Best Birthday Ever

My birthday is my favorite day of the year for only one reason. I get to pick WHEREVER I want to go to eat, and not be judged for it. I start brainstorming ideas around mid-June in preparation, and go back and forth for weeks. Do I go for...a "best of Boston" restaurant? a place I've always wanted to try? a place I could never afford normally? my typical go to burger spot? or a place with great dessert?

Can you see why this tortures me?

Well for the first time ever- I fulfilled my lifelong dream of actually going to two different restaurants to complete my birthday meal. I mean it is the day of my birth, so why shouldn't I get the best of both worlds?

So all day at work when people asked me how I was celebrating my birthday, I proudly announced that I would be heading to Shake Shack for a burger and cheese fries and then stopping by Cheesecake Factory for some cookie dough cheesecake. As you can imagine, I got several reactions. Some were horrified (no longer talking to those people), some amused, some surprised and my favorite type of people- the jealous ones.

 

I want everyone to know that you too can make your birthday (or any day) amazing by attending more than one restaurant for your special meal. HECK- next year I might even do 3. Its called CUSTOMIZING people! Life's too short! The hungry train is leaving the station, and I encourage you to join me on this amazing journey.

Yogurt Pie

Its kind of ironic that I am posting a healthy dessert less than 24 hours after posting a picture of frosting and grahams (aka homemade dunkaroos). Oh well, there's  no method to my maddness.

Here is a great summer dessert that is yummy, refreshing and light in cals!

What you need:
-1 Container of fat free cool whip (8 oz)
-2 of your favorite yogurts- preferably a fruit flavor
-1 pre-made reduced fat graham cracker crust
-Any chopped up fresh fruit you want!

This literally takes two minutes to throw together. In a medium sized bowl, mix your entire container of cool whip with your two yogurts (I chose low fat strawberry greek yogurt). Next, fold in your chopped fruit (I went with some strawberries and blueberries) . Pour your mixture into the pre-made graham crust. Smooth out the top, and then place the plastic cover on top. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

 

Take it out and let it sit about 15 minutes before serving to soften-then slice and eat up! Its the perfect dessert for a hot summer night. Also, its nice to make on a Sunday and enjoy a few nights throughout the week!

The Local- 1391 Washington Street, West Newton, MA

So if you haven't noticed...I haven't posted a recipe in a month or so. Well, sorry guys, its summer where my main priorities include eating out, going to the beach and drinking beer. Let's face it- there is nothing fun about cooking when its 90 degrees outside. No thanks. So I spend my nights eating chicken salad sandwiches, chowing on BLTs with extra bacon on the side (duh) or planning out my next restaurant attack.

So on this awesome Thursday that is like a Friday (i love when that happens), we celebrated the long weekend by kicking it off at the Local in Newton, MA. The Local is known as one of the best restaurants in Newton for its cool bar atmoshere and dynamite food. They breakdown their menu in my favorite way possible, having TWO categories of apps- "Snack things" and "Small things". We ordered the house potato chips with warm onion dip and the Parmesan truffle fries. Both were UNREAL and you NEED to get them if you go! The house chips were salty and crispy and tasted bomb.com with that onion dip and the fries were a good medium sized fry doused in truffle oil and parm cheese. The portions were awesome, and these two apps were perfect for a party of 3!

 

 

For meals, Jake and Brenna got the special flatbread of the night-chicken, bacon ranch, and I (clearly obsessed with truffle oil) got the mushroom and truffle mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was made with a totally different pasta than I had expected or ever seen before in mac and cheese. I looked it up and google says its called ditali rigati. The sauce wasn't overly cheesy but had a really good combo of cream, truffle oil and cheese. The shrooms were also tender and flavorful. I got about halfway through, and since it was an early dinner, I accepted the fact that I would plan on finishing it at around 8pm.... T minus 1 hour 29 minutes and counting :)

 

Since chicken, bacon, ranch is a common "thing" now- I think we really  need to recognize whoever decided to put these three impeccable flavors together. You are truly a foody Picasso. 

 

Sidenote: This might not look like much pasta, but this bowl ran DEEP - and so did my love and affection for it.

 

This is definitely one of those places that you recommend to anyone coming to the area. Great atmosphere, friendly staff and most importantly, REALLY good food!