Pumpkin Seed Brittle - the Perfect Hostess Gift

In preparation of hosting our first Thanksgiving, Nick and I flipped through a bunch of magazines and blogs for inspiration. While we have our schedule and menu ready to go, a recipe for Pumpkin Seed Brittle from Bon Appetit caught my eye.

Brittle

Dutch Apple Pie

In the beginning of October (can you believe how long ago that was?!) Nick, his sister and I headed to Smolak Farms to do some apple picking. While it was super crowded overall, we headed to the back of the orchard and hit the jackpot of cortland and macintosh apples. And, since I am a sucker for any type of souvenir, big or small, I upgraded from the apple bag to the big basket (not the easiest to carry through the orchard, but totally worth it). With a massive basket full of apples, pie was definitely in our future, along with a bunch of other delicious apple-based recipes.

Basket FULL of Apples

Dutch Apple Pie - it is basically as if apple crisp and an apple pie had a baby! This pie really allows for the apples to be the star and not to get lost between the pie crusts. We are a big apple crisp family, so needless to say this is the preferred pie for Nick and I.

Thanksgiving Day Planning and Menu

This year is a bit different for Nick and I - rather than showing up with an appetizer or dessert at a family member's or friend's house for Thanksgiving, we are hosting for the first time! This won't be anything too crazy - only 9 of us total - but I think on Thanksgiving the standards are a bit higher. Not only is the gathering bigger than what we have done before, there are a lot more courses to tie together!

Source - hopefully mine comes out that well!

All Star Pizza Bar

A bit ago the genius' behind All Star Sandwich Bar decided to take advantage of some vacant space across the street and expand their creative flavor combinations with pizza, resulting All Star Pizza Bar! Nick used to frequent the sandwich bar back when he lived in Inman Square and had been dying to get over to try the pizza. One night recently the idea popped into our heads, so we decided to make an evening of it.

Dukes of Hazard Pizza!

L'Andana - Fine Dining Just Outside Boston

Living in the city, Nick and I rarely head to the 'burbs for meals - I mean, we have so much right at our fingertips, and without a car its a slightly more cumbersome task. However for most people who live outside of the city, venturing in can be a bit of a time consuming headache. Enter L'Andana, which is located right off of Route 128 in Burlington. Growing up on the North Shore there were not many nice places to go out to eat that were not part of a nationwide chain. Whether there wasn't the market or restaurateurs did not want to take the risk, I am not sure. L'Andana, however, took the risk and it has seemingly paid off in spades.

The warm-up - yes that bread has been toasted with Parmesan cheese! This could have been its own appetizer!

Kirkland Tap and Trotter

When word got out that Craigie on Main's owner was going to open a new restaurant, it's safe to say there was some excitement. Craigie is known for so many things including its burger and the wonderful tasting menu. Kirkland Tap and Trotter is a warm restaurant, and while you will find similar ingredients as you may see at Craigie, the food at Kirkland Tap and Trotter is more approachable but still executed perfectly.

We got to the restaurant on the later side on a Saturday - since it was only 3 weeks into opening, it was the only time we could get a reservation! The restaurant was definitely a bit crowded and we were prepared to wait, but the hostess asked us whether we would be interested in sitting at the equivalent of a chef's table, which we gladly agreed to. For the evening we had a perfect view of the salad and dessert station, as well as a clear view of the cooks line!