Cocktails

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Do you ever have one of those weeks months where everything seems to fly by at lightning speed, when you rarely have a night free, and where you’re constantly going over plans for days and weeks in advance just to make sure you’re not missing something?

That’s how life has been lately. House stuff, work photo and TV shoots and events, travel planning, family, and more house stuff have made me feel like I am being spun around in a game of pin the tail on the donkey. During that time though, there were so many fun and delicious moments that I thought a rainy, dreary week could use a roundup of happy; that’s what today’s post is all about.

roast with red wine gravy

Slow cooked meals on weeknights – For some reason the kitchen is like therapy to me, and coming home after a busy day is made better by working on a comforting meal. This roast was absolutely incredible. It involved me searing the meat on all sides, then seasoning with garlic powder, pepper, and thyme and deglazing the pan with Travessia Jester red wine and beef stock. After that, the roast went into an oven at 400 with lots of vegetables and an entire head of crushed garlic. The end result was heavenly, the meat even better served cold with horseradish the next day. If you live in Massachusetts and haven’t tried Travessia wine, a visit to their tasting room is a perfect cold weather activity!

photo 4 homemade French toast

Visiting family and hanging out in pj’s on a cold and dreary Saturday with my mom’s French toast is just the best. I can’t wait until Christmas!

stray cat house  A yard full of cats – a stray mama cat and her kittens adopted us. While we try to catch them to bring them to a rescue, they have a little home to live in, along with two meals a day. I am constantly stressed about their wellbeing and hoping a rescue will get back to me soon!

Boston Cream Pie Day

The Massachusetts Governors Conference on Travel and Tourism – My work is so intertwined with Massachusetts travel, plus I love this state, so being at the JFK Library for the day with other tourism professionals was interesting and inspiring. The food at the library is delicious, and it happened to be National Boston Cream Pie Day, so the Parker House contributed the real deal.

JFK LIbrary The JFK Library has such an energy about it. It is also a great Boston day trip.

EF building opening event Speaking of energy and inspiration, the EF Education building opening was another beacon of light on a rainy day. They pulled out all the stops to celebrate their brand new building, and the event included fall cocktails, a flash mob, and the Landfillharmonic, a group of children from a Paraguayan slum who play instruments made from trash recovered from a landfill. The kids played “Imagine”, and there was not a dry eye in that tent. Beautiful.

Atwoods Cambridge We savored the outdoors while the weather was still fine, with beers on Atwoods’ patio and a day out at the Head of the Charles.

Head of the Charles And we played tourist in Harvard Square, checking out beautiful architecture in the First Parish Church. In all of life’s chaos, I sometimes crave the peace that faith brings, and it was nice being in such a beautiful, faith-filled space.

church windows

Head of the Charles cocktails at Grafton Street have been a tradition since we went on one of our first dates, and it was a nice enough day to sit by windows open on to the street. Along with sipping drinks, we made friends with a handsome pitbull named Hudson. It was love at first sight.

cocktails at Grafton Street I have to admit that our dining has been indulgent, and our exercise nonexistent. Lunches on-the-go have included a burger topped with lobster and guacamole at the Legal Sea Foods at Logan Airport. My goal is to join a gym the day we return from Ireland and to try to once and for all get back in shape and lose some of the weight I have gained this past year. It’s definitely been getting me down, and it’s been hard to turn around while so busy. Still, choices like this don’t help!

lobster guacamole burger Finally, we’ve been loving the natural beauty of the season, including the changing leaves in the views from our home.

autumn views Chilly days are still fine for beach trips, and Duxbury Beach sparkled one windy Sunday.

Duxbury Beach And my garden is still hanging on! While the vegetable garden has been turned under and mixed with compost for the season, my little “cottage garden” as I call it, still has flowers and greens sprouting. It adds a little cheer to those dark mornings and evenings when we come and go. I don’t love that we almost never see daylight this time of year!

cottage garden

Are you feeling the  busy-ness of this time of year?

Tags: blogging, Boston, cambridge, cocktails, cooking, events, Food, head of the charles, lifestyle, roundup, wine

Everyone is talking about the 4th of July, and rightly so. It’s our nation’s birthday, a day for celebrating, and it happens to fall on a Friday this year, giving many of us a glorious long Summer weekend. We’ll be escaping Boston for the Berkshires and James Taylor; seeing him at Tanglewood has been a dream of mine for years, and my wonderful husband got me tickets this past Christmas.

The 4th of July is a great time for parties and BBQs, and festive food and drink (Hello, blueberry/strawberry American flag cake.) are all a part of it.

The brand I work for, Sonesta Hotels, reached out to its US full service hotels for 4th of July cocktail recipes, and they posted a great round up of cocktails. I have included a couple below in my own roundup, and you can view all of the cocktail recipes here.

Boston Tea Party Cocktail – by ArtBar at the Royal Sonesta Boston

1 ¼ ounce tea flavored vodka
¾ ounce St. Germain
Splash of lemonade
Splash of iced tea
Combine and stir.  Served over ice with lemon garnish

 

Summer “Thyme” – by Sonesta Fort Lauderdale (a new location)

1 oz fresh pineapple
1 oz fresh Key Lime juice
1 oz St. Germain
1 oz simple syrup
2 oz Cazadores Tequila
Garnish: Key Lime twist and sprig of fresh thyme
Muddle fresh pineapple and key lime juice in shaker. Add St. Germain, Simple Syrup, Tequila and Ice and shake.  Strain and serve over ice, top with Key Lime twist and sprig of thyme

 

As I mention above, you can view the rest of the cocktail recipes on the Sonesta website. Disclaimer: I do work for the Royal Sonesta Boston, but I am writing this independently as a blogger. I thought the recipe roundup provided some fun and delicious ideas for the 4th and hope you think so too!

 

In case that recipe roundup doesn’t provide enough inspiration for your inner mixologist, here’s one of my Summer cocktail favorites, Boat Drink, which I made for National Rum Day years ago. That post also includes a recipe for a killer Dark n Stormy using fresh ginger.

 

boat drink

Cheers to enjoying friends and family, gorgeous weather, and summery cocktails (legally and responsibly) this July 4th holiday!

Tags: 4th of July, cocktail recipes, cocktails, entertaining, entertaining ideas, holidays, summer cocktail recipes

Snugly nestled in Boston’s bustling North End sits Parla, an Italian speakeasy that opened in April. I got to check it out on a recent girls’ night out, and it is the perfect place for such an occasion.

image

The cocktail list at Parla is a ton of fun; classics like the margarita are mixed up with rye; I am a huge fan of rye and was excited to see this. To start off, I went with the Bee Sting Julep, a slightly spicy, slightly sweet blend of habanero honey infused whiskey with mint and lemon. It had a nice kick while also being refreshing!

 

bee sting julep cocktailAs it often happens when I am out with these ladies (which is not often enough!) we ordered lots of things to share. Parla’s menu is perfect for sharing, especially since you’ll have a hard time choosing what to order. What did we have?

arancini

Braised Oxtail Arancini – These were one of my favorites of the night. I loved the bit of meat in the hot and chewy arancini, and the sauce that came alongside would be perfect for mopping up with bread or just about anything.

quail egg carbonaraWe also had the Quail Egg Carbonara, which was topped with a runny quail egg just waiting to be mixed in with the hot pasta and salty bacon.

lobster ravioliThe Lobster and Uni Ravioli was as beautiful as it was delicious. Out of all of the pasta dishes (We had four, but my photos didn’t come out great.), this was my favorite. I loved the creamy pink sauce, and the addition of fava beans was nice for texture.

Secco You can’t have a dinner outing with the ladies without a bottle of bubbles, and we enjoyed a bottle of Secco Prosecco with the meal. Italian bubbly certainly goes well with Italian dishes and lots of chatter!

I would recommend Parla heartily; I sent some friends there the following night, and they loved it too. It’s a great spot in the heart of the North End, doing food that is fun, creative, and delicious!

Tags: Boston, cocktail, Dining out, dinner, food blog, Italian food, North End, prosecco, restaurant, Restaurants, wine

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