2008 Election Night party

Now that Inauguration Day is coming up, an overdue recap of our election night party is finally here!

We invited a few friends to our place to watch the election returns, and in addition to the Obama-themed cupcake pictured above, Ben carved an Obama pumpkin as well:


The cupcakes were only ok - we used Bittman's recipes for chocolate layer cake and buttercream frosting from his "How to Cook Everything" (older edition, with the yellow cover). The cake itself turned out dry, which was annoying because I had misread the (poorly drafted) cake recipe the first time and threw out the first batch of cake batter. The frosting was DIVINE and will be my go-to buttercream frosting -- it was a race between when I would finish mixing up the frosting and when I would finish all the frosting from my multiple tastings. I smoothed on the frosting (not an easy task, despite watching Magnolia Bakery's videos on how to frost a cupcake) and Ben decorated the cupcakes with the blue and red icing stripes. Next time, I think I'll use Duncan Hines' cake mix for the cake batter and skip the homemade cake part!

Here's a picture of the cupcakes together - very cute!



We had quite a spread on offer, as well. See pictures below.

We made hummus, Mark Bittman's Rosemary-Lemon white bean dip, olive tapenade, pesto pasta with broccolini and italian sausage (vegetarian version also available), caramelized onions and brie on a baguette, and a chard frittata. We also served crackers, crudites, sliced baguettes from Clear Flour Bakery, salmon rounds (smoked salmon and creme fraiche on crackers), cheeses, mortadella, niman ranch salami, soppressata, proscuitto di parma, and buffalo wings from Wings Over Brookline. The next time we host a shindig, I'll go easier on the pork/meat products - we had several vegetarians/non-pork eaters and I've got to do a better job cooking for people who don't eat like me.

The end of the tomatoes

We didn't get a frost here in Boston until the last week of October, and we actually had some temperatures in the mid-high 60s just before then, so we left our tomatoes on the vine until pretty late into fall. We brought them all inside about a week and a half ago, and, amazingly, they all ripened - even the ones that resembled little hard green rocks.

They tasted pretty good, but didn't remotely compare to their height-of-summer predecessors, so we made a little November bruschetta (some left over pesto spread on the toast helped to boost the flavor). Luckily our basil plants are still producing!


posted by bc (from viv's account)

Wednesday dinner

We had some leftover bread and italian meats (thanks Russo's) from our election day party, and this turned out to be a delicious way of using them up!

Toasted Italian Sandwich
-olive tapenade
-prosciutto
-sopressata (similar to salami)
-shaved Unie kaas cheese (basically, gouda)
-salt + pepper
-a couple shredded basil leaves
-->I piled all the toppings on one slice, and then put it in a toaster oven (laying the other slice next to it) on the 'toast' setting until the cheese melted. I drizzled a little olive oil on top of the cheese right before eating. delicious!)

Brussels Sprouts w/mustard vinaigrette
-brussels sprouts, halved, stemmed, and steamed until just tender
dressed with:
- c.1 tsp mustard
-a glug of E.V.O.O.
-s+p
-splash (really just a few drops) red wine vinegar

Windsor Dim Sum

On Saturday Ben and I wanted soup dumplings, so we ventured out to Chinatown. We barely missed out on two street parking spots and had to fork over $10 to park at the Beach St. garage. It was a good reminder of why we never go to Chinatown unless we take public transportation!

We tried going to Gourmet Dumpling but the restaurant was packed and the wait too long. Instead, we headed over to Windsor Dim Sum, a new-ish place on Tyler St. near Shabu-Zen. Windsor isn't your typical dim sum restaurant, like Hei La Moon or China Pearl (two of my favorites if you're seeking the steam carts pushed by old Chinese ladies experience). Instead, you order what you want and the waiters bring your dishes out to you (presumably, everything is cooked/made to order). Ben and I were starving and basically, we ordered the entire menu. We had har gao (shrimp dumplings), shu mai (shrimp and pork dumplings), gou choy gao (shrimp and chive dumplings), turnip cake, soup dumplings, tripe, spare ribs, har cheung (shrimp in rice noodle), shrimp-stuffed eggplant, steamed U-choy with oyster sauce, and salted fish and ground pork on rice. It was A LOT of food and the waiters seemed impressed that we were able to eat most of it. (Granted, we did take a lot of leftovers home for Grandma to enjoy.)

The dim sum was *pretty* good, but nothing special. Would we go back? Maybe on a Wednesday at 6pm when other places aren't serving dim sum. The soup dumplings were just ok, and they did not come with soup spoons or the ginger-vinegar dipping sauce. I'll stick to China Pearl and Hei La Moon during the morning hours, that's for sure. I also think we've been spoiled by Gitlo's, another made-to-order dim sum place in A-B on Brighton Ave. We can walk there (no need to drive to Chinatown and search for parking) and the dumplings are more creative. Sometimes, service can be slow and the place is tiny, but for convenience, taste and creativity it really can't be beat. It might be a little more expensive than the Chinatown places, but I'm a huge fan of Gitlo's (even more so when they actually have creme brulee...I had it once and since then they've always been out).

I hope folks like the new layout. Ben gets all the credit!

Recent adventures in the kitchen

Since Ben's chard adventure, it's been more exciting experiments in the A-B! A-B stands for Allston-Brighton, a part of Boston that's overrun with college students (and also where I grew up and where we live now). Last week Ben made the most amazing roasted beet and fennel salad, courtesy of Mark Bittman. I'm not sure what he dressed the salad with, but it was yummy! The beets and fennel came from our winter CSA share. After roasting, the beets tasted incredibly sweet - practically no "dirt" taste at all! (Oddly enough, I like the "dirt" taste, since that flavor is what makes beets so unique to me.) The fennel was raw - sliced thin and tossed with the roasted beet slices. Served on top of couscous, it was a yummy and complete meal. We probably should've taken a picture, but I was too lazy (and eager to start eating) to get the camera.

What else have we eaten from our CSA share? Ben's been making awesome and simple salads -- lettuce greens, empire apple slices, herbed goat cheese from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Co., and toasted pecans. The lettuces and empire apples came from the CSA - we've been lucky that our lettuce has remained fresh for over a week now. Our guess is that the lettuce lasts longer because it was picked fresh from a local farm and didn't have to travel in a refrigerated truck to a store and then to our house.

On Friday, we were lazy and ordered take out from our fave Thai place, Rod Dee near Coolidge Corner. We had yellow curry duck, shrimp pad thai, and Indonesian fried rice. Despite the scarcity of duck in the curry, the dish was delicious. I am not a huge fan of pineapple in curry, though -- it's just too sweet and the texture is weird!

On Saturday we went to K's place in Watertown for good food, good drinks and even better company. We celebrated D's 31st b-day and brought over a bottle of champagne so that the couple can celebrate in style upon moving into their new house. We had a great time and I'm glad we left when we did - otherwise I would have fallen asleep on K's uber-comfy sectional. At K's I tried a couple of rieslings (K's fave) and a rose wine, and all three were too sweet for my tastes. I'm a little worried that by the time I turn 40, I won't be able to drink anything sweeter than bourbon, which does NOT bode well!

Sunday, we duked it out with two hundred other shoppers at Russo's in Watertown. Ben and I had a huge shopping list - we're hosting an election party this Tuesday night - and the store was incredibly crowded. I'm so glad we found about about Russo's, but now we won't go anywhere else for cured meats. The selection isn't huge, but their prosciutto di parma is only $15/lb. and it's reliably delicious! The broccoli rabe looked great today, so I picked up two bunches and made our fave soup which includes broccoli rabe, white beans, potatoes and sausages. The potatoes were Yukon golds from our CSA; the sausages were De Pasquale's (via Russo's) sweet italian and the white beans 1/2 home cooked and 1/2 canned. Before starting the soup, I cooked some dried cannelini beans (local - I think - from Baer's in Mass) with a couple bay leaves. It took a few hours, but the result was sooooo much better than the canned stuff! I need two cups of beans for a rosemary-lemon zest-white bean dip for Tuesday's party, and had an extra cup or so of cooked beans that I tossed into the soup with a can of beans. The recipe is from Rachel Ray and the Food Network, but it's seriously one of my go-to soups now.

I probably spent 5 hours in the kitchen today (I also made a huge batch of pesto since we got two great-looking bunches of basil at Russo's), but hope all the prep work will pay off for Tuesday. Ben and I have a fun menu planned and it should be good times on Election Day.