Yummy lobster! Woodman's Rocks!

Last night I attended the rehearsal for my friends Allison and John's wedding. Afterward his parents hosted a wonderful dinner in their lovely backyard in Medford. To my delight when we pulled up we saw two catering vans from Woodman's of Essex. For those of you who don't know Woodman's, it is a North Shore institution for delicious seafood! Per Woodman's website they have been in business since 1914 and they are the original inventor of the fried clam! Thank you Woodman's!

The Minogues treated us to a Woodman's Lobster bake. We had dinner under a tent and survived a rippin' thunderstorm. The Woodman's folks - 2 on staff - weathered the elements like pros, moving in under the tent as needed. Despite the soaking rains and terrifying lightning the food was served up hot and fresh. We started out with mussels and steamers followed by their delicious NE Clam Chowder. Next up was Lobster, corn and Cole slaw. Also provided was roast chicken for the non-seafood folks and one guest even got an delicious looking vegetarian dish. This was no afterthought, it looked beautiful and was evidently cooked to perfection. When you walked up for your lobster, it was cracked and the tail was cut for you. There were plenty of bibs, wet naps and napkins and yeah, I ripped into that bad boy and dipped into the still warm clarified butter with gusto.

If you are looking for some killer catered lobster, call Woodman's!!!

http://www.woodmans.com/

Love you Woodman's!!!! Thanks Minogue family!

Best bar evah!

Chocolate. Bread. Butter. Salt. The four food groups? Maybe not, but definitely four foods that make life worth living... in my humble opinion. Combine them all in one and you get the best chocolate bar I have tasted! Theo Chocolate's 3400 Phinney Bread and Chocolate... TA DA!

My sister's friend Meghan brought one of these over to my house when she came by to pick up my sister. Meghan works for Equal Exchange also and they have some damn tasty chocolate in their organic, fair trade line up. So when she said this was her fave bar and broke me off a big piece I knew I was in for a treat. Slightly bitter, exquisite dark chocolate with a hard to place crunch and a hit of salt... what is that??? Buttered bread crumbs made from French Baguette! Like an adult Nestle Crunch bar but 1000x better. She got her bars at Porter Sq. Books and they have the line at Whole Foods. I plan to buy several bars today. As you can see the one she left for me is long gone....

Thank you Theo Chocolates! Theo is located in Seattle, check them out on the web at.... http://www.theochocolate.com/

They are the first roaster of organic cacao in the U.S. They have their own blog too....
http://theonista.typepad.com/

And last but not least, I met one of their folks at WF in Woburn and she was delightful. This is a cool company, check 'em out. If you are nice to me I might gift you with a bar!

=)

My Blog Sucks!

Yesterday I happened upon Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie on PBS. The episode featured food bloggers and was humbling to say the least. These bloggers are the real deal. My blog sucks. My writing is amateurish at best. I can only aspire to the blogger cred that these writers have earned. First of all I need a camera and second, I need to try to really write. I will work on it but in the meantime, here are some cool food blogs to check out. There are so many great ones out there so go surfing and find some of your favorites!

http://chezpim.typepad.com/ - San Fran blogger

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/index.html - expat who lives in Paris

http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/ - love her!

http://www.elise.com/recipes/ - I use this blog to get a lot of recipes!

Happy reading y'all!

A $20,000 cup of coffee???

No! It's just the equipment that's expensive. I loved this article from Today's times. Hopefully I will be able to try a cup sometime!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/dining/23coff.html?pagewanted=1&ref=dining

or the slideshow....

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/01/23/dining/20080123_COFFEE_SLIDESHOW_index.html

Check me out on Yelp.

I get my critic on at yelp.com where folks review businesses and restaurants for others to consult. It's fun, check it out!

http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=fveEJbUC37-tT-OOdaA5tg

Meat!

My friend Mark has turned me on to a meat sensation! Usinger's... America's Finest Sausage (as described on their web site.) Every Christmas Mark makes eggs and (Usinger's fresh) kielbasa for his family for breakfast and last year he convinced me to get in on his meat order! The fresh kielbasa is delicious, plus I have tried the chorizo, frankfurters and applewood smoked bacon. All are delish!

You may have seen Usinger's on Food TV as I had. I have now made kielbasa and eggs for my family two Christmases in a row. Thanks to Mark, we have a new tradition in the family. This year I had made a pork loin roast with fresh fennel and rosemary for dinner the night before. The pan gravy and sliced fennel was so good I had saved it. When I cooked up our fresh kielbasa to go with a fritatta the next day, I put some of the leftover pan gravy and fennel in with the kielbasa while it cooked. TO DIE FOR.

If you love sausage, you'll love Usinger's! Check it out!

http://www.usinger.com/

Pilgrimage to Providence

Recently my Friend Vicki and I hit the road for a foodie pilgrimage... and to shop!

We started out the Nordie's in the Providence Place mall where Vicki scored a couple of great finds! Then we headed to Al Forno for an early dinner. This was V's first time there and my second. It was well worth the drive.

Al Forno is a well known "casual gourmet" Italian restaurant where the emphasis is on fresh, in season and local! The food is amazing. We shared each and every dish.

Our meal started off with Squash Blossoms. These were stuffed with ricotta and mint, lightly battered and fried tempura style and placed on a bed of heirloom tomato sauce. DELICIOUS!!! We also had Gorgonzola stuffed roasted mission figs on a lovely herb and green salad. Also delish!

Next the entrees: "lunettes" stuffed with ricotta and chanterelles served in a brown butter and sage sauce and topped with the freshest sweetest corn I have ever tasted, and more chanterelles. Dish 2: homemade cavatelli in an asiago cream sauce with zucchini and prosciutto. Both were fantastic but the lunettes were the standout.

Dessert was espresso granita for V and a double chocolate cake thing for me. Desserts were good but not great... in my humble opinion.

Al Forno has a brilliant gimmick, they make you order dessert when you order your entree. This probably sells a lot of profitable desserts but I also realized upon further thought that it is a brilliant strategy for a well-run kitchen. The dessert guy or gal knows what you will be having and the timing can be executed perfectly, no surprises in the kitchen. I don't necessarily agree with the early order policy but I get it. Al Forno also does not take reservations unless you want to sign a contract and get penalized financially if your plans change. I guess they can get away with it given their reputation and the quality of their food. Like I said, it was worth the trip.

http://www.alforno.com/