Tag: California

Current Crush: Avocado Toast

I did notice the avocado toast on the Select Boston menu, but I was so busy trying all the lovely seafood that I neglected that option.

Then, one afternoon, Ed and I were sitting at the bar when we were joined by Kelly, a long time neighbor and dog walking friend. Being a former California girl, she ordered the avocado toast and sang its praises. Our next visit we followed her smart example.

Now, this dish is in our, "have-the-makings-on-hand" for a quick supper rotation. Penny made the batch above on Iggy's sliced Francese. We usually have a loaf of that in our freezer. The sourdough flavor plays well with the avocado.

The avocado was mashed and mixed with a bit of lime juice and salt. The toasted bread was rubbed with garlic, drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil, spread with avocado mixture. A final sprinkle of flaky Maldon Sea Salt and Espelette Pepper added just the right bit of seasoning.

A big thank you to Chef Michael Serpa of Select for introducing us to great avocado toast and Espelette pepper. One is a new item in our quick supper list and the other is adding a delightful flavor to our pepper "palette."

Do you get food crushes? Do you love avocado toast? What's your favorite avocado toast combo?

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2015 Penny Cherubino

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Consult Our Wine Collection Before You Shop for Bottles of Bubbles!

Our Sparkling Resolution gives us an advantage when it comes to choosing a bottle of bubbles for New Year's Eve. We start each month with a glass of sparkling wine.

We share those wine selections with you in our wine collection.

You'll find Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, Crémant, plus bubbles from places including Portugal, California, Oregon, and Massachusetts on our wine list.

We find something to toast each time the 1st comes around. Maybe it's a good thing that happened in the past month or something we're looking forward to in the month ahead. Or, perhaps the 1st of the month finds us in a special place where we've discovered a special bottle.

Most of the time, our choice is a great value we've bought on sale or a moderately priced treat.

Occasionally, we'll indulge in a special wine for a special occasion or celebration.

If you're looking for something to serve to a crowd or a special bottle to share with a special person, we have made our list and you can check it twice, three times, or as often as you'd like.

As you toast 2015, consider joining the Sparkling Resolution we made back in 2007 and begin each month with a glass of lively bubbles.

Cheers!

Here’s More About Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.

The Food Lover's Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover's Companion

The Wine Bible

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2001-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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December 22, 2014
Toast July with American Sparkling Wines – A Few of Our Picks

Celebrate the happy new month of July with sparkling wines from the good old USA!

Gather a basketful from across the country. Above, you see Schramsberg Brut Rosé and Mumm Napa Brut Prestige from California, and Gruet Rosé from New Mexico.

Wine Spectator has a list of American sparkling wines that they rated in a 2012 tasting. One thing that may surprise you is that several of these are more expensive than some of the Champagnes we’ve featured in our wine selections.

But, you will also find value wines on this list. The Gruet family offers wines for many tastes at good prices. Our favorite is their Blanc de Noir. (shown above)

You can pick your favorite and serve it by the flute-full to happy guests who may not realize just how good American Sparklers can be.

This happened a few years ago at one of our July 4th parties with magnums of Argyle Brut. Our guests thought we had broken the bank with all that great wine but, back then, this little treasure from Oregon was an unbelievable value.

Times change and appreciation for American Sparkling wine has driven up the price, but Argyle remains close to our hearts. It’s a wine we associate with friends far and near. (Why we do is explained here.)

Of course, we in Massachusetts have our local, award-winning sparkling wines from Westport Rivers Winery to serve with pride.

As you travel this summer, be sure to add a local wine search to your trip planning. These days, you can Google “Long Island Sparkling Wine,” “Finger Lakes Sparkling Wine,” “Oregon Sparkling Wine,” or “Best Amercian Sparkling Wine” to create a list to scout.

Some, like the Soter Brut Rosé, we save for special occasions. Others are everyday roof deck and beach house fare. Explore, choose, sip, and enjoy buying American in July.

What’s your favorite American Sparkling Wine? Let us know!

Here’s More About Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.

The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover’s Companion

The Wine Bible

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2008-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 1, 2014
Toast July with American Sparkling Wines – A Few of Our Picks

Celebrate the happy new month of July with sparkling wines from the good old USA!

Gather a basketful from across the country. Above, you see Schramsberg Brut Rosé and Mumm Napa Brut Prestige from California, and Gruet Rosé from New Mexico.

Wine Spectator has a list of American sparkling wines that they rated in a 2012 tasting. One thing that may surprise you is that several of these are more expensive than some of the Champagnes we’ve featured in our wine selections.

But, you will also find value wines on this list. The Gruet family offers wines for many tastes at good prices. Our favorite is their Blanc de Noir. (shown above)

You can pick your favorite and serve it by the flute-full to happy guests who may not realize just how good American Sparklers can be.

This happened a few years ago at one of our July 4th parties with magnums of Argyle Brut. Our guests thought we had broken the bank with all that great wine but, back then, this little treasure from Oregon was an unbelievable value.

Times change and appreciation for American Sparkling wine has driven up the price, but Argyle remains close to our hearts. It’s a wine we associate with friends far and near. (Why we do is explained here.)

Of course, we in Massachusetts have our local, award-winning sparkling wines from Westport Rivers Winery to serve with pride.

As you travel this summer, be sure to add a local wine search to your trip planning. These days, you can Google “Long Island Sparkling Wine,” “Finger Lakes Sparkling Wine,” “Oregon Sparkling Wine,” or “Best Amercian Sparkling Wine” to create a list to scout.

Some, like the Soter Brut Rosé, we save for special occasions. Others are everyday roof deck and beach house fare. Explore, choose, sip, and enjoy buying American in July.

What’s your favorite American Sparkling Wine? Let us know!

Here’s More About Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.

The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover’s Companion

The Wine Bible

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2008-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 1, 2014
Sunday Dog, Ruby – Just Call Her “Perfect”

Say Hello to Ruby – or as we like to call her, Perfect! This extraordinary 4 ½ year old was rescued a year ago from California via Petfinder and now calls the Bay State home. Ruby spends her time in Boston and Plymouth where she gets to walk wooded trails and play with lots of other neighborhood dogs.

Perfect … uh, Ruby has a great disposition and has been this way since “day one.” Her people have been amazed saying, “She’s the easiest dog I have [ever had.]” And, “I’ve never seen anything like this dog!”

There’s no doubt that this little heart-stealer is very devoted to the guy in her life, “No matter where Ruby is in the house, she keeps her eyes on him at all times.”

Ruby is also quite clever. After repeatedly being put inside a very comfortable, designer crate to keep her safe and out of trouble when the family stepped out for awhile, she would always be standing outside the crate when they returned.

A perfect dog often gets kissed which explains the red lipstick above Ruby’s Right Eye.

Finally, making certain the crate door was secured, they pretended to leave but secretly watched from outside her room and saw Ruby using her nose, paw, and tongue to unlatch the crate and escape! (Sounds like she crate-trained her family)

When she wants to go to sleep for the night, Ruby will stand and stare at her people until they get the hint, then it’s onto their bed.

From day-one Ruby, “never wet in the house, never did anything wrong, and never chewed anything.” Now that’s a “perfect” dog!

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.

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

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November 25, 2012
Sunday Dog, Ruby – Just Call Her “Perfect”

Say Hello to Ruby – or as we like to call her, Perfect! This extraordinary 4 ½ year old was rescued a year ago from California via Petfinder and now calls the Bay State home. Ruby spends her time in Boston and Plymouth where she gets to walk wooded trails and play with lots of other neighborhood dogs.

Perfect … uh, Ruby has a great disposition and has been this way since “day one.” Her people have been amazed saying, “She’s the easiest dog I have [ever had.]” And, “I’ve never seen anything like this dog!”

There’s no doubt that this little heart-stealer is very devoted to the guy in her life, “No matter where Ruby is in the house, she keeps her eyes on him at all times.”

Ruby is also quite clever. After repeatedly being put inside a very comfortable, designer crate to keep her safe and out of trouble when the family stepped out for awhile, she would always be standing outside the crate when they returned.

A perfect dog often gets kissed which explains the red lipstick above Ruby’s Right Eye.

Finally, making certain the crate door was secured, they pretended to leave but secretly watched from outside her room and saw Ruby using her nose, paw, and tongue to unlatch the crate and escape! (Sounds like she crate-trained her family)

When she wants to go to sleep for the night, Ruby will stand and stare at her people until they get the hint, then it’s onto their bed.

From day-one Ruby, “never wet in the house, never did anything wrong, and never chewed anything.” Now that’s a “perfect” dog!

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.

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

Related articles

Crate Training Compilation Repost

@PetFinder Seal of Approval

Boston's owl-watching underground emerged en masse in the Public Garden tonight

A Sunday Dog Alert on 911 Emergency Calls

November 25, 2012
Sunday Dog, Ruby – Just Call Her “Perfect”

Say Hello to Ruby – or as we like to call her, Perfect! This extraordinary 4 ½ year old was rescued a year ago from California via Petfinder and now calls the Bay State home. Ruby spends her time in Boston and Plymouth where she gets to walk wooded trails and play with lots of other neighborhood dogs.

Perfect … uh, Ruby has a great disposition and has been this way since “day one.” Her people have been amazed saying, “She’s the easiest dog I have [ever had.]” And, “I’ve never seen anything like this dog!”

There’s no doubt that this little heart-stealer is very devoted to the guy in her life, “No matter where Ruby is in the house, she keeps her eyes on him at all times.”

Ruby is also quite clever. After repeatedly being put inside a very comfortable, designer crate to keep her safe and out of trouble when the family stepped out for awhile, she would always be standing outside the crate when they returned.

A perfect dog often gets kissed which explains the red lipstick above Ruby’s Right Eye.

Finally, making certain the crate door was secured, they pretended to leave but secretly watched from outside her room and saw Ruby using her nose, paw, and tongue to unlatch the crate and escape! (Sounds like she crate-trained her family)

When she wants to go to sleep for the night, Ruby will stand and stare at her people until they get the hint, then it’s onto their bed.

From day-one Ruby, “never wet in the house, never did anything wrong, and never chewed anything.” Now that’s a “perfect” dog!

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.

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

Related articles

Crate Training Compilation Repost

@PetFinder Seal of Approval

Boston's owl-watching underground emerged en masse in the Public Garden tonight

A Sunday Dog Alert on 911 Emergency Calls

November 25, 2012