Starving Artist

Well after realizing that the last time I posted was on Thanksgiving, I figured that I better get my butt in gear and get back to it with the blog! Work has been crazy busy, which is always a good thing, but unfortunately that doesn’t leave me much energy for jumping back on the computer after a 10+ hour day. Luckily I am on V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N this week, so it’s time to get a’ posting :)

I’ll be back tomorrow with some more healthy yummy holiday recipes for you, but in the meantime I’ll leave you with some snowy snapshots of wintry Boston.

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For a short amount of time this winter, Fenway Park has been converted into an ice rink for some special events, public skating, college and Bruins games! My dad’s company is one of the main sponsors of Frozen Fenway, so we got to go skating last weekend. It was so much fun!

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MMMM hot chocolate!

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I hope you all are able to relax and enjoy the holidays! If you’re in need of some last minute dessert ideas, I’ll have 2 delicious ones for you tomorrow! Good night for now :)

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There’s just something about a rainy Saturday morning that makes me want to stay in bed all day watching movies and my favorite Food Network lineup. Unfortunately, that option wasn’t in the cards today. Out of bed and out the door by 9:00, I headed to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few items that I needed for this upcoming week’s recipes. I can never leave that store with only a couple things – I should know better by now!

One of my new discoveries this week was TJ’s Very Green Juice Blend. I’ve been hearing a lot about green drinks, and thought I’d give it a shot. A mixture of banana, mango, kiwi, and green foods – spinach, kale, green algae, etc. – I expected a horrid taste, but to suffer through it because of the health benefits. Much to my surprise, it actually tastes really good – sweet and fruity! This is going to be a new morning staple so I don’t continue on my terrible 3 cups of coffee a morning routine…

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This was a morning of discoveries, as I had my first Larabar for breakfast. I went for the Apple Pie flavor, and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. A raw food, each bar contains 100% whole foods and no more than 8 ingredients. It wasn’t like most of those other bars that taste like cardboard and nothing like the flavor they’re supposed to have, I was definitely tasting the apple and cinnamon. SO fresh and tasty!

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Groceries purchased, breakfast eaten, showered and ready, I headed to North Station to take the train home to my parents’ house for the rest of the weekend.

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I love riding the train, it’s just so relaxing and a perfect time to either get some work done or just aimlessly stare out the window while listening to my music. I was hoping to get a little reading in from one of the two new books that I recently picked up at Borders.

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My parents picked my brother and I up from the train station, and (shocking) we headed to Trader Joe’s again for my second time today. I apparently just can’t get enough!! We’re participating in the Memory Walk for the Alzheimer’s Association tomorrow with my extended family, and so we’re needing to bring a dish for the potluck we’re all having after the walk. I think I might make my Harvest Apple Butternut Squash Soup… a nice warm soup will be in order after a long rainy walk! :)

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At the end of a very long week, it’s always therapeutic to enjoy a fun Friday night out with good friends. Three of my friends were coming over for dinner after work, and we thought we’d check out Cafeteria for dinner ($20 for $40 worth of food thanks to Groupon!) A pre-dinner cocktail was definitely in order. I had been hearing so much buzz around the limited edition Absolut Boston, so I picked up a bottle of my way home from work.

You may have seen the ad…

…and obviously know the history of the Boston Tea Party, so it’s not a big surprise that Absolut decided “black tea” was the essence of Boston. The very sippable vodka is delicately flavored with black tea and elderflower and seems that it would mix well with a variety of different flavors. Try out some of these combinations that I found on the Absolut Boston Facebook Page:

• Absolut Boston Home Run – Vodka, white grape juice, and ginger ale
• Absolut Boston Mojito – Vodka, lime juice, simple syrup, soda water, and mint leaves
• Absolut Boston Tea Party – Vodka, lemon juice, and simple syrup.

Check out their page for more recipes!

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I was so excited about trying the vodka, that buying something to mix it with completely slipped my mind. So I just served it chilled and mixed with water, and it was still really great (although I mayyyy have had a heavy hand with the vodka and made my friends a little nervous. Although, they finished the whole drink, so it must have tasted good!).

Stomachs a-rumbling… we walked down Newbury to make our 8:00 reservations at Cafeteria. It was apparent once we walked in that reservations weren’t really necessary, as the place was on the empty side. After taking our seats, the menu perusing began.

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Right away I knew I wanted the grilled cheese with tomato soup. Call me 5, but it seemed like the perfect meal for a chilly night!

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Disappointment started to set in around bite #2. You’d think that a grilled cheese that boasted a variety of stellar cheeses would be… well… cheesy. Not this guy. the tomato was the star of the show, and it pretty much lacked any sort of flavor. Unfortunately, the tomato soup was even worse. It had a canned sauce taste, and just really wasn’t satisfying.

Bummer.

At least my martini was good.

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Actually, I lied. It wasn’t.

I learned tonight that I don’t like dirty martinis, no matter how hard I try to get myself to like them. Aw well.

HOWEVER, my company was FABULOUS. We had a wonderful time together, and even conjured up a blog idea that I think would be really entertaining. We’ll see where we go with that…

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There’s just something about seeing celebrities in person that is just so unreal. Of course I’m the weirdo who would jump at a chance to meet a celebrity chef over half of the actors in Hollywood any day. So obviously when I saw that world reknowned chef Eric Ripert was going to be holding a lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, I had a momentary freak out (luckily no one else was around to witness) and immediately called to order two tickets. I then texted (and tweeted… as I said, I was excited…) Neha to make sure she reserved the date.

Well a month has passed (where on earth does the time go lately?) and the lecture was tonight. We claimed our seats in the front row in direct eyeshot of the podium (and wondered why on earth others were settling for the middle or back… did Chef Ripert wear an offending cologne that we weren’t aware of? Or did the fish smell follow him all the way from Le Bernardin?).

The night began with a video clip from Eric’s new TV series, Avec Eric, that featured hilarious outtakes that we were told were being burned after this showing (Eric unsuccessfully trying to hoist himself onto a boat, hunting bison in the rain, and pretty much showing he’s an actual human being behind all of the culinary genius).

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Episode 1 of Avec Eric

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I was amazed at how great of a speaker Eric was. Not that I expected anything less, but the ease in which he spoke, and the clever humor were completely enjoyable. He took us through his early years breaking into the industry (how he received “zeros” in all of his classes, so they shipped him off to cooking school), to working for Joel Robuchon, to writing his new cookbooks and everyday life at Le Bernadin. He said that the best piece of advice that he received from a former boss was “I want you to cook with your guts, and have the guts to be creative”. I feel like that was such an inspiring quote, and doesn’t only relate to cooking.

He talked about 2 of his new books, one especially that I am dying to read, called A Return to Cooking. Chef Ripert, an artist friend, and a photographer friend set out to capture cuisine in each of the four seasons. They lived in Vermont for the Fall, California for the Spring, Long Island for the Summer, and Puerto Rico for the Winter (clearly). During that time, they created food and art that was inspired by the season and the location. The book captures each of these seasons, and the work that came out of each. I can’t wait to read it:

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I’m sorry for the extremely long post, but it was just such an amazing experience that it had to be documented. Chef Ripert seems like the nicest, most humble and down to earth “celebrity” chef, and I cannot wait to make a trip soon to NYC to dine at Le Bernardin.

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That’s what I’m trying to tell myself after all of the delicious (yet not-so-healthy) food I ate today. Hey, it’s all about balance, right? My sister’s birthday was on Friday, so my family decided to spend Sunday in the North End to celebrate.

Unfortunately it was rainy outside, but we didn’t let that dampen our spirits or our plans. We were initially planning on going to the Waterfront Cafe to watch the Pats game while eating a yummy Italian meal, but when we arrived we realized it was a pretty run-down sports bar and not exactly what we were looking for.

We walked down the street and stumbled upon Nico Ristorante. It was pretty tiny, just like most of the restaurants in the North End. The decor was nice, with the exception of the slightly obnoxious disco ball spinning in the corner. Tacky 70’s decor aside, we sat down and were greeted by the absolute nicest waiter. He was extremely patient with our indecisiveness (the menu just looked so good – it was hard to decide!), and made the best recommendations – my mom’s Sea Bass alla Aqua Pazzo (sea bass served with cherry tomatoes in a garlic, white wine) was melt in your mouth crazy good.

After saluting the birthday girl with our staple Moretti’s…

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… we began our meal with a beautiful antipasto consisting of a variety of Italian meats and cheeses, piled high with Champagne grapes.

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My dad got the most beautiful salad that I just had to photograph (and taste, obviously…)

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Finally it was entree time. After heavily considering ordering the arancini, I landed on the lobster ravioli. The menu called it “world famous”, which I’m not so sure it is, but it sold me so I guess the description worked! It was so amazing.

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With our stomachs full, and a win wrapped up for the Pats, we walked along Hanover Street in the rain. As the rain intensified, we slipped into Cafe Vittoria to take cover.

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Hot cappuccinos were definitely in order.

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And you’d think I would have been full after the feast we just ate, but clearly I had to order a cannoli.

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It wasn’t anything to write home about, the ricotta filling was way too thin. Definitely stick to Mike’s or Modern for pastries!

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Yum! Happy birthday Gina! :)

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