I Love Wellesley, Massachusetts

I absolutely love Wellesley. I have never had a bad time when I venture into Wellesley. The neighborhood is gorgeous and quintessentially what I think of when I think of northern suburban living. If I were to have to live in Massachusetts for the rest of my life, Wellesley would be the place I would love to live. But as my husband so kindly reminded me during dinner at The Cottage on Saturday night, we wouldn't really be able to afford living in Wellesley. Well maybe if we won the lottery. Part of the reason I love Wellesley so much is that they have such a great restaurant community. Every single restaurant I have gone to in Wellesley has been a feast for the senses without the pain of your wallet being sucked dry. The Cottage was no exception. It's located in the up and coming Linden Square area of Wellesley and looks like it's straight out of a Restoration Hardware catalogue. The restaurant is gorgeous. I mean, I could picture myself living in the restaurant. The menu was amazing. There were so many things I wanted to try and I felt bad that I couldn't just do a sampling of the entire menu.

We must have been caught up with the beauty of the restaurant because we both ordered drinks. Alex ordered a Sangria that was fruity and tinged with a full-bodied red wine. I ordered the Old French 73 (I think that's the name) and it tasted like a spiked lemonade.

Right after they brought out the drinks they brought us some warm bread. The bread was delicious and light and just the right amount of crunchy crust and soft insides.

We shared the Aloha Chicken Tenders appetizers. I was a little apprehensive about this choice because the chicken was described as being coated with a papya bbq buffalo sauce and I do not like bbq sauce. The stuff makes me gag. Luckily enough, this chicken did not make me gag. It actually made me want to lick the plate. The chicken was juicy and the sauce was tangy with just a little bit of heat. The chicken came with the sweetest grilled pineapple and some blue cheese dipping sauce. The chicken tastes especially good with the blue cheese chunks.

For the entree Alex ordered the Brick Flattened Chicken. This chicken was succulent and had a crispy, grilled taste to it. Alex was disappointed that you couldn't taste the lemon and rosemary it was marinated in, but that didn't stop him from eating the whole chicken. The chicken came with the most amazing mashed potatoes on the planet; they were creamy, chunky, smooth and sweet.

I ordered the Garlic Seafood Capellini. This monstrosity of a pasta dish came with large scallops, shrimp, and shredded crab meat. I was amazed at how light this dish was. The pasta sauce (tomatoes, garlic, onions) was flavorful in a way that really highlighted the distinct flavors of the seafood. Once again I felt bad that my stomach couldn't handle eating the entire serving.

For dessert we shared a Chocolate Souffle cake topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and fudge. The cake was heavenly and incredibly rich. It tasted like pure dark chocolate goodness. I don't think I could have picked a more perfect way to end this dinner.

The Cottage was an incredible dining experience that served to reinforce my love of Wellesley.

Harvard Square's Grafton Street

Last weekend Alex and I headed into Harvard Square for dinner. It's always fun to go to Harvard Square because of how lively and active the area is. Harvard Square is the only place that I can think of that has an Au Bon Pain opened past 10:00pm on a Saturday night. For this adventure into Cambridge I thought it would be fun to eat at Grafton Street. Their menu looked great and they were linked to Redline, which we went to earlier this year and liked. The restaurant had an upscale pub feel with its wooden decor and menu full of beers. This was the place that you could go with a big group of friends to have drinks and get food at an incredible price.

I started off the night with a chicken and white bean soup (the daily soup). This soup was delicious and wholesome tasting. The main flavor of the soup was the white beans. I thought this was great because I don't like soups that are salty and artificial tasting. There was a good amount of chicken chunks, but there was no denying that this soup's main attraction was the beans.

Alex had the One Magnificent Cheese. This was an appetizer that was served with crispy slices of bread, honey, nuts, and plums with a cheese selection that changes daily. The day we went the cheese selection was an aged cheddar from Grafton, Vermont. The cheddar was sharp, striking, and pungent; all the things you could want out of a good cheese. The combination of the cheese, honey, and bread was incredible. The sweetness of the honey was a perfect accompaniment to the saltiness of the cheddar.

Next up for me was the Artichoke and Fontina Ravioli. The ravioli came stuffed with cheese and thin slices artichoke, were topped with arugula, and sat in a lemon butter sauce. While I thought the dish was good (you could barely taste the artichoke in it), I was disappointed with how mild the cheese tasted. In my opinion, the cheese wasn't flavorful enough to stand up against the lemon butter sauce.

Alex also ordered a pasta in the form of Mac & Cheese. His dish was made with white cheddar and was topped with toasty breadcrumbs. The sauce was thick and creamy with a subtle sharpness from the cheddar. The noodles were big and perfect for scooping up the extra sauce that was left.

For dessert we shared the Warm Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae. This dessert was fantastic. The cookie was huge and perfect; crispy on the edges and soft in the center. It was topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and fudge and was a great reminder of how a dessert as simple as cookies and ice cream can be a great end to any meal.

Grafton Street is conveniently located in Harvard Square and is literally minutes from the Red Line T station. For the amount and quality of food you get, you can't beat the price. It's definitely worth checking out!

Obsession of the Week

Not too long ago someone I know was telling me that the HBO show The Wire was one of the best shows ever made. His proclamation of "best show" was echoed in just about every article I ever read about the show. He made the show sound so good, especially the 4th season and its focus on the juvenile justice system (my particular interest), that I decided I would put all the seasons in my Netflix queue. Well, the man one upped me and offered to lend me all the seasons of the show since he owned them. The first season started off slow but quickly picked up momentum and turned into a riveting chase of cat and mouse. It was easy for me to get immersed in the worlds of McNulty and Barksdale and who can forget that one scene between McNulty and Bunk where all they say is f-you? There were so many times throughout the first season that all I could think was damn, wow, holy crap, and oh sh*t. I can't remember the last time I was this involved and entranced by a TV show. Now I'm even more excited to see what the next 4 season have in store and what other craziness McNulty gets everyone involved in.

Wordless Wednesday

TWD: Banana Loaf

This week Ashlee from A Year in the Kitchen chose Dorie's Banana Loaf for us TWDers to make. I am so thankful she chose this because my kitchen and my stomach have been in need of a dessert with fruit in it to make up for the last few weeks of baking duds. This loaf definitely made up for all those fruit desserts that I didn't like. The loaf was delicious and moist, although I didn't find it to be too banana-y. I felt that the chocolate overpowered the banana flavor. I should have known better that Dorie would be giving regular banana bread an interesting spin.

Smartly so, I halved the recipe. There's no way Alex and I could have eaten the amount made with the whole recipe. Because we like things in small sizes (miniature poodle, tiny apartment, the list goes on) I made mini loaves. The loaves were so cute and perfect for breaking this dessert evenly into two. There was no fighting over portion sizes in this City Eater's household.

Don't forget to check out Ashlee's blog for the recipe and the TWD site to see what everyone else thought about this week's selection.

Getting Ready...

...Done!

Sliced Up.

How pretty is the marbling?

Cute and Sneaky

One of my good friends, Nadi, makes little hair clips for girls. This is something relatively new for her, but when you see how gorgeous her hair clips are, you would think she's been doing this for as long as cute hair clips have been in existence. I would go as far to say that she invented these little clips of cuteness.

I had been obsessing over her Etsy shop for a long time now and had to figure out a way to convince Alex to let me buy some of the clips. Since Alex sometimes freaks out when we talk about having kids, I didn't want to freak him out anymore by buying our future kids stuff now. I figured that if I made it seem like they were for Perla (yes we are those people who dress up their dogs and put bows in their fur), he would never figure out that they were, in reality, for any future daughter we might have. Well, luck was on my side and Nadi made these adorable poodle hair clips. Bingo! I showed them to Alex and he loved them and said I could order them. I took advantage and order some of the other clips that caught my eye. As soon as I saw the clips my jaw dropped; they were so gorgeous and dainty and I couldn't resist taking pictures of the little clippies:

The one that drew me in....

Groovy Flower

The Classic

Preppy Chic

Thank you Nadi and Murals With Love for secretly helping me buy stuff for my future kids, er, I mean Perla!

Sweet Simplicity

There are a few things that are better than a sweet and easy-to-make cupcake. I especially love recipes that call for ingredients that I already have in the pantry. I've had a box of cake flour in the cabinets for a couple of months now, so every time I see a recipe that calls for cake flour I mark it. I had been meaning to make this particular cupcake recipe from Elinor Klivans book since I got the book. The cupcake recipe did not disappoint. It was fluffy and sweet and similar tasting to a basic vanilla cupcake. I wasn't a big fan of the frosting because it was too thick but the cupcake sure did look pretty.

Butter Cake Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Source: Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans

1 1/4 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
Chocolate buttercream (here)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is blended. Add the vanilla and beat for 2 more minutes. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing just until the flour is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

Fill each paper liner with 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/2 inch below the top of the liner. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove the cupcakes and place on a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.

Frost and enjoy!

Pop Goes the Deliciousness

Last weekend Alex and I ventured into the South End again. I'd like to say that we are getting more adventurous in terms of South End eating, but the truth is that the Red Sox were in town and we wanted to stay local. I hate saying it, but I can't wait until our lives aren't dictated by a sports team's schedule. It will be nice to feel free to move in and out of the city without worrying about the ridiculous amount of traffic associated with home games. Anyway, back to the food...

We went to Pops in the South End because the menu attracted us. The restaurant is centrally located and while it's small, it's full of spunk. The best way I can describe the decor is funky vintage. It has silver tiles with intricate designs on the roof that gives the restaurant it's vintage feel and it has a yellow and brown wallpaper that gives the restaurant a funky feel. They make the best use of space by having tables set up in front, in the middle, and in the back of the restaurant along with seats that line and look into the kitchen. We were seated in the area looking into the kitchen and at first we were bothered because it wasn't your typical or expected seating arrangement (we were side by side) but I loved it because I got to look into the kitchen and see how they prepared their dishes. We even made a game of guessing what dishes they were preparing. The best part of sitting where we did is that we got a peek into how the kitchen is run and how much pride they take in presentation; there was even one person (we are assuming he was the owner) that looked over every single dish and made sure it looked crisp and clean.

I started the night off with a Coconut Pineapple Mojito. The mojito was delicious and refreshing with a hint of pineapple juice.

We ordered the Truffled Sweet Pea Ravioli and it came with a fried ball of goat cheese. This dish was incredible. If all vegetables tasted like sweet pea I don't think Alex and I would hesitate ordering dishes with vegetables. The ravioli were overstuffed with pureed sweet pea and were pan-fried. Because the goat cheese was in a fried ball, the cheese was very creamy. What I liked the most was how the cheese didn't lose its saltiness once heated and melted. The saltiness of the cheese was a perfect complement to the sweetness of the ravioli.

For the entree I ordered the Saffron Fettuccini with Sausage. Since this is a South End restaurant I was expecting a small portion. I was in no way prepared for the mountain of sausage and 1-inch think fettuccini pasta I was served. The dish was great. The pasta was buttery and the sausage was mild. The whole dish came together beautifully and the tastes merged to create a pasta that was light and fluffy.

Alex ordered the Kobe Meatloaf. Now when I say that Alex got a meatloaf, I am not kidding you. He must have been served a 1-lb loaf of ground beef. The meatloaf was topped by caramelized onions and blanched carrots. It was also served with mashed potatoes and fried mushrooms. The meatloaf itself was succulent and juicy. Even though Alex found the meatloaf delicious, it was too much meat for him (he even complained about a cow trying to break out of him).

We shared Pop's Cookie Box for the dessert. This dessert came with an assortment of bite-size cookies like oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly, and chocolate. It also came served with a glass of chocolate milk topped with whipped cream. The cookies were great, although not like mine (hehe). I really liked the chocolate milk because it tasted natural (like real chocolate) but Alex didn't like it because it wasn't chocolatey enough (it didn't taste like Nesquik syrup).

The atmosphere of Pops is fun and the food is a great South End value. If you want to go to a restaurant that serves flavorful food and takes pride in presentation, then Pops is for you. I know that the next time we go, we are going for burgers because those things looked monstrously delectable.

Temptations

I have mentioned Temptations Cafe before (here) but I was reminded of their greatness this weekend when we went there for lunch. I ordered my usual sandwich, prosciutto and mozzarella with pesto and balsamic vinaigrette. I was salivating as they were making the sandwich and as soon as they gave me the sandwich my taste buds went wild. It was like a perfect symphony of flavors.

Temptations Cafe also has an assortment of sandwiches, wraps, paninis, frozen yogurt, and smoothies. They have two locations in Boston on Huntington Ave (Symphony T stop) and Beacon Street (St. Mary's T stop).

Obsession of the Week

For whatever reason I decided to look through my Flickr account this week. I noticed a pattern as I looked though all the pages of pictures: I like taking pictures of flowers. It was made all the more evident to me when we went to the Public Garden today and all I could think about was taking pictures of the roses. I can officially saw that I am obsessed with taking pictures of flowers. Here's a sampling of pictures from my Flickr account: