Food and Wine and Fall Roundup

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.

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!

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!

  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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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

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!

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