Birthday Food Coma: Shabu-Shabu & Easter Smorgasbord Extravaganza

I celebrated my 23rd birthday last weekend with three amazing meals, the first of which I already babbled about in my Dining at O Ya post. You might think after a meal of that magnitude I might need a break... but if you think that, you don't know me very well. I woke up the next morning ready for more.

Josh & Mel Get Psyched About Shabu

Whose Hot Pot Is It?

We've been doing a lot of shabu-shabu these past few months because our great friends, Jeremy and Abbey who were also present for the birthday meal bought us a shabu pot and heating element for our wedding. I'll go to Ming's, the Asian market in the South End for thin sliced beef and veggies like baby bok choy, enoki mushrooms, cabbage and watercress, as well as the sesame and ponzu dipping sauces. I also buy a spicy soup base because I find it's easier than making your own and the broth takes on the flavor of everything that gets cooked in it so there's no need to go crazy making an elaborate broth.

Kenji Gives Me a Creepy Look

I like really fresh seafood so I usually buy scallops, shrimp, white fish and squid at whole foods or a fish market. I also get tofu, noodles and rice to serve with the meal. We're doing shabu at home this Friday so I'll get some photos.

How Every Civilized Meal Ends - Squid Swimming In Water Glass

Anyway, we're always wondering what the origin of shabu shabu is and I don't know why I never looked it up but our brilliant friend Jared was present last Saturday and he informed us it's Mongolian so that ends the argument. Mongolian hot pot. I think I probably knew that but I'm glad we've put it to rest. I was tired of telling Kenji it wasn't Japanese.

Shabu Zen West

We decided to try out the new Shabu Zen outpost in Allston. They have the exact same menu as the Chinatown location but it's literally ten times the size with some private tatami rooms. It's nothing special but it does the trick if you want shabu. All the meat and seafood dishes are served with a giant platter of veggies and they have a decent selection of Asian beers and sakes.

Bountiful Veggie Platter

Shabu is a great option for large parties and everyone always has a really good time trying to find their food in the big communal pot and mixing their own ponzu. We had some gyoza and edamame and went through a few bottles of sake during the meal and many beers... all for less than the cost of movie and a large popcorn.

Split Pot of Two Broths

It was a good time and the waiter who actually believed that I was turning 23 bought be a Xingtao which was nice. The best part is, everyone gets to eat like kings and then walks out the door without spending more than $40 and even that's a little high.

Gift from Josh

Cute Little Carrot Cake Made By Mel

Extreme Close Up of Best Carrot Cake EVER

Blowin Out the Candle

The Best Part

Easter Smorgin

Once again I got to share my birthday with Jesus which means a big ole feast and an egg hunt... which actually has nothing to do with Jesus. My 21st birthday was also on Easter which wasn't quite as cool but now that I'm 23, I really didn't mind it. Spending time with the fam, eating good food and chillin out was just my speed this year.


As I have discussed before, my in-laws take a Smorgasbord approach to family meals which provides a great variety and makes meals fun and communal. This year, everyone was responsible for contributing something.

Scalloped Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole & Asparagus Risotto

Dana's parents still made the bulk of the meal with some classic Americana that I can never resist, including green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes, as well as their famous Swedish meatballs (yes, they are of Swedish heritage) and some amazing desserts which included my favorite - strawberry rhubarb pie :)

Many Types of Pork

My parents and sister Katie were on hand because it was my birthday and they brought a spiral ham which was delicious served with pineapple and deviled eggs. My brother-in-law Erik and his girlfriend Alyssa made a great asparagus risotto, my sister-in-law Kristen made some great desserts and her famous Swedish coffee bread.

YUMMM

I brought a new concoction - a salad of baby romaine, sliced celery and scallions, pea shoots, crumbled chevre, sliced toasted almonds and mandarin oranges. I made a dressing of balsamic, olive oil, parsley, garlic, a little sugar and lemon juice. It was good and nice and light.

My Springy Salad

And Then There Was Dessert... Again

Our family always goes large when it comes to the sweet stuff. The smorgasbord concept gets extended beyond the main event to include a buffet style dessert extravaganza. After such a big meal, it's always hard to find room for dessert but when you see all the great homemade treats that get paraded out for these events, it's hard to say no and the good news is... there are always plenty of leftovers to take home!

Mom's Strawberry Shortcake

Kristen's Decadent Peanut Butter Balls


Kristen's Pretty Sugar Cookies

More Candles on Mom's Daffodil Cake


World's Best Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy I've Got Love in My Tummy

It was a busy food-filled weekend from high to low... amazing sushi at one of the best restaurants in Boston if not the entire U.S., a great communal shabu meal and comfort-filled Easter dinner among family. I really am a lucky girl. I also got some great gifts - an authentic Rondo jersey just in time for the NBA championship (kids size XL), a laptop backpack, a Wii Fit, an amazing new flat iron that I love more than anything... a down comforter for our new King sized bed, some awesome and very unqiue glassware for our new bar and money to buy an All Clad frying pan!

Can you say JACKPOT!!!!

No Cliché Here: Why Mom's Home Cookin' Rocks

Before I go misleading the masses I'm not talking about my Mom.

First off, I can say masses now because I added the Google Analytics code to my pages and am obsessively tracking and analyzing my traffic... "masses" might be a tad aggressive, but I have a few followers. Google is so amazing. I don't even need to go into this because I can't say anything people don't already know but the fact that I can sit here in my house, create this blog, apply analytics, tweak pages or link to them from other sites and instantly see the results for free is a thing of beauty. As an out of work marketer, the ability to leverage these tools, and stay fresh in my given profession is pretty cool. I heart Google. It's also so unbelievably user friendly a child could use it. As evidenced by the fact that I have figured this all out with zero help.

Midge Chillin By the Wood Stove

Anyway, about Mom. She is my Mom now but this is Dana's mother we're talking about... and while we're at it, his Dad also rocks because this cooking thing is a collaborative effort, among many other reasons. It's not that my Mom is a bad cook, she just doesn't cook a ton. Although strangely, it seems like she has started cooking more since my Dad retired. One would think she would have made more meals while the poor guy was working everyday but he was always the primary sustenance creator when he was doing the daily grind. However, none of that is really the point.

Dana's parents typically make a point of celebrating all of our birthdays with a special home cooked meal. It usually includes one of our favorite dishes or a dessert we particularly enjoy. They are great cooks and they have a few things they make regularly that are crowd pleasers - Swedish meatballs, homemade baked beans, pizza, these awesome hot dogs in BBQ sauce - yes, sounds simple but it's soooo good.

They also do a turkey dinner for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is beyond awesome. Didn't get enough in November? Fear not - there is another one coming in a month! When they toy with replacing the Christmas feast with something else, say a roast beef, it sends panic throughout the family. For Easter, it's an awesome ham with a variety of amazing side dishes... and there in lies why Mom's home cookin rocks.

Erik Being a Sport on His Birthday

Dana's parents have always taken a smorgasbord approach to family dinners and it's pretty much the best thing ever. At just about every meal there is a meat dish or two. In the summer they might grill chicken and steak or swordfish (Dad is possibly the best griller on the planet), but then there will be 4-5 awesome sides all made from scratch. Potato or pasta salad, green bean casserole, antipasto or fresh veggies from the garden. On our most recent trip down to the homestead, it was Erik's birthday and the amazing meal consisted of:

Meatballs & Pasta


Hot Dogs & Brats in BBQ Sauce


Moussaka (my recipe!) & Eggplant Parm


A Very Pretty Antipasto


Amazing Carrot Cake (Erik's Fav)


Apple Crisp

I mean honestly, can you think of anything more amazing? What a delicious and wide spectrum of hunger abating options. The other thing that's so special about meals at home is that they have a garden that's bigger than most people's backyards. They live on several hundred (?) secluded acres in the northwest corner of R.I. where you can't even see their closest neighbor from their yard. I might be exaggerating how much land they have but it's a whole lot. They regularly have families of deer prancing around back there (extreme measures are taken to keep them from munching said vegetable garden) and Mom said there was a little fox back there a few weeks ago.

Their garden is huge and requires a ton of energy and effort but yields fresh vegetables at every stage of the season. Asparagus and rhubarb in the earlier months, green beans, zucchini and tomatoes in mid summer, eggplants, fresh herbs and to top it off - fresh corn as the summer months start to wane! What's great is that they freeze and jar this stuff so they have fresh frozen produce all year. Love strawberry rhubarb pie (it's my favorite) - you can have a fresh from the garden (almost) one on your birthday - and Mom's pie crust is pretty much the best I have ever tasted. Super light and flaky and delicious.

They make a whole variety of jams, sauces, the best tomato soup ever, pickles and they freeze enough veggies that you’re eating corn that tastes like they just shucked it in February. These people are industrious and probably put you to shame. Don't feel bad. They are also the nicest, kindest, most thoughtful people I know. We are very lucky to have them. I'm sure they are blushing. Good, they should blush. They’re awesome.

My Typical & Bountiful Plate

My birthday happens to fall on Easter this year and it’s always so close to Easter that we typical do a two-fer which I don’t mind cause I love the whole ham and potato salad deal and usually there is a strawberry rhubarb pie to be had. We also have the annual Easter egg hunt in which Mom hides plastic eggs for each of us that contain riddles and you have to solve the riddle hidden inside your egg to get to the next one. At the end there is a basket filled with fun stuff. This never gets old and I think we’re all afraid that one day she will think we’re too old for it and stop doing it. Plus… coming up with all those riddles every year has to be difficult.

Anyway, I had to give a shout out to the elder Woulfes because they're awesome people who make great meals that make our tummies happy. Dana and I can only aspire to be like them one day... and for that to happen, he needs to be more helpful in the kitchen and handier around the house. He will kill me for saying that. He thinks he's very handy. He's getting there.

Dim Sum Roundup! Eastie's Other Pizza Sensation & a Lovely Meal I Never Would Have Thought to Make

So before I start rambling about a bunch of stuff I have shoved in my mouth lately, let me first begin by saying how much I enjoy shredding. Not in the cool "I love shredding gnar" kind of way, although I like that too, but in the actual act of putting little pieces of paper through a shredder. Nothing gives me more pleasure. Okay, that might be a slight overstatement. I don't know what it is but there's something very cathartic about taking bills, and other potential targets for identity thieves and methodically feeding them through the groaning teeth of the shredder.

We used to have a lame-o shredder that you could only put one piece of paper through at a time, although I think Dana went a bit overboard shoving fully stuffed envelopes in there which caused it to malfunction until it finally died with a sad little wheeze. When it was time to invest in a new one, I went no holds bared (what does that even mean???) and bought a semi-industrial strength variety that kicks ass and can shred several pieces of paper at once. It claims it will shred a credit card but I don't want a repeat performance of the last Titanic so I haven't tried that. I can handle cutting them up into tiny pieces with scissors. I sort of enjoy that too.

Anyway... I save up a bunch of "to be shredded" items which doesn't take very long considering I have all our mail, plus Gram's (I handle the finances of my elderly grandmother and get all her mail) and once a week or so, I sit down to get my shred on. I systematically feed all the credit card offers, paid bills and old bank statements into the shredder with unfiltered abandon. After a few pieces, I find myself turning into a drooling zombie. It's very strange. The thing puts me into a total trance and when I realize I'm finished, I go through a mini-withdrawal. Thank goodness there will be more shreddin to be done next week!

Marge Looks Smug. She Didn't Get Any Pizza.

So now that that's outta the way, I will explain the concept for the Dim Sum Roundup. I'm not sure I'm sold on the title yet. I need something catchy. I had thought about a rotating theme like mixed nuts, trail mix, party mix, etc. but Dana said it should be the same every time so people know what to expect. Yes, all my legions of fans will be so confused when I change up the title of my mixed bag post each week! But that's the idea. I go so many places and eat so many things I can't possibly keep up with it and as you may have noticed, I can be a bit loquacious so in an effort to shorten some of them up, I will mash a few into one and brand it something brilliant. Mashed thoughts? So much for making this a short one. Oondah thinks I need to work on my "readability"... I think he needs to work on his ability to read.


On with the show. Let's see. Everything is a retrospective these days. I'm going back two weeks to that sad night the Lakers beat the Celtics (again) by one point. Ugh. Stupid Kobe. That would have been Thursday, February 5th. I'm cooking a lot these days which means we don't order out much. I have been experimenting with the slow cooker because I have the luxury of throwing something in at noon and being home when it's finished. Anyway, with all this culinary genius going on, we miss some of our favorite local take out options. When I tell people I live in East Boston, even if they have lived in the greater Boston area their entire lives, they often have no idea where (exactly) my neighborhood is. However, with a little prodding they typically come up with that one constant, recognizable Eastie landmark. Santarpio's.

Sometimes There's DOUGH!

Sure, Santarpio's is great. I'm a huge fan. I find myself standing in their kitchen to pick up a pie inside a plain paper bag on many an evening. I love the semi-spicy sauce and the cornmeal crunch of the crust, but most people don't realize that this long beloved tradition isn't the only game in town. Enter Dough. Man do I love this place. It's right around the corner from our house but we typically have it delivered. They do thin crust pies and make all their dough from scratch. Ironically, if you call too late, they are sometimes out of dough which prompted our friend Beth to suggest they change their name. Maybe, Not so Much Dough... or Outta Dough. I thought a good one would be Yes! We Have No Dough. Anyway, they do pretty creative stuff with a pizza and here are our favorites in no particular order:

The Hawaiian - a white pizza topped with prosciutto, pineapple and dried coconut.

The Backyard BBQ - a light layer of BBQ sauce topped with grilled chicken & yellow corn; finished with cheese & fresh red onion.

The Z-berg -A red based pizza with prosciutto & caramelized onion.

On this particular night we had the Z-berg, the Hawaiian and the Hi I'm Lyla which I really liked and everyone else tolerated. It's a white pizza with pesto, artichoke hearts, goat cheese, roasted red peppers and Kalamata olives. We had our good friends and neighbors A+B over for the game that night and I think I was the only one eating the Lyla.

A few notes on these tasty creations. The Hawaiian is something special. Notice that it doesn't have any sauce??? Crazy, I know. It's totally amazing though. A thing of beauty. Very light and sweet and tasty. The BBQ is a bit tangy but Dana loves it. The first time we got it I was turned off by the corn. That's something the British do... put wacky things on pizza that don't belong there. When I used to go over to the U.K. for my old job, I wanted to ask them "why do you feel the need to muck up a perfectly good pizza with corn and chickpeas and spinach?" but then I remembered where I was and that ruining perfectly good food was something of an art form. The Z-berg is addictive. It's got that blend of sweet and savory that will make you eat well beyond your capacity.

Beyond the Za

Anyway, Dough is pretty awesome even if they do run out of dough sometimes. When that happens, I'm perfectly happy to order one of their bomb sandwiches which are also made with meticulous attention to detail and lots of fresh, creative ingredients. You can't go wrong with the Vermonter (maple turkey, smoked Gouda, bacon, sliced green apple and red onion w/ sun dried tomato mayo served on thick multi grain and baked), or the Turkey Gobbler (you can figure it out). Dana loves the Border Street Special (chicken cutlet topped with thinly sliced prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, roma tomato and fresh basil, drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette and served on a braided roll) and as I sit here, I'm dying to try Randy's Roast Beef (tender roast beef, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, topped with cheddar and a creamy horseradish sauce, served on a braided roll).

I can usually get away with eating half a sandwich and saving the other half for lunch the next day. Dana houses the whole thing. They also make an awesome Cuban and have some really great boneless wings. I can't say enough great things about this place. It's run by two very nice young men (I sound like my grandma) and they really do put a lot of care into the food they make. Wow... I'm hungry now.

Meat!

It's funny how you can live so close to people and talk to them so frequently but then go long stretches of time without seeing them. We try to schedule outings with friends and family members so it's not months in between visits (Oondah and Kenji are the only people we see nowadays with excruciating regularity) and lately these seem to center around our favorite TV programming. What have we become? It had been a while since we had seen my brother-in-law Erik and his girlfriend Alyssa so they had us over for dinner and Lost last week.

Anyway, they made an awesome meal that consisted of deliciously marinated steak tips that were broiled in the oven and a fairly decadent butternut squash risotto. It was a great concoction. I love me some meaty mcmeat. They had marinated the steak tips overnight so they were particularly tender and Erik manned the oven like a... well, like a man. The meat was cooked perfectly. It tasted like the tips we sometimes get from Butcher Boy in North Andover which marinate in a little packet for an eternity.

What's funny is that this is the kind of meal I would never think to make. For some reason when we are having dinner guests, I think Greek feast or Indian buffet. It's like I need to experiment with other people's digestive systems whenever given the opportunity. I'm not sure why that is. I guess I see dinner guests like blank canvases. Dana is too easy. He'll eat anything and he likes everything. With guests, perhaps I hope I will pick up on their distaste for a dish by the look on their face or maybe I want unsolicited praise from someone other than the person I cook for everyday.

What struck me however, was how easy the meal seemed to come together and how untaxed the two were while we stood around the kitchen, having a drink before dinner. Had that been one of my meals, I would be tearing around the place, straining homemade cheese and toasting coconut for fresh naan. For what? So I can sit down to a meal and be a hot, sweaty mess who isn't even interested in eating what I just made?

Good looking out guys... from now on, I'm making pork chops when you come for dinner!