Chihuly, Masa and more

Went to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit at MFA in Boston last Saturday with my hubby, mom and stepdad. I love Chihuly...have loved him ever since I lived out in the Northwest. I was thrilled to hear that his stuff would be in Boston. We went the last weekend of the show which has been going since April. The place was MOBBED first thing on Saturday morning, but we got in pretty quickly thanks to my mom and stepdad's memberships.

I liked the exhibit even better than I liked the Chihuly museum in Tacoma and that's saying something. The only disappointment besides the crowds was the fact that much of the glass was covered with dust...makes sense, but definitely detracted from the brightness of the pieces.

Then took mom and Don to eat brunch at Masa in the South End. The plaintain empanada was SO GOOD! Imagine biting into a nicely fried empanada (the dough was orange and I still need to find out what made the dough orange) and tasting thick, starchy, sweet yet tangy plaintain. It was SOOO good!

Then I had an Eggs Benedict like no other Eggs Benedict I've ever had. The Hollandaise had some heat in it, but it wasn't overpowering...just right. Instead of bacon under the eggs, there was guacamole!!! Can you believe it? What a nice creamy taste to bite into after tasting the heat from the Hollandaise sauce. And then, instead of English Muffins, there were flaky, buttery biscuits under it all. So good!!!! I am in love with that Eggs Benedict...so much so that I doubt I'll be able to eat it the traditional way ever again. Thank you Masa for giving me so many punchy, sauces, layers of heat, and amazing flavors.

The weather was perfect, the museum was lovely. Our company and our brunch were a perfect way to top off the day which was, by the way, a long overdue Christmas present for my mom and stepdad. We decided that we should make Christmas in August an annual event from here forward.

Visit them at:  http://www.masarestaurant.com/boston/index.html