Leah's Life: Pearls and Oysters

Chicken with Olives and Tangy Beer-Tomato Sauce

This recipe is a slight modification of a recipe from Maryana Vollstedt’s book The big book of casseroles. Chicken with olives and tangy beer-tomato sauce Remember to double the recipe if you are making it for your family and another family. Otherwise one recipe will give you 6 servings. Ingredients: Tangy Beer-Tomato Sauce 1 can of tomato…

Our Rockefeller: Charles Square Tree Lighting

As a family we are New Yorkers at the core intertwined with our new Bostonian and Cantabrigian roots. Aside from the fact that, as a family unit, we don’t celebrate Christmas (that’s just at Grandma’s house) there is still something magical about the Rockefeller Center treeand the tree lighting. We check in with one another about…

Black Friday: Shop Well, Eat Well

Truth be told, I would not be caught dead shopping on Black Friday, because I have the luxury of being a stay at home mom so I can shop any other time during the week and I have the flaw of becoming hostile and a tad bit cranky when I shop in a crowd. When I wasn’t…

Green Thanksgiving: Packing up the Leftovers

In our family, we’ve slowly crossed sandwich and snack ziploc bags off of our shopping list and replaced them with re-usable, and easily washable Happy Sacks. My daughter’s lunch rarely has anything disposable in it. Her cutlery is Bambu. All our leftovers are kept in glass or melamine. Why should the holidays be any different? Apparently, it…

Top Secret: Last Minute Holiday Shopping Haven

If you have some last minute things to get for your dinner. Then you probably shouldn’t be reading this now, but if you are…head to Pemberton farms. They’ll most likely have what you need, even prepared foods and it’s peaceful and quiet with no lines. If you need something specific for a recipe just call…

Confessions: BFF Dines on Nachos and Store Bought Cookies

Yes, it’s true. My brother has been here for two days and my parents have been here for two hours and as much as we love one another we have to divide and conquer before we’re stuck together for meal after meal in the next two days. Uncle J is going to the much talked…

Thanksgiving: Throwing in the Kitchen Towel

You’ve driven what used to take three hours and now takes seven with the kids and it is just not manageable. You invited family to your place and inevitabely someone wasn’t happy with the arrangements. You tried cooking the turkey and it took three hours longer than expected. You ordered prepared foods and couldn’t keep…

Store Hours: Shopping for Turkeys

Bakers’ Best Monday-Friday 7:30 am – 7:00 pm Thursday (Thanksgiving): CLOSED (617) 332-4588 Flour Bakery We have stopped taking orders for Thanksgiving but we are working hard to make extras of everything to sell on Wednesday, first come first serve. Happy Holidays! Monday-Tuesday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm -Fort Point Channel Monday-Tuesday 7:00 am –…

Thanksgiving To Do List

Here we go… Whether you are at home or at work this week, tomorrow is a pivotal day in the preparations for Thanksgiving. To do: Make a detailed grocery list for all the ingredients for all the meals before, during and just after Thanksgiving. Do not go shopping (unless you want to go first thing…

Patricia Wells’ Braised Beef with Carrots (adapted)

Equipment: A large, heavy-duty skillet with a lid: 12 warmed dinner plates (or in our case three cold dinner plates, and four melamine kids plates, a lidded Pyrex in the fridge, and a plastic to go container.) 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 pounds of beef in a single piece from the top or bottom round,…