A Very Foodie Christmas

          I've been MIA from blogging and twitter for the past week, because I've been busy with LOTS of amazing holiday celebrations with friends and family! Of course there was plenty of good food, wine, and many food related gifts exchanged, which inspired this holiday recap post!

What I gave
          This year I was really excited about some of the great gifts I found for the foodies in my life, and most by the two extremely rare bottles of wine purchased at Urban Grape for my bf and a close family friend. I was psyched to find a bottle of Quintarelli and Jarvis, but didn't mention it in my original post for fear of giving away the surprise. Both had the same reaction, "OMG where did you find this?!?!", which was perfect and exactly what I was hoping for!

          I also gave out several jars of McCreas salted caramels with black lava sea salt, which were a huge hit at work and with my friends! I first tried these when I received a jar in my gift bag from the Boston Wine Expo Preview Event earlier this year, and devoured the whole thing within a day!
         
What I got
          From the bf: An amazing bottle of Barbaresco, a nice wine opener, a truffle shaver, and Harold McGee's book On Food and Cooking

          From the family friend: a really nice bottle of Lambrusco, coffee, and a Chanel business card holder (not food related, but so amazing how could I not mention it)??

          From another great friend: a jar of my favorite truffle salt, which I had coincidentally just run out of.

          From my parents: a frozen pizza from Tony and Ann's, my favorite pizza place growing up (and of all time). While not as famous as Regina or Santarpios, the original had enough of a following to be featured on the Simpsons and after its closing when Tony passed away there was so much demand from lifelong loyal customers (like my family) that Tony and Ann's grandchildren recently re-opened in a different, much larger location.

Where I ate
           In addition to the holiday parties, I had some great meals out but took a break from the pictures (mostly because I'd already been and reviewed a place or I wasn't ordering enough to make for a complete post). Some of the highlights included:

• One of the best burgers I've had in awhile at Farmstead Table in Newton
• A delicious pork belly plate at La Verdad
• Tons of great tapas at Loco in Easton
• Creative and tasty Parnsip Soup with cherries and polenta fries in a Puttanesca sauce at Citizen Public House

What were you up to over the holidays?