespoons of the Chimichurri.

Grill over med-high heat for about 2 minutes. Flip and grill for another 1-2 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Serve topped with the remaining Chimichurri.

A Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday, we had a reason to celebrate. You see, my husband finished his dual-degree program at MIT!  As a part of the Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program, he will be receiving an MS in Aero/Astro and an MBA upon graduation in a couple weeks. I couldn't be more proud of him!

We began this journey together two years ago.  I remember him leaving for his first day of school (with a Big Chief tablet from his mom) and thinking that this was going to be the longest two years in history. But we took it a day at time, and finally, here we are! The thesis and all of the classes and assignments and team projects and late nights are behind him.  And he has not only survived it all, but he has excelled, just as I knew he would. I am so amazed by this man that I am married to.  

While this has not been the easiest two years, we have so many wonderful new friends and wonderful memories that were made along the way. We'll be so sad to bid everyone farewell as they scatter across the country following graduation, but for now, it's time to celebrate!  

So how do you celebrate such an occasion? First you start with presents! This should be a no-brainer. 

I got my favorite Sazerac drinker a set of original Sazerac glasses, a super cool Sazerac print, and a muddler so he can muddle together sugar cubes and bitters, as is the traditional method.

Next, you cook his favorite meal, Pioneer Woman's Beef and Snow Peas.  It's nothing fancy, but it's delicious. 

After dinner, since it's a beautiful, unusually warm spring day, you make the most of the last hour of daylight and walk down to the local ice cream shop, hand in hand. Because what's a celebration without ice cream?

Finally, you snuggle up on the couch with your ice cream and watch a movie, like you don't have a care or a responsibility in the world. Because at the moment, you don't. And that's an amazing feeling.

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(And then you watch the season finale of The Office and cry like a baby the entire time. Despite its rough patches, The Office holds a special place in our hearts, as we began watching it together as friends in college.  We would hurry back to my apartment complex from $1 margarita night at El Arroyo and plop down in front of the TV.  As the story-lines progressed, so did our lives. We graduated college, we started dating, I moved to LA while he moved to Boston, we fell in love, I moved to Boston, we got married, and he now has two more degrees under his belt. Through all that change, there's always been a new episode of The Office on Thursday nights, so last night felt like the end of an era.  But what a truly perfect ending it was!)