Quincy

The Chowdah Project

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While I’m more of a baker than a cook, and known for my sweet tooth, there’s another side to me. A savory side.

That side especially shows itself when the temperature dips and the winds pick up. Unless I’m outside in the sweltering heat of summer, I’m probably feeling cold.

Growing up in New England, chowder was a staple – especially clam chowder. So when there’s a chill in the air and I’m thinking about food, I think about chowder.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking that I’d like to try the chowder at different restaurants and make a chowder catalog. I decided to set up a separate Twitter account to do this. Because so much of my main Twitter is politics, this will be a dedicated feed of chowder.

My plan is to share chowder recipes, history, trivia and places where you can eat some good chowder.

Since I’m all about creating different fun projects for myself, this one is named The Chowdah Project. A cup of chowder is a great way to begin a meal. A bowl of chowder can be a perfect meal by itself. Both are relatively cheap and a great way to warm yourself up. So welcome to The Chowdah Project!

Why chowdah? Cause that’s how we say it here!

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Yesterday, I visited a new restaurant in Quincy called Brick & Beam. It was my first time trying the restaurant and I was pleased. The ambiance is nice and it’s very close to where I live. The service was good too and I plan to go back for a full meal at some point.

I had a cup of clam chowder for a warm late afternoon snack. It was piping hot and soothing for the soul. The wind was whipping outside and I was glad to escape the chill. The flavor of the chowder was good. But it was a bit thicker than I prefer. Everyone has their own preference when it comes to consistency. For someone else, it would have been just right.

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Brick & Beam ~ N.E. Clam Chowder
Cup: $6.00
Bowl: $8.00
Location: 705 Adams Street, Quincy, MA

Quincy Farmers Market

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This past Friday, I finally made it to Quincy Farmers Market. Even though I live in Quincy, I’m usually working in Boston. So the only farmers markets that I can get to in time tend to be in Boston.

I’ve been between projects for a couple of weeks, so I’ve had some free time to spend out and about closer to home. A few years ago I went to Quincy Farmers Market, when it was at a different location.  I was not impressed. If I remember correctly, it was in a parking lot in Quincy Center. There wasn’t much there and I encountered some less than friendly people.

Now the farmers market is in a much better location. It’s in a wide open green space at Pageant Field on Merrymount Parkway. There is a wonderful selection of fruits, vegetables, maple syrup, honey, baked goods, some prepared foods, skin care items and more.

The one thing that I don’t remember seeing and hoping for was fresh flowers, but maybe they have them at other times. There were lots of pumpkins though if you’re looking!

Everyone was friendly and eager to tell me about their products. It was a very welcoming atmosphere and  stayed longer than I had planned. The farmers market goes on through November 16th, so hopefully I’ll have the chance to go at least once more. The hours are limited though, Fridays from 11:30am – 5pm.

While I was there, I bought some sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, apples, pears and maple syrup. Maple syrup is one of my favorite things. I use it on my oatmeal and in my morning coffee.

The syrup that I bought is from Ackermann Maple Farm in Vermont. There were so many lovely flavors and I enjoyed a sweet taste testing!

The pears that I bought are Asian pears from Sky Meadow Orchards, in Scituate. A taste test revealed a very crisp and juicy fruit that I enjoyed immensely — almost more like an apple.

Even though summer is over, many summer farmers markets continue through late October mid-November.

Winter Markets will be open soon and we still have the year-round Boston Public Market. So there are still plenty of opportunities to continue getting fresh produce as the New England chill turns to frost, ice and snow.

Quincy’s Bike-Sharing Survivor Game

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Competition between bike-sharing companies is heating up in Quincy. Back in late May, early June, I first started seeing beautiful bright yellow Ofo bikes popping up everywhere.

Soon after, I downloaded the app and looked forward to trying it out. A free week was even offered. I proceeded to never try it. Finding the bikes was very random and the timing never worked out.

Recently, I started noticing pretty lime green and yellow bikes around the city. Then I received an email from Ofo stating that they were leaving Quincy. That was quick!

An article on Quartz, states that Ofo, which is based in China, laid off many employees in North America and is dramatically scaling back its US operation.

Ofo told team members on a call today that it is “going into sleep mode” in North America. Chris Taylor, a former Uber employee hired by Ofo to lead its North American operations in October 2017, announced his departure from the company a few weeks ago.

Ofo confirmed the layoffs to Quartz. The company said it is not vacating the US, but is reorienting to focus on markets that will help it become profitable. Ofo plans to maintain operations in US cities including Seattle, San Diego, and New York, where it recently was selected to participate in a dockless bike-share pilot in the Bronx.

Well, no need to worry, because Lime is here in Quincy now. According to their website, they also have electric scooters and electric assist bikes.

We’ll see how long Lime survives here. Bike-sharing companies are all the rage now in the Boston area and all over the country in general. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to ride a bike soon. I loved riding my bike as a kid and miss it.

Will Lime survive into the next season? Who knows? But if Lime leaves along with the falling leaves, there seem to be plenty of other bike-sharing companies ready to take its place.

Laundry Day: Calm Between Storms

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What a week! My mom lost electricity for several days due to the first storm, on March 2nd, so she stayed with me for a few days.

I’m so glad that I had power! Especially living in Quincy, where there was crazy rain, flooding, wind damage and dozens of people had to be rescued by the National Guard. While I’ve often been jealous of those who live closer to the beach, I’ve recently been very appreciative of living on a hill.

Then we had another storm this week. I walked to and from the train for work during both storms and luckily wasn’t hit by any falling trees, wires or debris. I saw a piece of siding ripped off a house and go flying into the air. I’ve already barely missed being hit by a tree and hope my luck continues.

With all the chaos, my laundry has piled up. So today is the day.

While sipping my coffee this morning, I found an article about modernizing your laundry routine. Two sisters from Germany moved to Brooklyn and opened a really cool eco-friendly and sustainable laundromat with a cafe and backyard space. Wish there were a place like that in Quincy!

The sisters are interviewed about laundry and one of their suggestions is to use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets. They are cheaper overall, less wasteful and healthier. Seems like a great idea, so I found a DIY blog post and might make make my own felted wool dryer balls. We’ll see.

Have you tried dryer balls? What do you think?

Well, last I heard, we’re supposed to have another storm on Monday or Tuesday. I haven’t checked again, because it’s too exhausting at this point. I’ll just enjoy the calm between the storms. Have a good weekend!

Quincy: Then & Now

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Have you taken a look at some of the old pictures of Massachusetts available online? Digital Commonwealth is a treasure.

If you’re familiar with Quincy at all, you’ve probably been at this intersection in Wollaston. You’d be standing on Newport Avenue looking at Grandview Avenue on the left and Beale Street on the right.

I found the lower picture in the Quincy postcard collection, dated from 1903 – 1976. That’s quite a range of years, but based on the car on the right, I’m guessing it’s from the 1910s or 1920s. Maybe 1918?

As soon as I saw the old picture, I knew I had to take a new picture to compare it with. The upper picture I took this past week. Quite a difference! But you can definitely see that it’s the same place. Just about one hundred years apart. Pretty amazing.

It was shocking to see that the building on the right used to be a drug store. I think it’s a fabric store now.

Grandview used to be a dirt road and now so many trees have grown that it’s hard to see the house behind them. Also, it looks like it was a two-way street. Now it’s one-way. There were no traffic lights back then and way less cars.

What a difference a century makes! Wonder what it will look like in 2118?