I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

boston

L*C*A

Since we’re getting the new place set up and I am too busy to post anything about cooking or scrapbooking,  I leave you with these photos of a movie shoot for “Here Comes the Boom” I saw on 5.13 at Faneuil Hall.

Gotta get that make up touched up!

oo it’s Henry Winkler (aka The Fonz!!) and Salma Hayek!

And that is Kevin James. He looked so tan!

Hi Salma!!!!!

Kevin, Salma, and Henry getting some direction before the ‘Lights Camera Action!’ (really, they don’t say it like that)

Charice has now joined them for the shooting

They are celebrating something in this scene

In the crowd, I was standing next to a few girls talking about this being ‘the Mark Walberg movie’. They were refering to Ted. I listened for a bit as they talked about Mark and Mila shooting and blah blah blah. But enough was enough and I had to point out that standing right in front of them was Salma and not Mila. Sorry but if you don’t know the difference than you can’t text your friends that Mila is looking good. Dumb.

This is the second movie I have seen shooting this spring while on my lunch break. It’s so much fun to watch it.

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George Washington must be rolling over in his grave

I don’t get it.

I just go get it why Boston officials allowed Bruins jerseys to be put on statues in Boston. Who thought it was okay to cover up a statue of George Washington or Paul Revere? The men did great things to help our country gain it’s freedom. They have had statues built in their honor and we show them disrespect like this?

The George Washington statue on the Public Garden also sported a Bruins shirt.The George Washington statue on the Public Garden was one of the decorated statues in Boston.

Yes, I admit that I could not care less about the Stanely Cup. I only went to my first hockey game a few months ago. However, regardless of the fact that I don’t care about hockey, I still think it’s wrong. They did the same thing to the Make Way for Ducklings statues on the common, which I don’t have an issue with. The are based on a children’s book and little kids sit on the ducks, so clearly not the same significance as statues of historic figures. Clearly this little girl loves it.

Two-year-old Chloe Schouela, of Newton, cheered on the decorated Make Way For Ducklings statues in Boston. Each duckling had a Bruins cape with its name on the back.

Maybe I’ll just be viewed as a downer about it but I think there are other ways of Boston to show it’s pride and support for the Bruins.

*photos pulled from Boston.com

What are you thoughts? Am I a stick in the mud? Do you think this would happen in DC where there are lots of historical statues/monuments? Or do you love it?

Sel De La Terre with Boston Brunchers

Two weeks ago I got together with a handful of people who participate in the Boston Brunchers group. The website is organized by Renee, who picks various places for us ‘foodies’ to brunch. I previously attended brunch at Dorado Tacos and had a great time so jumped at RSVP-ing to this brunch. Why not attend a brunch this month?

One of the April brunches was going to be held at Sel De La Terre. There are several locations in and around Boston. I hoped on the train and headed down to the Long Wharf. Of course it was raining, and I didn’t take my umbrella so I arrived looking like a wet dog. Awesome.

The $30 prefix brunch started at 11. Well, the restaurant opens then but they were not ready for us right away so we saddled up to the bar. I ordered a bloody mary. I hate to say but I have high standards for bloody marys and this didn’t live up to it. It had may too much horseradish. It would have been more enjoyable with shrimp than with vodka. Coco, fellow food blogger, and I asked for lemon wedges, which helped cut the taste a bit.

After drinks at the bar, the 11 of us were seated at a large table. We had a few options for our first course, entree and dessert. I picked a salad with a warmed slice of goat cheese, crab cake eggs Benedict, and banana cake.

I loved the salad starter. The salad was lightly, evenly dressed with a balsamic vinegrate. The goat cheese was warm, melty, and salty. The combination of textures, temperatures, and flavors went so well together.

The crab cake eggs benedict was less than spectacular. The egg was perfectly poached. The quality and size of the egg were impressive. The crab cake was a pretty standard, being that I thought it was a little bready. The biggest disappointment was related to my english muffin. Mine was really burnt. It would have been nice to have been able to have eaten it after it soaked up some of that amazing hollandaise sauce. (I didn’t ask for a new english muffin only because the service was so spotty until then that I figured I would have gotten a new one on my 27th birthday… next January)

The dessert course was delightful. The cake was accompanied with a caramel
sauce and a little price of popcorn. The banana flavor really shown through the cake. The texture was light and airy. I would love a whole sheet cake of that. Yes, please.

Aside from the burned english muffin, the meal was really good. Unfortunately, our service was awful. It took a long time, about 30 minutes, to be initially seated. Taking our order took a long time as well, plus each course took time to bring out. For SDLT, I thought this was strange since I’ve have wonderfully attentive lunches and dinners at both locations in Boston. Additionally, we are a group of people who frequent places for brunch, a group of people who often blog about our dining experiences. So why not treat us properly and get some nice write ups? Ah maybe it was just an off day, the rain gets to us all.

PS- I just wrote this entire blog post on my iPhone while watching Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball on HBO. Yeah, be impressed. (I’ll insert links later)

Tacos Tacos Tacos Tacos!- Boston Brunchers at Dorado Tacos and Cemitas

On Sunday morning 16 food bloggers, including myself, descended upon Dorados Tacos in Brookline, MA. We arrived an hour prior to their normal opening to feast on their brunch options. We snapped photos, discussed our blog’s point of views, talked camera settings, and what we did for work. We took video, shared plates of food, talked about events we have attended, and which restaurant offers the best{_fill in the blank_}.

Why did we do all that?

Because we are part of the community of food bloggers in Boston. But more specifically we came together through Boston Brunchers. Renee, the organizer, has put together a great schedule for people to to enjoy brunches at various places throughout Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge. Brunches vary from free to $ to $$$, limited by first come first serve sign up, or participants are selected by the restaurant based on reasons why they want to attend the brunch.

In this case Dorado limited the total # of people, while they threw in a few free meals for the people that won their approval. I was one of the first 14 people to sign up so I paid for my meal , which is no big inconvience since everything there is really affordable.

The group came together over plates of huevos rancheros,  breakfast quesadillas, patatas bravas, agua frescas, hot chocolates, and coffees. I enjoyed the house-made pork chorizo quesadilla with guacamole and a side of patatas bravas. The quesadilla was really good, without being greasy from the chorizo. The guacamole was inside th quesadilla so it was incorporated into each bite. The patatas bravas, a Spanish potato side dish that is similar to home fries, were so much more spicy than I anticipated. I really enjoyed them but I’m glad I listened to someone describe them before pouring hot sauce on them, like I typically do with home fries. I washed that down with my favorite cucumber mint agua fresca.

I’m looking forward to attending more brunch gatherings in the future with the great people I met. Plus great food doesn’t hurt!

PS- Whenever I hear about or have tacos I think of Terry on Reno 911. Any scene with Terry at Tacos Tacos Tacos Tacos cracks me up.

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Ole! First Annual Burrito Bowl Recap

When I first saw a tweet about the First Annual Burrito Bowl at Rattlesnake Bar I knew that I would have to rush to get tickets to attend this event. Thankfully I did because the event sold out and was a blast.

It’s no secret that Rattlesnake is one of my favorite places in Boston. So I obviously could not miss a chance to go there, while enjoying this burrito battle. The premise was simple, top chefs in the Boston area “serving up an edible homage to their favorite NFL team” making burritos to be judged by a panel and by the public.

Natalie, Jason, Price and I arrived early to grab some seating for us since we knew it would be packed. Emily and Peter followed shortly thereafter to pile in the booth after us. We all took turns supervising bags and coats while roaming around taking bowls back to sample together. An afternoon as simple as sampling the various burritos and enjoyed some beers and margaritas* results in some heated debate regarding the burritos.

– The frito pie inspired one was really good, however not really a burrito!

– The one with the roasted pig was fatty and there was some idenitifiable thing in the rice that was really chewy. However, it had a good slaw on it. Also, it had a QR code on it directing you to the recipe, which is fun and creative

– The New Orleans Saint’s one was a favorite since they fried each piece of fish at the station so it was hot and crispy. I would love this as a whole dish.

-The only one that resembled a burrito was submitted by Brian Poe (host) and consisted of chicken braised in duck fat. The sauce served with that was amazing.

Seeing a packed restaurant with people buried over bowls of burritos and chefs conversing together about their recipes just proves that food is a great connector. It certainly brought us all together to enjoy a rainy Saturday afternoon.

The line up:

Jason Hutchinson of Boloco, Laura Henry-Zoubir of Church, Jason Santos of Gargoyles on the Square, Erwin Ramos of Ole, Brian Poe of Poe’s Kitchen at The Rattlesnake, Jose Duarte from Taranta,  Andy Husbands of Tremont 647.

The winners:

Judged:  The roasted pig buritto bowl from Jose Duarte (Taranta)… not my favorite

People’s Choice: Frito Pie burrito from Jason Santos (Gargoyles on the Square)… not a burrito!

UPDATE: RECIPES FROM THE EVENT! FIRST ANNUAL BURRITO BOWL RECIPES

I really enjoyed the event. It gave me the opportunity to see food bloggers Jacki and Meesh from Just Add Cheese and Bianca from Confessions of a Chocoholic.  Getting a chance to taste different plates from great restuarnts I have not been to was a great experience. Plus I can’t deny that I enjoyed the 3 margaritas I had.

*Uber excited that the Cranberry Ginger Margarita that I created and won for the 20th anniversary event is now on the newly revamped drink menu!!!*

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Happy Hour with SeamlessWeb and Boston Food Bloggers

I absolutely love the food blogging community in Boston. While I don’t exactly consider myself a food blogger… I’m a ‘life’ blogger who writes about what I care about, which often is food… I have been meeting great people who are just as passionate about food and restaurants as me. All this is thanks to Rachel, who has organized Boston Food Bloggers.

Last night was no different. Great food, drinks and people coming together because of food. The thing that brought us all together is called SeamlessWeb. What is SeamlessWeb? It’s an online food delivery service. So hop on the site, enter your address, and then see what food can me delivered to your door. This gets rid of the guess work when it comes to delivery ETA, ratings, and getting your order taking properly since it’s all done with a few clicks of a mouse.

SeamlessWeb hosted the happy hour mixer at The Landsdowne to introduce the company to Boston. They actually had been braving the elements this week and were giving out free coffee as well in different neighborhoods in the city. I definitely welcome any sort of launch party/happy hour/raucous get together that invovles free drinks and food. So Price Tag, as he introduced himself as, and I had a great time seeing bloggers I have met before and meeting a few new ones, all while enjoying some pub food and beers.

In honor of the gift certificates we picked up last night and the mess in the kitchen I have left for too long, we ordered pizza for dinner to night. Muy Bueno. Thanks SeamlessWeb!

PS- That magic 8 ball thing is AMAZING! I snatched one up and have been having too much fun shaking the hell out of it getting different answers like Thai, Mexican, Pizza, Panini, etc.

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Oh, another storm

Image courtesy of Boston.com

I’m getting really sick of this snowy winter. Yes, Boston did not see snow until late in the season, but that just means the 60.3 inches we have recieved so far has come upon use quickly. Storm after storm, week after week.  Sure, we have not yet come close to the record, but it’s the frequency of the snow storms that is getting to me. There is little melting between storms so there is no where for the snow to go at this point!

This is what we woke up to today…

I’m sick and tired of it!

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Ian Axel

On Thursday night Price and I went to the Red Room at Cafe 939 to see a show. We saw Ian Axel, Field Mouse, and Allison Weiss. I bought the tickets to see Ian Axel, who I have been hooked on since first seeing a song of his posted on Kelly Purkey’s blog.

The show was incredible. The venue is small, and while packed with people you still feel like it is an intimate experience.. You can stand or sit on the sofas that line the wall or sit on the floor. Only draw back really is that there is no booze there since it’s associated with Berklee College of Music, but really an amazing performance is better than a beer.

Ian’s set was amazing. He was intense and witty at the piano. While I love “This is the New Year” the song that really grabbed my attention was “Gone”. Clearly, I had heard this song before but I felt so much more watching him perform it live. I am not one to cry on a whim (except that Sarah McLachlan’s ASPCA commercial gets me every time!) but I really had to hold back some tears while I was standing there. Luckily, I managed to hold it together. I also really enjoyed the rest of his set, which included “Girl, I got a Thing”, “Leave Me Alone”,  “Afterglow”. I can’t forget to mention that Chad Vaccarino also performed with Ian, he sang and played the trumpet. That is one dynamic duo.

After Ian was done with his set Field Mouse performed and then Allison Weiss. While I enjoyed the Field Mouse set, I felt that the singer lacked punch to get heard over the drums. Keep in mind that I am no music aficionado but I would like to hear what the lyrics over the music. That being said, I listened to them later on myspace and loved them. Ending the evening, Allison Weiss’ performance was fantastic. I loved how she joked around between songs, gave the meaning and inspiration for songs, and overall commanded the stage.

It was a great night, even though I fell walking back to the T, because I got to see a fantastic performance from a musician I have been hooked to for awhile. Plus I saw another that I instantly loved, resulting in an iTunes purchase, which is a pretty big deal for me.

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Boston Food Blogger Launch Party

I love starting off the week with a party to go to. Especially as one as great as last night’s Boston Food Bloggers’ Launch.

So soon as we arrived Price and I were welcomed with bowl upon bowl of Bacon Caramel Popcorn. This is not your average caramel popcorn. Besides the addition of the bacon, which provided a light smoky flavor, there were goldfish crackers and pretzels. It was a “gangs-all-here” kinds of popcorn.

The servers at The Gallows were fast on their feet serving Cheeseburgers, poutine, vegetarian crostini, and buffalo chicken livers. I was really impressed with the variety of food that was served. Also, the quality was top notch. However, in all honesty, I was not a fan of the poutine. Maybe it was because we just came back from a trip to Montreal, but the cheesy was just not right to me. Either way, I loved the crostini with it’s pungent blue cheese kick.

In addition to the food The Gallows served, SoCo Creamery served up several kinds of ice cream. They brought ginger, esspresso cookie, vanilla, and dirty chocolate. Price and I shared the dirty chocolate which was intense, rich, and very chocolately. Also, Price enjoyed the complimentary beer provided by Pretty Things.

Besides the food, The Gallows provided an amazing setting for the launch party. The Gallows is a beautiful restaurant complete with barn wood ceiling and long fully stocked bar. You def can’t miss the opportunity to saunter up to the bar to get creative drinks like the Missionary’s Downfall and Bear Hunter (pictured).

I’m looking forward to getting to know more food bloggers in the Boston Food Blogging community. I had a great time seeing some familiar faces like Meesh and Jacki from Just Eat Cheese and Molly from Cheap Beets and meeting some new people like Ashleigh from Ashleigh’s Slice of Life and Kara from Peace Love and Food

Thanks to Rachel of Fork it Over, Boston! The party was a huge success and the goodie bag I scored was amazing. I am so excited to visit all those places where I received gift certificates for.

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Montreal Day 4 and The Video Wrap Up

Monday 1.3.11

It’s quite astonishing to compare the first day our our trip with our last. Price and I realized that by the time we were leaving Montreal on Monday that we had already been to King Arthur Flour Cafe and Shop in VT and crossed into Canada on Friday.

We leasurly got up, had coffee, checked out and packed up the car before we headed back to Fairmont Bagels to get breakfast there. Even Brioche, my version of a traveling gnome, enjoyed in the fun of enjoying these crunchy, chewy bagels.

 Beware of crashing road signs!!! 

While in Vermont we stopped off at Park Row Cafe in Waterbury, Vermont for lunch. I highly recommend this place because the sandwiches, soup, and dessert we shared were fantastic. I had a turkey sandwich with provolone, mayo, lettuce, and sprouts. All of that on freshly baked whole wheat bread. Price had a BLT and a cup of cream of brocoli soup, which I tried for the first time ever and loved. Then we split a no bake chocolate peatnut butter oat cookie.

Price was amazing and drove the whole way back! I fell asleep after lunch and he did not wake me up where we had discussed switching. When I did wake up he told me not to worry about it and just to back to sleep. Amazing. 🙂

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Lastly, here is our weekend in less than 1 minute.

 

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Montreal Day 1 {New Years Eve}

Friday 12.31.10

Price and I were up at 4.30am and were done with out trip to Dunkin’s by 5.30 to get on the road quickly. It was beautiful to see the sun rising over the Mts in New Hampshire.

We made a stop for breakfast at King Arthur Baker’s Shop and Cafe (previously posted)

We continued our trip on ward and upward through VT into Canada reaching Montreal around 11.30

We were told that ‘typically people check in at 3pm’ by the man at the hotel desk when we came in to see about early check in (no) and where to go next. So we walked down to Vieux-Montréal (Old Montreal) for some lunch and to check out the city.

We stopped off at Montreal Poutine, who I had been tweeting with before our trip, for some lunch. Besides the great meal there, we had beer called Unibroue. I had the Ephemere Blackcurrant and I really have to find that down in Boston now.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, on the way I noticed a dress that lday gaga would love.. diaper dress!

Price and I got settled in our hotel room, took a nap, and then headed back out for dinner and to celebrate the New Year. On our way to dinner we saw a cool outdoor exhibit, called Polar Spheres, outside the Palace Des Arts.

We went to Basilic in Montreal’s China town. I got Bun, as usual.

As the New Year approached we headed down to the Port area to see the fireworks, but mother nature had other plans for us. It eneded up raining and we decided to bail on the fireworks. A quick walk out of Old Town and a cab ride later, we were back in the hotel drying off and watching the ball drop on TV. Still, a fantastic end to 2010.

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SnowLoko

The Blizzard of 2010.. aka SnowLoko (at least that is what it was referred to on Twitter)

Sunday night before going to bed

Snowed in on Monday morning

The wind made for some weird snow drifts, some higher than my knee and other low spots, like this. Luckily a low spot was in the drive way so we got out pretty easily to return Price’s rental car for 7am.

Out on Brighton Ave in Alston at 7am, Heading into work at 8.30am

The golden dome of The State House

Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel Burying Ground (from my office)