Since I’m sitting at the computer sweating at 10:30PM I thought I’d post about our recent trip to Tasty Treat in Ashland.   This is one of our top picks when it comes to going out for an ice cream.    I guess there’s nothing too special about it but it’s a nice place to go for an ice cream and although we haven’t played it, they offer mini golf and you can sit on the benches and watch people play.

Ethan got some sort of peanut butter ice cream and I got a German Chocolate Cake, which is my favorite here and that’s what I usually get everytime.
 
They don’t seem to have a website but they’re at 16 W. Union St. (Rt. 135) and are open year round but obviously summer is their time to shine. 

(Photo from January)

Growing up right on the Holliston/Milford line, we frequented Lincoln Discount Drugs which in the past 2 years has become Milford Discount Variety, which I think is going to focus more on alcohol but they have kept a lot of old merchandise in hopes of people buying it. 
I remember coming here with my sister and playing “Crystal Castles” while our mom was shopping.  Almost as entertaining was the blood pressure machine in the back by the pharmacy.

Like Village Stationary in Holliston, I like to consider this place a “living museum” of sorts.  Here one can find all sorts of artifacts from make-up, to books, to software.
I haven’t been in a couple of months so I’m not sure if they’ve finally cleaned everything out but on a somewhat recent visit  I made some purchases:
 
I tried to give this to my sister to put in her son’s nursery but she refused it.
 

I can’t use it but  was compelled to bring home with me:
 
Classic Ziggy cardboard stand-up for my desk.

Not to mention a bunch of old Halloween decorations which I don’t feel like digging out of the basement right now but they’re great, old school paper cut-outs of witches and monsters.

Some items that didn’t make the shopping cart but are “musuem quality”:
80’s “Ouch Kit”
 

An Organizer (judging from the “ice cream fantasy” theme probably at least mid-80’s):

Outdated Commuter Cup (with adhesive tape):

Ancient cake decorations:

Oh Lincoln, so many good times but alas, you must become an beer and wine outlet.  I’ll still stop in, like I said I’m always curious to see  what they still have no the shelves and wonder WHY they keep this stuff on the shelves.

Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland is right on Route 20 and I used to think they were overpriced and maybe they are with something but what garden center isn’t?  I like they huge variety of plants and they also have a giant giftie type area that also sells practical /interesting  garden accessories.
If you’re looking for vegetable plants this is a great place to go, but  go early in the spring or they’ll run out of some things. They were all out of brussel sprouts when Iwent in early June but I did get some tomatoes, cucumbers and a gorgeous eggplant.

There are animals for the kids to see and it’s just pretty to walk around and look at everything.
Even Ethan will come with me to look around:

Here’s a little of what to expect:

Gerardo’s II  on Rt. 9 (232 Turnpike Rd.) Westboro is another place I’ve been by 100’s of times but never thought of going in because it’s easy to pass and right by an on ramp and I just never bothered stopping in.  Since I started working in Westborough, I made the effort to go check it out.
Inside is small but they have an impressive assortment of pastries, cookies and cakes.

The nice lady at the couter told me they also  make custom cakes and offer much more than what they have in the case, you just have to ask.

I decided to get a few treats for home which were some cannoli and a creamcheese brownie that was excellent.
The cannolis I got were plain, chocolate and tiramisu.

This is a great little bakery and they seem to do pretty well even though they are in kind  of a random location but the treats are good enough that it’s worth stopping in.

The other day, the Metro West Humane Society was kind enough to let me come in and take some pictures and tell me about their cat shelter. They run a no-kill facility and have set adoption hours on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This is right on the Framingham/Ashland line on 126.

Before I came here I was afraid I would be depressed seeing a bunch of cats in cages and meowing to be let out, but this wasn’t the case at all. I was surprised/impressed with the free roaming space for the cats. Some cats were just walking around in the halls and other cats are kept in community rooms. Only those cats that have to be, are in cages but even then the cages are very roomy and are like a double-suite rooms with a bed on one side and a door they can walk through to get to the other “room”.

The cats here seemed so content and comfortable and the MWHS does such a great job at keeping the rooms clean and supplying them with multiple food/waterbowls, litterboxes, toys and beds that the cats that share a room do not have to fight over anything. In fact it was interesting to see so many cats getting along. Maybe it’s just because my cat hates other cats and won’t let us get a new one, but it was nice to see so many cats getting a long in the same building.

Here’s some pictures from my visit:

There is also a gift shop where manufactured and hand-made items are for sale and all profits go to the shelter of course.

There is also a wall you can buy a tile in memory of a pet and it have their name up on the Cat Walk wall.

They always welcome financial donations but are just as grateful for any dry and canned food donations as well.

And finally, I’d like to mention their event on Saturday, June 7th. The 11th annual Walk for Animals

For everything you would want to know about the Metro West Humane Society, including adoption hours, cat profiles and other events please visit their website http://www.webpaws.com/mwhs

Bazels Sub & Pizza has been on Rt. 16 (Washington St.) in Holliston since I can remember.  We used to get pizza here because there was no where else,  since we lived so far from downtown.  Our next closest option was Papa Gino’s in Milford but we would end up getting pizza from here more.  None of us live in Holliston  anymore, we haven’t been to Bazel’s in at least 15 years but recently we were together and decided to take a trip down and taste a slice of history. 

Inside is a small but accomodating shop with seating for probably 15 people.

We got  small mushroom and onion pizza and a Greek salad, both were pretty good.

The pizza had a nice crunchy crust and sweet sauce.  The cheese was well melted and they didn’t skimp on the toppings.

The salad was very fresh and came with a generous amount of feta cheese.

I want to go back and try a sub because they looked really good.  I think we enjoyed our lunch because it was a bit of nostaligia but I think they really make a decent pizza and it’s good to see Bazels is still going strong.  They’ve also made it to the internet!  http://www.bazelspizza.com/

When my sister and I were little (4-6 years old) our parents used to take us to Gene’s Italian Restaurant in Milford, I want to say it was on Central St. but I could be wrong.  I remember inside was interesting (to me as a kid anyway),  kind of dim with  curtains and a stage of some sort and they’d have someone walking around the diningroom playing an accordion.
My parents liked to take us there because you could get spaghetti and meatballs for $1.50.

You might be thinking, “Okay, okay what does this have to do with WMRC? Jeez.”  Well, this bumper sticker is the only direct connection I have to Gene’s.  I can’t imagine how my parents never take a picture and documented the family eating such a bargain meal, but somehow it never happened.  There was a pile of these WMRC  bumperstickers by the door and the little smiley face appealed to me so I took one.  When I got home, I stuck it on my night table. 

This night table eventually got moved down to the basement and through the years when I’d go down there to look for something and see this and think of Gene’s Italian Restaurant.  I ended up removing the bumper sticker and painted the nightstand, which somehow is now my current nightstand, and laminated this sticker since I think it’s the only one in existence, not that any one cares, but I do.  I keep meaning to try to listen to WMRC but never think of it since I’m a die-hard WBZ girl, so when I’m on the AM dial, I’m always at 1030 but looking at their programming, I might give them a try.  I feel I should after having their bumper sticker for 30 something years.

Looks like their slogan is now “A First Class Radio Station” but I’ll always prefer “Radio is Beautiful”

Last week we were in the mood for a burger and heard that the Met Bar at the Natick Collection has great burgers.  I usually stay away from the mall but it was a weeknight and I had to get special colored m&m’s from the “Sweet Factory” for my sister’s baby shower so we ended up here.

The Met has a dining room, booths by the bar, a regular bar and a “burger bar” where you can watch your burger cooked in the open grill area.

We started off with a couple of drinks.  Ethan got some sort of blood orange or pomegranate martini and I just got a Lime Rickey but it was excellent, made with fresh crushed raspberries.

Now I forget what kind of burger Ethan got, but looking at the pictures they both look the same because the put the burger on top f the cheese and everything else you get.  I remember Ethan got a burger that was named on the menu and I “created” a make-your-own burger.   They offer a variety of burgers, including turkey, veggie, and black angus and a choice of  white or whole wheat multi-grain buns and a seemingly endless variety of toppings and condiments to go with it.  I got a black angus burger with sheep’s cheese, horseradish sauce, mushrooms and sprouts on a multi-grain bun:

Below: Ethan’s mystery burger

The burgers were really good  and they came with fries that were okay, not bad but not amazing and a nice little side of pickles.  The service was okay.  I know I read  from some people’s reviews that the service is terrible but it was okay, maybe a little slow.  I did get the feeling our waiter was a little shticky, trying to up-sell dessert at the end asking how we can’t have room for dessert when we just ate those “little” burgers (I don’t think they’re little, and they’re very filling) but it’s not hard to just say no.  So it wasn’t too bad since that was the worst of it.
I’m guessing for a few reasons we probably just won’t find ourselves here again but I would recommend it if anyone was curious about it like we were.

Minado is just to the left of Sherwood plaza (if it’s not still Sherwood Plaza on Route 9 in Natick).
This place is more than just sushi, they have hot dishes, BBQ, salads and a nice assortments of salads and desserts.
I love coming here for the variety but at $25 a pop (cheaper for lunch), it’s nice to get your money’s worth too so coming hungry is a good idea.
Inside is modern with high celings and neatly displayed food:

Hot dishes:

Salads/Noodles:

Sushi:

Plate 1: Bunch of different stuff; Tempura, sesame crusted tuna skewers, shumai, crab cake seaweed salad, Japanese eggplant, shitake mushroom salad, asparagus, salmon.

Plate 2: Nigiri, sushi, sashimi,  an oyster, soba-seaweed salad, lettuce salad

For dessert we went to the crepe station and watched the crepe guy do his thing:

I got chocolate and some fruit  from the dessert bar:

The desert selection also includes little bite-sized cakes and pastries:

Real sushi connoisseurs might look down on this place but it’s really good for what it is, variety and the quality is good.  It’s no Oiishi but it’s not trying to be and the variety of dishes makes for a really nice meal.

Last Sunday my mom and I went to have breakfast at Joan and Ed’s Deli in Sherwood Plaza (Natick)
For any one who has never been, Joan and Ed’s has been around a long time and serves kosher “style” food.  Deli sandwiches, entrees, salads breakfast and desserts.
In the lobby there is the dessert case, the deli/take-out counter and all sorts of Judaica items for sale:

When I was in college, I worked at Joan and Ed’s when it was at it’s original location in the old shoppers world.  I remember if I was late, running up the ramp (part of old SW’s unique layout features) to get to the front door as fast as I could.  Also bringing home their stellar knishes and the occasional container of pickles to my mom.  It was the best tasting place I ever worked at.
I will come back and do a lunch post but for this trip we went for breakfast.
Inside is much different than the old place, it looks very Boca Raton to me:

I’m not a big observer of passover but for people like my mom who don’t eat bread for the week, they offer a basket of Matzoh to start.

We started off sharing a fruitcup

And then decided to just get some stuff and share:
Mom’s spinach omelet with a latke (sides of apple sauce and sour cream)

I got lox, onion and eggs

We also shared a scoop of whitefish salad.

As usual, everything was great.  I know people will say this doesn’t compare with delis in NY or even Brookline and that may be true but for this area, this is as close as you’ll get and I really think hands-down, they have the best knishes and I’ve always had a great meal here. 

Can’t wait to do a post about you, knish!

Growing up in Holliston’s “south side” we spent a lot of time going to Milford and one of our favorite places for Chinese food was, and still is Pago Pago on rt. 16.
I guess I should make a note here, since sometimes I’ll make a post on thisisframingham about a Chinese restaurant and someone feels the need to “educate” me (sometimes getting rather upset too) about how what they serve in the states isn’t really Chinese food that they eat in China - I just want to say: I know.  I like American-Chinese food for what it is and I don’t expect to find crab rangoons or egg foo young if I went to China.  I use “Chinese food” as a general term for American-Chinese food.  So now onto the post:
What I love about Pago is it’s tiki-theme decor. Starting with the giant mask above the entrance:

Inside is a small but usually full lounge complete with hanging mask lamps and rock wall behind the bar (yes that’s silver wallpaper in the back!)

The dining room is fun too. They have something that looks like a left over lighting fixture from studio 54, and some more rock wall and a mirror with painted bamboo shoots:

There was a bunch of us so we  just ordered a variety of things starting off with some cocktails:

Then a PuPu Platter:

 The dishes we got were Shrimp Lo Mein:

Chicken MooShi:

Egg Foo Young:

And some General G:

We ended with a nice check and a giant bag of left overs brought with pineapple chunks on ice:

I feel like Pago is one of those places people either love it or..do not like.  My family loves it and even though we only go here once in a while, it’s a reliable treat every time. 

Market Basket in Ashland can be a more economical alternative to grocery shopping since Stop&Shop and Shaw’s are pretty pricey.  I have a system for my grocery shopping:
Dry, canned and frozen goods - Trader Joe’s
Specialty treats or harder to find food -Whole Foods
Produce and misc cupboard staples - Market Basket
My mom is a huge fan of Market Basket and will always say how much cheaper the food is there BUT, I don’t think it’s the bargain she hypes it up to be.  I actually found a few items to be cheaper at Whole Foods so they’re not always the cheapest but like I said I think they’re worth going to for the produce.

Another part of my system is that I like to go Sunday morning right when they open, it’s such a pleasant experience.
I start at right side entrance and make a counter-clockwise journey starting in the dairy section and ending in the bakery. 
Ending in the bakery is my favorite part because the smell of freshly made donuts is intoxicating, like how Dunkin Donuts used to smell when they actually made the donuts in the store.  I think this is the closest to a small, local donut shop as we’ll get in the metrowest area.  But if anyone has other suggestions for donut places, please let me know.
My routine is to just stand at the donut case for a minute or two and inhale. 

I’ve never actually had one of them, it’s really enough to just look and smell, this is what serisouly gest me out of bed at 6:45am on a Sunday.  I can’t even imagine how many calories they have but I will break down someday and try one because I know they must taste amazing.

A closer look at these beauties:

In Westborough’s new and extremely pleasant shopping center (right downtown) is Ted’s Montana Grill.
From reading it’s website, it is a chain of restaurants owned by Ted Turner and it’s mission is fresh food and to be environmentally friendly.
I loved the inside, it looks old even though it’s brand new.  The combination of dark wood, tin ceilings and tasteful lighting make it a classy looking place.


Our waiter asked us if we had been there before and when we said we had not, he explained Ted’s from it’s mission to it’s practices and then the specials.  Part of the missions is being environmentally friendly, as he explained they use “earth friendly” paper straws instead of plastic - and they work just as good!

At our table was a generous assortment of condiments:

I got the special of the day, a fish sandwich:

The fish sadnwich was very good. The fish was fried in a light batter and the handcut fries were really good.  They could have eased up on the mayo in the coleslaw but it was good too.
Ethan got the salmon with mashed potatoes and green beans which  he said was good too.

On Ted’s Menu there is a wide variety of options to choose from as well as burgers and all of their burgers are available as beef or buffalo meat.

This a really great place to have in the area and I’ll definitely be back to try some other dishes.
For more info check out their site:
http://www.tedsmontanagrill.com/

We recently went to Franco’s on Speen St. in Natick.  It’s not a huge place but has a fair amount of seating and casual interior.
They serve homemade rolls with olive oil which were pretty good:

I got eggplant parm and opted for the $1 more fresh pasta:

I loved the sauce and the fresh pasta made all the difference. It was much softer and seemed to absorb the sauce better.  I really liked it.
Ethan got a calzone.  I didn’t realise what a non-descript picture I took until later but this is what it looked like:

My uncle got a pizza, like he usually does when we go out:

He says Francos is one of his favorite places to get pizza around here.  Ethan wasn’t crazy about his calzone but I’m still thinking about how awesome the fresh pasta and sauce was and I’ll definitely go back there for that.

Tonight I met a friend at Sweet Pepper (385 Boston Post Rd.) in Sudbury. 
I’m not a big Thai food person but I love Pad Thai.  Since there are no Thai places in Framingham, it’s been a while since I’ve had that dish, so when my friend asked me to meet here here I was more than happy to get my fix.
It’s kind of small inside but “cozy” and nicely decorated.
We started off splitting fresh garden rolls that had carrots, red and green lettuce, vermicelli noodles, chicken and shrimp.  With the rolls, a sweet and slightly spicy peanut sauce was served on the side.  They were light and tasty but no too filling.

We both got the tofu Pad Thai (so I only took one picture) This was really good although in the back of my mind I always compare Pad Thai with “Eriwan of Siam” in Waltham makes an incredible Pad Thai, it’s hard for others to compete with.

This did hit the spot though and I’m not aware of any Thai place closer than going to Waltham so I would probably go here again.  Plus the service was friendly and well timed.