Books, Gifts, Lunch, Trivia - Trident Booksellers on Newbury Has it All!

Since I couldn't find a marathon of SVU on tv this morning, I decided to venture out to Newbury St. and do a little shopping. Somehow in the midst of thousands of Sox fans heading to the game, Kinsey happened to see me get off the T at the same door she was about to get on. She did a quick 180, and with that I had a shopping buddy!

After a productive stop at Victoria Secret's, we'd both worked up an appetite and headed down to Trident Booksellers & Cafe - one of my favorite hole in the wall gems on Newbury. I first discovered this great little spot for its cheap books and adorable journals, calendars and greeting cards. It didn't take long to realize that their food was equally as fantastic as their store.

Kinsey and I grabbed a seat outside since the sun was shining to grab a bite to eat. Tables inside and out were full so it took some time to grab some food, but as we weren't in much of a hurry, we didn't mind at all. The waitress was great - she checked on us regularly (but not so often that it was annoying) and apologized for the delay. When the food came, we were shocked to see how huge the portions were - Kinsey ordered the homemade veggie burger ($11) and I had a falafel wrap ($12).

My wrap was stuffed with all the good stuff - feta, hummus, taboulleh and tzatziki sauce. There was lettuce too, but it wasnt half lettuce / half other delicious items like some falafel wraps are. Yummm!

I asked Kinsey how her burger was and she responded with "mmmm...it's moist." Awkward response? Maybe...but if you're a veggie burger lover like we are, you know that a dry one is just icky. Moist = A-Okay in veggie burger world!

Other things to note, Trident offers free wifi, they are open every day from 8am-midnight, and they have trivia on Friday nights at 8pm. Along with a cafe area and outdoor seating, they also have a fully stocked bar!

Happy Reading!

Little B

Quick & Easy Meal for a Night In: Shrimp Cobb Salad

Happy Day-After-Cinco everyone! I trust you are all indulging in a bagel and some gatorade this morning?  In the spirit of recovering from a long night out, I thought I'd share an awesome meal idea for staying in when you need to let your liver recover a bit.


So I know I was just complaining about the frequency of salad in my life, but that was before my date with my roommate the other night. 3fiddy and I are both busy ladies, but thanks to Google calendar sharing, we're occasionally able to spend some quality time at home together. So she took care of the meal, and I was just responsible for bringing the wine (shocking, I know). 

This recipe is so simple and delicious, I felt it needed to be shared with all you for the next night you decide to stay in! Here goes:

Shrimp Cobb Salad (courtesy of myrecipes.com and featured in Cooking Light)

BTW this is suppose to feed 4 people, but I'll be honest, we made pretty much the whole recipe and there wasn't much left over between the two of us....oink oink! :)

Salad Ingredients

• 4 slices center-cut bacon 
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined  
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika  
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt  
  
• 1 (10-ounce) package romaine salad  
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered  
• 1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 carrots)  
• 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed  (canned corn is just fine if that's what you have!)
• 1 ripe peeled avocado, cut into 8 wedges

 Dressing Ingredients

• 1/8 teaspoon salt 
  
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil  
• 1/2 teaspoon whole-grain Dijon mustard

Preparation

• Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; cut in half crosswise. Wipe pan clean with paper towels. Increase heat to medium-high. Sprinkle shrimp with paprika and pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shrimp to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt; toss to coat.
• While the shrimp cooks, combine remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, juice, oil, and mustard in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add lettuce; toss to coat.
• Arrange about 1 1/2 cups lettuce mixture on each of 4 plates. Top each serving with about 6 shrimp, 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1/4 cup carrot, 1/4 cup corn, 2 avocado wedges, and 2 bacon pieces.

The great thing about this recipe is that it doesn't require a lot of work or time. Just sizzle up the bacon and shrimp, while your dining partner chops up the lettuce and mixes the dressing and you're pretty much ready to go!

And, of course, don't forget the wine! We had a pinot grigio and it was great with this meal.

Enjoy!

Little B

Need a greasy delicious late night snack downtown? Saus is where it's at!

Packie and I were heading home from a bar last week a little after 10pm, and realizing we hadn't eaten dinner, stopped into 3-4 places trying to find one still serving food. No dice in the downtown area! And I don't know about you, but I can only eat so many salads before the fat kid inside me takes over and I just need some grease. Lucky for me there is a new establishment near faneuil hall that feeds this desire - Saus!

Turns out, this little hole-in-the-wall joint on Union St. will do the trick if you're in the market for one of two things: french fries or waffles. Their niche is the awesome array of sauces they offer with each (get it, Saus?).

As Packie is a seasoned Saus enthusiast, I trusted her judgment when it came to ordering the perfect late night snack. We got a lovely cone of fries ($4-$7 depending which size you go for), and a couple dipping sauces (75 cents each) - Saturday Night Chive (haha - this is the kind of humor that does it for me...) and Bacon Parmesan. You can also take advantage of complimentary sauces including homemade mayo, homemade ketchup, and malt vinegar with red pepper flakes.

I know some of you are probably thinking "ew, mayo with fries, that's blasphemous!" but I'm just saying...you may want to reconsider your dedication to ketchup in this situation. Mayo is a traditional condiment to slather on your fries in other parts of the world, and let's be honest here, we're going for a greasy snack and what could possibly clog an artery faster than greasy fries covered in mayo? Don't think about it too hard, just do it!

Both the sauces I had were really good and I'm looking forward to going back to check out the waffle situation (which I hear is equally scrumptious). If you go, let me know what you think! Waffles go for just $3.50 a pop and sauce choices include homemade nutella, berry berry, salted caramel, and lemon cream. My mouth is watering...

Have a great week, my friends!

Little B