Some Recent Good Flavors

Last weekend my sister and I celebrated my mother's 75th birthday at my sister's house in Tampa, Florida. My sister had been raving about this bakery and said we just had to get my mother's birthday cake from a bakery named Wrights. The cake was so decadent -- chocolate cake with thick chocolate frosting to die for. And, the bakery said that the one my sister ordered was for eight people, but I swear 18 people could have lived off it and it alone for about a week. It was HUGE! My mother and sister did go on to eat it every day for the next three or four days. I brought two pieces back to Boston with me and kept scooping large pieces of the frosting into a spoon and enjoying that sweet chocolate flavor for about 2 more nights. It's definitely not what you want to be eating if you're on a diet, but it was one cake that was truly worth the calories!

My girlfriend Robin and I went to a restaurant in Watertown this past weekend that I had never been to called La Casa de Pedro. It's Venezuelan and the Web site says "come experience a true taste of Venezuelan hospitality" and that's exactly what my friend Robin and I experienced. The chef grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and the Website talks about how he wants all to "celebrate family and friends, to resolve all matters, to laugh out loud and to love life!" Doesn't that sound fantastic? Robin and I arrived on Sunday around 1 and you could choose from a brunch menu, a lunch menu, a tapas menu and all kinds of drinks. I didn't have a mojito, but when my friend Robin was there once before she said she tried them and they were great. I had the Pabellón Criollo -- which is a typical Venezuelan dish of shredded beef, white rice, sweet plantains and black beans. It was the perfect way to warm up on a cold Sunday afternoon. And, there was live music in the background -- an acoustic guitar player -- which always makes the atmosphere so much more lively.