I had no idea that grey sweatpants and coffee made for such a compelling pairing.
Comments or questions? Contact BosGuy
- Follow BosGuy on WordPress.com
Find A Post on BosGuy
Saturday morning comics
ADAM & ANDY is set in the fictional New England town of Woodfield, CT. You can learn more about Adam and Andy and purchase a copy of “the definitive collection of Adam and Andy” by visiting, adamandandy.com.
Click on this week’s comic strip to enlarge
Click here if you would like to see the previous Adam & Andy
Pop up restaurant opens in South End
Nu Burger has opened within the Anoush’Ella restaurant space on West Newton Street in the South End as a “virtual pop-up”. Nina and Raffi Festekjian, who own Anoush’Ella and Nu Burger, are serving burgers for lunch and dinner seven days a week, while also continuing to serve Anoush’Ella’s menu.
Sergio and I wanted to show our support by trying out the new burger pop-up so we ordered from them this past Tuesday night. The Nu Burger menu has six different burgers (one a vegetarian option) each $12.50.
Fenway NuBurger 
Umami Truffle NuBurger
Shown above are the Fenway NuBurger served with pickles, cheddar, tomato, onion, lettuce and sauce with a side of French fries and the Umami Truffle NuBurger served with pickles, pecorino, truffles, fried egg, tomato, shallot, arugula and aoli with a side of French fries. Customers can order via this link for curbside pick up, or via popular food sharing apps for home delivery.
The burgers are large and very filling. The baked French fries are good but I still prefer more traditional “fried” fries. I’m observing dry January so I had a glass of water with my dinner, but I can’t help but feel like these would go great with a cold beer, which Anoush’Ella serves. I didn’t see this option for take out orders but assume you can add beer to your order. Overall, we really enjoyed the bugers and will order from them again. I can’t think of a legitimate burger joint in the South End which makes this a very welcome addition to the neighborhood so let me know what you think when you order from NuBurger.
Nu Burger’s permanent home is located in Fenway at the TimeOut food market, but that is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. For the time being, there is a new burger option in the South End.
Book review: Bunker Hill by Nathaniel Philbrick
Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2013 book, Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution, was difficult to put down. Philbrick paints a picture of pre-revolutionary Boston, the historic battle the book is named after and the siege of Boston until the British fled a year after the historic battle that will appeal to fans of American history.
Most Americans learn about colonial life and the American Revolution in school, but Philbrick provides much more detail than I ever recall learning. Chalk full of historical events, personalities and dates, the book reads as easily as any story but is all the more compelling because this is not the imagination of a talented author but are events that altered the trajectory of history. To quote Mark Twain, “truth is stranger than fiction”. Had Las Vegas existed, I can’t imagine what the odds would’ve been for this rag-tag group of disgruntled and disagreeable troublemakers a.k.a. “Patriots” to win on the battlefield against the British.
The Americans had lost 115 killed and had 305 wounded, with most of the casualties occurring during the retreat. Of the approximately 2,200 British soldiers in the battle, close to half — 1,054 — had been killed or wounded. The British had been victorious, but as Howe wrote, ‘The success is too dearly bought.’ “
Sometimes I refrain from reading a book if I already know the story so I’m glad I picked this up and would absolutely recommend it. It was fascinating to learn about the many people living in Boston at the time. A few that come to mind that I never heard of before reading this book include the poet Phillis Wheatley, born in 1753 in West Africa. She became a freed slave in Boston and bears the distinction of the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. The duplicitous traitor, Dr. Benjamin Church, was a contemporary of Benjamin Arnold. He did his best to undermine the efforts of colonialists after earning their trust and nearly succeeded. However, I was most surprised to learn about Dr. Joseph Warren who was the defacto leader of the resistance in Boston. If he had survived the Battle of Bunker Hill, he may very well have become the leader of the Continental Army in Boston and not George Washington.
If you’re interested in purchasing this book and open to supporting local bookstores, try one of the links I’ve shared below, which takes you right to the book so you can order it online in just a couple of clicks. Alternatively, you can check your local library for a copy of this New York Times Bestseller.
Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner
Harvard Bookstore in Harvard Square
Porter Square Bookstore in Porter Square
Trident Bookseller’s & Cafe in Back Bay (currently less than $10.00)
Vintage gay
Monroe Wheeler 
Glenway Wescott 
George Platt Lynes
This week I’m featuring three men who for nearly twenty years lived in a polymorous relationship in the first half of the 20th century. Monroe and Glenway first met in 1919 at the Poetry, Club of the University of Chicago when Monroe was twenty and Glenway was eighteen. In 1927 the two would meet George and form a unique bond. Back in 1998 a picture book of this thruple’s travels through Europe between 1925 – 1935 called When We Were Three “The Expatriate Years” was published. It is amazing to think the eyebrows these three must have raised wherever they went.
Monroe Wheeler (1899 – 1988) was an American publisher and museum coordinator. He would spend the rest of his life with Glenway Wescott and die one year after Wescott’s passing, requesting that his ashes be buried with his lifelong partner.
Glenway Wescott (1901 – 1987) was an American poet, novelist and essayist. He mixed with many American expatriates in Europe and was the model for the character Robert Prentiss in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.
George Platt Lynes (1907 – 1955) was an American photographer who worked in the 1930s and 1940s, producing many photographs that featured gay artists and writers. These were acquired by the Kinsey Institute after his death in 1955.
I dedicate this weekly post, featuring vintage gay photographs, to the men and women who lived in a more critical time where being true to yourself and loving who you want wasn’t always an option and came at a great price. Do you have a photo you would like to share? Email me at bosguymail@gmail.com.
This week on Instagram: bearscubsandbeards1
The name of this Instagram account more or less says it all. But just in case you need more details, their account description says this is an account for bears, cubs, bearded men, and natural men to celebrate the diversity of beauty.
For those of you who identify with or appreciate men from these gay tribes, it is an account you may enjoy following or possibly submitting a photo or of yourself.
You can follow this week’s featured account on Instagram here, and you can check out previously featured IG accounts here.
Brief But Spectacular take on making conversation
I’m a big fan of PBS NewsHour. The news program doesn’t use a slate of “experts” who postulate endlessly back and forth nor does it conflate opinion with news. The broadcast which airs Monday – Friday at 6PM ET also covers a wide range of news (including events happening outside the United States – imagine that).
However, what I like the most about PBS NewsHour are their series and special reports like last week’s “Brief But Spectacular take on making conversation”. Listen to Fred Dust’s 3-minute video if you have a moment.
Men in kilts
Monday morning mancandy
May this post help distract you from the fact that it is a Monday morning.
BosGuy cooks: Tomato sauce
I share this recipe each winter because it is great comfort food. I spend many of my Sunday afternoons in the winter months happily cooking my favorite meals and for many of those dinners a good homemade red sauce is required. While you can use your favorite jarred sauce with this recipe, I do think this tastes best with whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes.
Cooking time can vary and as a general rule cooking longer over lower heat is better than shorter over higher heat but the reality is you can pull together a decent red sauce in about 45 minutes (including prep time). However, this tastes best when cooked, allowed to cool on the stove top and then refrigerated overnight, which is why I often make a red sauce on the weekend with the intention to use it later that week.
As a general rule, I add to my sauce a minced onion, several cloves of roasted garlic (also minced), an Italian sausage (I tend to buy the sausage meat out of the casing) and a carrot and roasted red bell pepper (both of which I puree). For seasonings I use chopped parsley (the more the better), red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, bay leaves and dried Italian seasonings.
Cooking Instructions: Start by adding a bit of olive oil in a pan on medium high heat. Make your sauce a little spicier by adding red pepper flakes with the oil before the pan is hot. Sautée a minced onion until they soften then reduce the heat to medium or medium low to avoid burning the food. Next, add Italian sausage (take it out of the casing or buy it that way) and minced garlic (I prefer to use roasted garlic). After these combine for 2-3 minutes, you can add the tomato sauce, a bit of tomato paste, a couple bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste and Italian seasonings.
Next puree the roasted red pepper and carrot and stir it into the sauce so everything combines. The roasted pepper will bring a lot of flavor to the sauce, while the carrot acts as a natural sweetner cutting the acidity. It can be substituted with a tablespoon of sugar.
Lastly, cover the sauce pan and lower the heat so the sauce will lightly simmer and let it cook for ~30 minutes, stirring occassionally. Add a cup of freshly chopped parsley in the final 4-5 minutes. If you add it too early the taste is muted but if added in the final minutes they soften and pack more flavor.
Cooking Tips: If the sauce becomes too thick add chicken stock / or water. Add a dash of red wine and stir to deepen the coloring then drizzle olive oil and fresh ground black pepper atop the sauce. If you want to go all out add a table spoon or two of ricotta cheese when serving.
Scruffy Sunday
I’ve shared this photo in the past and am likely to do so again in the future.
Ideas for Saturday posts
Thank you to everyone who responded to my poll from last Saturday in this post. As of this past Monday, approximately 1,700 votes were recorded. Overwhelmingly (88%) indicated that they would like to see regular posts that focus on LGBTQ entertainment. I also received several helpful suggestions in the comments section, which I will do my best to incorporate moving forward.
I wanted to acknowledge the poll results and let everyone know that I’ll be working on how to incorporate everyone’s feedback in the weeks that follow. If you have any further thoughts or suggestions, add them a comment to the original post or today’s and I’ll be sure to take them into consideration.
Thank you
BosGuy 
