This Is Framingham

I was in a 5 and dime in Taunton yesterday and came across some old Dennison products.
I got this for my friend Jim who is a kind of Dennison “connoisseur”.


Something like yard sale tags don’t seem like anything much, but to Jim and I (and I’m sure many other people) it’s a reminder of how happening Framingham used to be.  The Dennison Manufacturing Company produced really great paper products and especially excelled with Halloween party supplies.
I have a few in my own collection:

If you want to see some really impressive examples you can check out Jim’s talk at the Framingham History Center on Oct. 30th at 2:00pm.  There’s an admission fee of $5 (free for FHC members) and you can click here for more info.
If you’re not around or don’t want to pay $5, I think it’s worth googling “Dennison Halloween” and checking out some of awesomeness they made.
I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but some of the designs are fantastic and it’s amazing how recognizable some of these images are that I’ve seen hanging in house windows and tacked to schoolroom bullentin boards for so many years and never realized these decorative images were created right here in Framingham.
I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

(I know it’s not the best but it’s the only pic I have to represent this place)
I haven’t watched the whole video but apparently Angry Ham’s was a guinea pig for the show “Bar Rescue” which woudl exlpain why I saw the name change from Angry Han’s to Octane and I guess they decided to go back to Angry Ham’s after the show was done.

Watch the episode here:
http://www.spike.com/full-episodes/mdaw98/bar-rescue-hogtied-ham-s-season-1-ep-110

My mom and I like going to the occasional Chinese buffet (yes, knowing it’s not authentic Chinese food and knowing these buffets are pretty much all the same) and we had a coupon ($12.95 instead of $14.95 for dinner) for the fairly new Far East Buffet at 220 Worcester Rd. next to Cabot furniture.
Inside was nice and clean although pretty empty for a Sunday night.

There was a decent variety of the usual suspects, chicken/shrimp/beef/pork and vegetables, fried goodies, spare ribs, rice and noodles.  They also had offerings like sauteed in-shell clams, family style tofu crab legs, shrimp, shu mai and these crispy fried shrimp things that were great. Some had scallions and some here plain. 
I also really liked their beef teriyaki (my plate with seaweed salad, shu mai, bok choy, fried shrimp things, crab rangoon, chicken and beef teriayki):

Here’s some shots of other stuff:

Desserts are a variety of cakes, fruit and the server asks you if you’d like ice cream and gives you a choice of three flavors.
We got green tea and coconut almond chocolate chip

It’s okay, not bad or amazing but if I was craving beef teriyaki, I’d get an order to go from there since they have a full menu as well, but even then, I’d have to go on rt.9, so I don’t know. There is no website that I can find but their phone is (508) 872-4888 for any further info.

I won’t bother with how unhappy I’ve been with living in Framingham the past few months.  Never mind the town-wide construction and traffic, or the creepy “spiritual church” that moved in next door and makes all sorts of noise outside after their session lets out at 11pm, or the small businesses that have closed up, sad neglected plazas or… a number of other things.  Instead, I’ll just say that the one bright spot of my work week is the Farmer’s Market, Thursday’s at the common.
Is it cheap? No.  In fact I’ve refused to pay the prices some of the vendors charge.
But the variety of vendors has improved and I like checking it out every week to see who is there.
One of the things I look forward to is the fresh custom-made lemonade:

You can get it with lemons, limes, raspberries, peaches and whatever else they have to offer that day. You can also choose from sugar, agave or stevia as a sweetener.  This is my “creation” I brought back to the office:
There’s always the baked goods guy that has great stuff:

There’s always the painter down at the end which mixes up the offerings at the market:

I’ve only seen Whoopie Monster once but they’re scheduled to be there tomorrow.

They make these cute little whoopie pies in a variety of flavors:

Some of the other vendors sell seafood, fresh pasta, meat and of course fruits and vegetables.
I saw this guy a couple of weeks ago and it made my day:

For more information about the market you can check out this link: http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/FMFM_MARKET1.aspx?MKTID=29

Last week we went to check out the newly opened Top Shelf restaurant at 250 Worcester Rd. (Where Bronzetti’s used to be)
Inside was nicely remodeled.  I remember how Bronzetti’s didn’t remodel after taking the  space over form a sushi bar and it was awkwardly still Japanese looking for an Italian/pizza place.
Our server brought over some fresh focaccia bread with dipping oil that was a little spicy but very flavorful.

We each got a salad, which generously portioned.  Ethan got a Caesar that he enjoyed a lot, nothing unusual about it but had nice crisp lettuce and just the right amount of a tasty dressing.

I got a Greek salad and this was actually my favorite part of the meal:

It was a perfect ratio of green and kalamata olives with tomato, roasted red pepper, cucumber, red onion and feta.  It was more than enough even without lettuce.
For dinner Ethan got the special baked cod that was really good.  I never think of cod as that great of a dish but it was so fresh and that really made a difference in making this a delicious choice.  The red potatoes were perfectly cooked too.  Broccoli and carrots were decently mild and a nice side to have.

I got the scallops with roasted red pepper pesto.

The scallops were good, the sauce was okay, I think in general $16 is a lot for 4 scallops (although it comes with three red potatoes and broccoli and carrots)
For dessert we shared a chocolate cake and the berries and cream recommended by our server.

The chocolate cake was fantastic, really rich and just enough cream on it.  The berries were in  Grand Marnier whipped cream which was a nice, lightly textured dessert to follow a full meal.
You can check out their website for all information including menus, hours and contact info.
http://topshelfdining.com/

Actually I got this a few weeks ago but just posting about it now.  I was really excited to see that when I checked their site last month that there was an announcement of the long-awaited cookbook being available.
I got a few copies for my sister, my friend and myself.
I was really happy to see that the only place they are sold in Framingham is right around the corner from my work at a shop called Selections.

It’s at 935 Worcester Rd and they sell clothing, jewelry, gifts and more.
You can check out their site here: http://www.selectionsboutique.com/
To check out Joan and Ed’s cookbook page to order online, visit: http://www.jedelicookbook.com/
I haven’t made anything yet but I’m looking forward to trying their knish and kugel reicpes.

Today Ethan and I headed down to the newly opened  Carrie Anne’s at the former KFC on 135 (186 Waverly St.).
They are serving a limited menu now as they get ready for their grand opening but you can get some breakfast items including eggs, homefries, corned beef hash, French toast made with challah bread and “Lou’s donuts”.  I’m not familiar with Lou’s donuts but apparently they are missed and from what I understand, the owner is Lou’s granddaughter and has the recipes.
Today we just wanted to check out the donuts so we got two and shared them.
Ethan got a honey dipped:

and I got chocolate glazed (served with the hole on top):

They were both really good but kind of leaned toward the chocolate because of the crunchy outer layer.  This was an excellent donut. The coffee was really good too.
My photos of the inside didn’t turn out too good but there is a counter with about 10 or 12 stools and a seating area.
I saw the French toast and it looks delicious so I’ll go back sometime to try that.
For more info, their phone number is 508-875-2500 and they have lots of photos on their facebook page if you are curious to check out more images.
I hope this place does well!