petecarpenter.com

10/25/2004

• did you really think that anything could top the sox this week? what an incredible week and series. the sportsguy sums it up for us.
• jon and carolyn cut their california vacation short because the red sox are in the world series. now those are true fans.
• i’m now entering the 3rd week of little sleep. why can’t they start these games earlier?
• we’re finally caught up on our tivo after a week straight of baseball watching. and i’m enjoying desperate housewives.
• the ashley simpson fiasco on SNL. and somehow, i actually watched this live.
• i’ve been so into the baseball playoffs that i started listening to sports radio. and i hate sports radio. but i can’t get enough right now.
• i ran by the head of the charles on saturday. hmmm, let’s stand out in the cold and mud and wind and watch a bunch of people row from far away! um, no thanks. but at least there was kettle corn.
• it’s getting cold out. this sucks.
• i sold my first item on ebay. and i also bought some stuff. uh oh. i hope i don’t get addicted.
• you know what’s good? candy corn. they’re completely artificial and i always eat too many of them and get a stomachache, but i can’t help it.
• um, have we forgotten that the pats have now won 21 straight games? but i can’t focus on them until after the baseball season is over.

10/18/2004

• my computer is back up and running. all it took was a new motherboard and new memory. beats buying a new computer…
• yes, of course, all of us dummy red sox fans still believe. as long as they’re still playing, there’s a chance. just somebody take out matsui for crissakes.
• american pie: my search for the perfect pizza. this book is fantastic. it’s just all about pizza. peter reinhart is a culinary instructor, master baker, respected author, and apparently, a pizza fanatic. he goes on a search for the perfect pizza, gives tons of definitive recipes, and helped us make the best pizza cambridge has ever seen. ok, so the dough took 2 days to make (although it can be done in one), but otherwise, it was no harder to make than any other pizza. but the crispness, and balance, and flavorfull sauce was the best we’ve ever made. and the red onion, pistachio, rosemary, and parmesan pie that is apparently the signature pie of chris bianco, our pizza hero, was just so different and tasty.
• we stayed in and cooked both night this weekend. that’s right, an entire weekend without eating out. how the hell did that happen?
• another saturday afternoon on duty at the WA student center. which consists of sitting around for 4 hours in an empty student center, watching tv (last time was a significant others marathon, this time it was an arrested development marathon), playing 10 year old arcade games, and playing pool.

10/13/2004

• sorry for not posting yet this week. we just got back from our anniversary trip to montreal. yes, that’s right, it’s been a year. and what better way to celebrate it than by doing just like we did on our honeymoon, mainly eating ourselves silly, drinking wine, walking around, and sleeping a lot.
• i’ll get pictures up eventually. my computer died. hopefully i can fix it. otherwise, does anyone have a spare computer that they want to give me?
• hotel nelligan. such a cool and well-run hotel in Old Montreal. did i mention the huge down comforter, the gigantic jacuzzi, and the steam shower? and wine and cheese every night.
• brunoise. our first dinner in montreal, this was a tough one to beat. a great staff, delicious inventive food, a cool atmosphere, and an outstanding bargain. the young owners are always present and eager to please, and once again, we made friends with the owner and closed the place down. and perhaps the dessert of the year with their Vanilla pannacotta with basil coulis and passion fruit. Words can’t describe this one. go to montreal, make a reservation, and order this. twice.
• the marche jean-talon. we need one of these markets in boston. row upon row of fresh and local produce, tons of samples to try, meats, eggs, flowers, oils, gourmet foods, cheese, fish, etc. we went there twice. and yes, all of our pictures are from here
• fromagerie hamel. a great cheese shop in marche jean-talon. we managed to overcome the language barrier to sample some local quebec cheeses. we weren’t sure how customs would take to us bringing back whole wheels of raw-milk un-aged camembert (which is illegal to bring into the US), so we just stuck with small pieces. we could have brought back a trunkfull of cubans and they wouldn’t have given us a second glance. next time…
• the great montreal bagel trek. montreal is supposedly famous for having some of the best bagels in the world. with 2 competing operations, fairmount bagel and st. viateur bagel, we of course had to try both. fairmount is the older of the 2, and with a variety of flavors (as compared to st. viateur’s 4 varieties), it definitely had more of a head start. both hand roll their bagels and bake them in a wood fired oven, which give them that extra something special. but when it came down to it, there was no comparison. the “all-dressed” (canadian for “everything”) bagel, still warm from the fairmount oven was one of the best bagels we’ve ever had. st. viateur’s sesame bagel didn’t stand a chance. it was very firm, still warm, but more crunchy then crispy. it reminded me of those stella d’oro sesame breadsticks. needless to say, the U.S. customs agent didn’t have anything to say about the the dozen fairmount all-dressed bagels in our backseat either.
• l’express. the classic montreal brasserie that has been around for years, we wanted to experience the real deal (as opposed to the faux brasseries a ‘la pastis and balthazar. well, let’s just say that we enjoy the imitators better than the originals. it’s not to say that we didn’t enjoy our meal, but we were underwhelmed, especially after brunoise.but it’s definitely worth a visit if it’s your first time.
• LaLoux. since monday was the actual day of our anniversary, but it was also canadian thanksgiving, we had some trouble finding a restaurant that we wanted to go to and was open. we sort of left it to egullet’s and the concierge’s recommendations, and sort of jsut hoped for the best. in the end, it was the perfect place. quiet, charming, perfect service and perfect french food with some twists. we loved it there, and would definitely go back.
• let’s talk about some of the stuff that we ate this past weekend. we’re adventurous eaters, but we mainly stick to seafood, poultry, vegetables, and the occassional lamb. but if there was any time to try some new stuff, this was it. the chicken, veal, and fois gras terrine and the previously mentioned pannacotta at brunoise, the lamb sausage from the vendor in the jean-talon market (people were lined up for these, and the smell was incredible, so we just had to try one), the fish tartare and chicken liver pate with port at laloux. and guess what? we loved them all.
• i’ve never really driven to see fall foliage, but driving through the mountains of new hampshire and vermont was pretty cool.
• the Underground City. literally miles and miles of an underground network or malls, retaurants, office buildings, and subways that link the city, so you never have to go outside in the winter.
• of course we had to go to the roots store. and what did we buy? well, of course, we bought british and barbados track jackets! huh?
• the red sox in the ALCS vs. the yanks. need i say more?
• i love that all of the boston radio stations have tessie in heavy rotation
• after talking about how we needed to go to craigie street bistrot after our experiences this weekend, we returned home to a late wedding gift of a gift certificate to there. crazy.
• family bonds on hbo. what a great show. it’s like the osbornes mixed with cops
• howard moving to sirius

montreal church

jean talon tomatoes

jean talon peppers

jean talon carrots

jean talon radishes

jean talon beans

jean talon peppers