I lost a very nice earring that my husband got me for my birthday.

Dinner was part of the CEiMB installment. On the menu for the night: Ellie Krieger’s mexican tortilla pizza. I actually made the black bean dip the night before. Planning ahead worked out well since I was still a little shaken up by this lost earring thing. I omitted the onions from the dip, and added cheese to the “pizza.” I told my husband we had pizza for dinner. There was no way in hell I could omit the cheese on this one. Treaky, Ellie. Don’t omit the cheese next time you present us with a pizza recipe

The husband’s 2 “pizzas”

Mine:

The black bean dip is definitely the star of this! It’s quite yummy. The jalapeno added a nice dimension to the dip, without being overpowering spicy. We have a bunch left, which I’m sure will be gobbled up with some tortilla chips.

REST OF THE DAY’S EATS:

Man this breakfast was delicious! I planned to have some yogurt with the leftover nutty topping for breakfast but waking up to a freezing cold house, I was craving something warm. The solution? Combine the 2!

Breakfast: 2 Nature’s Path wildberry buckwheat waffles with Barney Butter, oikos plain organic greek yogurt, Maine organic blueberries + nutty topping

I love how the Barney Butter is oozing out. Rocking breakfast!

Lunch: leftover almond crusted pork with brown rice and Asian cucumbers

Remember these guys?

These little beasts definitely tasted like cucumber. As you can see they were quite seedy and spiky. The skin was also quite tough and a little bitter. I didn’t have too many of them. A little too intense for me

Dessert: Flour Bakery banana chocolate bread pudding

I was in the hood by Flour Bakery during lunch, and decided to stop by to get a tiny cookie. I almost had a heart attack because I just couldn’t decide what to get. At the end the banana chocolate bread pudding jumped out at me, although now I’m dreaming of just about everything else I saw there. Not good. I savored this guy throughout the day but to be honest I’m now feeling guilty about it. Too many super indulgent treats lately, and at the end I didn’t even make it to the gym! I’m going to try to eat a little cleaner today, and try limiting the crazy indulgent treats to once or no more than twice a week. I haven’t gained any weight yet but I know these can add up.

Pre-workout (that never happened) snack: 100 calorie pack of pistachios

Post dinner snacks: 1/2 FFL cinnamon raisin english muffin with pb

+ roasted almonds:

Have you ever lost a material thing? How did you handle it? The first thing my husband looked at when I told him I lost something was my hand. I guess it could be worse (although my ring is insured…)

Not just any cake – a chocolate mousse cake (read: creamy = exactly what I’ve been craving!!!)

My guess is that this is white and milk chocolate mousse, covered in a rich dark chocolate ganache. There is also a bottom little chocolate crust with nuts.

Absolutely perfect with a skim decaf latte!

This slice of cake was actually gigantic! I drew a line on top where half of it was, and made sure to save that half when I got to the line. I also only drank maybe one half of the latte. Too much of a good thing. While enjoying my cake, I found a fun magazine:

Can you think of a better way to spend an evening when your husband is out watching football with his friends? I can’t!!

OTHER EATS

Breakfast:

Looks like my usual Food for Life english muffin with Barney Butter and organic Maine blueberries, doesn’t it? Today there was a special little twist to my breakfast… cinnamon raisin FFL english muffin! Can you see the raisins hiding in the dough? Loved this kind too!

Mid-morning/pre-workout snack: 2 Ryvera crackers with toasted almond dessert hummus + 1/2 pear:

Lunch: mixed greens, roasted beets, pulled chicken, cucumber, goat cheese and cranberry salad:

Lots of great flavors going on here:

Mid-afternoon snack: 1/2 Koka Moka Pro Bar that I got at the Summit

I’ve seen these bars on blogs before and REALLY wanted to try them. At 360-400 calories, the bars are meant as meal replacements, packing a lot of nutritional punch on the go. There are lots of oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruit and chocolate in this guy. I loved all the chocolate chunks and the almonds but overall found the bar to be a little weird. The seeds with the oats made for a strange chewy consistency and I thought they were a bit bitter. I may buy this bar if I’m away from home, in a hurry and really need a meal in a bar, but I won’t voluntarily buy these for snacks (only eating 1/2 at a time of course). Just my opinion

Lastly, I got a little hungry later in the night and wanted a savory snack. I guess cake for dinner doesn’t totally work I made a half ham and cheese melt (with a little dijon mustard).

Say cheese!

I’m off to do some foam rolling. My muscles are SORE. Took a power yoga class today that wasn’t particularly hard in general but kicked my butt legs. My foam roller came with a little video I think I’m going to watch to learn some fun stretches with that beast. I’m just so wild when my husband is gone!

Cake may not be the most nutritious choice for dinner, but I ate lots of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats and whole grains during the day (+exercised) so I thought it was important to satisfy my craving so I could stay sane. How do you feel about cake for dinner (on occasion)?

Pre-workout breakfast: 1 ww toast with Barney Butter and 1/2 banana + coffee

During the run I had 1 Clif shot block (strawberry flavor). I thought the flavor was really delicious (like strawberry preserves in a block) but the texture was not at all was I was expecting. I was expecting a firm gummy bear type thing, but this thing was sticky!! Really sticky. I don’t bring water with me on my run and this was a problem right away. The second I put that thing in my mouth I instantly started mentally thinking about where I could buy water. Thankfully there was a gas station only a few minutes away. I don’t know if it was the shot block or the fact that I didn’t push myself very hard, but I had plenty of energy the entire time. I’m looking forward to having more of these on my next run. I will make sure to have water with me, though. Otherwise it’s not pleasant

Post-workout lunch: grilled zucchini, eggplant, roasted beets, tomato and goat cheese paninis

I grilled the veggies while getting for the run in the morning. A little planning goes a long way. This was exactly what I wanted after recovering from the run -  lots of warm veggies + goat cheese. Mmm

Then Adam and I continued our sofa bed hunt (I think we’re getting a fancy futon) and I got a sugar craving. Wow that never happens I got a craving for a very specific cookie from When Pigs Fly when I realized we were in the neighborhood of the bakery, but they were out of it I had to get a different cookie – chocolate heath bar and this guy was nearly the size of my head!!

This cookie was actually kind of dry. It wasn’t bad, just not great. I ate it throughout the day, and at the end finished it. Not sure if it was worth the calories but I was a hungry monster all day so whatever (I burnt ~1300 calories during the run/walk!)

Mid-day snack: oikos, peanut butter granola + organic berries (raspberries, strawberries, Maine blueberries)

Open wiiiiiiide

Dinner: CPK wild mushroom pizza (on thin crust)

I swapped a slice of my mushroom with my father in law’s chicken bbq. Yummy

I ate 1/2 pizza at dinner, and then another 2 slices as a late night snack. The pizza seriously doesn’t taste unhealthy although I know it’s still caloric. Does running so much justify all this food? Probably not. I was listening to my body, though, and fed it. I’m cool with that.

At night, a little champagne was also consumed (I only had a few sips)…

… and a few caramel filled milk chocolate turtles:

Plus some roasted almonds and pecans (unpictured). No more nuts straight out of the bag. That’s a new rule in this house. Dangerous habit.

Do you run by yourself or have a running buddy? Which one do you prefer? I just love chatting with Molly during our runs – it makes the time fly by. Most of the time I even forget I’m exercising!

Yesterday was such a fun day. Lots of fun foods and good times with friends. I started out a little stressed out about everything that needs to be done before the big move (it’s in 2 weeks, yikes!) but slowly loosened up and decided to just go with the flow

The morning started with a blueberry muffin + coffee:

+ very soon after a peach chobani + fresh peach and Kashi Golean cereal was consumed:

For some reason I just had a crazy hunger all morning. What’s up with that?! I had the other half of the Goji Moji bar while waiting for our appointment to see our new condo the last time before closing (we brought the color wheel to finalize paint colors, measured the outdoor space so we can order furniture, etc.). This time I still tasted the orange peel but also the flavor of the figs stood out. K was right that it tasted a bit like the filling of the fig newtons… but more wholesome of course

By the time our condo “inspection” was over, Adam and I were both STARVING (seriously, this should not have been the case. Something was up with my metabolism) so we went to the first place we saw – California Pizza Kitchen. Despite loving the pizza I’ve had lately, I’ve been lately slightly jealous of Adam’s selections, so he agreed upfront that we could swap 1 slice of each other’s. This meant we had to “approve” each others’ toppings and after much consideration chose 1/2 original bbq chicken (bbq sauce, smoked gouda and mozzarella cheeses, bbq chicken, sliced red onion and cilantro) and 1/2 wild mushroom (cremini, shiitake, portobello and white mushrooms, fontina and mozzarella cheeses with a wild mushroom walnut pesto; garnished with chopped Italian parsley).  We asked for no onions on anything and requested a thin crust instead of the original (it’s $1.50 extra but saved about a million calories so it’s worth it in my opinion).

Here is the whole pie (about 12″):

My first 2 slices (I had another mushroom one):

This was honestly amazing, and I’m not just saying that because we were really hungry. The thin crust was really thin so I felt like it was a significantly healthier option – and it was really flavorful! The toppings were also quite creative in my opinion – not just your standard mozzarella/red sauce combo. Have you had CPK pizza? What’s your favorite?

We were still a little hungry after this lunch, so dessert was in order! I knew exactly what I wanted – a nut box from Tatte (if you don’t know what a nut box is – I raved about it and Tatte here). I am absolutely obsessed with this bakery. It’s just the cutest thing and everything is super fancy and amazingly delicious. Just look how adorable the decor is…

As you can see below – what I actually got was not a nut box. The desserts in the back refrigerator started talking to me when I saw them I got the raspberry cheesecake and a coffee. Doesn’t it look wonderful?

It was light and fluffy and just rocked my world. I was eating it very quietly while enjoying the cute bakery scenery. This dessert was a larger treat that I allow myself on a daily basis but was just an amazing weekend splurge. Good thing I burnt over 1,000 calories on my Sunday run (more details in a separate post). Everything balances out

Adam chose a much healthier dessert – Berryline. I had to get a little tasting of the rose flavor. Yum! I keep forgetting how indulgent these nonfat frozen yogurts taste. Very creamy. I think there is some Berryline in my future over the next 2 weeks (it’s currently located in the building we’re moving out of).

Oh yeah – when I got home I had a package… 6 flavors of the Crazy Camel dessert hummus (thank you, Chuck, for sending me these!). I’ll do a separate post on them but basically they are pretty awesome and healthy. I’m a big fan!

Oh man, this has become a marathon post – sorry to bore you, but I guess this was a happening Saturday We ended up going to Church for dinner. I knew I’ve been quite indulgent over the course of the day, so I tried to keep it kind of light with my food choices. Not everything was waist friendly, but I tried to keep the portions reasonable.

I started the meal with the shrimp bruschetta (spicy pepper sauce, oven roasted tomatoes, feta cheese) my sister ordered and was kind enough to share with the table. These guys were spicy! Adam and I have actually ordered this exact appetizer before and recommended it to my sister. It was a winner once again

Knowing that I’ll be tasting other people’s food, I got the salad appetizer as my meal. This salad is off Church’s summer menu – tomato salad with mixed greens, kalamata olives, feta & lemon-mint vinaigrette.  The dressing had onions in it, so they brought me the balsamic vinaigrette on side + some EVOO and balsamic vinegar as well. I only drizzled a bit of the vinaigrette over the salad greens. Everything was so fresh and flavorful there was no reason to doze it in dressing.

The tomatoes were the coolest! There was a mix of yellow and green tomatoes and they were literally melting in my mouth. Oh and mid-way through the meal I noticed that it was goat cheese, not feta that was in the salad. Works for me since I love goat cheese more than feta

All right on to other things I tried/ate. I had some of the baked mac and cheese (sinfully cheesy, crispy bread crumb crust) my sister and I ordered together. This stuff was rich! We ordered a “small” since I knew it would be one of those things that you can only have a few bites of before getting into a food coma. This was still a very generous portion.

The mac and cheese was on a drier side (i.e. not runny) – just the way my sister and I like it. The topping was especially buttery – we think they used ritz crackers or something. I tried not to eat too much of it, but my fork definitely was reaching for more when I wasn’t paying attention Good stuff!

I also had 1/2 of my dad’s scallops – isn’t the presentation awesome?

It was perfectly cooked. Unfortunately the risotto had onions in it, so I can’t speak for how that was. I tried 1/2 of my mom’s crab ravioli and wasn’t a big fan. It got cold by the time I was ready for my tasting so that could have something to do with it

After chatting for a bit, I realized I was still hungry, so I had a slice of the white bread with some butter from the bread basket. The butter was very yummy but I’m not sure what was in it – maybe roasted garlic and thyme, but it was also a little sweet. Yum! Btw, I do this often – leave the bread basket to the end of the meal. I’d rather have the bread if I still have stomach room instead of overfilling on it and being unable to eat the actual meal.

Everyone really enjoyed their meal at Church! The restaurant is a block away from our current place – I’m going to miss having such a great venue so close to home!

Finally – seriously I’m going to end it soon – I promise … we went to a drink-off party. This was part II of the original drink-off (where someone you may know came out victorious ). I’m retired at this point, so this time it was between our friend Tiffany (Tiffany, do you want to say anything for yourself in the comments section? hehe) and Gary. Man, this was a hilarious night! I had 1 Organic Peak pomegranate wheat beer. That’s it for drinks for me. Actually this beer was too hoppy for me, otherwise I would have had another.

At some point during the night, I had a few handfuls of Smart Food. I actually checked the ingredients list before diving in and it wasn’t that bad. Nothing alarmingly scary. I forgot how much I liked this stuff!

And 1/2 of a Hershey’s bar was also consumed.

My friend Jim wanted to be on the blog, I think, so he stole a bite of my chocolate. I had to document it. Ok, maybe he just wanted chocolate.

Mmm, sweet ending to a wonderful day. I’m off to do more packing!

Before the stupidity began, I actually had an amazing time with Adam. Breakfast was another apple cranberry muffin with crunchy Barney Butter (new shipment – oh how I missed crunchy BB!)

Then we decided to go to Tendercrop Farm to buy some local/grass fed meat. Since we were in the area, we decided to stop by Adam’s hometown, Newburyport, pretended to be tourists (window shopped and took lots of pictures) and had lunch at the famous Michael’s Harborside. The weather was gorgeous! I really felt like we were on vacation

Oh on the way to Newburyport I busted into this passion fruit/macadamia nut KIND bar. I actually had a few bites from it at a time throughout the weekend. This was when I was still trying to eat intuitively and tried to balance not ruining my appetite with not letting myself starve and trigger overeating.

Some pics in Newburyport…

This duck was so cute! It was just chilling by its little “Inn”

Newburyport is right on the water and is known for their fresh seafood so of course I got seafood for lunch.  Before our main course arrived, we were served some fresh rolls with butter…

… but after having a bite of it I realized it tasted like regular bread and just “wasn’t worth it.” The appeal of warm bread kind of dissapears when it’s sweaty mid-80′s. For my entree I got the grilled swordfish in citrus ponzu glaze, with asparagus and rice on the side.

The asparagus was drenched in butter. I was so disguisted. Thankfully they had some steamed asparagus in the kitchen (waiting to be buttered) that the waitress was able to snag for me. It made this meal a little better. The citrus ponzu I thought was too intense and actually masked the flavor of what otherwise was a nicely grilled fresh piece of fish. It’s a little sad that this is what most people want – butter on asparagus and thick sauce on their fish. Most food was fried of course, so I guess this was still one of the healthier meals.

After lunch we finally drove to Tendercrop farms. We were both happy to find out (especially me!!!) that we could pick our own blueberries. Yay!! My outfit doesn’t exactly scream “ready to blueberry pick” but it was actually really easy (i.e. no crawling required) and sort of therapeutic. The best part – a whole pound of blueberries was $2 (if you picked them yourself). We got 2 pints for $3. Sweet! I was really happy at this moment.

At Tendercrop farms we got some local meat, fruits and veggies and these 2 baked goods that I had to dig into in the car (ate the rest later that night). First up: whoopie pie – tasted like chocolate cake with frosting. Yum!

And a rocky road bar. OMG SO good! I want more now (actually that’s a lie… after a weekend of serious overeating all I want it salad and fruit to cleanse my body but this brownie thing really was amazing!)

Dinner that night was a whole bunch of (unpictured) walnuts and probably more than 1/2 a box of these Russian chocolates (they have some kind of peanut paste in them that doesn’t taste like peanut butter). 

Addictive stuff. I basically finished this box on Sunday morning. Yeah, good times. Anyway, that’s Saturday’s eats. The first half of the day was so amazing, I just had to share it with you. Hope your weekend was good. I’m back at work today with a reignited fire to eat healthy. What else is new?!

Here are yesterday’s eats. I was so busy that  most of my meals (except for breakfast) had to be purchased. A little more treats than usual, but they were all pretty much incredible so at least those calories were not a waste. Oh and dinner/drinks + the comedy show with Tina and Mal was fun. We had to bail out a little early (Adam had to work) but we’re already talking about future plans with those 2

Egg & cheese on a FFL english muffin + fresh blueberries and coffee:

Iggy’s fresh mozzarella with organic tomatoes, basil and mustard vinaigrette on a baguette. The bread was so chewy – yum!

The Danish Pastry House apricot/cherry almond pie slice. It was so rich, I couldn’t even think about food for 5 hours!

The popeye salad: spinach, mushrooms, green apple slices + candied walnuts, goat cheese and shrimp at the Grendel’s Den. (*I made a whole bunch of subsitutions so the actual menu item looks quite different)

+ a pint of Magners cider (unpictured).

The salad did absolutely nothing to curb my hunger and my sweet tooth was screaming at me during the first half of the comedy show. Good thing there was the most adorable chocolatery right around the corner from the show. I snuck in to the L.A. Burdick during intermission and enjoyed this piece of heaven: 

That’s the harvard square: dense, rich chocolate cake with walnuts and vanilla, topped with dark chocolate ganache

This WAS dense and rich, and chocolaty and fudgy. Mmm. Best chocolate treat I’ve had in a while. Made me (and my sweet tooth) happy

On that note, I’m signing off. How is your day going to be today? Will it into being a good one!!

So it was FREEZING cold and crazy rainy so for our first stop we decided to go back to Jacques Torres and have some hot chocolate. The place instantly put a huge smile on my face the moment we walked in. Not only did I know I was about to have the best hot chocolate ever, but I was also in space with bright colors, happy children and lots and lots of chocolate!! Yep, I was pretty much in heaven!

I held off on a cookie this time (although the mudslide cookie I got last time was one of the best I’ve ever had!) and just went with the small wicked hot chocolate: rich velvety dark chocolate drink with spiced with hints of chili peppers (they use real melted chocolate in the drink!!)

The spices are very subtle, but added a little somethin somthin special… don’t be afraid to try it if you’re ever there (better yet, ask for a small sample – they are very accomodating!).  Just like the classic hot chocolate, this was very rich and chocolaty. My husband and I each got our own but couldn’t finish our “small” cups. We enjoyed a little break from the outside elements while sipping on this liquid heaven, but decided that next time we’ll definitely share a cup. A little goes a long way here – the stuff is intense!

Next up… Levain bakery, just around the corner! The place is a tiny little whole in the wall, but cookies are anything but small Those babies are GIANT!!!! (is that font GIANT enough for you? … I’m serious about the size of those cookies! ) This time I got the dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookie.  Adam got a little sourdough roll which I also tried…it was awesome!

I should not that since we had very fancy dinner plans, I really tried no to ruin my appetite. So I did not touch this cookie until later in the night, and even then just had a tiny taste. It was awesome! LOTS of pb chips and a really great texture. I think they taste kind of like cookie dough on the inside. Oh these giants are superb!

Levain bakery also has a few savory items… I was eyeing one of their olive + goat cheese flat bread pizzas…. next time!

Last stop (I couldn’t resist it!): Magnolia Bakery (on the Upper West side). I know this place is quite controversial. My husband still thinks the only reason everyone likes the place is because it was featured on the Sex and the City, but honestly I truly believe they have the best chocolate/chocolate cupcakes… and I’ve tested this theory on many occasions. The upper west side location also has many other pastries so last time I decided I’d also get a brownie (brownies are basically my favorite category of baked goods) and of course the mandatory choc/choc cupcake. Again these were not enjoyed until later in the trip.

The cupcake on the left is a red velvet cupcake I got for my sister, but I tried a tiny bite of it. We both weren’t crazy about Magnolia’s red velvet cupcake… I still say the choc/choc is the best! Oh and how cute are those Easter decorations?!

The white chocolate fudge bar brownie has a white chocolate layer and is topped with pecans. Sorry for uncreative descriptions, but all I can say is that it was delicious. I really love my brownies with lots of “stuff” and the white chocolate + pecans definitely rose to the occasion. I loved the crunch of the pecans over the creamy white choc topping… and the brownie was the perfect balance between fudgy and chewy… yum!

And with these, my second bakery NYC tour is over. I actually had 2 other places on the list, but decided to cut it short because well… there was more “crack” in my sister’s fridge that I just knew I couldn’t resist

There is always the next trip. Stay tuned for that one. I promise to throw a few “new” bakeries into the mix

BRUNCH

When I got invited to a brunch with my friends Katy and Christina (hi ladies, if you’re reading! ) I was determined to stick to my “diet.”  I definetely often have an all or nothing mentality, but I’m desperately trying to break this habit.  Going out to eat is ok, I just have to make better choices to be able to enjoy it more often.

I woke up a little early to look up directions, get ready ,etc. so I had a snack.  I didn’t want to get to the restaurant starving… I knew my defenses would be down if I did that (mmm, stuffed french toast).

Brunch location: Sound Bites in Sommerville.  This place is usually packed and has a line out of the door on weekends.  It was very busy around 9:45 am (when we got there) but thankfully due to daylight savings time we were able to be seated right away.  Awesome!  We grabbed coffee right away (self serve – very cute!).

I was SO good.  Seriously I could not be more proud of myself.  I got a greek omelet (the menu said “generous feta + spinach”).  Here are the substitutions that I made to be able to enjoy it guilt free… egg whites, easy on the feta, add mushrooms and tomatoes, dry whole wheat toast, fruit salad instead of home fries.  Pretty good, heh?  And I didn’t even eat the whole thing (a few bites of the omelet and bread were left and I only had 1/2 of the fruit salad).  I enjoyed every single bite and did not feel deprived one bit.  If I could eat like this every time we were out, I’d be at my goal weight by now… probably.

Then my husband and I went to a few open houses again… this is the most frustrating process EVER because you can’t help but get your hopes up and inevitably get dissapointed.  Somehow in the town where we’re looking to buy, the market is crazy strong.  The apartment we liked right before going on vacation was sold within days of the first open house.  When we got to today’s open house (the apartment has been on the market for 4 days and it was the first open house) the agent said the owners have already accepted an offer last night, but were “accepting back-up offers.”  WTF is that?!!  Waste of everyone’s time!  Anyways, in the midst of all of this we got hungry and decided to treat ourselves to sandwiches and baked goods (ok the baked goods were just for me! )

LUNCH (AND DINNER)

We drove to The Real Deal deli in West Roxbury, the owners of which also own the Sugar Bakery located adjacent to the deli.  Both places are amazing!  I wish the stuff was healthier so we could go there more often.  The choices of foods are endless and absolutely everything looks mouth-watering. I got the cuban panini, which sounded kind of healthy (i.e. no mayo, etc.) – slow roasted pulled pork, sliced ham, swiss, krinkle cut dill pickle chips and french yellow mustard – and asked them not to use any butter while grilling the bread.  It was still slightly greasy as you can see from the paper it is on.  The panini was huge (it looks kind of regular in this picture but trust me it was ginormous) so I ate 1/2 of it for lunch and the rest for dinner.

And of course I had to have something from the bakery.  See the endless pastries?  It was SO hard to make my choice!

I ended up ordering the chocolate cupcake with the cream cheese frosting.  This thing was super sugary (honestly I don’t think it was cream cheese frosting) but somehow it hit the spot (on a different day I may have thought it was gross).  It was also quite fudgy.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a cupcake this chocolaty.  This is a good quality in my book so I’ll definitely be back to try their other cupcakes and pastries.  I love baked goods!

The rest of the day had random, unpictured eats.  I was too lazy to do anything.  I ate the remainder of the sandwich, an orange and a few no pudge brownies.  Whoever said they could do damage with those in the house was apparently talking about me.  I’m so weak sometimes, especially with a few indulgences under my belt.  The all or nothing mentality definitely came back.  Damn, I really do need to keep working on it.  There was also no workout (too full)

I know I’ll have a better day tomorrow.  In fact I’m super remotivated again and can’t wait to be good to myself!  Hope you at least enjoyed some of those pictures

Did you miss me?   Yes, I’m in Asia but I’m too exhausted to write (we are having a blast already despite being crazy tired!).  However on my one billion hour flight over there I had quite a bit of time on my hands, so I decided to write about my most recent B&B experience (I have a crazy backlog of stuff I want to share with you!).  After our lovely dim sum brunch, surprise surprise I wanted chocolate.  Somehow no matter how satisfying a meal is, I still want dessert, especially on days when I decide to indulge a little (or a lot).  This being a Sunday, even with decent weather outside, my husband and I decided to walk over to the South End and do a little B&B action… this time not only did it involve baked goods and beverages in bakeries and bars, but we even ended up at the (South End) Buttery and Banq (how’s that for a triple B&B?! )

Let’s start with the first B (my personal favorite)…

BAKED GOODS AT THE SOUTH END BUTTERY

I asked Katy, a friend of mine (that has a huge sweet tooth just like I do – which makes her a trustworthy source) to recommend a bakery near China Pearl.  She said: “forget China Town – the best stuff is in the South End [(you know you were drooling when I reviewed our last visit to Flour Bakery in the South End!)] – try the Buttery.”  I asked her what her favorite baked good from there was, and she recommended the carrot cake cupcake.  I was surprised to hear that because Katy is allergic to nuts, but she said their cupcakes didn’t have any.  So off to the Buttery we went.  Upon arrival, I could not contain my excitement.  The place was SO cute!  Perfect on a leisurely Sunday afternoon.  I checked out the carrot cake cupcake but quickly realized that the nuts are my favorite part so the double chocolate cupcake caught my eye.  The brownies also looked pretty good (they had regular chocolate brownies and sweet potato brownies – those sound pretty cool, heh?), but once I had cupcakes on my mind there was no turning back.  I got the cupcake.  Look how pretty it is!!!   Of course I took a quick picture and dug into this baby right away!

Hmm, this is where my excitement stopped.  It wasn’t bad, but I have to say I’ve had better cupcakes out of a box… and you know that doesn’t score any bakery “brownie points” here.  I had a few more bites, let my husband try it, and threw the rest away!  What?  Elina throwing a cupcake away?  Seriously, I’m pretty sure this is the first time that’s ever happened.  I’m not going to say this is the worst cupcake I’ve ever had (it wasn’t) but that particular day I thought I wasn’t going to waste calories on a sub-par cupcake.  We left.  I was sad.

We turned a corner to get to the second part of the B&B… and wound up at Banq…

BEVERAGE AT BANQ

I’ve been to Banq before – for dinner.  The place is so modern and very New York like, or at least that’s as close as we get to New York style here is Boston.  My husband and I absolutely love this kind of vibe but were extremely disappointed with dinner there about a year ago (average food, horrible service, overpriced given the previous 2) but a drink there sounded innocent enough.  Here is a little picture of the bar and the super cool ceiling

It was maybe 2pm at this point.  I didn’t know what kind of drink to order.  I don’t drink that often, especially in the afternoon.  I decided to go for a dessert like cocktail, given my less than stellar bakery experience just minutes ago.  Can you tell I was really upset?  I get extremely excited about my baked goods and when they disappoint, I get moody

I scanned the menu….

and decided on the Winter Warmer: kahlua, gingerbread liqueur, nutmeg and milk.  Sounds good, right?  It was!!!

Aaah, much better!!  This was very smooth, slightly creamy and sweet – kind of like a gingerbread iced chai.  Yum!  Maybe I’ll give dinner at Banq another go some day (a few of my friends love it there!).

But wait… there is more!  Do you think I could just give up on my baked good unsatisfied craving?  Flour was just a block away!  I really considered going there for a few minutes (my husband really loves their rolls by the way so he wasn’t about to complain about our mini detour) but then thinking of the Buttery again made me upset.  I really wanted to like the place.  Seriously, it is just such a cute little place!  I really didn’t want to write a negative review.  We went back.  This time I thought I went with the safe choice.  I got a chocolate brownie (even though the sweet potato one was intriguing).  I had it to-go, so a few hours later when I was ready for a little treat again, I gave it a whirl.  Doesn’t it look amazing (again)?

The verdict?  Eh, again!  I had a few bites and tossed it as well.  The best part was the little bit of the chocolate drizzle on top.  The brownie was super buttery and rich, but just not very chocolaty.  It was almost gingerbread like, and that’s not what I want when I get a brownie.  So yeah, I’m sorry to say but both of my trips to the Buttery were a bust.  Anyone else tried it?

See you later with a recap of my eats while traveling for nearly 30 hours + our first meal in Hong Kong!

Ok, let’s get to it.  I had a great last day before vacation!

BEST MEAL OF THE DAY

Well, technically it was a snack, but it was glorious.  No it was not healthy, but you’re going to think it’s silly but… I’m afraid I’m going to have chocolate withdrawals while on vacation.  I just don’t think Asia has much to offer in that department.  We’ll see… I could be wrong.  Anyways, I decided to get this indulgence and it was so amazing.

See the second cookie in the background?  They were 2 for 1 and I just couldn’t resist.  These are my favorite!!

OTHER EATS

And the snacks I packed for the trip!  I need to be prepared

WORKOUT

I almost missed my workout because there was just so much to get done before leaving, but I decided to squeeze in a quick one.  Who knows when my next workout will be (most likely in 2 weeks!).  I did a quick 1.75 mile run on the treadmill before taking the Ropin’ class (intervals of 1 minute jump rope and another weight lifting or cardio interval).  The class was awesome – so much better than yesterday’s waste of time!  Workout stats…

• Duration: 0:53
• Calories burnt: 469 (40% fat)
• Ave HR: 150; Max HR: 209

Ok bloggies… I gotta turn off this baby and pack it up!  See you later!!!!