It Smells Like Papa Gino's Again

It finally feels like summer! I mean it has on and off but it's actually hot and sunny today. I did some food shopping at Whole Foods this morning (I don't normally do my regular shopping here but I will every once in awhile. It really wasn't bad cost-wise today and I grabbed some random stuff that magically slipped into my shopping cart. Also, the Whole Foods in the South End has bulk spices which is awesome but I made a massive mess with garlic powder and my hands finally stopped smelling like garlic after a shower Sorry, this was a long tangent). I also checked out Quench Juicery, a newer juice bar in Quincy. There were a lot of options of juices, smoothies, bowls, and salads. A cute little place. I got the "C" turtle which was mango, apple, lime, grapefruit, orange, and mint. It was good! Tonight, the husband and I are heading into the city for dinner.

On Thursday, I met up with my college friends in Davis Square at a place called Five Horses Tavern. I had never heard of it but it was great! There were about 13 of us so we took up a large table in the middle of the bar. They had an awesome beer list which made it very difficult to choose what to drink. I got the Bomb-Mi Sandwich which was a riff on a bahn mi sandwich. It was crispy eggplant with jalapeno jelly, miso-tomato mousse, pickled daikon, carrots, mint, and cilantro on a baguette with tater tots on the side.

Sorry, there was a bite taken out of it. 

Last night, I made an Eggplant and Penne Bake from the SkinnyTaste cookbook. It was basically like a lasagna with penne and much easier to build. It was layered penne with marinara, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese. I used eggplant that I had previously roasted and frozen so it worked out perfectly. Tim said it smelled like Papa Gino's again. I decided it's the oregano. 

I served the bake with a Vanilla Bourbon Cherry Smash (since I had a lot of cherries. And bourbon hanging around). I muddled cherries with bourbon, vanilla extract, angostura bitters, simple syrup, and lemon juice. I let that sit in the fridge while I finished dinner. I then topped it off with ice and seltzer water (it called for club soda but I only had seltzer water on hand).

Very refreshing. I have a love/hate relationship cherries. They are sooo good but pitting (de-pitting?) them is extremely annoying. And messy.