BostonZest

The Improper Bostonian Puts MC Slim JB Back in Print

For those of us who rely on great food scouts to lead us to delicious, it is good to see the MC Slim JB byline back in print thanks to The Improper Bostonian.

Since the demise of the Boston Phoenix and Stuff Magazine, we have been able to follow MC Slim JB on forums and social media. But, we love that now regular deadlines will assure us of a steady flow of recommendations.

Here are the first two reviews for The Improper Bostonian:

Hidden Manna: Soulful Puerto Rican fare, hiding in plain sight

Mittel Ground: Tim Wiechmann plugs a huge hole in Boston’s dining scene

And, here is MC Slim JB headquarters where you will find links to years of great food writing. 

Twitter: @mcslimjb

Facebook: MC Slim JB

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Screen shot from the Improper Bostonian 

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

At The Market: Mushrooms, Shallots, Sage & Granola...

No, that's not a recipe, but it is a list of some of the many things that caught our attention at the markets this week.

Lets's start with the granola. Over on the Chowhound Boston board someone announced to area food lovers what we have known for a long time. Cook's Farm & Bakery makes great granola.

"Chuck S" asked, "Granola as good as Cook's Farm?" This former granola abstainer was now addicted and wanted more sources of granola greatness.

Penny replied, "Another Cook's Farm fan here. Love the granola which I believe is sweetened with their own maple syrup. That may be part of the reason you enjoy it. Earlier this year, they had some granola bars that were wonderful and my husband is addicted to their oatmeal raisin cookies. Seems they have a way with oats!"

So, stop by this stand at Copley or any of the other markets where you can find them summer and winter. And, if you're in foliage country in the months ahead, visit them in Brimfield, MA or Newbury, VT.

  

Click on any photo for a larger version.

The rest of the title – mushrooms, shallots, and sage sauted with a bit of butter would make a great supper. You could deglaze the pan with some red wine and stock and serve it on toast or along side a prefectly grilled ribeye.

All three of these ingredients are from Siena Farms.

The Word from the Farms & Markets

Ben Sommer, manager of the Copley Square Farmers' Market, says, "Can you believe that farmers market season is half over. Now let's get to the good half! Having a job like this I am continuously amazed by how incredible nature can be: it seems like the heirloom tomatoes get bigger and juicier with each passing week.  I've spotted the first shallots of the season as well as the first broccoli.

Small tart apples tumble by the bushel in rusted autumnal shades with old New England monikers like Russet Crab and Paula Red. Great for baking with!"

In Season, Right Now!

Apples, pears, and stone fruit. Enjoy them for snacks, desserts, and in cocktails.

Get Some Before It's Gone!

Blueberries – Barbara Hamilton from Hamilton Orchards says the heat this week has ripened some of the late varieties and she may have a few for the next markets.

Follow all our Local Food/Farmers' Markets and At The Market reports:

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Last BPL Concert in the Courtyard for this Season Is Friday!

Save the date because this Friday, August 30th is the last of this year's Concerts in the Courtyard at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square.

Fernando Holz and his band enjoyed their time in the courtyard on August 2nd.

We like these events and hope you will find your way to this lovely space on Friday to enjoy a bit of jazz from Arni Cheatham and Synergy.

Thanks to the wonderful special events team at the BPL for another great summer of music. We look forward to their offerings for the fall and winter.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

George Washington, Refreshed & Renewed

Last week, we told you why the Statue of George Washington in the Public Garden was under wraps.

Today, we give you photos of our first Commander in Chief all polished up and renewed. The conservators have even replaced his sword blade. 

Unfortunately, the replacement blades are plastic, these days, since this part of the memorial is so often vandalized. 

The art conservators who work to restore this statue (and know what they are doing) won't climb on it without building a scafolding to protect the fragile base of the monument.

But, obviously the criminal element who climb it to steal the sword or deface it with promotional material for area sporting events don't care if they damage it.

Nor, do they care about the people who come here from all over the world and would like to take a photograph of the statue with the sword and without the addition of a tacky sports ad.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

 Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Belle Isle: Lobster Rolls at the Reservation

We dedicated an afternoon and a few of our Zipcar credits to exploring Winthrop last week. Our dog Poppy enjoys an occasional ride in her car crate so we took her along and were happy to find so many public spaces where our whole family was welcome, as long as we obeyed the rules.

Today, we'll tell you about the Belle Isle Marsh, one of the MDC reservations.

Airplanes landing and taking off are a part of the scene here. Ed was having a great time photographing them. This is a great destination for a photowalk. We plan to gather a group of friends with cameras and come back in the fall. Marshland is often overlooked as a place to enjoy autumn's colorful show.

Boston's last remaining salt marsh, this conservation area is right in the city and you can include houses in some of the views. You can also see the reservation's observation tower in the center of this photo.

Map courtesy of Friends of Belle Isle. Please visit their site for a larger view.

We originally had not planned to include Belle Isle in our explorations but needed a place to have lunch. Our hopes that the new outdoor seating at Belle Isle Seafood might be dog friendly were dashed since you have to go through the restaurant to get to it. 

So, we ordered our lobster rolls to go and drove to a lovely picnic table at the Belle Isle Reservation to enjoy all that lovely lobster and great onion rings.

There was so much lobster in our rolls that we had leftovers and took some home for supper!

After a big seafood lunch, you can walk off some of the calories on the winding trails. We saw lots of folks with their dogs enjoying the day.

 

Here's the info to plan your visit!

Belle Isle Marsh Reservation

Bennington Street, East Boston, MA (Map)

Open year-round, 9:00 a.m. to dusk.

Belle Isle Seafood

Has relocated across the bridge to 1 Main Street, Winthrop MA (Map)

Phone: (617) 567-1619

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Poppy Says, "Time for Some Emergency Planning"

Here's Poppy with her bright red emergency bag ready to go out the door. It's also her pre-packed travel bag with everything she needs, except food and water, when we travel. (We have an emergency backpack that has a supply of food and water for all of us.)

The heart of hurricane season is here. If you have companion animals, you need a plan because, should a storm or other disaster strike, you are on your own when it comes to finding shelter for your entire family. 

The City of Boston ReadyBoston program says, “Don't forget your pets! If your family needs to go to a shelter, please know that all Red Cross shelters and many others do not allow pets unless they are service animals. Talk to your veterinarian now to determine where the closest emergency animal shelter is located to ensure your pet's safety.”

Make Your Own Plan & Emergency Kit

I doubt your veterinarian will have a satisfactory answer to that question. You have to make plans for a safe place to go with your animals in case of an emergency. While large scale disasters come to mind, it could also be a water leak or fire in your building.

If you have a friend or relative who will shelter you for a few days, that is ideal. You should also have the phone numbers of a few pet-friendly hotels, both near your home and in the surrounding areas, where you might reserve a room until the immediate danger has passed and those charged with emergency management begin to offer solutions for families with animals. 

MSPCA Emergency Resource Pages

The MSPCA has set up a very complete and helpful collection of disaster planning resources on their website.

They break down what you need to do into three sections:

Preparedness Before the Disaster

Evacuation Essentials

After the Disaster

Support Pending Legislation

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is act to change the current situation that leaves those of us with companion animals on our own in disaster situations.

State Senator Karen Spilka has introduced, “An Act ensuring the safety of people with pets in disasters.” It is bill number S. 1172. Contact your state senator and representative and ask them to support S. 1172. The MSPCA has a page explaining what this legistation will do and why it should be supported.

Ask the Mayoral Candidates

Since we have a mayoral race underway in Boston, you might ask those candidates what they'll do to change the city’s emergency plans to include those of us who consider our animals part of our family. 

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Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Eater Boston on "Where to Go to Avoid Restaurant Week"

In the past, we've tried to direct you to the places where you can dine out without running into Restaurant Week crowds and menus. This year, Rachel Leah Blumenthal over on Eater Boston has posted, Where to Go to Avoid Restaurant Week. And, she is keeping that post updated with new information, as it flows her way, from the Eater Boston community.

Click over to see not only places not taking part, but also some great deals that may be as good as Restaurant week without the downside.

Our yearly request for those of you who do love and take part in Restaurant Week – please add a bonus to the tip! The wait staff did not make the decision to take part in this event and they did not set the prices. They do, however, do as much work for you as they would if you were paying full price. Tips should not be on sale during Restaurant Week. 

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.

The Food Lover's Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover's Companion

The Wine Bible

 

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Screenshot: Courtesy of Eater Boston

Photo:  iStockphto.com

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.