Jumpstarting the Day

Guess who forgot to shut off an interior light last night?



Never a good thing to wake up in the morning and realize that your battery is dead. Especially when you're trying to make it in early to get work done before 1) a three day training session that will take you away from your desk and 2) leaving for vacation next week.

Thank goodness Andrew had not left for work and came to my rescue. And thank you Dad for buying me jumper cables, even if I had to lug them back from Japan. :)

I Heart Boston!

Andrew and I made it into Boston super early (for us on a weekend) on Sunday for our engagement shoot. An hour later, we had shed our coats and wanted to linger in the city to enjoy the gloriously warm weather.

So we went for a walk along the Esplanade by Andrew's old apartment on Beacon Street, and saw the Red Line crossing the Charles into the city:

It was warm enough that there were a ton of sailing boats on the water:

After walking the length of the Esplanade, we headed towards the Prudential Center where this outdoor installation caught our eye:

I looked down to read the story behind the installation...

...and then looked up to find this wise guy amongst the cutouts - would it be too sickeningly cute to point out that he already warms my heart? :)

Finally, we killed enough time in the city to score an outdoor table at our favorite, the Parish Cafe when it opened at noon:

Don't be surprised to see Parish Cafe pop up in our engagement pictures (can I state again how much I can't wait to see them?!?)

Yay for eating at one of our favorite restaurants, outdoors, with no coats on, in November!

And double yay for living in a such a beautiful, walkable city that is just my speed.

Engagement Photo Preview

Andrew and I were fortunate enough to experience crazy warm temperatures yesterday for our engagement shoot around Boston. It's rare that in November at 9 am one is warm enough to walk around without a coat on and while everyone laughed at me when I said this, I truly felt that it was a good omen that means we'll have nice weather for the rest of our major wedding events (fingers crossed!)

I was excited to see that our photographers (Jesse and Heather from Ciras Photography) posted a preview pic from the shoot up this morning on their blog - we are the second couple featured in the most recent post.

I like how Andrew and I are looking at each other but the only thing about the picture I don't like is the fact that my arm is hanging there a bit awkwardly (I did place it on Andrew's arm later). Heather said she liked the fact that we were always laughing at one another, there was no need to prompt us to act animated for pictures except for those first nervous shots.

We're anticipating seeing the shoot in its entirety later this week so I will keep you posted!

Dessert Party in West Roxbury

Andrew and I had a great time hanging out at Z 's and T.D.'s new house in West Roxbury last night. Not only were we celebrating their status as new homeowners of a FABULOUS house, but we were also helping them cash in on a dessert buffet option.

Let me explain - Z and T.D. were married last August and had a beautiful ceremony and reception. One of the standouts of their reception was the awesome food provided by their caterer. Unfortunately, the creme brulees (Z's favorite) that were supposed to be served along with the wedding cake for dessert never made it to the reception, due to a mishap in the caterer's van. To make it up to her, the caterers offered a dessert buffet party for 12, complete with creme brulee. To me, this speaks volumes, you can develop a better opinion of a vendor based on how they respond to a problem. Anyway, Z and T.D. decided to expand it to an appetizers and dessert buffet party, and I am so glad that they were kind enough to include us!

The passed hors doeurvres included:

Smoked chicken quesadillas with avocado salsa
Tuna tartar on crisp wontons
Mini beef wellingtons with bearnaise dipping sauce (best sauce ever!)
Bacon wrapped scallops
Parmesan crusted artichokes filled with goat cheese
Crab cakes topped with chipotle aioli
Mini burgers with roasted shallot jam and Stilton

The apps were surprisingly filling and my mouth is watering just thinking of them! Luckily, I did save room for dessert - here is the dessert buffet spread out on Z and T.D.'s new dining room table:

The catering company was smart enough to leave some of the extra appetizers plated on the table - from top left, two plates of the chicken quesadillas (stacked high and thick) with some parmesan crusted artichokes in the center, bacon wrapped scallops (yum!), spicy tuna maki from Fugakyu (Z's favorite) and the mini burgers on the bottom:

One of Andrew's favorites, the crab cakes - they were adorable and tasty!

Now for the desserts - the creme brulee that was responsible for it all. It was soooo good, that I wished that there had been enough servings for us to have seconds and thirds:

Also on the dessert menu - three types of dessert shooters including key lime pie:


Chocolate decadence and strawberry cheesecake - they were the perfect size to get a good sized bite that left you wanting more (you better believe that I tried all three!):

Chocolate bread budding - this is the only one that I skipped just because I was getting full and full chocolate desserts aren't usually my thing - did I also mention that homemade whipped cream that we lavishly topped all the desserts with (left):

Here's a close up of the key lime pie shooter, complete with a cute mini dessert spoon:

There's the hostess herself pushing desserts on us - if you squint, you can see the apple crisps that were Andrew's favorite of all the desserts:

Here's Andrew with the aforementioned apple crisp - this is about the point where I put down the camera and starting pigging out!

Thanks to Z and T.D. for hosting a lovely evening filled with good food and tons of laughs! Here's hoping that Andrew and I are as lucky in finding a house as nice as theirs.

Date Night in Harvard Square

Andrew and I had a wedding vendor meeting in Cambridge last night, so we decided to make the best of it (after a long work week) and turn it into a date night!

I've always wanted to try Upstairs on the Square so I was pleased to see that it was on the same street as our meeting location with the vendor.

I was pleased to see that the decor lived up to the hype when we walked into the Monday Club Bar on the first floor (note the distinctive chandeliers). What you can't see is the "bad girl" plaid paint job on the walls and the zebra print on the chairs:

This was my favorite chandelier - it looked a flock of light bulb birds flying away from the ceiling:

The waitress caught me taking pictures and graciously offered to take one of me and Andrew. We were seated right next to the fireplace - thankfully, it was turned off at that point. They had turned it on when they seated us and it became uncomfortable in a matter of minutes. I have to say that the service there is excellent and someone came over immediately and shut off the fireplace, rather than have us move to a new table:


I like the small decorative touches that came with the meal, including the decorated lime that accompanied my G&T. I have to mention that their bread basket and dipping sauce were also excellent - it wasn't anything special, just fresh white bread with a chewy crust and a quality olive oil with herbs - but it tasted great!

Instead of going with entrees, Andrew and I decided that the appetizers looked more interesting and decided to choose two each. The first set of dishes that came out were the Brûléed Boucheron (top) with Shaved Butternut, Macintosh, & Cranberry Walnut Kashi and the Oven Roasted Lamb Meatballs en Casserole (bottom) with Slow Cooked Orange Scented Tomato, Sumac & Farm Egg :

We both loved the Brûléed Boucheron, especially the boucheron cheese itself - yummy! Andrew liked the meatballs while I wasn't the biggest fan - maybe because I don't eat lamb often?

There was a long lag before our second set of dishes arrived, and in that time, Andrew and I realized - surprisingly - that we were actually pretty full! Nonetheless, we were committed to try the second set of appetizers -

Roasted Pumpkin Pizetta with Smoky Bacon (left) and Autumn Squash Mezzaluna with Bacon & Pepita Brittle, Sage Brown Butter (right):

The pizetta was amazing - there were crunchy and soft triangles of fried dough covered with pumpkin, creamy chunks of cheese and bits of bacon. The Mezzaluna were just meh - and honestly, as one of our more expensive options, they only gave three? I would definitely save your money for something else.

Next, we had a very pleasant meeting with the vendor, and I'm happy to say that you will be experiencing their work first hand at the ceremony next year!

Finally, since we were in Harvard Square, we had to drop by BerryLine for some froyo:

We both opted for original flavored yogurt, skipping the pumpkin pie and apple cinnamon flavors. As blueberries are only a seasonal topping for them (boo!), Andrew went for chocolate chips to accompany his strawberries and almonds and I went with fresh kiwi.

Full and freezing (as we were dumb enough to be eating frozen yogurt outside on one of the coldest nights we've experienced this fall), we headed back to the car happy with our night out. On the walk to the car, Andrew pointed out that it was funny that we were ready to call it a night at 9:30 p.m. while we were clearly passing people that were about to start their nights. This didn't bother me, as I was content with all that we managed to cram into three hours!

Fingerprint Wedding Band

This came up on the Boston Knot boards today - I thought it was a really neat idea:



The jeweler sends you an impression kit to imprint the length of one finger. You send it back and he makes a wax form from it that is used to create the final silver or gold ring with the fingerprint.

This is not the route we'll go with Andrew's ring but I still thought it was unique enough idea to share.

How Sweet It Is...or How Sweet Is It?

Andrew and I finally had a chance to try the infamous Sweet cupcakes this weekend when we fortuitously parked right by the Mass Ave location.

Here's the amazing display case of goodies - note the trademarked peaked frosting:


I thought the shop itself was very cute and loved their takeout container for the four cupcakes we selected:


See, it had the perfect amount of space for our chosen cupcakes. From top to bottom:

• "The Sweet Cake" - Creamy Madagascar vanilla bean cake with buttercream frosting in vanilla with festive Halloween sprinkles
• "Cappuccino" - Delectable espresso flavored cake bakedwith Callebaut chocolate crowned with signature Sweet frosting and a dusting of cinnamon
• A seasonal flavored pumpkin cupcake
• Another seasonal flavor (I believe) - Chocolate Cranberry

Those who know me know that I'm not really the biggest fan of chocolate cake and chocolate frosting, so it comes as no surprise that I went with the vanilla/vanilla combo:

The cappuccino on the left was also my choice, leaving the pumpkin and chocolate cranberry flavors for Andrew (he ate the pumpkin too quickly for me to take a picture of it):


What was the verdict? I really did like the texture of the frosting and even the fine texture of the cupcakes (although they were kind of dry):

What was missing? Flavor! While the cupcakes looked cute and were packaged nicely, I felt they were undeserving of all the hype. To be honest, while I could see specks of vanilla in the frosting, it had no flavor. It just tasted like sugar. Ditto for the cake, no flavor in the vanilla and only the slightest hint of cappuccino and chocolate in the other two cupcakes. We got a pleasant surprise of cranberry jam (?) in the middle of Andrew's chocolate cranberry cupcake, but that wasn't enough to save it. You can't call me a baking snob since I think cupcakes made from a cake mix and topped with canned frosting taste better than Sweet. So begins my search for Boston's Best Cupcake.

Edition Three: Stuck In My Head

This song is infectious!!

1901 by Phoenix

Can't. Stop. Playing. It. Over. And. Over.

Highlights from Halloween

I think the pictures speak for themselves...

Jon and Kate plus 8 - I know it's not the most original costume but we must get bonus points for switching it up. I went a little overboard with the facial makeup in an attempt to look masculine:


My sister the zombie:


Zombie prom dates from the 80's (I love the addition of the Halloween-themed corsage):


Zombies attacking a human survivor from the Prom (who is also zombie Phu's date):


Another 80's survivor - Jen and I pose with the extremely addictive and way-too-easy-to-eat Jello shots in syringes:


I limited myself to just one of these and consider it a wise decision considering how hungover most of the other partygoers were the next day.

Happy Halloween Cupcakes

In addition to the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, I wanted to bring in something fun for Halloween so I went with decorated cupcakes.

Considering I was frosting these at 6 am on Friday morning, I'm pretty pleased with the results!

Spider on a spider web (yes, I know it resembles a crab but at least it's cute)

Your classic pumpkin:

Messy mummy (my frosting wasn't stiff enough and I was too lazy to switch from Ziploc bags to my pastry bags)

Very crudely drawn Frankenstein:

Monster:


A tray of the cupcakes - I love all the Halloween colors together!

These got a huge reaction from my coworkers although one told me she "can't eat anything with a face on it." She stuck with the pumpkin cupcakes.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

'Tis the season for pumpkin. I'm usually all about making pumpkin flavored desserts during the fall but I had heard rumors that there was a canned pumpkin shortage in the local supermarkets. However, on top of finding a large can of pumpkin puree in my pantry from last year (used for the batch of Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Pancakes last weekend), I was able to find plenty of smaller cans of pumpkin puree from the Stop & Shop I frequent. Thus, I was inspired to try a new pumpkin recipe. I'm obsessed with whoopie pies (probably stemming from fascination with trying to make Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies, which are kind of like a cookie whoopie pie) so I was thrilled to find this Pumpkin Whoopie Pies recipe from Martha Stewart. Should you need further pumpkin inspiration, Beantown Baker has also done a full week of interesting Pumpkin recipes.

Ingredients
Makes 12 whoopie pies. (I used my Oxo medium-sized cookie scoop to create smaller, uniform cookies and I ended up 5 dozen cookies or 30 whoopie pies)

FOR THE PUMPKIN WHOOPIE COOKIES
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger (I replaced the tablespoons of ginger and cloves with two tablespoons pumpkin pie spice since I'm not a big fan of ginger or cloves)
1 tablespoon ground cloves (Reduced to just a pinch)
2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled (I forgot to chill the puree ahead of time, but I did end up putting the batter in the fridge for 30 minutes)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

Using a small ice cream scoop (or Oxo cookie scoop) with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.


Make the filling: Sift confectioner' sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)

Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.


I'm glad I ended up making smaller version of the whoopie pies, because even my version ended up being quite a mouthful:


The cookies themselves ended up soft and moist, but I should've taken time to stiffen the cream cheese filling a little more.

These whoopie pies had a nice strong spicy pumpkin flavor, but were a little to messy for my taste as the exterior became very moist after refrigerating and it was hard to pipe enough frosting for each one without having it spill over the edges. I was also disappointed in the cream cheese filling - it tasted great but that's because it was your typical cream cheese frosting. It didn't have that fluffy texture that I associate with traditional whoopie pie fillings.

That being said, Andrew really enjoyed this recipe, being the pumpkin aficionado that he is and my coworkers liked it as well.