We hope 2013 is a year when your dreams come true.
We plan to work less, play more, explore more, enjoy our friends, and share the fun with our BostonZest circle of regular readers, twitter followers, and occasional visitors to the site.
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.
We hope 2013 is a year when your dreams come true.
We plan to work less, play more, explore more, enjoy our friends, and share the fun with our BostonZest circle of regular readers, twitter followers, and occasional visitors to the site.
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.
We hope 2013 is a year when your dreams come true.
We plan to work less, play more, explore more, enjoy our friends, and share the fun with our BostonZest circle of regular readers, twitter followers, and occasional visitors to the site.
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.
Lobster photo by Man Pikin. Link in details below.
While you may think of lobster as summer fare, around our house it's a Christmas Eve tradition. Think about it, the reason Maine Lobster is so good is those freezing cold waters that make swimming from Maine’s ocean beaches a shocking experience. This time of year, water temperatures drop throughout our area and lobsters have better flavor.
Do you have a traditional Christmas Eve meal? Please share it with us and our readers in the comments or via Twitter.
Feast of the Seven Fishes
For many Italian families, the Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes, or La Vigilia di Natale, is a tradition. And, because preparing this meal at home can be daunting for the cook, it’s a good time to invite guests who will bring a dish or help in the kitchen – especially if your family’s version actually calls for 9, 11, or 13 fishes.
(Update 12.20.12 @ 5:12 pm) Just found this coversation over on Chowhound's Boston Board about other places doing the Feast with some reviews on past feasts. Feast of the Seven Fishes on Chowhound
Get the Salt Cod Early
One element of most traditional Christmas Eve feasts is salt cod or baccalà. This is the one product you need to buy right away. Soaking it, to rehydrate and remove the salt, can be a long process and is best begun at least a couple of days before you plan to use it.
We’ve purchased excellent salt cod from Salumeria Italiana in the North End. Baccalà is one of those products you want to buy from a trusted specialty shop or fishmonger. There's a very wide range of salt cod quality and if this is for a special occasion, why not buy from someone who's made sure you will have the best.
For the non-cooks, there are area restaurants serving their versions of the feast this year. Grotto in Beacon Hill has had rave reviews of their special feast menu in past years. Sister restaurant Marliave is also joining in the feasting with their own version.
Other places for fish feasting are Dante in Cambridge, Davio’s in the Theatre District, and Legal Harborside out in the Seaport area. The North End’s Neptune Oyster is doing it tonight (12.20.12) for those who have to be elsewhere on Christmas Eve. For all these places, reservations are recommended.
Upddate 12.20.12 one of our favorite places, Coppa has added a feast and they are doing prixe fixe or a la carte.
Make Up Your Own
You might decide to have your own taylor made seafood feast during the holidays. You can buy and cook your favorite fish or dine out choosing the menu items that appeal to you. Another option is meeting up with friends at a great seafood restaurant like Island Creek Oyster Bar and sharing a bunch of items that appeal to the group. That could help nudge you out of your seafood comfort zone.
The nice thing about menus for this holiday is that they are less prescribed, letting you start your own traditions. Let us know what you decide to create for your own Chistmas eve menu.
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!
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.
Lobster photo by Man Pikin. Link in details below.
While you may think of lobster as summer fare, around our house it's a Christmas Eve tradition. Think about it, the reason Maine Lobster is so good is those freezing cold waters that make swimming from Maine’s ocean beaches a shocking experience. This time of year, water temperatures drop throughout our area and lobsters have better flavor.
Do you have a traditional Christmas Eve meal? Please share it with us and our readers in the comments or via Twitter.
Feast of the Seven Fishes
For many Italian families, the Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes, or La Vigilia di Natale, is a tradition. And, because preparing this meal at home can be daunting for the cook, it’s a good time to invite guests who will bring a dish or help in the kitchen – especially if your family’s version actually calls for 9, 11, or 13 fishes.
(Update 12.20.12 @ 5:12 pm) Just found this coversation over on Chowhound's Boston Board about other places doing the Feast with some reviews on past feasts. Feast of the Seven Fishes on Chowhound
Get the Salt Cod Early
One element of most traditional Christmas Eve feasts is salt cod or baccalà. This is the one product you need to buy right away. Soaking it, to rehydrate and remove the salt, can be a long process and is best begun at least a couple of days before you plan to use it.
We’ve purchased excellent salt cod from Salumeria Italiana in the North End. Baccalà is one of those products you want to buy from a trusted specialty shop or fishmonger. There's a very wide range of salt cod quality and if this is for a special occasion, why not buy from someone who's made sure you will have the best.
For the non-cooks, there are area restaurants serving their versions of the feast this year. Grotto in Beacon Hill has had rave reviews of their special feast menu in past years. Sister restaurant Marliave is also joining in the feasting with their own version.
Other places for fish feasting are Dante in Cambridge, Davio’s in the Theatre District, and Legal Harborside out in the Seaport area. The North End’s Neptune Oyster is doing it tonight (12.20.12) for those who have to be elsewhere on Christmas Eve. For all these places, reservations are recommended.
Upddate 12.20.12 one of our favorite places, Coppa has added a feast and they are doing prixe fixe or a la carte.
Make Up Your Own
You might decide to have your own taylor made seafood feast during the holidays. You can buy and cook your favorite fish or dine out choosing the menu items that appeal to you. Another option is meeting up with friends at a great seafood restaurant like Island Creek Oyster Bar and sharing a bunch of items that appeal to the group. That could help nudge you out of your seafood comfort zone.
The nice thing about menus for this holiday is that they are less prescribed, letting you start your own traditions. Let us know what you decide to create for your own Chistmas eve menu.
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!
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.
Lobster photo by Man Pikin. Link in details below.
While you may think of lobster as summer fare, around our house it's a Christmas Eve tradition. Think about it, the reason Maine Lobster is so good is those freezing cold waters that make swimming from Maine’s ocean beaches a shocking experience. This time of year, water temperatures drop throughout our area and lobsters have better flavor.
Do you have a traditional Christmas Eve meal? Please share it with us and our readers in the comments or via Twitter.
Feast of the Seven Fishes
For many Italian families, the Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes, or La Vigilia di Natale, is a tradition. And, because preparing this meal at home can be daunting for the cook, it’s a good time to invite guests who will bring a dish or help in the kitchen – especially if your family’s version actually calls for 9, 11, or 13 fishes.
(Update 12.20.12 @ 5:12 pm) Just found this coversation over on Chowhound's Boston Board about other places doing the Feast with some reviews on past feasts. Feast of the Seven Fishes on Chowhound
Get the Salt Cod Early
One element of most traditional Christmas Eve feasts is salt cod or baccalà. This is the one product you need to buy right away. Soaking it, to rehydrate and remove the salt, can be a long process and is best begun at least a couple of days before you plan to use it.
We’ve purchased excellent salt cod from Salumeria Italiana in the North End. Baccalà is one of those products you want to buy from a trusted specialty shop or fishmonger. There's a very wide range of salt cod quality and if this is for a special occasion, why not buy from someone who's made sure you will have the best.
For the non-cooks, there are area restaurants serving their versions of the feast this year. Grotto in Beacon Hill has had rave reviews of their special feast menu in past years. Sister restaurant Marliave is also joining in the feasting with their own version.
Other places for fish feasting are Dante in Cambridge, Davio’s in the Theatre District, and Legal Harborside out in the Seaport area. The North End’s Neptune Oyster is doing it tonight (12.20.12) for those who have to be elsewhere on Christmas Eve. For all these places, reservations are recommended.
Upddate 12.20.12 one of our favorite places, Coppa has added a feast and they are doing prixe fixe or a la carte.
Make Up Your Own
You might decide to have your own taylor made seafood feast during the holidays. You can buy and cook your favorite fish or dine out choosing the menu items that appeal to you. Another option is meeting up with friends at a great seafood restaurant like Island Creek Oyster Bar and sharing a bunch of items that appeal to the group. That could help nudge you out of your seafood comfort zone.
The nice thing about menus for this holiday is that they are less prescribed, letting you start your own traditions. Let us know what you decide to create for your own Chistmas eve menu.
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!
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.
Our readers are already searching our past posts to figure out where to dine this New Year's Eve in Boston. It's time for you to grab a reservation at a special place!
We all have our ideas of the perfect New Year's Eve. Are you looking for a place to ring in 2013 with a happy crowd? Or will you make a reservation for a quiet dinner before popping a cork for a private celebration?
We fall into the food-loving, quiet celebration group, and we'll tell you about some places where that's possible.
But, we have to admit one of our more memorable New Year's Eves was spent at the bar at Hamersley's Bistro. We had planned to slip in and out for a quick, quiet dinner and managed to stay for a much longer time enjoying the company of a great group at the bar. This year, they're planning a four-course prix fixe menu with a champagne toast if you're there at midnight.
Everyone can begin at Open Table. They maintain a list of special New Year's celebrations at area restaurants. This is perfect if you're meeting up with a group here in the city and the site even offers places like AKA Bistro in Lincoln for those who prefer a suburban location.
You can put a time into the reservation box on the main page and see what's available. Remember, many places have special prix fixe menus for occasions like this and some may require a credit card to hold a reservation.
The site Boston Chefs always posts a listing of its member restaurants that have special plans for New Year's Eve. Here is their New Year's Eve list. And, here's the list for New Year's Day.
There are also restaurants that have planned a special New Year's Eve menu but have built their reputation on high quality food. These are places where you can expect to have a wonderful meal any day of the year.
Island Creek Oyster Bar is serving its regular menu and, for that kindness, we've put them at the top of this list.
Eastern Standard, next door, is doing the same. Regular menu, great wine list, craft cocktails.
Grotto on Beacon Hill, Kitchen in the South End, and Marliave downtown all join that list of places sticking with the food you love.
Craigie On Main is planning two sets of seatings for two prix fixe menus. Call fast, these reservations will be snatched up quickly.
Brasserie JO has a special menu but alway provides great food in a relaxed atmosphere, and their desserts are a party in themselves.
La Morra in Brookline – chef Josh Ziskin says he saves some of his most prized dishes just for this evening. He's serving a four-course Italian dinner with a glass of Prosecco for toasting.
Where are you spending the evening? What's your favorite way to celebrate? Come back on January 1st and tell us about your New Year's Eve.
To be notified of updates to this post, sign-on to the comment feed for this post or follow us on Twitter for updates.
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: Photo: iStockphoto.com
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.
Our readers are already searching our past posts to figure out where to dine this New Year's Eve in Boston. It's time for you to grab a reservation at a special place!
We all have our ideas of the perfect New Year's Eve. Are you looking for a place to ring in 2013 with a happy crowd? Or will you make a reservation for a quiet dinner before popping a cork for a private celebration?
We fall into the food-loving, quiet celebration group, and we'll tell you about some places where that's possible.
But, we have to admit one of our more memorable New Year's Eves was spent at the bar at Hamersley's Bistro. We had planned to slip in and out for a quick, quiet dinner and managed to stay for a much longer time enjoying the company of a great group at the bar. This year, they're planning a four-course prix fixe menu with a champagne toast if you're there at midnight.
Everyone can begin at Open Table. They maintain a list of special New Year's celebrations at area restaurants. This is perfect if you're meeting up with a group here in the city and the site even offers places like AKA Bistro in Lincoln for those who prefer a suburban location.
You can put a time into the reservation box on the main page and see what's available. Remember, many places have special prix fixe menus for occasions like this and some may require a credit card to hold a reservation.
The site Boston Chefs always posts a listing of its member restaurants that have special plans for New Year's Eve. Here is their New Year's Eve list. And, here's the list for New Year's Day.
There are also restaurants that have planned a special New Year's Eve menu but have built their reputation on high quality food. These are places where you can expect to have a wonderful meal any day of the year.
Island Creek Oyster Bar is serving its regular menu and, for that kindness, we've put them at the top of this list.
Eastern Standard, next door, is doing the same. Regular menu, great wine list, craft cocktails.
Grotto on Beacon Hill, Kitchen in the South End, and Marliave downtown all join that list of places sticking with the food you love.
Craigie On Main is planning two sets of seatings for two prix fixe menus. Call fast, these reservations will be snatched up quickly.
Brasserie JO has a special menu but alway provides great food in a relaxed atmosphere, and their desserts are a party in themselves.
La Morra in Brookline – chef Josh Ziskin says he saves some of his most prized dishes just for this evening. He's serving a four-course Italian dinner with a glass of Prosecco for toasting.
Where are you spending the evening? What's your favorite way to celebrate? Come back on January 1st and tell us about your New Year's Eve.
To be notified of updates to this post, sign-on to the comment feed for this post or follow us on Twitter for updates.
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: Photo: iStockphoto.com
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.
Our readers are already searching our past posts to figure out where to dine this New Year's Eve in Boston. It's time for you to grab a reservation at a special place!
We all have our ideas of the perfect New Year's Eve. Are you looking for a place to ring in 2013 with a happy crowd? Or will you make a reservation for a quiet dinner before popping a cork for a private celebration?
We fall into the food-loving, quiet celebration group, and we'll tell you about some places where that's possible.
But, we have to admit one of our more memorable New Year's Eves was spent at the bar at Hamersley's Bistro. We had planned to slip in and out for a quick, quiet dinner and managed to stay for a much longer time enjoying the company of a great group at the bar. This year, they're planning a four-course prix fixe menu with a champagne toast if you're there at midnight.
Everyone can begin at Open Table. They maintain a list of special New Year's celebrations at area restaurants. This is perfect if you're meeting up with a group here in the city and the site even offers places like AKA Bistro in Lincoln for those who prefer a suburban location.
You can put a time into the reservation box on the main page and see what's available. Remember, many places have special prix fixe menus for occasions like this and some may require a credit card to hold a reservation.
The site Boston Chefs always posts a listing of its member restaurants that have special plans for New Year's Eve. Here is their New Year's Eve list. And, here's the list for New Year's Day.
There are also restaurants that have planned a special New Year's Eve menu but have built their reputation on high quality food. These are places where you can expect to have a wonderful meal any day of the year.
Island Creek Oyster Bar is serving its regular menu and, for that kindness, we've put them at the top of this list.
Eastern Standard, next door, is doing the same. Regular menu, great wine list, craft cocktails.
Grotto on Beacon Hill, Kitchen in the South End, and Marliave downtown all join that list of places sticking with the food you love.
Craigie On Main is planning two sets of seatings for two prix fixe menus. Call fast, these reservations will be snatched up quickly.
Brasserie JO has a special menu but alway provides great food in a relaxed atmosphere, and their desserts are a party in themselves.
La Morra in Brookline – chef Josh Ziskin says he saves some of his most prized dishes just for this evening. He's serving a four-course Italian dinner with a glass of Prosecco for toasting.
Where are you spending the evening? What's your favorite way to celebrate? Come back on January 1st and tell us about your New Year's Eve.
To be notified of updates to this post, sign-on to the comment feed for this post or follow us on Twitter for updates.
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: Photo: iStockphoto.com
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.
Raisin was nowhere in sight when we stopped by Four Preppy Paws on Charles Street in Beacon Hill. We needed to ask her to model for a photo we were taking for Penny's City Paws newpaper column.
We soon discovered that she was hiding in plain sight, under a pretty pink blanket in the front window of the shop. She was kind enough to pop out for a few minutes to let us take some shots.
She loves snoozing under the covers while serving as consultant for the shop.
She thinks she's well hidden behind a couple of big dog beds and she does have her assistant watchdog on duty while she rests.
We think Raisin is very pretty and has a regal profile. She's also a lot of fun and we were happy that her request to put her cover-up back over her head was quickly accommodated by her person.
Does your dog or cat have a silly habit that makes you smile? Please share in the comments below.
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.
and support this site!