Niman goes Big Organic

The SF Chronicle has a detailed and fascinating article today describing how Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch, has been forced out from the company he started.

Niman Ranch was the original poster child for the now-common practice of identifying the provenance of every item on the menu at gourmet organic restaurants: i.e. Cheeseburger with Niman Ranch beef, Coach Farms Goat Cheese, and [insert name of heirloom lettuce producer] spring mix. But it turns out that the company has been losing money for quite some time, resulting in a takeover by its largest investor, Chicago's Natural Food Holdings LLC.

The biggest change seems to be the methods used for "finishing" and slaughtering cattle. Niman had for several years purchased grass-fed cattle raised at various farms in the Northwest, but had always insisted that they be shipped to his ranch near the end of their lives. This ensured that the quality of grain and lodgings they received met his standards, which resulted in the extremely high quality beef the brand is known for. The problem, according to the article, is that such a practice was too expensive. Natural Food Holdings has since sold the company-owned feedlot.

Bill Niman now refuses to eat Niman Ranch beef, asserting that it no longer meats meets his standards. The new company argues the contrary, but defending some of their practices by saying they meet "USDA regulations" does little to inspire confidence (it is the very weakness of USDA standards that led so many conscientious eaters to Niman Ranch and its emulators in the first place).

The upshot seems to me that Niman is now part of what Michael Pollan refers to as "Big Organic." It's still much better than conventional/industrially produced beef. The cows grow up on family-owned farms, and roam in big grassy meadows for most of their lives. But the need for this big company to make big bucks may result in compromises that conflict with the image it likes to present to the public.

The Souper Bowl

Last weekend, viv and I attended Souper Bowl I, put on by the kind folks at Boston Localvores. For a $10 donation, we filled our bellies with 6 soups, bread from Iggy's in Cambridge, chocolate from Taza, as well as beer from Cambridge Brewing Company, and various pickled items from Real Pickles. The eats were delicious, the people were nice, and the money went to a good cause. What's not to like?

The description of the soups (made from all local ingredients) is below; I didn't feel like writing them out myself so I just cut and pasted from the localvore blog. We thought all of them were fantastic; Viv's favorite was the Saigon Soup, while I was partial to the chili (though eating two bowls of chili in the middle of the day is perhaps not the best idea, gastroenterologically speaking).

Saigon Soup by Jessie Benhazl
a traditional Vietnamese breakfast soup featuring winter storage veggies from Verrill Farm in Concord, shrimp and crab from Maine, pork from Ferrisburg, Vt. and noodles from Chau Chow noodle factory in Boston.

Jota (“yo ta”) by Erik Zornik
a Slovenian soup featuring tomatoes (preserved this summer) from Kimball Farm in Pepperell, pork from Stillman’s in Hardwick, beans from Maine, local cabbage and herbs from Chef Zornik’s winter garden. The soup’s chicken broth was made with local storage veggies and chicken from Stillman’s.

Potatoes + Greens by Sarah Garlington (Vegan)
a hearty New England soup featuring potatoes and onions from Heaven’s Harvest in New Braintree, Mass. The kale, which was frozen over the summer, is also from Heaven’s Harvest.

Apple Rutabaga by Heather Wernimont
a cream-based soup featuring butternut squash from Verrill Farm in Concord, apples from Clarkdale Orchard in Deerfield, and onions, sweet potatoes and rutabaga from small, organic farms along the East Coast, courtesy of Enterprise Farm in Deerfield and its Winter CSA.

Lentil Mushroom by JJ Gonson (vegan)
a rich vegan soup made with lots of local mushrooms and seasonal roots, including parsnips from Deep Root in Quebec, courtesy of Enterprise Farm’s Winter CSA.

Grass-fed Chili by Kristi and Darry
a regular ole chili featuring Hardwick Beef (Mass. and Vt. farms), Scotch Bonnet peppers from Farmer Al in Lunenburg, Thai chilis from Hmong Farm in Lunenburg, onions from the Belmont Winter CSA, garlic from Wild Shepard Farm in Athens, Vt., peppers + corn from Enterprise Farm’s Winter CSA and maple syrup from Coombs Farm in Whitingham, Vermont.

Some pictures are here. My head and viv's back are visible in the first one.

OH NO! Allston-Bitin'

The secret is out. (Click on the link for a video tour of the epicurean epicenter of ethnic edibles.)

In yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine (Feb. 15, 2009), an article titled "Allston: An Epicenter of Ethnic Dining" highlighted many of the restaurants I've been dying to try and noted in my earlier post, Jo Jo Taipei and Allston musings. The Globe identified Allston as the best spot for inexpensive ethnic dining, which means my neighborhood will be overrun by foodies who will be jostling, alongside me, for a seat at Gitlo's already cramped quarters, or waiting in the 88 Food Court for one of the five or six small tables at Ken's Ramen.

The crossroads of Harvard and Brighton avenues in Allston has become the region's ethnic cheap eats capital. Jason Beerman, author of the accompanying "Diners' Paradise" article, takes you on a video tour of his favorite restaurants.

The Globe article may result in longer lines and more signature dishes running out at my favorite local eateries, but I'm also really glad and excited for the owners of these restaurants and shops. They've been working hard to bring good and affordable ethnic food to the area, without compromising (very much) true ethnic flavors to accommodate the American palate.

My colleague R.B. gets credit for part of the title of this post -- he coined "Allston-Bitin'" as a potential name for this food blog.

Jacques Pepin, I Heart You!

Watching Top Chef last night, I wanted to squeeze Jacques Pepin's cheeks and kiss him! He is so adorable and had the nicest comments about everyone's food, even Leah's runny slow-poached egg and thin hollandaise sauce. I felt that Bravo's commercials for last night's episode were misleading--I thought Fabio had cut off a finger or something--but the episode overall was very entertaining, esp. the Last Supper theme.

Speaking of last suppers, after Top Chef Ben and I discussed what our last meals would be. My last meal would be a huge steaming bowl of ramen, with lots and lots of craaaaaazzzy pork in it. I think I'd start with the 88 Food Court - Ken's Ramen - miso ramen bowl with the soy sauce egg, and add Momofuku's toppings, but multiply the amazing sliced and shredded Momofuku pork by a factor of AT LEAST 10. And serve some Momofuku steamed pork buns on the side. I would definitely die a happy person.

Ben's last meal would be a super burrito. It makes sense - he loves rice, beans, avocado, and good grilled meat - just hold the cheese and sour cream.

Barbara Lynch's expanding empire...Drink and Sportello

I just got back from a lovely lunch at Sportello, Barbara Lynch's newest dining establishment which is also conveniently down the street from my office. Sportello is set up as a lunch counter, and it worked in our case since we were a small group of three.

We started with homemade scali bread (at least, I think that's what it's called - italian bread sprinkled with sesame seeds) and their whipped ricotta with figs, olive oil, and sea salt. One of my lunch companions couldn't taste the salt, while the other could - I thought it was rather bland, but creamy, definitely not amazing (especially in comparison to A Voce's appetizer of housemade ricotta in Manhattan that Katie introduced me to). But, the complimentary bread and ricotta was a nice start to our meal.

My companions and I started with the same first course - spicy tomato soup with caraway grilled cheese. The grilled cheese was a nice crispy thin piece of bread with parmesan and caraway seeds (the caraway was very subtle), perfect for dipping into the lovely--and rich--soup. I am a huge fan of the soup! For the main course, I went with the ricotta gnudi, served in a walnut-brown butter-parmigiano sauce, topped with a fried sage leaf. The ricotta gnudi were nice, fluffy (but incredibly rich) pillows of ricotta goodness. I think I only got 8 or 9 ricotta pillows, but it was plenty filling for me, especially following the large bowl of soup. My friends each ordered the papardalle with bolognese - tasty, yet it reminded me of a high-end Chef Boyardee sauce. I think I can make a better bolognese (that post to come later). They each got a large bowl of pasta, a more-than-generous serving size for lunch. I'm ready for a nap now! We couldn't walk out of Sportello without hitting up the take-out dessert counter, and I ate a coffee almond french macaroon on the way back to the office. I have a weakness for french macaroons - discovered them when we got a take-home bag full of macaroons after our Per Se dinner, then got TOTALLY hooked on the ones at Bouley Bakery in the Time Warner Center in NYC - so now, when I see them for sale, I've always got to have one. YUM!

Sportello also had some truffles, cookies, eclairs, cupcakes, and other sweets for sale. There's a small take-out lunch counter/deli as well, but I think I'd stick to Barbara Lynch's awesome dine-in offerings if given the choice between dine-in and take-out. I must confess, Sportello's menu was amazing - we had a really tough time deciding what to order. When--and not if--I go back, I will have to try the mozzarella salad, potato gnocchi, stuffed baked macheroni, bigali, and the polenta!

I also have to mention my Friday evening visit to Drink - I'm so glad I went! Drink is Barbara Lynch's bar (aptly named Drink), and offers only a small selection of beer (including Abita Turbodog) and wine. The main focus is the liquor - in particular, the well-made cocktails that the master bartenders will mix for you. Wai and I walked in and were greeted immediately by the dapper manager (I forget his name, but he was so sweet and thoughtful, engaging us in a conversation about our favorite liquors, likes and dislikes). We had to wait a while for two seats to open up at the bar (but it didn't stop us from getting a drink!), but once we sat down our bartender Misty (sp?) took good care of us. We had a GREAT view of the large ice block from which the bartenders chip sizable, perfect ice cubes for drinks on the rocks. What's the point of having a huge ice cube for a drink? It keeps your drink cold without diluting the liquor - I had a drink on a big cube once at the Slanted Door, and it was great. My whiskey did not get watered down, despite my slow sipping over the course of 10 minutes. (Yes, I'm an incredibly slow drinker. I exalt in delicious, carefully composed drinks!) Wai and I each had a couple Fort Points (their house cocktail), and to mix things up a bit I had a Red Hook and she had a Green Point. I didn't like the Red Hook as much as the Fort Point (note to others, the Green Point is very herbal).

I'm also addicted to the Italian cherries that are served with the Fort Points...a good reason to go back for more! The manager told us that these cherries are sour cherries from Italy (similar to Morello sour cherries here in New England) that have soaked in a liqueur for a while, then in some simple syrup. Drink gets the cherries in big barrels, but they are also sold at Brix - I might have to visit Brix to get my own jar of these cherries.

So, I'm totally enamored with Drink right now. Each cocktail only cost $10 (this coming from a girl who didn't bat an eye at $15 cocktails at Pegu Club in NYC), and the scene was appropriately high-energy without being claustrophobic/meat-markety. Drink also has a short list of savory snacks, but nothing that caught my eye (except maybe the gougeres...) - I'm hoping B. Lynch brings back the swedish meatballs, because I will RUN to Drink to try those.

And if people are wondering, I've been to B. Lynch's other places, and although they all offer different scenes/settings/food/ambience, I think the Butcher Shop is my favorite place to randomly end up (for the antipasto! the steak tartare! the wines by the glass!), but Drink may give the Butcher Shop a run for its money. I also adore B&G Oyster (but only for the oysters, both fresh and fried, unless B. Lynch brings back the Grill Tuesdays during the summer). No. 9 Park is good for a no-holds-barred meal, but I was underwhelmed when Ben and I had their tasting menu (the wine pairings, however, were phenomenal...esp. the Veuve Cliquot Demi-Sec paired with the prune gnocchi - we liked the demi-sec better than the famed prune gnocchi). Although Ben and I do like to talk about the Nantuckey Bay scallop we had that evening, too.

Local Meat CSAs

Our most recent Chestnut Farms meat CSA pick-up is pictured above.

What's a meat CSA? Like our winter share CSA with Belmont Farms, it's an upfront commitment to a local farm -- in exchange for $X, you will receive a share of the farm's output. It seems that the economics of meat CSAs play out differently from fruit and vegetable CSAs -- you get a set amount of meat depending on your share amount -- but the concept remains the same. The local farmer benefits from running a CSA because he or she gets direct financial support from the surrounding community in the form of committed buyers. There's a litany of benefits for the consumer as well:

* a connection to the animals through the farmer;
* knowing that the meat you are eating comes from animals that have been treated with care and respect, given a good life, and humanely raised and slaughtered;
* supporting local farmers and getting to know your food suppliers (who KNOWS Frank Perdue?);
* reducing the carbon footprint - my meat did not travel thousands of miles from farm to table; and
* IT TASTES GOOD!

I understand that there are inconsistencies to my position about meat. I would eliminate carbon footprints related to meat entirely if I chose to forgo all meat. I know that even one happy cow chilling in a green pasture emits a substantial amount of methane into the atmosphere (but from reading Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, I also understand that cows and other farm animals, including chickens and pigs, have key roles in the cycle of life and death, growth and decay). It would be nice to live my life in a "Do No Harm" kind of way. But with my food dollars, I can show my support for farms that practice agriculture with humane, open-pasture techniques. However, it also means that occasionally, I will buy a chicken at Whole Foods named Rosie, raised in Petaluma, California, and trucked 3,000 miles to Massachusetts in a freezer. It also means that I will eat industrial meat at times (roast pork and soy sauce chicken from Chinatown, carnitas burritos from Anna's Taqueria, indeterminate pork bits chopped up into delicious stuffing for soup dumplings). And, it also means that even at fancy restaurants, I will order some prissy dish with meat or seafood that has been raised in Colorado or caught in the Pacific. I could eat at restaurants that are truly, 100% committed to local food (off the top of my head, in the Boston area, that includes T.W. Food, Craigie on Main, Garden at the Cellar) but then, my choices would be limited and I'd spend a lot dining out.

So where does that leave me? Once every month, I buy 10 pounds of meat from Chestnut Farms, located in Hardwick, Massachusetts. The farmers -- Kim and Rich -- send monthly emails reminding us about our meat pick-up and sharing stories about their daily lives as farmers. We get to share in their sorrow when half of their herd of baby goats mysteriously die, and share in their joy when one of their heifers gives birth. I have yet to visit the farm (they encourage their members to visit during open houses) but am looking forward to an excursion when it gets warmer. At our most recent pick-up, we connected with Rich about the seasonal effects on egg-laying hens, and for the first time ever, I thought about the amazing amount of energy that a hen must dedicate to laying an egg every day. One egg has so much protein (and vitamins and minerals), I'm shocked that a hen doesn't just collapse for a week after laying an egg. Instead, hens continue to lay approximately one egg a day, give or take, although their productivity declines after their first year. Chickens are really remarkable creatures.

Back to the meat CSA - the whole point of this post. Beginning December 2008, we became members of the Chestnut Farms CSA. Once a month, we get 10 pounds of their local and humanely raised chicken, beef, pork, and lamb. Half of the share will be in high end cuts, like steaks and chops, and the other half will be lower end cuts, like ground meat, sausages, and stew cuts. In December, we received leg of lamb, pork chops, loose sweet italian sausage, cured ham steak, ground beef, ground lamb, and a whole bone-in chicken breast. January brought us a lamb shoulder, ground beef, ground lamb, a whole chicken, a ham steak, beef patties, and pork breakfast sausage patties. Our last pick-up, in February, brought us garlic and cheese pork sausages, leg of lamb, chicken legs, one beef loin T-bone steak, one beef loin porterhouse steak, ground beef, and lamb stewing meat.

So far, the quality of the meat has been impressive. We've also enjoyed the odd cuts of meat that we had never cooked before. I've never been compelled to roast a leg of lamb or cook a ham steak before, but because those cuts were included in our meat CSA, we looked up recipes and learned how to roast, braise, and pan-fry different cuts of meat in ways we'd never imagined! Chestnut Farm's sweet italian sausage is delicious (we stuffed squash with it), and we had made an amazing roast chicken with one of their birds. We also fried up a delicious ham steak (and I ate all the fatty bits). Ben made yummy spicy lamb burgers with the ground lamb, and he also made a falling-off-the-bone braised lamb shoulder. I put together a bolognese sauce with some ground beef and lamb.

I encourage all of you to look into joining a meat CSA. Ben and I thought long and hard about whether to join (he thought 10 lbs. a month is a lot of meat for two people). We spent a fair amount of time researching meat CSAs. In the Boston area, another local farm -- Stillman's at the Turkey Farm -- also offers a meat CSA. You can try the local meat by buying only a small portion first. We bought some pork chops and bacon from Stillman's at the JP Farmer's Market, and loved the deeply porky taste of the chops. We also ordered our holiday turkey from Stillman's (see our Turkey Day post, below). We weren't able to try Chestnut Farm's meat before signing up for their CSA, but the rave reviews on our local Chowhound board (search for "CSA"), along with the convenient pick-up location at the site of our 2009 summer CSA, convinced us to join.

TURKEY DAY! (post 2.5 months overdue...oops!)

Say hello to our free-range Thanksgiving turkey, a happily raised bird courtesy of Stillman's at the Turkey Farm! Ben picked him up at the Jamaica Plain farmer's market on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and we took the fella out of his plastic bag the night before to brine him.




We followed Alton Brown's brining technique, scouring Watertown and Allston-Brighton for allspice berries, a necessary ingredient for the brine (we found ours in the Spanish spices section at Shaw's). Since we didn't have a huge cooler, we stuck the brine and the big guy in three industrial-sized garbage bags.




As you can see, our refrigerator was stuffed to the gills. Wednesday night was also the same night as my high school 10th year reunion, so we returned home slightly-to-mostly inebriated and flipped the turkey over for even brining. I don't remember the flipping very well, but we managed to flip it without any mishap :)




We rinsed and patted the big guy dry, and prepared some aromatics (pictured above) for stuffing the bird.



We also basted the turkey with vegetable oil. One thing to keep in mind when following Alton Brown's recipe - coating an 18 lb. turkey with oil that has a low smoking temperature is not recommended! We preheated the oven to 500 degrees F, and when we put the bird in for 30 minutes, per the recipe's instructions, it smoked up the entire house for nearly an hour. Next time, we'll use another oil with a high smoking point, such as safflower.

While the bird roasted, we also prepared some maple glazed root vegetables as a side dish. Most of the root veggies came from our winter CSA, such as the celery root (the scary thing pictured below) and turnips (also below).




We got a couple golden beets from Russo's in Watertown, which we included in our roasted veggies. Pictured below are the veggies all cut up and ready for roasting! The maple glaze was prepared separately.




I hate to brag, but our turkey came out perfectly! There was some angst about the internal temperature - we weren't sure if we took it out too early or too late - and it didn't help that one of our thermometers gave an insanely high reading. I began to despair that we would have dried out turkey, but the breast meat was incredibly moist and tender. I think it helped that we got a happy, hormone-free, free-range turkey from a local farm.




I also made gravy with the pan drippings; the turkey stock was prepared the week before with turkey legs. Even though it takes a lot of work, using homemade turkey stock gave the gravy more depth (though I would use a lot less salt next time, and cook the roux some more).




Here are a series of pictures detailing the carnage. Ben and Vic were adept at carving the turkey; I think Ben watched a couple videos online about carving. I think he did a great job. Note the lovely color of the skin, and the enormous breasts (our turkey was a traditional broad-breasted white turkey - we considered getting a heritage breed, but they cost significantly more...though I hope to try a heritage breed one day).





The carved turkey laid out on a serving platter. This platter doesn't include the other half of the turkey breast, which fed us for days as leftover turkey, turkey sandwiches, etc.



My brother Vic and I putting the final touches on the dining table.





In addition to maple glazed roasted root vegetables, we had leek mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice pilaf, and stuffing. I loved the stuffing - we used a rustic italian loaf from Clear Flour Bread, sage, roasted chestnuts (which were such a pain to roast and peel, next time I'm going to cheat and get canned ones or omit them), and italian sausage from DePasquale's in Watertown. Here's the recipe (we had seen it on Food Network's Thanksgiving special, and decided to make it because it looked so easy).



Ben's plate at dinner. This was our first Thanksgiving where we took responsibility for getting all the dishes to the table, and I think we did a pretty good job. We cheated with desserts, and ordered pumpkin and pecan pies from Flour Bakery (along with a delish cranberry chutney).

stop! drop your kebabs!

Cartoon courtesy of Drive-by Times

As even a casual observer of European politics is aware, the U.S. is not the only Western country to harbor anti-immigrant, Know-Nothing sentiment. In fact, for all of our Tom Tancredos and "Minutemen" [warning: that link goes to a website full of right-wing xenophobia], we've got nothing on Berlusconi's Italy.

A new movement in Northern Italy wants to severely restrict restaurants from serving "non-Italian" (i.e. "ethnic") food. The picturesque walled town of Lucca, in Tuscany, passed a law banning the opening of any new restaurants that don't serve "traditional" Italian food.

The Left describes it as "gastronomic racism" and the Times of London comes through with an appropriately bombastic headline: "Italy bans kebabs and foreign foods from cities."

The reality is not quite so severe (not yet, at least). Lucca's law, as far as I can tell, is a small town, semi-reactionary attempt to keep the downtown area (i.e. inside the medieval walls) from losing its quaint atmosphere.

A spokesman for Lucca's town hall defended the new rules, saying they were meant to safeguard the city's traditional and cultural identity and that it also applied to sex shops, fast food restaurants and take-away pizza parlors.

"The ban targets McDonald's as much as kebab restaurants," he said

Plus, the already existing ethnic restaurants--which include four kebab shops--will not be forced to close down.

Still, there does seem to be a broader xenophobe-cuisine in the works. According to the Times, many Northern cities are considering similar action.

Luca Zaia, the Minister of Agriculture and a member of the Northern League from the Veneto region, applauded the authorities in Lucca and Milan for cracking down on nonItalian food. “We stand for tradition and the safeguarding of our culture,” he said.

They fear not only foreign culture, but competition. Immigrant cooks apparently work too hard:

Davide Boni, a councillor in Milan for the Northern League, which also opposes the building of mosques in Italian cities, said that kebab shop owners were prepared to work long hours, which was unfair competition.

The best part about this controversy is the ridiculous situations it might generate. How does one determine what is "foreign"? Will fusion cuisine be banned? Isn't pizza essentially an American invention? (not to mention the fact that tomatoes come from Latin America). Imagine the new types of purity tests right-wing politicians will have to pass. The Times is already on it:

Asked if he had ever eaten a kebab, Mr Zaia said: “No – and I defy anyone to prove the contrary. I prefer the dishes of my native Veneto. I even refuse to eat pineapple.”

Oh man. His re-election campaign is going to be so screwed when the photo of him ordering from Amar's shwarma gets out!

Jo Jo Taipei and Allston musings

We checked out Jo Jo Taipei today for a late lunch, and it was deeelish! We had their "Special Mini Steamed Buns" aka Xiao Long Bao aka Soup Dumplings (pictured above), "Three Cups Eggplant," warm sweet soy milk, and Taiwanese Wonton Noodle Soup. Our meal started with complimentary salted peanuts and shredded marinated cabbage (pictured below). The restaurant is relatively new to the Allston area, nicely decorated and in a great location (Brighton Ave. and Linden St.).



I'm looking forward to going back and trying more dishes - it's hard to find good soup dumplings in Boston. We've had them at Gourmet Dumpling House, the old New Shanghai (RIP), and Windsor Dim Sum. I think the ones we had at Jo Jo were the best out of the bunch. They don't really compare to the ones I've had in Manhattan, at Joe's Ginger and some other places, but I've got to credit today's dumplings. The eggplant was prepared with one cup of soy sauce, one cup of wine, and one cup of water (plus sliced garlic, sliced ginger and probably an obscene amount of sugar). Next time we go, I want to try the curry beef pockets, tofu hot pot, three cups tofu, flounder fillet, tofu with shrimp, mapo tofu, and everything on the weekend brunch menu.

The Allston-Brighton area is blowing up with restaurants! We love Shabu-Zen, Gitlo's, Punjab Palace, and the 88 Market Food Court - Ken's Ramen is TDF. I also really like Kantin, the Cantonese place in the food court, and the Vietnamese place. I want to check out The Battery (fish n chips!), Cafe Brazil, Grain and Salt, the Nepalese place, Alfredo's, the take-out Thai place, and I want to give YoMa another try (the first time at YoMa, I ate some really spicy food that did a number on my tummy). Shanghai Gate was only ok (which reminds me - we had soup dumplings there too, but they weren't very good - but the fish soup with tofu is excellent).

Too bad we love cooking at home too much. We'll be lucky if we try all these places before 2010 rolls around.

The A-B was already known as a bar hot spot, but we adore Deep Ellum, despite the overabundance of hipsters. It's as if we were back in the Upper West Side and tried to venture out to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This is where I popped my Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA cherry. I've had the hot dog and fries there, but the homemade pretzels are fantastic and go very well with the impressive selection of beers on tap. In addition to Deep Ellum, we frequent Our House (preferably on weekday nights) and Joshua Tree (1/2 price burgers on Wednesdays).

Since this post has morphed into Allston musings, I can't help but add that Herrell's has tasty ice cream when we're too lazy to make it at home ourselves or go to JP Licks in Coolidge Corner.