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Bloggers Eat Well!

TGIF! Are you ready for the weekend? That’s probably a very silly question. What have you got planned? In addition to getting in some sun and end-of-season boat time, I am also hoping to check out the Boston Local Food Festival and to do some baking and cooking and sleeping. And maybe a workout or two in there. Have I mentioned how much I am loving my spinning bike?

To get you in the mood for a weekend of food and fun, I thought I would share some pics from a blogger get together that Elina had on Tuesday night. When Boston food bloggers get together, there is always a lot of fun, and not surprisingly, a lot of really good food. If you’re planning a party any time soon, I suggest checking out some of the blogs mentioned in this post for appetizer inspiration!

Megan and I met up at Whole Foods before the party to grab a bunch of snacks to bring. She had the brilliant idea to make baguette slices topped with Maplebrook Farm ricotta cheese and sour cherry preserves. It was absolutely delicious, pretty to look at, and so easy!

ricotta and sour cherry

 

sour cherry preserves

We also grabbed some Manchego and Soppresata for a quick antipasti platter.

cheese and meat

And we got to help Elina making an absolutely amazing pizza bread, each little dough ball filled with meat and cheese and baked until soft, golden, and puffy. You’ll want to make this one, trust me.

pizza dough

Cara made these zucchini roll ups, grilled and filled with goat cheese, raisins, and pine nuts. I will be making these in the very near future and devouring them all by myself. Talk about a fun and scrumptious way to get veggies in!

zucchini roll ups

And who doesn’t love chocolate covered fruit? Lizzy spoke to the group’s sweet tooth with these juicy, decadent bites.

chocolate covered fruit

Olives make a quick and easy crowd pleaser; these lemony ones from Whole Foods are an addictive favorite. You definitely can’t eat just one.

olives with lemon

Our wonderful hostess also made cheesecake pops with farmer’s cheese. cheesecake pops

And finally, though not a good photo at all, this incredible savory cheesecake with tomato jam was made by Shannon and revisited many times. All I can say is yum.

savory cheesecake

There was lots of other great, unphotographed food like Bridget‘s feta and red pepper dip, a spicy eggplant and pepper dip, vegan pumpkin mac and cheese and more. Yum.

I love catching up with Boston bloggers, and I equally love eating lots of cocktail party foods in a beautiful outdoor setting like Elina’s patio. It was a great night that provided some tasty recipe inspiration!

Have you been to a restaurant, read a blog, or been to an event recently that inspired you to make a new recipe?

Tags: appetizers, bloggers, Boston, events, Food, food blogger

New restaurants seem to be popping up everywhere in Boston, but especially in the Back Bay area. I might just be a little bitter that when I worked in the area we definitely did not have such a selection, but I will have to get over it and make the trek to the area to check out all of the new spots.

This past Sunday night, I got together with monthly dinner dates Megan, Emily, Daisy, and Amy to try The Brahmin, situated in the space that 33 Restaurant occupied for years. After a fairly unimpressive and slightly suspect experience at 33, I was hoping that our experience at the address’s new occupant would be better, and I was definitely pleasantly surprised.

The Brahmin, Boston

I arrived first, naturally, and was immediately smitten with the swanky décor inside The Brahmin. It coupled perfectly with my weekend in Newport, luxe lighting and leather couches filling the expansive space, making an ideal cocktail lounge.

The Brahmin

The Brahmin

Speaking of cocktails, their selection of classic and handcrafted drinks, along with a small but interesting wine list, definitely make The Brahmin a place for sipping with friends. I went the handcrafted route and ordered the Saltonstall, a mix of Maker’s Mark, fresh raspberry puree, lime, simple syrup, and soda water. The drink was delicious, slightly sweet with a hint of bourbon in the back. The fresh raspberry really was the highlight of the drink, and this delightful concoction made me excited to try their other creative cocktails.

cocktail

Once we were settled with drinks, we put our order in. Our waitress was awesome in timing the food, many small plates, into courses for us so that we didn’t end up with 10 dishes all at once. That is something I , as a slow eater, appreciate immensely. We got to savor each round, and when we were nearing the end, she brought more.

arugula salad

First up, we had the arugula and goat cheese salad, topped with crispy prosciutto, green apples, and lemon vinaigrette. The arugula was fresh and peppery, but the standout of this dish for me was the prosciutto. It was deliciously crisped and salty and provided a nice contrast to the other ingredients. Our healthy salad was accompanied by an old favorite, fried pickles with a sweet pepper sauce. The pickles were nicely fried and hot but could use a little bit of salt.  The sauce could definitely have used a little more flavor. While the dish needs a bit of work, I still liked it and would probably order it again.

 

fried pickles

We decided to also throw in the fritatta, for $3.50 we figured why not? We were all pleasantly surprised by a heaping wedge of fritatta topped with a flavorful salsa, definitely an unexpected favorite.

 

fritatta

Other small plates included white asparagus wrapped in Serrano ham and topped with lemon vinaigrette. I don’t recall any dressing, but I did like the combination of the ham and asparagus, again nicely salty.

white asparagus

When there is truffle mac and cheese on the menu, it just has to be ordered. I have to say, though, I wasn’t very impressed with this one. The sauce was inconsistent throughout. Some bites offered a delicate, earthy truffle flavor while others came up bland.  I did enjoy the crunchy topping though!

truffle mac and cheese

Another dish that ended up being a favorite for me were the short ribs with cauliflower-parsnip puree. The spices were very Autumnal and slightly sweet, and the meat was rich and hearty. A little bit definitely went a long way.

short ribs

Tomatoes and mozzarella, prawns with chipotle sauce, and tuna two ways rounded out the meal. None of these three dishes was very exciting or memorable. The tomatoes and mozzarella (ordered simply due to the fleeting nature of the tomato season!), were standard and good while my shrimp was pretty dry, tough, and flavorless. The tuna was paired with watermelon, a creative, refreshing option and a solid choice.

tomato and mozzarella

prawns

tuna two ways

Overall, everything at The Brahmin was good, but I was most excited about my cocktail. It’s definitely a place I would return to for drinks, and since we sat outside to enjoy the warm weather, I look forward to cozying up on their couches this fall.

Have you been to any new restaurants lately?

The Brahmin American Cuisine & Cocktails on Urbanspoon

Tags: bloggers, Boston, cocktails, Dining out, dinner, Restaurants, small plates

A few weeks ago, I received an email from the lovely Janetha about another blogger, Susan, who I learned was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. The email was about an auction to raise money to help Susan out with her many medical costs. Within a few minutes, the healthy living and food blogging communities were involved/ Dozens of emails were exchanged, and we all set out to acquire auction items. Unfortunately none of the brands I reached out to responded. . . which makes me a little annoyed. As someone who does PR/ blogger outreach for part of my living, I would hope I would at least respond to such requests. But, that’s neither here nor there because the brands who did jump in to help are amazing.

Details about the auction, The Great Fundraising Act (which is tomorrow!) are below. Check it out, spread the word, and help a great blogger out! Many thanks to Janetha for all of her hard work coordinating/organizing/hosting the event, and even more well wishes to Susan!

The below is taken from Janetha’s site, where the auction will be kicking off on Monday.

_______________________________________________________

The Great Fundraising Act starts on Monday at 8 AM EST.

I thought you would all like to get a good look at what you will be able to bid on!

These links are the actual pages where you will do the bidding. The comments are closed NOW, but they will be OPEN on auction day and you can bid right there on the page!

Bookmark any and all item pages that you are interested in bidding on for easy access come Monday!!

All bids start at $10 USD unless otherwise noted and go up in whole dollar increments (ie: no decimals). For more details regarding the auction, see the official rules below.

For a somewhat current list of bids on auction day, visit the home page. This list will be updated hourly. To get an exact amount of a current bid, click on the item and check the comments section.

Click on a category below to see listings.  There is a complete list of items below, too.

Complete List of Items:

(if you are too lazy to click through the categories above :)

Some items are listed twice if they fall into two categories.

Blogger Baked Goods:

Baskets & Bundles:

Food & Beverage:

Fitness Related:

Books:

Travel & Entertainment:

Beauty Products:

Clothing & Accessories:

Gift Cards/Certificates:

Kitchen Related:

For The Home:

Online Services:

Official Auction Rules, Logistics & Whatnot.

  • Auction Date & Time: Bidding opens Monday, July 25, 2011 at 8 AM EST and individual item closing times will be staggered throughout the day. MAKE NOTE OF EACH ITEM’S CLOSING TIME! It will be noted within each individual listing. The staggered closing times has been implemented to prevent a site crash!
  • Payment Methods: Paypal is the only method of payment accepted. If you don’t have a Paypal account, you can pay through the Paypal donation page which allows you to use any major credit/debit card.
  • Starting Bids: Bidding on all items starts at $10 USD unless otherwise noted.
  • Bidding Increments: Bids go up in whole dollar increments. For example, you could bid $1 or $10 higher than the previous bidder, but not $1.50 higher.
  • Bidding Procedure: Bids are to be submitted via comment on item page. Click the category above OR on the sidebar to the right, OR click on the item from the home page. It is your responsibility to see what the current high bid is!! You must bid at least $1 above the current high bid. A valid name & email address are required when leaving a comment bid.
  • Winners: If you are the winning bidder, you will be notified within 24 hours of the auction ending. The notification will include payment instructions.
  • Making Payment: Winning bidders must make payment and send their mailing address to me within 72 hours of the auction ending. If payment is not made, winner forfeits item and the next highest bidder is awarded item. Once payment is made and shipping address is received, winning bidders will receive contact information of individual in charge of shipping their item.
  • Shipping Information: Items that require shipping will be shipped within one week of payment/submission of address (unless otherwise noted). SELLER will cover shipping costs!
  • Items That Don’t Require Shipping: If your item is an online service or online gift card, once payment for your item is received, you will get an email with all the information you need to retrieve your item.

Tags: bloggers, events, health

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