Dinner at 86 Winter, located at 85 Water Street

On Thursday night, we dined at 86 Winter, which despite the name, is actually located at 85 Water Street in Worcester. (It started at 86 Winter Street, then moved.) It's in the lower level (you could call it a basement with large windows) of one of the many former mill buildings in the Canal District (formerly known as Green Island). The decor manages to be simple and eccelctic simultaneously. The tables are dark wood without table cloths, but and there are several large paintings and some sculptures on the walls.

Chris started with a Caesar salad, and I started with these bacon wrapped scallops. In the words of the menu, these are "sea scallops, bourbon maple dipped then cornflake crusted, wrapped in bacon & served over field greens." They were superb.
Next, I had a cup the soup du jour, orange basil chicken soup. It was much like a normal chicken soup, with chicken chunks, celery, onion, and carrots, but the broth was sweet and tangy, with a very distinct orange flavor. It was excellent. If it is the soup du jour next time I'm there, I think I'll get a bowl of it.

Isn't this pretty, with the edible flower on top? The presentation was gorgeous.
Unfortunately, this stir fry, described on the menu as "seasonal vegetables stir-fried & tossed in a sweet & spicy teriyaki with rice", was a disappointment. The vegetables were obviously fresh and crisp, but the sauce didn't live up to my expectations. It wasn't particularly sweet or spicy, but bland and runny, and it flooded the bottom of my bowl with excess liquid. I've made better stir-fry dishes at home. Of course, Chris had the chicken parmagiana, his favorite. The portion was generous, the sauce was zesty, and next time I might order that instead.
We didn't have room for dessert, which was too bad, because the dessert list looked great.

In Which Maggie Goes To The Meat Market

I went to Fairway Beef on Grafton Street yesterday. I just had to check out the little red-and-white striped building that I keep passing by on the bus. It looks a little dodgy from the outside, with hand-written (scrawled?) poster boards advertising the specials stapled to the exterior. But was undeterred, in fact, I was encouraged by the sign for chicken leg quarters at 69 cents a pound. (I am a big fan of dark meat chicken.)

Inside, I found out why Fairway Beef has been around for 65 years. First off, the meat is beautiful. It is visibly fresher than what I usually find in regular grocery stores. Secondly, the prices are great, regular prices are like supermarkets' sale prices. Third, they carry meats that aren't often found in regular grocery stores, like rabbit and tripe, so they can cater to diverse tastes. (Though they don't sell camel meat. Don't laugh. There are at least two Halal butchers in Worcester who do.)
They also carry vegetables, fruit, milk, and some some frozen foods, as well as a full-service deli.

The most unusual aspect of the store is that it is a refrigerator. The whole store. You are shopping in a meat cooler. They are not kidding when they say to bring a jacket, though I was fine with a sweatshirt.
The center of the store is an island where they have the deli, and on the other side, do the custom orders of meat. It's very old school. Most of the meats, you have to go up to the counter and order. My chicken leg quarters, however, were already packaged in a plastic bag to be selected from a case. The chicken was very fresh, looked and smelled nice, but the bag had a leak in it, just my luck. Fortunately, they have produce bags to double-bag with, and with the plastic bag from checkout, it was well-secured. However, I really regretted not having any hand sanitizer with me to deal with the juices I got on my hands, so I'll have to remember to bring some next time just in case.

I am looking forward to going back there again, and I think I'll order a meat package to get the most for my money. (I finally have a large enough freezer to hold 2o pounds of meat. Yay.)

Lobsterrama!

Yesterday was the big clambake. Insane amounts of food were served, and everybody had an awesome time.
I made cupcakes to match the theme.LOTS of cupcakes.


Impressive, but actually pretty easy to make. The cupcakes were made from a mix, and the frosting was ready-made Pillsbury Funfetti. (I delegated the task of frosting and sprinkling to Chris, who has an ample attention span and does a better job than I would.) I picked out red muffin papers at the craft store to match the red gummy lobsters which I picked up at Christmas Tree Shops. (My wish for America is that some day, Christmas Tree Shops will be nation-wide chain. It started in New England, and since being acquired by Bed Bath and Beyond, it has been spreading gradually.)

Perhaps more adorable than my cupcakes were the signs my brother Joe made.



(Obviously where the party is.)

P.S.
Here's my post about last year's clambake, and how a traditional New England clambake is done.

If it wasn't the steak, how did the Salisburys get so rich?

I live in Worcester, MA, the second largest city in New England, a nice city loaded with history and heritage. The first "national woman's rights convention" was held in Worcester in 1850. Native son Robert Goddard made the space age possible with his invention of the first liquid fueled rocket. The Smiley face was born here. There's a lot of history in this city, but a lot I still don't know.
Lately, I've thinking about the Salisbury family , a prominent wealthy "first family" of Worcester whose name endures on a street (in the posh side of town, of course), several businesses, mostly in that area, and a choral group (Salisbury Singers). Of all the things named "Salisbury", what about "Salisbury Steak"?
The answer is: it's named after a Salisbury, but not a member of this family. Dr. James H. Salisbury (1823-1905), who held beliefs about diet that sound rather like Atkins, invented it as an ultimate health food (like Sylvester Graham's crackers), to be eaten for three meals a day with plenty of hot water to rinse out the digestive system. (Serving it with gravy came later.) Looks like Dr. Salisbury made it to be 82, so he might have been on to something.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_steak
http://www.foodreference.com/html/artsalisburystk.html

P.S. I found out that the Worcester Salisburys were merchants. Maybe they sold steak?