Have you ever accidentally started a tradition? My little sister, Eliot, and I have—we’ve now spent three St. Patrick’s Days in a row together. Two years ago, she came to visit me. We rented a car and went to Maine last year. This past weekend, I took the bus up to Cambridge to visit her. I guess St. Patrick’s Day is just a thing we do together now (sans green beer).

When Eliot and I get together, we rarely have a concrete plan—our visits are mostly just finding ways to make each other laugh hysterically and deciding what to eat next. Since Eliot actually lives in Cambridge, we were able to make our own breakfasts and dinners (more about that here), but we went for brunch both days and even went out for pie!

Here are a few food-centric highlights from last weekend.

3 Little Figs {Somerville}

I was ravenous when I got to Eliot’s apartment early Saturday afternoon. She gave me a handful of cashews to keep me sane and then we walked over to 3 Little Figs, a little cafe and bakery in Somerville. We both got the Brunch Bowl, which involves all sorts of good vegetables (carrots, sweet potato, spinach), a poached egg, and flourishes of sesame, dried cherries, turmeric-tahini and ginger vinaigrette over a bed of quinoa. We both loved it so much that we’re going to try to recreate it at home! This meal was hearty without being too heavy—just what we needed to get through what ended up being a surprisingly busy afternoon.

Once we finished our meals, we got Honey Matcha Lattes to-go. They were just barely sweet—perfect for a little afternoon pick-me-up on our walk back to Cambridge.

I will say that getting seating was sort of a pain, but it certainly wasn’t impossible. It’s sort of on the customer to eat in a timely fashion and move so someone else can have your table. With places like this, pay it forward is the name of the game.

Juliet {Somerville}

When deciding where to go to brunch on Sunday, we both looked at each other and said “Juliet.” It’s is one of my sister’s favorite spots and I can totally see why. The food is unfussy and delicious—I’ve never had anything there that wasn’t excellent. I tried their chilaquiles when I came up for Eliot’s birthday. This time around, I went with her suggestion: breakfast tacos. They come with an egg, potato, and cheese filling on corn tortillas. There’s a thin, but potent hot sauce too. They’re not Austin-style, but they are really good.

Eliot got scrambled eggs with greens, buttered toast, and some stupidly good dijon potato salad.

The only drawback I can think of is that Juliet, like 3 Little Figs, has limited seating. We took two seats at the bar though and thoroughly enjoyed watching the open-style kitchen at work. The main attraction was watching someone prep a batch of buttermilk pannacotta. Don’t be surprised if you see something similar on here this spring.

Petsi Pies {Cambridge & Somerville}

Eliot mentioned Petsi Pies to me a few months ago and we put it on the “must try” list. We popped into the Putnam Street location on Sunday afternoon to split a slice on the way to the Harvard library. They had pecan pie available and some sort of fruit pie (apple, maybe?), but as soon as the cashier said “Chocolate Pecan Pie,” the other two ceased to be options. The filling was fudgy and not at all gloopy, and had just the right amount of chopped pecans. Oh, and there was a chocolate drizzle. I looooove a chocolate drizzle.

I wasn’t crazy about the crust, which was sort of hard and one-note in flavor. It was flaky though and held a crimp, so maybe I am being too critical. Or perhaps I am just spoiled with my own Cream Cheese Pie Dough. Regardless, I will definitely go back to Petsi Pies on my future trips. I’m already planning to recreate the chocolate pecan pie filling!

Have a great weekend, y’all! I’ll be back with new recipes next week ❤