Recently I went out to eat four days in a row, which is odd even for me.

Thursday I had dinner at Alforno with two food writers, Pem McNerney and Priscilla Martel. Needless to say, dinner was delicious. It was made even better when Ben Zemmel, Linda and Bob’s son, made three main dishes of pasta Amatriciana; another customer, who was not with us. asked Ben to make it, and Pem and I begged, too.

The next night I had dinner with some friends at Sneekers in Groton.

Saturday, friends and I went to the Red Hen in Old Saybrook, and Sunday I drove to Somers to visit with three of my granddaughters, daughter-in-law and her parents. We ate a lot of lobster.

To recover, I am cooking and maybe baking. I took out some chicken thighs, some hot sausage and a package of hamburgers. The thighs will be ready after a day of brining.

Blueberry Tea-brined Chicken Thighs

From “People” magazine, courtesy of my neighbor, Sue

Yield: Serves 2 to 4

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 whole star anise

6 black peppercorns

2 cups, plus 2 quarts, water, divided

1 cup fresh blueberries

12 regular-sized black tea bags

3 tablespoons kosher salt

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Stir together sugar, zest, star anise, peppercorns and 2 cups water in a saucepan over medium; bring to a boil.

Add blueberries and reduce heat to low. Cook and simmer 8 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Using a potato masher or back of a slotted spoon, mash blueberries into syrup. Pour through a fine wire mesh strainer into a bowl; discard solids.

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high. Add tea bags and remove from heat. Cover and let stand 7 minutes, discard bags. Stir in blueberry syrup.

Combine salt and half of the tea mixture in a large bowl, stir until salt is dissolved. Add chicken thighs to salt-tea mixture; chill 4 hours or overnight. Chill remaining tea to drink later.

Preheat grill to medium high (400 to 450 degrees. Remove chicken from brine, discard liquid. Pat dry and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper and place chicken, skin side down on oiled grill grates.

Grill, covered, turning occasionally until thermometer registers 165 degrees when inserted and skin is browned and crispy, 20 to 22 minutes. Serve with blueberry tea.