The Joys of June

Where on earth did the month of June go?! I feel like I blinked and it was over! Despite its fleeting presence, I somehow managed to pack a lot in. Here's a round up of the things I ate / saw / made / did this month to kick off summer in the city that didn't get a post all their own.

Not that they each didn't deserve one.

Ice Cream Sundae @ Emack & Bolio's

Nothing embraces hot summer evenings (hey, there has been a select few) like a trip for ice cream sundaes. It's always all about gelato where I live in Little Italy, but when I crave actual ice cream I head just outside the neighborhood confines to Emack & Bolio's at Long Wharf. A scoop of ice cream or three hits the spot. Their batches are fresh made weekly with the highest quality ingredients and extracts. My go-to flavor is the Grasshopper Pie which contains creme de menthe liquor with Oreo chunks and chocolate flakes. Top it with warm gooey hot fudge, fresh whipped cream and thick chunks of peanuts and pecans and you've got a treat that says summer like nothing else.

Paul Simon Concert at The House of Blues.

Located on Lansdowne Street across from Fenway Park, The House of Blues is always a fun venue for live music and dancing. My whole life I've been wanting to see Paul Simon in concert. I grew up to the tunes of Graceland, it still ranks up there as one of my favorite albums of all time. He played a number of songs off that album and many more of the classic tunes I know and love him for. It was a truly memorable evening and I hope he comes back to Boston soon!

Layered Taco Salad - recipe courtesy of Chelsee @ We Are Not Martha.

See, I do cook sometimes. If you consider browning beef and prepping ingredients for a salad cooking. Actually, I should give myself a little more credit since the recipe calls for making your own taco seasoning and mixing dressing from scratch.
This salad was so good and yielded an insane amount of leftovers. I ate it every day for lunch the entire week after I made it. Thanks so much to Chelsee for the recipe inspiration.

Boating in Essex, MA

My sister's boyfriend grew up nearby, and some of his friends were nice enough to invite us out on their boats for the day. This picturesque coastal New England town on the North Shore of Massachusetts is home to beaches and waterways perfect for boating, relaxing, drinking, grilling, swimming and fishing.Which is just what we did on Saturday, June 18th. Gorgeous and sunny, with no rain in sight until the final boatride home, where we experienced a heavy downpour followed by a rainbow spanning its full arch across the marsh. It was a rare breathtaking sight - my camera was packed safely away from the rain. Hopefully the rest of the landscape views suffice. We drank vodka raspberry lemonades and grilled some marinated shrimp, along with burgers and chicken. This is what summer days are made for! I felt incredibly blessed for this day since I am usually mulling about the city.

Belgian Poutine ($8) @ Saus

One of my favorite spots to open this year is Belgian street food haven turned city household name, Saus. If you're local, you've probably been. Or should I say, hopefully you've been. If you haven't you'll definitely want to check it out, stat! The team at Saus perfects the art of fusing traditional Belgian frites into this infamous dish native to Canada and the very Northern parts of Maine and New Hampshire. Hand cut potatoes are deep fried and piled with heaping helpings of dense haphazardly shaped cheddar cheese curds, then slathered with rich, made-from-scratch savory brown gravy. The cheese curds are mildly salty with a unique springy texture that makes them rather fun to eat. Thick and silky, the gravy coats the crispy fries without overwhelming their texture.

I crave this dish on a fairly regular basis!

Chicken Stir Fry w/ Edamame Slaw

This ones all my own. It combines frozen edamame, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage and cilantro with chicken in a ginger-soy-terriyaki sauce. It was a delicious quick and easy creation. Did the month of June fly by for anyone else?! What are you looking forward to in July?

French Quarter Lust

Attention friends: this is my last NOLA post! It has been fun and exciting to recap the trip for you intermittently over the past few weeks. This final installment is a photo montage dedicated to the sites that make New Orleans, New Orleans. It is pretty much a compilation of miscellaneous photos that didn't make it into the previous posts. I hope you enjoy and thanks for letting me re-live this trip for as long as possible. Until the next adventure.....The days spent soaking up the French Quarter on foot were truly memorable. The city is one of a kind.Prominent architecture includes fancy balconies where the delicate wrought iron weaves intricately over blackdrops of richly colored pink buildings.Harsh weathered exteriors are a contrasting facade from those that are clean and polished. Where the balconies give off of a regal feel on one street corner, they are rough and worn down on the next.
The contrast between the two is ever so striking. The houses are often distinguished by wide paneling and painted shutters, I even spotted one with disco balls hanging from the roof! The Bourbon Street bars follow suit with weathered brick and balconies, adding flare with bright neon signs and lights, beads and bras, glitter and glitz. Our hotel was a real gem, here is the view from our 8th floor room at the Ritz Carlton, situated a block from Bourbon at 921 Canal Street. The courtyard was especially pleasant, offering a serene atmosphere to relax. We didn't spend too much time here, just enough to order a bloody mary before venturing out one morning. We spent a little more time one evening in the Ritz's swanky Davenport lounge where famous Jazz musician Jeremy Davenport performs on a regular basis. His show was a good time, the vibe is upbeat and everyone makes their way up to the dance floor sooner or later!Jackson Square is a charming section of the historic French Quarter. Be sure to wander over if and when you visit. A statue pays homage to our 7th President Andrew Jackson who (before his presidency) served as Major General leading a poorly equipped army to victory at The Battle of New Orleans on January 8th, 1815 against British troops that far outnumbered ours. This poignant victory marked Andrew Jackson a hero. The St. Louis Cathedral is another well known landmark of Jackson Square. Fountains grace the square along with artists selling their wares and donkeys offering carriage rides. The Fleur de Lis is a notable French icon. This stylized symbol is played up in all the shops and stores and below in lively Jackson Square artwork. If you haven't already, make sure to check out Tricia's Guide to The Big Easy over at Not All Who Wander Are Lost. She manages to wrap up the trip nicely in one post while still hitting the major highlights and offering some more in depth travel advice. They say the world is a book and those who don't travel only read one page. I feel it is a privilege to travel at all, and especially with these ladies. I can only hope the future has in store for us many more girls vacations!