James' youngest brother John is a groomsman in a New Hampshire wedding this weekend, so he flew over early to visit us in our new house for the first time. It's really great to have him here - we haven't seen him, or anyone from James' family, since Christmas.
The glasses are specially designed for Sam Adams Boston Lager. They have a lasar etching on the bottom to encourage small bubbles and the lip of the glass is curved outwards, which is supposed to make you taste the beer rather than the glass when you take a sip. We each got a glass, which say Sam Adams Boston Lager on the front. We were all pleased as punch to be able to take them home.
Then we took the T back into the center of town and gave John a tour of the city. We walked through the Boston Common to the public gardens, where we stopped by the pond to watch the ducks (there were baby duckies too!) and saw a mean old swan motor around chasing a young duck. Then we walked up Beacon St to see Cheers and the State Capitol building. From there, we picked up the Freedrom Trail and saw Park Street Church and the Granery Burial Ground, which happily was still open. So we paid our respects to John Hancock, Paul Revere, James Otis, Mother Goose, Sam Adams, and the five men who were killed in the Boston Massacre. We followed the Freedom Trail to King's Chapel and then the plaque marking the site of the first public school in America, and then the old state house and the site of the Boston massacre, then continued on to Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market. We watched a street performer at Quincy Market, then went over to the harbor, got drinks at Starbucks, and found a nice bench under an ivy-covered arbor to sit and enjoy the beautiful day. There was a street performer playing electric guitar, and he was actually really good - it made for a pleasant summer concert.
Next, we made our way over to the North End for dinner, where we had reservations at Lucca at 7pm. We ended up getting there a half hour early, so we circled the block to walk past Paul Revere's house. When we got back to Lucca, we were able to go right in for dinner. And it was amazing. I had fresh rigatoni with a wild boar ragu, and I was in heaven. We split a bottle of tasty Syrah and had a great time. After dinner, we stood in a looong line at Mike's Pastries to get cannoli and macaroons, which we enjoyed once we were home.
After we cleaned up from making the ice cream, it was pretty much time for bed. John wanted to go down into the city to check out business schools, so I gave him a crash course on navigating the T and we looked at Google maps to figure out where all the schools are that he wants to see. I found a free MBTA app for his iPhone which should help him find his way around using the T. He's borrowing our car today to drive down to a T stop to get into the city. I'm bummed we have to be at work today instead of tagging along with John as he visits the schools. But I'm excited that he's looking into possibly coming to Boston to get his MBA!
John arrived on Friday - well, actually the wee hours of Saturday - so we went to work like normal, then we had dentist appointments (boo), and we had Friday evening for relaxing and last minute tidying. I made snickerdoodle blondies for us to have while John's here. We went to bed, and then James bolted awake around 2:30 when John called, as planned, from our front porch. We got up to let him in, and we wound up chatting and catching up for probably about half an hour. Eventually James and I had to get back to sleep, while John stayed up since he was jazzed from his trip and on California time. I think we fell back asleep as soon as our heads hit our pillows.
We all slept in the next morning, even me! I usually wake up by 8am on the weekends but I slept until 10, which was amazing. I got up and started making French toast for breakfast, and when James got up, he got to work cooking the bacon and making the coffee. Eventually all the good food smells drifted into John's room and woke him up. We had a yummy breakfast feast and kind of lazed about for a while with the intention of going down to the city eventually. Around 1pm I checked the Sam Adams Brewery tour website and discovered that they are only open to 3pm on Saturdays, so we hustled to get ready and get out the door.
We drove down to a T stop and took the train into the city, straight to Sam Adams. We stood in a long line to get tickets for a tour, wondering if there would be enough tickets. Eventually we made it to the front of the line, and were about to get our tickets when we realized that John had forgotten his ID. No tickets for us. So we took the Sam Adams party bus to a local pub where they have a deal set up - if you go on the tour and then order a Sam at the pub, you can keep the glass. So James and John had Boston Brick Red, a beer that's only available on tap in Boston. We had lunch and the guys had another round of beers, and our waitress let us keep our glasses even though we hadn't gone on the tour. Fun!
The glasses are specially designed for Sam Adams Boston Lager. They have a lasar etching on the bottom to encourage small bubbles and the lip of the glass is curved outwards, which is supposed to make you taste the beer rather than the glass when you take a sip. We each got a glass, which say Sam Adams Boston Lager on the front. We were all pleased as punch to be able to take them home.
Then we took the T back into the center of town and gave John a tour of the city. We walked through the Boston Common to the public gardens, where we stopped by the pond to watch the ducks (there were baby duckies too!) and saw a mean old swan motor around chasing a young duck. Then we walked up Beacon St to see Cheers and the State Capitol building. From there, we picked up the Freedrom Trail and saw Park Street Church and the Granery Burial Ground, which happily was still open. So we paid our respects to John Hancock, Paul Revere, James Otis, Mother Goose, Sam Adams, and the five men who were killed in the Boston Massacre. We followed the Freedom Trail to King's Chapel and then the plaque marking the site of the first public school in America, and then the old state house and the site of the Boston massacre, then continued on to Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market. We watched a street performer at Quincy Market, then went over to the harbor, got drinks at Starbucks, and found a nice bench under an ivy-covered arbor to sit and enjoy the beautiful day. There was a street performer playing electric guitar, and he was actually really good - it made for a pleasant summer concert.
Next, we made our way over to the North End for dinner, where we had reservations at Lucca at 7pm. We ended up getting there a half hour early, so we circled the block to walk past Paul Revere's house. When we got back to Lucca, we were able to go right in for dinner. And it was amazing. I had fresh rigatoni with a wild boar ragu, and I was in heaven. We split a bottle of tasty Syrah and had a great time. After dinner, we stood in a looong line at Mike's Pastries to get cannoli and macaroons, which we enjoyed once we were home.
On Sunday, I got up a little earlier (9:30) and read in the living room until James appeared, probably around 10:30. We did some yardwork while John slept - James mowed the lawn and I weeded the flower gardens. Even though it was before noon, it was getting really hot! Finally we retreated inside and got started on breakfast - I made homemade buttermilk Belgian waffles and scrambled eggs my dad's way (lots of veggies) while James did the bacon and coffee. Eventually the smell of food worked its magic on John, and we sat down to a big brunch feast. We had originally planned on taking John on a hike, but with the heat we would have had to leave the house by 8 am. By the time we finished brunch, it was too hot to think about hiking, so I suggested we go see a movie to escape the heat (we don't have central air so hanging out in the house wasn't ideal). We decided to see Inception, which John hadn't seen yet and even though James and I saw it the weekend before, it was worth a second viewing. So we made a quick trip up to Salem NH to pick up some pet supplies, then headed over to our favorite theater for the movie.
After the movie, we stopped at the grocery store and then headed home to make dinner. We made beer can chicken on the grill, which we'd never done before. I used a Food Network recipe to create a yummy rub (smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, dried oregano and thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper) which we rubbed all over the chicken inside and out. Then we stuck the chicken on a 3/4 full can of Corona and set it on the hot grill. After a little bit, the chicken caught fire! All the fat dripping down made high flames all around the chicken, and the tail actually caught fire. James turned off the grill, I blew out the tail fire, and we decided to cook it at a lower temperature than the recipe suggested. Despite all that, the chicken was awesome! It was so flavorful and juicy. We had it with roasted sweet potato wedges (which I roasted in the toaster oven on the porch, so as not to heat up the kitchen, steamed green beans and salad. For dessert, we had snickerdoodle blondies and some lime sorbet I'd made on Thursday. Delicious!
After we cleaned up from dinner, I worked with John to make chocolate ice cream. Somehow over the weekend we got to talking about how I make ice cream and sorbet, and he got interested in making ice cream at home, so I'd suggested we make my favorite recipe together so he could learn how to do it himself. He wants to be able to make homemade ice cream to impress the ladies, and I think it'll work! We made a custard-based ice cream, which really is the best kind, and I showed him how to temper the eggs which is the only tricky part of making a custard. It's chilling in the fridge right now, and when we get home we'll put it in the ice cream maker! It's going to be sooo good.
After we cleaned up from making the ice cream, it was pretty much time for bed. John wanted to go down into the city to check out business schools, so I gave him a crash course on navigating the T and we looked at Google maps to figure out where all the schools are that he wants to see. I found a free MBTA app for his iPhone which should help him find his way around using the T. He's borrowing our car today to drive down to a T stop to get into the city. I'm bummed we have to be at work today instead of tagging along with John as he visits the schools. But I'm excited that he's looking into possibly coming to Boston to get his MBA!
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