free day: the yogurt

September 7, 2011 No comments

Stonyfield Oikos organic Greek honey fig yogurt

I’m instituting an occasional free day for myself — but it doesn’t mean I can just get lazy and avoid shopping. It means I have to get something for free. Today, I got this tasty Stonyfield yogurt for $0. I had a coupon sitting in my inbox for a free 5.3-ounce Oikos organic Greek yogurt, so I finally printed it and browsed the few flavor options available at the Shaw’s near my house. I went with honey fig, since I’m not a fruit-on-the-bottom kind of girl. I normally buy plain Greek yogurt and mix in whatever fresh fruit I have on hand, so this sweetened flavor is practically dessert for me.

the gelato

September 6, 2011 No comments

Alright, last blog post from Newburyport, and then it’s back to Boston spending.

Since no meal is truly complete without something sweet, we immediately began searching for a treat once we finished dinner. There were a couple of ice cream shops that looked pretty great, but luckily we found Dolce Freddo Gelato before we committed ourselves to regular ice cream. There really aren’t enough good gelato options in this country, so when you come across a legitimate Italian frozen dessert shop, you must not pass it by. That’s my philosophy, anyway.

Dolce Freddo Gelato in Newburyport, Massachusetts

Tim and I were moments away from placing our order — bacio for me, stracciatella for him — when we did some quick math and realized we’d only be paying an extra dollar to add a third scoop to our double. Easy decision. We sampled the caramel brownie and quickly agreed that was the winner for flavor number three.

triple scoop (bacio, caramel brownie, stracciatella) from Dolce Freddo Gelato

the mini whisk

September 5, 2011 1 comment

Soufflés kitchen essentials and coffee in Newburyport, Massachusetts

Today was a glorious and labor-free holiday for us. We went for a nice ride on the Minuteman trail, spent a few hours reading by the pool, then finished the day off with friends + dinner in the North End. I used the holiday as an excuse to avoid dollar shopping, but I do have a $1 purchase to share from our Saturday in Newburyport. I fell in love with Soufflés (a coffee shop and culinary store) the moment I laid eyes on the darling pink sign hanging from the picturesque brick storefront. The shop smelled like heaven, thanks to the coffee (red velvet hot cocoa! crème brûlée steamers!) and baked goods. I found all sorts of fun kitchen tools and gadgets to lust after, but only one item came home with me — a teeny tiny $1 whisk. Sometimes you need to whisk just one or two eggs, and who wants to use a giant whisk for a small task like that?

tiny whisks from Soufflés in Newburyport

the water

September 3, 2011 1 comment

fish and chips, clam chowder, and Pland Spring water from Jim's Clam Stand in Newburyport

We spent a lovely Saturday on the North Shore, reading on the beach for hours and hours until the biting flies finally broke me down. I’m in denial that summer is coming to an end, and the cooler temperatures are really stressing me out. I hate thinking about how many beach days I might have left. From the beach, we ventured into Newburyport, and it just happened to be the town’s Labor Day Festival. We wandered the streets and visited all the shops, then dined at a park on chowder and fish and chips from Jim’s Clam Stand. We had polished off all our cold water earlier at the beach, and I was nearly dying of thirst at this point. I have a real thing against buying water bottles (I hate the waste of plastic bottles, and I don’t believe in paying for filtered tap water), so I usually fill my trusty Contigo at home and bring it with me on outings like this. But our bottles were in the car, and there was not a drinking fountain in sight. So Tim did the dirty work and purchased a bottle of Poland Spring water. My only consolation was that I could blog it as my dollar purchase for the day.

the frozen yogurt

September 2, 2011 1 comment

Mixx Frozen Yogurt in Allston

Yes, I know it’s ridiculous to buy one dollar’s worth of frozen yogurt, but it can be done. Tonight’s post-dinner field trip took us to Mixx Frozen Yogurt in Allston. (For the record, Allston is probably the worst place in the world to be right now — moving trucks galore, sidewalks littered with dirty couches and broken bookshelves, and awful drivers who have yet to learn the rules of the Boston roads.) After tonight, Mixx has officially topped BerryLine on my list of favorite frozen yogurt. I love being able to pay by the ounce ($0.39/ounce at Mixx), and although I often have a hard time making flavor decisions, I appreciate having nine varieties to choose from. This week’s flavors were original tart, lychee, taro, strawberry, chocolate, green tea, cake batter, vanilla, and coffee. The tart tops any other tart around, and chocolate and cake batter are both pretty great as well.

10 flavors a day at Mixx Frozen Yogurt

Now let’s talk about toppings — there are 50 of them. I’m not kidding. I went fruity today (they had fresh strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, kiwi, mango, and so on), but I’m already wanting to go back for a second visit so I can sample the non-fruits. They had pretty much every nut and candy bar, plus the more unique options, like popping boba, mochi, aloe, granolas, and a number of sauces.

dozens of toppings at Mixx Frozen Yogurt

the soap saver

September 1, 2011 Comments: 4

Kitchenwitch in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

If I had to pick just one kitchen store to shop at for the rest of my life, I don’t know what I’d do. But I do know Kitchenwitch in Jamaica Plain ranks right up there with the best. Tonight we drove over to JP for First Thursday, when all the shops are open late and live music can be heard coming from the parks and stores (and from a car — we saw an actual band playing from an antiquish car driving down Centre Street). The main purpose for our trip was to see Joanne Chang at Kitchenwitch, who was there signing copies of her amazing cookbook, “Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe.” We wandered around the store for a few minutes, and I think I’d like one — or two or three — of everything there.

Cookbooks, obviously. I can’t decide which Flour recipe to try first, but it seems the sticky sticky buns or homemade Pop-Tarts might be a good start.

Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook at Kitchenwitch in Jamaica Plain

Colanders in all colors and sizes.

colanders at Kitchenwitch in Jamaica Plain

Who doesn’t need a lobster cookie cutter? Seriously!

cookie cutters at Kitchenwitch in Jamaica Plain

I can always find more uses for ramekins.

ramekins at Kitchenwitch in Jamaica Plain

And, of course, a $1 item — the soap saver. This is not necessarily a kitchen item, but we’d been in dire need of a soap solution for our shower. Kitchenwitch saves the day!

soap saver from Kitchenwitch in Jamaica Plain

the tomatoes

August 31, 2011 Comments: 3

Tonight I hosted my church’s gourmet dinner group at my house, and I had a last-minute fear that there wouldn’t be enough food. So Tim volunteered to whip up a pesto/mozzarella/tomato pizza, and I took on the task of picking up tomatoes on my way home from work. Thank goodness for the produce stand in Downtown Crossing. I grabbed two beautiful tomatoes, handed over a dollar bill, and went on my way.

Dinner consisted of an amazing coconut curry soup, a summer salad with apricots, pistachios, and almond soft-fried egg, Tim’s pizza, and then an abundance of desserts — Quebec maple sugar pie, mini nectarine tarts with a gingersnap crust, and fresh peach ice cream. Let me tell you about this incredible salad. First of all, pistachios should definitely be incorporated into more salads. Second of all, the art of soft-frying an egg, then peeling it, and then coating it and deep frying it is something I never want to attempt. But I very much appreciate it when someone else does the work. Look at this beauty.

summer salad with apricots, pistachios, and almond soft-fried egg

the roasted seaweed snack

August 30, 2011 Comments: 3

Trader Joe's roasted seaweed snack

Good thing I only paid $0.99 for this package of Trader Joe’s roasted seaweed snack, because I’m pretty sure I won’t be eating any of these smelly sheets of seaweed. I don’t know what I was expecting when I bought this, but the shelf where they’re stocked at Trader Joe’s was completely empty, so I figured it must be a hot item. I had to ask an employee to open a new box of the snacks, so I felt like I was getting something really special. It’s basically nori roasted with sesame and canola oil and sea salt. I nibbled on one piece of seaweed, and that’s all I could handle. I made Tim try it and told him he would feel like he’s eating sushi, but he was correct when he said it tasted like sushi without any of the good stuff. Anyone want a nearly untouched package of seaweed snacks?

Trader Joe's roasted seaweed snack

the boston fire museum

August 29, 2011 1 comment

Boston Fire Museum at 344 Congress Street

Here’s a fun and potentially free activity for your next open Saturday — the Boston Fire Museum. (I donated a dollar, so not quite free for me.) We didn’t actually go here on purpose; we were walking by and it looked intriguing, so in we went. It’s not a very large museum, but it’s chock full of fire fighting memorabilia, like a hand-drawn, hand-operated fire pump from 1792 and a horse-drawn steam pumper from 1882. There’s also a fire alarm exhibit (the world’s first fire alarm system was in Boston, of course) and tons of photos documenting all aspects of fire service. The staff here (actual fire fighters) are beyond willing to relay as many stories and as much information as you’ll let them. Also, you can book the space for a child’s fire museum birthday party! It’s probably the only time in my life I’ve wished I had a six-year-old son.

antique hand-operated pump at the Boston Fire Museum

antique fire truck at the Boston Fire Museum

Boston Fire Museum fire truck

Boston Fire Museum and Boston Sparks Association

the mini sorbet cup

August 27, 2011 1 comment

Crate & Barrel mini sorbet cups

Since hurricane Irene is driving everyone crazy and all the stores are sold out of D batteries, we decided to quit trying to prepare for the unknown and go to a movie instead. And since the Chestnut Hill theater is right next to Crate & Barrel and we needed a new can opener anyway, why not make some time for shopping? Good thing we did, because how cute (and impractical) are these mini sorbet cups? I’m thinking one of these will come in handy for serving dressings or sauces at dinner time. And won’t my favorite condiment spoon go perfectly?

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