liascucina.wordpress.com

I will no longer be posting here. I decided that I really hate the title “alittleaboutlia” and I think “lia’s cucina” is a much better fit for the blog!

It was nice to have some French press and not Via this morning too

Today is my last day of “vacation.” I get to hang out with one of my best friends from high school, Jill. I’m not sure what’s on tap for the day but we have reservations at Il Buco tonight. Every time I try to get a reservation here, I am unsuccessful, but I booked this about a month ago! It is supposed to be amazing and I can’t wait!

My body is definitely feeling the effects of eating too many of these and these over the past week. Ick. Too much sugar and fat, and not enough fruits and veggies makes me feel like crap. Time to get back on the health train.

We split an order of chicken tenders and fries. The Mission has the BEST “stinger” sauce. Amazing fries also.

Clearly this weekend was a major indulgence and I plan to balance it out with a healthy week. I won’t see Kev for about a month now, but I think it will fly by with the amount of work I have to do. Midterms are in about a month and then my thesis is due 3/26 which is the week after spring break…I need to get in the zone! Its starting to get dark and I just realized the light above my seat doesn’t work…now I can’t do all the homework I didn’t do while I was in Boston. Eeeek I am a major screwup lately. I’m gonna have to work my butt off this week Anyway…see you all from NY!

Kupel’s is a Jewish bakery that makes all sorts of treats in addition to bagels.

I love Kupel’s especially because they make different whole wheat flavors. I got a whole wheat poppy bagel with scallion cream cheese.

I

Kupel’s was too crowded to get a seat so we walked a block to Starbucks. I got a short skim capp!

Pre-lunch chocolate binge. I ate almost all the “good” ones yesterday. The green tea truffle, the one with the green drizzle, seriously tasted like green tea. It was interesting…I let Kevin finish it

I feel like I took a mini vacation being here since Tuesday night. There is no school tomorrow for President’s Day, and I have two friends coming in to visit, so it will be a nice end to my mini vaca. Then back to the real world on Tuesday

See you from NYC!

Kev got me a bunch of chocolates. Here’s what I can remember is in the box: vanilla caramels, salt-covered caramels, marshmallow caramels, coffee cremes, almond truffle, French truffle, champagne truffle, green tea truffle? These are from Serenade Chocolatier in Brookline Village.

Vanilla caramel. Mmmmm.

This is the marshmallow caramel. Made me feel like my teeth were rotting…but still delish!

Disclaimer: I ate 4 of these before lunchtime…

…aaaaand for that reason, I kept lunch light. A salad and half a grilled provolone sandwich. I was saving my belly for dinner!

Enjoyed relaxing and seeing The Poltergeist for the first time. Do you think Speilberg is embarrassed he made this movie?

On the way to Grotto, had to snap a photo of the State House.

Grotto is a cozy and intimate Italian restaurant on Beacon Hill. If you’ve been to Boston before, you know that Beacon Hill is incredibly charming, and this restaurant fits in perfectly in the neighborhood. I would honestly order anything and everything on the menu. I have been here maybe five times in the past few years, and it never disappoints. Easily my favorite restaurant in Boston

Started with awesome bread and EVOO with olives. Love that!

To start, I got the zuppa which was garlic soup with parmesan and truffle oil. This soup is seriously amazing. I gave Kevin a little bit of it…but basically devoured it on my own. This soup alone is worth going to Grotto.

So. Damn. Good.

For my entree, I ordered the pettini which is pan seared diver scallops “ravioli” with arugula and mushrooms. This is the second or third time I have ordered this, it’s that good.

They call it “ravioli” because the dish is layered with two sheets of pasta — one is on the very bottom of the dish and one covers the scallops, arugula and mushrooms on top.

I ate two out of three scallops, all the arugula and mushrooms and just a bit of the pasta. I’m stuffed.

Kev ordered the carne which was grilled beef tenderloin with risotto and asparagus in a red wine sauce. I stole some of the risotto so delicious.

We had dinner really early and decided not to order dessert because…

…I ate that many chocolates since 11 am. Kev had TWO and I had the rest…ugh. Needless to say, I feel a little sick to my stomach. Damn Valentine’s Day!!

Anyway, whatever you are doing on this Hallmark holiday, enjoy yourself and the rest of your weekend!

For lunch, I stopped into Panera. I love Panera!! I haven’t been in maybe 2 years? So it was a real treat! I ordered my fave, broccoli cheddar soup with a whole grain baguette. And…a Diet Pepsi. Bad, I know, but I just was in the mood for a little fake sugar.

I got a special treat for dinner…cooked by Kevin

He made salmon marinated in sesame teriyaki sauce with snap peas, asparagus and rice pilaf. Yum!! I couldn’t help myself and had to do something in the kitchen…so I pretty much made the asparagus. I couldn’t help it!

A little vino. ‘Twas good.

Nice little Friday night dinner! We went out for a friend’s birthday last night and I forgot to snap photos of my drinks…but I had 2 Sam Lights. Nothing groundbreaking.

I had another egg sandwich for breakfast. You guys know what it looks like

Going out to one of my favorite restaurants in Boston tonight — Grotto. Will be back with a review tonight or tomorrow

An egg sandwich on NON dry bread! Finally.

Before I left I also had a cookie. I’m not sure when I’ll get to eat lunch so I figured what the heck.

See ya later.

Michelle Obama officially launched Let’s Move, her signature initiative aimed at stopping child obesity in it’s tracks. Please check out the website and support the First Lady in this very important initiative!

Dinner was a little more blog-worthy. I promised Kevin I’d make his favorite — chicken parm. I usually fry the cutlets, but I decided to give baking them a try. The verdict: Ehh. Frying obviously makes a much tastier cutler, but baking is definitely not a bad option. It is absolutely better for the waistline, though — no oil!

The drill: Beat the eggs, dredge chicken in eggs, and then in panko. I am new on the panko-train, and I think they’re great! Definitely crunchier than regular ol’ breadcrumbs.

I skip the flour step entirely. I know you’re supposed to dredge in flour first…but my breading always stays on…so, whatevs.

I baked them in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, I put them under the broiler to crisp them up.

Once they were done, I added the remained of the jarred tomato sauce from last night’s pizza and pre-sliced provolone cheese. Ideally, I would have had fresh mozzarella and also some parmigiano…but I made do.

I almost forgot to take a photo before we dug in!

As Ina would say…”How bad can that be?” LOVE HER!

Ok so I lied, I had 2.5 cookies for lunch and saved the other half for after dinner

Off to relax. Night, guys.

I woke up this morning after my crazy day famished.

Made myself a gooey PB on cold bread. No banana because there is not a single piece of fruit in this apartment.

Kevin doesn’t drink coffee so I always bring Starbucks Via packets with me when I visit. They’re actually pretty good! I like the Italian Roast flavor best.

Then for lunch I found some Health is Wealth soy buffalo wings that I bought over winter break. I love these, but I eat them pretty sparingly because they’re really, really processed.

Found some Cape Cod chips laying around and snacked on a few of those.

Went grocery shopping, came back and made Kev his favorite cookies for coming to South Station to pick me up late on a Tuesday night! These are Betty Crocker Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, doctored up with a lot of cinnamon. Yummm. I overcooked them a bit.

For dinner…homemade pizza!!

• store-bought whole wheat pizza dough
• jarred tomato sauce
• provolone
• mozzarella
• mushrooms
• sage
• EVOO
• crushed red

I LOVE HOMEMADE PIZZA! My favorite combo is ricotta + mushrooms but I forgot to buy ricotta at the store.

Along with some greens for good measure.

I went back for another piece and a half…eek. I was super hungry.

My dining companion…I think he liked the pizza…:-D

Off to relax and try not to freak out about the next two days!!