Mac & Cheeses at a Great ‘Places’

Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to get a seat at a Mac & Cheese Tasting at Church near Fenway. Google Places hosted this exciting opportunity as a reward for folks who wrote reviews for Google Places. I tell ya, Google can take over the world and I’d be a-OK with it.
google_lipchap_390_590
I saw the offer as a tweet and I posted a few reviews. I went with places that didn’t already have hundreds of reviews. I love to give my opinion but I don’t like to rehash the same thing everyone else has said.
google_door_590_390
The dinner was super fun and I was joined by two lovely ladies who love mac & cheese almost as much as I do. It was doubly exciting since one of Church’s culinary directors is Laura Henry-Zoubir of Regal Beagle and I’ve seen her on Chopped.

We tasted 5 mac & cheeses, family style, and got to select 2 craft beers. Google gave us cute goodies including a google places beer glass, drink stirrer, coozie, bottle opener, and lip chap (as some folks would call it 😉 .

I have to admit, when I saw the first skillet I thought it might not be enough for all 20-ish people there! Boy was I mistaken…we had seconds and it just kept coming.
google_skillet_590_390
The first one was mozzarella, Romano, basil and a balsamic tomato relish mac and cheese. It was so good. I loved the roasted tomatoes and that they were mostly whole chunks. I didn’t really taste much balsamic but the basil was flavorful.
google_fist_tom_590_390
The next was goat cheese, winter squash, Spicy IPA Pepitas, and sage. It was amazing. This was totally my favorite and I’m not always on board with goat cheese. I wish this was a scratch & sniff.
google_2nd_pump_590_390
Then they broke out the truffle oil. Cue a communal swoon. We could smell it coming. This one had truffle oil, mushrooms, and Pale Ale Vermont cheddar cheese.
google_3rd_mush_590_390
Now they brought out the spice. The next was Monterey Jack, poblanos, and chorizo. Ohh boy. This was definitely spicy but I liked it. I think there was a good deal leftover, maybe because we had already had 3 mac and cheeses already.
google_4th_chorizo_590_390
The last one had braised beef. I couldn’t eat this one, but I hear it was good. I had already eaten plenty.
google_5th_beef_590_390
We had a good time and it was a nice crowd. I still can’t believe how much that one (albeit massive) skillet served! Maybe it was wise to not have all 5 flavors on one plate.

Multiple Christmas Dinners

Christmas probably seems like a long time ago for you, but for Mr. J and I, it was a whirlwind and feels like it just happened. We really tried not to wish Christmas away while awaiting our closing date and moving day. Christmas is a multi-day, multi-state, multi-family celebration for Mr. J and me. We coordinate our travel plans to spend time with his family in Maine and with my family in Greater Boston. It’s so fun, quite tiring, and there’s many meals. Here’s my recap of how those days were enjoyed through the meals.

At my family’s holiday, we are all about the traditional foods year after year. Apparently we cannot (or will not) break a few of these food traditions. On Christmas eve the R family has soup (clam chowder)
xmas_ran_din_soup_590_390
My dad madee an amazing antipasto salad. He’s not really the cook in our family so we were impressed!
xmas_ran_din_salad_590_390
My mum made the cutest cheese ball I’ve ever seen.
xmas_ran_din_snowman390_590
On Christmas morning, we have coffee and a cheesecake-like coffee cake while we start gifts. It had apricot jelly and almonds on it.
xmas_ran_bfast_cofcake_590_390
During a gift break, we have brunch with this casserole assembled the night before. It has rice, ham, cheese, eggs, and asparagus. It’s creamy and delicious.
xmas_ran_bfast_egg_590_390
Christmas dinner was a surprise this year. Turducken! I was sooo excited to try it. We weren’t overly impressed and I think their suggested cooking time was way too much.
xmas_ran_din_turduck_590_390
We weren’t sure it would feed the 7 adults attending so we had a few heftier sides like this awesome shrimp dish (just shrimp, butter, and ritz).
xmas_ran_din_shrimp_590_390
We had a Yule Log since it’s Dad’s favorite.
xmas_ran_din_youle
In Maine Mrs. S recreated my failed apple bacon stuffed French toast. Amazing. It was so thick, sticky, and had plenty of crunchy bacon. I loved it and I knew somebody else could do it right.
xmas_chi_bfast_390_590
For lunch/dinner we had a cool ramen and cabbage salad. I’ve never had one with grapes and I loved it.
xmas_chi_din_noodles_590_390
We had some crockpot dishes that were good for feasting throughout the afternoon. The turkey meatballs we delicious.
xmas_chi_din_balls_590_390
I wish I got a shot of the cake balls. I mean I ate enough of them there really wasn’t an excuse not to get a photo.

Christmas was really fun and we are always so grateful to make it to both families.

Did Ya Miss Me

I’m back from my moving/house-buying hiatus. I’m happy to be back to a normal routine and I have LOTS of catching up to do!

Allow me to introduce my new house’s kitchen! I’m loving it. It’s my favorite part of the house. I wish I had some “before” aka the world’s tiniest & darkest kitchen photos for comparison. I meant to, but it just didn’t happen.

Here’s a wide shot. I could live on that island.
kitchen_wide_590_390
The backspash is also one of my favorite things about the kitchen. The colors are really nice blues, copper, tan, and cream. It is awesome.
kitchen_backspash_590_390
And here are the sisters. Double sinks are pretty bomb, especially when they’re both this big & deep. I secretly like doing dishes so they’re perfect.
kitchen_sink_590_390
Check. Out. This. Fridge. Wow. It is so big and shiny!
kitchen_fridge_390_590

We were pleasantly surprised to discover this nifty filtered water spout inside. I hadn’t been able to get used to the taste of the water but this solved the problem.
kitchen_water_390_590
The corner cabinets are used really well. Genius! The cabinets are cherry and i just polished them up.
kitchen_cabinet_390_590

There are great “pantry” cabinets against the stairs. One has drawers that pull out. I use the term pantry loosely since a pantry is actually a room. My parents have the coolest pantry ever. Maybe sometime I’ll kitchen-snoop there.
kitchen_pantry_390_590
The other was a broom closet and handy Mr. J installed shelves for more storage! We have some organizing to do between the 2 cabinets.
kitchen_broom_390_590
Here is the stove. I’m getting used to the gas and my new pots & pans. The power burner, as it is called, proved too powerful for yesterday morning’s bacon. It went from uncooked to burnt in a second. Tragedy. (Check out the time! palindromes are my favorite!)
kitchen_stove_390_590
There’s an awesome wet bar/buffet by the dining table. I love that the quartz counters continued and that baby sink I’m sure will prove handy. Like my wine stock? I realized it is a bit much since Mr. J doesn’t really drink wine. Guess it calls for a party!
kitchen_wetbar_590_390
The house is awesome and we’re loving it. Mr. J has found his calling in life as a homeowner and Mr. Fix-It. Our wedding fiestaware makes nightly appearances at dinner as we smile looking around. We actually get to live here! The pup cannot get enough of his yard, or all the windows that look out at it. We still have more unpacking to do but things are looking good so far!

This week I’ll get you caught up on Christmas and a pretty sweet mac & cheese tasting. Stay tuned!

Just Like The Terminator

…I’ll be back. I need a bit more time since I am settling into my new home. We JUST got internet and cable and have made our way through the boxes. Work is nutty and post-holiday craziness is subsiding, so we’re getting there!

I have some exciting tidbits for you, when I do come back. Here are some morsels you can salivate over until I return in full force:

  • a google-hosted mac & cheese tasting: 5 mac and cheeses…count ’em
  • 2 amazing Christmases
  • maybe some resolutions for the new year
  • a tour of my dare-I-say amazing kitchen (complete with new-to-us but from-the-wedding gifts!)
  • a cookie swap at one of Boston’s best bakeries
  • pumpkin pasta
  • tomato zucchini risotto
  • etc etc etc

See ya soon!

Movin’ On Up!

It sure is a Happy New Year! The time has come. Mr. J and I are moving to our dream home! We are beyond excited and it feels like a long time coming. The house hunt wasn’t that long, but the buying process was much more involved than House Hunters lead us to believe.
front_509_341
Our house is fantastic. The kitchen is TO. DIE. FOR. I’m not even just comparing it to my horrendous apartment kitchen. I have more cabinets than I know what to do with but I’m sure willing to try! No more broken tiled floor in the kitchen! No more tiny cabinets! We have windows in the kitchen! We have stone counter tops! We have so much space!

kitchen_509_388

Mr. J is sooo excited to grill and the pup has never had a yard! Needless to say we’re in moving and homeownership bliss. We are sad to leave some really fun restaurants and we’ve loved living so close to friends, fun city happenings, hockey leagues etc. It is just time and we’ve been ready for awhile.

I’ll be back in full force soon after I break in this perfect Christmas present! Hang tight while I unpack, get internet, and swoon over my house…you know, the important things. Leave your suggestions about what I should cook now that I have all the room in the world!