An autumn day in New England

According to the weather people, yesterday was supposed to be a complete washout here in Boston. Our weekend planning revolved around that forecast. I would work, hubs would work on his Master’s assignment for the week, and we would spend much of our time housebound. Imagine our surprise and delight when we woke up on Saturday morning to a perfect blue sky and bright sunshine. We quickly got ready, downed POM Wonderful green monsters, and headed to the river for the Head of the Charles. The Head of the Charles is an annual autumn rowing competition that brings rowers from all over the world. If nice out, it is a great way to spend an autumn day, watching the rowers, maybe stopping somewhere in Cambridge for lunch, and enjoying the outdoors before the long winter sets in. Even more of an incentive than the bright day was the fact that the Galway Rowing Club was competing in this year’s races. The hubs rowed in Galway for many years and still loves the sport. If it wasn’t so incredibly time consuming, I would say that he would row for a club here in Boston. Anyway, we left the house, drove over to the Cambridge side of the river, parked the car, and walked along the river until we found a good spot for race watching.

Even one of my POM Wonderful samples came along.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, just a nip in the air, but it felt so good to be outside! While we waited for the race that the Galway men were in, we crossed the street to get a coffee at Starbucks. I had the Clover Sumatra coffee with a packet of sugar in the raw and some skim milk. It was okay, but not great. We also shared a chicken salad sandwich and sat outside to enjoy the sunshine. I made a new friend.

I don’t think he was as interested in me as he was in the sandwich, but he didn’t get any of it. Isn’t he gorgeous?! Finally, we headed back to the river and got to see Galway row by.

And that was it. I think the watching the races part of the Head of the Charles is a bit boring because the boats start at different times and it all goes by time. Its not like watching a marathon or other running race where you can actually see the tension between the top contenders and can cheer them on to a victory.Still the  atmosphere is great, and if you are ever in town for this weekend, I would definitely recommend it! Our car just happened to be close to the Cambridge Trader Joe’s, so I also got the shopping for the week done.

Our haul included TJ’s apple chicken sausage, whole wheat flour for baking, spinach for smoothies, butter lettuce and heirloom tomatoes for salads, whole wheat pizza dough for POM pizzas, cheese ravioli for a Rachael Ray inspired easy ravioli lasagna, miniature potatoes for roasting, truffle and mushroom flatbread, pumpkin for pumpkin pie yogurt, lots of TJ’s teas, and a new product for me, Trader Joe’s Super Red Drink Powder, an antioxidant supplement. With all of the travel I have coming up from November to January, I am searching for new ways to stay healthy and energized. Hopefully this will be  good addition to a healthy diet, green monsters, and chia tea.

This flatbread pizza is sooooooo good! At $4.99 it is a steal, with its earthy truffle-y goodness. I love grocery shopping, but I also love getting it out of the way and having a well-stocked house for the week so that meals, especially the ones that I bring to work, are easy. Looking at our groceries last night and being at home with my husband made me feel one thing, lucky. I sometimes am overwhelmed at how lucky we are to have each other, as much food as we need, a warm place to live, and work that helps to provide what we need. Today was the washout we expected. I went dog walking with dogs who did NOT want to be outside. It is quite chilly; I think I may have seen some snow mixed in with the rain. Can I tell you how glad I am that I did not run the Newport Half Marathon today? Gina was running the entire marathon down there today, and I hope she had a great race! I am off now to eat one of my favorite things on the planet, Bueno y Sano tacos, brought back from Amherst by my friend MVO. Up this week, another Blue Diamond review, my trip to the Willamette Valley
wine region, Montreal restaurant reviews, my first POM recipe, and a giveaway I am VERY excited for. Hint – the prize is something from a baker I think we have all been following over the past few months who JUST starting shipping to the US. Any guesses? 😉 I also start my food writing class tomorrow after work, so I will be sure to tell you about that. Who knows, I may even have to post an assignment or two! Have a good night and a great Monday bloggies!