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The Sixth Annual Strawberry Dessert Festival

Today, we turn over the BostonZest keyboard to Allison Dagger from Mass Farmers Markets so she can tell you about this year's Strawberry Dessert Festival. Take it away Allison!

Mass Farmers Markets is pleased to announce the 6th Annual Strawberry Dessert Festival – beginning Friday, June 7, 2013 through Sunday, July 7, 2013 at eateries throughout Massachusetts. Chefs and bakers at each establishment will use fresh strawberries to create strawberry dessert masterpieces not to be missed! Each eatery will donate a percentage of their sales for the dessert to Mass Farmers Markets’ (MFM) mission to promote healthy communities, healthy individuals, and healthy economies; demonstrating their commitment to local farmers markets.

Now in its sixth year, The Mass Farmers Markets Strawberry Dessert Festival was created in 2008 to highlight the local strawberry season while raising much-needed funds for Mass Farmers Markets’ mission as the only state-wide non-profit organization working to sustain and strengthen our farmers market system.

“Our Strawberry Dessert Festival is a great opportunity to support local farmers and farmers markets while enjoying the incredible taste of New England strawberries,” said Jeff Cole, Executive Director of Mass Farmers Markets (MFM). “I think this is a great way to support your local farmer beyond the farmers market!”

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Allison Dagger
Photos: ©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, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Farmers' Markets Opening Dates Spring 2013

At the Market: New Location for City Hall Market

It's Strawberry Season!

June 10, 2013
The Sixth Annual Strawberry Dessert Festival

Today, we turn over the BostonZest keyboard to Allison Dagger from Mass Farmers Markets so she can tell you about this year's Strawberry Dessert Festival. Take it away Allison!

Mass Farmers Markets is pleased to announce the 6th Annual Strawberry Dessert Festival – beginning Friday, June 7, 2013 through Sunday, July 7, 2013 at eateries throughout Massachusetts. Chefs and bakers at each establishment will use fresh strawberries to create strawberry dessert masterpieces not to be missed! Each eatery will donate a percentage of their sales for the dessert to Mass Farmers Markets’ (MFM) mission to promote healthy communities, healthy individuals, and healthy economies; demonstrating their commitment to local farmers markets.

Now in its sixth year, The Mass Farmers Markets Strawberry Dessert Festival was created in 2008 to highlight the local strawberry season while raising much-needed funds for Mass Farmers Markets’ mission as the only state-wide non-profit organization working to sustain and strengthen our farmers market system.

“Our Strawberry Dessert Festival is a great opportunity to support local farmers and farmers markets while enjoying the incredible taste of New England strawberries,” said Jeff Cole, Executive Director of Mass Farmers Markets (MFM). “I think this is a great way to support your local farmer beyond the farmers market!”

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Allison Dagger
Photos: ©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, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Farmers' Markets Opening Dates Spring 2013

At the Market: New Location for City Hall Market

It's Strawberry Season!

June 10, 2013
Edible Boston Summer 2013 Issue Is Our Friday Link

Be on the lookout for the Summer 2013 issue of Edible Boston with this fresh seasonal cover of shrimp from SKy8 Shrimp Farm.

Farmers' Market Listings by County

This issue contains listings of the summer farmers' markets by county. I know I'll be clipping and posting those pages on my refrigerator to check when I'm going to be in a specific neighborhood or town. I love visiting all the different markets in our area.

How do you support a publisher like Ilene Bezahler and her remarkably talented team?

May I suggest that you let their sponsors know you saw them in the magazine and grab an extra copy and get it to someone else who cares about supporting the local food movement. Also, if you have a blog, twitter account, or facebook page, write about them, link to them, follow them, retweet their tweets, like them on Facebook, and in general, spread the word about this great asset to our community.

And, to be sure you never miss an issue, you can subscribe over on their website!

You can also buy the Edible cookbook – Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods or find more local food in The Boston Homegrown Cookbook.

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Artwork: Courtesy of Edible Boston

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 add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 7, 2013
Edible Boston Summer 2013 Issue Is Our Friday Link

Be on the lookout for the Summer 2013 issue of Edible Boston with this fresh seasonal cover of shrimp from SKy8 Shrimp Farm.

Farmers' Market Listings by County

This issue contains listings of the summer farmers' markets by county. I know I'll be clipping and posting those pages on my refrigerator to check when I'm going to be in a specific neighborhood or town. I love visiting all the different markets in our area.

How do you support a publisher like Ilene Bezahler and her remarkably talented team?

May I suggest that you let their sponsors know you saw them in the magazine and grab an extra copy and get it to someone else who cares about supporting the local food movement. Also, if you have a blog, twitter account, or facebook page, write about them, link to them, follow them, retweet their tweets, like them on Facebook, and in general, spread the word about this great asset to our community.

And, to be sure you never miss an issue, you can subscribe over on their website!

You can also buy the Edible cookbook – Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods or find more local food in The Boston Homegrown Cookbook.

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Artwork: Courtesy of Edible Boston

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 add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 7, 2013
Edible Boston Summer 2013 Issue Is Our Friday Link

Be on the lookout for the Summer 2013 issue of Edible Boston with this fresh seasonal cover of shrimp from SKy8 Shrimp Farm.

Farmers' Market Listings by County

This issue contains listings of the summer farmers' markets by county. I know I'll be clipping and posting those pages on my refrigerator to check when I'm going to be in a specific neighborhood or town. I love visiting all the different markets in our area.

How do you support a publisher like Ilene Bezahler and her remarkably talented team?

May I suggest that you let their sponsors know you saw them in the magazine and grab an extra copy and get it to someone else who cares about supporting the local food movement. Also, if you have a blog, twitter account, or facebook page, write about them, link to them, follow them, retweet their tweets, like them on Facebook, and in general, spread the word about this great asset to our community.

And, to be sure you never miss an issue, you can subscribe over on their website!

You can also buy the Edible cookbook – Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods or find more local food in The Boston Homegrown Cookbook.

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Artwork: Courtesy of Edible Boston

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 add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 7, 2013
Farmers’ Market Lobster Rolls: Lobster Roll Chronicles

On our recent visit to the Central Square Farmers' Market, we were happy to meet Chris Manning of C & C Lobsters and Fish. Chris is a lobsterman from Hull who is bringing fresh seafood to Cambridge each Monday!

We had just stuffed ourselves with dosas from the nearby Dosa Factory so something light and fresh, like a lobster roll, for dinner seemed a great idea. Chris showed us his containers of fresh lobster. He catches them and his wife Carolyn picks the meat, deveins the tails, and makes it easy to make your favorite dish with their fresh lobster meat.

While hot dog rolls are traditional, we stopped by the Hi-Rise Bread Company table and grabbed some of their hamburger rolls. They offered lots of surface for piling on the lobster.

The lobster included big pieces of claw and tail, so step one was cutting those into bite size bits.

Notice that we are not mixing anything into our lobster rolls. We lightly toasted the buns, spread the tiniest bit of melted butter on the bottom half, and then piled on the lobster meat.

With the lobster ready to fall off the sides, Penny dripped a bit of melted butter onto the meat …

… just enough to give it a golden glow. And, as you can see in the top photo, we each had a wedge of lemon and small dish of melted butter to adjust our lobster roll to our own taste.

Thanks, Chris and Carolyn! You did most of the work and we had two heaping lobster rolls plus leftovers.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed 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 add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 6, 2013
Farmers’ Market Lobster Rolls: Lobster Roll Chronicles

On our recent visit to the Central Square Farmers' Market, we were happy to meet Chris Manning of C & C Lobsters and Fish. Chris is a lobsterman from Hull who is bringing fresh seafood to Cambridge each Monday!

We had just stuffed ourselves with dosas from the nearby Dosa Factory so something light and fresh, like a lobster roll, for dinner seemed a great idea. Chris showed us his containers of fresh lobster. He catches them and his wife Carolyn picks the meat, deveins the tails, and makes it easy to make your favorite dish with their fresh lobster meat.

While hot dog rolls are traditional, we stopped by the Hi-Rise Bread Company table and grabbed some of their hamburger rolls. They offered lots of surface for piling on the lobster.

The lobster included big pieces of claw and tail, so step one was cutting those into bite size bits.

Notice that we are not mixing anything into our lobster rolls. We lightly toasted the buns, spread the tiniest bit of melted butter on the bottom half, and then piled on the lobster meat.

With the lobster ready to fall off the sides, Penny dripped a bit of melted butter onto the meat …

… just enough to give it a golden glow. And, as you can see in the top photo, we each had a wedge of lemon and small dish of melted butter to adjust our lobster roll to our own taste.

Thanks, Chris and Carolyn! You did most of the work and we had two heaping lobster rolls plus leftovers.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed 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 add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 6, 2013
Farmers’ Market Lobster Rolls: Lobster Roll Chronicles

On our recent visit to the Central Square Farmers' Market, we were happy to meet Chris Manning of C & C Lobsters and Fish. Chris is a lobsterman from Hull who is bringing fresh seafood to Cambridge each Monday!

We had just stuffed ourselves with dosas from the nearby Dosa Factory so something light and fresh, like a lobster roll, for dinner seemed a great idea. Chris showed us his containers of fresh lobster. He catches them and his wife Carolyn picks the meat, deveins the tails, and makes it easy to make your favorite dish with their fresh lobster meat.

While hot dog rolls are traditional, we stopped by the Hi-Rise Bread Company table and grabbed some of their hamburger rolls. They offered lots of surface for piling on the lobster.

The lobster included big pieces of claw and tail, so step one was cutting those into bite size bits.

Notice that we are not mixing anything into our lobster rolls. We lightly toasted the buns, spread the tiniest bit of melted butter on the bottom half, and then piled on the lobster meat.

With the lobster ready to fall off the sides, Penny dripped a bit of melted butter onto the meat …

… just enough to give it a golden glow. And, as you can see in the top photo, we each had a wedge of lemon and small dish of melted butter to adjust our lobster roll to our own taste.

Thanks, Chris and Carolyn! You did most of the work and we had two heaping lobster rolls plus leftovers.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed 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 add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 6, 2013
Father’s Day Dining 2013 In & Around Boston

Time to make reservations, if you plan to treat Dad to a meal out on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Unlike many special occasion days, more restaurants are featuring their regular menus for Dad with a few specials added in some places.

Here’s a link to our ” Dining around Boston on Father’s Day, June 15, 2014 post.

Would your Dad love to get his hands into some great BBQ at Sweet Cheeks Q?

For Father’s Day dining ideas, here are two excellent lists of restaurant suggestions.

Open Table always does a great job guiding you to the right reservation. What’s more, you can just click through and reserve from this list.

Boston Chef’s has a special list from their members. (They will keep adding information to this list as the day draws near.)

Watch this space for updates with links as other reliable sources post their Father’s Day choices. Follow us on Twitter for update alerts.

Updates:

06.05.13 Just had word from Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge that they will host a Father’s Day Barbecue in their outdoor grill garden.

Our picks: We looked at our selections from last year and think they all still stand.

On chowhound, one contributor said that, “Island Creek is the one to beat these days…” We agree. In our opinion, Island Creek Oyster Bar sets the standard for relaxed, comfortable dining with outstanding food and great cocktail and wine programs. We haven’t given them nearly as much coverage as we should, considering how much we like the place. Here’s a post from their early days, and they continue to set the bar high. So, if you want a table there, call right now.

Sweet Cheeks Q in the Fenway may seem to be just for the meat lovers in the clan, but they put out some great veggies and a tray of hot and cold scoops (as they call them) with a remarkable farm salad that will put a smile on any one with a preference for vegetarian fare. And, remember to order the crazy-good biscuits. (You may want to treat Dad to a doggie bag of them for the rest of the week!)

And, if you’re going to Dad’s house, consider ordering take out from Sweet Cheeks. We had our first take out from there recently and were very pleased. Ask Dad to turn on his oven for a quick reheat the right way and arrive with great food in hand.

Check out our Sweet Cheeks posts:

Sweet Cheeks BBQ: A First Look

Sweet Cheeks Q- Great Northern Brisket

Salt & Pepper Potatoes at Sweet Cheeks Q

Bourbon Beer? at Sweet Cheeks

How about simple Italian-American food in a very comfortable setting? We suggest Artu in the North End or on Charles Street in Beacon Hill. Here’s one of our favorite menu items.

If you’d like to treat Dad to something really special, consider the ultimate hamburger at the Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel. Lunch there for just the two of you, some quiet afternoon, could be a great IOU if you can’t be together on the 16th. Here’s what we wrote about that burger.

Another great spot to share a meal, any day of the week, is Coppa in the South End. You can even top off your meal with a quick shopping trip to South End Formaggio across the street. We always do! And, that will let you create a super take-home gift that Dad can help select. Need more convincing? Take a look at:

Patio Season Launched At Coppa

Friday Lunch at Coppa, an Italian Seduction

Coppa Italian Grinder: A Best Bite

Coppa- A First Look

And, if you’re thinking of adventure and the South End, how about a guided tour of the food trucks gathered at the SOWA Open Market each Sunday. No resevations needed! Check out:

SOWA Market: Where to Find Food Trucks!

And, for the best gift, let Dad choose something from his Wish List. Get an Amazon Gift Card! You can send it by email or print it out to tuck into a greeting card. And, if he doesn’t shop online, offer to sit with your Dad and take him on an Amazon Shopping Trip.

Details:
Writers: 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 add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Related articles

Patio Season Launched At Coppa

It’s Boston Pops Season, Where to Dine and Park!

Father’s Day Appetizers

June 4, 2013
Father’s Day Dining 2013 In & Around Boston

Time to make reservations, if you plan to treat Dad to a meal out on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Unlike many special occasion days, more restaurants are featuring their regular menus for Dad with a few specials added in some places.

Here’s a link to our ” Dining around Boston on Father’s Day, June 15, 2014 post.

Would your Dad love to get his hands into some great BBQ at Sweet Cheeks Q?

For Father’s Day dining ideas, here are two excellent lists of restaurant suggestions.

Open Table always does a great job guiding you to the right reservation. What’s more, you can just click through and reserve from this list.

Boston Chef’s has a special list from their members. (They will keep adding information to this list as the day draws near.)

Watch this space for updates with links as other reliable sources post their Father’s Day choices. Follow us on Twitter for update alerts.

Updates:

06.05.13 Just had word from Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge that they will host a Father’s Day Barbecue in their outdoor grill garden.

Our picks: We looked at our selections from last year and think they all still stand.

On chowhound, one contributor said that, “Island Creek is the one to beat these days…” We agree. In our opinion, Island Creek Oyster Bar sets the standard for relaxed, comfortable dining with outstanding food and great cocktail and wine programs. We haven’t given them nearly as much coverage as we should, considering how much we like the place. Here’s a post from their early days, and they continue to set the bar high. So, if you want a table there, call right now.

Sweet Cheeks Q in the Fenway may seem to be just for the meat lovers in the clan, but they put out some great veggies and a tray of hot and cold scoops (as they call them) with a remarkable farm salad that will put a smile on any one with a preference for vegetarian fare. And, remember to order the crazy-good biscuits. (You may want to treat Dad to a doggie bag of them for the rest of the week!)

And, if you’re going to Dad’s house, consider ordering take out from Sweet Cheeks. We had our first take out from there recently and were very pleased. Ask Dad to turn on his oven for a quick reheat the right way and arrive with great food in hand.

Check out our Sweet Cheeks posts:

Sweet Cheeks BBQ: A First Look

Sweet Cheeks Q- Great Northern Brisket

Salt & Pepper Potatoes at Sweet Cheeks Q

Bourbon Beer? at Sweet Cheeks

How about simple Italian-American food in a very comfortable setting? We suggest Artu in the North End or on Charles Street in Beacon Hill. Here’s one of our favorite menu items.

If you’d like to treat Dad to something really special, consider the ultimate hamburger at the Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel. Lunch there for just the two of you, some quiet afternoon, could be a great IOU if you can’t be together on the 16th. Here’s what we wrote about that burger.

Another great spot to share a meal, any day of the week, is Coppa in the South End. You can even top off your meal with a quick shopping trip to South End Formaggio across the street. We always do! And, that will let you create a super take-home gift that Dad can help select. Need more convincing? Take a look at:

Patio Season Launched At Coppa

Friday Lunch at Coppa, an Italian Seduction

Coppa Italian Grinder: A Best Bite

Coppa- A First Look

And, if you’re thinking of adventure and the South End, how about a guided tour of the food trucks gathered at the SOWA Open Market each Sunday. No resevations needed! Check out:

SOWA Market: Where to Find Food Trucks!

And, for the best gift, let Dad choose something from his Wish List. Get an Amazon Gift Card! You can send it by email or print it out to tuck into a greeting card. And, if he doesn’t shop online, offer to sit with your Dad and take him on an Amazon Shopping Trip.

Details:
Writers: 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 add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Related articles

Patio Season Launched At Coppa

It’s Boston Pops Season, Where to Dine and Park!

Father’s Day Appetizers

June 4, 2013