I know that it seems like spring will never get here, and summer seems even farther away. I thought I would post about the Cape to get us all in the spirit! I know I’m looking forward to warm days by the ocean and catching up on some serious vitamin D!

I know I have come full circle coming to the Parrot and bringing my kids. I used to come here in my early 20’s and probably had a little too much fun with my friends. I needed to change my son’s diaper and headed into the ladies room. A woman headed out says to me, “oh, there’s no changing table in there”. Yes honey, I know. I used to hold my friends hair back when they were puking in there (sorry mom!). Now I’m just changing diapers on the floor. Thanks.

I don’t think I ever ate here (just drank), nor did I even really take notice of the decor. The food was just meh. Nothing great and probably would taste better if I had a few beers in me. The wrap was probably the best out of the bunch and the onion rings weren’t bad. The pasta had way too much sauce on it and it was an odd consistency. On a better note, our waitress was friendly and helpful – but then again, it wasn’t very crowded at 5pm.

The verdict: some places are better in the dark and better to stay as old memories.

The Parrot

1356 MA-28A, Bourne, MA

Check out the Facebook page here.

The post The Parrot appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

My family and I had spent the day in Hyannis and decided to stop in to Centerville Pie Company on the way home. Sound familiar? Yup, they’re Oprah famous! In 2009, co-owners Laurie and Kristin opened the 18 seat bakeshop. That summer, Kristin heard that Gayle and Oprah were in town, so she boxed up one of her chicken pies and drove it over to their hotel. Oprah fell in love, and Centerville Pie Company went from selling 20 pies a week to 200! The chicken pies are made with hand pulled chicken – and there are no vegetables, just chicken and gravy here! You can buy the pies at your local market, but if you want extra of that delicious gravy, you have to stop by the shop!

So if Oprah loves them, I had to try them! I never say no to pie. Centerville Pie Company sells both sweet and savory pies, but my first love, of course, are the sweet pies. Shown above is the peach pie. Just look at that lattice crust! (Mine never come out that pretty!)

My favorite pie is apple. I was doing my best not to drool while I was taking these photos! The pie shop is open Monday – Saturday 8am – 6pm and Sundays from 9am – 4pm. I mentioned before that they have a restaurant, located right next door, that is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch from 7am – 3pm.

While I was at the shop taking some photos, I met Kristin, one of the owners. Kristin moved to the Cape as a teenager and has lived here ever since. She went to school at Johnson and Whales where she received her degree. Kristin might be one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She has an outgoing personality and makes you feel like you are old friends from the minute you walk in the door. While I was in the shop, a family came in with gifts for Kristin. I thought they were friends, turns out they met only the day before, while they were in for breakfast. Kristin said she took the kids in back and they helped her bake pies while the grownups were eating – talk about cool!

So what else makes you feel good about buying pies from Centerville Pie Company (besides the fact that they taste delicious and their owner is a doll)? They partnered with Cape Abilities, a non profit organization that supports people with disabilities on Cape Cod. The pie company handles most of its pie making operations at the Cape Abilities location and they employ over 50 disable adults. All.the.feels.

While they might be known for their chicken pie, the Shepherd’s Pie might have been my favorite. The pie is made with seasoned ground beef sautéed with onions, topped with corn, and mashed potatoes. We took home a small pie, pictured above, but we wished we picked up a large one because it was crave worthy!

I generally find that most pies places that do sweet and savory pies do one better than the other – it’s all in the crust…but Centerville Pie Company does both really well. I loved every pie I tried more than the next.

Pictured above is the Cape Cod Crunch pie that the ladies told me just flies off the shelves. A chocolate pudding pie with Heath Bar and whipped cream, topped with a healthy drizzle of chocolate sauce. My grandmother used to make chocolate pudding pies for all of our family get togethers – so I have a special place in my heart for pudding pies (although hers had a graham cracker crust). The Cape Cod Crunch kicks pudding pie up to a whole new level for me!

As I mentioned before, you can buy Centerville Pie Company’s chicken pies in your local grocery store’s frozen food aisle (Roche Bros., Stop and Shop and Market Basket). As of this past March, you can find their Shepherd’s Pie along side of the chicken pies. So now you can enjoy an 8″ pie, which can easily feed a family of four (or just you – I won’t tell), for $12.99. That’s a steal!

So if you’re in the neighborhood (or if you’re not, make a special trip) stop in to check out Centerville Pie Company where they have a little something for everyone!

Disclaimer: I was a guest at Centerville Pie Company. I was provided with one large chicken pie, a small Shepherd’s pie and an apple pie. All opinions are my own.

Centerville Pie Company

1671 Falmouth Road (Route 28), Centerville, MA

https://centervillepies.com

The post Centerville Pie Company appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

I had been eagerly awaiting the opening of Bear in Boots Gastropub on Main Street in Falmouth last year. In the summer it was insanely crowded – now that it is off season, we headed down to have dinner. Even though it was cold and rainy, the place was packed tonight!

The restaurant is owned by Kate and Gates Rickard and the food is inspired by their travels abroad. The name Bear in Boots comes from the nicknames of their sons, and anywhere you see a squirrel in the restaurant, that is for their youngest daughter.

The restaurant is charming. The piano above is used on the weekends when there is live music. The tables are made from sinker oak that was previously submerged – if you look closely you can see some faint blue streaks.

The restaurant is family friendly, while also being a great place to grab a drink with friends. They are a 97% scratch kitchen, from their bread to their ice cream to their mustard and condiments. They age all of their meat on site and even their syrups at the bar are house made.

We sat at a high top table right next to the open kitchen. We were able to talk to Chef Joe Ellia throughout the meal and see the team preparing our food. We sampled a little bit of everything, some of the plates were our choices and some were the chef’s. We started with the Autumn salad ($9) was seasonal baby spinach topped with roasted pumpkin, figs, toasted almonds and goat cheese topped with a light bacon infused oil.

The gnocchi ($9) were pillow like potato dumplings toasted with pistachios in a brown butter sauce with roasted squash. I loved this dish, such a comfort food of mine. It just felt like fall on a plate.

The table pretzel ($7) is a plate sized knotted pretzel to share with stone ground mustard. All their bread is made in house and the pretzel was so light and delicious.

The Log Island meatballs ($8) are two meatballs made with house ground beef, pork, veal, Pecorino Roman cheese and garden fresh herbs in a marinara sauce and served with a garlic knot.

The grilled Caesar salad ($8) was a grilled 1/2 heart of Romaine with Caesar dressing, Parmesan cheese and croutons. I love this new take on a Caesar! The smoke from the grill added on another nice layer of flavor.

The pierogies were a special for the evening.  I love carbs on carbs and these did not disappoint – the house made dumplings were filled with potatoes.

The poutine ($12) was house cut fries smothered with duck confit, cheddar cheese curds, chicken gravy finished with melted cheddar cheese. The magic words, the chef had me with duck confit and cheese curds. Before, it was hard to find poutine anywhere, glad to see that it is becoming more popular.

The chef’s special for dinner was a brisket sandwich on top of a jalapeno cheddar biscuit and topped with house made pickles. Let me tell you that the biscuit was AMAZING. I’m still dreaming about it! The brisket had a nice smokey flavor to it and was so tender.

The cassoulet ($21) is a classic French stew made with lamb, duck confit, house cured bacon and white beans braised in housemade vegetable stock, topped with a grilled housemade pork sausage, breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.

The ricotta cheese ravioli ($25) was paired with duck confit and wild mushrooms in a toasted pine nut and brown butter sauce and topped with a 90 minute egg. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about berries with this savory dish, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they complimented the dish.

Dessert was a delicious trio of cranberry donuts with a blood orange sauce and candied orange peel, a pumpkin cheesecake with a nutty crust and a traditional creme brûlée. All in all, an amazing meal. I look forward to heading there again soon and trying out the other dishes on the menu – the fried chicken and the sunny side burger are calling my name!

Disclaimer: I was invited to be a guest at Bear in Boots Gastropub. My meal was provided complimentary. All opinions are my own.

Bear in Boots

285 Main Street, Falmouth, MA

http://www.bearinboots.com

The post Bear in Boots Gastropub appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

We decided to switch things up and try some place new for dinner. We brought back food from Woods Hole Market, located in Woods Hole. They are a full service market and have an extensive take out menu. Take a look at that chili! (Not summer food, but when you’re craving it, you’re craving it!)

The menu has a little bit of everything from clam chowder to burritos to pizza and subs. The meatball sub was tasty, but the roll petered out about halfway through and I ended up eating it with a fork.

You can’t find hard tacos at a lot of places, so we were excited that they had them here – $3.99 or two for $6.99.

The burger was pretty tasty, it was 6oz of ground beef topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and mustard.

Woods Hole Market

87 Water Road, Woods Hole, MA

Check out their Facebook page here

The post Woods Hole Market appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Of course I ordered the bolognese ($20). The traditional sauce made with veal, pork, and beef also had sweet Italian sausage in it. I found the sauce to be on the sweet side and missed the cream in the sauce.

We ordered the linguine alle vongole ($24) with white sauce. The dish was presented beautifully, but we wished the sauce had a little more garlic flavor.

The sweet Italian sausage and rapini ($23): sauteed in aglio e olio sauce and served over orecchiette pasta, this dish was tasty.

The chicken parm was lightly breaded and served over a bed of linguine ($22). Overall, the meals were good, but the sauces were on the watery side (see above). The service was decent, par for the course.

For dessert we had a chocolate crunch cake, which was rich but fell a little flat – we were hoping for more crunch

La Cucina Sul Mare

237 Main Street, Falmouth, MA

http://www.lacucinasulmare.com/

The post La Cucina Sul Mare appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

And just to balance it out, we got a “Hostess with the Mostess” cupcake, a chocolate cake with cream filling, topped with chocolate ganache and a buttercream swirl. Again, a super fresh cupcake – I really loved this one.

Cupcake Charlie’s

153 Main Street, Falmouth, MA

www.cupcakecharlies.com

The post Cupcake Charlie’s appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

My friend Ziggy is opening up his own pickle business, Fox Point Pickles – don’t hate me, I swear I was just checking out the competition! Check him out though, seriously, he is insanely talented. To start, we all share the pickle jar ($7) that was an assortment of pickled veggies: cauliflower, carrots, olives, mushrooms, onions etc. Really delicious.

For lunch we had the special – the lobster hand roll ($16). Lobster tossed with fill aioli and lemon juice and rolled with lettuce, cucumbers and pea shoots in a lavash. A lighter, seemingly healthier version of a lobster roll.

The egg salad sammie ($7) was a twist on a classic with sliced hard boiled egg, lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts with dill aioli.

The Firehouse sandwich was the star of the afternoon ($10) with house smoked chili rubbed boneless pork, wilted kale, pickled carrots, smoked cheddar and BBQ sauce on a toasty house roll. The pork was flavorful and I loved the pickled carrots on top. The sandwich was much heavier than the other two options we ordered, but it was so worth it.

The Pickle Jar

170 Main Street, Falmouth, MA

http://www.picklejarkitchen.com/

The post Pickle Jar appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

For years they were cash only, but score, they now accept cards!

Ice cream comes in delicious flavors like chocolate cupcake, coconut almond bar, coffee cake, grasshopper and salted caramel chocolate pretzel.

I get the caramel cashew crunch in a waffle cone: vanilla ice cream with a caramel swirl, toffee candy crunch and cashews! YUMMM!

What’s your favorite kind of ice cream?

Jimmy’s

22 Luscombe Road, Woods Hole, MA

http://jimmysofwoodshole.com/

The post Jimmy’s appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Parking can be scarce here so plan accordingly – and bring lots of quarters for the meters. If it’s a nice day like it was today, you’ll want to hang out and drink on the back patio for a good portion of the day.

For those of you looking for some shade, they have indoor seating as well as a few bar stools. You order and pay at the counter and they bring your food to your table when it is ready.

Sweet baja shrimp (6.95/ Two 13.95) filled with pico de gallo, pickled onions, cabbage, queso fresco, and fresh Baja sauce. Look at how amazing those colors are!

Fresh lobster taco (9.95/ Two 19.95)  filled with pico de gallo, pickled onions, cabbage, queso fresco, and fresh Baja sauce. The sauce on the lobster tacos was a bit heavy and drowned out the sweet flavor of the lobster, but it was still delicious.

What’s your favorite kind of seafood taco?

Quicks Hole

6 Luscombe Ave., Woods Hole, MA

http://www.quicksholewickedfresh.com/

The post Quicks Hole appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Tagliere Di Salumi E Formaggi: A selection of imported cheeses and cured meats served with compotes and honey.

The pasta dishes are bold and flavorful, cooked perfectly al dente.

The desserts here are hit or miss. While these were ok, there is one dessert here that I measure all others to. See my previous review here.

Tiramisu – Lady Fingers, Drenched In Espresso, Layered With Mascarpone Cream.

Osteria la Cevitta
133 Main Street, Falmouth, MA

http://www.osterialacivetta.com/

The post Osteria La Civetta appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.