Becky's photoblog

We got rhododendrons for mom for mother’s day because we used to have them in our front yard. Gorgeous day!

Duck risotto with asparagus, because my baby loves me.

We didn’t know it at the time, but last year was our last Passover in the house I grew up in. After 26 years of two consecutive nights of Passover seders in our dining room in the old house, we made our old traditions brand new again in my parents’ new dining room in the new house. Quite predictably, it was strangely new and yet utterly familiar.

On Monday (the day of the first seder), I took the day off so that we could spend the day helping mom. We let the breeze in because it was absolutely gorgeous out, and the bright sunshine made our platters look lovely!

As always, we sat down to a delicious meal with family and friends, some who had joined us before and some for the first time, and we retold the familiar story of freedom.

Check out my other posts tagged ‘Passover‘

After a long day of playing games, we headed over to the South End for an early dinner at the Gaslight Brasserie (in the Summer of 2009, we became very familiar with the Gaslight, and their bathroom, since it’s right next to the SOWA Open Market).

We were pleasantly surprised to learn that they have an awesome prix fixe menu before 6:30pm, and also that they were willing to take a four-year old gift certificate, so we had a great meal!

I gave a tour of the Gardner Museum to Courtney and a few of her friends who were in town for the weekend – I love meeting my friends’ friends because they are always, without fail, awesome people!

And, we got to see this year’s hanging nasturtiums in the courtyard … and they are truly gorgeous this year!

We kept hearing that Frozen was supposed to be really good, and ‘Let it Go’ had been stuck in both of our heads for a while, so we decided to host a movie night after it came out on DVD this week. Mel offered to make dinner, and she loves cooking on a theme. For our ‘Frozen’ movie night, she made chili (get it?!), cornbread, frozen margaritas and a dessert that was intended to have icing (!) but ended up with whipped cream instead. Thanks Mel, for an amazing meal, and thanks Disney for being really awesome for a really long time.

We finally got around to using one of the gift cards that we received as a wedding gift (yes, I know our wedding was two years ago). Family friends gave us a gift certificate to Maine Lobster Direct — a great idea in theory, but we were both slightly terrified of the idea of cooking lobsters (it’s a bit brutal), so we had them sent to my parents’ house. Two lobsters, and two servings of jumbo shrimp, clam chowder and cherry cheesecake were delivered to my parents’ house, and the four of us enjoyed a long delicious meal after a long week. Mom made extra portions of clam chowder, plus steamed mussels, and steaks to round out our feast.

Out of respect for those who are thoroughly grossed out by the sight of a bowl full of mussels or lobsters shells, I won’t share a few of the photos I took. Instead, here’s a lovely photo of the tulips in my parents’ dining room.

I may be a bit of a tech junkie, but I also LOVE low-tech solutions. I found this cool little ravioli cutter that works just like a pizza cutter (not exactly earth-shattering, but I had never see this before). This works SO MUCH better than cutting the ravioli with a straight knife then crimping the edges with a fork. Also, my garlic and pepper seasoned pasta rolled out into sheets that weren’t quite wide enough for two rows of square ravioli, so I made triangle ravioli. Stuffed with butternut squash, of course. Delicious!

Thanks for Mo and Rachel for getting a couple of us together for a delicious brunch, play time with the puppy, and a new puzzle! A perfect Sunday.

We love it when our friends invite us over and cook for us … and it happened twice this weekend, because we are super-spoiled!

We cranked out fresh pasta, and made two different sauces: pesto with roasted chopped pine nuts, and braised short rib sauce with fresh parsley. Delicious!

I know I take a lot of pictures of the Gardner Museum’s greenhouse … and here’s some more! One of the gardeners saw me taking pictures (and he saw my badge), so he offered to let me in to the greenhouse for a closer look. What a treat!

The Gardner Museum’s new wing is now two years old, and after two years of encouraging guests to take photos in the new wing (because that’s the only area of the museum where photography is permitted), I finally got around to taking my own photos! The morning light was absolutely gorgeous, especially with all of the light reflecting off of the snow.

The new wing starts with the front entry hall and the admissions desk. Beyond that is greenhouse which guests can view from a long corridor. Across from the front hall is the coat check and the gift shop, and then beyond that is the main staircase. To the right of the main stairs is the Living Room, to the left is the cafe and the art studio, and between the stairs is the corridor that leads you to Mrs. Gardner’s spectacular museum.

Our dear friend Becky is saying good-bye to Boston, and embarking on an adventure around the world. We hosted a send-off so that we could get a bunch of people together, and we spent a perfectly pleasant Sunday afternoon hanging out and snacking. Mel did it again with her delicious snacks … vanilla dipped strawberries and apricots, two different kinds of cheese dips and raspberry pie!

I just realized that I forgot to actually take any photos of our guest of honor because we were all distracted by the adorable toddler who provided the entertainment for the afternoon by repeatedly taking a running jump into the arms of any adult who would lift him up and turn him upside down  🙂

My sweetie knows that I love orange roses.

When friends need a hand, you can count on us to be there for them, even when it’s a lot to ask. We did our duty today, and headed up to Frederick’s Pastries in North Andover to taste-test several delicious cakes, fillings and icings to help our friends pick out their wedding cake. It was a rough afternoon, but did what had to be done. 🙂

Four of us devoured two of these at Blue Dragon. It’s a big melty chocolate chip cookie topped with ice cream and caramel sauce. Delicious!

I asked Brian to pick up some flowers for the baby shower to go with the purple and green color scheme, and he did a great job (they look blue in this shot, but trust me, they’re purplish). These gorgeous flowers look amazing in the light.

Brian’s parents have a popular bird feeder, and the birds put on a little show for us while we are our breakfast. My favorites are the cardinals and the blue jays because I love the colors.

I love the little story that goes with a family’s Christmas tree ornaments, and Brian’s family has many lovely ornaments. Here’s a few of the photogenic ones.

Please click here for more photos from Thanksgiving and Hanukah

My sweetie got me roses 🙂

First attempt at making ravioli, and it went pretty well!

Fall is here and I’m working on perfecting my butternut squash risotto. Nailed it!

I love giving tours of the Gardner Museum to people who have never been before, and this week, I got to do that twice!

Our cousins were passing through Boston on their vacation, and they came to Third Thursdays at the Gardner while I was volunteering. The joint was jumping by the time they got there, and I gave them a whirlwind tour of the whole museum before heading out for a late dinner. It was so great to see them!

I love it when friends have family in town, and they ask me to give their family a tour of the Gardner Museum. I’ve done this a gajillion times, and each time, it’s such a treat to show the museum to a group that has never been before, and to see the museum fresh through their eyes.

Here’s yet another photo of the flowers in the Gardner Museum’s greenhouse: