New England Weekend

We started with a plan to take in the U.S. men's soccer team's last friendly match before the World Cup, in Hartford, CT. We ended up with a fantastic long weekend in the good company of Leeny and Brian, in addition to the weekend with the "best all-around" food we've ever had while traveling (thanks in large part to the purchase of a Zagat guide--entirely worth the investment and never steered us wrongly). We met Leeny and Brian in Boston on Thursday, went shopping/browsing on Newberry St., and ended up at the harbor to have Legal Seafood for dinner. An evening at the Black Rose (an Irish pub) finished the night. On Friday we began with Mike's pastry, walked the freedom trail, and toured a bit of Harvard. Rain drove us in search of dinner, which we found at Bangkok Blue, an amazing Thai place off Newberry. Saturday was our last time with Leeny and Brian, so we had a big breakfast at the Trident Bookstore and Cafe. (The French toast stuffed with lemon and ricotta and topped with blueberries was great.) Then Braden and I spent the afternoon in the Harvard area relaxing, with a nice dinner at Tanjore (Indian). We drove down to a hotel outside Plymouth. Then on Sunday we decided to tour a bit of Cape Cod, as we've never been there. After walking the beach, we found the "Brazillian Grill," which was probably the most interesting culinary experience we've had to date (see below). Still meat-stuffed, we arrived (somewhat late--thanks CT) at the U.S. soccer match, where they defeated Latvia 1-0. Then we drove home. We fear that our tastebuds will never be the same.

The vet where we boarded Tsuki is closed today, so we're going to spend the day putting stuff on the floor, placing food on low tables, and leaving doors open and gates down. Happy Memorial Day!

The four of us by the harbor...

Braden and his giant bowl of shellfish and seafood--"cioppino"--at Legal Seafood. Our seafood-filled weekend was in part to celebrate Leeny's partial return from the vegetarian realm.

Sunset at the harbor...

On Friday, the four of us hit the "Freedom Trail" to take in some history. (Here is Braden carefully following the trail.) Before that we fueled up with some wonderful pastry from Mike's in the Italian neighborhood.

Brian and Leeny by the Paul Revere monument.

The U.S.S. Constitution on the left, some kind of battleship on the right, and the Bunker Hill monument in the background.

We took a tour of all three decks of the U.S.S. Constitution, "Old Ironsides." She is not in fact made of iron, but a "sandwich" of oak, with live oak in the middle.

Braden shows off one of the big guns.

The many old gravestones...

Studying the graveyard map...

At Harvard... we spent a fun afternoon wandering, browsing bookshops, and sitting in coffehouses. We had dinner at a wonderful Indian place in Cambridge called "Tanjore," which according to the Zagat guide is known for its "regional diversity."

We took a trip along the Cape Cod national seashore. We stopped at Marconi Beach to wander a bit.

Braden...

At the beach...

The lone photographic proof of the wonder that is the "Brazillian Grill" in Hyannis on Cape Cod. Braden and I can't decide if a franchise of this place in Wisconsin would go broke immediately or be a smashing success. You pay one price for a buffet of side dishes and unlimited meat. Men in Brazillian dress wander the restaurant, each one carrying a giant skewer/sword of some kind of spit-roasted meat (every kind of steak, prime rib, bacon-wrapped filet, several kinds of chicken, chicken hearts, bacon-wrapped chicken, salmon, and roasted pineapple). You tell them whether you want some, and they slice off some, which you grab with the above-shown tongs. They keep coming until you turn the card on your table from "green" to "red." We still haven't really recovered.

Happy Mother's Day!

In honor of Mother's Day (and because we were in need of pastry for Sunday morning), I made my first attempt at Grandma's butter horns and coffee cake. They came out great, except for a few misshapen ones, but they all tasted the same. (Not quite as good as Grandma's, but give me another 40 years...) And the upside of making them yourself is that you don't have to battle about 18 cousins for seconds :) .

Butter horns! (Eaten approximately 2 minutes later.)