Flour Bakery

Flour bakery in Boston is one of my absolute favorite places in the whole world. The bread is amazing, the sandwiches are delicious, and the sweets (especially the sticky buns) are to DIE for. 

Let me repeat that...

TO DIE FOR!!!!

Luckily for my tastebuds (and unluckily for my waist line), they have a location right next door to my acupuncture assistantship.  

This is the only breakfast sandwich they make (trust me, they only need this one).  It has thick cut bacon, eggs, arugula, and dijonaise.  Every morning my brain has this little argument with itself:

Brain #1: Yummmmm omgggggg Flour breakfast sandwiches!!

Brain #2: You just ate breakfast at home, remember?

Brain #1:  But this would taste so good.....

Brain #2: Katie, get a hold of yourself!

Brain #1: Too late!  We just paid for it! Now you HAVE to eat it.

(everything really is made with love!)

After that little breakfast sandwich dilemma, I typically have a hard time shaking the deliciousness of Flour from my mind.  When I leave my assistantship around 1pm, lunch is always a must.  I've tried most of their sandwiches, but these two are hands down my favorites.  The sandwich above has grilled roasted chicken, brie, arugula, roasted red peppers, and caramelized onions.  Is your mouth watering yet?

No? Well maybe my other favorite will get you!  This one is also roasted chicken, but with mashed avocado and jicama.

Anyway, I GUESS what I'm trying to say by all of this, is that you are doing yourself a serious disservice if you do not stop in the next time you're in the south end!

Flour Bakery

1595 Washington St

Boston, Ma 02118

also

12 Farnsworth St

Boston, Ma 02210 

(photos taken at both locations)

Savory Orange-Roasted Tofu and Asparagus

Up until I made this recipe, my entire life experience with miso consisted of two dishes: miso soup, and my father's oatmeal.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my Dad puts miso in his oatmeal.

Usually he accompanies this addition with the comment "Hey Katie! What does THIS remind you of?" while ceremoniously displaying a spoonful of brown gook.

As you can imagine, the obvious correlation he drew between miso and...other things I won't name here...didn't exactly turn me into an 8 year old miso fan. In fact, I've spent my whole life avoiding miso and assuming it tastes like some gross cousin to peanut butter. Recently however I've been trying to branch out of my normal food rut, and when I saw this recipe in my favorite cookbook I had to try it.

You guys. This recipe. Is sooooooo delicious. Thank goodness I was just cooking for myself, because after taking a minor break when my better senses said, "Katie stop putting food in your mouth!!" I returned to finish the whole thing in one night.

Miso is a bit expensive to buy upfront, but you don't use much at a time, and just a tablespoon has considerable nutritional benefits (what's up vitamin b12!). If you are also a little afraid of miso I think this is probably a great training wheels dish - the sweet of the orange juice perfectly counteracts the more salty qualities of the miso, and the tofu just soooooaks up all the goodness! Yummmmmmmm

-Recipe after the jump-

The Weekend in my Phone

These are the most exciting and eventful few weeks of my entire year.  My entire year, I tell you!!!  Pat and I celebrated two years together this past Friday, my birthday is this coming Thursday, I start a new job Feb 1, and Valentine's day is but a mere two weeks off!  Hooray for the most wonderful time of the year!

This past weekend I thought I would end up a pathetic studying hermit, but in actuality I managed to power through, and have some spare time left for celebrations.  As usual, my iPhone bore witness to it all.

Absolutely beautiful roses Pat surprised me with for our anniversary!

I surprised him with Bruins tickets (we won!)

A little shopping in an early birthday present I bought for myself!

(It's vintage!! I didn't kill anything I swear!)

Some friends and I went out dancing to celebrate my birthday!

Even in the worst of weather Boston is so beautiful!

Spicy Tomato Bisque and Grilled Cheese

My best friend Jess and I have a relationship that borders on unhealthy.  We met as dorm next door neighbors our sophmore year of college, and by the end of our senior year we were literally spending 72 hours at a time together.  I'm talking sleeping over at each other's houses like 4 year olds, eating lunch together, going shopping together, joined-at-the-hip-weirdo friends.  Of course since college we've been forced to cut the umbilical cord a little bit (I'm sure neither her nor my boyfriend would be thrilled with exclusively double dates), but we still try to get together as much as possible.  This weekend we had the rare opportunity to spend more than 24 hours together again and it. was. glorious. All of Sunday was essentially devoted to a law and order SVU marathon, coupled with the creation of epically delicious comfort food.  I headed up the soup project, Jess took control of the grilled cheese, and then we ate everything in sight.  This soup is pretty spicy (cut back on the red pepper flakes for less burn), but paired perfectly with our more mild grilled cheese.  Jess made the grilled cheese on a caramelized onion focaccia, and used both sharp cheddar and mozzarella to get the perfect degree of ooey-gooey-goodness.  Seriously so good.

(recipes and more photos after the jump)

Breathe. Take a walk. Get a coffee.

In my short professional career I’ve worked at exactly one place.  I started as an intern way back in 2009, and I haven’t budged from my lab bench since.  I love my boss, I’ve created incredible friendships with some of my coworkers, and I’ve become a published scientist.  In short, I love my job.  This is why it’s so bittersweet for me to leave.  A few weeks ago a friend offered me a job at a new company that could not be a more perfect fit.  I am SO excited to start there this February, but it breaks my heart to leave this lab behind.

Beyond all of this, was the realization that I have exactly three and a half weeks to wrap up three and a half years of work.  I have people to train, notebooks to index, boxes to catalog, people to meet with, and a to-do list that seems infinitely long.  Who knew quitting was so stressful??  When I feel overwhelmed, the only thing that saves my sanity is a mantra I’ve adopted from my mentor at the lab:

“Breathe. Take a walk.  Get a coffee.”


Sometimes the best way to finish a to-do list is to forget about it for a few minutes and get a coffee. Do absolutely nothing while you wait for the drink to cool, completely relax, and come back to work a few minutes later more focused.

Thank you, coffee, for existing.  I love you, I love you, I love you.

Bye Bye, Facebook

When I graduated from high school to head out into the big world you were soooo cooooool.  You promised me I could stay in touch with my high school friends, make new friends in college, and document my life all along the way.  We evolved together.  You watched me grow up and go to graduate school, and I watched you become a publicly traded company.  I'm happy for you, facebook, really I am, but it's time for us to part ways.  I waste so much time hanging out with you that it's easy to forget to nurture my friendships in real life.  You use my photos, interests, and "likes" for profit, but I never wanted them to be for sale.  It's been real, facebook. Thanks for the good times.  My pictures and thoughts belong to me now. 

Adios.

Holiday Gift Guide

Gift giving is a tricky business.  You want to get something fun, you want to get something useful, and most of all you want to get something that won't break the bank.  Well I'm here to help!! Here are my favorite gifts, all under $50, for whatever food enthusiasts you may have on your list:

#5) Measuring Hedgies $36.00

 

You could tell me these aren't the absolute cutest measuring cups you've ever seen....but you would be lying.

Buy them here

#4) Colorful Mixing Bowls $29.95

I have an earlier version of this set and they are perfect.  Every single one is a useful size, they're so colorful they do double duty as kitchen decorations, and (best of all) they're dishwasher safe!

Buy them here

#3) Vinturi Wine Aerator $29.96

It has the magical power to make three buck chuck taste like a ten buck chuck, and ten buck chuck taste like fifteen. And it's pretty.

Buy it here

#2) Knife Sharpener $35.99

If you don't have one of these suckers you do not know what you're missing!  I've said it once I'll say it again, the value of a sharp knife cannot be over estimated.  Many people think the steel that typically accompanies a knife set can sharpen the knives, but this unfortunately is not true.  The steel is there to straighten the blade.  This little guy right here will actually sharpen it.  

Buy it here

#1) Easy to Clean Garlic Press $39.95

I cannot possibly say enough good things about this garlic press.  It is 100%, hands down, hitting the ball out of the park, the absolute BEST garlic press on the entire planet.  Not only does it do it's job perfectly, but it is insanely easy to clean!  The whole gizmo flips open if you invert the handles, which leaves the grate the garlic presses through essentially just a flat surface you can brush all the excess garlic chunks off of.  Was that confusing? Probably.  Just trust me...this is a work of genius.

Buy it here