food

French Onion Grilled Cheese Sammies

July 12, 2012

Grilled cheese please!

Grilled cheese was always my faaaaavorite growing up as a kid. Even in college, when we’d head to the local diner on Sundays I’d always order a grilled cheese with a side of potato chips. Also, orange soda. We can’t forget that part! It wasn’t complete without the orange soda.

These days I don’t make too many grilled cheese sandwiches, but when I do I’m always glad I did. They are HEAVENLY.

This particular sandwich was thought up when my friend Melanie planned to come over for dinner and ice cream. Well, I shouldn’t say I thought it up, rather I looked it up on Pinterest. Went straight to my “Yummy Yummy” board to what delicious things I had pinned and could possibly make for this ice cream loving summer night.

Interestingly enough, I mostly only ever pin sweets to my “Yummy Yummy” board. WHO would have thought?! I guess we all now know what my weakness is.

Anyways, eventually I stumbled upon a delicious looking picture of a French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

WOWZERS.

And so, two incredibly amazing totally ridiculous grilled cheese sammies were made that night.

We were dying over it. The oozy gooey goodness was almost, alllllmost too good to handle. We had to take some breathing breaks for sure because we were 1) getting full from the cheesy deliciousness and 2) sweating from the crazy heat of summer in my NO AC apartment.

Oh, life.

Good thing there was sweet cold delicious ice cream to be had later. It was the cherry on top of a lovely summer night.

French Onion Grilled Cheese Sammies

What you need:

Sourdough Bread (or whatever kind of bread you fancy, really)

Gruyere Cheese (shredded)

Fontina Cheese (shredded)

Yellow Onions (caramelized)

BUTTER

Directions:

1). Grate your cheeses and set them aside.

2). Caramelize the onions next. Slice them and toss them in your dutch oven (or heavy saucepan) with butter (about 2 Tbsp) and cook them until they are nice and brown. Sidenote: We burned ours a little because we were chatting too much and I was trying to take pictures of the ice cream before the sun went down (BLOGGER NERD ALERT) but still, the sammies were INSANE.

3). Slice your bread, and butter each side. Then, put one slice of bread in the pan. Top the bread with loads of both cheese and the caramelized onions, putting the second slice on top, creating your sandwich.

4). Wait till the cheese is good and melty, then flip the sandwich over to grill the other side.

5). Cool for just a bit, slice, and ENJOY!

You should DEFINITELY make one of these soon. Just saying. You won’t regret it.

7 Comments · Filed Under: food ·

life’s a beach. and lobster is delicious.

July 2, 2012

Well, these pictures just scream summer, wouldn’t you say?

It was my very first day at the beach and it was heavenly to say the least. I can’t believe I waited until the first day of July to go, but it’s not as though I wasn’t doing other equally important things. Places to go! People to see! That’s going to be my motto all summer long.

Good Harbor Beach up in Gloucester on the North Shore is a beach that Zan has been going to ever since he was a kid. And now, it has become my favorite beach as well. The sand is super light and soft and the beach stretches long and wide. Yesterday we went up in the afternoon, around 3, which was nice because the sun wasn’t too scorching (although in general, this weekend was H.O.T.) and the crowds were starting to fade. We stopped at Five Guys on the way up and then I spent the rest of the time with my toes buried in the sand and nose in my book.

The night ended with lobsters and mussels, which I happily drenched in loads of butter.

You only live once, people.

You only live ONCE.

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From my experience, all of the North Shore beaches are wonderful. And they’re easy to get to, too! You can drive (about 45 minutes from Boston) or easily take the Commuter Rail up to many of the beaches along the North Shore of Massachusetts.

Below is a list of beaches I have been to in the North Shore, and I can attest that they are all terrific:

Beaches in Gloucester

Good Harbor Beach — good long stretch of white sand and there’s an island that you can walk out to on a sand bar at low tide. A personal favorite.

Wingaersheek Beach — soft sand and an area of very large rocks where puddles of water form that’s perfect for little kids. A beautiful spot.

Manchester By The Sea

Singing Beach — my friend just recently told me that the sand “sings” when you shuffle your feet across it, and it’s true, I tried it!

Newburyport

Plum Island — a quiet beach on the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, nice if you don’t want to deal with the crowds.

Ipswich

Crane’s Beach — gorgeous! Just totally and completely gorgeous.

Do you have a favorite beach that you like to go to around Boston? If so, let me know! I’d love to hear about your favorite spots.

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P.S. All of these images were filtered with a new iPhone camera app I just purchased, VSCO cam. I’m loving it, and maybe you will too. Click here for more details or type in VSCO cam at the app store.

13 Comments · Filed Under: food, life, summer, travel, vintage style ·

the one and only coney.

May 24, 2012

Yesssss.

Coney Island!

I’ve always heard about this place, but this past weekend was my first actual visit, and what a perfect time it was.

First off, there was hot dog eating. Gloooorious.

Coney Island is home to the World’s Famous Nathan’s Hot Dogs and even better, the International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Meaning, people come from all over the world to just stuff these hot dogs in their face. No shame, NO SHAME.

I myself had one and I’m strictly a mustard girl. Call me boring, but I like to keep things simple. Sharon went for the sauerkraut and Beck opted out of this adventure. She missed out, right?! You can’t tell me a hunk of pork isn’t totally worth it every once in a while. Because oh, it is.

Yeah, that hot dog tasted real good.

DELICIOUS.

After that we explored the boardwalk and carnival rides. We even took a whirl on the Tilt-A-Whirl. I can’t even put words to how much fun it was. I felt like I was 10 again and it was the most amazing carefree feeling I’ve felt in a long time. We laughed so hard we cried. And we screamed like there was no tomorrow. And then we laughed some more. I got that incredible roller coaster feeling– you know the one where you feel like you’re flying and your stomach does flips flops? I LOVE that feeling. To me there is no better feeling in the world.

After that we did the photo booth and I desperately wanted to ride the Wonderwheel, but it was closed for maintenance. Better safe than sorry, I guess, so instead there was walking on the beach and dancing on the boardwalk…

Have you ever been to Coney Island before?

“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.”

-Dr. Seuss

9 Comments · Filed Under: food, friends, travel ·

new york city: day two

April 26, 2012

Oh, Sunday. I think you were my favorite.

Day two in New York City was Ahh-mazing with a capital A. I spent the whole day in Manhattan, and when I say the whole day, I mean from sun up to sun down, walking and skipping from place to place.

I started out early with a walk to find coffee. Remember, I had my own keys and I could do as I pleased, so I left the apartment on the Upper East Side with my yoga pants on and a neon yellow t-shirt. I walked wherever I felt like walking really, and you better believe there was a bounce in my pony tail…

GOOD MORNING, NEW YORK CITY!

The weather forecast said rain, but I only saw sunshine. Happiness!

As I walked along I couldn’t help but notice all the tulips. I spotted colored tulips galore, and then when I got to Park Ave there was just a sea of yellow tulips at each intersection. Gorgeous springtime yellow! Oh, I loved it.

The architecture in Manhattan is so beautiful. I kept trying to imagine the families that live in these buildings and apartments, both today and in the past. I passed by so many different homes, juggling between taking pictures and just enjoying the walk.

Sometimes it’s exhausting to be a blogger.

At one point, I turned the corner to head across to the park and I just caught myself directly in front the the Guggenheim.

!!!!!!

This is one of my favorite parts about wandering around a city. The discovering of significant places out of the blue? This has happened to me before. I just stop in my tracks and just stare wide-eyed for a minute, amazed and speechless. I always take a deep breath and stand still for a minute, and then of course, I start snapping pictures. Naturally.

I am 25% wanna-be New Yorker, and 75% TOTAL TOURIST.

No shame.

I tried to cross into the park after this, but couldn’t get past all the women running in the half-marathon that morning. I contemplated for about 10 minutes whether to try to run across or not, but ultimately decided not too. Knowing me I’d probably trip or something. I always struggle most in the worst situations.

I do love a good marathon, though, so I was glad to stand there and watch for a bit. I always get the shivers. I myself can just barely run one mile, so the idea of 13 is incredibly impressive.

The Boston Marathon?

Please. I cry every single time.

But come on, you must cry too. The inspiration!!

I was super sad to miss Marathon Monday this year, but it was actually happening this very same weekend, so unfortunately I had to live vicariously through my Boston instagram friends. You can’t win ’em all, I guess.

After heading back to the apartment to shower and change for the day, I met up with my friend Katie again. This time, it was to do a little apartment hunting! She had an appointment with a relator, so I tagged along to take a look too!

Check out the rooftop view.

Killer.

Yeah, I wouldn’t mind hanging up there on the weekends. Wouldn’t mind one single bit.

I wonder what you’ll decide, KPrime! Can’t wait to come visit you in your new digs.

After that little treat of a view I was on my way to brunch.

BLOGGER BRUNCH! What UP.

The excitement was unreal. And it’s safe to say, I love these ladies.

Their blogs? Oh, I’m obsessed with them. They’re both two of my go-to reads. As soon as they post, I am there. It’s good stuff, people. Really good stuff.

Colleen’s over at Ordinary Tales, and Molly blogs at Mr. & Mrs. Rigoloso in Detail.

They’re good people and great writers. I know you’d like them.

We talked and laughed and drank mimosas. Quite a lot of mimosas actually. They went down so smooth. We had the company of Molly’s and Colleen’s men, and also Tina, their perfectly stylish red-headed friend. And so nice too. I love a fun lively group, and this was it.

And for brunch? We ate at Resto and I ate the most amazing eggs benedict over a waffle and with bacon. LUSCIOUS.

Colleen got the pancakes, which was my second choice. Love me some good buttermilks.

Basically, with the people and the food and the delicious drinks and crazy good fries, I was in a dream world.

Love that.

Oh hay, pretty friend. HAAAAY.

After brunch we had milkshakes. Because, really, why not?

I had chocolate malt— a forever favorite.

We spent over three hours together, my new friends and I. And I can’t wait til we do it again!

My gosh, are you still reading???? Because I’m not done yet.

There’s still the afternoon in the Park! After brunch I took the subway back uptown to meet up with my sister and her friends, who had been spending the day on a blanket in Central Park with snacks and cold beer. Just straight up livin’ the good life.

It was so nice sitting on that grass watching the world go by.

And as if the day wasn’t jam packed enough, a group of us made the last minute decision to eat at the Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem that night.

BOOM.

(If there was ever an opportunity for me to write a BOOM in a blog post that was it. The Dinosaur originated in Syracuse, NY so it’s obviously very near and dear to our hearts.)

And so it goes, it was, quite literally, the perfect ending to a perfect day.