Tiny Urban Tidbits #23 + Reflecting on my summer in Boston + Giveaway!

Nantucket, Madaket Beach, July 2014

I can’t believe summer is almost over.It feels like it just began. And honestly, I really don’t think I’m ready for fall yet. Just a few days ago while I was walking in Harvard Square, I noticed the tips of some of the trees turning just a bit orange. I sort of freaked out. Really? Why are they changing in August??!!I’m really not ready for cold weather yet.

Anyway, I can’t stop time, and summer is indeed coming to an end. It’s been great fun working in Fan Pier this summer, having access to the local farmers markets, food trucks, outdoor free concerts, and various other events that make Boston explode during the summer.

Here’s a fun look at some of the random (food-focused, of course!) non travel-related stuff I’ve done in Boston this summer, plus a fun giveaway at the end!

Last weekend we visited Troquet in Boston for a very unique wine experience. Troquet is known locally as one of the best places in Boston to enjoy wine. They have a massive collection, including some pretty old and hard-to-find wines. Their prices are among the best in the city because their mark up is ridiculously low, especially for higher-priced wines.

In July and August, Troquet has what they called the “Summer Wine Clearout Sale.” Each night they bring out a bunch of vintage bottles which they sell to be drunk on the premises (though you can take home leftovers).You sort of take your chances, because some of these wines are really really old.

We had so much fun trying a bunch of different wines spanning five decades! Only one bottle (from 1975) was a dud (it had gone bad – on its way to becoming vinegar). The rest, even the one from 1966 (!), were delicious. It was definitely fun to try so many wines from so many decades at a very reasonable price (most bottles ranged in price from $35 to $70).

I’m bummed that I found out about this so late, otherwise I would have been tempted to come back several times this summer!

It’s been almost a year since I visited Tavern Road in Fort Point. Last week, I finally had a chance to visit their more casual lunch spot – TR Street Foods, which is pretty much a counter-style, quick-serve restaurant right next to Tavern Road which makes sandwiches, salads, and skewers coming out of the same kitchen.

I tried the CLT, a crispy chicken skin, lettuce, and tomato sandwich that was out of this world. I can’t wait to go back and try some of their other items.

On the cooking front, I’m finally starting to make my own soy milk again. Previously I had been using my Blend Tec to make soy milk at home, blending everything together into a very thick milk. More recently my brother-in-law gave me his soy milk making machine, which makes everything just too easy.

Essentially, you throw soaked soybeans and water into this machine, which blends and cooks the milk for you. All you have to do once the machine beeps is to filter out the ground up beans and drink the milk.

I was invited to a Southeast Asian (mostly Indonesian) potluck party, which was amazing. I decided to make some of the dishes I had learned how to make in Thailand. The som tam, or papaya salad, made using this recipe (hand pounded!) turned out great and was definitely super popular with the guests.

I tried making larb for the first time in the US using this recipe I learned inThailand. I took no shortcuts and made everything from scratch, even down to toasting and grinding my own lemongrass infused rice powder! It was delicious, and I can’t wait to make it again.

Here’s the entire spread. Many of the dishes were made by either the host, an Indonesian mom who also happens to be culinary-trained and works for Wolfgang Puck (!), or another Indonesian friend who is trained in pastries.

Are you drooling yet?

I’m thinking I need to write a follow up post where I actually describe each of these lovely dishes in more detail!

We did a lot of grilling this summer, and discovered M.F. Dulock, a fantastic meat market in Somerville not too far from our house. Their pasture-raised meats are amazing, and we’ve been enjoying their steaks as well as their pork chops.

One of my favorite tools I discovered this summer was this simple corn stripper from Oxo. I was thrilled when they sent me a box of grilling tools, and the stripper immediately became one of my favorites. It made eating the Taiwanese Grilled Corn (which I made numerous times this summer) so much easier!

Oxo also provided nice long tongs and a handy silicon brush, which were all very useful for making Taiwanese Grilled Corn!

Giveaway! 
It’s time to travel the world, just by heading over to East Somerville.

Ethiopia, El Salvador, Mexico, Brazil, Haiti, and Italy (just to name a few!) . . .

A dozen East Somerville restaurants covering five continents will be offering bites of food at this year’s East Broadway Foodie Crawl, held Tuesday, September 16th from 6PM to 9PM (September 17th rain date). This year, hot new restaurant La Brasa is the newest addition to this crawl.

All Profits Support East Somerville Main Streets, a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to building a vibrant neighborhood through a thriving business district to improve the quality of people’s lives.

I am giving away TWO tickets to one lucky winner to attend this event. Please comment below and let me know your favorite new restaurant that you’ve visited or want to visit this past year.

Thanks and good luck! I will choose a winner one week from today, Friday September 5th at midnight. I will email the winner and announce it on this blog. If I do not hear a response within 24 hours, I iwll pick another winner.

Good luck!

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links from Amazon on this page, which gives me a tiny percentage commission of Amazon store credit. The Oxo supplies were provided by Oxo. The East Broadway Foodie Crawl tickets are also provided by the organization.

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