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Irish Truffles From Burdick Chocolate for Saint Patrick’s Day
Did you know that Burdick Chocolate makes special truffles and shamrock cookies for Saint Patrick's Day?

We were walking by yesterday and stopped in to ask about the prospective opening date for the cafe part of the new shop on Berkeley Street. While waiting for the staff to take care of other customers, we noticed a bit of green.

Need to make some Irish eyes smile? How about:
- Irish Coffee Bonbons made with dark chocolate, coffee, cream, and Irish Whiskey coated with dark and white chocolate to look like an Irish coffee.
- Irish Whiskey truffles made with Black Bush Bushmill's Irish whiskey
- Baileys Irish Cream Truffles dusted in cocoa powder
- Shamrock cookies– pistachio-orange shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate.
Ah, the joy of having our own Burdick shop in the Back Bay. We took home a small box of chocolates and are diligently trying to choose our favorite of the three flavors.

Related Post:

Boston, Say "Welcome" to Burdick Chocolate on Valentine's Day

What's on your Saint Patrick's Day shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Burdick Chocolate

Back Bay Boston Chocolate Shop & Café

220 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116 (map)

www.burdickchocolate.com

617-303-0113

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 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 a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.
March 13, 2012
Irish Whiskey Taste Off: Redbreast vs Tullamore Dew

A while back, we did an Irish whiskey tasting as the dessert course with a BBQ supper. The results still hold for us and this seems the perfect week to repeat the findings.

Our favorite Irish whiskey had been Redbreast. We stopped at Marty's where they have a good spirits selection. We picked up a bottle of 12-year-old Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey and did a blind tasting against the Redbreast.

The two are so alike, we nearly had a tie. After sipping and sniffing, we decided we like both but gave the Redbreast a lead for a hint more sweetness.

They both come from the same distillery and really are very close. So, if cost is a factor, you can feel safe saving the difference and buying the one with the lower price.

Here's a great Guide to Irish Whiskey from our friends over at Serious Eats.

What's on your whiskey tasting shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! If you'd like to learn more about spirts, here are a couple of our favorite books and a link to the glasses we love for tasting them.

Related Posts:

Squealing Pig for Irish Breakfast

For St Patty’s Day, corned beef on rye!

Food & Drink

Food: Wine

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2008 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. We do reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

March 12, 2012
Meet Hudson, He Doesn’t Need a Dog License!

That's because this adorable Chihuahua puppy is only four months old. He has settled into the Back Bay with his special person and is filling her heart with joy. He will need a license once he reaches six months.

For the rest of the pups, applications for the 2012 Boston Dog Licenses have been arriving in area homes. If your dog is currently licensed, you should receive the application in the mail. Under state law, all dogs over the age of six months must be licensed by April 1st of each year.

If you didn't get a Boston Dog license application in the mail, you can download one here.

The list of 2012 Boston Low-Cost Rabies Vaccination Clinics around the state is now posted. This includes the clinics in Boston and those where you can get your license at the same time.

If you get to meet Mr Hudson, you'll quickly learn that he's a charmer who probably should be given a special license for stealing hearts– because he's gonna do that anyway! I'm sure you'll be seeing more of this little guy in our Sunday Dog files.

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

What's on your dog walking shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! How about some walking shoes from Amazon's own free shipping, free U.S. return shipping shoe site, endless.com.

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

March 11, 2012
Alley People

Each alley has a community.

Trash pickers and trash haulers.

Car parkers and shortcutters.

Workers working and workers on breaks.

Fire escape gardeners and window people.

The alley is part of their lives.

What's on your Amazon shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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

March 10, 2012
When Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17, 2012) Falls on a Saturday…

For the latest information, go to:

When Saint Patrick's Day (March 17, 2013) Falls on a Sunday

This year, Saint Patrick's Day falls on a Saturday so I was curious, would city and state workers in Suffolk County get Friday off or Monday? And will parking, trash, and liquor sales change for the day. You'll find those answers below.

I do know that a lot of people will be taking advantage of the weekend date to come to Boston. Questions about where to stay, which Irish Pub to visit, and how to get around the city have popped up over on the Boston Trip Advisor forum. It looks like visitors are coming here from all over the country and especially from Ireland.

Do you celebrate Saint Patrick's Day?

What are your traditions for his yearly festival of all things Irish?

Who makes your favorite brown bread or Irish soda bread? Scones?

Are you going to the parade on Sunday?

(Here's how to get there via the MBTA.)

Will you be wearin' the green?

(Here's a post on where to buy or rent all sorts of wearables!)

Here are a bunch of Friday Links for Saint Patrick's Day

Boston Chowhounds had two recent conversations about where to find the best, full Irish breakfast.

Full Irish Breakfast

Boston area breakfast recap (for this one, start from the bottom since Irish breakfast discussion is there)

And, they're talking about Corned Beef & Cabbage.

About your holiday questions…

According to the Secretary of State's website,

"All holidays falling on Sunday must be observed on Monday, under state law. Saturday holidays are observed on Saturday." That means this year, no deal. Next year, they get Monday off!

The day is not listed on Boston's list of holidays that change parking regulations or trash pick up, so feed those meters and stick to your trash schedule.

Basically, everything is open. But, in the past the city has asked South Boston liquor stores and bars to cut off sales early. Here's a Boston.com story on that from last year.

Related Posts:

Irish Breakfast at the Squealing Pig

Matt Murphy's Pub Saves the Day

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2008-2011 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 a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

March 9, 2012
Riley’s Coat from Blue Ledge Farm, Vermont

Blue Ledge Farm's Riley's Coat is another of those cheeses we buy whenever we see it. Recently, on a walk home from a meal in Central Square, we stopped into Central Bottle Wine + Provisions and there it was again!

Somehow a lovely, raw goats milk cheese that was named after a dog sticks in our memory banks. In additon to talking about this cheese, cheesemonger Anne Saxelby suggests it would be great to be reincarnated as a dog at a cheese farm since those pups often get to eat the test batches!

Riley's Coat is a bit different each time we taste it. It's flavored by what the goats are browsing. Buying each new piece brings back memories of the last. And, even though we know the cheese and know it will be very good, we can't resist having a taste right there in the shop. Often, that nibble increases the size of the wedge we take home.

Related Posts:

Here's our Cheese Collection!

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

March 8, 2012
If Rainy Days Make You Crabby, Get Cracking!

With a few days of rain last week, we needed a reason to smile, so we braved the rain to get a supply of Dungeness crab from James Hook & Company.

These two pound beauties waited in the sink while the big crab pot started to steam.

They really are beautiful when you look at the details of the shells.

We keep it simple. Some slices of lemon and a big scoop of Old Bay Seasoning goes over the crabs as we layer them in the pot.

Then, we enjoy the pleasure of a rainy afternoon cracking crabs, picking out the luscious meat, chatting, and sipping fine wine. Rainy day or sunny day, this can be a wonderful way to relax and spend time with friends.

Related Posts:

Crab Feast will tell you how we prepare the crabs for the table.

Crab Claws are Wonderful Leftovers!

James Hook & Company- A Holiday Tradition Continues

What's on your seafood cooking shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site for All-Clad Stainless 12-Quart Multi Cooker, Old Bay Seasoning or Crackers with Picks.

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

March 7, 2012
Plan Pégau 2009 “Baby Chateauneuf du Pape”

A couple of bottles of Plan Pégau 2009 were sitting in our wine rack. This wine had been introduced to us as a "baby Chateauneuf du Pape" by Howie Rubin at Bauer Wines.

A few nights later, Gretchen Jones (@moralbeast) mentioned a great Cote du Rhone that she was enjoying. That sent me to the rack to pull the Plan Pégau and plan a meal around it.

As students of wine, we learn by researching the wines that come our way. We had already been told that this was from one of the great Chateauneuf du Pape winemakers, Laurence Féraud from Domaine du Pégau. Her wines can run four to five times the $14.99 price tag on this one.

The importer, Hand Picked Selections (HPS) says the 2009 Plan Pégau, "offers a true and loud echo of the flavor and style of Domaine du Pegau Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A perfect illustration of the HPS mantra of quality, character and value, it always seems to have a bit of that magic Châteauneuf funk!"

We paired it with a rib eye after reading a comment from Wine & Spirits Magazine that this wine was, "…a red to sink your teeth into…mouthfilling and delicious, the vinous equivalent of a good aged steak."

From the moment we opened the screwtop, Plan Pégau made an impression. Photographing it was torture. It has a big presence and was sending out enticing aromas that made us want to get straight to tasting.

From this one we learned about rapé.

Blogger Edmonton Wine Host ran a post on Plan Pégau and reported that it might contain some rapé from Pégau. He explained, "Rape means left over juice, skins or crush from a previous harvest. Also can be a winery way of 'disposing' of extra juice from an excellent harvest."

We knew about second labels, like Oregon superstar producer Owen Roe Winery's O'Reilly's line. Now we know about another way to hunt for unexpected quality at a great price. Find out if it is the baby sister in a great family.

We plan to buy more!

If you see this wine at a good price, grab it. We loved it and expect it will be just as good over the next couple of years.

What's on your wine shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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

March 6, 2012
March for Zeppole di San Giuseppe!

We launched our Zeppole di San Giuseppe season on Friday with freshly-filled examples from Maria's Pastry Shop in the North End.

Where do you buy your Zeppole? Let us know. We have a couple of weeks of tastings ahead! Here's a 2010 discussion of where area chowhounds march to for zeppole.

"Traditional?" was the question when we requested two Zeppole. "Yes, traditional!" we replied. We'll let the folks at Maria's describe what they mean by tradition when it comes to Zeppole.

"Saint Joseph Day (March 19th), Zeppole — Beginning the end of January, Maria prepares this Sicilan speciality known as the 'Zeppola di San Giuseppe.' A light egg dough fried to a soft shell filled with either ricotta cheese, whipped cream or the traditional filling of vanilla custard cream and amaretta cherries. You won’t be able to get enough, but beware. Once March 19th, passes…they’re gone!"

Normally, we recommend eating these goodies on the spot. After all, Maria's takes the time to put them together fresh for each customer. But, we needed to walk off some of our lunch before indulging. Since they were so fresh, we knew they would still be outstanding by the time we reached home.

Maria's had not failed us. The zeppole arrived home in outstanding condition with a crisp, flakey pastry shell and nice layers of custard and cherries. A careful carry home by Penny had even protected the lovely pastry bag swirls in the custard.

Here are our Zeppole chronicles from past years:

It's Zeppole Day!

Zeppole from Modern Pastry

What's on your March shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Maria's Pastry Shop

46 Cross Street, Boston Ma 02113 (Map and reviews)

617-523-1196

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: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Related articles

March 19th Is Zeppole Day!

A Weekend of Irish Whiskey and Zeppole!

March 5, 2012
Sunday Dog, Ruby– the Muse of Newbury Street

The ledgendary muse– long credited with stimulating creative inspiration in the art world– is alive and well on Newbury Street. She goes by the name of Ruby! One look into her big, beautiful eyes could awaken anyone’s artistic talent.

It’s fitting that Ruby comes to work every day at The Society of Arts and Crafts, where she enjoys greeting many of the shop’s visitors, sometimes even pointing out some of her favorite pieces of art.

Ruby is very fond of her toy octopus, but always has time to glance over to see if you have a treat. Penny brought some liver chunks to reward her patience during our photo session. We tried to get some shots of her amazing jumping ability, but this 4 year old was way too fast for our lenses.

Ruby, a rescue from Adopt A Lab.org (they help place other breeds, but labs are their focus) is a sweetheart. She’s very intelligent, loves attention, and adds special character to the shop– everything you’d expect of a 21st century “muse.”

The Society of Arts and Crafts is located at 175 Newbury St., Boston, MA

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

Would you like to adopt a beautiful companion like Ruby? There are some resources to help you make your decision and get your life together off to a great start. This book from PetFinder, Petfinder.com The Adopted Dog Bible: Your One-Stop Resource for Choosing, Training, and Caring for Your Sheltered or Rescued Dog is one of our favorites.

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

March 4, 2012