Number 74. Eat 5 things I’ve never tried before

Last night at Lucca, figs came with my entree which I have never tried before. I know they're a fairly common food but they've always scared me for some reason. I just always assumed I wouldn't like them. Well they weren't all that bad actually. They did come wrapped in prosciutto which can pretty much make anything taste good so who knows. I would definitely be willing to try them again, on their own, so I can get a better taste. Maybe I should be trying all those other foods I always assumed I didn't like, say dates or maybe plums.

Number 82. Eat at 10 new restaurants

As I said yesterday, I was continuing on my journey of being a fat kid and went to Lucca for dinner. It was amazing, one of the best North End dinners I've had in a long time. There was 12 of us so I'm not going to list everything that we ordered. I started with the Carpaccio and Brian had the duck confit baked in a tart with caramelized onions and goat cheese. I had a few bites of the duck and it was the delicious, the carpaccio was good too but the duck was off the charts. I had the pork chop with prosciutto wrapped figs and a balsamic glaze which was fabulous. Brian had the bolognese which he said was good too. I obviously had to have desert too so I got the banana-pecan bread pudding, it was a massive block of bread pudding. Giant actually. It of course was amazing. Overall, everyone loved the restaurant and I would definitely recommend it.

Number 5. Read 25 new books

I'm somewhat behind on my posts so I have 5 new books to add to my list. At this point it's been so long since I've read some of them that I can't really write in depth reviews on all of them and let's be honest I think that would be pretty boring for all of my wonderful readers. So here's what I read: Easter Rising by Michael Patrick MacDonald, Trouble of Fools by Linda Barnes, The Wrong Mother by Sophie Hannah, The River King by Alice Hoffman and Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow. They were all pretty good, easy reads, nothing heavy or intense. Basically good summer reading.

Number 82. Eat at 10 new restaurants

In the past 2 weeks I've eaten at 3 new places. I've been quite the hungry little girl and I do love food! Last Friday, Brian and I went to Rocca in the South End for restaurant week. Tiffani Faison from Season one of Top Chef is the executive chef so I had high hopes going in. It didn't disappoint. The restaurant week menu was actually 4 courses instead of the normal 3. I had squid with pancetta, crostini with reggiano and olives, pork tenderloin and espresso & olive oil affogato. I felt like I was on an episode of Top Chef. Brian loved his meal too, fries with eyes, crostini with ricotta, striper and an ice cream sandwich. Everything was great and I highly recommend it.

Saturday I met up with the always fabulous E1 at Legacy Place in Dedham for a little shopping and lunch. We decided to eat at Aquitaine, they have a restaurant in the South End as well. The service was really slow but we weren't in a hurry so it wasn't a big deal. We both had the same exact meal, Chilled Tomato “Gazpacho”, Hand Cut Tagliatelle with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and peaches with whipped cream and pudding. It was excellent and I would definitely go back.

Last night I went to Gaslight in the South End with my mom for restaurant week. Once again, we were not disappointed. We both started with the Chilled White Gazpacho, then the Gnocchi with tomatoes, basil, olives and white sauce and I finished with the Summer Berry Brioche Pudding and my mom had the Maple Caramel Crepes. We both loved our meals and had a very nice dinner.

And tonight on my continuation of being a Fatty McFatty pants, I'm going to Lucca in the North End with Brian and his co workers to celebrate an upcoming wedding. I will have an update tomorrow on it!

Number 56. Grill Something w/o the aid of Brian

I spent the last week of July down the Cape with my mom and aunt and decided it would be the perfect opportunity to put on my big girl pants and grill something all by myself. The 3 of us decided we wanted steak one night so I got the grill fired up. I was actually surprised at how easy grilling is and how well I did on my first try. I only made one minor mistake, I didn't leave the grill cover open so the steaks cooked faster than expected. Not a big deal, they were just a little more done than I would have liked and didn't get the good grill marks on them. So one more thing crossed off and now I can actually grill without Brian!!