charlotteann

Pork soup dumplings at Taiwan Cafe in Boston
I definitely love soup dumplings. My first were somewhere in New York’s Chinatown some number of years ago after my dad read about them in one of his guide books. Wherever he goes, a half dozen of those damn things are purchased in advance and then given to me to browse. Why does he buy them if he wants someone else to find something good? Luckily, he dragged us to soup dumplings and I fell in love immediately after the first scalding slurp.
I admit I haven’t tried very hard to relocate that restaurant in New York. It might be gone for all I know, but the memory of it remains and I love me some dumplings no matter what Chinese restaurant I may (frequently) find myself in. I again went with yelpers, finding their appraisal of the Taiwan Cafe’s soup dumplings to be somewhat convincing. They weren’t exactly bursting with flavor but they did the trick. Hit the spot. Gave me a fix. Whatever. Next time I’m in Boston I’ll try a different place, though.

Pizza (again!) in Chatham
So, the picture I took of the sign outside the place we had lunch specifically for this blog entry didn’t have the name of the restaurant on it. I suck. They had sandwiches, wraps, crepes, and an ice cream shop right next door. I think the ice cream was their primary attraction, and it’s across from the Impudent Oyster. My pizza was absolutely delicious and certainly gives the aforementioned PIzzeria Regina a run for its money. I had a bite of my friend’s scallops kabob wrap and it was pretty good but rather bizarre.

Well! That’s it. I am feeling too hot (temperature-wise, of course) to go on. I know I take lots of pictures of the things I eat, but I use my camera for other activities, too. Here are some of my favorites from my recent trip to Massassassachusetts:

Swans!

Hermit crabs!

Folks!

It’s been awhile since my last entry because I was in Boston. I went to Cape Cod, too, but that’s for later. As very few of you probably know, I have never lived anywhere for longer than a year or so (not including my hometown of Billings, Montana). My current residency in the Bay Area will have endured two years this September and I am not quite sure I want to call it home. The truth is I have no idea where I want to end up. New York is too big, San Francisco has a boring climate, states in the mountain time zone are pretty but rural, and Europe is too far away. You can probably see where this is going: I really, really liked Boston. They have a Chinatown, beautiful brick buildings, mass transit, and no shortage of young, straight men. I also miss snow and my family - two things much more likely to visit Boston than San Francisco. This decision has at least a year and half to figure itself out however, so let’s talk about what I ate this weekend.

Pho at Le’s Restaurant in Allston


I went with yelpers on this one. That it was 2 blocks from my friend’s apartment went into consideration as well. Allston seems like a relatively cool neighborhood, although I have only visited twice and I have a very soft spot for Asian restaurants and supermarkets. It reminded me a little of Washington Heights in New York but with smaller buildings and a highway.
The pho was quite tasty and considerably “cleaner” than my go-to spot in San Francisco. The beef was plentiful and lean, but everything was cooked by the time it reached the table. My friend chose a vermicelli dish with impeccably fried imperial rolls. Her veggies were crispy and accompanied by tasty sauce. She mentioned several times after we finished busting our guts that she would be returning. If I lived in Allston I would, too.

Pizza at Pizzeria Regina in Boston’s North End

If I did move to Boston, I would try my hardest to live in the North End. Potentially weak nightlife and difficult parking aside, it’s beautiful and home to Italian stuff, like pizza. Ah, pizza, my one and only love …
Pizzeria Regina is quite popular. I selected it based on an article on Serious Eats from last year. There was a serious line outside when we arrived (around 1 PM on a sunny Sunday) and we waited around a half hour for a table. They serve pizza exclusively which is totally fine with me. We ordered the Capricciosa (prosciutto, mushrooms, ricotta, parmesa, mozzarella, and fresh basil) and our own concoction that wasn’t very good. Theirs was delicious with the crust and the ricotta-to-parmesan-to-mozzarella ratio as notable wins. The decor and paper plates make for an excellent time warp to the 90’s, so if I end up in the North End I’ll definitely be back with a better camera.

I ate some other things, too, but it’s time to stop blogging. I maxed out a memory card between Boston and Cape Cod and there are plenty of stories to be told. Stay tuned!

My mom is getting married on Saturday, hooray! Tomorrow night we’re having a little party so we made two pies for dessert earlier this evening. One is called “bumble berry pie” which involves your standard berries: strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry. I made my own pie and dubbed it “bruise pie” because it has blackberries and blueberries, with a squirt of lemon to add insult to injury. Or something like that. Anyway. Here are the photos from tonight’s culinary adventures:

Flour, sugar, and shortening. Some people use butter. We used Crisco, obviously. Then we mashed it up.

Then we added some water and vinegar, which apparently helps with the flakiness. We’ll see about that tomorrow…

Forming the dough into a ball. I know this photo isn’t all that flattering to my mom’s hands, but she has great hands.

These are four balls of dough about to be placed in the refrigerator. They suspect nothing.

This is a rolling pin.

My pie filling with copious amounts of sugar. Nom.

The lemon juice came from an actual lemon.

My mom showed me how to roll out the pie dough. I was obviously paying close attention.

The bruise pie is ready for the oven!

While the pies cooked, my mom and her mom worked on a macaroni salad. The ingredients included Hellman’s mayo, canned tuna, celery, onions, pickles and other stuff all mixed together with tricolor rotini. Though tempting, I abstained from tasting it.

My pie emerges!

So there you have it. Today I baked something.

Yesterday my mom and I went to the Garden of Eatin’ in Richmond, ME. Yes, I have seen that pun on many a grocery store, but I am no less amused. We bought some mushrooms, broccoli, frozen dumplings (I was pretty curious about local, organic Chinese frozen vegan potstickers being sold in Richmond), onions, and those fabulous garlic scapes. Or whips. What do you call them? I plan on buying one of their grass-fed steaks to celebrate my completion of Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma in honor of Steer 534.

We also went to a farm on the other side of the Kennebec river, which involved crossing my least favorite bridge of all time. It’s a very narrow swing bridge that makes my palms sweat every time I drive across it. Anyway. The place of agriculture in question was Goranson Farms. They grow organic stuff and have really cute bunnies. We bought some strawberries, pork sausage, and a mint plant. A bit random as far as farm purchases go (I guess?) but so far so good in terms of taste. I used the pork sausage tonight to make a spaghetti sauce. It was a tasty success.

And they are delicious. Last night I went to a Portland Sea Dogs baseball game and ate a lot of crap. I had a hot dog, popcorn chicken, french fries, a fish sandwich, popcorn, and an ice cream sandwich. They were all satisfying in some way, but the disappointing fish sandwich was just a phallic, soggy piece of fried fish in a hot dog bun. While I was away enjoying the culinary delights of Portland’s Hadlock Field, my mom and her fiancé (the wedding is soon, that’s why I’m here) ended up with 5 free lobsters. They may be lucky ducks but they can’t eat that much lobster in one sitting.
Then there were three.

What to do with all that delicious lobster besides taking its picture? Well, I used some green things (excepting the rosemary) from the garden…

… and some whole wheat linguine, garlic, and olive oil to make lunch. It was good, but my mom and I agreed it could have used a little spice, like red chile flakes, freshly chopped chile, or chile oil. Basically, anything chile-related would have helped.

Lobster and Swiss chard linguine
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped lobster meat (chilled)
• 1 serving linguine
• 1 small bunch of Swiss chard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp extra virginolive oil
• 1 tbsp sweet or Italian basil, torn into small pieces
• 1 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper

Boil water and cook linguine al dente. Drain and set aside. I made my pasta as I was cooking the chard, but if you lack my amazing sense of timing or only have one burner, cook the pasta first. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and the garlic in medium flat-bottomed pan or wok over medium heat until fragrant. Add the Swiss chard and stir occasionally until tender. Add the linguine, basil, lobster, and the rest of the oil (if needed) and stir until heated through. Avoid overcooking, as the lobster will get all tough and less delicious. Turn off the heat, season with a little S&P, transfer to a bowl or plate and garnish with the parsley.

So I flew from San Francisco to Long Beach, then took a red eye flight to Boston yesterday and/or today. Even though it took the check-in guy and I some time to sort out how I could avoid paying $50 for my overweight bag, I still like jetBlue - they actually have free snacks. Alas, I have no pictures of those blue potato chips or the animal crackers because I was asleep when they were handing them out. But before I got on my plane to Long Beach, I hit up the Firewood Grill café near gate 12 in the international terminal at SFO. Not the one you see immediately after security, mind you. This was that perfectly fine airport bar & restaurant’s loser little brother. All of their pre-made sandwiches (prices unmarked) had tomatoes, the service was pretty slow, and my Italian sausage sandwich looked like this:

I know what you’re thinking. Well, maybe not exactly, but it’s something like, “Gee, who orders a fatty, greasy sandwich before a long flight?” or “Duh, airport food sucks!” You’re right about the first thing. However, I have had some totally decent airport grub after I got over how much it cost. Not at the Firewood Grill. You know what else sucked about the Firewood Grill? It took a long time because they botched my order. Not cool in an airport, dudes. Also, what’s up with that hexagon to-go container? I’d never bring that thing on an airplane. Maybe I am a little cranky because it’s raining over here in New England and the A’s lost to the Red Sox, but step it up little Firewood Grill brother! Even though we jetBluers have free snacks we always appreciate a real meal before flying.

On Wednesday I went down to San Francisco’s Mission District to participate in the second annual Peanut Butter Plan hosted (I think?) by McSweeney’s Publishing, founded by Dave Eggers. I met him once in Hartford. He signed my copy of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius that I have since misplaced. The nice folks at McSweeney’s (tucked away behind the Little Otsu store) recently started a monthly peanut butter and jelly sandwich party. I gathered that their primary goal is to feed the hungry, but the whole situation builds community as well. I chatted with my neighbors at one of two long tables, and on my way home I handed out a couple of sandwiches. Although I seriously doubt I’ll see those gentlemen again, it really did make me feel slightly more connected to, well, you know… my community. My friend and I were also interviewed by a guy with a camera, we’ll see if I end up on YouTube (finally!). More parties are intended for the first of each month, so stay tuned and maybe I’ll see you there in August.