1. My in-laws came up to Boston for the weekend, and we enjoyed some good eats over a two day span.
We had planned to go to Neptune Oyster in the North End on Saturday night – and even showed up at the embarrassingly early time of 5:30 to get a table at the uber-popular restaurant – but were told there was a 2 1/2 hour wait.
Yikes.
Needless to say, we opted for a spot around the corner (Rabia’s) were I enjoyed an amazingly creative dish of apple ravioli with figs in a gorgonzola cream sauce (the iPhone photos of which were promptly discarded due to poor lighting) followed by a cannoli from Mike’s Pastry.
This right here my friends is a peanut butter cannoli that was approximately the size of my forearm.
Ok, slight exaggeration… but this guy was HUGE and, needless to say, amazingly delicious.
2. Easter has never been a big holiday for my family – though my parents did set up an annual egg hunt for my brother and me – so I stayed home to cook dinner while John and his folks went to church on Sunday morning.
The spread:
- a big green salad with sliced toasted almonds, dried cranberries, crumbled goat cheese, and a maple-Dijon vinaigrette
- roasted asparagus
- baked maple/brown sugar-glazed ham
- mashed maple sweet potatoes
- a variety of freshly baked rolls from Whole Foods
My mother-in-law put together a beautiful Easter basket for us, including these gorgeous flowers, which are now gracing one of our living room window sills:
They remind me of how nice it is to have fresh flowers inside :).
3. The editorial assignment for this week’s Back Burner post is “local ingredients”.
Since most farmer’s markets aren’t yet open here in Massachusetts, I perused the aisles of Whole Foods with an eye out for the “I’m a local!” tags. I came up with this simple – but delicious – salad featuring locally grown greens, goat cheese from locally raised cows, and two New England specialties: dried cranberries (grown on Cape Cod) and maple syrup (tapped from trees in Vermont).
You can find the recipe here!
Sounds like you had a lovely weekend! I will definitely be seeking out that canolli on my next trip to Boston!
Oh you absolutely MUST go to the North End when you’re up here!!!
We shall go. :-)
Sounds like a great weekend!
Ah, I love Neptune Oyster! Brings back such good memories of our Boston trip. My husband and I still talk about our trip and all the wonderful places we ate!
Your homemade meal sounds equally delicious but not nearly as fattening as a lobster roll with drawn butter (:
pb cannoli? wow. and those ravioli sound pretty unique and tasty as well :) looks like a great easter meal, glad you had a good visit!
Nice work making a local salad this time of year! I’ve only been to Neptune Oyster once, and managed to get in without a wait. But I think it was 5pm on a Sunday…
I love Mike’s Pastry! Have you been to Monica’s Trattoria in the North End? It’s the small Monica’s, by the other 24-hour bakery, and has such good homemade gnocchi when they have it. Jealous you’re in Boston :)
[...] couldn’t shake that peanut butter cannoli from my mind, but my arteries were still yelling at me in protest (I’m ever the [...]
[...] couldn’t shake that peanut butter cannoli from my mind, but my arteries were still yelling at me in protest (I’m ever the [...]
Neptune definitely has a long wait but it’s so worth it (although maybe more difficult with parents). Love that place! Your ravioli sounds pretty cool though so obviously it worked out :)
Well done with the local salad – we have slim pickings for now but it’s coming soon!!
O.M.G. Mike’s has a peanut butter cannoli!? I’m obsessed with peanut butter pie and I bet I would absolutely love this cannoli. Seriously considering driving into the city after work for one! Yum!
The pb cannoli was ah-mazing! Definitely worth driving into the city for :).
[...] Yep, those Italian bakery favorites are fat, sugar, and calorie bombs! Including the two years we lived right in the city of Boston, I’ve only stopped off for a cannoli in the North End once. [...]