Date Night in the Suburbs

Last Friday night we decided to go out for a date night. But we didn’t have tickets for any events, no movies looked good, and bowling is a little far. The hubby came up with the idea to do a progressive dinner – appetizers at one restaurant and dinner at another. It sounded like a great idea! We live out in the suburbs (Framingham/Natick area), so there are plenty of restaurants from which to choose. After some brainstorming, we headed over to the Natick Collection (i.e. Mall) for what I will dub the inaugural Mall Crawl. As you start the holiday shopping season this would be a fun way to take a break from your shopping lists!

I took all the photos with my iPhone, which is not ideal for dim lighting. 

Our first stop was at Sel De La Terre. We snagged the last two seats at the bar and settled in for our appetizer course. We started here because they offer a great $1 bar menu every night. Not only are the bar bites delicious, you can try them all without breaking the bank. The hubby ordered a ginger ale on the rocks and got a glass of Grenache while we decided what to eat. We chose the tuna tiradito, mushroom arancini, soup shooters and a cheese plate (not part of the $1 menu). The tuna slices were perfectly seared with a lime and pineapple vinaigrette. We ordered two orders of arancini and got four perfectly crisped pieces. The inside was filled with the creamy mushroom risotto that I love to order off the main menu. We choose the pumpkin pear bisque for our soup shooters. The creamy, smooth soup was served in perfectly sized espresso mugs. The cheese plate ($9) contained an assortment of goodies. Accompanying the blue cheese, semi-soft sheep’s milk cheese, and soft brie cheese were pear slices, grapes, figs, quince paste, honey and three slices of fresh bread. Each bite was delicious and we wiped the plate clean. After we polished off all of the dishes we paid our tab and headed out for the next stop in our adventure. I didn’t get any pictures of our delicious food – the mood wasn’t right for photos.

We walked over to the Met Bar and Grill, but decided that their dessert menu sounded more appealing than splitting a burger. We continued down the corridor to the next stop. The next restaurant we encountered was PF Chang’s. We spotted two open seats at the bar and sat down next to other suburbanites enjoying a night out. To go along with the restaurant theme I ordered an Asian Pear Mojito (Bacardi Limon and fresh mint with a hint of pear).  We did what everyone does when in PF Chang’s; we ordered the obligatory chicken lettuce wraps.

While we waited we debated how many heads of lettuce they go through in a given night and looked around at the crowd. And it was fantastic. We spotted teens dressed up in ridiculous outfits, college kids out for drinks, and families with overtired children just trying to get through their meals. The teenage outfits were the best. At one point, 15 teenage girls paraded out in mini mini-skirts, super high heels and tight tops. As they passed the bar, everyone swiveled in their stools and watched with a look of “how did they get out of the house wearing that?!?” The consensus of the bar was that they must have changed in the car. But really, who are you trying to impress at PF Chang’s? It made for a good laugh. After we finished up our lettuce wraps we headed back out to the Met Bar and Grill for dessert.

By the time we got back to Met Bar the place had almost entirely cleared out (it was about 9:45). We had our choice of spots at the bar and plopped ourselves down into two very well padded leather bar chairs (most comfortable of the night!). After reviewing the menu the hubby decided on pumpkin cheesecake with candied cranberries, spiced pecans, and maple cookies. I ordered up a Met Mocha shake, liquored up. The bartender blended up chocolate ice cream, caramel sauce, espresso, and espresso vodka and dusted the rim in espresso grinds before serving. It was more liquid than the milkshake texture I was expecting but it was still delicious. I wish I had ordered a side of salty fries to go with it (I always loved ordering fries with Frosty’s at Wendy’s).

As we finished up our dessert we discussed the sit-down restaurants that didn’t make the cut for our first mall crawl. Next time we’ll think about how to incorporate these places into the mix – Cheesecake Factory, Nordstrom Bistro, California Pizza Kitchen, and Friendly’s. Well, maybe not Friendly’s….

We had a great time, spent about the same as if we’d done dinner in one place. We parked in the garage and didn’t have to worry about driving from place to place. And we got to do some fabulous people watching. Another bonus was that the Celtics game was on at every bar. So next time you are stuck with no ideas about what to do and where to eat, don’t forget about the mall! It’s more than just Auntie Anne’s, Panda Express, and Sbarro!

Local Luxury Dinner Party Leftovers: Breakfast Ideas

This is the sixth post in the Local Luxury Dinner Party series, and the first in the Local Luxury Dinner Party Leftovers series! The dinner party was part of the Next Food Blog Star competition hosted by Foodbuzz. While I didn't advance in the competition, the party was still fabulous! After dinner, I had a refrigerator full of leftovers and this series covers the creation of new and delicious dishes made with the leftovers.

Hosting a delicious dinner party means a refrigerator of tasty leftovers! It would be easy to recreate the same meal a few more times, but it’s more fun to transform the leftovers into creative new dishes. First up in the Local Luxury Dinner Party Leftovers series is breakfast. Here are three different ways that I repurposed my dinner party leftovers into delightful morning meals.

We were still stuffed the morning after the party and decided to have light breakfast. We topped toasted slices of the Italian sesame bread with leftover ricotta and a generous drizzle of the Herb Lyceum’s lavender honey. The cheese and honey melted into the warm toasty bread. With a freshly brewed cup of coffee this was a creamy and satisfying breakfast treat.

For the second breakfast we were craving something heartier. We settled on a homemade version of the two-egg breakfast plate. I heated up oil in a non-stick skillet while I diced up some of the leftover roasted potatoes. I let them crisp in the pan for 10-15 minutes while prepared the eggs. In a second skillet I warmed up diced leftover heirloom tomatoes before pouring in a few lightly beaten eggs. Just before the eggs were cooked through I stirred in a heaping spoonful of ricotta. We enjoyed our crispy potatoes and creamy eggs with some more toasted Italian sesame bread. As you can tell from most of my posts - it’s not a meal without bread! We washed this all down with coffee and a glass of grapefruit juice.

For our third leftover breakfast we went gourmet! The remaining ingredient in the fridge was the ravioli filling – pureed red kuri squash mixed with a little fresh ricotta. When we had leftover mashed potatoes after making pierogies, I turned them into mashed potato cakes that we topped with poached eggs. If it worked with mashed potatoes, I figured that it would be equally delicious with pureed squash! I formed the squash into patties and then coated them with panko bread crumbs. I fried them in olive oil in a small skillet until they were golden brown on both sides and warmed through. To top the patties I added over easy eggs and a sprinkling of scallions to contrast the sweet squash flavor. The runny yolk contrasted with the crisp exterior of the squash patty for a luxurious breakfast!

The next time you are staring down a fridge full of leftovers, challenge yourself to create something new! Next up in the Local Luxury Dinner Party Leftovers Series: Lunch two ways!

Leftover Potato Hash browns
2 servings of cooked leftover garlic roasted potatoes, diced into half inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat
Add potatoes and cook approximately 5-7 minutes, then flip and cook an additional 5-7 minutes until crispy and golden brown on both sides
Season with salt and pepper and serve hot

Red Kuri Squash Patties
Use ½ cup pureed squash for each patty
Coat each patty with panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat
Cook squash patties 3-5 minutes per side, until browned and cooked through
They may not stay together perfectly, but they will still taste delicious
Top with over easy or poached eggs
Garnish with scallions, or parsley (or any leftover herb in the fridge)

Local Luxury Dinner Party: Dessert

This is the fifth post in the Local Luxury Dinner Party series. The party was part of the Next Food Blog Star competition hosted by Foodbuzz. While I didn't advance in the competition, the party was still fabulous!

We’ve made it through the prep and three courses! The last course of the luxury evening is dessert. Coming up with a dessert dish was a challenge. I put out a call on Twitter for luxury dessert ideas and the first wave of responses were for chocolate desserts. The hubby isn’t a chocolate eater, so I asked for non-chocolate suggestions. The next set of ideas was cream based desserts. One of the restrictions for the party was nothing heavy on the cream. Back to the drawing board! I started thinking about ingredients that would fit the Italian theme and figs came to mind.

But what to make with figs? I had just made a fig and cinnamon jam, so I needed something new and different. I went to my cookbook shelf and pulled out a few favorites to look for inspiration. The first one I looked at was Kosher by Design, picture perfect food for the holidays and every day. On the cover is a beautiful pear torte. After scanning the book for fig recipes without any luck, I decided that I could swap figs for the pears and would have a perfect dessert!

To make dessert even more luxurious, I decided to make each guest an individual torte. When we registered for wedding gifts about 6.5 years ago (wow…time flies!) I excitedly added four mini-springform pans to the list. The hubby couldn’t understand why I needed the minis and the big ones. I tried to explain that mini-desserts are more fun, but he just shook his head and told me that they would probably end up in the basement with the salad spinner. He was right about the salad spinner…But the mini-springform pans are great!

I pulled out the four pans the night before the party and prepared the recipe. I love this cookbook because the recipes are easy to follow and always produce delicious results. I would highly recommend adding this book to your cookbook library.  I used this recipe as printed and substituted fresh sliced figs for the pears. The four pans are equal to one large pan, so I divided the dough into four equal amounts and pressed it into the individual pans. For the topping I thinly sliced the figs and pressed them into the dough.

The tortes baked while I prepared the other make-ahead dishes. I wrapped them tightly and set them aside until it was time for dessert the next day. In order to make a little room in our stomachs for dessert we took a board game break. After a strategy-filled game of San Juan I popped the tortes into the oven to warm for 10 minutes. While the tortes warmed I fired up the Nespresso machine and made everyone a fresh brewed espresso.

When I first started tweeting and blogging I entered a contest at The Hungry Mouse and was lucky enough to win the Nespresso. It was my first prize – and it comes in really handy for parties! Look how happy it makes the hubby!

After polishing off our dessert and espresso it was time to send our guests home, it was a school night after all. Since everyone said it wasn’t a luxury party without chocolate I sent Eric and Jen home with a chocolate truffle of their choice. I had a blast planning and cooking the party and it was great to see satisfied guests at the end of the night.

An important part of a successful party is having a hubby who is nice enough to do the dishes! We all cleaned our plates so he didn’t have too much scrubbing to do. Because most of the heavy duty cooking had been done the night before there were only dinner dishes and serving pieces. Thanks hubby!

The dinner might be over, but the series isn’t over yet! We put the leftovers to use for breakfasts, lunches, and more.

Fresh Fig Torte
Adapted from Kosher by Design by Susie Fishbein
Makes 4 individual tortes


1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
4-6 fresh figs, stemmed removed and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
Ground Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spray non-stick cooking spray in four mini-springform pans (or a 9- or 10-inch springform pan)
In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar
Add vanilla, eggs, flour, salt, and baking powder and mix until combined
Divide the dough into four even portions
Press the dough evenly into the prepared pans
Arrange the fig slices on top of the dough and press gently into the dough
Sprinkle each torte with sugar and cinnamon
Bake uncovered until golden brown, about 45 minutes (up to 1 hour for a large pan)