Good morning! Happy Friday!
Last night, I joined a group of CrossFit ladies for dinner at The Fours in Quincy. When Mal and I lived in Q-town, we used to go there all the time, but I haven’t been back in years, so I was excited for a fun night out with my favorite CrossFit girls.
I really wasn’t planning to drink last night, but a cocktail on the menu called the “Frostbite” sounded especially delicious and appropriate for the impending blizzard that’s suppose to hit later today (stay safe, friends!), so I splurged and ordered one. (Thankfully, my digestive system seems fine today!)
The “Frostbite” was awesome! Ginger liqueur is my jam! Yum!
There were 14 of us at dinner, so we shared two orders of Buffalo Chicken Nachos, which were covered in melt-y cheese and buffalo sauce. Mmm!
For my entrée, I ordered the bacon cheddar burger with sweet potato fries on the side. The burger was good. The fries were awesome, and I ate them all.
Ok, back to the nachos”¦
I love, love, love nachos, especially Buffalo Chicken Nachos. They are my very favorite. In fact, I love nachos so much, I actually had a blog (GeoCities website) entirely devoted to them back in 2003. Remember how I gained 25 pounds after college? I attribute that weight gain almost entirely to beer and nachos. A couple of friends and I spent many of our Thirsty Thursdays and sometimes Friday and Saturday nights taste-testing nachos at restaurants and bars around Boston. We even had a rating system, which was based off things like cheesiness, variety of toppings, and even the colors of the tortilla chips (we were fans of the tri-color chips). I guess I had the food blogger thing in me long before Carrots ”˜N’ Cake!
When the “Best of Boston” issue of the Improper Bostonian came out in the summer of 2003, I was excited to see that it included a nacho category. While I agreed with the restaurant that won the category (Coolidge Corner Clubhouse), I felt the need to write the magazine and share my thoughts on who I thought had the best nachos in Boston (and apparently offer my judging services for the next year’s contest). Based on my nacho “expertise,” I thought the Black Rhino had the best nachos, which is kind of funny now because it doesn’t even exist anymore! Ha! Maybe their nachos weren’t that good?
Anyway, the folks at the Improper Boston must have got a kick out of my letter and enthusiasm for nachos because they printed it in the next month’s issue! My friends actually had my published letter framed for me, but, sadly, it got lost in my years of moving from apartment to apartment. I did, however, find my email to the Improper in my old Hotmail account with one of the editor’s reply. Check it out!
From: "Tina Rizzitano" <tinarizzitano@hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 15:46:08 -0400 To: letters@improper.com Subject: Best Nachos > > Hey there, > > I can't explain how psyched I was when I realized that there was a Best >of Boston nacho category. I am, without a doubt, a nacho fan”¦and my love >has become an obsession (sadly, I'm not kidding”¦). A couple co-workers >and I have spent the last year “rating” Boston's best nachos””I've even >developed a website devoted to Boston's best and worst nachos. In my >opinion, although the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse does have very tasty >nachos, the BEST nachos in Boston are actually at the Black Rhino >(yeah”¦who'd have guessed?). They really are fabulous”¦cheesy, crunchy, >ample toppings, piled-high, etc.””and I've eaten A LOT of nachos (at least >once a week if not more for the past year! Impressive if you ask me”¦). > Besides offering my own personal opinion about Boston's best nachos, I >would like to offer my expertise to next year's judging. I already have a >year of nacho-eating under my belt (no pun intended) and I would be more >than willing to help out the Improper staff in the coming year. Please >keep me in mind if there are any openings among your Best of Boston's >nacho judges. > > Take care, > Tina
Re: Best Nachos From: Ezra Dyer (ezra@improper.com) Sent: Wed 8/20/03 4:43 PM To: tinarizzitano@hotmail.com Hey Tina Would you mind telling me what town you live in so we can run that with your letter? I'm a nacho fan too. I'll have to get to the Black Rhino. EZ
Pretty funny, right? I {heart} nachos forever and always.
Health News & Views
Looking for a delicious, gluten-free banana bread recipe that isn’t dry and crumbly? Look no further! This banana bread is so moist and sweet (and almost like the real deal), you won’t even know it’s gluten-free! (Mal and I ate the entire loaf in less than 24 hours!)
An Irresistible Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe
Questions of the Day
What food(s) do you consider yourself an “expert”?
If you had to start a blog today, what would it be about?