Mmmm . . . cake.

This weekend was a snowy cold one, so it was mostly indoors. Friday's cheap event was the annual Lexington Handel's Messiah Sing-a-long. Going on for nearly 50 years, there were dozens of folk that had been coming for over a decade. Two ladies had been coming for over 40 years! No wonder it was the best chorus I've ever heard; these people were well-practiced.

Elite means I'm better than you.

Watch out dining establishments in Boston - I am now a Yelp Elite Squad member. One bad meal and you are crushed. Conversely, I will shower love and praise on my favorite restaurants and shops. Coincidentally, this induction does include free food events.

Elite Squad is just a few rungs below New York Times' food critic and above anonymous blogger.

Eating for Less

I'm definitely an expert on eating for pennies. There was my one week on the election last year I had grits 3 meals a day and there's my perfecting the ol' steal lots of food from the dining hall during college routine.

There's always the tension though--have a fabulous meal out on the town or save it for your next trip to Europe. However, part of experiencing your backyard and abroad is experienceing food. Here's some ways to break your PB&J habit and still save.

• Groupon is the new, viral group-coupon. Everyday get a hard-to-believe deal on local businesses. My recent snags? $20 for $50 worth of sushi. $20 for $40 at the Savant Project. $15 for $30 at the Boston Cheese Cellar. They're such good deals you'll have to hold back to not buy them everyday.

• Restaurant.com certificates are the most tacky, but the best deal. $25 of food certificates are just $10, but get on their e-mail list and you'll be alerted when even that low price is 50%-80% off. There's always some hitches on these things--having to buy two entrees, can't be used for alcohol, having to whip out this folded up print-out coupon at the end of the meal--but the price is right.

• Sometimes a meal is made by the surroundings. Dining al fresco is a great way to feel fancy and foot-loose. Technically you could say it is eating out, but without the tipping. You pick the food. To keep it cheap I recommend a brie and bread. Feeling a little lawless? Pack a bottle opener, plastic cups and a cheap bottle. The locale depends on your city, but my favorites in Boston are the Franklin Cemetery, Blue Hills Park and the Harbor Walk.

• Go ahead, feel a little chichi. Tastings might not fill you up, but you get to taste expensive wares for free. For a list of places near you type "free tasting" into yelp.com. My favorites in Boston are the Solera, Best Cellars and the Wine Gallery. It doesn't stop at wine--taste beer at Sam Adams or Harpoon's breweries or cheese at the Cheese Cellar.

• Eating ethnic is usually more interesting and cheaper than eating out American. Go straight to the source--eating Chinese in Chinatown is infintely cheaper than PF Chang's. For the cheapest results choose dingy hole-in-the-walls or trucks.

• Don't go out hungry. I kind of think of it like pre-gaming. Have a drink and some snacks before you go out. Then hit up an expensive place and share an entree.

• I'll be the first to admit Restaurant Week isn't cheap, but its probably the only way you're going to be able to afford a meal at most of the restaurants on the list. Coral Gables to Houston are doing restaurant weeks now and many places have extended the 'week' to be one or two months long. Lunches are the best deal at around $25 for three courses and dinners run around $35.

• Finally, you resist the need to eat out, by making eating in special. Get a fancy cookbook out of the library. Light some candles. Sit on the porch. Change it up and you won't feel so bad about staying in.

Deals on Local Restaurants - Wherever Local is for You

I still can't believe that this is even real.  I am always looking for new impressive gifts to send my parents that don't actually require packaging and mailing them myself.  And since I'm a procrastinator--something that arrives in one's e-mail inbox is even better.  A couple years ago I googled "restaurant gift certificate" and found www.restaurant.com. 

I gladly paid the $10 for a $25 restaurant gift certificate to be sent to my dad.  He then was able to browse and pick out a hot new place in Philly and have dinner on me.  But now they send me these discount codes so that you can literally pick up a $100 gift certificate for $12.

There's a just a few catches--most have some restrictions on them.  Like you have to buy 2 dinner entrees or it's not good on Friday.  Be careful about large gift certificates; they have high minimum spending limits.  

The worst is probably being a bit embarresed when you hand over the printed out gift certificate.  Buy hey, a deal is a deal.

Try it yourself!  Here's how it works.

Go to the www.restaurant.com website.

You can buy a specific restaurant certificate, but I recommend you just go to buy a gift certificate and then send it to yourself.  You then can use portions of the total amount anytime you'd like by signing in to your account.

At checkout enter 'FEAST' into the coupon code box.

Wah-lah--70% off already discounted gift certificates!

You'll thank me for this one.

Well Fed Weekend

No, you are not misreading.  This, my friends, was a well fed weekend.  You'd think, 'Oh, tapas.  They're so little, so they must be so simple to make.'  Wrong.  I spent hours on Friday evening cooking a tapas masterpiece.  Notice, I did not say slaving in the kitchen.  This cooking, was pure joy--chaotic, messy, noisey, multiple burners going, wine already uncorked and mad dashes to the store to pick up missing ingredients. 

What resulted from the chaos was a table jam packed of little plates of food--patatas bravas, tortilla espanol, olives, cheeses, bruschetta, pa amb tomaquet.   All tied together with lots of wine and about 20 cloves of garlic.  I did manage to layer in some well-readness: my friends and I all exchanged books.  I've got some great new travel literature to review for future entrees.

The only meal until late at night the next day was the chocolate and dip tasting over at the Boston Cheese Cellar.  I spent the day trying to work off all the carbs I had indulged in the previous day--a bike ride through the Arboretum and a flamenco dance class at the Brewery complex.

Finally at night, my couchsurfing guest, room mate and I ventured into the North End for some real Italian.  We were able to find a place with no wait (and no waitstaff), thus prices were low (for the North End).  

I'm still trying to recover from my well fed weekend.  Next weekend--back to the books.