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You know how sometimes you set an unfortunate precedent with your kids? Maybe one time you let them get candy in the checkout line at the grocery store and then suddenly you have to do it EVERY time? Or maybe you ran out of diapers and grabbed some at the drug store and instead of the normal generic kind, these have Mickey on them and now your child demands Mickey on his diapers all the time?
Or perhaps once when you had to leave the house early you stopped to get yourself some coffee and for a treat you gave your kid some donut holes… and now all morning excursions seem to revolve around “no-nuts.”
I am guilty of that last one. (And possibly the one before it…) And it means that I either skip the coffee or indulge the Bug. Honestly, this vice was the first thing that came into my mind when I was invited to learn about the new bakery items at McDonald’s. (Sadly for many of you, this is a New England roll out only. Come visit! See the sights! Walk the Freedom Trail! Eat a Danish!)
The new menu included muffins. Surely this would be a step up over donut holes. (The ubiquitous donut joint that shall not be named is not exactly the place to go for good donuts… And last I checked donuts weren’t exactly on the top of the recommended food list…) And I’ve had the new McDonald’s coffee several times so I know that’s worth a stop. When I used to have to drive two hours to come home from work in the middle of the night, McDonald’s was the only place I could get coffee after 10 pm. The Newman’s Own coffee and I go WAY back.
I brought the Bug with me because I had to see if he’d find any of these breakfast treats worthy of his attention. I love muffins and scones and danish as much as the next girl (mmmm… danish….) but I didn’t exactly have high hopes for McDonald’s. Especially since I’ve had my fair share of danish (mmmm… danish….) at Au Bon Pain, another Boston staple.
All these items are made with natural ingredients. The muffins have whole berries. The danish has real cheese. The banana bread has banana puree. The scones have real vanilla bean. The focus on real ingredients is a big deal to me. I like to think I can taste the difference between a fresh-baked item and one with preservatives that’s been sitting around for a while. These have no preservatives and are baked in-store each day.
Bug and I started with a blueberry muffin. The muffin had tons of whole berries in it and a cinnamon streusel topping. I was pleased with the slight sweet crunch on top, but I was also glad it wasn’t overloaded. It was just the right amount. The Bug approved.
There’s also a multigrain muffin with whole blueberries and raspberries and lots of oats. This is definitely your “healthy” option. Natural ingredients does include butter, folks, so keep that in mind. But this is only 280 calories. It’s got a thicker texture, more like a bran muffin, but still has enough berries to keep it sweet.
The banana bread was standard, but tasted fresh with a nice hint of spice and was quite moist. The scones were seriously indulgent. I don’t know that I could eat 3 of these little guys in one sitting.
My favorite, though, was the danish. Couldn’t see that one coming, could you? I am a big fat danish lover. I assume it is because of my Danish heritage. (1/4 Danish, thanks.) They use croissant dough and are hand-folded. I imagine they are folded with love because I loved the taste. I have had my fair share of ABP danish and I preferred these. They don’t have a sat-on-the-shelf-all-day taste to them. Are they indulgent? Yup. But so good with coffee.
From now on when we have a morning excursion (like the Bug’s IEP next week) we’ll be stopping for coffee at McDonald’s and I will be snagging a danish for me and a muffin for the Bug.
These items are available ALL DAY and sell for less than $2.00 each. (Around $1.50 to $1.80.)
I was curious to see how they compared to offerings at Starbucks or ABP. The prices are definitely lower. Starbucks doesn’t list ingredients, but as far as calories go the danishes at SB and ABP were higher in calories. And ABP’s danish has High Fructose Corn Syrup as the 3rd ingredient. The Blueberry Muffins had about the same calories at SB versus McD’s, with ABP clocking in about 100 higher. And the scones at McD’s and SB were the same calorie-wise. (McDonald’s provided their nutritional info, I looked up the others on my own.)
I know people give McDonald’s a hard time about a lot of their food items, but I like that they make an effort to put items on the menu that have natural ingredients. I was a lot more impressed at the McDonald’s ingredient list for their bakery items than the ABP list. And Starbucks doesn’t even give you a list! If I had my pick of the 3, I’ll take McDonald’s any day. Nutrition is the same or better and the price is definitely better.
Thanks to McDonald’s for providing samples of their bakery breakfast items. I was not compensated for this post nor was I required to review or blog these items.
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I read this book right after Tessa was born while I was in the hospital. So I’ve had to wait for A WHOLE MONTH before telling you about it. I should be waiting a few more weeks since it isn’t released until April 17th, but I just can’t wait anymore.
You know how last year everyone and their dog read Bossypants? I read it, too. And I thought it was quite funny. But it wasn’t really effective as a book. It was inconsistent and kind of all over the place. The utterly hysterical parts were utterly hysterical, but there were plenty of clunkers that fell flat to me. Perhaps the biggest disappointment for me when I read that book was that I didn’t feel like I was any closer to knowing Tina Fey as a person by the time it was over.
It’s probably inevitable that Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson (also known as The Bloggess) will be compared to Bossypants a lot. And probably to David Sedaris as well. But I think those comparisons aren’t fair to LPTNH. Because LPTNH is funnier.
That’s right, I said it. It’s funnier than Bossypants. And not by a little.
Image via goodreads
I recommend you not read this book while laying in a bed with your husband and sleeping baby right next to you. Because then you won’t be able to guffaw loudly lest you wake them up. I think I was deprived of some of the deepest enjoyment this book provides because I was trying to let my babies get some much-needed sleep.
It helps that Lawson herself is a funny writer. She keeps you consistently engaged and chuckling when she tells a story, no matter what the story is. But what’s astonishing about LPTNH is how funny the stories themselves are. I can’t imagine that I’m alone in wondering if the story in chapter 3 involving a squirrel (I will give you no more details so I won’t deprive you of the absolutely uproarious experience) is true. Can it be true? Can this actually happen to someone?
These stories happen over and over again. Lawson had a singularly unusual childhood. She also has a rather unusual adulthood, as she struggles with near-crippling anxiety.
What ultimately makes LPTNH far superior to Bossypants and other “funny” books is that there’s a big beating heart at its center and a life all around it. You actually get to know Jenny. You get to follow her through her major life decisions and her small daily activities. There’s her childhood in a small Texas town, her determination to escape, her college years, her romance with her husband, her jobs, her anxiety, her experience as a mother and, most unlikely of all, her unexpected return to small town Texas.
Despite the fact that Jenny admits to having difficulty around people, you will be sure upon finishing this book that you and Jenny are totally already best friends and that should she meet you she would immediately make you her best friend. And you would be the luckiest person in the world.
(I admit, whenever Jenny would mention her friends I would get jealous. I got jealous of her real-life friends because WHY NOT ME, JENNY?)
Also, have you noticed how I went from referring to her all authorly as “Lawson” to calling her “Jenny” because I have already made her my best friend in my head?
Sure, this book isn’t for everyone. A dark sense of humor is required. Also you must be comfortable with cursing and casual references to sex toys. And most of Jenny’s childhood stories involve her father’s ventures into taxidermy. So feeling comfortable with dead animals is also a must. It’s a random assortment in the best possible way. I guarantee you haven’t read any other memoirs like this one.
I’d also add that you don’t need to be a reader of Jenny’s blog to enjoy the book. While I’ve known of the Bloggess (you can’t really be active in the blogosphere and NOT know her) I have rather shamefully not been following her actively until recently. (Super sorry, Jenny. You know we’re besties, right?)
When I read this book, it was like making a good friend. Don’t you love that experience?
Thanks to Edelweiss and Putnam Books for providing me with an advanced e-galley of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. It will be released on April 17, 2012. Here’s the pre-order link from The Bloggess.
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I rarely get to make dinner plans, but the stars recently aligned so that I got a last minute opportunity to join the Boston Brunchers for dinner at Maximo’s in Watertown. Because I was a last minute addition I wasn’t sure what I was getting into but I was happy to get out of the house while I had the chance.
Maximo’s focuses mostly on takeout and delivery so their interior is small. This isn’t unusual for the Boston area, but their seating area, with a few tables and chairs, was much more inviting than I normally see at takeout places. I was perfectly happy eating there (which is more than I can say for other takeout places I’ve been to).
What struck me the most about Maximo’s is their menu. I love the wide variety. If you just look at their appetizers you’ll find everything from satay to dumplings to bruschetta to quesadillas. Their entrees include salads, sandwiches and burritos. They have steak, fish and pork on the grill. And there’s the side dishes. I admit it was the side dishes that really won me over. VEGETABLES, people. Lots of vegetables. And not vegetables doused in cream. I loved seeing a list of sides that had steamed veggies (broccoli and green beans), mashed sweet potatoes, kale, white and brown rice, tabouleh and quinoa. Basically, it looks like the kind of side dishes you’d serve your family.
That was a common theme during our visit. Maximo’s is a family place. We met the Zeller family and had a great time with them. Phil is the cook behind everything. His father also spends time cooking there during the day. We also met Phil’s mother, his wife Betsy and their son Max. (He’s half of the inspiration for the name. The other half is from Phil’s daughter, Morgan who is the “mo.”)
Betsy explained that they wanted to serve the food their family enjoys, and I think you can really see that on the menu. This is the kind of restaurant where you can order a few dishes and sides and share them as a family. It’s a far cry from pizza or greasy Chinese.
We started off with the Roasted Tomato Bruschetta.
It’s heavy on the garlic. Which is a definite plus in my book.
Most of us ate more than one piece. Which probably wasn’t the wisest move as there was so much more food to come. We really had to pace ourselves. And it was hard! Everything was so tasty!
Next on the menu was the Mediterranean Turkey Burger. So I had my doubts about this. First, turkey burgers are really hard to get right. They tend to be dry and flavorless. Second, I don’t always love mediterranean flavors and it seemed an odd choice for a burger.
Happily, I was proven wrong.
(This is a mini version, with roasted potatoes on the side.)
The burger was really moist and flavorful. There’s tabouleh mixed in with the meat and it made for a great consistency and taste. Definitely one of my top turkey burgers I’ve ever eaten. And while you’d expect fries instead of roasted potatoes, these were some very tasty potatoes. I’d take some nice seasoned roasted potatoes over most bland fries any day.
Next up was the Steak and Onion Salad. I didn’t get a picture. Probably because I was too busy devouring it. And it’s a real shame because it was the most picturesque food we ate. Luckily Kathy let me steal one of hers.
So this was another dish that had to overcome the norm. I love a good salad. And I feel like meat is usually added to salads as an afterthought, or just a way to throw some extra protein in a dish. It usually isn’t integrated the way the other ingredients are.
Happily, the hangar steak in the salad was a highlight of the dish that mixed wonderfully with the other flavors. Grilled red onions, goat cheese and roasted tomatoes were also there with the field greens. And the steak was topped with a vibrant chimichurri sauce. I could eat this salad every day. Seriously. Why bother with a tired old chicken caesar?
While Maximo’s has a lot of standard salads on their menu, including a Cobb Salad and a Nicoise Salad, most of their options have a similar mix of more interesting flavors. For example, the Stanley Market Salad was one we didn’t get to try but I love its ingredients: Mixed greens, red cabbage, grilled chicken, green beans, carrots, cucumbers, green onions, sesame seeds, cilantro & ginger sesame dressing. You can tell they put thought into their flavor combinations.
The best was yet to come, though. I had trouble pacing myself and not eating that whole salad even though there were two courses to follow. But I knew that our next dish was much-beloved. The Slammin’ BLT sounded like something Eric would like more than me. Except that it has a fried egg. I never knew the wonder of fried egg sandwiches until I started eating them at The Flying Biscuit in Atlanta. They are a thing of beauty. And the Slammin’ BLT was even better than my adored Flying Biscuit.
The egg is definitely the star of this sandwich. Though the egg has so much charm because its supporting players (in particular the bacon and the cheese) help it stand out. This is a sandwich where you can taste everything in it, like a nice little food symphony.
I know this was dinner, but this would easily rank as one of the best brunch dishes I’ve ever eaten. Should I ever find myself back at Maximo’s I really don’t know how I will ever order anything else.
On the side was one of the day’s specials, a black bean and roasted corn soup. It had a nice flavor and consistency. Not too chunky (not just broth with beans and corn) and not too thin.
And finally:
Cilantro grilled tuna topped with black bean salsa on a bed of kale, with a side of Southwestern Quinoa. (Generally the kale and quinoa aren’t served with the tuna. Here’s another example of how their dishes and sides go well together.)
This was a nice, light dish. How often can you find one of those for takeout? (Actually both the salad and the tuna were quite light.) A nice, simple, clean dish. It wasn’t all fireworks for me like the salad and the sandwich, but it’s definitely better than most dinners I eat.
After our dinner I was pretty bummed that I don’t live in Maximo’s delivery area. I was assured by others who do that the rest of their menu is also quite tasty. (The burritos in particular seem to be a favorite with the boys.) If you live in Watertown, Belmont or West Cambridge you should definitely give them a try. (Oh, and did I mention FREE delivery? How awesome is that?) Delivery is available by phone or on Foodler. Or if you’re just in the area stop in for a bite. Especially if you are a fan of the old-fashioned Mom & Pop shop. With the three generations of the Zeller family all involved, this is about as Mom & Pop as it gets.
Next time I head over to Target I will probably find an excuse to drop on by.
I totally stole this image from their website, but I love their logo.
This outing was set up by the Boston Brunchers and Maximo’s. My meal was provided for free. All opinions are my own. Thanks again to the Zeller’s and the Maximo’s crew.
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It’s not at all uncommon to find Eric and I at home late in the evening with nothing ready for dinner.
We are suckers for food delivery.
Luckily we live in a big city where the delivery options are more than just pizza. And luckily more and more restaurants are getting with the times and allowing for online ordering. Online ordering is the best, no phone calls where you’re not exactly sure that the person on the other end got your order right. You get documentation. I am a lawyer. I like documentation.
Most restaurants these days aren’t hip with the times enough to have their own ordering on their website. Luckily there’s Foodler. The basic idea of Foodler is that you get a whole list of restaurants that deliver to your address.
After you give them your street address, you get a list of restaurants to order from. They’re divided by cuisine, but you also get to see user reviews and cost. They also always have specials on the right side of the screen. You can browse as much as you want before you make any order.
We decided to try Phu-Ket, a Thai place that we’ve never had before. Even though we’d never had their food, Foodler provided us with their entire menu.
There’s your whole menu, complete with ingredients. For Eric’s Masaman Curry, I could select the kind of protein (tofu, chicken, beef, etc.) and the level of spiciness. There’s also a space to add special instructions.
(One problem you can run into with any kind of online ordering when it’s an Asian place is whether or not rice is included. I ordered a side of rice just in case, and was glad I did. Though I guess it’s not just online ordering. We’ve had the same problem with takeout and phone delivery orders.)
Foodler lets you login and create an account. They have a rewards program where you can accumulate points. I’ve heard the points program can be dicey, but this time we got to take advantage of the special deal with this restaurant where we got some Foodler Bucks to use on our next order. (You can see the coupon in red in the previous picture on the right.)
Most restaurants I’ve seen on Foodler have several coupons available for you to use. They’re usually for discounts or a free item with your meal. It’s easy to add them to your order.
Another nice thing about going back to the same site? They keep a log of your orders so you don’t forget which restaurants you used.
Yeah, you can tell exactly what our old Chinese place was… And that Eric loves Beef & Broccoli. You can also see our Indian Thanksgiving order, a 2-year tradition at our house. Foodler is great for Thanksgiving because it divides up restaurants that are currently open and those that aren’t. So we knew that we could get Indian even though everything else was closed. (Also useful if you’re ordering at 2 a.m.)
Also useful when you’re ordering somewhere new? There are star ratings from other users and you can see how often dishes are ordered. I was debating about going with Pad Thai and my favorite Pad See Ew. (Called Noodles Tender Beef at Phu-Ket.) I ended up going with the Pad See Ew seeing that it was pretty popular and sure enough it was the best Pad See Ew I’ve had.
We got our food in 30 minutes. (Awesome.)
There was a little mixup. Apparently you can’t use more than one coupon, since our Rebate for the Foodler bucks went through, but the coupon for a free order of egg rolls disappeared when our order went through. (That’s okay. I ordered dumplings anyway. Mmmmm dumplings.)
As is often the case in the city, some restaurants may have delivery fees, though Foodler itself is free. I find myself going there often since we tend to get in a rut and always order from the same places. With Foodler I can browse and see what else is available. (Not that we always choose to branch out, but still.)
The site may not be the prettiest but it’s easy to use. And I didn’t have to cook. Win win.
Thanks to Foodler for providing a $15 credit to facilitate this review. Opinions are my own.
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(Sorry for the Saturday post! You may have to get used to it what with all the fussy baby action around these parts.)
I’d never heard of J. G. Ballard until recently. Somewhere along the way I stumbled upon Running Wild as a suggested book. (My best recollection is it had something to do with the fact that I’d just watched The White Ribbon, which deals with similar themes, though in a VERY different setting.) The synopsis of Running Wild was rather brutal and unusual, which piqued my interest, of course. A small, gated community’s adult residents are all dead and the children have all disappeared. One cannot help but feel one’s ears perk up a bit, can one?
That was my introduction to Ballard (the G stands for Graham, so obviously he’s great) and I only found out later that he was one of the leading science-fiction writers of the 20th century. I don’t know that he’s considered “typical” in sci-fi these days. His work focuses much less on technology than societal changes and attitudes that lead to the creation of unrest and barbarity. He certainly has a bleak view of the human condition, but it’s certainly an interesting one.
I’m not sure if it’s just me or if Ballard has flown mostly under the radar in the US. He’s best known for two books that have been made into movies. Empire of the Sun, which is different from most of his other works and is an autobiographical novel of his time growing up in Japan, and Crash.
(Tangent: I’ll be honest. I tried to read Crash in anticipation of this review. I knew it was made into a David Cronenberg film, which means it’s pretty messed up. And I knew it had something to do with taking a grotesque pleasure in car crashes. But I was NOT ready for it. I put it down after two chapters, which is not something I do lightly. (Unless the book is bad.) This wasn’t bad. It was… graphic. And not in a violent way. Let’s just say that the numbers of synonyms for bodily fluids and genitalia was extensive, just in the first few pages. Phew. And there wasn’t anything to lighten it up. I gave Mr. Ballard a salute and set down the book. It took guts to write and I’m curious about where it was going, I just didn’t quite have the stomach for it.)
Anyway. Luckily for us, W. W. Norton is releasing several of his books in the US for the first time over the next few months. Including Kingdom Come, The Drought and High Rise.
Image via Goodreads
I couldn’t read them all (without getting rather depressed about the state of the world) but I did have a go at High Rise. It is definitely Ballardian. The tone is detached. The story is increasingly chaotic and violent. The world is both real and unreal.
Written in the 1970′s, it takes place in a high rise apartment building that has its own self-contained society. (These days we call this a mixed-use development.) With a school, a pool and a shopping mall, there’s little need for anyone to leave except to go to work. Everyone’s lives are lived on top of one another and the elevator is the lifeline to the outside world.
As is often the case, this building has its residents divided by income level, with the lower levels having families, the middle level having single professionals and the top levels inhabited by the upper crust. Everything seems okay on the surface, but the class resentment that lingers below the calm exterior lurks. All it takes to set it off is a power outage.
As the building starts to experience a variety of technical glitches and failures, the residents turn against each other. Soon it isn’t just every man for himself, there are tribes and clans. Floors work together. Elevators are hijacked. Stairs are blocked. Stores are abandoned.
The novel follows three of the building’s residents as chaos ensues. Wilder fancies himself a documentary filmmaker who wants to capture high rise life on camera. He lives on the lower floors with his wife and two children. Laing is a doctor who lives alone and keeps mostly to himself, though he keeps an eye on his sister whose family lives on the lower floors. And there is Royal, the architect of the building who lives in the penthouse.
Laing serves as the story’s everyman for the most part, while Wilder and Royal engage in a battle for the building and those inside. Not that Laing is a simple person or an uninvolved party.
The thing I’ll say for this novel, and for much of Ballard’s work, from what I understand, is that he is exploring themes more than he’s examining a legitimate plot. Suspension of disbelief is a requirement. In High Rise one could easily toss the book aside and say, “I don’t believe that not one of these people would call the police.” As things turn violent, the residents of the building seem determined to keep their strange world contained, even as they head to and from work each day. Even as the building fills with trash and debris. They don’t leave. They don’t get help. And while this is unbelievable, it’s also essential for things to work as Ballard intends. This isn’t realism, it’s an examination of man’s capacity for evil. You have to accept that.
Ballard’s detached tone may take a little getting used to, but the disconnect between the tone and the story is also a big part of what makes his books work.
And they do work. I dare you to read the first sentence of High Rise and not feel compelled to keep reading.
Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr. Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the three previous months.
See what I mean about that detached tone? I read that sentence and laughed aloud. I love the dog bit, just slipped in there all innocently.
If you like dark, dystopian reads you’ll find something of interest in Ballard. He’s unlike anything I’ve ever read and I’m glad to see his books be more widely available in the US.
Thanks to Edelweiss and W. W. Norton for an advanced e-galley of High Rise for this review. High Rise, Kingdom Come and The Drought were released in the United States on March 5.
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Yes, I missed my Friday Reads post. This baby stuff is a lot of work. Fortunately I’m still getting a lot of reading done. Not all of it has been as stellar as my last streak, but I did want to pop in quickly to tell you one thing.
Image via Goodreads
Read this book.
I guess I can say a little more, but mostly I want to say that this is the best book I’ve read in a long time and it’s definitely up for my Best of the Year list (even though it was published in 2011) and it’s simply amazing in ways that I can’t really describe.
You may remember Ann Patchett if you read Bel Canto, which is also amazing in ways I can’t really describe.
State of Wonder is about a doctor who works for a pharmaceutical company who finds herself in the Amazon searching for answers after her colleague dies there as part of work with a research team. I know it sounds lame. I put this book off for months because the summary sounded lame. And because I didn’t particularly feel like reading a book set in the Amazon. (I am not much for exotic locales in literature.)
But I was totally wrong. I apologize immensely to Ms. Patchett. And I am trying to make up for it by telling you to read it. It is the kind of book whose goodness you can’t explain to people. You just have to say, “Just read it.”
The reading part shouldn’t be any trouble. I was transfixed from the very beginning. And the end was as gasp-worthy as any mystery I’ve read.
Oh, and also, there is a scene with a giant Anaconda. So yeah.
Just read it, okay?
Next week I will try to be on time.
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Find the Mess
My Life’s a Mess and That’s Okay
Jess is a procrastinator, a former working mom who is suddenly staying at home, a Dr-Dr's wife, a non-practicing lawyer, an Autism Mom, a devoted reader, a penny pincher, a coupon clipper, a new New England-er, a low-key agnostic, a nice girl, a top-notch speller, a hardcore blogger and a Twitter fiend.
The blog covers everything from coupon tips to Autism support to adorable toddler pictures to hilarious tales of my daily grind with the occasional review & giveaway thrown in for good measure.
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