Every once in a while I run across something that is the perfect version of itself. These are my favorite things, and I’d like to share them with you. This week’s edition: OLIVE OIL & VINEGAR. Continue reading
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Share the wealth
Having been recently visited by the FP Garden Swap on Wheels, I was honored with a major zucchini haul. The last one of the bunch was about the size of my forearm. I get major anxiety if I don’t use my friends’ home grown goodies, so I needed to find a use for this giant gift from the garden ASAP. Continue reading
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Dinner in España
I opened my fridge the other day and saw a wall of bright, sunny, yellow. My CSA had arrived and it was full of yellow veggies of all shapes and sizes. Yellow tomatoes, yellow peppers, yellow squash, yellow onion, even yellow fleshed potatoes. When faced with such a monochromatic set of circumstances, don’t back away! Embrace it! I decided to make the happiest, sunniest ratatouille you’ve ever seen. I decided to serve it tapas style in my little cast iron sizzle plates. Not only was it pretty, it was even tastier than it looked. Continue reading
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Celebrity Sightings
In July, Alex and I finally toured Boston. He’d been there before, I hadn’t. We saw so much, and we learned so much. Each sight a celebrity in its own right. We did all the touristy things: Continue reading
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Fri-yay Night In
People are sometimes surprised to find out that I’m a bourbon girl. I’m not sure why that’s so surprising, but people seem shocked when I say I like bourbon. It all stems from family holidays together. My grandpa would make Old Fashioned cocktails for all the adults (i.e. not me). I never really even tried them until my grandpa’s memorial service, but the smell always reminded me of the holidays at my grandma & grandpa’s house. Now that I can drink them, I do enjoy them- especially with my brandied cherries.
I love a good Old Fashioned, but Continue reading
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Obsessions
One of my neighbors has an unusual obsession with Bacon. I mean let’s face it, we all do on some level (or most of us do… or maybe I like to think it’s not just me and her). She owns an enormous number of bacon related T-shirts, which get displayed with regular frequency. Should you get the opportunity to scroll through her Instagram or Facebook feed, you’re likely to find 1) her dog, or 2) bacon topped burgers. Continue reading
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Date Night
Almost every Friday, Alex and I go out to dinner. We call it date night, but it’s really just because I’m usually too exhausted from the week to cook. An added benefit, is that this is where I get a bunch of inspiration for my cooking. So, Friday night in Boston, we observed the weekly tradition. We had reservations at the Island Creek Oyster Bar. Every Bostonian we spoke with asked where we planned to eat, and when they heard our selection, they all responded with “Oh, good pick. That place is amazing!” (BTW: Thank you Yelp!)
So, we sat down and perused the menu, which is actually quite short. The wine and beer list is about 10 times longer. We ordered some oysters to share (super fresh), and we both ordered the short rib and lobster pasta (which was amazing). Just before the waiter left, he asked if we wanted anything else. I really didn’t… however, for some reason I asked him: “Is there anything we should be getting which we haven’t ordered?” This was his nonchalant response: Continue reading
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Behavior Patterns
In July, I was lucky enough to be assigned to teach my favorite class in Boston- a city I’ve always wanted to visit, but had only flown through. I jumped on this opportunity, and invited Alex along for the weekend.
While in class, an old friend dropped by to say “hi.” Surprisingly, he also owns an old home. (Well, given that everything in Boston was apparently built in the 1700’s, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was.) So a funny thing started to happen as we chatted. He had recently sold his “old” old home, and was the process of looking for a new old home. He began to tell us about everything he had done to the old home before he sold it, and of course, he began with the history of the home. It was built in the early 1700’s, and “was older than Paul Revere.” He relayed the story Continue reading
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My Neighbor’s Cupboard
When I was growing up, my mom (Diane) would constantly be sending me across the street to pick up eggs, milk, sugar, etc. from the other Dianne, my best friend’s mom, when she ran out of said ingredient. Now that I live in a community that shares as much as the Dian(n)es did, we experience a lot of the same things. Here are some of the requests, we have made and others have made of us, Continue reading
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CSA Challenge: Mission Accomplished
The mission has been accomplished! The challenge? Use all the goods in my CSA basket. The result? (Mostly) Great food! I’ve sliced, diced, grilled, smashed, fried, and hashed my way to victory. Here’s the final score: Continue reading
Neighborly Life 