family | Eat.Live.Blog.

Our Favorite Hidden Gem Breakfast Joint

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

I love a family run joint. You may or may not know, my family is in the business ourselves. Knowing all the blood, sweat and tears that goes behind these types of restaurants makes me appreciate them even more.

When we moved to New England, we quickly discovered it is the land of infinite diners. Everywhere you look there is another greasy spoon, and each one seems to be just as delicious as the next. It didn’t take us long to find Crown Cafe in Watertown, since that is our neck of the woods. This breakfast stop changed hands more times than I can remember during our first year here. But it finally landed in the hands of the nicest Armenian family. Any time you would go in the shop, the owner and his son would great you with a smile, and just enough polite conversation that you wouldn’t get irritated. Then they would serve you one of the best cups of coffee in town, and a home cooked meal, all for under $10.

Then one day, there was a new family behind the counter! We panicked, questioning the young girl serving us. Was the menu going to change? Would the prices change? How about the portion sizes? And the chicken salad? The chicken salad club is SO delicious it would be an actual crime to change it! But the sweet girl assured us that her family planned to keep EVERYthing the same. They are actually family friends of the old owners, and they understand that the secret to Crown Cafe’s success is consistency.

Chicken Salad Sandwich, Egg Sandwich, French Fries and Home Fries

So, we ordered, we over-ate, and we conceded. We were sad to see the old ownership go, but happy that the new owners understand the neighborhood. If you are ever in Watertown before 2pm, and looking for a delicious, hot meal for a low price, give Crown Cafe a try. Trust me, it will feel good to support a nice, locally owned establishment!

Recommendations:

Coffee – It is ALWAYS good!
Chicken Salad – See above
Grilled Chicken Dinner – For under $10 you get a HUGE portion of deliciously marinated and perfectly grilled chicken over rice. This usually is good for 3 meals for me!
Fries & Home Fries – Both are perfectly cooked and seasoned
Egg Sandwich- Ryan swears by their egg sandwich on english muffin with bacon

Honestly, I have never been disappointed with anything I have ordered!

What is your favorite neighborhood eating joint?

Crown Cafe is located at 106 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472. They are open for breakfast and lunch and accessible via the Watertown Yard Bus Stop.

Filed under: Reviews | Tagged: boston, breakfast, coffee, diner, family, family owned, lunch, MA, restaurant, restaurant review, review, watertown | 6 Comments »

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

Today I am opting not to write a restaurant review, recipe, or anything of the type. Today, I am opting to write about only 2 things. The first, I would like to wish all of my readers:

I hope, whatever you do today, you feel appreciated and smile at least once!

The second, and much more important happening, is that it is Ryan’s birthday tomorrow. Now, if I know him, he will probably not be so happy about me including him in a blog post. BUT, I am doing it anyway

It is interesting to share Valentine’s Day with a loved one’s birthday. It makes you remember that Valentine’s Day should not be about candy, and presents, and flowers, but it should really be about thinking about and appreciating the people you love…

whether that is your family…

your best friend….

or the love of your life…

Happy Valentine’s Day to my family, friends, and readers! And Happy Birthday Ry! I am so happy to have spent over a quarter of our lives together, and cannot wait to see what comes next! Mwah!

Filed under: Random | Tagged: blog, blogger, boston, family, Love, Valentine's Day | 9 Comments »

What?! An Easy Dinner Recipe?!

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

Because every day you don’t feel like producing a five-star dining affair, today I am bringing you an easy, delicious and healthy dinner! You’re welcome.

Before I get to the super simple recipe, let me tell you a story about why I love cracker crumbs (which is what you will be using for breading). When I was a baby and toddler, every time I would start to throw a tantrum, I would be given one of those little 2 packs of saltine crackers. I would mush them (in the packet) between my teeth and play with them for hours. There is something incredibly soothing about it. So, when I first decided to use cracker crumbs in a recipe, that soothing feeling came flooding back, and now I will never use regular bread crumbs again.PS- There is also a song they sang to shut me up with the crackers, but I will spare you that!

One more thing before the recipe. My favorite condiment. I LOVE hot sauce. Love, love, love, love. I have made my own, I eat it on everything, and I will try every and any type I can get my hands on. But my very favorite hot sauce? Sylvia’s Kickin’ Hot Hot Sauce. For $1 a bottle, I could live off this stuff. The flavor is so good, and the heat is just enough to be spicy but not override the flavor. I highly recommend you pick a bottle up. Today. But not before you read this recipe…

Have you entered to win a month’s supply of Popchips yet?

Baked BBQ Chicken Fingers

Ingredients

1.5 lb raw chicken tenders
1/3 bottle buffalo wing sauce (i.e. Frank’s Red Hot or Texas Pete’s)
1/3 bottle BBQ Sauce
1 sleeve fat-free saltine crackers (crushed into bread crumb size bits)
Pepper
Habanero Powder (optional)

Directions

Place raw chicken in a plastic container with a tight sealing lid
Pour buffalo & bbq sauce over the top of chicken
Place lid tightly on container and shake well
Allow to marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes or over night
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or tin foil with a layer of cooking spray
Mix the cracker crumbs with the desired amount of pepper and Habanero powder
Place the cracker crumbs on a flat plate
Take marinated chicken, one at a time, and dredge through the cracker crumbs to coat
Place chicken on the prepared cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until cooked through. Do not flip during cooking.
Remove from the oven, plate, and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce (I opt for Sylvia’s Hot Sauce)

Quick Green Beans

Ingredients

1 can green beans (drained)
1/4 Vidalia onion (chopped)
1 large garlic clove (chopped)
1 tbs olive oil

Directions

Heat olive oil & garlic in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat
When the oil starts to sizzle, add the onion
Continue to cook until onion starts to get brown
Add green beans to pan, stir, and cook on medium-high for 3 minutes
Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for at least 10 minutes, or until your main meal is ready

Filed under: Recipes, Reviews | Tagged: bar b que, BBQ, blog, boston, buffalo, chicken, cooking, dinner, easy dinner, family, green beans, Hot sauce, quick dinner, recipe, Sylvia's, tenders | 5 Comments »

The Big E – More than just food?

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

I haven’t been very good about posting updates on my 101 list, although I have been good about accomplishing the tasks. Back in September, I completed one of the tasks I was looking most forward to: #11- Go to the Big E!

I grabbed the “in-laws” and the nieces and nephew, and we were off to a day of delicious fair food.First up on the hit list was something I have been dying to try for ages…fried pickles! No one else was as excited about these as I was so I ended up eating most of them myself. This was probably my first big mistake. I should have known better – only a couple of bites so you have room for everything else! But, they were delicious. Crispy on the outside, and tender inside. The only flaw was the very standard “packet” of ranch on the side.

Mistake #2: Plain curly fries. I know, I know. Why would you waste valuable stomach room on french fries that weren’t slathered in cheese, or vinegar, or chili, or chocolate, or whatever fairs slather fries in. Well the truth is that these were really for our 5-year-old niece, I just ended up eating most of them.

But never fear, we were washing it all down with nice, dishwatery bud lights, so it was all good. It was then time for a super slide interlude…The rest of the gang indulged in traditional fair sausages with onions and peppers at this point. This is where I made my 3rd mistake. I decided to wait for something “more exotic”. Meanwhile their sausage was one of the best I had ever tasted. I spent the next 2 hours not able to find anything that sounded good to me, and eventually settling for sub-par “movie” nachos because I was getting to angry hungry. And NOBODY wants me to get to angry hungry,.

Time to hit the rides! Since our days of riding the Gravitron are over, the over 30 crowd sat back while the nieces abused every fun house they could find. Then I did my “aunt-ly” duty and took Em on the “Super Mouse Rollercoaster”. Her face on the way up was priceless as we climbed to a great view of the park, sheer fear. Unfortunately we whipped around a corner at full speed before I could get a good picture of it. At the end of the ride I had a super smiley Em, ready to do it all over again.Stop the presses! There are turkey legs at the Big E! Stop the presses again…THEY CHARGE $9 FOR ONE TURKEY LEG!! Are you kidding me? Is it from a golden goose?! Completely ridiculous, yet still consumed by us. At least we can feel better that we split the royal leg 5 ways…but it wasn’t even that good.The crescendo of the Big E is the Maine Baked Potato in the Maine State House. Apparently this baked potato is something close to world famous. The legends of the line, just to get one potato, strikes fear in the hearts of the weak. However, we walked right in, right to the counter, and right to eating. Eh. It was a potato. It had canned cheese, bacon bits, chives and sour cream. I like baked potatoes as much as the next gal, but…eh….So there you have it. A food journey through the Big E. Nothing was shocking. Nothing was amazing. I didn’t try fried butter or a donut burger. Luckily enough though, this fair comes back every year!