Starving Artist

One of the few quintessential Boston events that occur during the Fall is the Head of the Charles. The Head of the Charles is the world’s largest rowing event that lasts for 2 days and takes place on the Charles River. The girls and I had been looking forward to attending the event, but were unsure if the weather was going to cooperate for us. Luckily, I woke up and although it was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g outside, it was sunny and beautiful!

We met at my apartment for some apple cider mimosas (champagne + apple cider… so good!!), bagels and muffins. I made a batch of Pecan Apple Spice Muffins for the girls to enjoy! :) They were really easy, and with some healthy substitutions and add-ins, they turned out to be super flavorful and moist!

They started with Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Bread mix as the base…

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And voila!

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Here is the recipe for Pecan Apple Spice Muffins:

Makes 10 large muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Bread Mix
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider
• 3/4 cup Skim Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 4 tbsp of applesauce
• 1 apple (peeled & chopped)
• 5 tbsp chopped pecans
• 2 tbsp oats
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp water

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Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, apple cider, milk, and apple sauce
2. Fold in the muffin mix, careful not to overmix.
3. Stir in 2 tbsp of the pecans, and the chopped apple.
4. Lightly grease the muffin tins, and pour in the mixture (I fill the mixture almost all of the way up to the top, so that there will be a larger top to the muffin).
5. In a small bowl, combine 3 tbsp of the pecans, the oats, honey, water, and brown sugar.
6. Top each of the muffins with the pecan/oat mixture.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 22 minutes.
8. Let cool and enjoy! :)

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I served the muffins with some low sugar Apple Butter that I purchased at Honeypot Hill Orchards on our apple picking day.

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We enjoyed our breakfast and bubbly, then set off to walk to the H of the C. Apparantly the champagne had gone straight to our heads, because none of us realized that the finish line of the race is in Cambridge, and we were in the Back Bay. We were on about mile 2 of our walk, when we reached the beginning of the race.

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Then it dawned on us. We were still oh so very far away! We jumped into 2 separate cabs, and unfortunately encountered crazy cabbies who dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, so we were separated for the rest of the day. We finally figured out where we needed to go, and were able to enjoy some of the race.

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Of course the sample tents were quite the highlight of our afternoon ;-)

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Granola…

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… and more granola! And some Slice of Life gummy vitamins.

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For dinner we decided to check out the fairly recently opened Pazzo on Newbury Street.

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I ordered the Chicken Piccata (obviously), but substituted pasta for the potatoes. The pairing just seemed odd to me.  You’re not able to sop up the delicious lemony sauce with potatoes, I feel like it needs a rice or pasta!

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My meal was delicious, but unfortunately my friends’ portions were much smaller than my own, and for the price it just didn’t really seem worth it. I would probably only go back for their $5 appetizers at the bar deal, and would prefer Piattini for dinner (Pazzo doesn’t quite compare).

Despite our directional confusion (story of my life), it was a lovely day with the girls :)

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