First I decided that a beer of the month club would be cool if I could find one that only ships IPAs. And what do you know? Half Time Beverage does (they have 12 BOTM Clubs to choose from): Beer of the Month Club – Ipa Hop Head. Perfect.

Then, I thought, “Well, I think he’d like to brew his own IPA.” So I found Chinook IPA Extract Kit from Northern Brewer. Great. Buuuuut, he needs a kit to brew; and this is all new to him. Obviously, Northern Brewer also sells brewing kits. So I picked one of those up, too. It even comes with a getting started DVD. This could turn into quite the hobby.

Check out Bitter Beer for more info on IPAs and other hoppy brews.

Week 2 from Intervale Family Farm’s CSA (in Westhampton, MA) we received:

• flower bouquet
• lettuce
• summer squash & zucchini
• carrots
• eggplant
• cubanelle or italian frying pepper
• cucumbers
• garlic
• cherry tomatoes
• new potatoes
• jalapeno
• sweet corn
• kale (didn’t use in time – went bad):
• bunch of basil (didn’t use in time – went bad):
• arugula (didn’t take)
• herbs (didn’t take)

And this week we received:

• flower bouquet
• lettuce
• sweet onions
• carrots
• kale
• eggplant
• cubanelle or italian frying pepper
• green beans
• cucumbers
• chard
• leeks
• broccoli
• garlic
• jalapeno
• tomatoes
• cherry tomatoes
• red potatoes
• sweet corn
• summer squash & zucchini
• arugula
• herbs/basil

And with that fresh picked goodness I’ve made:
Tuesday

• Garden Vegetable Soup Recipe
  (farm leek, onion (didn’t have enough leek), garlic, carrots, potatoes, green beans, corn & i added kale)
  
• Refrigerator Dill Pickles with Syna (left out spring onion this time)
  (farm pickling cucumbers, garlic)
  
• Caprese Salad
  (farm tomatoes)
  

I’ve also started picking up farm eggs, Hillman Farm herb & garlic goat cheese and Mapleline Farm milk each week.

Planned:

• Gazpacho Green Beans
• Cucumber Salad with Sweet Thai Chili Vinaigrette
• Oven Baked Rosemary Potato Chips
• Punjabi Baingan Bharta – Punjabi Style Eggplant
• warm salad of roast beets, lentils & balsamic onions recipe

This week from Intervale Family Farm’s CSA (in Westhampton, MA) we received:

• 1 flower bouquet (pictured above)
• 1 large head of romaine lettuce
• 6 summer squash
• small bunch of beets
• 6 ears of corn
• 1 medium sweet onion
• 8 carrots
• 1 lb swiss chard
• .25 lb arugula
• 5 slicing cucumbers, 5 pickling cukes
• 1 lb green and wax beans
• 1 small bulb garlic
• some basil, mint & chives
• kale (forgot to grab; bummer – i would have made Crispy Kale Chips)
• new potatoes (forgot to grab)

And with that fresh picked goodness I’ve made:
Monday

• Salad
  (farm arugala, romaine, cukes, carrots, onion)
• Cucumber Salad with Sweet Thai Chili Vinaigrette
  (farm cukes and onion)
  
• Garlic Green Beans
  (farm beans and garlic)
• Sautéed Swiss Chard With Garlic
  (farm chard and garlic; i added the greens from the bunch of beets, too)

Tuesday

• Salad
  (farm arugala, romaine, cukes, carrots, onion)
• Easy Dinner Parmesan Zucchini
  (farm zucchini)

Wednesday

• Refrigerator Dill Pickles with Syna
  (farm pickling cucumbers)
  
• Raw Corn and Zucchini Salad
  (farm corn & zucchini)
  
• Organic version of Sweet Corn Ice Cream
  (farm corn)

Friday

• Basil Tomato Soup (recipe below)
  (farm basil)

Basil Tomato Soup Recipe – 9 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (26.46 oz) carton Pomi Chopped Tomatoes*
• 1 (26.46 oz) carton Pomi Strained Tomatoes*
• 20 oz vegetable broth
• 18 fresh basil leaves, minced
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 Tablespoons butter

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring the tomatoes and broth to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes
2. Add basil and sugar, and reduce heat to low
3. stir in cream and butter and cook until butter is melted

*Many of us are concerned about BPA these days, and with the chemical lining most metal cans as well as jar lids, where to find BPA-free canned tomatoes is a frequent question. If you’re not into putting up your own (with BPA-free canning lids), then Pomì might be the answer.

64154 – Phish – oval stickers from Zazzle.com


64154 – Phish – oval stickers from Zazzle.com

What do you think? (Perfect if you’ve seen any Kansas City, MO shows :)

Friday we made the trip into the big city. We didn’t hit any traffic which was good, because we left a bit later than planned and had a reservation for our first dinner approaching rapidly. We checked in and got comfortable at the Historic Omni Parker House. Our room was bigger than we expected; maybe that was because we were in a handicap accessible room. The bed was super comfortable and the location was just perfect, walking distance to everything we wanted.

Then we headed over to Hamersley’s Bistro for a wonderful dinner.

I had

• Mixed Spring Greens with Tarragon Vinaigrette and Crispy Goat Cheese,
• Roasted Spring Dug Parsnip Soup with Maple Cream and
• Crispy Vegetable Lasagna with Ricotta, Soft Poached Egg, Leeks, Peas and Asparagus and White Truffle and Parmesan.

Jim had

• Three Warm Oysters Glazed with Crab Butter,
• Asparagus, Radish and Arugula Salad with Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette and
• Spicy Halibut and Clam Roast with Braised Greens, White Beans and Black Trumpet Mushrooms.

We shared the Warm Molten Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream, Burnt Caramel and Maine Sea Salt for dessert. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had from beginning to end. I highly recommend getting to this Boston classic.

Food & Wine Magazine – See us featured on the ‘Go List 2008‘ of Food & Wine Magazine. Food & Wine writes: ‘For two decades, this homey, wood-beamed bistro has been a standout in the city’s now-gentrifying South End. In one of the first open kitchens in Boston,Gordon Hamersley prepares hearty country French–American dishes like his signature garlic-and-lemon-roasted chicken. We loved the halibut with roasted clams.’

We went back to the hotel to take a nap before heading out to Kings for a couple drinks, pool and bowling. I just love this place. It’s busy, but not crazy packed; there has been a jazzy band each time we’ve visited, not so loud that you can’t have a pleasant conversation.

Then, we just walked a bit up the road to Bukowski Tavern to grab a Stone Ruination IPA, not the best idea that late, but it’s not every bar that offers my favorite beer.

Needless to say, we woke up late and just meandered a bit around Boston, grabbed a Greek omelet at Steve’s Greek Restaurant, and headed to Fenway Park to see the Sox play the Blue Jays. We had great seats:

But. It. Was. Frigid. And windy. We almost bailed because we were so cold, but we held out and saw a win – finally, a win. After the game we had to warm up and stopped at the Island Creek Oyster Bar for a cold beer. Huh? Well, at least it wasn’t windy.

Again, we went back to the hotel for a warm nap then had a nice dinner at The Oceanaire Seafood Room. Even though it’s a “chain” it was really nice. We were too pooped to go out after dinner. So we watched a few episodes of Storage Wars (never even heard of it before because we don’t have cable; it was humorous, mindless TV for a sleepy night) & boxing – Berto vs. Ortiz, quite the match.

Sunday, Jim had planned some dim sum at Myers + Chang. It was really good. I haven’t had dim sum since Five Spice Cafe in Burlington, VT burned down; it was the only place around that had vegetarian dim sum. And although it wasn’t as good as 5 Spice, it was great because they had some delicious vegetarian options. The Green Papaya Slaw was super delicious. Service was terrific to boot.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out in Faneuil Hall, watching the Red Sox game at Purple Shamrock and Blackstone Grill, which was a bit more lively. For dinner we hit up a Todd English Restaurant, Kingfish Hall which was quite a disappointment. The decor was run down (like their website, apparently), the food was not top-notch (neither of us finished our meals) and the bathroom was quite gross. I’m not sure what happened to this place, but it’s not worth dining at any longer.

However, all was forgotten when we got to the Celtics game at the Garden. Our seats were 3 rows back from where the players entered the stadium and off the floor, just terrific.

Some friends and family even saw us on the TV broadcast. :) It was a tough game, the Celtics were behind for its entirety, but they pulled through in the last 30 seconds. Just awesome!!

We had just so much fun, Again, thank you, Jim. It was a super fun birthday.

That little green star is Syna’s height at this age. Our little outlier. :)

Then, Dr. Taylor said his goodbyes and 2 nurses came in to give her 2 booster vaccinations. They were brilliant; simultaneous injections in each arm. Syna hardly noticed. We both thought it would be a much bigger ordeal and had previously bargained ice cream afterward. So off we went for family day lunch and ice cream.

Anywho, I am writing today because I haven’t in long time and because my daughter just told me that the best part of the doctor visit was getting the shots. Yeah. Shots. I was ready for a breakdown, and she apparently loved it. :)

Syna highlights over the past year:

© John Pritchett

Ok, here is what we will be eating for our vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner:
Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu including my all-time favorite VegetarianCornbread, ‘Sausage,’ Apple, & Pecan Stuffing Recipe and this award winning Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy.

And our napkins may turn out like this:

Turkey Napkin Folding Instructions

And, of course, will be baking Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Oh, they are just so good. Guests usually take some home. Speaking of, here are some more great Pumpkin Recipes.

Anywho, I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Friday night is date night. My dh and I have been making sure to get this intentional time together now for a few years. It’s fantastic. We miss it when something else comes up in our schedules, which isn’t too often. Most of the time it’s only a couple hours for a leisurely dinner. A little less often we throw in something more special. And every now and again we have Syna stay with a grandparent overnight.

Well, tonight is date night, and here is what’s planned:

• 5pm – we’re off to Northampton, MA
  We call it “the escape from Westfield” or the “15 minute mile”. We are very much looking forward to getting back north, in case you didn’t know. Spring. Spring is our deadline.
• 5:30 – we stop for a hand crafted beer at The Dirty Truth
  We’re both pretty big fans of hoppy beers from micro-breweries. Here are my favorite Bitter Beers
• 6pm – we take a dip in the hot tubs at East Heaven Hot Tub Co. & Paradise Spa (sometimes we add in a couples massage :)
  We listen to Air: Moon Safari, say the water isn’t hot enough right when we get in, last about 15 minutes before we have to get out because we are so hot – every time
• 7pm – we grab a light dinner at Moshi Moshi
  the best sushi in Northampton (and we’ve evolved through each and every sushi restaurant in NoHo over the years)
• 8pm – we head over to Thornes Marketplace
  Travel downstairs to Cornucopia Foods and right outside of the entrance you will find Heavenly Chocolate : Handmade Artisan Chocolate where we get a couple pieces of heavenly chocolate (srsly); my favorite is the Pecan Carmella; Jim’s is the Dark Espresso Coffee
• 8:15 – our last stop is usually Haymarket Cafe
  They roast their own coffee, and it’s really good. Lot’s of vegan pastry and vegetarian fare.

Now, every Friday night we have the option to do virtually whatever we want. And this is such a sweet itinerary that we seem to just want to do it all of the time. Who could blame us? ;)