Friday I'm In Love... with Brie de Lyon

Brie is probably my favorite cheese (I know, there are so many, it's hard to pick just one!). For years, I was accustomed to the stuff from the supermarket, and I loved it because it was creamy and decadent. Oh, I had no idea what I was thinking.

When I was a teenager, on a visit to France, I had some amazing, runny brie that was miles above (streets ahead?) what I'd had at home, but I chalked it up to foods being better in their countries of origin (after a similar trip to Greece, I wouldn't eat feta at home for months).

So when my friend Ann picked up this brie, I figured it would be just like any of the other creamy but indistinguisable cheeses out there. But no, this stuff is completely different - even creamier, with just enough bite to make it interesting and just a little bit of nuttiness. We've taken to calling it "crack brie", because we all crave it like crazy and will go through a piece like piranhas going at a cow.

But where does this magical brie come from? Wasik's in Wellesley, a fantastic cheese shop with a staff that knows more about the selections in the store than anyone should ever know about cheese. This brie, called "Brie" de Lyon (in apostrophes because real brie comes from Brie, while this is from Lyon), is a little more than what you get in the supermarket but well worth the money. It goes especially well on slices of baguette with a little bit of fig jam (don't worry, you can get all of this at Wasik's), but it's just as tasty without any accompaniment.

Healthy Habits Kitchen for Easy, Nutritious Meals at Home

I'm lucky (or unlucky?) enough to have plenty of time to cook. When I want to make a complex meal, I can take my time shopping and prepping, chopping and assembling. But I realize that I'm in the minority in this, and that a lot of people struggle just to put something hot on the table every night. And far too often, the things that are easy and quick to make are far from healthy.

Enter Healthy Habits Kitchen in Wellesley. Started in 2007 by Sue Schochet, Healthy Habits Kitchen aims to provide nutritious meals that (mostly) take under 30 minutes to cook. Every meal is packaged to go, with ingredients already portioned so you can just throw them together without too much work. The above meal, Triple M Chicken, took half an hour and almost no thought to make, and I loved every bite.

All of the meals are created by Sue and her team, then sent to a nutritionist for evaluation. Each serving contains under 400 calories, less than 30% fat, and a maximum of 800mg of sodium. The menu changes monthly, so there's always plenty of variety at Healthy Habits Kitchen.

There are a few options for getting meals from Healthy Habits Kitchen. You can schedule an assembly time, where you can assemble a whole meal, using the portion-sized containers in the kitchen. Alternatively, you can just pick up frozen meals for an extra $1 per meal (this is the option that most customers use). Healthy Habits Kitchen is also a part of the Natick farmers market on Saturdays, where you can pick up frozen meals (you can guarantee they'll have what you want by placing an order ahead of time). The kitchen can even be used for small parties, where a group of friends can spend time assembling their meals with each other over BYOB wine and provided snacks.

You know, even if you have enough time to do all your meal planning and prep on your own, it's nice to have someone do the work from time to time and to try new recipes without too much hassle. It's also great to know that you have a whole meal in the freezer that can be put together in no time.

Wellesley Bakery in (Surprisingly) Wellesley

Another stop on my recent wander through Wellesley was the Wellesley Bakery. Ann thought we should hold off on dessert at Susu and hit this stop instead (hey, I wasn't going to argue, since I'm all for trying as many places as possible).

Entering the Wellesley Bakery is almost a culture shock after Susu. Where Susu is polished and gleaming and fancy, Wellesley Bakery is more homey and a little more what a real working bakery should feel like. The workers are clearly busy in the back, because there's even a bell to ring if they're not at the counter.
Everything looked so good in there that I had a hard time making a decision... so I didn't. I ordered a bunch of different cookies and proceeded to eat them over the next three days. The linzer cookie (above) was my favorite - truly delicious, buttery, flaky cookies sandwiched around gooey, condensed raspberry jam. I would be very happy if I could make cookies that good. The peanut butter cookie was chewy, not hard and dense, and I really liked that. It was also not overly peanut buttery, and it had little peanut butter chips in it as well. The oatmeal chocolate chip was my least favorite of the bunch, but that doesn't mean it was not good - the oats and the chocolate were well balanced.

I also ordered a raspberry croissant, but I didn't get around to eating it for a few days. And while it was still good when I did eat it, I'm sure it would have been fantastic when fresh... *sigh*, I guess I'll just have to go back.


As I was standing at the counter, I spied some interesting sodas in the case out of the corner of my eye. Mash ("a water drink") comes in some interesting mixes, like mango-blood orange and pommegranate-blueberry. The flavors were intense and delicious. They're made our of sparkling water and juices, so they're slightly better for you than a Coke. I just wish I knew where to find them closer to the city.

Susu Bakery, Wellesley

My friend Ann and I often act much older than our years and use our preppy upbringings to visit "ladies who lunch" -type places. It's usually for tea (like our recent trip to the Taj), but on Friday we had lunch at Susu Bakery in Wellesley.

Susu is in a beautiful space, with lots of light and huge tables. There's even a granite countertop in the bakery section. One particularly large table was hosting a book group when we entered.

The lunch menu is short, but the choices cover plenty of ground - salad, sandwiches, soup. I opted for the tart (because I'll eat pretty much anything if there's pie crust involved). There was a solid layer of spinach along the inside of the crust, and a half of a tomato was in the center, with the egg mixture poured in around it. The quiche was served with a fresh salad tossed in a slightly creamy vinaigrette - nothing special, but it rounded out the plate well.

It was nice to see the care taken in plating the food. The sandwiches in particular looked very nice, with little cherry tomato halves topping each triangle. It definitely helped to add sophistication.

We grabbed a few baked goods on the way out, because what's the use of visiting a bakery if you don't get dessert? I tried a currant scone that was fabulous - flaky and buttery without being overwhelmed by the fruit. Made me want some clotted cream.

Overall, Susu is a little pricy for what it is, but it's clear that there is a lot of care taken with the food. I'm not sure I would go back again for lunch, but I really loved that scone, so I'm sure I'll be back for more of those.