MV

What, you don't know what MV means? Neither did I until a few weeks ago!   Martha's Vineyard is almost a place of lore now a days, with occupants such as the Kennedy's and vacationists such as the Obama's.  It seems to be the trendiest, non-touristy place that attracts tourists at the moment. Although, I am happy to say I was an invited guest in addition to tourist :)  Kavan's classmate, Ben's, grandparents have had a house there since the 60's, and graciously opened their home to a group of us in order to fully celebrate the end of 1st year qualifying exams for the PhD program.  I wasn't for sure what to expect from the little island -- would I see celebrities? would I be snubbed by people wearing polos and boat shoes? would I fall asleep on the beach and come back to boston looking like a boiled Maine lobster?  I can reassure you, I still had all of my self respect, and skin cells, when I returned to Boston. 

Our weekend at Martha's Vineyard was awesome! Kav and I have been working so much lately, and a weekend away was well deserved.  Most of our time was spent eating and playing games, (if you haven't played For Sale you don't know what you're missing).  We checked out the island chocolatier shoppe, the artisan market, Menemsha (the fishing port where Billy Joel used to live), the fudge shop, the gingerbread houses, and the beach! What a wonderful weekend away :)


I thought these metal chains had a lot of character

Lighthouse on the way to MV

Menemsha!!! The water's sooooo bluuuuueee

I made a fuzzy friend one night.... everyone else was scared of him

The view from Ben's Grandparent's house. According to his grandpa, those trees used to be a lot shorter in the 60s....

 Alas, I didn't get any cool picture of the gingerbread houses, but I did get a picture of a porch on one. Cute x 10

  

Fishing!

We got a tuna and swordfish steak cut off of the fish minutes before we took them home. The swordfish was probably one of the yummiest fish I've ever eaten, and it was only seasoned with salt and pepper!

A goto move of many a guy on their way back to the mainland after a weekend away with their girl,  take the 8pm ferry.  Who wouldn't be swept of their feet, right?

MacaWrongs

Although I've never taken a cooking class or done any sort of extreme baking, I still like to think of myself as somewhat of a good baker. That's why, when I couldn't find a good place for French Macarons in Boston, I didn't think twice about making them myself. Sure they're supposed to be one of the most persnickety cookies out there, but I know how to bake..... right?

I was first introduced to the Macaron in San Francisco at the Ferry Building. I sampled three different flavors: rose, hazlenut, and vanilla, and as soon as I took my first bite I was hooked! The texture of macarons is very interesting. They have a crusty outside, a chewy inside, and a gooey filling sandwiched in between. They get their fluffiness from meringue and their chewiness from almond flour, and come in an infinite combination of colors and flavors.

I decided for my macaron I didn't want to just do the standard vanilla, I wanted to try a rose one because it was my favorite flavor in San Fran. How naive I was, I didn't even make it far enough to actually put the rose flavoring in anything! haha Not only was I going to make macarons from scratch, but I also thought it would be easy to make almond flour. Take it from me, just buy the bag of it at the grocery store! In addition to using almond flour at the right concistency, there is also a delicate balance between under and over mixed macarons. Although my batter came out pretty in pink, apparently I had erred on the side of over rather than under..... The cookies were flat and brown around the edges (not good). I couldn't even get them off of the wax paper (more on that later). They were such a failure I didn't even take a picture of the end product.

Determined not to be beat by the macarons, I made another batch the next day. This time I beat the meringue a little longer and used store bought almond flour instead of my own. They were definitely fluffier this time! Unfortunately they were still inedible.

Ok now for my tangent on wax paper.... HOW did it take me this long to figure out it is NOT the same as parchment paper??! Granted we never had parchment paper growing up, only wax paper, but still.... This whole macaron experiment is becoming to be a very humbling experience!

Still refusing to give up on my macaron dream, I decided to try again today. After my revelation regarding the wax paper, I promptly purchased a silicon baking liner on amazon, and I have been itching to try it out. They actually look like macarons!! Yaaaaayyy!!!

They were still really sticky and hard to get off the mat, but they were edible, which is better than last time :) I'm still not done with this whole macaron business.... I'll get you next time my pretties...

Candlepin Bowling Fun

If the weakling of bowling and the alpha male of skee ball grew up and had a baby, candlepin bowling would be its name. Candlepin, rather than ten pin, is the type of bowling most popular in New England. I had never heard of candlepin bowling until I first starting working at EnerNOC, and experienced my first game of candlepin bowling on a celebratory work excursion. I thought it was so unique I wouldn't quit talking it up to Kavan, so for our belated Christmas outting, we decided to try it out. Unfortunately, we didn't realize how popular this place was and it was packed. We couldn't get a lane, and left without Kavan even throwing a ball (although the amazing butternut squash flatbread pizza that we at almost made up for it).

After Kavan's birthday wine and cheese class was canceled (losers), he thought that it would be fun to try out Sacco's Candlepin Bowling again. After a 2 hour wait on a Thursday night, yes it really is that popular, we finally got a lane. Kavan found out what I already knew, it's really fun and really hard! I consider myself a decent bowler and skee ball player and I didn't even break 100. We certainly got put in our place by the candlepin gods, but had a lot of fun in the process. Birthday present success! :)

Here are some action shots:

That dress was a little shorter than I thought....

Go Kav!

cutie :)



Kavan showin' off his moonwalk moves

My May flowers

My plants are growing!! For the longest time I thought that I had a brown thumb, brown as in the color my plants turned after a few weeks. I think my issue wasn't the lack of attention but rather the over abundant suffocating care, aka "love", that I literally poured into my plants day in and day out. About a year after I moved to DC I decided to try again. I got my peace lily and Christmas cactus at Home Depot when my friends and I went to pick out a Christmas tree. I did a little research and they seemed to be pretty fool proof plants; great for my low gardening self-esteem. Time went on, and the next Christmas my cactus was in bloom! I took this as an official sign of success, and a sign that I should buy another plant. This time I wanted to get a plant that had some color year-round. I opted for an African violet. Luckily I asked the clerk about its care before I left because African violets HATE to get water on them. What makes them happy is to slurp the water up from underneath. I would say my African violet is my favorite little sprout, and I am very proud at its current bloom! Once we got away from the nasty chlorine saturated DC water it seemed to do a lot better.

My Aunt Donna is well known for her landscaping back home. Each Spring her immaculate lawn and large, southern porch transform into a place out of the book The Secret Garden. Although I don't have a yard to plant things in, she has inspired me to get some pretty blossoms to keep my other plants company. I can only hope that I become half the master gardener that she is.

I also wanted to start an herb garden. Right now I have mint, basil, and oregano. We'll see if I can keep these alive and have unlimited mint juleps and Italian food for the summer. I also planted poppies! Poppies were EVERYWHERE when Kavan and I went to Cali last year. I can't wait to see them here in Boston! :)

Let the games begin!

This past weekend was action packed! The 137th Kentucky Derby was on Saturday at Churchill Downs.  First thing after Zumba I headed off to Trader Joes to get mint for mint juleps, my favorite drink :-9  A few hours out, and I already had my pink seersucker skirt on and mint julep in hand.  Ahhhhh, home....

Ever since Meredith won $100 on a $2 bet, I've tried to make it a point to bet on the race.  I ended up missing the online post time by 2 minutes!! Who has a post time over 2 hours before the race?! Luckily, this twist of fate was in my favor, neither Dialed In nor Stay Thirsty showed at the race. I thought the story behind the winner, Animal Kingdom, was really cool though.  The jockey was originally on the initial favorite, but that horse ended up scratching.  He then picked up Animal Kingdom a few days before the race after the horse trompled the nose of its first jockey. Only a few days of riding on a new horse and he managed to win the Derby! Now that's talent!

On Sunday, I managed to snag tickets to see the Twins game at Fenway.  It was an early birthday present for Kav and a nice breather from the intense studying he's been doing.  The Twins ended up losing 9 to 4, but we had a great time nonetheless.  Plus I got some pretty cool pictures to boot.

Youk-got what I neeeeeed

It's always nice seeing Span do well.

Maybe Kav's autograph will be worth something someday ;)

Easter Feaster

The Easter bunny decided to join Kav and I at breakfast on Sunday.  He was delish :-9

 

The weather was the nicest it has been all year peaking at about 80 degrees!  I am claiming that this marks the start of bike season (for me at least).  So after breakfast, Kavan headed off to study and I headed on my bike down to the Common to enjoy the scenery.  Almost everything was in bloom, the swan boats were paddling around the pond, there was a drum line near the visitor center...  Little girls in white fluffy dresses and little boys in miniature suits pranced around discovering all of the sights and sounds at the Common.   Everyone was in their Easter Best.

I decided to take a different route back home, and oh boy what a ride!  The bike trail curved alongside the Charles River, which today was filled with drifting sail boats and lined with thousands of delicate blossoms.  I stopped several times to take pictures.

Finally, it was time for the Easter Feaster.  I didn't go all out, but it was nice to make a well rounded dinner.  Of course, it wouldn't have been complete without Easter Bunny carrot cake! One of my own, new traditions :)

<3 Liz

My First Marathon Monday!

Every April all of Boston shuts down, not for what is one of the most prestigious marathons in the world, but for Patriots' Day commemorating the first battle of Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord.... yeah right.  We all know that the only reason state workers and the majority of people are off of work is to avoid thousands of people drinking on the job.  Luckily I was able to take the day off and save myself some HR troubles.

Kavan also had the day off from school and was able to accompany me to my friends' little get together, conveniently positioned at mile 23 of the race.  Watching the marathon was such a thrilling experience!  All that stood between us and the runners was a little aluminum fence.  Of course a race isn't much of a race without heartbreak and drama.

Kim Smith had an unprecedented lead.  At one point she was almost a full minute in front of the others.  She made it all the way to mile 18 when she injured her calf muscle and was forced to drop out at mile 20.  That wasn't all.....  Desiree Davila almost became the first American woman to win the marathon in 15 years!  She was neck and neck with her Kenyan opponent, and sprinted to the lead a couple of times in the last quarter mile only to lose by seconds at the finish line.  The men's race was also close with the top two runners beating the world record.  Here's a good article if you want to learn more: http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/articles/2011/04/19/early_leader_smith_is_roped_in_by_calf_woes

I managed to get some pretty cool pictures with my sports setting, which acts as if my camera has turrets. 

Desiree Davila in the lead, followed by the winner.

 

The men's world record holder in Marathon running!

There were so many runners! I think in total there were about ~20k.  They were very interactive with the fans.  They high-fived, posed for the camera, gave kisses, and even grabbed food and drink that was hanging too far over the railing.  This video from the Globe really captures the essence of the race.

One marathon convention that I didn't know about was the COSTUMES. Some of the best were the bearded ballerina, burgerman, a high-fiving gorilla (whose hand was really sweaty :P ) aaaand a sultan! I am definitely making Marathon Monday my tradition.

Indulgent Food.... the only way to make it through the Boston Winter

I was going through some pics today trying to pick some for my post, and I can't believe some of the photos I neglected to post.  Before I came to Boston, I had heard horror stories of the winters up here.  I was pleasantly surprised that not only did I not mind the cold (I love you cuddle duds), but I also kinda liked the winter wonderland that engulfed the landscape of the NE.  Nonetheless, I did my fair share of baking to ease the winter chills.  Here's a couple highlights from the past few months:

 

Breakfast: 

Poached eggs with asiago and sopressata over toast 

with a pear arugula salad topped with pecans and goat cheese

Dessert:
Coconut cream pie

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the carrot cake, cheesy garlic polenta squares with caramelized onions, paella, or andouille sausage pizza, but Summer cooking is just around the corner! =)

First Beach in 2011

It's been over two months since I've posted, which I know is a big no-no for bloggers.  My apologies. Instead of taking on the task of creating the most epic of all blog posts to catch you up, I thought I would just share some photos that I took during the trip to the beach that Kavan and I went on today.

The temperature managed to get up to a whopping 66 degrees today in Boston, perfect weather as far as I'm concerned.  Everyone was out and about -- kids were on the playgrounds, hipsters were on their fixies, men in leather were on their hogs (I especially like that one).  The energy was exhilarating!

Kavan went on a few joy rides along the coast last Fall before I moved to Boston, so when he suggested we go on one today it was a no-brainer.  I was thrilled to leave the city. He had visited a town along the bay called Hull, where he happened upon a place with mouth watering fish tacos over looking the beach.  Hull isn't that far from Boston so it was a great day trip.

The drive to Hull was complicated, but I am happy to report that, for once, we didn't miss a turn! When we arrived at the bay my first reaction was that it looked like the ocean, scattered islands were barely visible on the horizon.  The beach at Hull was busy.  There were dozens of dogs, kids, grandparents, couples, and teenie boppers trying to get the most out of the change in weather.

 

There were a few kites whipping in the wind when we arrived.  My favorite was one of a scuba diver complete with fish.  We ate lunch overlooking the bay, and then romped around the beach a little before heading back to Boston.

(see what I mean about the leather)

Interesting enough, you can even see Boston from the shore.

Last but not least we have the stereotypical picture of a New England lighthouse.  Of course I was super excited! I really don't think I will get used to those ;)

Love it! =)

Bosu y Bosu

One of my favorite parts of the weekend is going to the gym. Yes, I said it! I've never been a member of a gym before, but the lack of a free average joe's gym in the basement of my building (as it was at the Fed) has pushed me to break down and shell out the monthly fee.  In November, I joined a women's only gym Healthworks a few minutes away from my house.  There are a few reasons why I picked it:

1. It is not in a basement (you would think this would be a given, but not in my area of town)
2. I don't have to worry about "I Pick Things Up and Put Them Down" guys
3. It has lots of cool cardio machines w/tvs that I can use in the winter
4. It has a sauna and steam room
5. I get free towels which enables me to fit on the T with my gym bag
6 and Most of all. It has a TON of free group fitness classes!!

Because I usually stay at work late, I miss the classes during the week, making the weekend my only chance to try them out.  So far, the yoga classes have been pretty good, but what I've really taken a liking to has been Zumba!  I LOVE to shake my tush!









You can only imagine my disappointment when I woke up yesterday to find the class was already booked! Oh what to do!? Hmmmm, this Bosu Challenge class still has spots, guess I'll try it out... What is a Bosu anyway? Well I found out.









Bosu is half of a yoga ball used as stability for floor exercises and step aerobics. It's great! The class was very similar to the step aerobics class I would take at the Fed so I didn't get lost on the moves. Better yet, I won't have to get up at 9 am on my Saturdays to do it ;-)

Mandatory ME Time

I've missed you bloooog! Oh boy, this year has really started off hectic. In order to keep myself sane, I am officially instituting mandatory ME time (sans work computer) each day. I've always thought of myself as a hard worker, but I never would have imagined that I would become one of those people who let their job take over their life. I'm fighting with all my might!

There's been a lot going on, but luckily I've managed to squeeze in some fun stuff. I made a cranberry cheesecake for Kavan's return. It was super yummy :9 The recipe is from Cooking Light, and the cheesecake is made with 1/3 less fat cream cheese and greek yogurt. I've never heard of greek yogurt being used in a cheesecake, but I am pretty sure that is why this cheesecake turned out to be the creamiest cheesecake I've ever made.

 

My Kuckie Koo made it back safe and sound! =) Shortly after, we had a lovely dinner in the North End with his Dad and Step Mom. It was a treat to finally get to meet them! It was also a treat to finally celebrate Christmas, just the two of us, a few days later. Can I just say Wow! :) It really meant a lot to me that Kavan picked out such thoughtful gifts, and he is most definitely 4 for 4 on picking out jewelry that is both beautiful and "me".

The next day, Kav got to enjoy his Christmas present, tickets to the Bruins game! Ovi and the Caps still hold the keys to my heart however ;)

Onto the practical side of things. Kavan also got me a food processor!! Picture one of those kids in the we're going Disney World commercials, and that pretty much sums up my reaction. hehe I am gonna have some fun with this! First line of business was to make something I would never dream to attempt without a food processor, scalloped potatoes. They are made lickity split with my fancy slicer blade. I am definitely making these again.....

In other news:

There was a blizzard and corresponding work from home day :)

It was grand.

To celebrate her return, my roomie Amelia and I made chocolate port lava cakes.

These little things should be illegal........

Here's to ME time! Thanks for joining :)