Author: Ed

Groundhog Stressed Over 2012 Prediction!

Phil's Magic Touch! (photo by AlicePopkorn)

I can only imagine the excruciating stress Punxsutawney Phil must be feeling as Groundhog Day 2012 approaches. Let’s be honest, the little guy is faced with a very difficult prognostication! His job description states that he must work his magic to reliably determine spring’s ETA. But, this year, the question is not how much time until spring, but is there enough time left for a "real" winter!

Of course, this suggests that we’ve gone from fall to spring having somehow skipped right over winter. And, if winter finally does arrive, will there be another spring or an abrupt switch to summer? It’s no wonder rumors are spreading about Phil’s clandestine visits to a special therapist.

"Phil Who?" (photo by hynkle)

Since Phil hasn’t returned our phone calls, we’ve made repeated attempts to approach some of his rodent-relatives. After all, it’s not much of a stretch to see how the groundhog could be mistaken for a large squirrel. The problem is, all of the Boston squirrels we’ve asked don’t have any Punxutawney connections– where’s facebook when you need it?

It’s looking, more and more, as if we’ll just have to wait for February 2nd and hope that Phil comes up with a workable solution. He always does! Good Luck, buddy.

Sunday Dog will return to this space, next week.

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Words: Ed Cherubino
Groundhog Photo: used under this creative commons license Some rights reserved by AlicePopkorn
Squirrel Photo: used under this creative commons license Some rights reserved by hynkle

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January 29, 2012
A Bunch of History Tipping & Tilting

Inside the King's Chapel Burying Ground the stones tilt and lean into, and away from, one another. Like a group of people at a gathering, they stand in clusters of two, three, or more. Perhaps, this is what those they memorialize once did in life.

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King's Chapel

Tremont & Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts (map)

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

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January 28, 2012
NorthEndWaterfront’s New Look for 2012

Over at NorthEndWaterfront.com, Matt Conti has been working hard and is now ready to show the world his redesign of this great community resource. If you live, work, or play in Boston's North End or Waterfront neighborhoods, you should subscribe to this site.

During the last year, Matt has been adding more photography and video to the solid news coverage he has always supplied. We read it daily and highly recommend it. We're making this redesign our Friday Link today!

Thanks for all the great information Matt!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Screenshot courtesy of NorthEndWaterfront.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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

January 27, 2012
Hearty, Herby Split Pea Soup

My favorite split pea soup recipe started out as the one in Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells. She takes a simple pea soup with ham recipe and adds lots of garlic herbs and spices– thyme, marjoram, parsley, and cloves. I took her recipe and added big pieces of carrot and a dose of cumin seed toasted and then ground.

I love Patrica Wells' cookbooks because the recipes always seem to work, and she has a very relaxed style that invites you, as a cook, to make changes and finish the dish in differnet ways. With this I took her up on not puréeing the soup but serving it in a rustic, chunky style.

If you would like to learn from a real pro and love little tips tucked into the pages of a cookbook, I highly recommend this one, Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells. I've learned a lot from this outstanding food writer.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

January 26, 2012
Pecorino di Moliterno- Cheese from Sardinia

We always like to let you know when a great wheel of cheese, like this Pecorino di Moliterno, is being cut at one of the area's great cheese shops. We bought this one at Salumeria Italiana in the North End.

Pecorino means it's made with sheep's milk but, in this case, it may have a bit of goat's milk added. Some Moliternos do. Salumeria also had a second version of this cheese with truffles added.

As you can see, we paired this with Bosc pears. It was a great combination! Some vendors selling this cheese suggest following the Sardinian tradition of serving it with a smidge of hot pepper jelly.

Sheep's milk has a higher fat content than cow or goat milk. Therefore, the experts suggest you remove from refrigeration and bring to room temperature only what you want to eat immediately. As the cheese warms, some of the fat will come to the surface. That will never be reabsorbed if you have to put it back in the cooler.

Here are a few of our favorite books on cheese. But, click here for many more choices over at Amazon.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

January 25, 2012
Valentine’s Day Live Performances at Half Price

Here's the BosTix booth in Copley Square. There's a second one at Quincy Market.

Treat your Valentine to the serendipity of a live performance at half-price by strolling to one of the BosTix ticket booths and selecting from the available offerings. You could do it on the 14th, the weekend before, or you could present your sweetheart with a gift certifcate or promissory note to do it when the mood strikes!

Add a meal at one of the many inexpensive, ethnic restaurants around the city, and you have a great afternoon or evening at a reasonable price.

BosTix is a program of ArtsBoston. If your budget is flush, you can support the arts with a visit to their main site where you can see all the great entertainment available around the area.

Related Post with links to others:

Valentine's Day 2012 – Romantic Dining in Boston

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

January 24, 2012
Cabbage & Kielbasa Stir-Fry: Keep it Simple in the Kitchen
Once you master the stir-fry technique, you can take it out of Asia and transport classic combinations from other cultures to the land of delicious in a wok or large skillet. How about Eastern European Cabbage & Kielbasa as a stir-fry with some apples and onions tossed in for accents?

That's a new favorite around here. And, in keeping with my attempt to get some of you cooking without exact recipes, I'll tell you how I made it and you can ad lib around my theme.
- I sliced up a big, sweet onion and sautéed it in olive oil in my All-Clad Nonstick 12-Inch Fry Pan.
- I cut a ring of kielbasa into slices and added those to the onions to brown a bit and give off its fat and garlicky flavor to the pan. (I used a pork kielbasa but you can buy what you like: lite, low fat, turkey, etc.)
- As the onion and kielbasa started to color a bit, I added a sliced apple. (Use what you have– I had Granny Smith. Peel it or not, that's up to you.)
- Finally, I chopped and added a small head of cabbage (from the Prudential Winter Farmers' Market) to the pan, added some white wine, a few turns of black pepper, and stirred up the whole thing. I covered it and waited a few minutes for the cabbage to become wilted but still toothsome in places.
We had it with a hearty multi-grain bread.

Sometimes I substitute gin for the wine and add four or five crushed juniper berries to the dish. You could also add a can of crushed or diced tomatoes.

What changes will you make to this basic recipe? Let us know if you try it and how it turned out for you.

Related Posts:

Here are more of my non-recipe recipes and a few with traditional details.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny Cherubino
January 23, 2012
Tips on “Being” from Sunday Dog, Ollie

To hear Ollie tell it, there’s no deep, philosophical secret to being a dog. While he admits it does take a bit of concentration, the most important thing to remember is, “Don’t over-think life. Just be yourself. And always, always be ready to PLAY!

This five year old Miniature Poodle loves everyone. Besides having energy to spare, his breed is known as “the second most intelligent” in the canine world. That’s why we felt confident asking Ollie to share his life experience with all of us.

His favorite toy? “The newest one!" Since everybody gives him toys, after they’ve been in the house for a month or so, Ollie passes them on to Buddy Dog– a shelter in Sudbury, MA.

Ollie always wears his boots this time of year. He loves the snowy, wintry weather, but not the rock salt which several veterinarians have warned him can trigger his epilepsy.

Ollie recommends an ice-melt that’s safer for paws and the dogs attached to them, and safe for the environment.

Great tips, Ollie! Thanks for sharing. You’re an amazing Sunday Dog!

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

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Words: Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

January 22, 2012
What Goes In, Does Come Out. Watch Your Step!

These Canada Geese are "eating machines." A single Canada goose can consume four pounds of grass and from that produces two pounds of waste per day. There are Canada Goose control programs on the Esplanade and in the Public Garden but not at Charlesgate where this photo was taken.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

January 21, 2012
Training for the Wine Expo!

Today's Friday Link is to a piece we wrote in 2010, Staying Sober at Wine Tasting Events like the Boston Wine Expo.

Are you going to the Boston Wine Expo this weekend? Tell us what you're planning to bring, do, and taste? And, check back afterwards to tell us your reactions to the event and if any of our tips helped.

We tell you:

What to pack to help you stay sober, collect information, and enjoy large tasting events.

How to spit without making a mess of yourself and the event.

How to plan your approach to the event and….

How to tell when you've reached your capacity!

Here's the link to: Staying Sober at Wine Tasting Events like the Boston Wine Expo.

Related Posts:

Here's what we've been writing about wine.

Fine wine glasses that are dishwasher safe? Because Ed insists on washing our stems, I can't swear to it, but the manufacturer says that the Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal Forte Collection can go in the dishwasher. We do put our barware from the same line through the dishwaser all the time.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2011 Penny 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 that are part of the places and services we cover. Often, those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

January 20, 2012