Friday evening I went to my friend and former co-worker Melanie’s birthday party. Melanie lives in Jamaica Plain and has the most wonderful and thoughtfully decorated condo. I’m trying to convince her to snap some pictures and submit them to Apartment Therapy. If she doesn’t do it I’ll take matters into my own hands and, at the very least, write a blog post about her home on We are not Martha so you can all see it She also made the above ombre cake. The recipe can be found here. If you’re wondering how the cake tastes, well, let’s just say I took my piece home and it was my breakfast Saturday morning.

Oh, and this is Melanie:

Isn’t she fancy and fabulous?

Saturday afternoon I surprised my mom at her hair salon. We grabbed an impromptu and delicious lunch at my favorite local bakery, Treats on Washington.

Saturday evening I took a stroll through my neighborhood and met up with my friend Becca.

We grabbed dinner at Jimmy’s Bar and Oven, a newer restaurant in the ‘hood. They have fried pickles so you better believe I’ve been there multiple times. They’re the best fried pickles I’ve had so far in Boston and the closest to the originals I’ve had down south. So, that’s saying something.

Jimmy’s is a really sweet space with high whitewashed ceilings, and a window-filled garage door that opens up in the summer. It’s the perfect addition to the neighborhood.

After dinner, Becca and I walked up to Emack and Bolio’s for some ice cream, even though it was freezing out. It’s never too cold for ice cream in my book My most favorite flavor from Emack’s is Deep Purple Cow which is black raspberry ice cream with white and dark chocolate chips and blueberries. I get cravings for this like you wouldn’t believe!

After ice cream I watched the Patriots WIN. Woop.

Sunday I worked at Paper Source for a few hours. I pretty much get paid to craft, have fun, and help people design fun things like wedding invitations. No complaints

On Monday I did a bunch of running around and finally checked things off my to-do list. Like dropping off proofs to a client for Save the Dates. Here they are all packaged up. Well, in the box

And meeting up for a frozen yogurt date with my friend, Judith. Yes, spending time with friends is often an item on my to-do list In the fro-yo mix: blueberry and plain tart yogurt, kiwi, strawberries, skittles (!!!!!!!), rainbow jimmies, and white chocolate chips. This was lunch.

After “lunch” I dropped bags of old clothes off. One of my friends, who’s moving to San Francisco next month, told me she sold clothes at Buffalo Exchange and got cash on the spot for them. I was intrigued. I brought in two big bags, not knowing at all what to expect. They ended up buying about a bag’s worth of clothes and accessories and I made about $50. It was definitely an interesting experience having someone pick through my old clothes but it felt good to make some money off of everything! If you’re looking to sell clothes here the girl who worked there gave me some tips. Plus, I thought it was a good idea to ask questions since I’ll probably be doing this more often! But they look for more “current” pieces like darker washes of denim. I had a brand new Vera Bradley bag and a pair of Paige jeans that she didn’t take and it was because, while the bag was new, it was from a few seasons ago. And the jeans were in great condition but they weren’t dark denim. I probably could have tried to consign the purse and jeans at another store but I ended up giving them to my roommate and her friend, haha. Sometimes it’s not worth the hassle!

Monday night I went to dinner and the Celitcs game with my dad. Stunk that they lost but it’s always nice spending time with my parents

I also started reading a new book. I was so oddly interested by the Clark Rockefeller case that when my friend Tarryn told me she bought this book, I just about demanded she let me borrow it when she finished reading it. Don’t ask why I’m so weird.

And finally, my new jeans arrived this weekend! Before the holidays Sues and I attended an event at Bloomingale’s put on by Blogger’s Night Out and J Brand Jeans. Each guest entered a raffle for a free pair of J Brand Jeans when we first arrived. Right when we were about to scoot out, one of the PR girls caught us and told us to stick around for a few minutes since they were about to pull the names of the winners. Thankfully we did because my name was pulled. I legit screamed “I NEVER WIN ANYTHING” as if I had won an Oscar. Very dramatic. But very appropriate. Girl loves her denim. I ended up ordering the Love Story style in Pure. Fun fact? I might sleep in them.

Hope you all had happy long weekends, too

[Chels]

Not to get all Time Magazine on you, but for me, this was the year of The Good People. You see, for the most part, I’ve had the same group of friends since I was negative three years old. I don’t typically let new people in because what’s the point when I’ve been blessed with near-perfect friendships and a family that I love and adore?

But for some reason, 2011 was the year it clicked for me that it’s okay to let people in. I encouraged myself to spend time with “new” people and build different friendships, while of course maintaing the ones I’ve had my whole life. Working at Healthworks and at Paper Source helped, too. I’m like 110% sure it’s a prerequisite that you have to be a good friend to work at both places. I’ve built phenomenal friendships with unbelievably supportive co-workers. We’re each other’s cheerleaders and advice-givers. I go to work and laugh more than I’ve ever laughed. These people are quirky, fun, and lack filters. Which I also lack at times so that would explain why I get along with them because we all say what we really mean. To me, that’s just plain refreshing.

Of course, nothing in the entire world compares to spending time with my old friends. Traveling to St. Augustine in the Spring with one of my best friends, Melis, to visit her family remains one of my most very favorite annual things to do.

Goofing around with my siblings happens every year.

And sharing the goofiness with my roommate and her brother could become a new tradition.

The Andover girls were always around in 2011. You know this girl:

And we all got together in June to celebrate our friend Erin’s wedding. We haven’t had a photo like this since college, probably!

June also brought the whole family together for my grandmother’s birthday.

Hugs from my cutie pie cousin, Colin. Precious.

This was also the year that I spent more time with blogging friends. Who I can now just call friends.

This was also the year I fell in love with my fniece (fake niece). There were plenty of brunch dates with her. These are her toe toes and she’s the most stylish little lady I know. She gets it from her mom.

It was also the year that my lil’ brother graduated from college. Such a fun family weekend!

I think the actual graduation fell on the hottest day ever recorded in history so we got creative and made ice bags for our heads in an attempt to cool down.

Seeing New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys at Fenway Park (while dressed up in our best 80s/90s gear) was, um…. every kind of wonderful imaginable.

I went clamming for the first time ever and realized I want to do it professionally.

Mostly so I can eat fresh clams and sip red wine all day. Every day.

My sister had a milestone birthday.

Becca and I waited in line at Anthropolgie to get the Decorate book signed by Holly Becker. I mean, worse things have happened. I also saw Becca nearly every week this Summer. Example of a blog friend turned real-life friend. She’s the best.

One of the very best things to happen this year was taking a family trip to Mississippi in August to see where my grandmother grew up.

We were like little city folks wandering around the deep south and it meant the world to me. It was so simple but so full of love and silly memories.

Seeing my grandmother so excited and proud to share her home state with us was the best part.

Besides jumping around like goofs with the siblings, of course.

There was also a stunning Rockport wedding in October.

And Butterball will always be a favorite. Turkey, wonderful talk-line ladies, and a business trip to Chicago with one of my dear friends. Everything is right with that picture.

And no year is complete without a cute puppy. I think that’s a fact, right? This is me with my cousin Sasha on Thanksgiving.

Hands down the best news I got this year was a phone call from my absolute best friend in the entire universe, Kate, telling me she was engaged! Not only is she engaged, but she’s marrying a good, good man which makes me tear up just thinking about it. It’s like magic when two people work so well together. Then the second best news was when she asked me to be her Maid of Honor last week. I feel like I want to forget everything else in life and dedicate 2012 to helping them with all of their wedding details to ensure the day is perfection. Kidding. But I’m not kidding at all. When I excidetly told my brother the Maid of Honor news his response was “That’s awesome! I’m not surprised though. You’re like sisters”.

Between Sues and Chris’ wedding in June and Kate and Paul’s next Fall, this just makes me want 2012 to get here immediately so we can get this party started!

While looking at a photographer’s website today, I read this in her About section:

I like hugs and I probably hold on a second too long… that’s the best part. Try it.

I tried this today and I plan on doing it lots more in 2012. When you surround yourself with good people, it’s definitely a wonderful feeling.

I wish for you a healthy and happy New Year filled with more good people, lots of awkward lingering hugs, and as always, plenty of love.

[Chels]

2011 was filled with food. And I love doing posts of all of my favorite photos from the year because, not only are they fun to look at, but I have a better understanding of why I needed to buy the next size up when I bought pants last month.

Here’s why:

Plenty of hearty brunches and loads of eggs. Yum!

(Mango Chicken Omelete)

LOTS of sweets:

(Milky Way Smores Granola Bars)

(Homemade Baked Glazed Doughnuts)

(Carrot Cake from Treats Bakery for my sister’s 30th birthday)

(Blueberry, Lemon, White Chocolate Chunk Cookies. My favorite cookie of the year!)

(Turned into an ice cream sandwich!)

(Key Lime Pie for my dad’s birthday)

(MIni Peach and Raspberry Pies. A happy accident)

(Salted Caramel Cupcakes)

(With caramel filling!)

(Apple Pie Ice Cream)

(Spicy Popcorn Balls)

(Momofuku Milk Bar’s Cornflake Chip Marshmallow Cookies)

Summer Foods:

Snacks, Cheeses, Meats, oh my!

(Healthy Black Bean Dip)

Don’t even get me started on the fried pickles. 2011 was the year I discovered this lil’ heavenly snack and life will never be the same

(Garlic and Herb Sweet Potato Fries)

(Fried plantains from my sister and brother-in-law)

(Spinach, Onion, and Bacon Dip with Garlic Toasts)

The foods that somehow managed to appear in my dreams at night:

(BBQ Chicken Pizza)

(Chipotle-Rubbed Grilled Salmon Tacos with Apple-Cucumber Salsa)

(My Bristol Lounge burger with garlic mayo, mushrooms, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, and tomato)

(Pasta Ponza)

(Crispy Fried Fish Tacos)

(Noodles with Peanut Sauce)

(The broccoli rabe, olives, and anchovy pasta Tom Colicchio served us)

(Turkey Meatballs Stuffed with Brie)

(Layered Taco Salad)

(Open-Faced Prosciutto and Plum Sandwiches)

(Quick Vegetable Fried Rice)

(Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili)

(Sausage Cheddar Balls)

And every memory made at Butterball University is always a favorite. Clearly. Check out the mug below:

What a wonderful and drool-worthy year this has been! Stay tuned for my favorite {regular} photos of 2011 post on Friday!

[Chels]

It’s no secret at all that I love shopping. And clothes. And dressing other people. So when Eddie Bauer contacted me recently and asked if I, along with some other local bloggers, wanted to participate in their grand opening event last week at the South Shore Plaza, you know I wrote back in a heartbeat to say “YES!”. But as the day got closer, I realized there wasn’t any way I’d be able to swing driving down to the South Shore during a crazy work week. Plus, the night the event was held, bridesmaid duties called. I, along with Kate, went to preview Sues’ wedding venue, so that obviously came first!

I was a little bummed to have missed the event, mainly because I had never stepped foot into one of their stores before and was excited to learn more about the brand and what they’ve been up to. I guess I always just associated the store with a more rugged lifestyle, which I, the girl who fears camping, clearly do not know a thing about

Now, in comes Mario, my roommate’s friend. Mario’s around our place quite a bit. And at one point I may or may not have told my roommate, Liza, that I thought it would be fun if I could take Mario shopping and give him a lil’ makeover. You see, he’s tall, funny, and super nice. But his wardrobe didn’t really speak for all of the positives that he possesses. With such good qualities, why not help spruce up the man’s wardrobe a bit?! Liza ended up telling Mario about my idea, and to my surprise, he was actually all about it. Yay!

After spending some time thinking about where we’d go shopping, I decided to email the PR girls who invited me to the grand opening event. The short version of the email I sent went something like this: “Hi, Lainee! I want to give my roommate’s guy friend a wardrobe makeover and I think Eddie Bauer would be the perfect place to bring him! Thoughts?”. The girls got back to me and said Eddie Bauer LOVED the idea, so Mario, myself, and Liza hopped in the car yesterday after work, pouring rain and all, and drove down to the South Shore to do some shopping.

When we arrived at the store, we were greeted by the friendly Shelly, who gave us a quick tour, told us about the product lines, and set us free to roam the store. The company is actually running a 12 Days of Christmas promotion where each day, they give a different gift to their customers. Yesterday’s gift was 50% off all sweaters. WOO! I kind of want to go back every day to see what the other gifts will be

After browsing for a while, I got busy pulling armfuls of clothes of the shelves for Mario. But, before we get into that, here are a couple “before” snaps of Mario.

It makes me sad when people don’t wear COLOR so I was set on bringing some brightness into this man’s life!

And I definitely wanted to see him in a nice wash of some nice dark jeans. My, I look a bit mischievous in the above photo, tee hee!

“I am clay – you shall mold me.” -Mario. Yes, he really said that. You don’t have to tell me twice!

To make the process run as smoothly as possible, we organized countless amounts of sweaters, shirts, and pants into a dressing room and I made them into outfits, so Mario would know what belonged with what.

And then played peak-a-boo.

Look One:

I paired the Classic Fit Rugged Twill Shirt with one of Eddie’s thermal long sleeved shirts. I always love layering (and Eddie loves it, too!) and I especially love having pops of color show through the layers, so we rolled the sleeves up on the flannel to show a bit more of the red thermal.

And tossed on the 1942 Yukon Classic Model Down Wool Vest. While striking Blue Steel, of course.

Look Two:

When Mario first put this sweater on, he said “This is a Tom Brady sweater!”, which I clearly agreed with. It should be called the “Tom Brady post-game sweater” as TB often wears warm cozies like this during press conferences. The scarf collection at Eddie Bauer was also quite impressive.

Look Three:

Next up was the Classic Fit Marl Fatigue Sweater, in navy layered over the Classic Fit Legend Wash Poplin Shirt in Reed Yellow. Classic and casual, while still looking crisp and put together.

Look Four:

The Classic Fit Cotton/Cashmere V-Neck Sweater, in Chill over the Relaxed Fit Patterned Signature Twill Shirt, in Cloud.

In between Mario’s outfit changes, I roamed the store for things that I liked for myself. Hello, did you really think I could be in a store for 2.5 hours and not look for anything for myself?

I was pleasantly surprised at the creative collections I found! There were so many classic pieces from sweaters, to belts (sparkly ones, too!), to basic button down shirts, and outerwear. But there were also some fun pieces that can be used to make a more dressy version of an outfit by layering. But the best part? The company stands by their brand. You can return any item and get a full refund if you’re not fully satisfied. Brilliant.

And newsflash, Eddie Bauer has jewelry. Who knew? I certainly did not. But now that I do, I will most definitely look here the next time I’m on the market for some fun bling. Which is always.

Oftentimes I like to pretend I’m outdoorsy and rugged, and I do love a Fair Isle sweater, so I bought the one I’m modeling in the photos. I also snagged this Flannel Cargo Shirt, in Sugar Plum. It was love at first sight and I can’t wait to dress it up with some fun colored denim! Plus, I haven’t owned a flannel shirt since middle school. Liza is wearing the Cloud Shawl Collar Sweater, in the pretty shade of Cloud. And Mario is modeling a tweed blazer he found (and refused to take off). Didn’t he clean up well?! It always amazes me how clothes can transform people. Per my “request”, he’s going try and start incorporating some more color and dark denim washes into his wardrobe

Shelly graced us EACH with an Eddie Bauer RipPac backpack, The Legend of Eddie Bauer book, and $50 gift cards, which we all obviously used to shop last night

Thank you so much to Eddie Bauer and Shelly at the South Shore Plaza store, for all of your help! It was a fantastic night and I’m excited to have another store to visit. And I’m positive I’ll be back soon to buy people some cozy sweaters and scarves to give as Christmas gifts! And a special thank you to Mario for being such a great sport and letting me drag him around for the sake of a fun blog post

[Chels]

There are a few things about me you probably don’t know. Like the fact that I get really infatuated with certain celebrities/persons of interest. Like, um, Donny Osmond. Ugh, I know. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. If you’ve been reading WANM for a long time, you’ve probably noticed I talk about Cook’s Illustrated and Chris Kimball quite a bit over the years. I actually wrote about him in one of my very first blog posts! In my eyes, Chris Kimball is a God. Ever since my dad introduced me to Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen when I was in college, I’ve held Chris Kimball in incredibly high regard. And when I was in grad school and contacted a random email address on the ATK website to see if I could ask an editor some questions for a paper I was writing… And Kimball himself invited me to call him; I became obsessed. Can you blame me? He gave me a fabulous interview and I got an A on the paper Kimball is definitely on my favorite person list!

Though America’s Test Kitchen is practically in my neighborhood, I’ve never had the opportunity to visit. Until tonight. We were invited to the launch party for their new cookbook; the one that compiles recipes from the last 20 years of Cook’s Illustrated. How exciting!

If you don’t know a lot about America’s Test Kitchen, I’ll let you know that they publish my absolute favorite magazine, Cook’s Illustrated. It’s the magazine I’m most excited to get every month because, though it’s pretty short, it’s absolutely packed with quality material. The basic idea behind Cook’s illustrated is that the cooks in the test kitchen test each recipe over and over and over until they absolutely perfect it. That can mean making a recipe once with 1/2 C sugar and the next time making it exactly the same way except for using 3/4 C of sugar instead. They want to make every recipe as perfect as possible, while also making sure the recipes are completely accessible for home cooks. They explain everything they do exceptionally well and have a reason for everything. Plus? There are no ads!

Of course, America’s Test Kitchen also has an incredibly successful PBS show, tons of cookbooks, and another magazine called Cook’s Country. They get A LOT done over here in Brookline, MA!

There was so much incredible food at the party (all dishes from the new cookbook!), but I failed to photograph most of it because there were too many completely fabulous people to talk to… and I do not do well talking, eating, drinking wine, AND photographing.

Chels and I met Steph, Social Media Manager for ATK at TechMunch over the summer. She does an amazing job with social media for the entire brand and one of my favorite things tonight was her Wall of Awesome. When a reader cooks an ATK recipe and posts a picture on Twitter, Steph often prints the photo of their dish out and puts it on the wall. This way, all of the wonderful cooks, who who busy in the kitchen, can see their own dishes that readers are recreating. I love this idea, especially since the ATK cooks don’t have a lot of time to leave the kitchen and hang out on the internet. It’s like a Twitter stream come to life

My other favorite thing? America’s Test Kitchen is my All-Clad heaven! It’s literally EVERYWHERE you look. I contemplated putting a piece in my purse (they’d never notice it was missing! And my purse is HUGE!), but then I realized I wanted to be invited back at some point. Plus my purse was already really heavy. So I just drooled over it, instead

That’s not even the half of it. Oh, and it’s a Le Creuset heaven, too!

Need a whisk?

Chris gave a short but very sweet talk, welcoming us to his “home” and thanking us for celebrating their new cookbook with them. He admitted he once didn’t quite get blogging and social media, but is now fully supportive of it. Yay!

Before we left (you should know Chelsee and I are always the last people to leave every party… beware if you invite us somewhere!), we headed out into the library, another heaven.

We enjoyed some pecan bars.

And pots de creme.

Of course, we also snapped a photo with Chris and BostonTweet! (Um, please excuse my roots. Whoa!).

I also had the opportunity to talk to Julia Collin Davison from the America’s Test Kitchen show, and she was just as nice in person as she is on television. Oh, and we also got to take home the best gift bags ever, including 2 cookbooks- the new one and the Kitchen Menu Cookbook!

Thanks for inviting us into your home, America’s Test Kitchen! We already have plans to return for a full-blown tour, and probably to ask everyone in the kitchen a million questions! I might hide in the refrigerator or something this time, so I never have to leave. Just kidding. I promise…

Are you an America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated fan?

[Sues]

I don’t even know where to begin. I’ll start by saying that we just got home from a terrific/fantastic/mind-blowing/mind-numbing/oh my gosh, how am I going to remove myself from the premises after eating all of this… dinner. And dessert.

A few weeks ago Sues and I were invited to enjoy a six-course fall-inspired dinner prepared by Chef Jarrod Moiles at Bokx 109 located in Hotel Indigo. I’ve been dying to get to Bokx for a while now because I’ve heard so many positive things about it. Plus, who doesn’t love a snazzy restaurant in a posh hotel? No friend of mine, I’ll tell you that much.

The dinner started at 6:30 this evening. We got stuck in a bit of traffic on 95 since we were driving during the last leg of rush hour, but we managed to make it only a handful of minutes late. I adore so much about Newton but if you live in Boston and don’t have a car it’s easy to brush it off as being “too far away”. Which, in reality, it’s not far at all. It’s only about a 15 minute drive from the Brookline area without traffic. My theory is, brushing anything off is silly because you end up missing out on lots of lovely. But thankfully I have a car and if you don’t, fear not, because Bokx is located literally 300 feet from the Riverside T stop on the D line. There was a sign, that’s how I know the exact distance

Okay, let’s chat about the food. If you’re hungry, now is the best time to either turn away from your computer, grab a snack (although it won’t be as good as our dinner, that’s a fact!) or cover your keyboard because drooling will ensue.

Amuse

Seared Day Boat Scallops with house-cured pancetta, truffle, wild mushroom, baby Brussels sprout leaves, and cranberry gastrique.

First Course

Roasted beet timbale, goat cheese brulee, pistachio brittle, balsamic onion jam. Wine pairing: Chateau St Michelle, Riesling, Columbia Valley, Washington, 2010.

Second Course

Lobster stuffed dover sole, braised Swiss chard, atop roasted shallot cream. Wine pairing: Spellbound, Chardonnay, Napa California 2009

There were so many things right with this dish. First, the roasted shallot cream very well could have been a dish on its own. And second, lobster stuffed inside of sole? If I went to Bokx tonight just for this one dish it would have been well worth it.

Third Course

Homestead Farm pork tenderloin bacon wrapped, house made mustarda, pickled tomato relish, corncake. Wine pairing: Rosenblum, “Appellation Series”, Zinfandel, Paso Robles, California 2008.

This was the point when Sues excitedly nudged me as the pork tenderloin was being prepared because she knows that I go ga-ga over anything wrapped in bacon. Rightfully so.

Fourth Course

Braised Brandt Farm beef short rib, fall vegetable ragout, Bordelaise. Wine pairing: Robert Craig, “Affinity”, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa, California 2008.

So, so, so tender.

Dessert

Triple creme brie panna cotta, caramelized figs, spiced hazelnut praline.

And hold on tight for this…

SOUR APPLE COTTON CANDY.

When Chef Moiles came out with bowls of these gorgeous light green clouds of sugar, everyones face lit up. Because naturally a group of adults dining together gets the most excited about cotton candy. That’s just how life works

After dinner was over we snapped a group photo and I may or may not have considered checking into a room upstairs at the hotel. I was that stuffed and that unable to move a single limb. From our seats, Sues and I even jokingly looked around the restaurant at one point to see if there were any benches we could take a nap on I’m actually quite impressed I’m even able to move my fingers to type this post. Everything was far more than I expected and it’s safe to say I’m adding this to my list as one of my most favorite dining experiences to date! A cozy chef’s table, fun company, friendly host, food and wine that leave you nearly speechless and in a food coma. Job well done, Bokx. We shall return, especially to explore this rooftop pool we’ve been hearing so much about!

Bokx 109
399 Grove Street
Newton, MA
617.454.3399

Thank you for the invite, Joanna

[Chels]

Hello! We’re back from Chicago and proud to say we’ve completed our third year at Butterball University! This year’s trip was a little bit shorter, but we still got our full day in at the Butterball kitchen, getting trained on how to cook turkey many, many different ways. While we’ve learned an endless amount of turkey cooking knowledge each year we’ve attended BBU, I honestly think this year was the best of them all. Everything really seemed to stick and I felt way more familiar and comfortable in the kitchen with the turkeys. I almost wanted to run home and prepare 11 different turkeys using each of the methods! Although I’m pretty sure my apartment building neighbors wouldn’t appreciate it too much if I brought out a turkey fryer (unless I had Masterbuilt’s Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer!). Though they’d probably love if I shared the leftovers.

When we first arrived in Naperville on Wednesday, we met the fabulous Butterball and Edelman team for dinner at La Sorella di Francesca, along with two other bloggers: Zippy from Champagne Living and Heather from Home EC 101. After a day of traveling, we were starving and dug right in to some calamari.

And tomato, basil, and mozzarella.

I enjoyed rigatoni and asparagus…. In fact, the biggest bowl ever. What? We had a full day of turkey cooking ahead of us and I needed to carbo-load (As a non-marathoner, I need a carbo-loading excuse, too. Just give it to me).

And Chels had the delicious pumpkin ravioli, which I snagged a bite of.

Dessert was a heavenly molton chocolate cake with mint chocolate ice cream. We couldn’t resist!

Bright and early the next morning, it was time to head over to the Butterball headquarters and join the ladies of the Turkey Talk Line. Seriously, this is one of the very best days of the year. It’s called Freshman Day and is basically the day when the newer Butterball Talk-Line experts come together and learn and review everything there is to know about cooking turkey. That way, when you call 1-800-Butterball when you’re tying to prepare your Thanksgiving turkey, they can answer every single one of your questions.

We’ve been lucky enough to have the chance to join them for the last 3 years, so we can learn right along with them! Basically, we’re learning all things turkey from the most skilled turkey chefs around.

When we arrived, we spent a little bit of time listening to turkey experts Carol and Marty talk about everything from food safety to thawing to the different methods of cooking turkey.

You may not realize it, but there really is so much to learn when it comes to turkey. One very common phone call the Talk Line ladies get is from people that didn’t realize you need to take your turkey out of the freezer days before you want to cook it. You can’t thaw in 8 hours, like you can a chicken breast! Of course, many other people have questions about what temperature their turkey should be so it’s safe for their guests to eat and what exactly all that information on the Butterball label means.

After refreshing our minds with all the information, it was time to get in the kitchen and start prepping our own turkeys! I’m still obsessed with the easy-open Butterball packaging. It’s, um, actually kind of fun to open.

Like each past year, we were each assigned a cooking method and our very own turkey. This year, I got a moist heat method with the oven cooking bag.

I grew up in a family that practices the dry heat open pan cooking method and before attending Butterball University, I never even realized there were so many different ways to cook a turkey. Now I am much wiser. Anyway, using an oven cooking bag is becoming more and more popular and one reason people like it so much is because it’s a quick cooking method.

Chels’s method was foil wrapped high temperature, which is also a quick cooking method.

After we both prepped our turkeys (including stuffing them… for the experience. And then un-stuffing them!), we got to do a demonstration in front of the whole class.

First I demonstrated how to prepare a Reynolds oven bag (a little bit of flour, some celery and onions) for the turkey, along with Carol.

It was my first time so I had to take a look at the instructions

Then Chels sprayed her turkey with a little vegetable oil and covered it in heavy duty foil.

Into the ovens our turkeys went. Yes, Butterball has a kitchen filled with ovens.

And we were all assigned our very own.

Labeled with the proper temperature and everything.

While everyone’s turkeys were in the ovens, roasters, microwaves (yes, someone microwaved their turkey!), etc. we sat back down and learned about even more turkey cooking methods. This time, we heard all about turkey grilling, frying, and more. We also heard about all kinds of different meat thermometers… Something else I had no idea there were so many options for.

Marty demonstrated some alternatives to roasting racks.

Then it was back to the kitchen to check on our turkeys! My turkey went in at 350 degrees and it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to come to the right temperature. Isn’t that super quick?

Seeing how quickly my turkey roasted, I can see why lots of people like the oven bag method. When it’s Thanksgiving day and you have about a million different dishes vying for the attention of the oven, having your turkey cook so quickly is a great thing.

However, I wasn’t a huge fan of the coloring of my turkey. It wasn’t nearly as golden as many of the others!

Chels’s turkey took even less time in the foil. She was cooking hers at 450 degrees, which is a super high temperature for roasting a turkey. But look at how beautifully golden hers is!

One of our very favorite parts of Butterball University is seeing the whole turkey lineup: everyone’s just cooked turkeys fresh out of the oven!

And all of the lovely ladies who made them.

We went through the lineup and everyone talked about their method, how long their turkey took to cook, and how it looked right out of the oven.

It was really interesting to hear everyone’s different experiences with their turkey. We’re at Butterball University to learn ALL about cooking turkey. So, even though we each had our own method, we still made sure to pay super close attention to what everyone else was doing, too.

But even when the turkeys were cooked, our jobs were not yet complete. We still have to carve those turkeys up! Carving is definitely not my favorite thing about turkey training, but it’s obviously pretty essential if you want to make the most of the turkey and have it looking pretty.

After we all carved our turkeys, it was time to sample the various methods and discuss which ones we liked best.

Time for the great turkey tasting! As usual, I really loved the open pan cooked turkey, but I thought Chels’s foil wrapped was incredibly moist and flavorful for being cooked so quickly. I was also actually very pleasantly surprised by the microwaved turkey. It was strangely flavorful and not dry at all! It’s so crazy to actually taste how different each turkey cooked with a different method tastes.

Then it was back to the airport and home to Boston! Butterball University went by way too quickly this year, but I can’t even tell you how happy we were to be back! It’s always so nice to see everyone and learn from such passionate people. Although we did miss the smiling face of Heather (hi, Heather!), the Brand Manager for Butterball, who wasn’t able to come this year due to other work obligations!

Next up? Chels and I are planning to cook our own Butterball turkey in the coming weeks utilizing everything we’ve learned at Butterball U. What method will we use? Will we stuff the turkey or not? You’ll have to wait and see

In the meantime, you should know that the Butterball Turkey Talk Line opens on November 1 and starting then, you can call 1-800-Butterball with all your questions. In the meantime, you can visit Butterball.com for TONS of great information that will help you make your Thanksgiving (or any turkey dinner) a fabulous success.

Thank you again to everyone at Butterball and Edelman for inviting us to Butterball University and teaching us everything you know. We feel SO lucky! And we cannot wait for Thanksgiving!

[Sues]

Full Disclosure: We were hired to attend Butterball University and are being paid to write on the Butterball Blog. However, all of our opinions are our own and we’re under absolutely no obligation to write any rave reviews of our experiences. We really do feel incredibly lucky and have a great respect for the Butterball brand.

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of attending one of my favorite weddings to date. My childhood friend, Naomi, married the sweetest boy named Shaun. It wasn’t my favorite wedding due to glitz and glam or over-the-top decor or anything crazy. This is a couple who didn’t need all of that. They could have gotten married anywhere, in any setting. Because I’ve never seen a couple so in love. The simplicity of the day allowed their love stand out without a single distraction.

The ceremony, which was held outside overlooking the water, and reception were held at Emerson Inn by the Sea in picturesque Rockport, Massachusetts, on what happened to be one of the most beautiful fall days we’ve see this season in New England.

The reception and dining area were simple yet stunning and filled with an intimate amount of close family and friends.

And the cocktail hour was tasty with a cheese and meat spread to die for (including heart shaped cheese!), mimosas, champagne, and wine.

When Naomi and Shaun were announced they came down a beautiful staircase at the inn and had their first dance to Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together, performed by a live jazz band.

And he so adoringly dipped her

For dinner I had the perfectly prepared salmon with a Sauvignon foam and couscous. I’d never been to Emerson Inn before but between the food and the stunning views of the water, I definitely feel like I have to pay another visit when the weather warms up next year!

Naomi and I have always had a special friendship, meeting in 7th grade science class and bonding over our love of Jonathan Taylor Thomas (yup!). We’ve laughed at everything imaginable and have the weirdest personal jokes together but, like a lot of friends, have had ups and downs. It’s one of those friendships that no matter where it took us, we picked up right where we were before and dusted ourselves off; like nothing had ever changed.

I’ve only met Shaun a handful of times but for some reason I’ve always felt like I’ve known him forever! The best thing about these two is you can so effortlessly see that they’re both themselves. When you want love for your friend and they meet not only someone who loves them back, but someone who absolutely adores them, respects them, and allows them to stay the same, it’s stunning to see them tie the knot. Thankfully the ceremony was outside and I could wear my sunglasses, because my, oh my, did I shed some happy tears

When your friend gets married and you think that her cheeks probably hurt from smiling so much, you go home smiling, too. Rested assured that she is in good hands with her darling man

What was the best wedding you’ve ever attended?

Being a lifelong Massachusetts resident, I’ve come to terms with the fact that out of all of the major cities, Boston is typically one of the last to catch on to most things. One thing I will proudly say that Boston is ahead of the curve with is its blogging scene! Woo! This city embraces bloggers like no other and not only that, but we have an insane amount of bloggers emerging daily that it’s often difficult to even keep track of everyone.

Thankfully, Rachel Blumenthal had a great idea and created Boston Food Bloggers, a resource where bloggers can submit their blogs to and learn about each other and all of the food-related events going on in and around Massachusetts.

The most recent event was a Blogger Bash organized by Rachel and also Hannah, the Marketing Manager for The Briar Group, at M.J. O’Connor’s last Wednesday. It was a fantastic evening filled with lots of tasty bar bites from their banquet menu! M.J. Oconnor’s also offers a 6 for $6 late night menu featuring some great appetizer options!

Signature cocktails thanks to Guinness and Bushmills!

A raffle with wonderful prizes including a night at The Lenox Hotel, 3-month gym memberships, and gift cards to other Briar Group restaurants City Table and Anthem Kitchen and Bar with proceeds benefiting Friends of Boston’s Homeless.

And, of course, no blogger bash is complete without the company of other bloggers/social media friends turned real-life friends!

The lovely Christine Liu  and our guacamole partner in crime Justin!

There were so many new faces that I hardly had a chance to mingle with everyone and before I knew it the night had ended. I spent most of the evening catching up with Judith, Hannah, and Elina and chatting with my new buddy Joe of Boston Guru, who is probably one of the most classic men I’ve met in a while and was a complete breath of fresh air!

————————————————————————————–

THINK PINK:

For the month of October City table, City Bar Back Bay, City Bart Waterfront and Anthem Kitchen + bar are featuring three Ketel One Vodka drinks in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The proceeds from the sale of these drinks will be donated directly to the Ellie Fund. The drinks include the Strawberry Martini (Ketel One, St. German, muddled strawberries, champagne), Pomegranate Martini (Ketel One Citron, pama, Pom, lemon juice), and Blood Orange Cosmo (Ketel One Oranje, fresh squeezed blood orange juice, simple syrup, orange juice). Mmmmmm. And double mmmm knowing the funds are helping such a great cause such as the Ellie Fund, which provides care for the families of those going through treatments for breast cancer. Huge.

[Chels]

Alternatively titled: The day I ate every fried thing you could ever imagine.

Have you heard of The Big E? I had never heard of it in my life. I’m trying to figure out where I’ve been hiding for the last 28 (almost 29 eeeek!) years, considering it’s the largest fair in the Northeast. And I’ve lived in the Northeast all of my life. I guess I’ve just never been a big fair-goer. I visited the Topsfield Fair a couple times as a kid… And the Rye Fair in college. But the Big E? Never crossed my radar. Until this weekend. My sister’s friend, Lesa, grew up somewhat close to the fairgrounds and invited us to attend the fair with her in West Springfield. So, we made the drive on Saturday and had a day packed with fair fun.

What was my main takeaway from The Big E? FRIED FOOD. Everything was fried. And I ate it all. ALL.

The concept of the fair is actually quite interesting. Besides all the normal fair stuff, there’s an “Avenue of States.” On it, there are replicas of each of New England’s original statehouses. And each building is packed full of all the things that represent that state. Interestingly enough, each individual state actually owns the ground the building resides on!

For instance, here’s good old Massachusetts:

Recognize it?

Anyway, we partook in much of the fair activity throughout the day. And like all good fairs, plenty of animals were hanging out. Including a petting zoo, with this cute little guy:

And a donkey. Ha! There was even a zebra and a crazy llama who kept following everyone around. I haven’t been to a petting zoo in AGES.

Check out this Clydesdale horse who just happens to weigh 2,230 pounds. Sheesh.

There were lots of those booths that say things like “Step inside to see the world’s largest horse!” or the “world’s smallest horse!” I didn’t fall prey to any of them because, hello, we just saw a horse that weighs 2,230 pounds. Do I need anything more than that? Also, I know what a miniature horse looks like, thankyouverymuch.

I kind of loved the chick hatchery with all the adorable little newborn chicks.

Chris faced his worst nightmare… Bees!

OK, let’s talk food for a little bit. I’m warning you, it’s not pretty. But, when at the Big E… What I’m trying to say is that I had to. I recognize that the food at this fair represents all that is wrong with our country. It’s actually a bit sickening. But as people who are relatively healthy in every day life, partaking in one day of fair fried goodness is not going to kill us. And seriously, I couldn’t do it for more than one day!

We started “in” Maine with the baked potatoes because not only did Lesa recommend them, but so did everyone on Twitter. I’m actually not a big baked potato person and didn’t want to fill up too early, but I definitely had a few bites of Chris’s.

It was a HUGE potato and fully loaded. With all the good stuff. You know, fake cheese; fake bacon. Yup.

From there, we made our way to Rhode Island and began our fried food binge.

These clam fritters were quite nice.

Fresh out of the oil!

But maybe not as nice as what we saw next.

Ahem. Fried Kool-Aid

And fried jelly beans.

No lie. This is totally not what we were expecting fried jelly beans to be like. But they were quite interesting.

To be honest, everything just tasted mostly like fried dough. But what did we really expect? At least we didn’t eat the fried butter. Yes, butter.

Say “cheese!” Er, I mean “Fried!”

But we did check out the fabulous butter sculpture!

Which I’m happy say was sculpted with butter donated from Cabot Creamery!

FYI: 600 pounds of butter were used in the sculpture, which means 12,600 pounds of milk were used. Also, you could have topped 19,200 pancakes with that butter. Oh, and did you know “butter” is Greek for “chowcheese?” Now you do.

I opted out of trying a giant cream puff or eclair, but am kind of craving one now that it’s been over 24 hours since any fried food intake.

But don’t worry; the culinary experience wasn’t over just yet. We HAD to try the award-winning Hot Diggid-E Dog! I’m pretty sure it was a hot dog filled with cheese, wrapped in bacon, and topped with BBQ sauce and coleslaw.

Meh, not as good as it sounded. I’m going to need something to cleanse my palate. Oh, how about a burger on a doughnut topped with cheese and bacon. Nobody told me Paula Deen was in the house (oh, never mind, if she was here, there would have been a fried egg on there, too!).

STOP judging me. I swear, the 5 of us shared all of this food and mainly just had a “taste” of everything.

Oh hey, it’s a stand called “Dr. Vegetable.” Finally, right? Oh wait, it says “Fresh FRIED vegetables.” Silly me. Guess the Dr. didn’t finish medical school, huh? Also, please note, this stand remained quite empty each time I walked by. You can batter it up and put it in the fryolator, but it’s still a vegetable.

We also did a bit more state house touring. New Hampshire, home of my alma mater!

This maple cotton candy was seriously awesome.

Upon entering the Massachusetts building, we spotted a booth selling raspberries. Raspberries that weren’t fried!! I love raspberries anyway, but don’t think I ever saw such a beautiful sight at these. My body was majorly craving them.

I’m legitimately leaving tons of Big E attractions out because there are just too many to name. But one thing I found quite interesting was a Christmas tree competition. Here we have the grand prize balsam fir from Massachusetts. Pretty, right? Wouldn’t you like to see that one in your living room on Christmas day?

Oh, hey there.

There was also a lot of infomercial-y stuff around the Big E (and a TON of hot tubs for sale). One of which I may have fallen sucker to.

In all fairness, I needed a new vegetable peeler. Lesa told me these Swiss Super Peeler‘s are the only peelers she ever buys. And another person standing next to me also spoke to their amazingness.

See how totally intrigued I am? Sold!

My dad should just be happy we didn’t purchase a hot tub for his deck… We’ve been trying to convince him to get one for the longest time, but he won’t cave.

After a full day of walking around and stuffing our faces, it was time for a stop at the martini bar. Oops sorry, I mean martin-E.

This dirty martini was exactly what I needed. It was made with V-1 Vodka, which I had never heard of, but is a local brand.

As we were leaving, the music was just starting and more and more people were entering the Big E. But we had an almost 2-hour drive ahead of us, so we hit the road.

The Big E runs until next weekend and during that time acts like Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire will be performing.

So, I mean, if you’re craving fried food and some fair fun, get yourself over to West Springfield. Trust me, I barely even touched upon the food selection… I missed out on the fried Oreos, fried cheesecake, fried whoopie pies, 2-foot-long hotdogs, and much, much more.

Whew. I think I’m all faired out for quite a while!

Are you a fair-goer? What’s your favorite part about a fair?

[Sues]