“Every picture shows a spot with which the artist has fallen in love.” Alfred Sisley (Impressionist landscape painter 1839-1899)
From a quiet spot across Mount Vernon Street, this artist created her impression of the Church of the Advent in Beacon Hill.
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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2014 Penny Cherubino
Who knew we would be avoiding hot walks with a young dog? Poppy may be just two, but she does not like the heat and would prefer sitting on a bench sipping water to walking, when it’s above 75 degrees.
On hot days, we try to get out earlier and choose the shady side of the street and the canopy of trees on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall for our exercise.
We carry water on our walks most of the year because Poppy loves to jump up on a bench for a rest and a nice cool drink. Like Maggie Mae before her, Penny swears Poppy has a look she gives us when she wants a drink. And, like most dogs, she is a drippy drinker.
There are lots of products designed for dogs to drink from when you’re out and about.
Here are a few of our favorites.
We love our H2O4K9, Dog Water Bottle and Travel Bowl
Penny keeps a Silicone Pop-Up Water Bowl
If you came out without a special water dish for your dog, you can use a plastic bag. Just slide your hand inside, cup your hand, and pour in some water. It won’t leak the way your hand does without the bag, and you won’t waste water as you would if you let your pup drink from a bottle.
In Boston, we all have to carry extra plastic bags because you must have one to show to an official if they ask about it. Here’s a link to the city rules and regulations for dogs.
You are not only required to pick up after your dog, but you are also required to have something with you to pick up after a dog if you are out with one. The site says,
“When walking your dog, the law necessitates you to be prepared for such occurrences and be equipped with a bag or some other means of feces removal. After it is removed, it is important to dispose of the feces properly, either in a toilet or in a trash container (after being secured in a plastic bag).”
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs (and other critters) at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon
Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino, edited for BostonZest from her CIty Paws Newspaper Column.
Photography: 2008-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino
Who knew we would be avoiding hot walks with a young dog? Poppy may be just two, but she does not like the heat and would prefer sitting on a bench sipping water to walking, when it’s above 75 degrees.
On hot days, we try to get out earlier and choose the shady side of the street and the canopy of trees on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall for our exercise.
We carry water on our walks most of the year because Poppy loves to jump up on a bench for a rest and a nice cool drink. Like Maggie Mae before her, Penny swears Poppy has a look she gives us when she wants a drink. And, like most dogs, she is a drippy drinker.
There are lots of products designed for dogs to drink from when you’re out and about.
Here are a few of our favorites.
We love our H2O4K9, Dog Water Bottle and Travel Bowl
Penny keeps a Silicone Pop-Up Water Bowl
If you came out without a special water dish for your dog, you can use a plastic bag. Just slide your hand inside, cup your hand, and pour in some water. It won’t leak the way your hand does without the bag, and you won’t waste water as you would if you let your pup drink from a bottle.
In Boston, we all have to carry extra plastic bags because you must have one to show to an official if they ask about it. Here’s a link to the city rules and regulations for dogs.
You are not only required to pick up after your dog, but you are also required to have something with you to pick up after a dog if you are out with one. The site says,
“When walking your dog, the law necessitates you to be prepared for such occurrences and be equipped with a bag or some other means of feces removal. After it is removed, it is important to dispose of the feces properly, either in a toilet or in a trash container (after being secured in a plastic bag).”
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs (and other critters) at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon
Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino, edited for BostonZest from her CIty Paws Newspaper Column.
Photography: 2008-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino
On our last trip to Provincetown, we really enjoyed looking up our favorite buildings on the fabulous Building Provincetown website. If you're fortunate enought to be visiting the town this summer, be sure to bookmark this site before you go and have fun learning more about the history of the buildings and vessels you'll see around the town.
Here's a screenshot from the entry for Angel Foods in the East End. It was one of many, many addresses we looked up and learned about. Naturally, we checked out all the places where we've rented, shopped, or dined. And, sprinkled throughout are historic photos that we have really enjoyed seeing. (See this entry for 265-267 Commercial Street.)
We could spend many words telling you about this site, but since someone has already done a great job of that in Provincetown Magazine, we'll just link to their piece.
From Alden Street to Young’s Court: A Living History of Provincetown’s Built Environment
A book will follow the website and we can't wait to add it to our collection.
Here are links to Building Provincetown's author David Dunlap's other books.
From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship
What's on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon – Get Ready for Summer – Everything You Need
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: Screen shot from Building Provincetown
On our last trip to Provincetown, we really enjoyed looking up our favorite buildings on the fabulous Building Provincetown website. If you're fortunate enought to be visiting the town this summer, be sure to bookmark this site before you go and have fun learning more about the history of the buildings and vessels you'll see around the town.
Here's a screenshot from the entry for Angel Foods in the East End. It was one of many, many addresses we looked up and learned about. Naturally, we checked out all the places where we've rented, shopped, or dined. And, sprinkled throughout are historic photos that we have really enjoyed seeing. (See this entry for 265-267 Commercial Street.)
We could spend many words telling you about this site, but since someone has already done a great job of that in Provincetown Magazine, we'll just link to their piece.
From Alden Street to Young’s Court: A Living History of Provincetown’s Built Environment
A book will follow the website and we can't wait to add it to our collection.
Here are links to Building Provincetown's author David Dunlap's other books.
From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship
What's on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon – Get Ready for Summer – Everything You Need
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: Screen shot from Building Provincetown
Juliet, one of the swans in the Boston Pubilc Garden Lagoon, spent a recent afternoon practicing her audition movements for Swan Lake.
She was as graceful as a …
Hope the Boston Ballet was watching too.
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
Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Ed Cherubino
Juliet, one of the swans in the Boston Pubilc Garden Lagoon, spent a recent afternoon practicing her audition movements for Swan Lake.
She was as graceful as a …
Hope the Boston Ballet was watching too.
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
Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Ed Cherubino
One question always comes up when discussing cheese. “Do you eat the rind?”
If it is a natural rind that developed as part of the aging process (like the one on the Rogue River Caveman Blue above), you can eat it. If it is an artificial coating like wax, you shouldn’t eat it. If it's a wrapping like the the grape leaves that Rogue River uses to wrap its award winning rogue River Blue, you can unwrap it, but I would recommend enjoying the flavor the wrapper has added to the cheese it abutted.
Cheeses may also be rubbed with something delicious and that may tempt you to taste the rind. The Vella Dry Jack above is rubbed with a mixture of oil, pepper, and unsweetened cocoa during the aging process.
One of the best suggestions I’ve heard over the years was in the The Murray's Cheese Handbook
This is a great suggestion for the Twig Farm Mixed Drum above. In the photo you can see how the cheese texture and look changes from inside out. Ed would cut off all the rind. That's how he enjoys it. I will taste it before I decide. Sometimes it's too funky but other times it's like getting a second cheese flavor as a bonus for tasting the rind with some of your bites.
I may wash the rind on a stinky washed rind cheese (like the Brebirousse d'Argental Petit: Soft Ripe Sheep's Milk Cheese above) before I try to eat it.
For me, it depends on the type of rind and the condition of the cheese. I’ll normally eat the rind on Brie, Camembert, and a soft bloomy goat cheese like the Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor in the photo above. But, I only buy these cheeses when they are perfectly ripe and I use them right away.
Most of the time, I don’t eat the hard, crusty rinds on long-aged cheeses like Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. Tasting the rind and eating the cheese all the way to the rind can be one more way to explore cheese.
And, here are other posts from our Cheese Collection!
What's on your Cheese shopping list? Here are some great books about cheese.
Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2008-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar photo courtesy of Cabot Cheese.
One question always comes up when discussing cheese. “Do you eat the rind?”
If it is a natural rind that developed as part of the aging process (like the one on the Rogue River Caveman Blue above), you can eat it. If it is an artificial coating like wax, you shouldn’t eat it. If it's a wrapping like the the grape leaves that Rogue River uses to wrap its award winning rogue River Blue, you can unwrap it, but I would recommend enjoying the flavor the wrapper has added to the cheese it abutted.
Cheeses may also be rubbed with something delicious and that may tempt you to taste the rind. The Vella Dry Jack above is rubbed with a mixture of oil, pepper, and unsweetened cocoa during the aging process.
One of the best suggestions I’ve heard over the years was in the The Murray's Cheese Handbook
This is a great suggestion for the Twig Farm Mixed Drum above. In the photo you can see how the cheese texture and look changes from inside out. Ed would cut off all the rind. That's how he enjoys it. I will taste it before I decide. Sometimes it's too funky but other times it's like getting a second cheese flavor as a bonus for tasting the rind with some of your bites.
I may wash the rind on a stinky washed rind cheese (like the Brebirousse d'Argental Petit: Soft Ripe Sheep's Milk Cheese above) before I try to eat it.
For me, it depends on the type of rind and the condition of the cheese. I’ll normally eat the rind on Brie, Camembert, and a soft bloomy goat cheese like the Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor in the photo above. But, I only buy these cheeses when they are perfectly ripe and I use them right away.
Most of the time, I don’t eat the hard, crusty rinds on long-aged cheeses like Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. Tasting the rind and eating the cheese all the way to the rind can be one more way to explore cheese.
And, here are other posts from our Cheese Collection!
What's on your Cheese shopping list? Here are some great books about cheese.
Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2008-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar photo courtesy of Cabot Cheese.
Those of us who love lobster rolls have more options these day. When we first moved to Boston, we quickly learned that if you saw the words "lobster roll" on a menu, it was most likely a "lobster salad roll" with mayonnaise and perhaps fillers.
Here's a photo of a lobster salad roll from Mark H. Anbinder's Flickr photostream. (Used under this creative commons license.)
This looks like a good version with crisp lettuce and little filler. For those who love mayo and don't mind the fillers, there are dozens of great versions of this around the area. But, it is a "lobster salad roll" not a "lobster roll" to those of us who grew up around the Southern Rhode Island or Connecticut seacoast.
Think for a moment. If a menu reads "chicken sandwich," would you expect it to be a "chicken salad sandwich?"
The question of where to get a Hot Buttered Lobster Roll came up on the Boston Trip Advisor Forum recently. That will give you some recommendations from other Boston sources.
Here's where we enjoy lobster rolls – hot or cold but all with no mayo or fillers. (We do welcome a nicely buttered and grilled roll and a bit of drawn butter on the side.)
Neptune Oyster's Hot Buttered Lobster Roll broke the mold for Bostonians. Suddenly, we had a place to go for a great lobster roll. Other places caught on and today we have many great options.
Jake's Seafood in Hull has always given us the same lobster roll we knew and loved from Rhode Island seafood shacks. Jake's menu reads, "Our classic! A full 1/4lb. of freshly picked lobster meat on a traditional hotdog bun (toasted with butter upon request), served with mayo on the side."
Belle Isle Seafood in Winthrop is another place where we can ask for our lobster roll our way. You can also order it with mixed lobster meat or lobster tail meat.
The Lobster Pool in Rockport provides a great lobster roll or lobster salad roll, your choice, with a fantastic view of the Atlantic Ocean crashing on the rocky shore.
James Hook & Company has lobster salad rolls ready to go in their case on busy days. But, they will be happy to make a lobster roll for you if you ask. They'll even toast the roll on request and provide a side of butter. We love to take their lobster rolls to a table on the harbor walk along the Fort Point channel.
Row 34, over in Fort Point, serves their lobster roll with slaw and homemade chips. (We opted out of the slaw.)
As more places add lobster rolls to their menus, we'll check them out. Let us know if you have a place you think we should try.
We can't recommend any lobster roll or lobster salad roll that uses frozen lobster in whole or in part. Some places who serve lobster salad rolls have said they could make a lobster roll and when it arrives, it is made with frozen lobster. Why would a seaside shop have frozen lobster on hand? It may be that they use all or a percentage of frozen lobster in their lobster salad.
Fillers like celery or a bed of lettuce in the roll are another way to cut the cost of the roll and perhaps offer it at a low price.
Summer is a great time to enjoy a trip to the shore and this New England specialty. Let us know your favorite lobster rolls and lobster salad rolls.
We have full posts on each of these places. Here are the links.
Jake's Seafood: Ocean Craving Satisfied with Lobster Roll Bonus!
Daytrip to the Lobster Pool in Rockport, MA
Neptune Oyster Lobster Roll – A best bite!
Belle Isle: Lobster Rolls at the Reservation
Row 34 Restaurant: Our First Look
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino and Lobster Salad Roll from Mark H. Anbinder's Flickr photostream. (Used under this creative commons license.)
