Gluten Free: Boston

I could just cry.  I had my whole post pretty much finished (a month ago) and somehow in moving to another tab and back again, hit something crazy and deleted the whole damn thing.   And the autosave function so helpfully instantly saved it as a blank page.  *sigh* starting over...  a month later

Cuchi Cuchi
795 Main Street
Cambridge, MA
Cuchi Cuchi is one of the most fun restaurants I've been to.  They have great decor and the waitstaff dresses up in a Moulin Rouge type theme.  (There is a costume room in back, we had to ask our waitress where their outfits came from!)  Rarely does a restaurant have a theme and costumed waitstaff AND fantastic food all in one, but Cuchi Cuchi does it all.  The drink menu has one fun named drink after another and since it was a girl's night out with a group of friends, I think we must have tried them all!  The menu is a variety of small plates (the menu points out that it's not tapas which are Spanish)  and there is a special gluten free menu.  I tried the seafood avocado, ceviche, gratin dauphinois, and berries with fruit kissel and cream.  Everything was amazing.

Seafood Filled Avocado at Cuchi Cuchi

Scallop Ceviche Shot at Cuchi Cuchi

Joe's American Grill
181 Newbury St
Boston, MA
I liked Joe's so much that I ate here three times!  There is a special gluten free menu so ordering was a breeze.  The gluten free pizza was really good, good enough that I got it twice : )  The third visit, I decided to roll the dice and get the lobster mac&cheese with the gluten free noodles.  The waiter told me that it might be a little soupy since they would have to leave off the breadcrumbs that usually soak up some of the sauce - I was not to be deterred and ordered it anyway.  The gluten free lobster mac&cheese was pretty good and I did enjoy it, but the waiter was definitely correct about the soupy-ness.

Gluten Free Margherita Pizza at Joe's

Gluten Free Lobster Mac&Cheese at Joe's

Jacob Wirth
31 Stuart Street
Boston, MA
You can't argue with a historic pub restaurant that offers $1 Root Beer Floats - especially when they also have a special gluten free menu.  I enjoyed the potato pancakes with roasted apples and cinnamon cream.  Jacob Wirth's is also special because it's located in one of the only remaining Victorian bow front row houses in that area of downtown.  It's been in the same location since 1878.

Potato Pancake with Roasted Apples at Jacob Wirth

Finale

1 Columbus Ave

Boston, MA

Finale is an uppity dessert bar adjacent to Boston's Park Plaza hotel off of the Commons, but has amazing desserts (most of which aren't gluten free).  But - they do offer a gluten free menu.  I enjoyed the cheesecake with berries and a flight of hot chocolates!

flight of hot chocolates at Finale

gluten free cheesecake at Finale

Nebo Italian Restaurant

90 N. Washington

Boston, MA

Nebo is a completely delicious Italian restaurant on the edge of Boston's famed North End.  They even won a throwdown with Bobby Flay - though the reason I picked it was the extensive gluten free menu.  They offer a special gluten free menu and everything we got was amazing.  There were so many appetizers on the gluten free menu, so we ordered two:  the mascarpone polenta with wild mushroom ragu and burrata with proscuitto and a balsamic fig glaze.  For dinner, I had the gluten free pasta bolognese.  There was barely room for dessert, but we managed to enjoy a couple of slices of the dessert pizza with chocolate, nutella, and hazelnuts.  We also ordered the flight of bellinis (strawberry, raspberry, mango and peach), which was completely amazing but my picture is awful (and yes, I took it before drinking the bellinis!) so I'm putting up the picture from their website because it's so beautiful.

bellini flight!!!

what survived of the gluten free dessert pizza at Nebo

Montien Thai

63 Stuart St
Boston, MA
Possibly the best Thai food I've had.  Rumor has it that visiting dignitaries from Thailand eat here when they come to Boston, and I believe it.

B.Good
locations around the greater Boston Area
Any burger place that offers gluten free hamburger buns is ok by me (especially if they have a big sign advertising it!)... and the ones at B. Good were fantastically soft and had a great texture.  The milkshake and fries were tasty as well.

Ufood Grill
locations around Boston
I liked the idea of a place serving healthy fast food, but it turns out that they didn't have a whole lot of gluten free options and what they had, I wasn't really into - though I applaud them for noting which are gluten free right on the menu (like all restaurants ought to!).

Kickass Cupcakes
378 Highland Ave
Somerville, MA
This is one of my favorite cupcake shops and I was so glad to see that it's still around (and expanded even) since the last time I was in Boston.  The cupcakes are so nice looking that last time we were there, my husband even accidentally ordered one that was meant for dogs (don't worry, the clerk then told him he probably meant to pick a people flavor) - the dog ones are on the bottom shelf and he's pretty tall so he couldn't see the sign.

Tasti D Lite
Newbury St
Boston, MA
An import from NYC, Tasti D Lite is soft serve ice cream and pretty tasty.  The allure is mainly that they have around 100 rotating flavors and it's a different selection every day (therefore making it fun!).  We ate a fair amount of Tasti D Lite during our three weeks in New York a year ago August... but it wasn't until we were in line this time behind some savvy Boston regulars that we learned you can get them to mix up a personal batch of ANY of their flavors for you for around $1 extra.  So you can have orange creamsicle every day!

Farther Afield:


Alice's Diner
Fall River, MA
I didn't get to go here because of their hours on Monday, but I'm including it because it's quite a find.  The gluten free menu is out of this world and if everything tastes as good as it ought to, it would be worth a visit!  Gluten free offerings include:  belgian waffle, pancake, french toast, crepes, fried chicken, fried seafood, sandwiches, and onion rings.

O'Brien's Pub
Newport, RI
We took a day trip down to Newport, RI to check out the mansions (a couple of which had ballrooms as large as our entire house no joke) and found this place for dinner.  The weather was great, so we ate outside on the really large patio.  People had their dogs along for drinks/dinner and it was fun to watch them.  The dog behind us is clearly into our food!  Moments later, she jerked so hard on her leash that the owner's chair (with the lady in it) fell over sideways.  Note to self:  don't tie your large dog's leash to your plastic chair).  O'Brien's had limited gluten free offerings, but most importantly, they were labelled and in a section of their own, and I will take good menu labeling over lots of top secret gluten free options that you have to ask a waiter about any day..  The pizza was fantastic!!!

Gluten Free pizza at O'Brien's

Gluten Free: Hartford

Tracking down gluten free foods has become a real focus for me when I travel.  I have found other people's blogs so helpful that I finally decided I ought to make a record of my gluten free travel experience to share with others!

I was in Hartford for a week and found a few great gluten free places.  I forgot to take pictures of my delicious food though : (

Max Burger
124 LaSalle Rd
West Hartford, CT
I love anywhere that offers a gluten free bun because it's still a huge luxury to me.  The burger was delicious!  Max Burger has all natural burgers and a kind of upscale burger joint feel.  It's in the "Main Street" area of West Hartford and there are lots of shops and other restaurants around.  Two thumbs up!  Max Burger is one of several restaurants that are owned by the Max Restaurant Group and they all had gluten free menus.

Agave Grill
100 Allyn St
Hartford, CT
There wasn't a specific gluten free menu, but Mexican restaurants are usually pretty easy for accommodating a gluten free person.  I loved the tableside guacamole making, and my tacos were tasty.

The Market at Hartford 21
230 Asylum St
Hartford, CT
This is a wonderful little grocery store right downtown.  They've got the basics, gourmet items, and most importantly, some gluten free things!  They even had little gf frozen pizzas.

Dee's One Smart Cookie
398 Hebron Avenue
Glastonbury, CT
Absolutely worth the drive!!  Our waiter at MaxBurger told us that Dee's is where their gf hamburger buns came from.  Naturally, I had to go check it out!  She has all manner of gluten free goodies... cookies, cakes, bread, pastries, etc.   I got hamburger buns and hot dog buns to take home and freeze (and months later they're still tasty!).  This pink house is next to Dee's and is a great landmark (we drove right past Dee's shop and turned around here)

Catching Up: Chicago

My two week trip to Chicago (back at the beginning of August) was absolutely fantastic.  I really like Chicago because it's easy to get around in, both by walking and public transit.  Both times I've been, we were lucky enough to be staying in the loop area.  One of my favorite things is that there's a chocolate factory just across the river, so sometimes the city smells like chocolate - it's magical!

Over the two weeks, I did a lot of the architectural walking tours.  I love the buildings so much that I realized I needed to make a separate post about them.  We did a great riverboat cruise, ate lots of good food, and played Whirly Ball twice.  Whirly Ball is fun mix of bumper cars, basketball, and lacrosse.  We also made it out to the Frank Lloyd Wright house and studio and did the neighborhood walking tour.  

a park in Printer's Row

view from one of the many bridges

Oz Park

Oz Park

Oz Park

The Bean!  (officially named Cloud Gate)

a rare view of bird prints in concrete

Whirly Ball!  

The Aragon Ballroom is the coolest music venue ever.

The comforts of home : )

I feel like staying in a decent hotel is like getting a big hug, it's relaxing and serene and quiet and the stress of day to day life isn't around - but I'm glad to be home and have a kitchen and the pets around and do laundry whenever I like!

I have a sneaking suspicion that somehow I've turned into a high maintenance traveler.  It's a big deal for me because I used to pride myself on packing light.  Six years ago, I took a month long trip to Australia and New Zealand with only a school backpack and a messenger bag.  In college, my friend and I were quite pleased with ourselves for packing only a small rollerbag and carryon for our three week trip to London in the middle of winter, while some of our classmates had brought suitcases that were taller than they were!

I came to this realization while packing to leave Boston as I was placing a duvet cover and set of clothes hangers into my luggage.  Why was I packing up clothes hangers and a duvet cover, you might ask?

I like the idea of triple sheeting, but in practice, it annoys the #$%@ out of me!  I love down comforters and will always choose to stay at a hotel with those instead of the polyester coverlets given an option... but the sheets inevitably slip around and expose the comforter and it makes a big mess to fix when you make the bed in the morning.  I just don't want to have anything on a hotel bed touching me that I know for sure couldn't have been washed between guests.  After my first week, I decided that I would just scope out the duvet cover options at TJ Maxx... lo and behold, there was a yellow one for $30!  I was sold (with 3.5 weeks left, I thought it was worth $10 a week!)  It was so worth it.  Come to think of it, this wasn't my first offense with hotel bedding purchasing.  I got sheets for our two weeks in Cincinnati last year (I wish that hotels would use fitted sheets so that the bed wouldn't fall apart and expose the mattress the minute you sit down!) and a pillow for our hotel in Toronto last summer (another 5 week stay and I still use that pillow at home).

Most hotels seem to have fewer than a dozen hangers and when you're in a place for 5 weeks and sharing a room, you'll probably collectively have more than 10 things to hang up (especially if you're a girl... dresses, shirts, jacket, skirt, etc.)  I ironed my shirts and dresses and then ironed my husband's shirts - and I don't play around with my ironing.  I work in wardrobe, so I'm used to getting paid good money to iron, and I have yet to find someone to pay me for ironing my own clothing!  So I headed over to my old friend TJ Maxx and bought a set of 18 of those skinny felted hangers for $10.

On a side note - even though I haven't dressed a show that involved me prepping button up shirts in a year and a half, I timed myself while ironing my husband's shirts and I can still iron a long sleeve shirt in less than 5 minutes.  I haven't lost my touch!  One of our favorite touring wardrobe heads, Mike, used to put signs up saying "If you spend more than 5 minutes on a shirt, you're not ironing it, you're making love to it."  I was always a decent ironer, but after working Jersey Boys for a month and ironing over a dozen shirts every night and even more during work calls twice a week, I really got really good.

I wouldn't go to such lengths for comfort if I traveled for just weekend trips a couple of times a year.  When I travel, it's for a good amount of time and my husband is working the whole time, so it feels more like we're living there, not vacationing.

I've been back home for a few days now, and I've been really struck with how much I like our house.  I've always liked it, but didn't realize just how glad I'd be to see it again!  I can't get over how awesome our skylights are in the kitchen and bathroom and just how BRIGHT our house is!  I'm soaking it up, not having realized how dark our hotel room in Boston was.  I'm actually enjoying the sunlight so much that I haven't stopped to notice that I'm back in the southern summer heat!  My first night back, I was also surprised by how loud the insects and critters are even when you're in the house... it only took a month to forgot what nature sounded like!

Catching Up: Hartford, CT

Conveniently, my sister's graduation weekend in VT lined up nicely with my husband's stay in Hartford, CT.  The day after graduation, I took my sister's car and headed to Connecticut.  Originally, I was going to take a leisurely and scenic train trip, but since the lake was flooded and my sister's restaurant wasn't open for the season yet, she decided to spend the week in Maine with my dad and then they would head down to Hartford for an extended family get-together on Saturday.  Naturally I already had my train ticket in hand and the night we got to Burlington, VT, my sister realized that I ought to take her car to Hartford so that she could drive it back up to VT.  How tidy!

It was perfect having a car in Hartford, because there were a lot of things outside the downtown area to do. We took a drive out to visit my cousin and her family, and I was able to get out to my uncle's house as well.  Most exciting though, was the easy trip to West Hartford and the discovery of yummy gluten free hamburger buns... and subsequently the discovery of which bakery they came from (obviously we drove out there too!)

This kooky polka dotted house was next to the gluten free bakery.  It seems to be some sort of gift shop and girly party place.

Great view from our hotel window.  It was a suites hotel and we lucked into a corner room, so we had two windows in the living room and one in the bedroom... and they all opened!

Hartford has a lot of roads in need of line re-painting... half the time I couldn't figure out if it was I was driving in one or two lanes!

Many insurance companies call Hartford home, including Traveler's Insurance who has this super cool gigantic umbrella in their plaza.

Mark Twain Statue made of legos.  Love it.

This is the carriage house at Mark Twain's home - there was a lot of interesting woodwork, I really liked the dragon in the eave

Mark Twain's house had really fancy brickwork too

Catching Up: Vermont family trip

In May, my dad and I drove up to Vermont for my sister's college graduation.  The drive itself wasn't too noteworthy, other than getting to meet my friend's brand new baby.  The time in Vermont was a whirlwind of graduation activities, minor sightseeing, and packing up my sister's room!  We had a great trip and good weather mostly.   

The drive through New York State and into Vermont was a funny mix of beautiful sunny skies and threatening clouds.

Whitehall, NY is the birthplace of the US Navy thanks to the wartime significance of defending Lake Champlain.  This is the hull of the USS Ticonderoga from 1812.  

This sign was tacked to the inside of an old covered bridge at the Shelburne Museum

You can never have enough specialty planes!  This is inside the woodworking shop at Shelburne Museum.  We certainly take our factory carved moldings and millwork for granted these days...

This Ticonderoga was a major ferry boat running the Lake Champlain routes.  Sadly, luxury ferry boats became a thing of the past and it was moved across land very slowly by a specially built railroad track to the Shelburne Museum.  It's really snazzy on board and there were 6 staterooms even though the passage was just a matter of hours.

Vermont has lots of old round barns.  This one, at the Shelburne Museum, has a great collection of carousel pieces inside.

Remember how I said the lake was flooded?  Yikes!

Loving the covered bridges!

Enjoying a relaxing moment with my parents and sisiter at 6pm on May 21st the day of the supposed apocalypse.

The whole state was covered in lilac blooms.  bliss!

Trust the University of Vermont to be so forward thinking and progressive with their water fountains!  Can we get these in all public buildings and airports please?

My favorite doorway in Burlington, VT

My sister's senior year apartment was in this house.  Remember what I said about being jealous of the college kids living in cute Victorians?  

Catching Up: Projects

It's been a month since I last posted anything... time to start catching up!  I've been to Vermont, Connecticut, back home for a couple of weeks, and now I'm midway through my monthlong stay in Boston.  With so much going on, I think I'll break it down and do a few catch up posts.

I haven't done a whole lot of projects, so I'll add in some pictures of my flowers and new garden! 

I finally finished the "wallpaper" backsplash which needed to be done after the cabinet/fridge switcharoo left that wall piece exposed.  Also up for admiration is the new shelf above the stove.

I had to replace the old shelf because it wasn't long enough to reach the cabinet we hung (remember the fridge used to be there).  It went to good use though, we cut a piece off to fill the gap between the two cabinets (you can barely see it in the first picture.  I couldn't decide how I wanted the new shelf to look, and eventually decided to roll with my inspiration to match the wooden piece I used for the dog bowl stand.  I painted the exposed wood wall behind it, and voila!  

Welcome to the ice cream parlor.  I love it!

Speaking of ice cream parlors, a friend and I were inspired to paint little pop art ice creams to hang in the kitchen above the hallway door... these two are in progress, we still have to put on the finishing touches and paint the third canvas.  Mine is the one with the blue background - I still have to add the cherry!  We had a great time painting.  The project started around 11pm and while I swear no alcohol or drugs were involved, we ate tacos, mini pizzas, and other munchies as we painted until we looked at the clock and saw 3am!  Hence, the missing cherry and unfinished whipped cream!

Before the great drive to VT, I made these two little sundresses for my friend's baby.  Naturally, I do lots of things backwards... notice how one pair of straps buttons inside and the other buttons on top.  These are great little dresses to throw on a kid.  They stitch up quickly too since it's one piece! 

As of June 7th, the butterfly bushes are blooming, the cosmos are coming up,  canna lilies are up, zinnias are on their way, and the redbud tree finally has its leaves.  Before I left for my month in Boston, I was frantically trying to lay out an irrigation system on my 3 main flower beds.  I got 135' of drip hoses and am hoping for the best.  I will be so excited to see how everything looks when I get back in July!

My next door neighbor has the most lush, plant filled yard.  It's truly enviable.  He's always trying to give me plants and it's awesome!  Except when I'm about to be gone for 8 weeks during the hot dry summer! I told him in no uncertain terms that while I was really excited about doing a garden, it just wouldn't be a good idea since I wouldn't be around to take care of the plants.  Within 30 minutes, he had brought over 3 tomato and 4 pepper plants and they were in the ground.  I also finally installed the trellises and planted the morning glory seedlings that I had started a couple of months before.  Also in the leftover and neglected seedling tray were a number of shasta daisies which I planted too.  As if that weren't enough, I figured since I had a garden started, and our friend/housesitter would be watering it anways, I might as well throw in my seed packets... nothing to lose!  However - if it works out, it will be a SUPER crowded garden - I put in a pack of zuccini seeds, a pack of corn, and a pack of pumpkin seeds.  

Here's one of the morning glory babies as of June 7.  I'm hoping that by the time I get home, they'll be all over the trellis!