Category: We recommend!

Bone China for Everyday: A Little Luxury We’ve Never Regretted Buying

Some readers have noticed that we use Wedgwood bone china in our food photo shots. That's because these are our everyday dishes. Once upon a time, Penny managed the home furnishings division of a department store. The china department was part of her domain and she learned about the pros and cons of various types of dinnerware.

In a small city home, we decided we only had space to store one set of dishes. We didn't mind paying for something that would last. Here we are decades later enjoying the same pieces of Wedgwood Nantucket that we bought way back then. We have replaced a couple of pieces what were broken in a really bad drop onto a slate floor. However, since our choice is a classic pattern, we've been able to do that easily.

Why Bone China?

Because it is attractive, graceful, lightweight, strong, durable, and if you buy a timeless pattern from a major fine china producer, you will be able to buy additional pieces or replacement pieces if you ever need them.

If you don't have gold or silver trim, it is dishwasher and microwave safe.

As a cook, Penny loves the look of food on a white plate, so we confined our original search to while bone china with or without an embossed pattern. What's more, with a white pattern, you don't have to worry about colors fading or wearing off. Wedgwood happens to have a great collection of all white bone china, so we narrowed our search to that firm.

Our original plan was to add some pieces of the Wedgwood White pattern as a calmer, simpler choice. You can mix and match the pieces from the various patterns because the white bone china material is all the same color and tone. Since we never tired of our Wedgwood Nantucket Basket pattern, we never did add the second pattern.

Today you have an even wider selection than we had back then. Here are some of the popular Wedgwood all white patterns available on Amazon:

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

August 11, 2017
North End Waterfront Is “Talking With Paul Deuterio From Galleria Umberto (No, It’s Not Closing)”

We have featured the great site North End Waterfront as a Friday link in the past. Today they win a spot for this great interview with Paul Deuterio From Galleria Umberto.

You know we are fans of this wonderful North End gem of a restaurant. We have covered it before, usually to remind other fans about the restaurant's traditional July vacation. We have shared it with friends who are amazed at the quality and the value.

We are also fans of North End Waterfront because the team there led by Matt Conti keeps us informed on the past, present, and future of this neighborhood. This great interview with lots of background information is one example of why we visit the site and follow their updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 28, 2017
North End Waterfront Is “Talking With Paul Deuterio From Galleria Umberto (No, It’s Not Closing)”

We have featured the great site North End Waterfront as a Friday link in the past. Today they win a spot for this great interview with Paul Deuterio From Galleria Umberto.

You know we are fans of this wonderful North End gem of a restaurant. We have covered it before, usually to remind other fans about the restaurant's traditional July vacation. We have shared it with friends who are amazed at the quality and the value.

We are also fans of North End Waterfront because the team there led by Matt Conti keeps us informed on the past, present, and future of this neighborhood. This great interview with lots of background information is one example of why we visit the site and follow their updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 28, 2017
Variations on Slaw for Cool Summer Suppers

We have been eating a lot of variation on slaw better known around hers as shredded salads. Penny will pull out the vegetable bins and start chopping, julienning, and slicing until she has a bowl of delicious.

This one had a few chive flowers in addition to cabbage, carrots, scallions and radishes.

Here shredded chicken leftover from a roasted bird was mixed with Napa cabbage, carrots, mint, and a Vietnamese style dressing. It was topped with chopped peanuts, and fried shallots. This salad was a main dish.

Rice noodles and cucumbers joined the cabbage party here and a few pieces of poached chicken finished the plate.

By cooking an extra piece of salmon, we had a second dinner ready by adding it to a slaw.

Here was the first meal with a slaw on the side. This mix also used up some celery leaves.

Safe Shredding

You can buy bags of pre-shredded or spiralized vegetables for slaws. However, if you want to start from scratch, you have a few options to turn your components into the classic slaw cut. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice knife skills. Teaching someone to make this salad is a great way for them to learn how to slice, chop, mince, and julienne.

For a big batch of slaw, you might want to use your food processor or mandoline. Penny’s usual method is to slice the cabbage, celery, scallions, herbs, and such, with a knife and use a mandoline for items like carrots that she really wants to cut into a fine julienne. One more option is to do the prep work on different parts of a classic box grater or with an assortment of microplanes.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 26, 2017
Variations on Slaw for Cool Summer Suppers

We have been eating a lot of variation on slaw better known around hers as shredded salads. Penny will pull out the vegetable bins and start chopping, julienning, and slicing until she has a bowl of delicious.

This one had a few chive flowers in addition to cabbage, carrots, scallions and radishes.

Here shredded chicken leftover from a roasted bird was mixed with Napa cabbage, carrots, mint, and a Vietnamese style dressing. It was topped with chopped peanuts, and fried shallots. This salad was a main dish.

Rice noodles and cucumbers joined the cabbage party here and a few pieces of poached chicken finished the plate.

By cooking an extra piece of salmon, we had a second dinner ready by adding it to a slaw.

Here was the first meal with a slaw on the side. This mix also used up some celery leaves.

Safe Shredding

You can buy bags of pre-shredded or spiralized vegetables for slaws. However, if you want to start from scratch, you have a few options to turn your components into the classic slaw cut. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice knife skills. Teaching someone to make this salad is a great way for them to learn how to slice, chop, mince, and julienne.

For a big batch of slaw, you might want to use your food processor or mandoline. Penny’s usual method is to slice the cabbage, celery, scallions, herbs, and such, with a knife and use a mandoline for items like carrots that she really wants to cut into a fine julienne. One more option is to do the prep work on different parts of a classic box grater or with an assortment of microplanes.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 26, 2017
Tai Chi at MGH’s Benson-Henry Institute

This summer I've been taking tai chi training at MGH's Benson-Henry Institute. It is one more move forward in my healthy living program. Friends will tell you that I'm recommending Tai Chi, and especially this particular program, for anyone who has thought about exploring ways to reduce stress, improve balance, and strengthen their bodies.

Why Tai Chi?

My fascination with this form of mind/body exercise began years ago when I would walk in the Boston Public Garden and watch Asian men and women, young and old, practice this ancient art.

In September I added a morning walk to my daily routine. Most days the highlight of that walk is the time I spend in the Public Garden.

Each morning, in the warmer weather, this group of women gather at the Swan Boat landing and work out together.

Why the Benson-Henry Institute?

I've been a long, longtime follower of Herbert Benson, MD, and his research into mind body medicine. I took a Relaxation Response class with him many years ago and have kept up with his work at Harvard and MGH and read a number of his books and audio books.

When I decided to take tai chi training, I felt assured the staff there would be of the highest caliber and the training would be focused on goals that would fit my needs.

The next set of classes will not be scheduled until fall, but there are resources available online for meditation and to learn more about the other programs they offer.

I recommend that you contact them now by email and tell them what program you would like to join. I did and they let me know when registration opened for the classes.

Here is their homepage.

Here is their Facebook.

And here is their Twitter.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 14, 2017
Tai Chi at MGH’s Benson-Henry Institute

This summer I've been taking tai chi training at MGH's Benson-Henry Institute. It is one more move forward in my healthy living program. Friends will tell you that I'm recommending Tai Chi, and especially this particular program, for anyone who has thought about exploring ways to reduce stress, improve balance, and strengthen their bodies.

Why Tai Chi?

My fascination with this form of mind/body exercise began years ago when I would walk in the Boston Public Garden and watch Asian men and women, young and old, practice this ancient art.

In September I added a morning walk to my daily routine. Most days the highlight of that walk is the time I spend in the Public Garden.

Each morning, in the warmer weather, this group of women gather at the Swan Boat landing and work out together.

Why the Benson-Henry Institute?

I've been a long, longtime follower of Herbert Benson, MD, and his research into mind body medicine. I took a Relaxation Response class with him many years ago and have kept up with his work at Harvard and MGH and read a number of his books and audio books.

When I decided to take tai chi training, I felt assured the staff there would be of the highest caliber and the training would be focused on goals that would fit my needs.

The next set of classes will not be scheduled until fall, but there are resources available online for meditation and to learn more about the other programs they offer.

I recommend that you contact them now by email and tell them what program you would like to join. I did and they let me know when registration opened for the classes.

Here is their homepage.

Here is their Facebook.

And here is their Twitter.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 14, 2017
BackBayHouses.org, Time to Check in Again and a Way to Contribute to the Site

During Preservation Month, we had the great pleasure of attending the "Reformed, Remodeled, Replaced, Redeemed" a Walking Tour of the Back Bay led by Tom High from BackBayHouses.org and Susie Shafer, Co-Chair Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay's Architecture Committee.

Penny is a regular visitor to BackBayHouses.org because she uses it for fact checking when she writes about Back Bay Architecture and quotes from it when she finds some delightful tidbit to feature in her Attention to Detail newspaper columns.

But, as we listened to all the new information Tom presented in this tour, we said it was time to remind our readers that this is not a static site. New photos, blueprints, deed records, corrections, and additional information are being added all the time.

A Very Important Request from the Publishers of BackBayHouses.org

We also wanted to pass on a very important way that you can help make this site (that is already such an important historical record) even better. We asked Tom High to put the request in his own words.

"We're constantly looking for old photos or drawings of the houses in the Back Bay that will help illustrate how they have evolved over the years. We'd love to hear from anyone who might have something they could share. And we also are always looking for new information or corrections about the houses and who lived in them. The best way to reach us is through the 'contact' tab on the website."

So check your own building's records and any others that you have for some interesting knowledge. Check those old boxes of photos and albums to see if any of them contain images you might be willing to share.

Send along any stories or tidbits of information you have about buildings in the residential district of the Back Bay.

The site is carefully fact checked and edited, so you know that proper documentation will be in place and credits given for any material used.

And, should this very quickly sold-out tour ever be offered again, be sure to get on the list to attend.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 7, 2017
BackBayHouses.org, Time to Check in Again and a Way to Contribute to the Site

During Preservation Month, we had the great pleasure of attending the "Reformed, Remodeled, Replaced, Redeemed" a Walking Tour of the Back Bay led by Tom High from BackBayHouses.org and Susie Shafer, Co-Chair Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay's Architecture Committee.

Penny is a regular visitor to BackBayHouses.org because she uses it for fact checking when she writes about Back Bay Architecture and quotes from it when she finds some delightful tidbit to feature in her Attention to Detail newspaper columns.

But, as we listened to all the new information Tom presented in this tour, we said it was time to remind our readers that this is not a static site. New photos, blueprints, deed records, corrections, and additional information are being added all the time.

A Very Important Request from the Publishers of BackBayHouses.org

We also wanted to pass on a very important way that you can help make this site (that is already such an important historical record) even better. We asked Tom High to put the request in his own words.

"We're constantly looking for old photos or drawings of the houses in the Back Bay that will help illustrate how they have evolved over the years. We'd love to hear from anyone who might have something they could share. And we also are always looking for new information or corrections about the houses and who lived in them. The best way to reach us is through the 'contact' tab on the website."

So check your own building's records and any others that you have for some interesting knowledge. Check those old boxes of photos and albums to see if any of them contain images you might be willing to share.

Send along any stories or tidbits of information you have about buildings in the residential district of the Back Bay.

The site is carefully fact checked and edited, so you know that proper documentation will be in place and credits given for any material used.

And, should this very quickly sold-out tour ever be offered again, be sure to get on the list to attend.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 7, 2017
Petit Robert Bistro Profiterole Update!

We don't talk about dessert around here very often. That is partly because desserts often disappoint. So when a dessert we love, like the giant profiterole at Petit Robert Bistro (South End) arrives at our table with a different look from the last time we wrote about it, we hold our breath as our spoons descend and hope for the best.

The good news is that it is only the shape that has changed.

The pastry is still crisp and light, the ice cream is still rich and full-flavored, and the chocolate sauce is still swoon-worthy.

It is still a dessert that is worth a walk to the South End and all the other steps it will take to neutralize the calorie count.

It is also a dessert to keep in mind when you go to another restaurant where the dessert list does disappoint. At Petit Robert, they have graciously served us a profiterole at the bar, upon request.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny Cherubino

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