cheesy time

I grew up in a small town where the only commercial-named companies belonged to the bank and the gas stations. There was the local Five and Dime where we could literally get penny candy for a penny (oh how I wish that was still true), the hair salon me, my mom and sisters all went to and the pizza/sub shop around the corner from our house. We were supporting local businesses before it became a trendy thing to do.

And then there was Special Tea's. The name alone evokes an air of mysterious wonder. It's really a little restaurant that only serves lunch and afternoon tea and is located in an old house so the restaurant is full of quirky character with mismatched chairs and tables... I just love it there. Of course they have a large offering of tea's (and amazing desserts!), but I love their veggie sandwich on an herbed scone- it's filled with fresh veggies, marinated artichokes and plenty of goat cheese.

breakfast in bed

Growing up, it was a Mother's Day tradition to bring our mom breakfast in bed. Our dad trained us well and had us girls help make the toast for mom's breakfast tray. As we got older, us girls took over the breakfast tray and it evolved into scrambled eggs or pancakes.

Unfortunately, the eggs weren't the only ones scrambling. Teenagers hate waking up early and when we needed to get up to make my mom's breakfast, we just wanted to make something quickly (sorry mom!). I wish I had known about these scones.

St. Patty's Day Soda Bread Rolls

St. Patrick’s day is big in the Boston area because of the large Irish population here. There’s a huge (drunken) parade with leprechauns dancing in the street and the bars are open all day as if it’s…. well as if it’s St. Patty’s day.

Growing up my mother would (sometimes) tint our milk green (ewww, I know) and I remember her making corned beef and cabbage a couple of times. We always made sure we wore something green that day (something about bad luck?). 

Even though I don’t have any Irish heritage it’s fun to partake in the celebration and these rolls are a perfect way to have a taste of Ireland. The great thing about Irish Soda Bread is the absence of yeast,