by Sam Tackeff | Dec 1, 2013 | Meat
The last day of this long holiday vacation is bittersweet – I’m looking forward to getting back to the office and doing good work, but my couch is so very comfortable, and being home has been a treat. For dinner tonight, I had lofty goals, I’d cook something long and slow from scratch. I’d start cooking by mid day. But by 6pm, we were hungry, so we made a quick stop at the store. Devon got cream soda to replace a black cherry that I had dropped and shattered yesterday. Suddenly the hot bar was calling, and so I picked up some mashed potatoes and spinach to go some fat little pork sausages – sweet Italians from the local sausage shop, DePasquale’s. When we got home, I spent 15 minutes at the stove listening to the sausages sizzle, assembled our plates, and then sunk into the couch to watch Dark Shadows.
December is always an adventure, we still have a few more days of Hanukkah, holiday parties on the docket, and a trip to Montreal in the works. I suspect it shall be a very full month.
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 30, 2013 | Shopping
It should be known that Vietnamese food is on the absolute top of my cravings list, and the best that I’ve found in the Boston area so far is at Pho So 1 Boston in Randolph. Today we had to make our way to IKEA to make a return and for a few household items, and we stopped here for a quick lunch. I had my usual – bún thịt bò nướng – grilled beef over rice noodles with lots of fresh vegetables and herbs. I’ve yet to learn to adequately re-create this at home with just the right marinade and char on the meat, but probably for the best, because I’d be eating it every other day. (When I do make this at home, I usually ditch the rice noodles, and just grate extra veg and call it salad.)
At IKEA, we made our return easily even without the original receipt, and picked up a knife magnet, some candles, and a coffee frother to take home. I know that there are people who loathe the IKEA experience, but I’m not one of them – I’d happily move in to one of those 372 square foot apartment spaces, and who can resist salmon portions and swedish meatballs in the dining area?
These pictures are all from last weekend, when we did the exact same IKEA/Pho So Boston 1 run. Creatures of habit? Hammy, the traveling lion is a cute scheme created for my high school reunion this summer – he spends his time traveling from classmate to classmate to pep us up for the big weekend. It’s right this time of year that I need some cute overload, so I’ve been showing him the sights before sending him on to a lucky classmate. Also, I really need a dog.
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 29, 2013 | Holidays
Winter is here, and it’s here to stay. It’s no longer safe to leave the house without a hat around these parts, and our neighbors have put up the Christmas decorations. Today we brunched at Rox, and ran into my grandmother, Sterra, who was midway through her weekly beauty parlor routine: a manicure, a quick break for soup, and then off to get her hair done. Her schedule is booked from morning to night – zumba, tai chi, museums, the symphony, lectures, entertaining friends for 5 o’clock cocktails – she lives at a pace that is even exhausting to think about. She’s quite a remarkable woman. Our day was quieter – we braved Guitar Center without purchasing anything, Target for toilet paper (I know, I know, what crazy people attempt an errand run on this nightmare of a weekend?), and a quick stop to Anthropologie, where I broke my “no spending on this stupid day” rule because that bright happy coffee pot was a mere $15 dollars on sale. I had to do it.
I love how it feels like a lazy Sunday, and we have two whole days of weekend left!
