Tastings Weekend

Free tastings galore this weekend! First up . . .

Marshall's Fenway Farm Stand is a pretty new fresh produce joint right next to Fenway, which I'm sure makes shopping hell on game days. No worries, it's an away game on Saturday.

This Saturday, 12-3:00 catch tasty samples at the stand--pies, icecream, pita chips and spreadable fruits. Sounds like a full lunch to me!

Cheese Cellar always has super classy events, with knowledgeable staff and often art too. This Saturday 1-4:00, store-owner, Kathy, will feature condiments. We're talking plum butter, pickles, hot sauces, olive bruschetta and more. Not lunch, but certainly will get your tastebuds going.

See more tastings and events going on this weekend at my Boston on the Cheap Calendar.

Free Weekends

Spring in Boston means free stuff galore. Keep your eye on my Boston on the Cheap calendar for future free stuff. Here's a sampling of my recent adventures.

Free doesn't get much better than free sailing. That's right, the hi-brow leisure activity which normally costs hundreds for lessons (let's not even talk about actually buying a boat), was free last weekend Courageous Sailing offered free trips around the Boston Harbor with a barbecue on the dock.

Monday I enjoyed the Museum of Fine Art, which has an extror extraordinarily dinarily high admission fee of $17 for free. The museum was celebrating it's annual event, Art in Bloom, in groups submit floral arrangements inspired by art in the museum. Yes, it's just as strange as it sounds, but really I'm there to see the art anyway. The new Tomb exhibit was amazing and well worth dodging the flowers for.

The world is practically your free oyster when you have a bike--any beautiful day turns into a bike ride into an event in itself. Friday I rode around the historic North End, picking up produce, fresh fish and spices for the weekend bbq. My search for phyllo dough led me to the Golden Goose on the waterfront. They had the phyllo dough I needed and a free wine tasting, hosted by a Southie-type, whom you'd expect to know about types of Miller than the Lorraine region of France. I topped off the beautiful day with a near free meal alfresco, thanks to my Groupon.

Saturday was Wake Up The Earth Festival - over 30 live acts of musicians, dancing, circus performers and all manner of hippie craziness right out our front door. I started off the day, though, with a free tour of orchards in Boston by Bike, which showed where I can get free fruits all summer long. Only the rhubarb is pickable, so far, but stay tuned for updates as I venture out picking in a few months.

Events at MIT

College was great for free stuff. I joined the Commuters Club, International Students Club and the 8 Minute Abs Club. I wasn't a commuter, a foreigner or in possession of ripped abs. I was in it for the free food and fun events. My only weekly expense running the NYUSwings! Club? Brownie mix and milk.But now that you're out of college, what to do? I luckily have a college ID without any dates and a youthful complexion, so I save a lot of money on tickets for shows and museums. But there's more. I'm in Boston--this is college central. One of the best for events I've found is MIT.

That's right. The university of uber-nerds is actually a hub of social activity and free food. I suppose I've known this for a while. I've been a big fan of the Wednesday night free swing dance.

But there's also free tango dancing, movies and more. One of my favorites this year was the F.A.T. (Friday After Thanksgiving) event where 35 teams produce Rube Goldberg contraptions that are linked to create a chain reaction. You got to check out the video here.

A full events calendar is online at the MIT website. Sure a lot of events are MIT students only, but I doubt they'll check or just say you left your ID in your dorm room. (Better figure out the name of a dorm I suppose.) Here's some favorites: Annual Hummus taste-off (tomorrow), Fried Rice Iron Chef (tonight), MIT Charm School (this weekend). I'll be putting my favorites on my events calendar.

Looking for Cheap Events in Boston? Look no further!

Busy Busy Busy!

It's been a while, I know.  Since my last post I've been to DC, NYC, Montpelier--whew!  

I'm looking forward to spending some time in the city.  To make sure I don't miss a thing, I've started a google calendar with cheap to free events in Boston.  You can find it here.  Here's some highlights:

Cheap tapas in Roxbury every Thursday with live music

Fisherman's Feast in the South End in August

3 Levels of Dancing at the Liberty Hotel to celebrate Bastille Day

Gin, Rum and Vodka all made in Mass tasting at Blanchards

Outdoor Showing of Mama Mia