Ashland Farmers Market

My little town, Ashland, is getting a Farmers Market! Yay. Last year, Cory and I joined to committee to bring a Farmers Market to town. This June will mark our inaugural year and it has been a lot of fun working with local citizens to create what I hope will be an exciting, healthy, and fun meeting place for members our our community. Here's a link to our website. Come check out the market starting June 9th!

A Jarring Question

As has been documented on this site, I once had a bit of an obsession with peanut butter. I am happy to report that I am cured of this vice. In fact, I made a sandwich for Beatrice yesterday and did not even lick the knife before putting it into the dishwasher. The stuff actually gives me heartburn now.

I have traded one vice for another though... I now covet and consume the almond butter. If you follow Paleo, you might think this substitution a healthy one. And in all honesty, I couldn't sit and eat 1/2 a jar of almond butter like I would its ugly step-sister, peanut butter.

But I digress. I actually have a question for you. How do you get the label off of a jar so that you can re-use the jar? I go through about a jar a week of Trader Joe's Raw Almond Butter. The jars are the perfect size for leftover soup or for storing things in the pantry but no matter how many times I put them through the dishwasher, the ugly tattered label remains. You also know of my sick obsession with containers and bags. I can't just throw a perfectly good glass container into the recycling bin. Please advise.

Under the Sea

I had an ocean filled birthday weekend. Friday night we dined on mussels. Saturday we went to Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester. Saturday night we had an old fashioned Portuguese clam bake with steamers, 2 lb lobsters, and corn on the cob. And Cory went over the top by getting us oysters too. By late Saturday night I was one salty, sandy mess inside and out. There is nothing like a New England summer.

Pub Night 2011

Lasst weekend's Pub Night 2011 was a hit. The tradition started a couple of years ago when we put up my aunt's 70s era hand me down overhead light fixture over our pub table and stools. We joked that when we sat around the table we felt like we were at Chili's. Alas, Pub Night was born.

Every year there is a winner for "Most Pub-tastic." This year's entries were the best to date. The Baldessarini's came to the table with Pulled Pork Empanadas. The Silva's brought forth Loaded 'Tater Skins. The Perez-Butenas's presented Burger Sliders and Cory cooked up some Authentic Chili's Baby Back Ribs. I rounded out the night with Nut-Busting Brownie Sundaes.



After chowing, we voted by secret ballot. The unanimous winner was Cory and his ribs. For his grand prize he received 2-for-1 coupons to T.G.I.Fridays. Some faves from years past include Buffalo Chicken Dip, Pulled Pork sliders, and Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings.

There were lots of belly laughs and lots on non-kid friendly conversations. And you have to give props to any get together where you get this picture message the next morning.

That's Johnny B. doing "the tripod" in response to Dave's "tripod" the night before.

Spring Tease

We took advantage of the nice spring weather on Saturday and went for a picnic at the Public Gardens. First we stopped in Chinatown for Vietnamese sandwiches, spring rolls, and Chinese buns.

We hadn't eaten Vietnamese sandwiches before. The sandwiches are usually made up of pickled carrots and daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, chili peppers, mayo, and various meat fillings or tofu. We had ours with shredded pork, no mayo. The spring rolls were fantastic too. Best picnic lunch to date.

We couldn't leave Chinatown without a stop for Chinese buns. I am a broken record with my love for these heavenly treats. They are seriously some of the best things to ever pass my gullet. Beatrice is wild for them too. She likes the custard and coconut filled ones. Here's a picture of her stuffing her face.














In a moment of generosity, she hooked up her hungry, pregnant mama.














We savored every last drop of sunshine because we knew it was only a tease. Rain and snow (!) in the forecast for the next couple of days.

21 Days to Break a Habit

In all of my years of trying to lose a couple of pounds here and there, I've always been hindered by my worst habit-- post dinner snacking. I am not one of those people that finishes dinner and is done eating for the night. I always need my little (sometimes big) snack before bed while watching TV. I know that it's more of a habit than a hunger thing.

Lately I've been reading a lot about healthful eating. While I have yet to put most of the things I've read into practice (I'm currently in what we'll call my "research phase") I do think that making this change now is going to help me in the long run... small steps towards healthier living.

So starting tonight, I will not indulge in my post-dinner snack. I'll keep an accountability log to see how I'm progressing. According to this article, this should take 21 days. We'll see.

Valentine's Day Recap

Valentine's Day fell nicely this year over the long weekend. Cory and I made a delicious dinner on Saturday night (if I do say so myself.) We made braised short ribs, turnip greens, and horseradish cream. We modified the recipe we found here. It was a bit involved but well worth it if you have the time.

On Valentine's morning, I woke up to find a lovely note... best use of the Magna Doodle to date.
I made our traditional pink crepes and then we exchanged gifts.
My sister and I had made a little cape for Beatrice. She had been asking for one for months because Swiper, of Dora fame, has one. So I was all excited to give it to her. I had the camera ready to capture her expression. Lately when she opens a gift, she charmingly puts her hands to her mouth and says, "Oh gosh."

She excitedly accepted the present, tore it open, took one look at the cape, and threw it to the floor, muttering "no, no, no." I desperately explained to her what it was, I modeled it, I tried to force her to wear it. Nothing, she wanted no part of it. Later in the day I asked her where the cape was (knowing that it was in her drawer where I placed it) and she replied, "Trash." Then she proceeded to go into the kitchen and lift the trash barrel lid to look for it. Wow, I am raising an ingrate.

Let It Snow

It snowed about 10-12 inches here. This weekend's storm was a repeat of last year's storm-- same weekend, same snow, same deal. Unfortunately I had to cancel my cookie party for the second year in a row. I am taking Mother Nature's hint and moving it to another weekend next year. Cookies in July sounds good.

Beatrice was a bit under the weather so there was a lot of lounging. And bagel eating (so apropos based on Friday's post.) She is now obsessed with 'toes' as she calls them (she's trying to say 'toast.') We took her on Saturday morning to the best bagel purveyor north of NYC, Rosenfeld's in Newton. We didn't get out of the store before she was chanting, 'sit, eat, sit, eat." We settled in at a coffee shop and she inhaled her first bagel in about 2.5 minutes. Little did we know it would just be the start of bagel-palooza. That's literally all she ate all weekend long. I had to freeze the rest for fear she'd get scurvy from lack of fruits and vegetables. Her grandfather would be so proud of his 1/4 Jewish granddaughter.

Bagels, Bagels, and More

I think this baby is going to be born with a bagel in his/her mouth. I can honestly count on one hand how many days of this pregnancy I've gone without eating a bagel. I can't keep my mitts off the delicious bastards. As I write this I am in Bruegger Bagel's contemplating getting a second one. I have problems.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Hopefully you aren't too stressed with holiday nonsense. Enjoy the twinkling lights, the earthy smell of pine, the clink your glass makes when you toast one another, and the magic that only happens but once a year.

In a semi-related note, last night's advent task was to watch a holiday movie. We opted for Four Christmases. It was cute, for that kind of movie. I still have a major crush on Vince Vaughn. I saw a better movie last week on the plane home from CA- Julie and Julia. (Meryl Streep is a goddess.) I saw a not so good one on the way to CA- Funny People. (I may be in the minority but I just don't find Adam Sandler to be that funny anymore. The guy from Parks and Recreation did have some funny scenes though.) I guess I am a regular Siskel (wait was he the fat or skinny one?)

P.S. Extra points to the Framingham-ers out there who can tell me where the blog post title comes from.

Born Round

Yesterday I listened to this piece on NPR about newly retired food critic and author, Frank Bruni. I couldn't find the transcript of the interview but I did find an article in Time Out New York that contained the blurb I was looking for.*

"I think part of weight management is making sure the things that tempt you are not around all the time. You will never, ever find peanut butter in my cupboard, because for some bizarre reason, it’s my kryptonite. I am powerless around peanut butter. If I have a jar of really good—especially natural crunchy, not like Jiff crunchy—peanut butter, if I have it in the cabinet and allow myself to take one spoonful, it’s gone."

I am looking forward to reading his book, Born Round.

*I laughed aloud at this part in the interview because the night before I had just been describing to the girls my obsession with peanut butter and the fact that I can't keep it in the house. I spoke of it so passionately... I think Bri was blushing.