Earlier in the week, Rika spotted the potential for damage on the top of Mr. Garrison's head and perhaps that called for stronger cleaning materials than the mild ones this group normally uses.
Play for 20 minutes and sleep for 20 minutes. That's how life goes for puppies like this 13-week-old Irish Setter pup Theo.
As we walked East, Theo was alert and enjoying some bench time with his puppy sitter. He had an assortment of toys and was interested in everything going on around him.
On our westward walk home, Theo was sound asleep on the bench and never twitched a muscle when Penny took this photo. That's life with a wee dog – 20 minutes of non-stop play and then 20 minutes of deep sleep.
We're looking forward to watching Theo grow. Next time we meet, he should have all his puppy shots and we'll be able to let him and Poppy move in for a close up sniff.
See you soon little bit!
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
Play for 20 minutes and sleep for 20 minutes. That's how life goes for puppies like this 13-week-old Irish Setter pup Theo.
As we walked East, Theo was alert and enjoying some bench time with his puppy sitter. He had an assortment of toys and was interested in everything going on around him.
On our westward walk home, Theo was sound asleep on the bench and never twitched a muscle when Penny took this photo. That's life with a wee dog – 20 minutes of non-stop play and then 20 minutes of deep sleep.
We're looking forward to watching Theo grow. Next time we meet, he should have all his puppy shots and we'll be able to let him and Poppy move in for a close up sniff.
See you soon little bit!
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
To me July has always been the month that means summer has really arrived with no shortage of reasons to celebrate – July 4th, vacations, warm weather, lots of daylight! And, because of its outstanding potential, we’re toasting month #7 with an equally impressive bottle of Jean-François Mérieau “Bulles” (2009).
Made in the traditional champagne method, this sparkler (90% Chenin Blanc, 10% Chardonnay) is described as “vibrant and crisp,” having “a pleasant nose, with some white fruits and vine peaches aromas … Very much a celebration pre-dinner wine.”
Winemaker Jean-François Mérieau has been praised as ambitious and creative – one of the new stars of the Loire region, no argument here.
According to K&L Wines, Jean-François Mérieau “Bulles” Touraine Sparkling is “a refreshing, crisp wine … has a bright nose of apple and pears with hints of citrus … palate is creamy and rich … finish is juicy and long.”
(Wine Spectator) – “This sparkler is forward, with a prominent spicy ginger note lading [sic] the way for pear, melon and brioche flavors. Stays racy on the finish, with the ginger note lingering.”
Other tasters detected “apple, quince, grapefruit, herbs, mineral accents.”
Our noses caught the pear aroma along with a good acidity. For a lighter feel, drink well-chilled. We liked it best with food having first enjoyed Jean-François Mérieau Bulles (2009) at Select Oyster Bar where it matched extremely well with their fabulous seafood preparations.
To me July has always been the month that means summer has really arrived with no shortage of reasons to celebrate – July 4th, vacations, warm weather, lots of daylight! And, because of its outstanding potential, we’re toasting month #7 with an equally impressive bottle of Jean-François Mérieau “Bulles” (2009).
Made in the traditional champagne method, this sparkler (90% Chenin Blanc, 10% Chardonnay) is described as “vibrant and crisp,” having “a pleasant nose, with some white fruits and vine peaches aromas … Very much a celebration pre-dinner wine.”
Winemaker Jean-François Mérieau has been praised as ambitious and creative – one of the new stars of the Loire region, no argument here.
According to K&L Wines, Jean-François Mérieau “Bulles” Touraine Sparkling is “a refreshing, crisp wine … has a bright nose of apple and pears with hints of citrus … palate is creamy and rich … finish is juicy and long.”
(Wine Spectator) – “This sparkler is forward, with a prominent spicy ginger note lading [sic] the way for pear, melon and brioche flavors. Stays racy on the finish, with the ginger note lingering.”
Other tasters detected “apple, quince, grapefruit, herbs, mineral accents.”
Our noses caught the pear aroma along with a good acidity. For a lighter feel, drink well-chilled. We liked it best with food having first enjoyed Jean-François Mérieau Bulles (2009) at Select Oyster Bar where it matched extremely well with their fabulous seafood preparations.
I’m sure Ed and I are not the only Hamersley’s fans missing that restaurant’s fantastic roast chicken. I plan to master that recipe over the next few months. I’ve made it once or twice. But, as long as I could just take a walk to Tremont Street to enjoy the finished product, I let the Hamersley’s kitchen do the work.
Start with the Recipe
First, of course, you need the recipe. It's in the cookbook Bistro Cooking at Home By Gordon Hamersley. And, while this is currently out of print, you can buy used or even a few treasured new copies on Amazon. You can also check local, used bookstores. I highly recommend having a copy of this book on your shelf and I look forward to the next publication from this great food champion.
There are many steps to this signature dish. Fortunately, the process that Gordon Hamersley (and his first sous chef Jody Adams) developed to serve a perfectly roasted chicken with a crispy skin and moist interior also makes it a great party dish for a home cook.
The chicken is roasted ahead of time and popped under a broiler for heating and crisping before it is served. I love dishes like this that I can make a day ahead because they let me spend more time with my guests.
Begin With Shopping
Of course, to come out with a result like the dish served at Hamersley’s, you have to begin as the chef did with the finest ingredients you can find. In his tips for choosing chicken, the chef suggests trying chickens from smaller producers or kosher brands.
In 2003, when Gordon Hamersley wrote “Bistro Cooking at Home,” he said what many locavores are saying now, “… getting a more flavorful bird that has also been raised free of antibiotics and hormone injections seems to me to be worth the price.”
Stepping Along
You begin this dish by preparing an herbed lemon pesto marinade. You rub this all over the clean and dried chicken and let it marinate 2-4 hours in the refrigerator.
Next, the chicken is roasted to an internal thigh temperature of 165-170 degrees and rested before cutting and deboning. The final step in this part of the preparation is to make the sauce from the pan drippings.
When it’s time to serve the chicken, you broil it with lemon slices on top and the sauce in the pan below until the skin is crisp and the meat is heated.
This dish requires many steps with a good bit of waiting time for some of them, but it is not a difficult recipe. Dozens of Hamersley’s cooks mastered it over the years. And, I can’t wait until I can make it without glancing at the cookbook just as they did.
If I master the chicken, next up on my list will be the perfect duck confit that was so tempting on the Hamersley's menu and is often such a disappointment when I order it elsewhere.
I’m sure Ed and I are not the only Hamersley’s fans missing that restaurant’s fantastic roast chicken. I plan to master that recipe over the next few months. I’ve made it once or twice. But, as long as I could just take a walk to Tremont Street to enjoy the finished product, I let the Hamersley’s kitchen do the work.
Start with the Recipe
First, of course, you need the recipe. It's in the cookbook Bistro Cooking at Home By Gordon Hamersley. And, while this is currently out of print, you can buy used or even a few treasured new copies on Amazon. You can also check local, used bookstores. I highly recommend having a copy of this book on your shelf and I look forward to the next publication from this great food champion.
There are many steps to this signature dish. Fortunately, the process that Gordon Hamersley (and his first sous chef Jody Adams) developed to serve a perfectly roasted chicken with a crispy skin and moist interior also makes it a great party dish for a home cook.
The chicken is roasted ahead of time and popped under a broiler for heating and crisping before it is served. I love dishes like this that I can make a day ahead because they let me spend more time with my guests.
Begin With Shopping
Of course, to come out with a result like the dish served at Hamersley’s, you have to begin as the chef did with the finest ingredients you can find. In his tips for choosing chicken, the chef suggests trying chickens from smaller producers or kosher brands.
In 2003, when Gordon Hamersley wrote “Bistro Cooking at Home,” he said what many locavores are saying now, “… getting a more flavorful bird that has also been raised free of antibiotics and hormone injections seems to me to be worth the price.”
Stepping Along
You begin this dish by preparing an herbed lemon pesto marinade. You rub this all over the clean and dried chicken and let it marinate 2-4 hours in the refrigerator.
Next, the chicken is roasted to an internal thigh temperature of 165-170 degrees and rested before cutting and deboning. The final step in this part of the preparation is to make the sauce from the pan drippings.
When it’s time to serve the chicken, you broil it with lemon slices on top and the sauce in the pan below until the skin is crisp and the meat is heated.
This dish requires many steps with a good bit of waiting time for some of them, but it is not a difficult recipe. Dozens of Hamersley’s cooks mastered it over the years. And, I can’t wait until I can make it without glancing at the cookbook just as they did.
If I master the chicken, next up on my list will be the perfect duck confit that was so tempting on the Hamersley's menu and is often such a disappointment when I order it elsewhere.
I was out on assignment shooting photos in Beacon Hill when I spotted these lichens on the fence that runs around the Boston Public Garden. These tiny organisms have found a shady spot along Beacon Street where they are happily growing on the cast iron fence.
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!
I was out on assignment shooting photos in Beacon Hill when I spotted these lichens on the fence that runs around the Boston Public Garden. These tiny organisms have found a shady spot along Beacon Street where they are happily growing on the cast iron fence.
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!
On a recent visit to Formaggio Kitchen South End, I asked the cheesemonger to suggest a beer or ale that would go with the piece of West West Blue Cheese from Parish Hill Creamery in Vermont we were buying.
I had just sampled the cheese as he described the flavor profiles of a range of craft beers he recommended pairing with this richly flavored blue. Then he said he had recently tasted Brooklyn Brewery's K is for Kriek with another big blue and was very happy with the match.
Since the Formaggio staff has done a great job of matching beverages with cheese for us in the past and intrigued by the description, I added a bottle to my basket. Later that evening, Ed (the beer drinker in the house) applauded the choice.
West West Blue From Parish Hill Creamery
This cheese comes from a very interesting Vermont Creamery. We love their tagline, “Seasonal, hand made, raw milk cheeses inspired by traditional DOP Italian cheeses.”
About the West West Blue, they say:
"Traditional aged, two-curd Gorgonzola, West West Blue is made with whole, raw milk from Elm Lea Farm and aged 90 – 180 days. The edible rind surrounds an interior with openings filled with streaks of blue mold, a creamy texture and a spicy, earthy flavor."
We both loved the rich, deep, almost caramel flavor notes and the spicy, sharp, taste bud, wake-up snap of the blue veining. It was also very good with both the Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco I was drinking and the Sardinian Parchment crackers we served with it that evening.
As for the double "west" in the name, the creamery is located in the town of Westminster West, Vermont.
Brooklyn Brewery K is for Kriek
There is a lot going on in this bottle of ale!
Brooklyn Brewery says:
"To this beer’s subtle marriage of malts, dark candi sugar, local wildflower honey and zing of orange peel, we added tart dried whole Montmorency cherries from Michigan. Around this, we wrapped a barrel of charred American bourbon oak. The sugar of the cherries began to ferment away. The barrels hissed. And we waited.
Six months later, the beer emerged with a glowing red color, vibrant acidity, complex fruit aromatics, and a foundation of oak flavors, its strength moving past 10%. Its transformation almost complete, the beer joined priming sugar, Champagne yeast and wild Brettanomyces yeasts in the bottle and underwent a third fermentation. And we waited yet again."
Now, after a year of waiting, beer lovers have the opportunity to share a bottle with friends. And, we do suggest sharing, since this big 25.4 ounce bottle contains a 10.1% alcohol by volume brew.
So the next time you buy a great cheese from a great cheese shop like Formaggio, remember that the wines and beers on their shelves were picked to match the food they sell. They are in the business of paying attention to nuances of flavor and will be happy to help you match a beverage with a particular cheese or other foods you've purchased.
What's on your Cheese shopping list? Here are some great books about cheese. These make wonderful gifts for a cheese lover. And, when you shop Amazon from here, they put some coins in our tip jar.
from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
. And, while this is currently out of print, you can buy used or even a few treasured new copies on 
