Boston for grownups. BostonZest is your guide for enjoying a full-flavored life in an unbeatable city. We'll show you that there is life in Boston beyond the "club kids" and students.
Whether you live in Boston, plan to visit Boston, or you are moving to Boston; we'll help you locate great food, fun events, and reliable resources.
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“Can you use half-a-head of cabbage?” a friend asked. She had made soup with the other half, was watching her caloric intake, and didn’t want to make a mayo-based salad with the rest. Penny took her up on the offer, turned it into a tangy, low-calorie slaw made with lots of carrots, scallions, celery, mustard seed, and lightly dressed with a vinaigrette. She returned a container of this to our friend to use as a side dish or a healthy topping for sandwiches. It was a hit!
Slaw or Coleslaw?
According to the site WiseGeek, “The word ‘coleslaw’ most likely came from the Dutch word koolsalade, which means ‘cabbage salad.’ However, in Dutch, koolsalada is often shortened to koolsla.”
Today’s slaw may be a cabbage salad, but it may also star broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, or other gems from the produce stand. Dressing can be creamy, spicy, sweet & sour, or low-cal.
Here, Penny was julienning some white turnip to add to a slaw of cabbage, carrots, and scallion
And, the resulting salad can be a side dish, snack, or sandwich condiment. It is another one of those wonderful dishes that is even better after the flavors have time to meld and the vegetables wilt a bit, so make it ahead and enjoy having a big bowl of healthy food on hand.
Slaw Variations
There are entire cookbooks of recipes for these shredded salads. This means you can fit one into menus beyond cookout and BBQ.
Traditional Chinese-American restaurants in New England used to serve a sweet and sour slaw as a side dish. So round out your Asian menus with a version that includes soy sauce and ginger in the dressing. And what is Kimchi but fermented slaw?
If Tex-Mex is on the menu, make cilantro the herb of choice and add some chilis to the mix. Use it to top a taco or alongside a quesadilla.
Shopping for Slaw
Your choice of ingredients can add color and zip. Red cabbage, radishes, rainbow carrots, beets, and peppers create a bowl of colorful confetti slaw on a buffet table.
This is a great place to use vegetables that show up in CSA boxes such as: celeriac, kohlrabi, bok choi, fennel, garlic scapes, radicchio, sprouts, sunchokes, turnips.
You can also add fruit. Apples are a common ingredient, but you can use oranges in both the salad or the dressing. Slightly under ripe pears can be a fun addition to a slaw to serve with pork. Dried cranberries, currants, or raisins can brighten a winter slaw. A few recipes call for grapes, so ground cherries would also work, as would julienned quince.
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(Adapted for BostonZest from one of her Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)
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Last week we suggested some uses for your phone beyond fun photos and videos for you pets to put on social media or share with family and friends. (Dog Lovers, Use Your Phone for More than Photos)
You should always have one great picture of your dog that you could share if your companion is lost or separated from you. Beyond that, we suggested using photos to communicate with your veterinary team, dog walkers, pets sitters, and other caregivers.
Tips For Photo & Video Communication
● Practice your photo/video skills before you need them.
● Set up an online account with services like Google Photos, iCloud, or YouTube and learn how to use them to upload your photos and videos, send links to someone who needs the information by email, or show it on your phone in person.
● If movement is part of the symptom, try to take videos with the animal walking towards you, away from you, and across the screen to give the doctor more points of view
● Create an album for specific ongoing issues. For example, if your dog is showing signs of seasonal allergies with goopy eyes, take photos of them for a few days and after treatment is underway. After surgery or a procedure take an initial photo of the scar or wound so you can compare it as days go by to be sure healing is taking place and redness is diminishing.
● Do your best in stressful situations. We don’t know if we would have been a great videographer when our first Westie Sassy was having seizures. However, we know it would have been wonderful to have been able to show the veterinary team exactly what her seizures looked like.
● Ask your veterinarian if they would like to be sent a video of a symptom prior to a visit and what they would charge for that type of consultation.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
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(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our City Paws newspaper columns.)
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Now's the time to plan where you'll park for Marathon weekend, so your car doesn't end up on a flatbed! And, be warned, the city does tow every car left in the way of the racers. When you move your car, think ahead.
If you normally park on the streets along the route of the weekend races, you may want to begin looking for spaces off the route. If you can do without your car for a few days, consider stashing it in a safe spot before everyone else has the same idea. And, remember, the bike lanes on Massachusetts Avenue eliminated more than 70 spaces, so finding on-street parking will be more difficult than ever.
Here's a Google map that locates public parking facilities using the Boston Marathon Finish Line as the central point.
And, if you'll need your car on Monday, you should make sure it's on the side of the Marathon route where you can reach it and get to your planned destination.
Street Closures and Parking Restrictions for Marathon Weekend 2019
The City of Boston has a very helpful page detailing all the things you need to know about Street Closures and Parking Restrictions for this weekend. Here's a link to all that information.
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For our Friday Link today, we're sending you over to the Massachusetts Historical Society's blog as they follow a recipe for bread pudding that was found in their collection.
If you've ever read an early cookbook, you'll see that measurements, as we know them today, were scarce. At least this one called for weights of some ingredients.
While you're there visiting this page, take a look at this blog. You may find that you'll want to add this organization's social media updates to your own collection.
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Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino Screenshots: Courtesy of Massachusetts Historical Society.
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First, don't forget the many phone apps (like Apple's Find My Friends) that let you locate people. If your runner is carrying a smartphone or an Apple Watch and sets the device to allow you to track him or her, you can use it to follow their location during the race. What's more, you can use it to meet up in the crowded family area after they have finished their run.
Mobile Phone Alert System
The Boston Athletic Association has set up the AT&T Athlete Alerts program. It allows you to receive updates on a runner’s progress.
Where are the Leaders & Crowd Favorites?
For a rough idea of where the race leaders are in relation to your viewing position, you can always watch the sky for the helicopters that hover above them.
For favorites, you must rely on the roar of the crowd as they approach. Or you can track your favorite by using the mobile alert system.
Related Posts: A collection of tips for Marathon Weekend, some are from past years and we'll be updating them between now and Marathon Monday.
All products featured on BostonZest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Here are few great reads to recommend if you would like to begin reading cookbooks for pleasure. “A Mediterranean Feast” by food historian Clifford Wright will give you great background on foods you may think you know. “Marcella Says…” by Marcella Hazan is like taking an informal cooking class with the great master.
Diana Kennedy’s “The Art of Mexican Cooking” was my first exposure to authentic Mexican cuisine. “Hot Sour Salty Sweet” by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid told me the stories of Southeast Asia recipe-by-recipe.
“The New Portuguese Table” by David Leite gave me updated insights to a food culture I only knew from a Rhode Island Portuguese immigrant population, while “Dishing up Maine” by Brooke Dojny taught me more about the culinary roots of an often visited state.
“Pok Pok” by chef Andy Ricker is in my ebook collection. That makes it handy when I visit a Thai restaurant and want to remember details of some tidbit he taught me about this cuisine in its pages.
If you love food culture, add a few cookbooks to your reading list. They are relaxing and educational. Audition before you buy and add to your collection by borrowing, either in physical or ebook format. And don’t forget Boston’s great used bookstores and library book sales. I check out the cookbook section every time I visit one.
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” by food historian Clifford Wright will give you great background on foods you may think you know. “
” by Marcella Hazan is like taking an informal cooking class with the great master. 
” was my first exposure to authentic Mexican cuisine. “
” by J
” by David Leite gave me updated insights to a food culture I only knew from a Rhode Island Portuguese immigrant population, while “
” by Brooke Dojny taught me more about the culinary roots of an often visited state.
” by chef Andy Ricker is in my ebook collection. That makes it handy when I visit a Thai restaurant and want to remember details of some tidbit he taught me about this cuisine in its pages.