foodbysof-blog

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Snow Days are Cookie Days: christmas cookie recipe

The first thing I thought of on Boston’s first snow day this winter was: “it’s time for christmas cookies”

With finals and final presentations I decided that even though I did want to make christmas cookies, I didn’t have time to make it all from scratch. So I bought the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix 

The back of the bag is simple and with instructions, guiding you to first preheat the oven to 350 F, then add one egg, three tbsp of flour and one stick of melted butter into the mix. 

Then, after mixing well, you roll the dough into a floured surface and create shapes. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes and cool for 5. Cool completely if decorating. 

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Avocado Pesto Pasta

I’ve seen this recipe on several places lately, and I decided to try it and modify it a little with the amount of avocado, garlic and wether to use water or non dairy milk. Here is the way I’ve liked it best. Enjoy!

(Serves two)

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast, cubed

salt and pepper

1 avocado peeled and diced 

1/4 box of spaghetti 

3/4 cup fresh basil chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

water as needed

1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped

Instructions:

1. Boil water and cook Pasta for 9-12 minutes

2. In a blender, blend together avocado, basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese and garlic. Add water as needed. 

3. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste and cook on a pan. 

4. Mix pasta, pesto sauce and chicken. Enjoy!

In this picture, I substituted the pasta for zucchini noodles.  

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Brunch! - Audubon

When it comes to brunch, I tend to stick to the same places: Tatte’s and Stephanie’s on Newburry. And once in a while I’ll go somewhere else too.

We found Audubon one day when we walked to Tatte’s, and the line was way too long. Located in Brookline, Audubon is a bar that also serves brunch, lunch and dinner. 

It’s location is quite standoffish, next to a liquor store. The food however, is very good. The menu has variety, including salads, sandwiches, burgers and even some latin food. 

Our Choices:

1. Burger with Swiss Cheese

2. Arepa with cheese and sausage 

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Max Brenner Chocolate Bar: Beyond the Sweets

Max Brenner chocolate bar is very famous for it’s elaborate chocolatey desserts and the extensive choices of them. Of course it’s a given that the desserts are pretty good, the restaurant stays popular for a reason. But I want to talk about it’s savory food, which in my opinion doesn’t get enough credit. 

Many people go to Max Brenner to order just dessert (I’ll admit, I have too done this in the past). On our most recent brunch, my friends and I decided to go for the dinner food.

Our choices:

1. Tuscan Grilled Chicken Sandwich 

2. Original Mac & Cheese

3. Max Benedict 

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How to host a Friendsgiving

Friendsgiving combines two of my favorite things: (thanksgiving) food and friends. Here are a few tips to help you during this fun get together:

1. Share the Responsibility Making Dishes!

If a single person cooks, said person will go crazy

2. It’s OK to have some ~store-bought~ foods.

Like pie. Desserts are time consuming to make and really not the main dish (even though it’s a great part of the meal). Buying desserts at your local bakery could save you a lot of time (and space).

3. Don’t waste the left overs!

There will be left overs, specially if everyone brings in a dish. How to deal with this? divide the left overs, or even donate it to homeless people. 

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Miami: Poke 305

Poke Bowls have been all the rage for the past couple of years. And the Hawaiian fish and rice bowls has become one of my favorite meals. During a trip to Miami I was craving some poke, did some research and found Miami’s first poke bowl restaurant: Poke 305.

The restaurant is casual. You get in line, customize your bowl, pay and sit down to eat (or take it home for later!).

It has a good variety of fish and bases, including brown rice, white rice, lettuce and seaweed salad. 

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Brigadeiro Recipe (Brazilian Chocolate Truffle Recipe)

After spending four years living in Brazil, I took away with me some knowledge of Brazilian culture, and appreciation of their delicious food. 

Brazilian cuisine has a lot to offer, from its famous meats, to their padaria snacks (salty and sweet!), my favorite by far became their famous chocolate sweets: Brigadieros.

Brigadeiros are a type of sweet that are traditionally served at celebratory events, such as birthday parties. However, over time brigadeiro stores (called brigaderias) have popped up in popular malls.

The best part, however, is that they are super easy to make!

all you need is chocolate sprinkles, condensed milk, butter and either a chocolate bar, unsweetened cocoa powder or even chocolate milk powder!

I prefer unsweetened cocoa powder since the condensed milk already gives a lot of flavor to this sweet treat. 

First, mix condensed milk, chocolate and butter over low heat for around ten minutes, or until mixture is thick. 

Then, let cool for 5 more minutes, and then chill in the fridge for 5 more. 

Then you can either eat with a spoon or make into little truffle balls.

For truffle balls first grease hands with butter. Then, grab pieces of brigadeiro mix and roll into a ball. Then, roll in chocolate sprinkles for decoration.

Brigadeiro (Makes about 10)

2/3 cup of condensed milk

1.5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

.5 tbsp  butter

mix at low heat for ten minutes

let cool for 5 minutes

chill for 5 minutes

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Boston açai bowls: Cocobeet

In a journey to discover the best açai bowls in Boston.

What’s better than an açai bowl on a nice Sunday morning?

Answer: A good açai bowl.

After trying several açai bowls and being disappointed, my roommate and I decided to try a different place every time we had one.

Our first place was Cocobeet. 

Located near faneuiel Hall, cocobeet is a quaint place that offers vegan and vegetarian food and beverages, including açai bowls amongst other smoothie bowls.

Overall, the açai bowl was good.

Rate: 9/10

The best part about this açai bowl, was that the consistency was not watery as many others in the Boston area. Instead, it was full of flavor with the blend of berries and banana. 

The size was also a plus. While several other places offer bowls that are snack size, this one was definitely a meal.

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Tapas, please!

Barcelona! (but actually brookline)

 A few times already I’ve heard some of my friends talk about this Spanish food place, Barcelona Wine Bar and how “it’s sooo good!” and how I just “HAVE to try it!”

Two months back or so, my friends and I took this recommendation into consideration ... a little too late in the day. It was noon on a Friday when we decided to call, only to find out that they were fully booked for the weekend.

My mom visited me this weekend, and I wanted to take her somewhere nice, something other than my usual dig inn or sweetgreen dinners.

I called in advance, on Thursday for a reservation for Saturday and luckily, they had an open table at 10 PM.

Barcelona Wine Bar is mainly a tapas restaurant, but they do offer a few main dishes (to share) as well. 

Our party of four decided on three tapas and one main course. 

Mozzarella:

While we were warned that the tapas were small in size, this tapa was the smallest we ordered. It was marinated in a fruity sauce, which made it all very good. However, I would not recommend this one to share.

Croquetas:

These croquetas were a fried mixture of cheese and spanish ham. While these were also small in size, they were a better portion. They were served with spiced mayo. 

Patatas Bravas:

As a recommendation from several friends who had already been to this restaurant, we ordered the patatas bravas. Essentially, potatoes covered in mayo and some seasoning. This tapas portion was bigger than the other two. 

Paella

I, personally, am not a fan of shellfish. However, this paella was pretty good. The rice was full of flavor and so was the seafood. 

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Let’s give it for New York (food)!

BHMy Weekend Faves 

On Columbus day weekend, my friends and I took a quick trip to NYC. After morning classes and a 5 hour bus ride (yikes) we were hungry and tired, so we opted to eat somewhere close to our airbnb, We were lucky enough to find our first favorite of the weekend:

1. Catch

Before I start with the food, my first impression of catch was good from the start. With the lightbulb lights in the door sign reading “CATCH” and the beautiful rooftop view of New York, I didn’t even mind the wait to our table (since we forgot to make a reservation). 

Catch offers indoor and outdoor seating, but I would definitely recommend outdoor, for the view, of course.  

After arriving to our table, we were handed a menu with a lot of variety: pastas, risottos, sushi rolls, chicken, fish, meat and veggies. Being the sushi lover that I am, the rolls grabbed my attention right away. 

I decided on a Tornado Roll: a baked spicy salmon roll

The next day, we took a stroll on the Highline and found a cute popsicle cart:

2. Paletas by La Newyorkina

La Newyorkina offers an assortment of flavors, mostly fruits, including mango con chile. Since three out of five of us on are Mexican, we decided to try the spicy mango popsicle. 

The mango tasted fresh, and there were even little chunks of it in the paleta. 

The next afternoon, three of us went on a walk around NYC. In between stores, we found a shop of tiny cupcakes:

3. Baked by Melissa

Baked by Melissa offers a variety of flavors for its bite size cupcakes and macarons. Ranging from pink sugar cookie to double chocolate cake, all of the treats are moist, and most of them have a filling and frosting. 

Baked by Melissa has 13 different locations (all in NYC, sadly).

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Brunching (by the sea!)

On Sundays, breakfast is brunch and nobody does it better than New Englanders. Usually, I like to brunch in the various restaurants of Boston, the day was nice: sunny but cool, and no signs of clouds or rain, so I decided to take the day and travel a little north of Boston. 

My roommate and I chose to go to Rockport: a cute little town along the sea shore of Massachusetts. After walking around town while window shopping, we found the perfect place to eat, My place by the Sea. 

The restaurant is a little white house, offering indoor and outdoor seating. We chose outdoor seating, with the intention of enjoying the ocean breeze. The menu offers sandwiches, salads and soups, but mainly seafood. My roommate chose lobster tacos, while I stuck to my trademark order: lobster roll.  

Although the service was a little slow, it almost seemed unimportant with the nice view of the ocean. And when the food did arrive, the wait was worth it. Both lobster dishes were served and garnished elegantly. The lobster roll was prepared very well; it was creamy, but not greasy and it was accompanied by two sides.

While it’s easy to roll out of bed on a lazy Sunday and head to a restaurant nearby to brunch, driving around Massachusetts is worth it when you find gems like this.