While I was chained to my desk today, Tim ran out to Johnny D’s to pick up a few ingredients for tonight’s dinner. We had an abundance of tomatoes from last week’s CSA box, so Tim took on pico de gallo duty. He chose Emeril’s recipe, which calls for two limes. Lo and behold, limes were three for $1 at Johnny D’s. I guess today’s dollar deal was more Tim’s than mine, but I did participate by eating plenty of the pico atop our enchiladas and black beans.
Today was everything summer should be. Best friends + beach + burgers. We spent the day at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, CT, which falls perfectly in between Boston and Brooklyn, NY, where my best friend lives with her little family. I failed to take any beach pictures, but it was a lovely area. Hammonasset is Connecticut’s largest shoreline park, and the white sand runs for two miles along the Long Island Sound. The weather was perfection, and the water temperature was just right for cooling off. Before we each headed back to our respective states, we stopped for dinner at KC’s Pub in Guilford, CT. The beautiful burger pictured above was of the build-your-own variety, and the additions of bacon and bleu cheese came to about $1. One bite of this burger made me realize that bacon and bleu is the way a burger was meant to be eaten.
Raspberries are my probably my favorite food in the whole world, but I don’t buy them very often. If my choice is to pay the same price for a six-ounce container of raspberries or a two-pound package of strawberries, I’ll always go with the more economical choice. I’m just overly practical like that. So I was beyond delighted to see perfectly ripe and beautiful raspberries for $0.99 at the Downtown Crossing fruit stand right next to my office. I usually eat them plain in order to best savor them, but tonight we used them to top our chocolate molten lava cakes (try Pioneer Woman’s recipe — you won’t regret it). Gooey chocolate + freshly whipped cream + juicy raspberries = my ideal Friday night.
After many summers of merely thinking about attending Shakespeare on the Common, we finally made it happen last night. The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company performs one play for a few weeks each summer (and it’s free!), and this year’s selection was All’s Well That Ends Well. We arrived an hour early and enjoyed a picnic of crab rangoon, pad Thai, and pineapple fried rice from S & I To Go (our #1 Thai place at the moment), and I had no problem figuring out my dollar item of the day when members of the Company came around before the play to seek donations for future years’ performances. All in all, it was a lovely night spent with a few thousand of our fellow Bostonians. I think we’ll make this a tradition.
Every now and then I fall in love with online shopping and decide that’s the only way to go. The feeling doesn’t usually doesn’t last very long, but sometimes you just can’t beat the convenience. Today I needed a particular product from Walgreens that is only sold online. Unfortunately, the shipping was about the same price as the item itself. But if I bumped my order up to $25, the shipping would be free! And then I could also get 20% off with a special coupon code I found online! So I looked around for other things I’d need to buy soon anyway, like shaving cream for Tim and face wash for me (both on sale, I might add). But I was still a couple dollars short. And then I knew what I needed — just last night I had been searching for my nail file, and it was nowhere to be seen. A perfect time to invest in a new one, right? The one that looked best to me on walgreens.com was $1.50, which doesn’t quite qualify for my daily dollar, but if you buy one you can get a second for 50% off . So with that deal plus the 20% taken off my final purchase, I ended up with two of these nice nail files for a little less than $1 apiece.
The reduced items rack at Shaw’s had a $1 winner for us today — a big bag of extra-large hamburger buns (also known as sandwich rolls, according to the label). We have burgers every now and again, but Tim discovered a new use for these buns. For dinner we had caprese paninis, complete with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes from our CSA box, and Tim’s mom’s homemade pesto. And we still have six buns left for hamburgers and/or more paninis!
Today we did the official art and architecture tour of one of my favorite Boston buildings — the Boston Public Library in Copley Square. The BPL is special for lots of reasons, the most important being its status as the country’s first public library. The library was created in 1848, and about 40 years later this beautiful building was constructed to house the ever-growing collection. It was designed to resemble a palace (“a palace for the people,” some said when it opened) and the structure is pretty incredible — inside and out. I’m glad I finally did the tour after multiple years of using the library to check out books. (The tour is free, but the library has a donation box in the front lobby, so feel free to give $1 when you’re there!)
One of my favorite parts of the library is the interior courtyard. It’s a peaceful, mostly quiet spot, perfect for reading or taking a lunch break. I also love the card catalogs within the library. Most libraries have eliminated these lovely pieces of furniture, and I have considered purchasing one on many occasions (I see them in antique stores every now and again). Maybe someday!
We spent the day in Plymouth, Massachusetts, otherwise known as America’s hometown (and historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth). We began with a whale-watching tour, then familiarized ourselves with the town for a few hours. We found a few fun shops on Main Street, including multiple great antique spots, a really beautiful interiors place, and a neat British imports store. Tim and I separately spent time in England before we knew each other, so we decided to pop in and see what treasures we might discover. I was really hoping to find some caramel and chocolate McVities, but no such luck. The store had lots of variety otherwise, including tons of candies, teas, and meat pies. We went for a Cadbury Crunchie, and it was a delightful surprise. Look at that honeycombed center!
Other must-sees in Plymouth: the rock, obviously, where the pilgrims first stepped foot in this country. (It’s set exactly at sea level and housed in this Roman Doric portico.)
And the Mayflower (replica), which is a full-scale reproduction that was build in England and crossed the Atlantic in 1957.
We finished the night with a lobster feast at our house. It might have been the first time I did all the work myself on a whole lobster — turns out the meat tastes even better when it’s a reward for hard work! And since prices are dirt cheap around here, I think we’ll make lobster a more frequent meal on our home dinner menus.
You know it’s a great day when your dollar deal can be found right on the street. Today we took Tim’s family for a tour of all our favorites on the other side of the river — a few Cambridge and Harvard Square stops, then Concord and Walden Pond. While meandering around the shops in Concord, I saw this lovely section of dollar goods at Priscilla Candy Shop on Walden Street. The cute prints on the tiny favor boxes caught my eye, and though I have no idea when I’ll need just four favor boxes, I made the purchase. And good thing I did, because while inside the shop I got to sample some amazing (and homemade!) cinnamon Holland mints. I never knew there was such a thing, but I now know I love them.
Other noteworthy events of the day were a picnic of delicious Darwin’s sandwiches (and Lakota cookies!) at the old North Bridge, kayaking on the Concord River (my arm workout for the week) from the South Bridge boat house to the Old North Bridge, and taking a quick evening dip in Walden Pond. Turns out the parking lot is free after 5:30 p.m., so our new plan for the remainder of the summer is to drop everything every day at 5:30 and go for a swim.
After a delicious dinner at Giacomo’s tonight, we wandered along the waterfront (with pastries in hand) then made our way through Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall to hop on the T at Government Center. The street performers were out in full force, and though I rarely stop for musicians, jugglers, and costumed characters, I’m a real sucker for break-dancers — especially when they’re miniature. The actual dancing was not the best I’ve seen, but this kid was like six years old, so who cares. And the little white kid on the right was especially adept at balancing on his head — with no hat. (But mainly I was wondering where his mother was and why she allowed him to run free with a bunch of teenagers.) I handed over $1, but then I sort of regretted it when the leader of the crew started getting greedy, flat-out asking the crowd for more and more money. From now on, I’ll stick to the humble break-dancers who simply dance and keep quiet.
