Blogger Friends Doing Amazing Things

There are so many people doing amazing things out there, but I just wanted to tell you about some of my friends whom I am really proud of and who I know would appreciate your support.

Meghan of Travel, Wine, and Dine is running the Boston Marathon today! This will be her third Boston Marathon, and she is running to raise money for the ALLY Foundation. You can read more about it over on her fundraising page. I know Meghan has been working really hard to raise money for the ALLY Foundation through fundraisers and other promotions, and I know she's also been training hard for the marathon. I can't even imagine running a marathon. I get up to 5 miles and that's good enough for me. I'm really proud of Meghan and excited for her, and I wish I had the day off so I could go cheer her on. If you see her on the course, make sure to cheer nice and loud! And don't forget, there's still time to support the ALLY Foundation.

Elina of Healthy and Sane took a gigantic leap and quit her job last year. She wasn't sure what she was going to do next, but after volunteering at Cooking Matters and helping out with classes, she figured out that she wanted to teach people how to cook and eat more healthfully. She just started her own business called Satisfied Cravings. She'll be holding private or semi-private lessons at her Back Bay condo. Her hope is that people in the area will want to come in during their lunch breaks to make a healthy meal for lunch and a dinner to take home. I've had Elina's food before, so I know it's good. She'd be a great person to learn from. If you're interested in learning to eat better meals and make the most of your lunch break, head over to Satisfied Cravings to check it out!

Jen of Beantown Baker and Fiona of A Boston Food Diary have teamed up to participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, a two day walk spanning 39 miles in May. These ladies have committed to raising $2,000 each for the Avon Foundation.

Jen has made breast cancer awareness part of her personal mission. In 2004, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. Since then, she and her family walk the Race for the Cure every year. She has raised nearly $5,000 since 2010 by participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Fiona has watched countless friends stand strong as their family members, or themselves, have battled this disease. Wishing she could do more, but never knowing what to do,  this year, as another friend's mother has entered into this fight, she decided to join Jen in her walk to find a cure.

Please help support them by participating in their blogger bake sale. You can find more information and register to bake over at Bloggers Bake for Hope!

Do you know any other bloggers who are doing amazing things? Feel free to give them a shoutout here!

Grilled Pork With Peppers And Onion

I do not claim to have any sort of skills when it comes to grilling; it's actually one of the cooking methods I'm least familiar with. But since we're living with Jeff's parents and they've got a grill and grilling seems to be a quick and easy way to get to dinner on the table (not to mention that it keeps the kitchen clean), I've been giving it a try.

I decided to start small. Jeff made burgers a couple nights, and the first time he did, I laid some asparagus spears on a piece of foil, drizzled them with olive oil, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and placed them on the grill along with the burgers. A little while later, we had nicely charred, flavorful asparagus to go with our burgers. The next time I got a little more adventurous and tossed some mini peppers and onion slices with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little garlic powder. It was another success.

Call it a confidence booster. I was ready for something a little more complicated and seasoned some boneless pork chops with salt and pepper. If I had more time, I would have brined them (and hopefully I'll get around to trying that soon.)

Then I decided to make mini peppers again, this time with wedges of Vidalia onion, salt, pepper, and olive oil. I put the mixture on a sheet of foil again. At some point I'm thinking I'll be brave enough to put veggies right on the grill grate, but I'm not quite there yet.

Once the grill was good and hot, I set the pork on one side and the veggies on the other.

I flipped the pork after the bottom side got charred and then cooked it a little longer before transferring it to a plate to rest.

Some of the pieces were perfect and some were just about a minute overdone--I'll have to work on that--but they were all well seasoned and still juicy.

The veggies took a little longer, and I tossed them with tongs occasionally to get charring on all sides.

I was pretty pleased with the final outcome.

Do you grill? What do you like to make? I really want to try making grilled pizza.

Cupcakes In A Jar From Wicked Good Cupcakes

The week after we moved, we were exhausted. (It took us all week to get our bed frame set up.) Luckily Jeff's mom cooked dinner for us most nights, and a package of Wicked Good Cupcakes' Wicked Good to Go jars arrived at the house. There's nothing like dessert being delivered to your door when you're too tired and rundown to even think about making it!

Inside the package I found three different Wicked Good to Go jars, complimentary samples sent to me by Wicked Good Cupcakes. The bakery, which was started by a mother-daughter team, specializes in these jars, which are filled with cake, buttercream, and a range of other fillings or edible decorations. The flavors I got to try were Cuckoo for Coconut, Chocolate Lab, and Chocolate Guinness & Bailey's.

I shared the cupcakes with Jeff and his parents, so after dinner the night after the cupcakes had arrived, we broke into them, and each spooned some of each flavor onto our plates so we could try them all. (The jars also come with spoons so you can just eat right out of the jar if you're not sharing.) I was surprised at how moist the cake was in each of the jars. The frostings were all rich and flavorful without being unbearably sweet.

The Chocolate Lab features chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, chocolate cream cheese buttercream, and chocolate sprinkles. This was a solid chocolate cupcake, and we all liked it. Jeff's dad, who might even love chocolate more than I do, was enamored with it.

The Chocolate Guinness & Bailey's, which would have been perfect for St. Patrick's Day, was definitely the frontrunner for the rest of us. This jar contains chocolate cake baked with Guinness Extra Stout and Bailey's Irish Cream-infused cream cheese buttercream frosting, along with some chocolate sprinkles and buttercream. The sweet Irish Cream buttercream is nicely balanced by the dark chocolate cake.

The Cuckoo for Coconut was good but not a favorite. This flavor has vanilla cake, cream filling, organic coconut flakes, and coconut buttercream frosting. It was tasty but I couldn't help thinking how much better it would be with toasted shredded coconut as opposed to the big flakes. I also thought it had too much of a tropical taste, maybe from coconut extract. If you like a big hit of coconut flavor though, you'll definitely love it.

The jars come in so many different flavors. The new Spring Fever looks bright and cheery and absolutely perfect for spring, with layers of vanilla cake and buttercream and spring-themed sprinkles. And I know I'm going to have to try the Peanut Butter Surprise at some point.

These jars are a really cute way to ship cupcakes. If you know someone who's celebrating a birthday or you want to send a tasty thank-you gift, you might want to head over to Wicked Good Cupcakes' website and check out all the flavors and package options. The jars can be shipped nationwide, come in two different sizes, and last 7 to 10 days without refrigeration.

I'm hoping I'll be able to get to Cohasset soon to try Wicked Good Cupcakes' regular cupcakes too.

These cupcakes in a jar were complimentary and sent to me by Wicked Good Cupcakes, but my opinions are my own.

What sort of food gifts do you like to give... or receive?

43 Church, Salem, Mass.

Our wedding is just 6 months away! I've been wading through all the checklists trying to stay on top of everything we need to do. During the past month, we've really been tackling finding somewhere to have our rehearsal dinner. We're getting married in Beverly, and I'm not super familiar with the area. Luckily, Jeff's aunt and uncle live nearby, and they've been more than happy to dine at some restaurants for us and give us their feedback.

We went with them to try Brutole in Danvers, but I didn't take any pictures that night. While we enjoyed the food, we were up in the air on the atmosphere. The restaurant doesn't have a private room or event space, so we'd be tucked in a corner of the restaurant right by the door. We looked at some other places in the area too but just didn't get the feeling we were hoping for.

I checked in with my venue, and the wedding coordinator there suggested we try 43 Church in Salem. I scanned the menu and thought it sounded like my kind of restaurant. Jeff and I made an appointment with the event coordinator there, made a reservation for dinner, and headed up there on a Friday after work. We met with the coordinator, went over event menus, and toured the event space. The upstairs of the restaurant features lots of private space in the form of a big open room with rustic wood floors and a fireplace. The space feels historic and cozy. We loved what we saw and stayed to have dinner back downstairs in the restaurant.

We each ordered a glass of wine (Riesling for Jeff, Malbec for me) and nibbled on fresh bread and the most wonderful butter (doctored up in house with salt and chives).

We shared a bowl of French onion soup, and by shared, I mean I got to eat all the bread. Jeff loves French onion soup but not the crouton... more for me! We both liked this one but didn't find it as beefy and full flavored as some others we've had.

I had my eye on the wedge salad (one of my favorite salads to order at a steak house) from the moment I first scanned 43 Church's menu, so I had to order it. I loved how the wedge was cut into slices. This is how I typically make a wedge salad at home, but usually it's served in an intact (difficult-to-eat) wedge at restaurants. The bacon was crisp and the blue cheese creamy.

Jeff got a Caesar salad (one of his favorite salads to order just about anywhere).

Going with my new favorite cut, I ordered the rib eye cooked medium-rare for my entree. 43 Church gives you the option to choose an accompanying sauce, and I went with a wine sauce. The steak was so flavorful it didn't even need the sauce.

Jeff chose the NY sirloin, which was suggested to us as one of the most popular rehearsal dinner options. I knew he wouldn't want a creamy sauce (like Bernaise or horseradish), so I talked him into the house steak sauce, which ended up being tangy and bright.

And we shared an order of garlic mashed potatoes (amazing).

My steak was better... but how could it not be with all that buttery fat to give it flavor? We decided we'd definitely go with the rib eye for a rehearsal dinner option.

I rarely leave anywhere without having dessert or at least looking at the dessert menu, so I took a glance at one, and as I was reading all the options, I saw something called Chef's Dessert Board. I asked our waiter about it, and he confirmed my suspicions: It was indeed a sampling of many of the desserts on the menu. That was all I needed to hear.

Soon a platter arrived before us featuring the lemon cheesecake with raspberry sauce, chocolate chip cookies, apple ravioli, and warm chocolate cake with vanilla malt ice cream and hot fudge. The perfect assortment for someone who has trouble choosing just one dessert. (Don't tell me that just happens to me!)

This is Jeff's are-you-done-taking-pictures-can-I-eat-dessert-already face. He's a good sport.

I think we fought over the chocolate cake most. It was so warm, soft, and gooey and clearly went perfectly with the malt ice cream. I could do without the cookies, but I enjoyed the dense, rich cheesecake with tangy raspberry sauce and the cinnamon-y sweet apple ravioli.

We had a great evening and just booked 43 Church for our rehearsal dinner. I'm so happy to have checked something else off the list!

Have you been to any great North Shore restaurants?

Mac And Cheese Mania At Max & Dylan's

Blogging can be a pretty tough hobby. You have to do things like go to restaurants, drink wine, and sample five different kinds of macaroni and cheese. Seriously tough.

I was invited to Max & Dylan's (City Square) to judge their Mac & Cheese Mania Contest. Basically, in the weeks leading up to the judging, anyone could submit mac and cheese ideas on Max & Dylan's Facebook pages. The chef then chose five of the most creative ideas and prepared them for us to taste and rank based on creativity and flavor.

Crab and Asparagus Mac and Cheese. I thought this mac and cheese was rich and creamy with just the right amount of crab and a balancing handful of chopped asparagus spears. Was it the most creative mac and cheese ever? Not really. But it sure was tasty! And perfect for a spring menu.

Porcini and Truffle Mac and Cheese. This dish was earthy and hearty and sent scents of truffle wafting through the air. I really enjoyed it, but again, I've had plenty of truffle mac and cheese, so I didn't think it was a really strong contender in the creativity category. Based on flavor alone, it wins for me for a nice winter pasta.

Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese. This one held so much promise. It's like upscale Hamburger Helper (and I mean that in the best way possible -- you all know you love a little Hamburger Helper) -- creamy, cheesy, full of ground beef, and then topped with the typical lettuce and tomato a good cheeseburger usually boasts. I want it with ripe summer tomatoes, more-crisp iceberg lettuce, maybe some raw or sauteed onions, and fried pickles on top. That's right. Fried pickles. It just needed another notch of flavor.

Jalapeno and Chorizo Mac and Cheese. With my aversion to spicy food, I was prepared to write this one off. But it ended up being my favorite. It had a mild, constant heat, nothing too overwhelming but enough to let you know it was there. The spice with the mild, creamy cheese was heavenly. I'd want some bigger chunks of chorizo, but otherwise this one was perfect.

Chipotle Mac and Cheese. A lot of the judges seemed to like this one, but I found the flavor a little monotone. Throw in some chicken, maybe some peppers, and then you've got a dish. But the chipotle on its own wasn't enough excitement for me.

So which mac and cheese won? It was the jalapeno and chorizo mac and cheese (with the crab and asparagus right on its tail). This mac and cheese will soon be on Max and Dylan's regular menu, so make sure you stop in to try it!

What out-of-the-box mac and cheese would you suggest? I think I'd go with a short rib mac and cheese -- tender short ribs braised in a wine sauce, shredded and mixed in with creamy mac and cheese, heightened with a little goat cheese and some roasted tomatoes.

The wine was complimentary and so were the mac and cheeses, which were provided to us for the purpose of judging. Thanks to Max & Dylan's for inviting us in.