Brunching at Local 149

Tags

boston brunchers, boston food bloggers, brunch, food, food bloggers, food events, restaurants

This post is way overdue for a few reasons:

• This past month I’ve been busy making some important life changes, like getting a new job! Very exciting. Also made me very busy.
• Wedding planning. Every once in a while I have these spurts of wedding planning weeks. This month was one of them. Save the dates, bridesmaid gathering, and dress shopping ate up a gap of my time.
• This post needs to be perfect. I couldn’t just slap it up here with a half-hearted explanation of what we ate at Local 149. It deserves more than that.

So! Last time I went to brunch I was lucky enough to grab a spot at Local 149, a small, cute, very original restaurant located in Southie (owned by the same people as the Biltmore Bar and Grille…so hello. You think I’d miss this one?)

I never go to South Boston. Actually, I had never been before this brunch. Like several restaurants I go to for these events, I am usually trekking out to them because I live in Newton. But they’re always worth the trip. This one especially. The food was to. die. for. And I mean that in the most literal sense. They fed us so much food that some of us may just as well have been diagnosed with an overdose of food. But hey. If someone declared my death as “overeating from delicious brunch items”, I think I’d be very proud of myself in the afterlife:

Dead Someone: “Slipped on a patch of ice. What about you?”

Dead Megan: “Ate too much delicious food.”

Dead Someone: “Jealous.”

Dead Megan: “You should be.”

Alright. Before I get any more morbid than I already have, let’s move on to what was actually served to the brunchers at Local 149.

When I walked into the restaurant, the servers were already placing charcuterie plates on the table. This isn’t a typical brunch item in my book, but I’ve never been picky about what I eat at what time of day. So I dug in. And it was delicious. Crusty bread. Spicy mustard. Salty meat. Salty cheese. Yes. You’re hearing “salty” in positive tones on this blog. If the salt is on the right thing at the right time, my tongue accepts it. I do believe I scraped up the last of the blue cheese on the platter. And I never feel bad about polishing off food. Nor am I shy about it.

Local 149 was not shy about their alcohol. They served us five alcoholic drinks in the span of 2 1/2 hours. Being the lightweight I am, I did not finish all of them. But I did try all of them–and loved every single one. The first one they served was this real coconut, filled with coconut rum and other sugary goodness. If I’m ever a hostess for a party, I’m going to try my hardest to serve this drink. It impressed everyone at our table! Other drinks they served us included the prosecco pomegrante mimosa (pictured above), a bloody mary (which I liked–and I never like those), and a peach and mint sangria. Can you say “yum”? (or “OMG”?)

I can. I did.

Oysters. Again, another item I wouldn’t expect to see on a brunch menu, but Local 149 doesn’t kid around. This is no hotel buffet. This is classy with a casual feel at its finest. These oysters went like candy. They came with a beautiful raspberry puree that made your mouth water for more.

Waffles. That’s more up my alley for brunch food. These were chicken and waffles. Not unlike the ones they served us over at Biltmore. These were slightly different, with blueberries and a blueberry syrup, but just as delicious. One didn’t outperform the other in taste or appearance. I’ll take 3 plates, please. Well, I would have been able to eat more waffles had the next 700 courses not appeared in front of us…

Sausage? Lamb sausage? With some pretty little radishes on top? Don’t mind if I do. Despite our stretched stomachs at this point, the brunchers had no trouble polishing this plate off. It’s rare that I eat meat, especially lamb, so when the occassion presents itself, I leap. Well, more like dive. And my taste buds thank me.

I’m almost afraid to tell you what was on this brunch pizza, because you might try to jump into the screen and eat it. (If you haven’t done so already.) Ready? Bacon. Quail eggs. Arugula. Creme Fraiche. Sesame seed crust. Everyone’s jaws dropped when they saw and heard what was on this pizza. Again, we were stuffed by this point. But I managed to inhale two slices of this. Because otherwise someone else would get the pleasure of eating it. And any leftovers would’ve gone to waste… This pizza was definitely my favorite item they served us. I would eat it every day if I could somehow get a hold of quail eggs..?

Oh what? You thought I was done? Nay. Next up was their French Toast, soaked in espresso martini and then coated in Chex cereal. And yes, that’s bacon on top. As well as whipped cream. And a few M&Ms in the midst of things. At this point I had to skip the bacon and only have a few bites of the French Toast.

But oh. This was good. Give me that pizza with this French Toast for dessert and I’d be set for life.

What’s that you ask? That’s a Lobster McMuffin with a side of home fries. I know, right? That thing is huge! By this point, a lot of people were quite frankly sick of eating. On top of it, more than one person didn’t like this dish at all. I’m not sure if they didn’t like it because they were full, because it was so huge (it doesn’t look that appetizing), or simply because it wasn’t good. Period. I thought it tasted good. But it did not outshine any of the other menu items we sampled. It was just a face in the crowd.

Last course of the day. (Finally!) Yorkshire pudding with chicken sausage and a poached egg. This dish was placed far from me, and I only had one bite. But that one bite was fabulous. It was creamy, savory, perfectly salted, and somehow fit into the depths of my stomach!

And to top off the several thousands of pounds of food that Local 149 served us that day, out came a tray of chocolate shakes. Damn. Just when I thought I couldn’t eat anymore, the old saying “there’s always room for dessert” rung out in my head, so I cautiously took one sip of this shake, and immediately found myself standing at the Pearly Gates. Chocolate is my weakness. Needless to say, this creamy, cocoa-y, sinful delight was slurped down into my stomach cavity.

And no regrets were had that day.

Overall, is it worth the trip to Southie to dine at Local 149?

You don’t need to ask me twice. Next time you’re craving a Sunday brunch, head there and choose one of these amazing items they offer on their menu.

Charming service, too. The wait staff was extremely attentive and answered all the questions we had about the food.

Note: This meal was provided to the Boston Brunchers free of charge from Local 149. But as usual, all the opinions expressed here are my own.

Classic Deviled Eggs

Tags

appetizer, blogger events, boston food bloggers, cooking, deviled eggs, eggs, food, food events, kosher, passover, recipes

When Cara from Cara’s Cravings invited me to attend her Passover Feast (recap for that in another post to come!) that she was hosting yesterday, I immediately signed up for an egg dish, specifically deviled eggs.

I was always excited as a kid when I went to a party and there were deviled eggs out on the table. I would gobble them up faster than anything else laid out. There’s something about the combination of egg yolks, mayo, and mustard that hits the spot–no matter what.

Interestingly enough, though, as much as I absolutely love deviled eggs I’ve never made them before. They’re mainly a party dish, and since I’m just starting out my social food life as an adult, I never had the opportunity to bring them to a get-together.

But I’m glad I had the chance to make them for the Passover feast. They’re remarkably simple to make, but look so elegant–!

Deviled Eggs (From The Comfort Table by Katie Lee)

Makes 24

Ingredients

• 1 dozen large eggs
• 2 tbsp white vinegar (optional)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp yellow prepared mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• paprika for garnish

Directions:

1. Place the eggs in a large saucepan and cover completely with water. Add the vinegar (this is optional, since I made a test batch with–and the ones for the party without–there was absolutely no difference in the end result). Bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water comes to a boil, turn off the heat and cover the saucepan. Let sit for 15 minutes.

2. Remove the eggs from the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a colander. Rinse under cold water until the eggs are cool enough to touch. Remove the shells.

3. Slice each egg in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks from the whites and place in a separate bowl and mash with a fork until there are no large chunks left. Mix in the mayo, mustard, salt and pepper. Scoop the yolk mixture into a plastic bag. Cut off one corner of the plastic bag and pipe the yolks into the egg whites. Sprinkle with a dash of paprika.

4. Cool the eggs completely before serving.

My Two Cents: First of all, I probably shouldn’t have anything with cholesterol in it for the next two weeks. These things are addictive. And by addictive I mean I made a test batch that made 12 deviled eggs, and within 5 minutes after they were done, I had 3 of them (and then an hour later I had another, and then at the party I think I had 4….)

I think the type of mayo you choose to use for this will have an impact on the taste. I happened to have my favorite mayo on hand, Cains Light, and it was a perfect match with the yolks and the mustard. For the mustard, I stuck to the recipe and used yellow prepared mustard (in this case, French’s), and I think that makes a difference too. Dijon or spicy brown mustard might work, though. That’s an experiment for another day.

You know that green ring you get around hard boiled eggs if you cook them too long? You won’t get that if you follow my directions. The original recipe didn’t state to cool them under cold water right after you take them out of the pan, but this is important. Even if you remove them from the pan into another bowl and let them cool, they’ll still cook because they’re still very hot.

Overall, you can’t go wrong with this classic dish. It’s simple to whip up, and easily impresses a crowd!

Oh, and according to Katie Lee, Paula Deen said these are the best deviled eggs she’s ever had.

Oh, and it’s kosher

Sunday Bake Date

Tags

bake date, baked goods, baking, boston food bloggers, croissants, food, friends, poptarts, sunday afternoon

Have you ever seen so many croissants in your life??

One of the greatest things about being friends with other food bloggers (or maybe the greatest thing?) is the fact that we spontaneously get together to bake things, drink hot chocolate, and play bananagrams.

Kathy (@kathycancook) and I were talking about baked goods last week over Twitter, and soon enough we had made a #bakedate hashtag and were on our way to planning an afternoon of rolling croissant dough and sipping hot chocolate. Then I remembered Amanda (@kitchenmisfit) was going to be back from  her vacation by then, so we looped her into our baking excursion, and soon enough we had an afternoon planned of both croissants AND poptarts!

Are you jealous yet?

To make things even better, Kathy whipped up some homemade roasted red pepper and feta dip and garlic dip to go along with her homemade baked pita chips. I was in Heaven.

The night before our bake date, Kathy made a big mound of croissant dough, but saved the rolling until Amanda and I got there–and I was extremely excited to be rolling croissant dough! I have only ever eaten croissants in bakeries, and honestly, I had no idea how they were made. Kathy showed me the proper technique, and before we knew it, we had croissants coming out of our ears. We made both regular triangular croissants with a hint of sugar and salt. We also made chocolate stuffed croissant squares.

If I were a midget, I would build myself a house inside of this croissant.

Believe me. I was in a flaky pastry buttery induced coma after eating all of these!

Oh dear reader, that’s not all.

Amanda came with a bag of ingredients to make homemade poptarts from the Flour bakery cookbook.

Have you  heard of Flour bakery? Have you been to it? I haven’t. But after eating these homemade poptarts, that bakery is the next weekend excursion for me. They were flaky, moist, decadent, and certainly not anything like the poptarts you had as a kid. Amanda made a cinnamon-sugar filling and glaze to go with them. They were just oozing with sugary buttery splendor

I am drooling all over again looking at these pictures, and you better be too! I don’t have either of the recipes to share with you today. So be on the lookout on Kathy’s blog for the croissants and Amanda’s blog for the poptarts! I’m dying to find out the recipes for those doughs, too

Overall, what a wonderful way to spend a cloudy/rainy Sunday afternoon! I’m so happy to have met these two amazing food bloggers. Being a part of the Boston food blogger community certainly has nothing but perks to it

What happened to my 5K training?

Tags

5K, blogger events, boston food bloggers, running

image from sodahead.com

You might be wondering where my enthusiasm and/or posts about the upcoming 5K St. Patty’s Day race with the Boston Food Bloggers went from my blog.

I assure you it’s not me being lazy. Rather the opposite. I ended up pushing myself too hard too fast when I was training, and I hurt my feet.

First, I was running in very old shoes for the first two weeks that I was running. This first resulted in a blister that covered the entire underside of my pinky toe. So I had to stop running on that for a few days to let that heal. Then I went out and bought new running shoes to prevent that from happening again. That night like a little kid, I put them on and ran a few miles in them to break them in. I felt like I was running on air! This was perfect! Pure bliss!

The next day I ran again with the new shoes without a problem, but the third day during the middle of my run, the tops of my feet started hurting. I thought I just wore myself out or tied my shoes too tight, but the pain didn’t go away in the next few days, it got worse. I was limping around for three days. I would get a sharp pain in my right foot whenever I took a step, and I also couldn’t bend my toes without extreme pain.

I decided to rest. And I feared I had some sort of injury, or one was forming, and I didn’t want to make it any worse. So I halted my running all together.

Instead, I’ve been using the elliptical every day for 30 minutes and lifting/ab workouts for 10 after that. I didn’t want any more pounding on my feet, but at the same time, I didn’t want to stop working out or get out of shape.

And now I’m happy to say the pain in my feet has gone away! I might not ever know what was wrong with me. I suspected it was a stress fracture at first. But I also thought to myself, if it’s a stress fracture, I’m pretty sure my foot would be swollen and the pain would have been a lot worse. But who knows. Chris also explained to me a similar thing happened to him with very similar pain a few years ago. When he went to the school doctor to diagnose what the heck was wrong with him, they told him the bones in his foot had likely shifted for some reason and bumped up against one another. Maybe this happened to me? I had been running in shitty shoes for a while without a lot of support. My feet were probably mad at me, then confused when I made a shoe change.

Regardless, I’m going to continue the elliptical training for another week or so and see how I feel after that. I don’t want to risk seriously injuring myself for this race. And I think right now it’s a 50/50 chance I’ll actually run it. And it really bums me out to think I might not participate in it. I was beginning to love my runs—and the elliptical just isn’t the same…

 

Boston Brunchers take on Dorado Tacos

Tags

blogger events, boston brunchers, boston food bloggers, brunch, dorado tacos, eggs, food, food events, foodies, mexican, spicy food, tacos

I was one of the 16 lucky people to snag a seat at the February brunch with the Boston Brunchers. This month’s brunch was held at Dorado Tacos in Coolidge Corner in Brookline. When I saw Renee (Eat.Live.Blog) post that there were only a few seats left for brunch on Twitter a few weeks ago, I quickly grabbed one of the last ones–ever since reading the recaps of past brunches, I knew I had to be in on the action

The owners were nice enough to open an hour early to accommodate us. At 10 am people slowly came trickling in, mouths watering, and rightfully drooling over the spicy brunch menu before them!

I decided to order the Huevos Rancheros with the Patatas Bravas–an excellent choice! The eggs were cooked sunny side up and laid on tortillas, and topped with a spicy salsa, scallions, and fresh cilantro. The patatas bravas were crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and drenched in a spicy sauce. My nasal passages were clear, my nose was running, and my eyes were watering after this one! I like spicy food, but sometimes it still shocks my system

Mmm..egg yolks. If I didn’t have to worry about the risks of heart disease or cholesterol from egg yolks, I’m pretty sure I would eat 2 eggs over easy/sunny side up each and every day. Also, now I’m pretty sure I’m going to slather my eggs in salsa whenever I make them. It’s just better that way.

I decided to order a Mexican Hot Chocolate to go alongside my spicy feast. So tasty!

But due to the spice factor raging war in my mouth, I also had to order a sweet and refreshing Cucumber Lime drink. It was just what I needed to balance out the spicy food.

I also had the chance to meet a bunch of bloggers I hadn’t met before (yet again!) I sat next to Amanda, who I met at the launch party and went to the soup swap with, and we chatted with Renee, Katy, Kathy, and Brian. At the other end of the table were Jacki, Lara, Kimmy, Josh, Justin, Katherine, Meesh, Nicole, Emily, and Athena.

Overall a great morning of food and friends!

Can’t wait for the next brunch And thanks to Renee for setting this up and Dorado Tacos for hosting us early!

P.S. Look at what natural sunlight can do to my pictures! That’s right–wonders!

Week 1: 5K Training Update

Tags

5K, boston, boston food bloggers, personal, running, training

And I’m off!

This week I started training for the upcoming St. Patty’s Day 5K that I’m running with a bunch of Boston Food Bloggers. I noted last week that I had never run more than a mile in my life, and that I’m also a pretty slow runner. I also mentioned that I hate running.

However…

After training this week for the 5K using this plan, I must admit that I actually enjoyed running and even though my body was terribly sore, I felt really good

Here’s the recap of what I did for Week 1:

Sunday: I took it easy and did an ExerciseTV video. Specifically Holly Perkin’s Fitness 360 Cardio. A 20 minute program that consists of jumping jacks, jump rope, squats, a number of lifting exercises, and abs.

Monday: I did The Cardio Fitness 360 routine again.

Tuesday: I started running! I started off with an easy run and did 2.3 miles in 33 minutes. I alternated by running for 3 minutes, then walking briskly for 2 for a total of 33 minutes.

Wednesday: I ran again! (My oh my!) I was feeling sore from Tuesday’s run, but wanted to get on the horse again. This time I did 2.5 miles in 33 minutes (yeaah!) I mostly ran for 3 minutes, then walked briskly for 2 minutes. But occasionally I would run for 4 and walk for 1!

Thursday: Day of rest. I decided to give my body a break and recover by going to a Boston Food Blogger event at the Lansdowne Free appetizers and drinks! (Being a food blogger is pretty great sometimes…)

Friday: Run! I ran 2.5 miles in 30 minutes–and felt so accomplished! After the run I did some lifting for 10 minutes.

Saturday: I ran a little under 2 miles in 25 minutes. Then I went on the elliptical for 10 minutes. I also did 10 minutes of lifting and a good amount of stretching.

Sunday: Strength training! After a fabulous brunch at Dorado Tacos, I did a quick 20 minute Fitness 360 strength program which consisted of squatting, lifting, and abs. And after a hard week of working out, I rewarded myself with several slices of pizza and many cookies while watching the Superbowl! (okay…knitting during the Superbowl.. )

And this week I think I’ll follow just about the same routine as last week, except (hopefully) upping the mileage to 3 miles for two of the days that I run this week. I’m hoping to complete this 5K in 30 minutes–wish me luck!