This Is Framingham

I was looking through recent permits posted on the town website (yes, I actually do that) and saw that there was a permit issued this week for something called “Old Station Steak House” at the old train station.I really hope (and from the name of the place it sounds like) this will be a business that will embrace the station’s history. I hate seeing this building just sitting around unused.I haven’t been in there since it was Ebenizer’s, never got to it when it was the Indian restaurant. A Brazilian buffet was slated to open up here but somehow never did, I think something else tried too. Anyway, Ethan did a nice guest-post about it if anyone missed it and wants to read a little more about the building.

I love having the library down the street from me.  I can rent movies, check out art students’ work, view displays of local history, AND take out books!
They have events there too, the first one I went to when we moved here was “G-Con”, Massachusetts’ only Godzilla convention.  Ethan and I went to an interesting lecture about Franklin D. Roosevelt and along with various events, they have an on-going booksale inside by the front desk.
One of my favorite subjects to take books out on is cooking.  The library has pretty much everything from sushi to breads and a wide variety of authors:
 From culinary royalty (my hero!)

to culinary hype (sorry mom)

Some nice blasts from the past:
 
Adorable, yet talented:

Annoying, yet talented:

I can spend an hour or two just looking through the cookbook selection. I ended up taking home a book on dehydrating food since I aquired a dehydrator from freecycle.org (which has a Framingham group) and had some fun with that. 
The library also has a site with their events and any other info you want to know: http://www.framinghamlibrary.org/

My mom’s friend, who graciously allowed me to post about her sink but requested to remain anonymous, (so I’ll just call her “P”) lives in town and for years I’ve always admired her decision to decorate the bathroom in brown and white.
As you might guess from the theme of my blog, I love brown and I’ve never seen a brown sink anywhere else. 
“P” said when she was picking out the fixtures (sometime in the 70’s) she wanted to get a brown bathtub too but the plumber strongly suggested she didn’t and told her she would regret it later.
Unfortunately, she followed his advice, I would have loved to see the brown bathtub in there too.   “P” wants to update her bathroom but said I can have the sink when she does.  Ethan is “thrilled” of course, what we’ll do with it I don’t know (our 1 bathroom can only accommodate a  pedestal sink) but I just can’t bear the thought of this rarity ending up in a dumpster.

I think of the CVS downtown as “my” CVS since I can walk to it and because of that, this is where I pick up any prescriptions.  I like this CVS because it has both a front and back entrance (with plenty of parking) and it’s pretty small and cozy compared to the standard “super” drugstores (including other newer CVS’s). ????? ?????? payeer  
Another thing I like is the wallpaper:

It’s nice to see some company pride in the decor.  I feel like if I stare at it long enough, I should see a 3-D image but so far, nothing. ????? ???? ????? ?????? 2024  
Also,  I just noticed today that they use paper bags for some prescriptions.  I asked nicely and they put mine in one : )

On our way back from Target tonight we noticed that JOA Take-out (326 Concord St. where the dearly departed Hurwitz Kosher meat market was) had a “Now Open” sign so we decided to check it out.
As it has been suspected, it is a Brazilian-American place. (I was wishing for Thai, as were some other people, but oh well)
Inside it still looks like they have a little finishing touches to do, like filling up the display cooler.

The menu has a mostly Brazilian food but they did have some American-type items like hot dogs, mozzarella sticks, subs, onion rings, chicken fingers, rotisserie chicken and fish & chips.  We decided to share an order of fish & chips.  We spent most our waiting time having a pleasant conversation with the owner who seems like a really nice guy.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got home and opened the take-out box but it looked pretty good. 

I like that they threw in a little greener to make it look nice and it was interesting that they put in limes instead of lemons.  I’m guessing they used Tilapia.  I thought it was good, it tasted like they used fresh instead of frozen and the breading was just enough to make the outside crispy.

For $4.99 this was a good deal especially since it was enough for both of us. Although, I think it was just a special since on the menu it’s $6.99.  I’ll post again when I try the rotisserie chicken.

While I’m waiting for Bronzetti’s to open for business, I had pizza craving and although I knew nothing would be quite the same as one of their pizzas, my uncle and I went out to Bertucci’s (150 Worcester Rd.).
I rarely go to Bertucci’s, I don’t avoid it, but for some reason I just don’t find myself there a lot.  My sister and her husband love it and  I know I can always get them a gift card for a birthday or a stocking stuffer and they’ll be happy.
Inside is decently decorated and I like the open kitchen.

They used to make some chicken and tortellini dish with a lemon-caper sauce that was really good but it has been taken off the menu since I last had it (probably at least 6 years ago)
One of the reliably good things about Bertucci’s are the rolls.  Nice and crunchy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside, served with a flavored olive oil, you can’t go wrong!

We decided to get a pizza and salad.  (I forgot to take a picture of the salad)
My uncle doesn’t like “fancy” items on his pizza so we got onion and sausage.

It’d say Bertucci’s is better than some pizza places, but it’s not amazing.  I do like that, much like Papa Gino’s, it is reliably consistent and you get what you expect (or at least I have)

This morning I was on Rt. 9 going by the old Shogun 9 that is now PC Healthstop (holding their seemingly endless grand opening) when all off the sudden I heard angels sing.  I stopped and upon closer inspection saw….THIS:

I couldn’t believe it.  Such a beautiful sight!
It was only last summer that Ethan and I got to know the awesomeness of Bronzetti’s pizza, over by the Temple St. part of Rt. 9, but sadly our new favorite treat silently disappeared in July. ???? ??????   The bar changed it’s name to something generic and, as others have commented, so did the pizza.  Oh Bronzetti’s, we hardly knew ye! babylon bet  

But now I can look forward to the day I will hold a slice of heaven to my lips once again!  Don’t let the messy looks fool you, with it’s light but chewy crust (and just enough crunch!) and melty goodness all over, this is pizza of the Gods. I normally avoid Rt. 9 but I will try to keep track of this progress and report when I find it up and running.  Maybe they can take over the “Grand Opening” sign from PC Healthstop to let us know. ??? ???? ?????? 2024