Boston fishmongers versus Whole Foods

I like Whole Foods, I’m lucky because when I came here I didn’t know anything about hormones in the food or pesticides and I began to buy here because it’s really convenient from my house.

The closets supermarket to my home is Whole Foods, all the food is fantastic and you don’t have to worry if the chicken has hormones detrimental to your health or not because the answer is not. I have never paid attention to this matter because in Europe the use of the certain hormones to make young animals gain grow faster is regulated by law and in theory you are safe that this hormones help to developed a cancer in your body.

After this introduction praising Whole Foods, even the fishmonger is good, something is missing there. I think maybe it’s because I’m use to have a huge variety of fish in Spain and the option to buy a whole fish, with the head and bones. It’s nothing wrong with the filets but when you put a sea bass in the oven the flavor is going to be richer if you cook it with the head, if somebody is thinking that is disgusting, don’t do it, because you don’t eat the head.

After have this conversation with a Spanish friend, she did a web research and she found two fishmongers as we know in Spain. New Deal Fish Market is one of them, in 622 Cambridge St, Cambridge, and the other one is Courthouse Seafood at 498 Cambridge Street, East Cambridge.

I’ve visited the first one and my experience couldn’t be better the variety of fish is incredible and the quality as well. I bought sea bass and swordfish, both of them full of flavor; it has been the first time that I ate a really good fish since I’m here, I mean a flavor fish not hidden under a rich sauce. I have to go to Courthouse Seafood because is a restaurant too and maybe because the Portuguese roots I'm going to eat European style fish.

If you want to know the recipe of the sea bass let me know and I’ll write it down.

Harbor Islands - Georges Island

After searched at different web pages, we choose to go to Georges Island thinking in hiking and history, next time I’ll only look in the Harbor Island web page, because how we checked our selves, is a “scenic low-stress walk” but very pleasant.

We walked around the historic Fort Warren, and that it’s the hiking that you can do. Here is the map  just in case you want to have a look.  Is interesting observe the rest of the Islands that surround Boston, because I couldn’t imagine that till I searched for things to do here.

The importance of Fort Warren during the Civil War, The WWI and WWII is very well explained at the Museum, you can see how was the day by day of the soldiers there and the artillery changes during the pass of the time.

After socked up of the story we walked around the Fort and finally extended our towel at the pebbles beach for a while and cached the ferry to return to Boston and have a delicious Back Bay Sangria and Tuna tartar ant Joe’s.

Fourth of July 2011

I was downloading the photos of last weekend, (I´ll write about it because It has been very active), and I found the 4^th of July pictures.

This has been our second 4^th of July, this time we were on a very privileged place, on a friend roof deck.   The experience was fabulous, nobody pushed me or stepped on my foot, in the meantime we’re drinking Caipirinhas enjoying the gentle breeze.

Before the big fireworks we had a prelude, from different roof decks fireworks flash could been seen.

The Rotary road was cut as last year was and after some cold days, the 4^th began quite hot, we’re walking along the river observing how the people started to take positions to watch the fireworks, there were genuine professionals with tents, coolers, chairs, American flags, I have to say that I remember all my family in Spain and I was wondering If they were here in Boston we’d be along the river as well, who knows.

If I have to compare this celebration with a Spanish celebration I think that it’ll be with New Year’s Eve, everybody waiting at home or at the street for something special to happen. In New Year´s Eve we wait for the stock at twelve to eat twelve grapes that will bring to us luck for the New Year.

Yoga

I'm going to write about Yoga because I enjoy myself practicing it.

All my life I´ve practiced Pilates but I introduced Yoga in my routine a year ago .

I have to say that the instructor is really important and he or she can make that you love it or hate it. In my case I love it. There are different types of Yoga, I practice Slow Flow Yoga, it's a variety of Vinyasa Yoga.

If you search the term “Vinyasa Yoga” you'll find that is “breath-synchronized movement.” You'll do a series of asanas  and you'll move through one to another inhaling and exhaling. Your body will gain in flexibility and stability and after one year practicing it I can say that it`s true.

I don´t like to miss any weekly class because I notice I challenge myself everyday and I can feel my body improvements every class.

I go to the gym to practice Yoga once a week and I practice at home with a Mandy Ingber Yoga DVD, Yogalosophy and I like both styles. I practice at home only with the music option because I can't put up with Mandy´s voice and her comments but the exercises are really good for your muscles.

Sometimes I´m going to run along the river Charles and when I see people practicing Yoga at the dock I dream to do it someday preferably at dusk, who knows maybe when I practice for some years more I'll do it.

Gazpacho

Finally the summer is here and what could be better that have a star dish for the summer nights. I've modified a little bit the recipe (I take out the bread to make it lighter). 

I'm always looking forward for the summer to make the Gazpacho and to remind my mum’s gazpacho in Spain.

The ingredients that you are doing to need are:

-       4 ripe tomatoes (cut in half each tomato and take off the steam)

-       1/2 green pepper

-       1/2 cucumber (small)

-       1 clove of garlic

-       A pinch of salt

-       6 spoons of olive oil

-       2 spoons of white vinegar

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend them till the mixture is smooth.

Poor the gazpacho into coarse strainer and it´s ready to eat or to drink depending the container you used to delight your palate.

You can play with the amount of garlic, olive oil and vinegar to obtain your special recipe because how we say in Spain, “For different tastes we have different colors” that is “"Everyone to his own taste."

New York, I love you

I'm subscriber to Netflix, the better invent to avoid the terrible television. Yesterday I saw "New York, I love you", a fantastic movie with different short love stories with great actors as  Bradley Cooper, Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Anton Yelchin, Hayden Christensen, Orlando Bloom, Irrfan Khan, Rachel Bilson, Chris Cooper, Andy García, Christina Ricci, John Hurt, Robin Wright Penn, Julie Christie, Maggie Q, Ethan Hawke and James Caan.

The cinematography and soundtrack are sensational, showing a lot of places of New York with a particular view with the perfect music.  Each story has been written or directed for a different director showing their particular vision of New York and the relationships that you can find in the city.

Here is the movie official trailer.

Friday

Today is Friday and at least it´s not raining. I like Fridays because are the beginning of the weekends and the fun things.

This Friday is a little bit different, my friends, better said a lot of people in Spain are attending to demonstrations to change the political situation. I´m disconnected from this situation because I´m living abroad for nearly 5 years now but I know that everybody was telling me “Don´t return to Spain now the crisis is unsustainable” and it should be because the protest now is in every city even in from of the Spanish Embassies abroad.
I´m glad of this awake because the strange thing was that nobody made anything, the unemployment figures are alarming, 19.4%, incredible.

The name of the group that has organized the demonstration is “Real Democracy now” and I wish that they achieve their goals because are the goals of all the Spanish people.  

I let you a link, is from a Spanish newspaper that now has the English option is you want go deeper El País.

Russian Red,Fuerteventura

Russian Red - Fuerteventura

I was wondering when Russian Red would release a new album and reading a Spanish newspaper I found an interview with the singer. I´ve listened to all the songs from the new CD Fuerteventura and I have to say that Lourdes doesn´t disappointed me.
This CD is a little bit different because is more elaborate and you can notice more instruments but I think that it is fantastic as it was the previous one.

Doesn´t time fly!

A year has just passed. It´s my birthday arrive. I arrived with a sunny day completely different that today. This year has been a good year, full of fantastic experiences and sometimes full of homesickness too.

I think that I´m lucky because I live in a fantastic city with a lot of activities to do even when the snow doesn´t let you walk. I´ve visited different cities at the US and I have to visit more. Now I know Boston really well, I don´t get lost in every corner and I know where I have to buy groceries, where to have a drink, where are the good restaurants, I have lived the open of the new wing of the MFA, knew the new penguins at the Aquarium and felt alt the seasons, if I have to choose I´d chose summer and autumn. Now I´m looking forward to the good weather because I don´t like very much the rain and after a few days I feel a little blue.

After a year I think that is being the moment to look for a job. A new experience for me.

Merry Christmas

Preview of the New Wing at the MFA

It happened a long time ago, I know, but the experience was really nice and I must write about that. The members preview was at November 14th, while we’re waiting to go in we saw how the people joined to queue. One minute before going in the situation looked like this:

I have to make a confession I was quite excited to have this privilege with my membership and everybody around us looked to feel the same as us.

The MFA gave to us the Boston Globe Magazine with a full illustrated article about the New Art of the American wing to make all of us more anxious about our imminent entrance.

I’ve been at the MFA for several times since I’m living in Boston, we bought our Memberships after our first visit because we knew that the Museum worth more time to absorb and enjoy all the expositions, but this visit was special, being direct witness of such as big event in my new city.
The opening came at 12:00 pm and… up the stairs, inside the building and the expectation of a child in Disney World. We went directly to the second floor, 19th century and early 20th century art. During all my education period the teachers that I had in Art or history spoke to me about European artist and European history. The discovery of new American painters (for me obviously) is a pleasant sensation that I experiment every time that I visit the museum.

I highly recommend at least one visit to the museum if you don’t know it yet.

These are some of the work of art that you can find at the second floor of the MFA.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

After six months living here this Saturday comes the moment to visit The JFK Library and Museum.

 I have to say that JFK is the American president which I know more of his life but after this visit I realized that I didn’t know anything about him.

The building is in a beautiful location at the waterfront. The Pavilion is the most fantastic part of the building designated by I.M. Pei, the Chinese and American architect who designed the John Hancock Tower too.

Inside the Pavilion you feel an interior indescribable peace while you enjoy the sea with Boston city at the back , your mind think about the exposition that you just have seen and you think that was really unfair that somebody could devised a plan to assassinate him and deprive the world of such genius.

As a European person I knew that JFK was a good president that everybody loved him but I didn’t know a lot of details of his life that made me admire a man that risk his life for his believes. I think that he did that a lot of things that some of the good Americans presidents thought that were correct but hadn’t got the courage to do it or even to express aloud.

His pacifist inaugural speech was something that now still being shocked after fifty years and made you wonder how would have been the world if he had had time to carry out all of his presidential goals.

I was really surprise as well with Jackie’s cultural work, with her renovation of the White House, with her way of promoting the arts and, definitely, with her way of preserve and protect America’s cultural heritage.

We had a fantastic visit guided for a fantastic member of the museum who answered to all of our questions and explained the exhibition showing a huge knowledge of JFK life.

La Bayadère – The Boston Opera House

At Friday night I attended La Bayadere, after a lot of Operas, here it comes the moment for our first Ballet. We went with a friend who studied ballet and recommended to us attend to this one.

I used to see ballet on television and usually I was doing something else at the same time but this time was to be different. I was to be concentrate at one hundred per cent.

The Boston Opera House is beautiful and big, you don’t know how big it is until you walk in through the little entrance door at Washington Street. While we’re waiting for our friend at the door we saw a lot of dancers coming to the performance you can realized that for their way of walking.

I have to say that the public was very disrespectful with the orchestra and they interrupt all the time clapping when a new dancer came to the stage. The most embarrassing moment was when at the second scene at the first act the public began to talk while the orchestra was playing the Ludwig Minkus music and they carried on talking as they were at the living room of their houses. It was unbelievable how every moment the people made comments all the time I’ve never seen this behavior neither at the school festival.

The story of the Bayadère (The Temple Dancer) is about the love between Nikita and the warrior Solor. Both of them promise each other eternal love dancing on a fire ceremony at India. Like opera this love is going to be impossible and both are going to suffer and as the opera somebody is going to die, in this case Nikita, The Bayadère. The principal dancers Misa Kuranaga and James Whiteside were fantastic with a really good technique on my friend words and the corps the ballet as well. It was a pleasure saw them dance although in my case I missed a soprano or tenor singing the story, but I went to The Ballet not to the Opera.

http://bostonoperahouseonline.com/

Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery

Saturday morning and it wasn’t raining and much better you could see blue patches on the sky. We took our Wine & Cheese Trail Guide and we were ready to taste local wines and sparkling wines. We thought that with our guide and our GPS we were able to find all the vineyards, but wasn’t easy, next time I’ll check all the web pages to ensure the localization. Since the countryside is full of color we didn't mind get lost. Beside of our fail to find some places we had a lovely wine taste at Westport Rivers , a vineyard that we didn’t chose to visit but went we saw the sign at the road we decided to go in.

The first thing that you see when you follow the road is an old truck, a Ford truck getting older with the time, the next thing is a house guarded for a bug tree, and the barn or brewery on your right. We came in the house and walked around seeing the shop the bar area and the art the exposition on the second floor. We took a tour with a very pleasant girl who explained to us all the wine process from pick up the grape to label the final bottle.

Inside the barn you can see how the bottles are placing waiting the correct time to be labeled and being ready to chair celebrations, couple dinners, special occasions and to everyone who likes a glass of wine without another desire to taste a good wine.

We returned inside the house and began our wine tasting. The entire group from the tour placed round the tasting bar ready to taste the wines come from the vineyard that  had just been visited. All the time you are surrounding by a familiar ambiance that make you feel very comfortable. We taste 8 wines, with their respective explanations and recommendations.

My favorite wine was The Pineau de Pinot one, a dessert wine full of flavor, they use distillation and fermentation to create this wine, is a caramel color wine with fruity touch when you drink it.

We only had time to visit this vineyard but we are already thinking to visit some more with shop on a nearest time.

Second visit to New York

Any excuse is good to go to New York and this time was that a friend from UK comes to New York for the weekend. We made our luggage and ready to enjoy the Big Apple. Because the Statue of the Liberty is close, we thought to take a ferry and cross to Staten Island. We choose the hotel in Wall Street area. The hotel looked all right at the web page,  but when you walk in looks a little bit old-fashioned, cute but old-fashioned. I really don’t recommend this hotel although it is in a good area to start a tour in New York. The old air conditioning – heat conducted transports a constant loud noise that makes your rest a little difficult.

THE MET – BORIS GODUNOV

Our first time at the Metropolitan Opera, before to sit in your place to see the performance you go through the majestic stairs and viola you are ready to enjoy the fabulous voices that have the honor to sing at the MET.

The Set design wasn’t take breathing but the set designers achieved make something easy and pleasant to see.

 P.J. Clarke’s

The performance finished really late and in a hurry we choose an open restaurant at the area. The chosen was P.J. Clarke’s, a beautiful restaurant established at 1884. It wasn’t my idea to finish at night at the opera dinning hamburgers but the timing put pressure on us, and if wanted to have dinner at 11:30 at night this had to be the palce.

The hamburgers are really good and you can choose to put on it between different chesses and features.


The ambience is curios because you can see whole families, old couples that come from the MET, young people drinking beer, all of them living in harmony.

BRUNCH AT SOHO - EMPORIO

After a few hours walking in a windy day we come in at  EMPORIO, a fantastic restaurant tasteful decorated, with a very attentive service, and the best of all a delicious food.

I ate Uova al’forno , eggs baked in an iron skillet with tomato sauce, mozzarella and prosciutto. I took a picture of them, because the presentation seemed fantastic. My half ate Wood Oven Baked Rigatoni, ricotta, sausage, mushroom, provolone in an iron skillet too, he was very happy with his election.

We accompanied our food with a Soju Bloody Mary in my case and    he did it with a great red wine.

Ristorante Sarraceno

After a gym session to try to burn all the excess of calories for last night I had a light breakfast and I dressed up to enjoy the fantastic Sunday.
We went to The North End to discover new facades and new buildings and walk around the streets. After a while our friends phoned us and we meet with them.

We show to them “Little Italy” and the surrounding area and when we felt starving we went to the first restaurant that we tried in Little Italy four months ago Ristorante Sarraceno.

The homemade pasta is perfect cooked and the plates are huge, the service is attentive and you left the restaurant with a good sensation thinking that you have just eaten fresh products perfectly elaborated. Because we knew the restaurant and we had a great dinner the day before we only ask for a main and we were completely satisfied when we finished our lunch. I had Rigatoni all arrabbiata, the pasta with spicy just as I liked, usually I can’t finish my plates but it was delicious and I didn’t leave anything on my plate as a big girl. No one of my companions left anything on their plates either. On the table were “Spaghetti alla Vongole”, “Risotto Mushroom” and “Spaghetti alla Carbonara” a good representation of the Italian cuisine.

GRILL 23 & BAR

What could be better to finish a fantastic fall day that have dinner with friends in a great restaurant, personally I think that nothing could be better. The restaurant was completely full, both the bar and the restaurant.

Our table was near the open kitchen, a round table that at first I thought it wasn’t in a good place but finally there was enough space to have dinner comfortable and to the waiters walk around.

We order a Shell Sampler to share as entre, wonderful oysters and delicious lobster. As main each of us ordered beef of course, the ladies asked for fillet Mignon and the gentlemen for the Dry-Aged New York beef, It’s no necessary to say that all was cooked as we asked and my Fillet Mignon was pure butter, easy to cut and delicious in my mouth, I shared my impressions with my friend and she thought the same, the gentlemen were more than satisfied with their elections. We choose a delicious Carpe Diem red wine to go with our dinner, a difficult decision over the more of 1000 selections.

We left the responsibility to choose the dessert to one of us and the chosen one was Valrhona Chocolate Layer Cake, I don’t have words to describe how it was, uhmmmmmmmmm, definitely we'll have dinner there again for sure.

GRILL 23 & BAR

First Summer in US

Our first Summer in US has been fantastic. As you maybe know we have been living in UK for the past three years and a half, then we were a little scare about if the towns and sceneries were to be as beautiful as the UK countryside are. The forests are huge and never end and there are a lot of trails to follow. The towns are quite new for what we use to have in Europe, they don’t have the ancient heritage of England’s towns but we knew that before to begin the holidays, besides of that the towns are very charming.

Manchester – Vermont

We chose Manchester because is surrounded by the Green Mountains and we’re anxious to hiking there. Manchester is an Outlet town, but we didn’t realize that until we began to walk around the town. When you past through the town you think, what a beautiful town with colorful houses, and all of them are stores.

We expended two nights at The Inn at Ormsby Hill , this is a very special Inn, where you can feel the care that the owners Ted and Chris have put to make the place your home.

The first night we have dinner at  The Olde Tavern , what a fantastic place, full of history and delicious meals with local products.

The day began rainy but we thought that with the proper clothes we could spent a beautiful day at the Green Mountains. What a great idea because under the trees the rain was less. We choose hiked at the Lye Brook Falls.

After 2.3 miles we show the fantastic falls falling down between the rocks. All the rain was worth the effort to see the fantastic waterfalls.

The second night we had dinner at Chantecleer Restaurant. We have an excellent dinner in this old barn, the decoration is really nice, and we were sat at front of the majestic stone fireplace. The cuisine is French using local products as more of the local restaurants do. The service was very nice, letting us to enjoy of our conversation and keeping our glasses full of our chosen wine

Jackson – New Hampshire

After a stormy night in Manchester we started our way to Jackson in New Hampshire. It was a cloudy day and we chose to try to find all the cover bridges on our trip to Jackson. The cover bridges are fantastic and the architects of them made a great job letting the people enjoy of their greatest creations.

Jackson has at the entrance of the town a fantastic cover bridge where the just married couples used to take pictures there.

We stayed at The Christmas Farm Inn, a lovely hotel that just has new managers; we have a fantastic two days there. The bed is huge and the Jacuzzi too!!

The first night we had dinner at Thompson House Eatery, where I recommend that you should star with the “Zorba the grape”, what a fabulous flavors. That night we meet with a fantastic couple that told us where places we could visit the next day and they discover to us a great wine made with Zinfandel grapes, “Klinker Brick”.

Our hiking was, “Nancy Brook Trail”. What lucky we were, the weather was great and the reward when you finish your ascension is marvelous as you can see at the picture.

Before reach this fantastic point you should had experimented a lot of good sensations watching the fauna and flora on your ascension as well you should had suppressed your desire of jump at Nancy water fall.

The second night we followed this couple advice we had dinner at White Mountain Cider Co, the restaurant is an old farm, decorated with a great taste and the most important issue, the food is spectacular. I recommend you to order “Basil & Garlic marinated Tomatoes”, Balsamic Reduction & Warm Goat Chesse Fondue, it’s a great idea to eat baby tomatoes.

Ogunquit – Maine

We awoke up with a raining day again, but didn’t stop us to carry on our trip. Before arrive to our final destination we rode on the Mt. Washington Auto Road .

The road is amazing and if you had a clear day the view has to be breathtaking. You drive up listening a CD guide, which explains to you the history of the Auto Road. The explanation is very clear and you can imagine the first travelers on their horse cars. The ascension was all right we hope all the time a weather change but it never happened. When we reached the peak the weather was worst, it looked as the end of the world was approaching, strong winds, heavy rain and a lot of clouds. We have to go again.

Our hotel in Ogunquit was The Terrace by the Sea, the location is great only a few steps from the water and the views are fantastic. We had a partial ocean view room but we could see the ocean through our window. The day wasn’t fantastic but be at the hotel all time wasn’t a good idea. We took our car and drove near the sea till reach Perkins Cove. We parked our car there and visited the original and little stores. After our window shopping we started the Marginal Way, a scenic walk. It’s a one mile path along the seashore.

Our first night in Ogunquit we had dinner at Gipsy Sweethearts  at Ogunquit, after the fabulous places where we had dinner the last days, this one was only a correct restaurant in a beautiful place, a kitchen without a lot of pretensions in a warm ambiance.

Our last day was absolutely great, the sun shining, good temperature and no signal from the awful previous weather. Our relaxing beach day was the icing on the cake.

A little bit sad because the end of our holidays was in front of us and with a good taste  in our mouths beacuse our holidays had been fantasticwe were to find the next place for our dinner. It was The Blue Water Inn,. We had dinner on the terrace, the service was great, the seafood fresh and good cooked even the music was perfect, sixties music my favourite.