by Sam Tackeff | Sep 17, 2013 | Beer, Restaurants
Today one of my off-site coworkers, Bill, was in from Oklahoma, and to celebrate we went on an epic Platform team outing to newly renovated Harpoon Brewery in Boston. The brewery is located right in the Waterfront area, incidentally, where I park my car every day, and yet I had never been. The tour is $5, and you get to sample a dozen beers. Yep, a dozen. Need I say more? For the record, that’s about a dozen more beers than I’ve had in a good long while, so it made the occasion extra special. Nothing like getting a little sloshed with your coworkers.
We all donned our OSHA required glasses and headed through the factory. At the tasting, I got through a good amount of beer samples, including the green beer (unfiltered, which admittedly I loved!), the IPA (a favorite), White IPA, Rye IPA, Octoberfest, White UFO, and Pale Ale UFO, Saison Various, Brown IPA, and finally, my top favorite – the Stout. Due to time constraints, I missed out on the Raspberry Hefeweizen, Cider, and sadly the Leviathan, which I was really excited to try, but there was no warning before they shut off the taps on us. Your time is up! And we were shuttled out the door. Next time perhaps? (Fun fact: Rich Doyle, one of the founders of the brewery went to my high school, and I had to miss out on his alum tour a few months ago – maybe he’ll consider making it a regular thing! If not, I’ll be back on my own for sure.)
After our tour, we soaked up some of our beer at their beer hall, and dined on a few homemade pretzels. (How I missed taking a shot of these, I don’t know – but maybe I was a little buzzed at that point.) We sampled pretty much every dipping sauce: garlic butter, IPA cheese, red pepper aioli, spinach dip, hot mustard, bacon ranch, peanut butter, and my favorite: the maple cider cream cheese. Knowing how many folks leave work on the Waterfront and head to the terrible bar that won’t be named which puts cut hot dogs on their flavorless nachos – Waterfront office workers I implore you – make your way down the street to the Beer Hall for snack and beers!
Of course, we couldn’t go home without eating a proper meal, so festivities continued with a dinner at Legal Harborside. I decided that it would be the right time to squeeze in a lobster (my first this summer), and boy was it a treat! I should have taken a before and after shot – I decimated it. We assured Bill that locals do in fact eat lobster rolls and he shouldn’t be ashamed that it’s cliché, and he quite enjoyed his meal. Success!
Harpoon Brewery
306 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA 02210
http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/
Legal Harborside
270 Northern Avenue, Liberty Wharf, Boston, MA 02210
http://www.legalseafoods.com/
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 16, 2013 | Blogging, Challenge
This morning I woke up at the ungodly hour of five, and promptly realized that I wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep again. With shockingly little self-convincing, I headed outside to run – and got in four-miler before the sun finished rising. I had so much fun at the 200 mile relay this weekend that I’ve decided to take this running thing a little more seriously. (At least that’s what I’m telling myself). Really, I had a great deal of fun at the relay and I completely destroyed my sleep cycle, which is why my body thought that waking at 5 was a good idea. It’s a terrible idea. Terrible. Except for getting things done and enjoying the blue hour (not this blue hour, but I enjoy that too.) A large part of me still wants to sleep in every morning – I figure it’s conflicting impulses like these that make my days exciting.
That top picture there is the Charles River, looking out to Community Rowing – which, I might add, was hopping at 6 in the morning. Rowers really love exerting themselves in the wee hours. There are some days I think I’m going to just bite the bullet and get back into rowing, but I’ve yet to adequately convince myself, mostly because it’s an expensive sport, but also because I still have recurring nightmares of my college roommate waking up at 4 every morning to get to practice, and having to set the loudest alarm on the face of the planet to do so. (I can wake up from the gentle buzz of my Jawbone or my cell set to vibrate, so this was particularly jarring for me.)
This week my meal plan looks like this. A small part of me feels like I’ve failed my most basic comforting ritual of feeding myself, but hey, sometimes life is about flexibility. The key will be to avoid making every night an excuse for takeout, which sometimes happens when I don’t have meals planned in advance.
Sunday: Fish dinner.
Monday: Something with pork tenderloin.
Tuesday: Out with the team at work.
What happened? Well, usually I do my shopping spread throughout both weekend days, and spend a gleeful hour or two making the list. (The planning part is quick, the flipping through dozens of cookbooks and getting sidetracked on recipes for charcuterie or Martha Washington’s layer cake is not.) On Sunday I spent a large part of the day affixed to the couch, and ended up doing a 15 minute trip to the store for some basics. I picked up some Bluefish at Whole Foods, which I pan grilled, served with sautéed spinach, mashed potatoes for Devon, and a baby challah roll from the holiday to sop up the mess.
Dinner tonight was pork medallions, and brussels sprouts with teriyaki sauce – a very quick, one pot meal. At some point, I’ll get my act together, but for now – i’m heading to bed.
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 15, 2013 | Blogging, Challenge, Coffee, Tea
Last year, around this time, I was immersing myself in a challenge at my gym: focusing on whole foods, cooking, improving my fitness, and increasing general happiness. During this challenge – and let’s face it, I love any sort of challenge – I re-dedicated myself to my writing practice. I made a commitment to journal, free write, blog, and to scrap the hundred of drafts, the worrying, the “is it good enough?” and just publish. I largely stuck with it, and enjoyed the process immensely. This year I’m not doing the gym challenge, but I have a nice race lineup scheduled, I’m working on some new fitness goals, and I have a superb positive attitude email chain with a group of women I’m friends with. It’s a sort of low stress, mini-challenge, and I’m looking so forward to it!
There’s excitement buzzing as we transition into fall, and I’m focusing on being present, making lots of things, and sharing them with the world. Last week Martha Stewart posted about organizing her Basket House (yes, that’s right, she has a house full of baskets), and although I don’t have a basket house, I do like organizing things. My first almost-fall project? Improve my morning ritual, by de-cluttering my mug situation.
The set-up: My first step was making a new shelf for my mugs, which you can see in that top picture there. Instead of stacking and stashing my mugs in a cupboard, I took the top of one of my metal kitchen shelves, lined it with cute cork placemats from IKEA, and laid out all my mugs in full view. And because the vessel is just as important as the drink, I also introduced three new mugs into the family, to accompany my favorite Japanese cups and my little Heath Ceramics mug. All three, above, are from Starbucks. Yep. Mass-market, on sale, non-handcrafted mugs. But look how shiny and pretty they are! No regrets!
My morning ritual: most mornings I get up and brew myself a cup of coffee. Either a single cup, with my drip filter, or my aeropress, or if I’m feeling like I need a large dose of caffeine, my French press, or if I’m feeling European, on the stovetop in my Bialetti espresso maker. I go through a variety of coffees: Blue Bottle beans when I have them, or a custom blend from Zabar’s, or something from a local roaster – lately, I’ve been digging Fazenda and George Howell. For espresso or Turkish coffee, I usually use Turkish Mehmet Efendi, or in a pinch my standby espresso powder from IKEA. To accompany my new mug shelf, I also organized all of my coffee tools in one place. Win!
Of course, lest you think I’m all coffee, all the time, I must protest. In the afternoons, I drink tea.
Do you have a favorite mug?
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 9, 2013 | Local stores, Meal Planning
When was the last time you got yourself a bouquet of flowers? I’m ashamed to say it had been far too long since I’d done so – and flowers really do make me smile every time I walk by them. I picked up this gorgeous bouquet of dahlias last Sunday at Russo’s in Watertown, and they’ve lasted me all week long.
This week, I’ve been following the prompts for Sarah Jenks‘ ‘Live More, Weigh Less Challenge’. As a health coach, I’m particularly fond of following the work of others in the health and wellness space, and Sarah does some really great work changing women’s lives. One of the reasons I went to nutrition school was purely for self-education, and I’ve learned so much not just from my teachers, but from my peers. Nearly a decade into my journey to good health, I feel like there is still so much to learn about myself, so participating in challenges like this is my version of continuing education.
The challenges this week have been utterly joyful, and there’s something very satisfying knowing that you are participating in self-care with a large group of people who are committed to doing the same. We’ve been instructed to buy ourselves flowers, make a luscious green smoothie, hike, and watch the sunset. All of which, I’ve documented on my Instagram if you’d like a peek: @alphaprep – I’d love to connect there. Now, these are all things that I know I should be doing, but sometimes I need a little prompting to put myself first and get out there. Maybe you do too? If so, I’m fairly sure you can jump into the challenge at any time. (And lest this sounds like too much of a shill, I’m not affiliated with Sarah in any way, other than I think she’s great!)
This week I sat down at a new (to me) coffee shop called Fuel to get my meal planning on. I ordered a Cortado (espresso with milk), and a large iced coffee, and got to writing.
Before leaving my house, I took a quick snapshot of the contents of my fridge and freezer to avoid letting produce go to waste, and used leftovers as the basis for this week’s list.
Week of September 9th.
Sunday :: Cast-iron flounder, a mess of kale, and a few potato latkes. Sunday is always fish night around here, and local flounder was on sale. The monkfish also looked delicious, but I haven’t had flounder for a while, and although it’s a mild fish, I always quite enjoy it. The potato latkes – not homemade, but a treat from Trader Joe’s.
Monday :: Cheddar dogs, baked beans, and greens. Cheddar dogs. Yes, not quite health food, but my love loves them, and nostalgia wins out on occasion.
Tuesday :: Taco salad, with cabbage slaw. Typically this is some sort of protein with all the fixins’ of a regular taco. Since I’m craving seafood, we might have fish taco salad. Unless I don’t get to the store, in which case, some sort of ground meat in the freezer from my butcher will win out. We’ll see.
Wednesday :: Vietnamese braised beef brisket. Last week I got a copy of Luke Nguyen’s new cookbook ‘Greater Mekong‘ in the mail, and I’ve been longing for Vietnam – the country is on my top five culinary travel destinations. This recipe is actually out of one of Luke’s older cookbooks, ‘Indochine‘.
Thursday :: Orange pork tenderloin. Or maybe spice-rubbed pork tenderloin. Or pork tenderloin medallions in red curry. Or something else. I have the tenderloin, hopefully the inspiration will come.
Friday and Saturday, I’ll be eating my meals out of a van while I compete in the New Balance Reach The Beach Relay. I’ll be running three legs (about 14 miles, total), of 200 miles with 11 of my coworkers at RunKeeper, and I’m expecting that I’ll have to push myself in ways I’m not prepared for. I’m still trying to figure out how to feed myself on this trip. We’ll see.
And you? What are you eating this week? Also, will you get yourself a bouquet of flowers please, and let me know that you’ve done so? It’ll make me smile!
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 3, 2013 | Blogging, Meal Planning
Why hello there! We’re having a house guest this week, it’s the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), and the work week is only four days long. I still felt the need to do a grand cook up this week, and a meal plan, you know, just in case.
Things I prepped tonight, mostly for lunches:
– baked chicken thighs with garlic powder, chile powder, salt and pepper
– roasted cauliflower with coconut oil, chile powder, salt and pepper
– roasted green beans (in the liquid from the baked chicken…ie: saves a pan!)
– chopped up three bell peppers, and a large cucumber
– pot of chicken broth in the slow cooker all afternoon
– pot of Rancho Gordo white limas
The hands on time for this stuff was less than an hour, and I’ll have lots and lots of options for mix and match meals.
No matter how tired, lazy, or busy I’ll be this week, at least I’ll have a good, healthy lunch.
(FYI: breakfast is pretty much the same every morning except for Friday (cough *Sportello bagel* cough) – a very large iced coffee, and three boiled eggs spaced in intervals from 10, to around noon. Lunch at 2:30. I’m a weirdo, but it works for me.)
We got a brand spankin’ new Breville Juicer in the office on Friday, and I’m dying to take it for a spin – I’m thinking that I might bring in some kale, apple, cucumber and celery just to give her a go.
Monday :: Since this Labor Day Monday was pretty much Sunday – which around here means seafood night – fish was on the menu. Fish cooks up quickly, and I always commit to eating it the night of purchasing it so that it’s as fresh as can be. This week crab-stuffed flounder was on sale at Whole Foods, so I got one for each of us, and served it with a heaping portion of asparagus, tossed in shallot oil and roasted, and some fresh tomatoes slices.
Tuesday :: Chicken sausage, roasted baby potatoes, garlicky kale, salad with tomato and avocado.
Wednesday :: Rosh Hashanah dinner! I’m not sure what’s on the menu, but I can pretty much be sure that there will be some homemade chicken soup, some gefilte fish slathered with horseradish, tsimmes (braised beef, carrots, and sweet potato), potato pancake, and my mom is making carrot cake.
Thursday :: Vietnamese Bun bowls and/or goat stew. I have goat meat, but I’m not 100% sure that guest (a former vegetarian) will be able to deal with the goat. In which case it’ll have to wait until next week!
Friday :: Out.
The weekend? Not sure yet! I know, I know.. what good is a plan when you only have a few days squared away? Wait, no, it’s better than no plan at all. This’ll largely depend on what we decide to do for the weekend…
What are you eating this week?
