The James Beard Awards

Some people get starstruck around celebrities, and trust me, I love to see some celebs in the flesh, but it's chefs who really do it for me.  I don't know what it is, but someone (whether CIA trained or self taught) who can put so much love on a plate makes me a little weak in the knees.

So needless to say I get a LEETLE excited for the James Beard Awards.  And I more than geeked out while watching them...I simultaneously had Food Network on the TV on mute, the awards streaming on my iPad while cooking dinner!

I was really touched by Charlie Trotter as I had no idea he was such a humanitarian and did so much for the city of Chicago.  Also super psyched to see two big Boston wins for o ya and No. 9 Park.  I have not had the luck of dining at o ya yet (that needs to be a "someone else's expense report dinner" fo' sho'!) but love me some BL Gruppo - huge fan of B&G and Sportello. 

I was craving beans for some reason (total comfort food) and made my favorite "clean out the fridge fajita/burrito/wrap" for dinner, the leftovers of which I have been eating all week.  I would post a recipe, but there really isn't one - just chop and saute whatever veg you have (red pepper, onion and a can of green chilis in this case), toss in a protein if you have any (I used chicken), heat some beans (I normally used black, but this time it was veggie refried) and slap between a toasted tortilla.  I had a smidge of shredded cheese left but no sour cream so this was an almost dairy free adventure.  


I will SING the praises of Dorot frozen cilantro...this stuff rocks!  Apparently it's European and I have only found it at Trader Joe's but it'a amazing if you don't have fresh herbs.  (I also use tons of their frozen garlic and basil in the winter. )

Once cooked it looks like a big mess of this:

And the final product, an ugly but tasty treat.  And there's nothing like a tall boy of 'gansett Summer in an RC koozie while watching Jacques Pepin...keepin' it klassy.

Any thoughts on Around the World in 80 Plates?  Saw part of it the first ep. last night, still on the fence.  It is awesome to see Nookie on there representing Red Sox Nation. 


XOXO,
KW

Weekend Part Deux

Oh dear sweet lovely Sunday with zero agenda, yay!  I took my sweet time getting up, caught  up on mindless Bravo and thoroughly enjoyed my favorite Sunday at home breakfast - one slice of whole wheat toast with turkey bacon and cheddar and one slice with raspberry jam - sweet and savory perfection...now if the coffee fairy would only deliver!


I wandered out of the house around 1:00 to head down to the first weekend of SOWA Open Market for the season.  En route I ran into this going on outside of B&G:

Was bummed I missed it for the second year in a row, but there were also tons of other things happening in the South End.  Walking down Waltham Street I ran into a park dedication and finally SoWa Art Walk.  I did some gallery poking around, had some laughs over 90s music with the folks at Patch NYC, did some drooling at M. Flynn and finally arrived at the market.

Poor photo!

I was not only delighted to see Emily at The Fashion Truck but also psyched to check out her new spot front and center at the entrance of the farmers market.  Perfect spot away from the mobs and the smelly food trucks - no one wants their frocks smelling like hot dogs!  I am hoping she will let me do a more in depth post on her fab concept later in the season.

Of course I picked up a few treats 

Black & hot pink are my favs and capped off
a "horsey" weekend.

And this little rhinestone addition to my
arm party - had been dying for one!
(I got the white/beaded one at Patch NYC along with a vintage
postcard with letterpress monograms on it.)

I had a great wander through the craft stalls, lusted after some pillows & jewelry, bought too many cards and then hit the indoor vintage market where I picked up a little treat for MMC.  I kept the food truck indulging to a minimum and had some The FroYo Truck for the first time, thumbs up for the California tart and chocolate with strawberries.  


Made a stop at Trader Joe's en route home and made dinner for KLE and DSB.  Did simple turkey meat balls - ground turkey, one egg, breadcrumbs, fine red onion, salt and pepper (I was out of garlic and forgot the parsley, whoops!).  While they cooked I sauteed 1/8 cup of red onion in olive oil and added sliced portobellos, halved grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup of Trader Joe's organic marinara (a fav, it is their best jarred sauce by far), salt, pepper and a bag of fresh spinach.  Plated up the meatballs with the "stew" in the middle with a dollop of fresh ricotta and fresh shaved parm.  I also did a simple salad of fresh arugula tossed with my go-to dressing of olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh lemon, a little lemon zest and some fine red onion. 


I took a stab at floral arranging and am giving myself a solid C - it's pretty wonky and one of the hydrangeas was wilted within a few hours but will keep trying!

I am fairly certain I won't be putting
Winston's out of business anytime soon!

Sad to see an epic weekend end but psyched for lots of good things on tap for this week - especially the James Beard Awards - I will food nerd it out for sure!


XOXO,
KW