From the category archives:

Boston

Blog Better Boston 2012

by agirlandhermutt on March 26, 2012

Is it possible for your brain to be at full capacity? How about the blogging quadrant of your brain? If so, then I.am.there. After an amazing weekend at the Food Blog Forum in Orlando and then a day at Blog Better Boston this past Saturday I am completely on overload. Of course in a good way.

When I first registered for Blog Better Boston a few months ago I wasn’t really expecting much. It was a first time event put on by Alana from The Good Girl Gone Blog and Amy of Stylish Year. I figured that it would be an opportunity to meet some other local bloggers and do a little networking. Obviously this first year event would be the time to just work out the kinks for future events, right?

Uh. No. I was wrong. Sorry ladies! Not only way the event well organized, but it was also well attended (over 130 bloggers), held in a great location (google offices FTW!), and had some really interested sessions. Plus, there was a pretty sweet swag bag. Color me impressed organizers and sponsors!

Here are a few of the highlights from the day…

DIY Tote Bag Station. We were given a tote bag to carry around all of the goodies we were given throughout the day and then we were allowed to decorate them. My inner girl scout was super excited and went to town decorating. Unfortunately my creative brain wasn’t so great when the ideas hit the canvas. Still fun though!

Food Photography Session with Kristin Teig. She had a great handout with local resources and set up a little photo op so we could practice with whatever camera we had, including iPhones.

Lunch provided by Au Bon Pain. They had great sandwiches and these amazing macaroons. I would have taken two but didn’t want to look greedy…and people were watching.

Chatting with the Boston Brunchers. I have attended a few events with this group of bloggers and I’ve enjoyed them all. Its nice to see friendly and familiar faces in a sea of new people.

This conference wasn’t geared towards any particular type of blogger so it was nice to mingle with a few varieties. Apparently Boston has a TON of fashion bloggers who are extremely stylish. I would have rethought the Sperrys if I had known. Eh, who am I kidding. No I wouldn’t have. We all have to stick with what we do best, right!?

The overall theme from the speakers for the day was to find what you do and keep practicing at it till you do it best. I know that isn’t really breaking news, but it is constantly good to be reminded of that in all aspects of your life, including blogging!

Big thanks to Blog Better Boston, sponsors and speakers for a wonderful day, new blends (blogger friends), and tons of great info! I’m really hoping this becomes a yearly event!

PS. If you are a local Boston blogger and weren’t able to attend #BBBos, no worries. There is a Boston Bloggers Meet & Greet happening April 4th. Hope to see you there!

Have a great Monday! Check back tomorrow for a quick and tasty snack recipe!

Are you a good small talker? Can you chat with any stranger or do you have a hard time getting the conversation going?

{ 11 comments }

Lunch & Chat: Ducali Pizzeria & Bar with Crescent Dragonwagon

by agirlandhermutt on February 24, 2012

Last Sunday I had an awesome opportunity to stuff myself silly with pizza while chatting with Crescent Dragonwagon, a James Beard award winning author, and several other Boston Bloggers.

Our lunch spot was Ducali Pizzeria and Bar located in the North End.

Ducali is the name of a soccer team in Parma, Italy with team colors of yellow and blue. There were clever uses of this color scheme throughout the cozy sunlit dining room.

I’m a huge fan of exposed brick in restaurants. It just screams “be comfortable and feel at home here!” for some reason. Either that or it reminds me of living in a loft, which is one of my lifelong dreams.

Crescent was in town promoting her new cookbook, Bean by Bean. She is the author of 50 published books, including Passionate Vegetarian, which was a fantastic resource for me when I was first really learning how to cook vegetarian meals that didn’t include just pasta or a sandwich.

Our lunch included a lovely mixture of apps and pizzas. I love having more than one dish to try. It lets you get to know a restaurant and what they are all about so much more than one dish can.

Carciofi- grilled artichoke served with homemade garlic aioli. I’m a sucker for artichokes so I really enjoyed these.

The aioli was a bit too rich for me, but everyone around me was a fan. In general I don’t care for aioli very often which is strange given that it is comprised of things I love…oil, garlic, and eggs. Maybe it is the texture? It reminds me a lot of mayo. *shudder*

Capprino E Bacca- baby spinach with goat cheese and dried cranberries. I love a big ol’ plate of greens, but this was missing some sort of dressing. I love the combo of goat cheese and cranberries, but without dressing or more of those toppings this salad felt a bit naked to me.

PIZZA TIME! While the apps didn’t totally knock me off my chair, the pizzas were delish. Chewy crust with just a touch of crispy and wonderfully fresh toppings.

Melanzane E Zucchini- grilled eggplant, mushroom, zucchini and
mozzarella topped with fresh goat cheese. This was my favorite of the whole day. I LOVED the veggie combo and the goat cheese was the perfect rich robust flavor that melded everything together perfectly.

Originally I tried to slice my piece in half so I could delicately nosh on a small piece. I took one bite though and snatched the other half.

Rugola -mozzarella topped with arugula, drizzled with truffle oil and topped with shaved Parmiggiano Reggiano. Want to make anything taste better than you thought possible? Add truffle oil. The spiciness and bite of the arugula with the smoothness of the oil paired perfectly with HUGE chunks of savory parm cheese.

I totally caught a few people dipping in just for a few nips of arugula with parm. Sneaky!

There was one other spinach pizza, but I wasn’t able to snag a photo of it. Coincidence..it wasn’t my favorite. Good, but not as good as the other two. Possibly I was spinached out?

Ducali is a perfect North End destination for lunch. Great cocktail menu, beers on tap, and plenty of other menu items to peruse.

While the food was yummy, what was really the highlight of the afternoon was listening to Crescent talk. She is a great story teller (a good quality for an author, right?) and had some wonderful tidbits about finding your voice as a writer. Her passion for her craft is intoxicating. She speaks about writing like it is an old friend. She also has a passion for the subject of her books and let us all in the process it took for Bean by Bean to come to press.

Crescent was kind enough to sign our copies of the cookbook, but it wasn’t just a typical “Best Wishes!” signature. These suckers are works of art all on their own!

Big thanks to Boston Brunchers for organizing and to Crescent Dragonwagon for providing some wonderful inspiration on a Sunday afternoon. And another huge thanks to Ducali for a great lunch and some wonderful leftovers!

*Just a Note: Lunch was provided to me free of charge by Ducali. As always, all opinions are all my own!*

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

{ 10 comments }

Yelp Elite Night Out: Storyville

by agirlandhermutt on November 10, 2011

My loud mouth and strong opinions have gotten me in trouble over the years. However, it also has gotten me into some really fun events. Thanks to the folks at Yelp.com, as an “Elite” Yelper I get the opportunity to attend some fun events around town every now and then.

We all know what that means, right? FREE FOOD AND BOOZE!

Over the past few years I have attended a wedding, an early morning movie/bbq/beerfest, a chocolate factory tour, and other various events. Always interesting and always entertaining.

Last night Yelp was invited to the Halloween Hangover event at Storyville (formerly Saint), a night club in Back Bay. This club is advertised as having a speakeasy feel and pays homage to New Orleans’ Red Light District with its red lights, smooth couches, and seductive feel. They also boast of their “extensive dining menu of small plates” and “classic and craft cocktails”.

When we arrived (we=Megan & I), we were greeted by a flurry of Yelpers. We checked in and got our super cool name tags.

Side note: When I signed up for Yelp.com I didn’t want to use my actual last name on the site so I used a random initial. Now when I check in I always forget that I’m listed as Erin C. and this provides everyone about 5 minutes of frantic list checking for me under my real last name until I remember. Me=Jerk.

While I can agree that this new joint has a smooth feel, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a “speakeasy” except that it was downstairs. It had a cool club feel and there was some mood setting red lights happening though. I also wouldn’t have necessarily realized that there was a tie to New Orleans if I hadn’t noticed the big ol’ fleur de lys on the ceiling when I walked in. Apparently I am not nearly observant as I thought I was because after looking at pictures I realized they have them all over the place.

I think it is extremely hard to give a theme or vibe at a club when it is so dark. Is sweaty and random gropers a theme?! Most clubs I have been to have that theme. I liked the feeling though and I appreciated the cool seating and bar area.

[source]

Once we started arriving the bartenders became totally overwhelmed. They had a drink o’ the night called The Winter Warmer, which was a punch of sorts, but they QUICKLY ran out of this. I’m always surprised when places that invite a huge group in for free drinks aren’t really prepared for them. But to totally give credit to Storyville and their EXTREMEMLY friendly bartenders, they started serving up whatever anyone wanted and nothing seemed to be off limits. Nice work bartenders! They were quick, they were talented, and they were friendly all at the same time. Honestly, this is kind of a rare trio of traits when it comes to Boston bartenders.

There was quite a bit of small bites floating around, but the Yelpers are a quick bunch and I only got a chance to try a few. The bites were all tasty, but probably not the reason I would visit Storyville. Drinks are the way to go here.

*All photos with Yelp logo are from the photographer Tatsu. Amazing work!*

The DJ was cranking out some good beats and the drinks were more than satisfactory. I could see myself stopping by on another night.

If you are looking for a Saturday night out in Boston, grab a bite to eat around the area and then hop over to Storyville for a drink(s) and a little booty dancing.

clip_image00161_thumb1_thumb[1]