We decided to head up the east coast to visit a few colleges. My mom and dad wanted to get on the road as soon as possible so we left straight from EMT school. The three hour drive to Providence turned into a five hour drive with lots of traffic. Blech...major. Luckily I sat next to the cooler filled with my favorite goodies: sandwiches and celery.
All the restaurant kitchens in Providence closed at 9 pm so we ate in the hotel. The Westin had a great restaurant and we were able to grab a late night bite there. Mamma and Daddy both started with soups: Cream of Mushroom and New England Clam Chowder, respectively.
For my meal I got the special: Pan Roasted Snapper served upon mashed taters and sautéed spinach with a citrus salad on top. VERY Yummy…obviously I ate the whole thing, do I ever leave anything? Self control is a petty thing…
Sorry for the lack of pictures, 5 hours in a car had my head screwed on all funky and well, I forgot the camera in the room... Oh well.
Dessert was totally unnecessary but for some reason we got two. Orange “Gelato” and an Apple Tart (or torte?) It wasn’t gelato, more of an icy type of thing but not bad. The Apple tart had this creamy-ricotta layer underneath the apples-ehh.
We woke up early and had breakfast at this cute little pastry shop, Pastiche, I spotted while searching for restaurants online in Providence. It received rave reviews so we made a family decision that pastries were acceptable breakfast foods.
Banana bread has been a favorite of mine ever since I was a tot so when I spotted a mini banana bread loaf, my breakfast decision was easy. I had a slice for breakfast with a yummy iced coffee. I have had some good banana bread in the past, but this one was pure bliss. I loved the texture--dense with chopped chunks of chocolate and walnuts. Mommy was not a huge fan but she never loved banana bread with chocolate.
Mommy got the Apricot Walnut scone (left) while daddy got the Wild Blueberry Muffin. The only time I ever had a scone was at the English Tea Party I had for school and the scones were so yucky. This one was quite the opposite--not too dry and held some sweetness from the apricots. Blueberry muffins...do I need to explain? I mean Daddy said they were as good as ours, but when you cook and bake so much, it becomes difficult to eat out. (It was a good muffin)
We grabbed a lemon bar, another scone and a biscotti for later when we got hungry on the tour or whenever.
True fact: I just sat there, on the hotel chair and ate my lemon bar in silence. It was so scrumptious I was sad when there was none left.
They sell biscotti ends...HOW CLEVER?! Oh and their cookies are sold by the pound, quite interesting!
All in all, such a cute place I would definitely check it out if you are in Providence! Their cakes looked amazing but we didn't try them :(
Back on the road, we finally reached Boston about an hour later! Guess who we met up with? Britty!!! (aka Dumbblondie) Mom was sold on the school as soon as she saw elephants! (We love elephants!!!)
After checking in and getting settled at the hotel, Daddy and I spotted a Farmer's Market!!! Woot Woot!! So we grabbed a light bite there before heading out for another college session.
Best Blueberries Ever. I bought half a pint to nosh on before the info sesh and well I devoured them in .2 seconds and we returned for more later.
Confession time. I have a mild infatuation with carrots. I love me my baby 'rots to the point where the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet are tinted orange. So of course, we had to purchase these rainbow carrots (right?!). They were interesting and slightly more bitter then the baby carrots I eat from the supermarket, but still good.
I didn't get either of these but they looked so perdy I just had to snap a picture.
I picked up some white green beans. I wish I could tell you they are delicious but they were not. The beans inside are blue?! Is this normal? Please let me know...
Currents! I never had one before but wasn't going to buy a whole pint so I kindly asked to try one. They had a crunchy center that bursts with a slightly pungent juice. Interesting...
DOUGHNUT PEACHES! When I was little these were my all time favorite! I couldn't wait until the season came and I could devour these flattened peaches!
Post college tour, it was lunch time!
Lunch was at Stephanie’s on Newbury St. If you are in Boston, you must go! We ate outside on such a gorgeous day, it was perfect!
I got the Hearty Vegetable Sandwich. It had grilled sweet potatoes, cucumbers, roasted red peppers and was spread with hummus and avocado on a delicious rye. It had cheese but I nixed that. So goood!!!!!! I loved the grilled sweet potatoes and the bread was the perfect match! Daddy got the White Clam Pizza—didn’t look like anything special.
After a family hand washing, my mom and sister bought me a gift! A special soap that is great for people who cook a lot because the mild salt crystals rid your hands of yucky smells. I am so excited to chop up some onions and wash my hands! Is that weird?
Another stop on Newbury was at Hotel Chocolate. I wasn’t really supposed to take pictures but they didn’t ask me to stop until I was basically done, so you get to see it! Yay!! They are based in the UK and we heard about them through family friends that live in the UK. The best part: They walked around with little samples of the milk chocolate for customers to try! I even loved it, and I am so not a chocolate connoisseur!
We stocked up on a variety of chocolates: Vanilla (how interesting!!! I am so excited to try it in my blueberry white chocolate biscotti...) and Hazelnut for daddy (70%, that's a dark chocolate flavor!)
They had such unusual chocolate products!!! Some of my favorites were the chocolate pasta, chocolate and truffle tapenade and Liquid Chocolate (HOT AND SPICY?! SO COOL!!) I didn't try any of them but they sounded so interesting! I mean chocolate and pasta?! Spicy chocolate special for liquid creations?! (soup, hot chocolate, etc.) and tapenade? Isn't that what usually goes on a sandwich?!
We purchased a few of the PURIST bars to chop into some cookies or line a tart shell....
We purchased a few of the PURIST bars to chop into some cookies or line a tart shell....
Then we got on the road to head home. We debated about walking around Quincey Market but it’s a LOOOONG drive home (and we wanted to stop for some pizza in Connecticut).
The pizza peel is so long, it is attached to the ceiling!!!! Oh, and I love kitchens you can see, this one is located right on in the front.
Far left in the back is the chicken. Best Chicken Pizza! It isn't fried chicken, It's a grilled, flaky and delicious chicken! The front pizza on the left is the Vegetable Special Brittney ordered (yummy!!) and the photo on the right is my tomato and onion pizza. Except it has Parmesan on it by mistake...so the nice waiter had them make me another one... Parmesan makes me nauseous :/ (Lactose Problem since I was a baby)
Left is the large White Clam pie and the right is my new pizza, which we ended up bringing most of it home, it was SO good with dinner Sunday night!!!
Dessert? The nice people behind us on line told us that we HAD to have the Lemon Ice next door. Lemon ice is my all-time favorite dessert. Believe it or not, I was never a cake or ice cream person. Birthdays were cookie cakes ONLY and summer time treats were lemon ices.
SUCH A GOOD LEMON ICE! Like seriously, yum!!
I loved Boston and spending time with my family. I can't wait to return sometime soon! Hopefully I will be back soon with either a recipe OR my fantabulous dinner at POST 390!
CookTeen
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