Many people can appreciate the high and the low. For example, a confirmed boutique store shopper may find the bargain basement and the vault at Filene's Basement a joy, just as the swanky restaurant diner can also enjoy a couple beers and Fenway Franks at the ballpark. I found myself last week keeping company with the yacht club set on one night, and the following night...well, a decidedly more frugal and less preppy crowd...
To start, the High...the Clambake.
Each year a couple meet and greet events are held for the incoming interns at work. Thursday was a clambake catered by famed Woodman's, hosted at Community Boating on the Charles. The sailboats were prepped for sailing and Mr. Woodman himself dumped dozens of lobsters in boiling pots of water, prepared steamers with drawn butter and grilled up chicken breasts for non-seafood fans. People donned lobster bibs and mingled amongst their khaki clad colleagues. Babies were passed around and family photos taken. At the end of the night there were half a dozen leftover lobsters-- already boiled and ready for...a bisque? a lobster roll? a salad? And here's where things started to go downhill, to the Low. I would have to transport the lobsters home on the T, and the best way to do this was to throw them in a black garbage bag. But before actually getting on the T, the lobsters made a final journey to a local bar with the interns. I shoved my way in, pushing the garbage bag of crustaceans against legs to make my way to the back. I found an empty table and ordered the lobsters, er, myself, a beer. The lobsters and I eventually made it home, where I tucked them in the fridge for future preparation, then climbed into bed myself, for the next day held big plans...
The Low...Popeye's Fried Chicken.
At some point after high school and part way through college, I swore off most fast food. My teenage metabolism and live forever mentality led me to believe that there was nothing wrong with a lunchtime diet of McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Dog 'N' Shake. I did eat a fair amount of Chinese take out in college, however, and Wing It was a good standby when all that was in the fridge was a case of beer and soy sauce. One of the last traditions of college fast food was Fried Chicken Friday, when Dana and I would bring KFC into the admin office for Zara. Recently a Popeye's opened in Kenmore Square and I was immediately transported back to Wichita, where we would occasionally get the family meal. I recruited ET#1 to join me Friday after work. Even for fast food, 5 pm is a little early for dinner, so we had some pints at Boston Beer Works first. We then tippled over to Popeye's and headed down to the basement entrance. Although tempted by the variety and quantity of the Family Meal, ET#1 wisely convinced me to choose the 2 piece dinner with a side, and she also purchased an additional side. The cashier asked us the requisite questions as we orderd: dark meat or light (dark, of course!), regular or spicy (spicy!) and which side (red beans and rice for me, cole slaw and mac n cheese for ET#1). Finally, we each had to order a large drink. There is never really a time I need a jumbo sized soda of any type, but I was fairly sure not ordering one would wreak havoc on the cash register. I then picked up salt n pepper packets, some Cajun Sparkle and extra napkins. ET#1 also remembered to request honey for the biscuits. We chowed down and when I later headed home on the bus, feeling full and drunk, I felt not unlike I had the night before...so, in the end, it didn't really matter whether the experience was high or low-- I was in heaven!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
I'm A Vegetable Machine!
My sister undertook a year of veggie/salad eating. Here is her report.
So, I wanted to update you on the official close to my summer/year of salads.Despite a rocky start, last night I celebrated the one-yearanniversary of the summer of salads and learning to eat vegetables bymaking a veggie pizza. It included 2 Roma tomatoes, one thinly slicedsmall yellow squash, a quarter of a red onion, half a green (emphasison GREEN) pepper and basil. That is a lot of vegetables that I neverate willingly before this year.
Other successful highlights from this year include:Eggplants. I've grilled them, baked them, fried them and made eggplantparm with them.
Artichokes. This we accidentally boiled instead of steamed, but it was okay.
Bell peppers. I regularly eat these now, but my favorite is when redpeppers are grilled or when we ate the stuffed orange peppers thisfall.
Acorn and winter squash. You may remember these from thanksgiving! AndI just had it on pizza. Plus we grill them and stir fry them.
Spinach. This, I must admit, is still a challenge. But I do like it cooked down with some curry and chickpeas.
Carrots. I know, I know. This is a boring vegetable that I always ate.But now I've graduated beyond baby carrots to peeling and choppingfull sized carrots into sticks. That is carrot dedication. Plus we had that ginger carrot dish at thanksgiving. AND I eat them in my lunch almost every day – except when I have a veggie medley like broccoli,cauliflower, or sugar snap peas (also a knew adventure!).
Tomatoes. If I cut them up small enough, I can eat these things raw. I even made gazpacho!
I also routinely order fancy salads when I go out to lunch or dinneron business. In fact, I had one last week at a work function at the May Flower Hotel downtown. And, just like a grown up, I asked for the salad dressing on the side! Plus, when I have people over for dinner, I can serve – and eat – side salads without grimacing and gagging. As if this weren't enough, I am now even growing vegetables to eat.This includes THREE tomato plants (purple treasure, big boy and greenzebra), two super chilies (Thia chilies) and a bell pepper plant.
But my crowing achievement on the salad/veggie front was last night when I didn't want a salad to go with my veggie pizza, and Matt said Ididn't have to have one if I didn't want to. He said I have nothing to prove on the salad front anymore. I am an official salad eater!
So, I wanted to update you on the official close to my summer/year of salads.Despite a rocky start, last night I celebrated the one-yearanniversary of the summer of salads and learning to eat vegetables bymaking a veggie pizza. It included 2 Roma tomatoes, one thinly slicedsmall yellow squash, a quarter of a red onion, half a green (emphasison GREEN) pepper and basil. That is a lot of vegetables that I neverate willingly before this year.
Other successful highlights from this year include:Eggplants. I've grilled them, baked them, fried them and made eggplantparm with them.
Artichokes. This we accidentally boiled instead of steamed, but it was okay.
Bell peppers. I regularly eat these now, but my favorite is when redpeppers are grilled or when we ate the stuffed orange peppers thisfall.
Acorn and winter squash. You may remember these from thanksgiving! AndI just had it on pizza. Plus we grill them and stir fry them.
Spinach. This, I must admit, is still a challenge. But I do like it cooked down with some curry and chickpeas.
Carrots. I know, I know. This is a boring vegetable that I always ate.But now I've graduated beyond baby carrots to peeling and choppingfull sized carrots into sticks. That is carrot dedication. Plus we had that ginger carrot dish at thanksgiving. AND I eat them in my lunch almost every day – except when I have a veggie medley like broccoli,cauliflower, or sugar snap peas (also a knew adventure!).
Tomatoes. If I cut them up small enough, I can eat these things raw. I even made gazpacho!
I also routinely order fancy salads when I go out to lunch or dinneron business. In fact, I had one last week at a work function at the May Flower Hotel downtown. And, just like a grown up, I asked for the salad dressing on the side! Plus, when I have people over for dinner, I can serve – and eat – side salads without grimacing and gagging. As if this weren't enough, I am now even growing vegetables to eat.This includes THREE tomato plants (purple treasure, big boy and greenzebra), two super chilies (Thia chilies) and a bell pepper plant.
But my crowing achievement on the salad/veggie front was last night when I didn't want a salad to go with my veggie pizza, and Matt said Ididn't have to have one if I didn't want to. He said I have nothing to prove on the salad front anymore. I am an official salad eater!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Girlscout Camping...Eat Your Heart Out Shelly Long!
The girls had been excited for camping for a couple months. We'd been prepping them by having them come up with food they would like to make and eat (there is a cereal called Reese's Puffs, and that's what they wanted, but being from Cambridge with sophisticated palates, also informed us that pecorino romano is better on pasta than parmesan), and having them make a list of any safety issues that might come up while camping (on the list of 30 plus risks, nestled by "snake bite", "tsunami" and "quick sand" was a true issue-- "can't poop").
Friday rolled around and Rashmi, Amy and I had checked our lists multiple times. Rashmi and I waited for Amy, and when I saw her out the window I thought how prepared she looked, replete in jeans, hiking shoes and a vest. When we met her downstairs she was now holding an industrial sized coffee maker. We told her there might not be room in the car for it along with everything else...she paused and looked like we were asking her to sacrifice a beloved pet...but turned to take it back to her car. Three minutes later she returned still carrying the coffee maker and claiming she was happy to hold it on her lap, but she needed it.
We met the girls and their parents and were thankful that we had an actual mom also coming along to chaperone (ie, a "real" adult). We packed the two cars, and despite my assurance that the girls were small and could fit in amongst the stuff (summer memories of 12+ hour car rides, the car packed to the gills with my sister and I stuffed in amongst coolers and pillows and activity bags, across the plains in the Datsun came flooding back to me), we elected to bring Amy's car after all. The girls were divvied up and we set off for Camp Wabasso in New Hampshire. Half an hour later we were still in Cambridge since the traffic was so bad. We eventually all arrived at the camp and the girls were ecstatic. As the grounds keeper showed us around and gave us the rules, one girl asked him a question: "Is there a shower?" No. "But I wash my hair on Saturdays-- what will I do?" Wash it on Sunday. City kids.
We had them all unpack, and had half the girls start preparing for dinner. It was around 8:20 or so and we asked The Mom about what time the girls' bedtime was. She paused and said, "Well, it's a little later on weekends." And then her daughter chimed in saying, "I get to stay up until 8:45 on weekends!" Well, this would be an extra special weekend then.
I went to church camp for several summers and have some recollection of it...but most of my camp memories come from The Parent Trap starring Haley Mills and Haley Mills. Our lodge did not mesh with these memories. There were vinyl covered twin sized mattresses for to sleep on...on a linoleum floor. There was a 3 stall bathroom. There was (fortunately) a kitchen. As we got ready for bed, one girl broke out her dental floss. I asked her if she always flossed (because I know I didn't-- and still don't-- everynight as a kid) and she looked at me and said, "It's a good idea to do it at least once a day" and gave me a strand. In fact, she shared her floss with eveyone, so all nine of us flossed that night.
That night in my sleeping bag on my mattress, I hoped that I was being a good role model...and then as I tried to get comfortable and swatted away stray mosquitoes, I thought about Paris Hilton and how she too was likely trying to get comfortable in jail. There was a difference, of course. I had to wake up at 5:15 am to 5 wiggly and whispering girls. I'm sure Paris got to sleep in.
Saturday was cool and kind of rainy-- we took a short walk around the campgrounds and down to the lake. We taught (and learned ourselves) the girls about compasses and had them make maps of the lodge. Then they got started making the fire for lunch. We all made quesadillas and then we decided to give them some free time. I remember afternoons at camp where we would go exploring with no adult in sight. This camp wasn't so big so I wasn't worried. A few girls said they would go for a walk...but before starting, one remembered something in the lodge-- of course, her purse! Five minutes later their walk was finished and the rest of the afternoon they all stayed in the backyard area, making crafts. Again, city kids. Around 3:30 we noticed them being snippy and crabby. What should we do? Make them lay down? Take naps? Solitary confinement? "They need a snack", said The Mom. Ahhh. Of course! We gathered the granola bars and apples and again felt relieved at the voice of reason.
That night the dinner menu consisted of hamburgers and tacos (because why have one main entree when you can have two?). As the dinner prep team was cutting the watermelon, one girl asked, "is this for dessert?" To which Rashmi replied, "oh no, dessert is smackos-- peanut butter and chocolate chips melted in a quesadilla over the fire." That's right-- there was no healthy eating badge earned this weekend. The girls further proved their wilderness mettle by demanding and eating stove top popped popcorn after the double dinner and smackos. I did some quick math and realized they'd all been awake for 16+ hours...and showed no sign of wanting to go to sleep any time soon. After some skits and dramatic renditions of songs from High School Musical, the girls did start to wind down. At 9:30 we told them lights out in a half hour. In twenty minutes they were begging for lights out. Needless to say, no one woke up at 5:15 the next morning.
Sunday morning we cleaned and took stock of what we were going to tell the parents. One girl had chosen not to brush her teeth all weekend, another had marshmallow and sticks in her hair. We all needed showers. While they were packing and cleaning, Rashmi and I hid 5 bags of cracker jacks on the grounds, and created a treasure hunt using the compasses.
While we were packing the cars, one of our girls who is moving presented us a letter, with one sentence to everyone: One girl has the coolest hairstyle, another has the best laugh, Amy is awesome building fires, Rashmi makes girlscouts so fun and for me? "Andrea, you are the one I admire most." Inexplicably, I'm less like Paris than I thought.
Friday rolled around and Rashmi, Amy and I had checked our lists multiple times. Rashmi and I waited for Amy, and when I saw her out the window I thought how prepared she looked, replete in jeans, hiking shoes and a vest. When we met her downstairs she was now holding an industrial sized coffee maker. We told her there might not be room in the car for it along with everything else...she paused and looked like we were asking her to sacrifice a beloved pet...but turned to take it back to her car. Three minutes later she returned still carrying the coffee maker and claiming she was happy to hold it on her lap, but she needed it.
We met the girls and their parents and were thankful that we had an actual mom also coming along to chaperone (ie, a "real" adult). We packed the two cars, and despite my assurance that the girls were small and could fit in amongst the stuff (summer memories of 12+ hour car rides, the car packed to the gills with my sister and I stuffed in amongst coolers and pillows and activity bags, across the plains in the Datsun came flooding back to me), we elected to bring Amy's car after all. The girls were divvied up and we set off for Camp Wabasso in New Hampshire. Half an hour later we were still in Cambridge since the traffic was so bad. We eventually all arrived at the camp and the girls were ecstatic. As the grounds keeper showed us around and gave us the rules, one girl asked him a question: "Is there a shower?" No. "But I wash my hair on Saturdays-- what will I do?" Wash it on Sunday. City kids.
We had them all unpack, and had half the girls start preparing for dinner. It was around 8:20 or so and we asked The Mom about what time the girls' bedtime was. She paused and said, "Well, it's a little later on weekends." And then her daughter chimed in saying, "I get to stay up until 8:45 on weekends!" Well, this would be an extra special weekend then.
I went to church camp for several summers and have some recollection of it...but most of my camp memories come from The Parent Trap starring Haley Mills and Haley Mills. Our lodge did not mesh with these memories. There were vinyl covered twin sized mattresses for to sleep on...on a linoleum floor. There was a 3 stall bathroom. There was (fortunately) a kitchen. As we got ready for bed, one girl broke out her dental floss. I asked her if she always flossed (because I know I didn't-- and still don't-- everynight as a kid) and she looked at me and said, "It's a good idea to do it at least once a day" and gave me a strand. In fact, she shared her floss with eveyone, so all nine of us flossed that night.
That night in my sleeping bag on my mattress, I hoped that I was being a good role model...and then as I tried to get comfortable and swatted away stray mosquitoes, I thought about Paris Hilton and how she too was likely trying to get comfortable in jail. There was a difference, of course. I had to wake up at 5:15 am to 5 wiggly and whispering girls. I'm sure Paris got to sleep in.
Saturday was cool and kind of rainy-- we took a short walk around the campgrounds and down to the lake. We taught (and learned ourselves) the girls about compasses and had them make maps of the lodge. Then they got started making the fire for lunch. We all made quesadillas and then we decided to give them some free time. I remember afternoons at camp where we would go exploring with no adult in sight. This camp wasn't so big so I wasn't worried. A few girls said they would go for a walk...but before starting, one remembered something in the lodge-- of course, her purse! Five minutes later their walk was finished and the rest of the afternoon they all stayed in the backyard area, making crafts. Again, city kids. Around 3:30 we noticed them being snippy and crabby. What should we do? Make them lay down? Take naps? Solitary confinement? "They need a snack", said The Mom. Ahhh. Of course! We gathered the granola bars and apples and again felt relieved at the voice of reason.
That night the dinner menu consisted of hamburgers and tacos (because why have one main entree when you can have two?). As the dinner prep team was cutting the watermelon, one girl asked, "is this for dessert?" To which Rashmi replied, "oh no, dessert is smackos-- peanut butter and chocolate chips melted in a quesadilla over the fire." That's right-- there was no healthy eating badge earned this weekend. The girls further proved their wilderness mettle by demanding and eating stove top popped popcorn after the double dinner and smackos. I did some quick math and realized they'd all been awake for 16+ hours...and showed no sign of wanting to go to sleep any time soon. After some skits and dramatic renditions of songs from High School Musical, the girls did start to wind down. At 9:30 we told them lights out in a half hour. In twenty minutes they were begging for lights out. Needless to say, no one woke up at 5:15 the next morning.
Sunday morning we cleaned and took stock of what we were going to tell the parents. One girl had chosen not to brush her teeth all weekend, another had marshmallow and sticks in her hair. We all needed showers. While they were packing and cleaning, Rashmi and I hid 5 bags of cracker jacks on the grounds, and created a treasure hunt using the compasses.
While we were packing the cars, one of our girls who is moving presented us a letter, with one sentence to everyone: One girl has the coolest hairstyle, another has the best laugh, Amy is awesome building fires, Rashmi makes girlscouts so fun and for me? "Andrea, you are the one I admire most." Inexplicably, I'm less like Paris than I thought.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Racing Along
This entry will serve as an update of sorts. I have been going along with my normal Andrea things-- svelting, cooking, scouting and reading and they are all coming to a pinacle. This weekend Steph, ET#1 and I ran the Corrib Pub 5K, as part of an Ultimate Svelte Challenge. For Steph and myself, this was our first race. Although in an effort to back out last minute should I need to, I did not register so have no official time. I did eat an official hot dog after the race. My time was about 35 minutes (to run, not to eat the hot dog).
With G working this weekend, I had the apartment to myself so took the opportunity to clean out the fridge and bake bread and roast a chicken. Nothing too exciting. What is exciting is the amount of time I spent reading! For every book I read off my list-of-books-that-are-gathering-dust-on-my-shelf list, I get to post to my new shared blog, A Shelf Full of Books! It promises to be nearly as exciting as Fruit Cart updates and vacation photos.
Finally, next weekend I will go camping with the girlscouts. Since I never was a girlscout, I am winging it (but have very capable co-leaders as well as one actual parent), but hope that my neurotic planning will at least leave us with plently of food and activities. Should anyone have anything they want to share/suggest about scout camping, please leave a comment!
With G working this weekend, I had the apartment to myself so took the opportunity to clean out the fridge and bake bread and roast a chicken. Nothing too exciting. What is exciting is the amount of time I spent reading! For every book I read off my list-of-books-that-are-gathering-dust-on-my-shelf list, I get to post to my new shared blog, A Shelf Full of Books! It promises to be nearly as exciting as Fruit Cart updates and vacation photos.
Finally, next weekend I will go camping with the girlscouts. Since I never was a girlscout, I am winging it (but have very capable co-leaders as well as one actual parent), but hope that my neurotic planning will at least leave us with plently of food and activities. Should anyone have anything they want to share/suggest about scout camping, please leave a comment!
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