Task 30 – Byblos (Worcester, MA)

Restaurant: Byblos

Stars:           3 Stars

I wanted to try something new for dinner.  Byblos was listed on the participating restaurant’s list for restaurant week and sounded good so I decided to give it a try. It is located in Union Station and had a very Moroccan/Middle Eastern feel the second you walked in. Directly ahead there was a great bar with huge mirrors making the room feel even bigger. To the left was more lounge and to the right was more dining area.

While we were eating a band was setting up for an evening gig. Normally I wouldn’t object but the restaurant should have turned off their music and just let the band warm up. They instead kept turning up their background music for some reason and it was a bit distracting with both at once.

We started with the Fattouch Salad and the Hummus. The salad was huge and was fresh and light. The tasty lemon and olive oil dressing brought out the flavors of mint and thyme. I was a great way to start. The hummus was different then I am used to. It wasn’t as finely chopped as I would have liked and was a bit chunky. It also was a tad dry and needed a bit more tahini or olive oil to lighten/soften it up.

I had the grilled Kaffta and my friend had the Chicken Kabbab. My kaffta was excellent and was very flavorful and incredibly tasty. It was fresh and light and perfectly complimented the rice and pita. The grilled chicken was juicy and flavorful and didn’t disappoint.

For desert I had the Rice Pudding and he had the Baklava. The rice pudding was fresh and tasty but not as sweet as I am accustomed too. The baklava was a bit soggy and didn’t taste particularly fresh.

All in all it was a mixed meal. Something’s were out of this world and others left a little to be desired. Byblos shows a lot of promise and with a little fine tuning they will really have something that could remind me of the old El Morocco.

 

Task 30 - Cabot's Ice Cream & Restaurant (Newton, MA)

Restaurant: Cabot’s Ice Cream & Restaurant

Website:     www.cabots.com

Rating:        4 -Stars

Open since 1969 Cabot’s is still family owned and operated and has become a tradition in Newton.

Immediately after walking in you feel transported back to the good old days where it was quality of product and service that made a business successful instead of flashy marketing and fancy storefronts.  Cabot’s has stayed true to their roots offering comfort food and ice cream creations in generous portions.

During this visit I selected the Old Fashioned Brownie Sunday. The double fudge brownie was amazing and the rich and creamy ice cream was perfect. It was huge and covered in hot fudge, caramel and topped with whipped cream. It was so good that I forced myself to finish the entire thing. Gladly I didn’t bump into any sharp objects on the way out as I might have exploded on the spot.

 

Task 30 – Ceres Bistro (Worcester, MA)

Restaurant: Ceres Bistro

Rating:        4-Stars (Food)
                     2-Stars (Service)

This past week was Restaurant Week in Worcester. Many of the most popular restaurants participate and I often try a few of them. This time I picked Ceres Bistro. I have been before but management has changed and I have heard mixed reviews mainly focused on the service.

I called for a reservation thinking it would be packed. Much to my surprise when we arrived at 7:00 it was about 30% capacity. They seemed to have lost my reservation and seemed flustered that they couldn’t find it. Thankfully it wasn’t a problem and they agreed to seat us.

Anyone who has dined out with me knows that my biggest pet peeve is being seated at the kitchen or bathroom door when there are seats available away from those high traffic areas. Well Of course that is where they wanted to seat us. I asked to be relocated immediately.

Our second table was in the Club Room. It is a small room off to the side of the main dining room and was nicely decorated and very intimate. The large sliding doors were open to the outside patio and with the weather unseasonable warm it was delightful to enjoy the fresh air.

However, the first thing I noticed when we were seated was that my dining partner’s water glass had lipstick on it. Additionally, the table cloth while appearing to have been cleaned had a large very visible stain. I also noticed throughout the course of our meal that several of the white plates were chipped.

Our waiter was friendly but seemed to be new to the profession. He failed to bring us bread and oil without being asked and never actually brought the oil. He also brought a beer without a glass and brought me lemon’s instead of limes as I had requested. When I asked for the limes I was told they were out. Really a restaurant ran out of limes on a Friday night during restaurant week. 

Now to the food. Both my dinner partner and I decided to order from the restaurant week menu. For an appetizer I selected the Count Neck Clams. There were 4 clams and they were tasty and tender. The Narragansett larger broth was very flavorful and was a nice compliment.

My dining partner had the Baby Arugula Salad and I will admit I had to try it. It was perfectly dressed in a sweet onion poppy seed dressing and the candied orange peels, pecans, and goat cheese was exceptional compliment to the fresh and crisp greens.

We both selected the same entrée a Heart of Sirloin served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and fresh vegetables. The sirloin was tender and melted in my mouth. It was cooked perfectly to temperature and had just the right amount of sear to keep it juicy. The potatoes were rich and buttery and complimented the fresh vegetables which were perfectly al dente.

For desert we chose differently to sample each others. I selected the Panna Cotta Duo with pistachio and vanilla honey panna cotta.  The panna cotta was rich and creamy and so smooth. The flavors were perfectly balanced and for me a perfect end to a great meal. My dining partner had the Toasted Marshmallow and Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding served with vanilla bean gelato and cherry reduction. The bread pudding was fresh and light and the chocolate was rich and creamy the ice cream was soft and refreshing. 

I would return again for the food but as nice as the waiter was I hope I get a different one or I hope he learns the trade and perfects his skills.

Task 30 – Shiraz Armenian Cuisine (Worcester, MA)

Restaurant: Shiraz Armenian Cuisine
 
Rating:        4-stars

The interior isn’t anything special but the food sure is. Today I had the Chicken Shawarma Salad with lentil as the side soup. It was delicious. The chicken was tender and juicy and the salad cold and refreshing.  The salad was lightly dressed in a tasty yogurt dressing which complimented the curry in the chicken shawarma perfectly. I will admit I have had this before and it was and still is worth coming back for.

Task 37 – “Extreamly Loud and Incredibly Close” Movie Review

(37) Watch 26 Movies (18/26)

Movie: Extreamly Loud & Incredibly Close

Rating: 5-Stars

Review Coming Soon

Task 30 – WooDaddy Waffles (Worcester, MA)

Restaurant: WooDaddy Waffles
Location:     897 Main Street
                     Worcester, MA 01610
                     (520) 561-3424
Website:      woodaddywaffles.com
Rating:        5-stars

This morning I woke up craving a waffle. I decided to head over to IHOP since I have had them there before and enjoyed them.  Unfortunately the line was way too long and I wasn’t willing to wait so I hopped on Yelp and searched for restaurants that have Waffles. WooDaddy Waffles appeared with 4.5 out of 5 starts as a Yelp rating and decided I would give it a try.

For those interested you won’t have an easy time finding it. It is actually in Moynihan’s Pub on Saturday and Sunday Morning’s. We arrived at 11:00 and found that it was also a fundraising day for VegWorcester. Proceeds from the day’s sales would go to support VegWorcester VegFest. The menu was an eclectic mix of sweet and savory waffle offerings. Everything from chocolate chip or coconut rice waffles to waffles rancheros’ and a curried lentil waffle. They also had an option to have gluten free waffles instead for a $2 up charge.
 

I picked the standard chocolate chip waffle w/ fruit and vegan whipped cream. The waffle was chocolate chip with chocolate sauce drizzled on top and it was excellent. I could definitely taste a small difference but it was not noticeable that it was a vegan creation. They also provided us with soy butter rather than traditional butter and the vegan whipped cream definitely had a unique flavor. The strawberries and banana’s on the side were fresh and added a little bit of normalcy to the unique and tasty breakfast meal I was having.

I am excited to try WooDaddy again when it isn’t a vegan menu but I was definitely left satisfied and happy with my choices.

Task 66 A - Add trim to doors and replace baseboards

This past weekend I finally installed new baseboards. Previously I have clamshell baseboards and I hated them from the day I moved in. I had decided because of the cost that I would replace them if and when the floors were redone. Well almost 10 years later the floor is the same and as a result the baseboards had never been replaced. I resisted because of the cost but during a trip to Howlett Lumber with my contractor friend Chris I found 16’ 4.3” Speedbase for $8.00 bucks. At $.50 a foot let’s just say that was way too good a deal to pass on and I bought what I needed on the spot.

It took all of a day and a half to complete because I’m slow and there are too many distractions but they are in and they look great. I also wanted to make my door frame’s look a little less plain. I have steal doors and the standard square door frames. I bought a simple piece of molding to wrap around the door edge and used liquid nails to keep them glued to the steel frame since I couldn’t brad nail them. Liquid nails, caulk, and a coming soon paint job should keep them in place for a long time to come.

I’ll post more pictures when everything is freshly painted and you can really see how it looks.

Task 23 - Complete and Maintain my EFFAK

Task 23 - Complete and Maintain my EFFAK

The Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) is a simple tool to help minimize the financial impact of a natural disaster, national emergency, or death. It helps people identify and organize key financial records and serves as a quick reference to their family of their most important financial documents should they become unable to take care of those things personally

I know that this sounds all doom and gloom but it is better to be organized then to not have any clue as to ones assets etc. This all came to the forefront when my grandmother first became ill. It was a scramble to figure everything out while she could still be asked about things. This lead me to want to be sure that should something happen to me that everything important is ready and that whoever will have to deal with my estate has everything they will need. MY EFFAK is 134 pages long.

The Emergency Financial First Aid Kit offers easy step-by-step instructions for how to protect personal assets and financial information, and reduce the challenges associated with emergencies, disasters & death. In 2005, the document became a registered federal government document, listed as FEMA publication #532. The Emergency Financial First Aid Kit is the first free emergency financial reconstruction and economic recovery guide for disaster victims.

There is also a companion piece to the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit , the Personal Disaster Preparedness Guide (PDPG) which will guide people through steps they can take before a disaster strikes. This I have not yet completed.

Task 56 - Origami Crane

(56) Make 10 Origami Figures. (2/10) Today is the birthday of Akira Yoshizawa (吉澤 章 Yoshizawa Akira; 14 March 1911 – 14 March 2005) who is considered the grandmaster of origami. To honor him I thought today I would complete another lesson in the art of origami. This lesson was to learn to make an origami crane. It took a few runs to learn it and memorize the folds but I think it came out nicely. I know this is the first one most people learn but for whatever reason I picked the dinosaur first.

Task 34 – Take an Art Class: New Street GlassWorks (Worcester, MA)

Studio: New Street GlassWorks
Location: 35B New Street
                  Worcester, MA 01605
Website: www.worcester.edu/WCC/
Rating: 5-stars

Last night several friends and I participated in Friday Night Fun with Glass Blowing: Saint Paddy’s Beer Glass with the Worcester Center for Crafts/New Street GlassWorks. Both the Center for Crafts and New Street GlassWorks are affiliated with Worcester State University. The New Street GlassWorks is equipped with a glass furnace that keeps 400 pounds of clear glass melted and ready for instant red-hot use. Three "glory holes" are cranked up as needed for glassblowers making use of the hot shop. There’s also a cold shop, a mold shop, a flat shop, six rental studios and a flame working studio.

The cost for our class was very reasonable (about 80$) and it was a fun way to spend a Friday night with friends. Our instructors were Caitlin V, Emory and Ian. After a quick safety lesson, description of the tools and equipment, Caitlin got to work demonstrating what we would soon be doing ourselves. They regularly reminded us about safety because of how easy it is to get burned. If you are not careful with molten glass heated to about 2000˚ it isn’t hard to see how you could get burned given how closely you are while were working with the materials.

We had two options; we could make a colored beer stein with a handle or we could make a clear beer stein with a green shamrock.  I decided on the clear beer stein since I didn’t want a handle and I thought it would be cooler to have a clear glass to see my beer in.

I went first and I was paired with Emory as my instructor and assistant. Emory had a great personality and immediately put me at ease. The first step of glass blowing is to use the blowpipe to gather molten glass from the furnace.  Then we rolled the glass on the marver to create a cooler skin on the exterior of the glass allowing us to be able to mold it easier.  As the glass cools we reheat it using a glory hole until it was glowing red between each step. Next we lightly blew air through the blowpipe to create a bubble in the glass. I learned from Ian that it isn’t the air but rather the moisture in the air that expands and causes the glass to balloon.  We then start by scoring the glass just past the blowpipe using the jacks. This will allow us to separate the glass from the blowpipe later. After scoring we continue to inflate the bubble and mold the shape using  blocks which are ladle like tools made from fruitwood that have been soaking in water. We begin to create a cylindrical shaped bubble by using the jacks to smooth the bubble as we shape it with the blocks.

With the bubble now large enough it is time to add the shamrock. We do so by simply sticking our bubble in the garage where the pre-heated glass shamrocks have been baking and pressing the bubble down and picking up one of the shamrocks.  We continue to use the blocks, jacks, and glory hole  to merge the shamrock and our bubble together. Once we are satisfied that the shamrock and glass are combined we add more air to our bubble and inflate it further.  To lengthen the height of the cup we then swing out bubble like a pendulum causing the bubble to stretch.

Now we must separate the glass from the blowpipe. But first we must create a flat bottom of the glass where we attach it temporarily to another rod called the punty. We use a paddle to create this flat spot by further inflating the bubble while we gently push against the bubble with paddle to create a flat spot. Again we use the glory hole to keep the glass hot. To attach the punty we must first user it to gather a small amount of glass which we then roll on the marver. Once we have created a small cylindrical nub we use the tweezers to position it directly in the middle of our flat bottom. Once attached we cannot break the  glass off the blowpipe.

This process one of the most difficult according to both Emory and Ian. This is where many novice glass blowers break their glass.  They will assist me through this process. Using the tweezers I collect water from the bucket and where I had previously scored the glass using the jacks I quickly put the water. This cold water instantly caused a reaction in the glass and created our break point. Using the handle of the tweezers we lightly tap the blow pipe and the glass should and did pop right off leaving an open end to my glass.

Now we re-heated the glass in the glory hole again and using the jacks begin to stretch the opening out until it make s a glass shape.  Once we smooth the edges out and we are satisfied with the glass a simple but deliberate tap to the punty causes the glass to drop off into the oven mitted hands of Ian.

Now begins the waiting game. Sadly there is no instant gratification. The glass is put immediately into the annealer where is must cool the glass slowly over a 24 hour period. This will keep the grass from cracking due to thermal stress. Hopefully tonight I can get over to the studio to pick up my glass.

Our instructors

Emory                                 Ian                             Caitlin