Sweets and Bean

We've all seen it. Donald J. Trump won the election for President of the United States of America. I am not shocked. I am not in disbelief. I believe it wholeheartedly. This is what America has been grooming for centuries. This is the type of person who was going to run for president at one point. And win. Apparently that point is now.

David Burke is the former leader of the KKK
and currently in congress.

Now, there are KKK members celebrating. From British Columbia to North Carolina, they're out there, and they want us to know it. They want us to be afraid. And I am. I live in Massachusetts, where I'm not necessarily in the most grave danger. But Bean feared for me when I left the house this morning. Usually I walk. My roommate must have been afraid to, because she gave me a ride to work. It's a mile long walk, and I was afraid to make it today.

Bean's best friend is a teacher. That friend drove to pick up some of her old students this morning because they were afraid to wait for the bus in Tennessee. Why? They wear hijabs.

I cried myself to sleep last night.

Some of my white coworkers are in "shock and disbelief" that the KKK has endorsed and has been endorsing Donald Trump and his white supremacist ass since the beginning of his bid for presidency. "No they haven't, I don't believe that," they say. But it's true. It's a fact, whether or not Trump wants to admit that to the public. We can all see it. He built a political campaign that made it okay for racist white Americans to express their hatred and xenophobia. It was a platform designed to sell to the white masses because it was made for the white masses.

"Well, the KKK is such a small group, what are they really going to do?" There are currently 110 active chapters in the KKK (as of 2014) in the United States. But of course, racism has never affected these people, and they don't care to know. What will they continue to do? Lynch and murder us for sport. Kill and terrorize us while we try to exist in the world they dragged us to. What will they do? Only what they've continued to do for centuries.

"Oh, well then they'll just go to jail. They have to." I shrug my shoulders. There's no way to educate these people right now. Do they not see the black and brown bodies strewn over the television, murdered by white supremacists, police officers, members of the KKK who wear no hood in the daytime?

"Historically," I tell them, "they have not."

These are tired, trying times. Stay safe. Fight for those who can't.

--Sweets

When I think of New England, at least before I moved here, I imagine the picturesque, snowy winters, the bright, warm colors of Autumn, heavy flannel shirts and knee-high leather boots, hot coffee all year round, vast nature, and Cape Cod. Oh, and I guess the Patriots too, but I try to ignore that fact (Go Cowboys!).

Once I moved here, I found that all of these things to be true. I'm just experiencing my first New England Autumn and it's absolutely stunning. My favorite Fall things would have to be Salted Caramel Mochas, the crisp morning air, the colorful leaves littering our lawn, wearing my flannel for the first time in months, and apple picking!

Honestly, I didn't even think about apple picking when I moved up here, but my roommate, Trish, told me about all the "typical New England things" to do and that was one of them. I didn't really have an idea of what apple picking would be like. I just imagined what you might see in the movies - a large orchard with hundreds of trees all in a row. It wasn't exactly like that.

But almost. The ground was uneven and soft from a recent rain. The trees were all different sizes and shapes. There were bad and half eaten apples littering the grounds, so you had to watch where you stepped. Some apples were teeny tiny and some larger than normal. There was a small store outside the orchard, where the farm would sell their goods, including homemade breads, jams, and honey.

We wandered up and down the rows of lush trees, labeled with a plastic tag for the different varieties of apples. We picked apples, laughing, looking at the cute dogs some owners brought with them, and eating a few apples along the way.

I mostly watched and wandered first, inspecting the apples before we dropped them in the bag and enjoying being outdoors. Sometimes I find myself a little moonstruck at new things, especially nature, and feel the need to soak it all in first. After a bit, I started picking apples. Trish and Sweets poked fun at me for picking the tiniest or "Leigh-sized" apples. This is a picture of the largest and smallest apples picked. The smallest no doubt picked by me.

Once we made it down the hill to the last bit of trees, we found a very, very large apple tree with an apple all the way at the top and Sweets had to have it, so they jumped and thought about climbing the tree. They got on Trish's back piggy-back style, but that wasn't close enough, so they got on her shoulders and reached and reached, but with no avail. Then, a couple of other apple pickers noticed us and gave us this long stick with a basket on the end, meant to help pick those far away apples. Sadly, we were still too short for that particular apple.

But, all in all, we had a lovely time at the orchard. It really was a great day.

~ Bean

I mean, just look at this face; how could you not love him?

As you may have learned in our introductory post, both Bean and I absolutely love Gordon Ramsay. My obsession with him started with Kitchen Nightmares, and then I was binge watching every episode of Hell's Kitchen that I could get my hands on. From Masterchef (and Junior!) to Hotel Hell and even The F Word (the 'f' stands for food), there's something about this man that makes me wanna eat him up like the food he makes!

So when I finally convinced Bean to start watching Kitchen Nightmares, we started to mentally map out how far away some of these restaurants were from us. It wasn't until after Bean watched the Amy's Baking Company episode that we were really sold and invested: we were going to follow in Gordon Ramsay's footsteps, and we were going to eat at his former nightmares.

Rita, Gordon, and Lisa

Eating at La Galleria 33 happened entirely by accident. We met up with an old high school friend of mine in the North End for dinner, and it just so happened that the restaurant we wanted to go to originally was booked full for several hours (that'll teach us not to make reservations on a Saturday night in the North End...sheesh!). Hungry, the three of us wandered down a couple of streets, pausing to look at how full restaurants were when we came upon a restaurant by the name of L'Osteria. As we walked by it, the gears started to turn in my head.

Wait a minute, I thought. Isn't that the restaurant that Rita and Lisa's parents own? If so, then...

"Oh my God! It's L'Osteria. Where is it?!" I shouted, and before I could give Sami or Bean any more information, I was on the hunt down the street. And then there it was, right before me: La Galleria 33. "We have to eat there!" It wasn't until I calmed down (marginally) that Bean and I were able to explain to Sami our (my) obsession with Gordon, wanting to eat at all of his former Kitchen Nightmares stops, and all of that good stuff. Sami obliged, and we walked into the restaurant, greeted by none other than Lisa (why yes, Gordon, she was still chewing gum)! We didn't see Rita at all, otherwise I would have stopped her to take a picture, but Lisa seems too cool for school, and I was moderately embarrassed at how excited I was, so I refrained.

We did see Pat, though, and I couldn't resist that photo op!
He still thinks that he's the man in charge, haha!

Now onto the good part: the foooood.

Sweets' Tortellini Galleria

We started with the bruschetta, which was so delicious. I love a good piece of bread, and this was so fresh. For our main courses, I had the Tortellini Galleria (pictured to the right), and Bean had the Risotto with shrimp. From the first bite to the last, everything was perfect. You could tell that the pasta was fresh made and made by hand, because it melted in your mouth. It was soft and well-seasoned, and it was a delight to eat. Overall, I think that Gordon would definitely approve of their food and he would be proud of them for all of their success. The only downside to the food that night was that Lisa's gelato was out at the moment. It's okay, though, we went to Mike's Pastry and had amazing cannolis, so the night was saved.

Sweets and Bean will definitely be back for more of La Galleria 33. But first...L'Osteria.

Hi! I'm Lonnie aka Sweets aka one half of LonLeigh. I'm 23, in love, and working on myself. I've got a Bachelor's in English, a great love for Shakespeare, and a hankering to go back to school so that one day I can teach the Bard. Really, I'm just a genderqueer valley girl living in New England and trying to make a living. I love the color pink, Gordon Ramsay, One Direction, bad netflix movies about serial killers and cults, and cats. I love to bake, and I think oatmeal raisin cookies are the bee's knees!

I think that we started this blog as a way to express ourselves outside of the tedium of everyday work and living, to find a way to be creative in the mundane, and because we're really very verbose people who have a lot to say. The internet, I've found, can be a very captive audience.

I've always been really bad at introducing myself, because I find that the more I talk about other things that aren't me, the more you'll be able to learn about me. So I'm just gonna let my Bean here take it away. Thanks for stopping by!

-Sweets :)

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The very first post. It's hard to decide what to say to anyone who decided to give us a chance. We are Sweets and Bean, nicknames that we've lovingly given each other. (That's also going to be the name of our cafe when we open one later on in life.) I'm Leigh aka Bean - why Lonnie decided to call me that one day I just don't know, but I love it, so maybe I'm the weird one. I'm an accountant, grad student, sometimes writer, and all around nerd. I love my cat and coffee and I'm always up for trying something new - unless it involves raisins aka chocolate imposters.

Our new mission in life is to visit as many Hotel Hell or Kitchen Nightmare places and write about our time there. We love Gordon Ramsay and his shows, from Masterchef Junior to Hell's Kitchen. He's passionate, funny, and ridiculous. And while he may be painted out to be the villain, he truly does care. If you don't believe us, watch Masterchef Junior. I promise you'll change your mind.

Other things you'll find here are adventures around New England (and hopefully Colorado in a couple years), recipes and kitchen adventures, and personal posts. And cats. Probably lots of cats. We hope that you enjoy your stay here. We know we will.

~Bean

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Sweets and Bean

The United States of AmeriKKKa

First Time Apple Picking

La Galleria 33

Welcome to Sweets and Bean

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