This Is Framingham

I was walking by Sampan the other morning and saw it’s for sale. I wasn’t sure if they’re closed and for sale or still open and for sale. Out of curiosity I called tonight to see if anyone answered and they did, so I guess they’re open while looking for a buyer.
I can’t say I’ll miss it since I only went there once but it’s been there for a long time so it’ll be weird to not see it there.
Also, I saw that Astro’s pizza has closed after just opening last September.

I’ve only been to Cintolo’s once before to get some signatures to run for town meeting but I heard they sell great homemade sausage on Thursdays so I went to check it out.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Cintolo’s is a little neighborhood market that has been in business for 70 years and people who go in there end up talking with Mr. & Mrs. Cintolo for a while, sometimes pulling up a chair and staying a while.   The nice thing is that if they don’t know they don’t make you feel like you don’t belong there. When I went in to buy the sausage, Mrs. Cintolo was asking me how I planned on cooking it and gave me suggestions on different recipes. 
Also, I  though it was cute that even though they’ve been in business so long and have a regular clientele, she was interested in how I heard about them.  She was just so nice and easy to talk to.  I went in there to get one thing and ended up talking with her for 10-15 minutes and she asked me to come back and let her know how I liked the sausage.
I sauteed it with onions and peppers and it was dee-licious!

This is one of the most adorable small business in Framingham and worth making the trip for sausage.
Cintolo’s is at 371 Grant Street.  They don’t have a sign anymore, I forgot to ask if it was because of a storm or the ridiculously strict sign regulations in town, but you should be able to recognize it by the striped awning in front of the store.

Doug Stephan of Eastleigh Farm (used with permission)
According to their site, Eastleigh Farm has been okayed (again) to sell raw milk starting in March.
There are people who think it’s a good idea and those who think it’s a bad idea but what it comes down to is that it’s a choice people can make, just like people choose how well they want their burger done.
Personally I’m not a big milk drinker, but I do enjoy cheese made from raw milk and I know there are lots of people who prefer to drink raw milk. I think it would be great for Framingham to be known as a location where you can get raw milk and support a local farm. When I talk to people who don’t live in town they’re surprised when I tell them we have actual farms here – they think Framingham is just crime and shopping.
I had the pleasure of talking with Doug Stephan a few weeks ago and he said the milk will start off being available as milk shares and then in a few months most likely be available by the bottle and then move onto cheese, yogurt and ice cream as well.
Everything you’d want to know about this, like why people want to drink raw milk, and more about the farm can be found on their website: http://www.eastleighfarm.com

Any title I had for this post was going to be tacky so I didn’t even bother finishing it.
As part of my job at the History Center I get to look through lots of boxes with all sorts of artifacts in them.  I recently came across a box that had a bunch of old cocktail stirrers from old restaurants.  I got a kick out them and thought some of you might too. 

From left to right is Ken’s Steakhouse, Finnerty’s (Wayland), Maridor, Timothy’s Too, Framingham Motor Inn, Framingham Liquors and the Knaughty Knights Lounge- whatever that was.   It must have been where Molly Mallone’s is now at the Sheraton Tara.  Not sure if it was a regular restaurant or more of a “gentlemens” bar but anyone remembers that place, I’d love to hear what it was like.

Tonight my friend Miah and I went out for sushi at Samba. I’ve gone here for hibachi and Ethan and I love their Pad Thai, but I’ve never gone here for a sushi evening so that’s what Miah and I did.
We sat in the lounge (also a first) and started off with some drinks, I got a chocolate martini and and Miah got something fruity that the waiter suggested. ???? ??????

We got some edamame and a sushi/maki combo for 2. This was really enough for 3, maybe even 4 and hasd a nice variety of nigiri and maki which was delicious.

I think the best roll was was the spicy tuna maki, which Miah agreed was particularly good. ????? ????????

We had such a great meal here and now have three reasons to go here. ???? ???? Whether it’s for hibachi, Pad Thai or sushi, I’d be happy to go here anytime and it’s good to see that so far Samba hasn’t succumbed to the failed restaurant curse that had plagued this location for previous businesses. Good job Samba!

Everyday I get the mail the Trolley Square post office and about once a week I go to Taste of China (which is in the same plaza) for their Hot and Sour soup.
I know it doesn’t look like much from the outside, and actually it looks like even less on the inside, but I went there a while ago on my friends recommendation and found the soup to be really good.

They do fill up the container, I just remembered to take the picture after I already had some. ivermectin paste for goats and cows?   I’ve tried Hot and Sour soup from a few places in town and this is one of the top contenders.  The only thing is that you have to ask for them not to put MSG in (if you care about that) but they’re happy to leave it out if you don’t want it. ivermectina xarope
I haven’t tried anything else there but for $2.10 (sometimes I’ll get a small order of brown rice for more) it’s such a great bargain lunch. /ivermectin-pour-cattle-

I was looking to get my awesome Jordan Marsh print framed and I didn’t really want to go to AC Moore or Michael’s because there is something weird to me about always offering 50% off framing, they don’t do their work in-house and I like to use local businesses. I’ve never had anything framed before and some people recommended Framed in Time in Saxonville so I thought I’d check them out.
When you walk in, you can see there are a ton of options for frames.

Right from the start, the girl behind the counter was so incredibly nice and helpful when I explained what I was looking for and the budget I was working with. She picked out a few suggestions based on the colors of the print and the thickness of the frame that would be needed due to the larger amount of glass that would be need as this was a larger poster rather than a small desk top item I was looking to frame.

I picked a light wood frame even though the interior of our house has dark wood trim, I thought the light wood went well with the print. I went to pick it up today and when I saw the finished product I realized I made a mistake and I just knew Ethan wasn’t going to like it in the house.

As much as I hated to do it, I asked the guy “So….what if I needed this re-framed? How much would that cost?” and instead of rolling his eyes or sighing, which I was afraid he would do, he said “Oh, if you pick a frame that’s in the same price range, there’s no charge at all”.  I told him I was so sorry but now that I’m looking at it I just know my husband won’t like this and I guess I’m not crazy about it either.
The guy said no problem at all and that it’s big enough that he can cut it up to use for something else and that infact he just got a new frame in this price range that is the same thing but in a walnut color. He brought out the frame sample and it was perfect.

It was so nice of him to not only to be so accommodating to me changing my mind after the frame was done, but he didn’t try to up-sell me on a more expensive frame and he was really nice!
I know we’ll be happy with the new frame and I’m so glad I went here. Such a nice small business in town, they get to be filed in the “yay” category of the blog!

Check out their site for more info: http://www.framedintime.com