Fancy Treats

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Our fabulous weekend included time in Long Island City, an in-season trip to Sleepy Hollow, some great walks, and tons of (delicious!) fancy treats. Highlights…

Safwa roasted peanut iced latte. I adored this.

Small Batch‘s caramelized pumpkin was also quite good. We tried their brown butter sage latte too but I did not like it.

Za’atar flagel with egg, cheddar, and turkey from Horseman Bagels.

Inspired by a fantastic treat from Kora, we made cheesy sweet buns. Potato roll baked with butter and Trader Joe’s vanilla sugar and topped with shredded Edam.

Spicy crab inari. I don’t get tofu skin often enough and I was excited for this (grocery!) roll.

Treats from Arellano Pandelsal. Ube ensaymada and a cinnamon roll with calamansi glaze!

Spot Dessert Bar‘s Cookie Camp – marshmallow cookie, pretzels, cookie crumbs, chocolate sauce, and condensed milk ice cream. Swoon. We also quite enjoyed a green tea with lychee jelly.

Stew Leonard‘s plain Greek frozen yogurt (great!) with tons of seasonal sprinkles.

I loved the topping options at Ilios – I got the plain Greek (even better!) with sprinkles, Kinder sauce, and cinnamon roll!

A black bean rice bowl from Tony’s with seasonal roasted squash (plus I added roasted baby zucchini from home!).

A lunch plate a Blue Hill at Stone Farms. The property was stunningly gorgeous! We appreciated how fresh and technically perfect the food was but weren’t necessarily over the moon about it. (We would still try the fancy dinner(s) though!)

We were over the moon for the honey roobios canned tea we had with lunch. It tasted like the holidays.

Pig Beach BBQ. This burger was solid, definitely would be number 6 on my New York favorite’s list! It was so smoky! We also liked the potato salad, vinegary slaw, and roasted turkey.

We had a great dinner at Soothr. My fun take on a Long Island came with a delicious mint jelly.

My favorite dish was the Khao Soi tofu aka the best egg tofu I’ve ever eaten.

And we shared Pad Si Iw with beef.

And we also had rice rolls that I wasn’t a fan of (but Adam enjoyed!).

Smashed, Toasted, and Themed…

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Themed things from this week…

A Pumpkin Month yogurt bowl. Pumpkin Noosa with maple almond butter granola and a side of blueberries.

A Pumpkin Month pumpkin spice latte ice cream sundae. Adirondack pumpkin pie ice cream and Ben & Jerry’s Honey Graham Latte ice cream with Trader Joe’s chocolate shell and granola butter.

A Pumpkin Month snack mix! Trader Joe’s maple kettle corn with candy corn and peanuts. Sooo good.

You know what time it was for dinners — Sandwich Week! Meatloaf. Duck Island whole-wheat sourdough with sauce (white miso, Dijon mustard, and Kewpie), leftover turkey meatloaf, sharp cheddar, and fried onion and garlic. Plus roasted green beans.

Chicken salad toasts. Sourdough baked with sharp cheddar and chicken salad (shredded chicken breast, plain Greek yogurt, Duke’s yellow mustard, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapeños, shredded edam, and fried onion and garlic). Plus roasted baby broccoli.

Smashed tuna melts. Potato buns with sharp cheddar and tuna salad (canned tuna and smoked trout, plain Greek yogurt, Kewpie, Dijon mustard, jalapeño brine, and chopped pickles and capers) smashed in a skillet with butter and evoo. Plus roasted broccoli and delicata and honeynut squash with a honey mustard sauce (horseradish, Sichuan pepper, honey, yellow mustard, plain Greek yogurt, and Duke’s).

My favorite of the week – tofu sandwiches. A potato bun with Kewpie and yellow and Dijon mustards, pickled red onion, sharp cheddar, fried onion and garlic, and tofu (super-firm thin sliced, marinated in gochujang, pickle brine, jalapeño brine, oyster sauce, onion powder, and garlic powder, and baked). Plus coleslaw (shredded cabbage, rice vinegar, lemon juice, plain Greek yogurt, Duke’s, Dijon mustard, sugar, and dried dill and mustard).

Cosmic Gumbo

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Things from the weekend…

Homemade turkey meatloaf. I did a mix of ground turkey, panko bread crumbs, grated sweet onion, shredded sharp cheddar, oyster sauce, hoisin, and gochujang. Plus dinosaur kale sauteed with salt, pepper, gochugaru, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice, and butter.

A surprisingly good dinner at the Comet Club. We enjoyed the crab toast and also had the hamachi tostada which came with great house-made guacamole.

We tried several drinks. We both enjoyed this layered negroni but my favorite was actually the French Onion Gibson (vodka with onion consommé, sherry, dry vermouth, and onion brine!).

I had a Waygu French Dip off of the specials menu and it was perfect. My leftovers were still great too.

Plus we got the cheesecake which was solid but probably not something I’d order again.

P.S. Of course my pre-dinner snacks were on theme!

Squashed

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Things from the week…

Pumpkin smoothie. In the blender – canned pumpkin, frozen banana, maple syrup, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla protein powder, and water.

Shockingly, Pumpkin Cheesecake might be Ben & Jerry’s best flavor.

Pumpkin Pie is not Perfect Bar’s best flavor.

The Maple Warlock and Caramel Pumpking are my favorites from Southern Tier.

Fly by Jing chili crisp noodles. These had a nice flavor and good spice but were perhaps not worth dirtying a pot and a bowl.

Pumpkin Chili. Canned pumpkin, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, green onion, poblano, dark kidney beans, roasted zucchini, ground turkey, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, gochugaru, cinnamon, dark soy sauce, and Shafly pumpkin ale. Paired with Trader Joe’s great pumpkin tortilla chips. I topped my bowl with sharp cheddar and pimento cheese and pickled jalapeños.

Leftovers from Her Name is Han made a very good sandwich. Gochujang chicken and onions chopped with sharp cheddar, miso, and Kewpie and baked on sourdough. Plus baked baby broccoli.

This egg salad sando from 7-11 may just be the best sandwich.

Egg tacos. Scrambled eggs with sharp cheddar / sauteed zucchini and butternut squash with salt, pepper, urfa, smoked paprika, and curry powder / topped with onions baked with evoo, honey, basil, and gochugaru / in toasted whole-wheat tortillas.

A take on these baked black bean tacos. My filling used black beans, sauteed mushrooms, green onions, poblanos, taco seasoning, evoo, and toasted walnuts.

* the alternate title for this post was “Let’s Taco ‘Bout it” *

Pandan, Pickles, Poke

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We had an exceptional weekend, including great food, long walks, and time in Dumbo, Chelsea, and Chinatown. Some of our favorites…

Fishs Eddy‘s newish Dumbo location has a coffee bar. Their delicious Fridge Cigarette take is their house-made cola with vanilla syrup and espresso.

Bunny & Bro‘s blackberry pie iced latte.

Bahn by Lauren‘s lime drip (flashed chilled coffee with sweetened lime) is a 100/10.

Their famous pandan honeycomb cake was good but not my personal favorite.

MOTW pumpkin pie iced latte.

We also tried their butter chicken empanada.

Nine Treasure’s Creamery ice cream sandwich with kaya toast ice cream on mango crinkle cookies.

Seed and Mill‘s sesame sundae is Adam’s favorite dessert in the city. We also got a square of pb&j halvah that was amazing.

Hawaiian food from Aloha Alley. We shared their Loco Moco plate (beef patties with beef bone broth mushroom gravy, eggs, rice, and macaroni salad) and the ahi poke (tuna with scallions, seaweed salad, sweet onion, soy garlic shoyu, and crushed macadamia. Plus furikake rice).

Hots Pizza was adorable and had the nicest workers. We swooned over this pickle slice and want to go back to try their other stuff ASAP.

Big Tings in Chelsea Market served us an great jerk chicken sandwich and iced tea with sorrel.

We were totally smitten with the sandwiches from 20 Blocks, every ingredient is clearly chosen with so much care. We shared a Turkey Town (house turkey, fried green tomato, baby romaine, and Cajun mayo on honey whole-wheat) and a Corn Star (charred corn, cowboy candy, and havarti on toasted milk bread).

Dinner at the always excellent Her Name is Han. We got a Mint Garden (green tea infused soju with fresh mint, basil, and perilla leaves) and a Hallabong Spritz (basically an aperol spritz with Jeju citrus).

We shared a bunch of things and are already excited for our appetizers. Korean fried chicken (which comes with a great sauce and wonderful radish kimchi).

Rice cakes with kabocha squash, shishito peppers, and a yuzu gochujang sauce / kimchi cheese pancake topped with a poached egg.

Gochujang grilled chicken thighs (the onion slaw on the side was my favorite bite of the evening). We also had minced beef bulgogi that I forgot to photograph.

P.S. Our actual favorite item of the weekend was a 100/10 cafecito from Titi’s Empanadas on the Lower East Side.

Goodbye Apple, Hello Pumpkin

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I was a bit under the weather this week and I don’t have much to share but I can’t miss the opening of a new theme month! Here is my Pumpkin Month stash –

Other highlights from the week…

A strong finish to Apple Month. This sour apple Poppi was good but not unmissalbe.

My first pumpkin treat was a flop. I hated this Trader Joe’s flan (but to be fair, Adam loved it). I also had a pumpkin beer while I wrote this post!

My homemade dinners (mostly I ate bad take-out!) had a brinner theme. Homemade savory granola! Silken tofu / roasted zucchini / granola (oats baked with evoo, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, maple syrup, brown sugar, pepper, salt, za’atar, and gochugaru) // later I added chili crisp.

Chinese tomato egg stir-fry. Plus sauteed asparagus (with almonds, lemon, butter, salt, and pepper).

Azores, Absence, Apples

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This post is all over the place because this week was all over the place!

Last Saturday afternoon we got home from a week in the Azores (Sao Miguel and Pico Island). We went with my brother/sister-in-law and had a magical time. Great hikes, several seafood meals seated a foot from the ocean, etc. It was stunningly beautiful.

This Wednesday (9/23) we said goodbye to Webster. We think we did it at the exact perfect time for him but we are obviously missing him tons. We were profoundly lucky to have 15.5 years with him. He had a truly perfect last day, including a coffee date in a beautiful garden, a giant burger, and an entire Reese’s peanut butter cup.

Mostly we had to rely on take-out this week but here were some highlights on the food front…

Finishing up Apple Month on a strong note.

My mom came up and spent the week with Webster while we were in the Azores and she scored me some new themed candies.

I made it to the grocery in time to make two (great!) real meals this week. Feta and white bean dip. In the food processor – feta cheese, white beans, lemon juice, ice water, and urfa pepper; I topped my serving with smoky chili crisp. Served with baby carrots, dolmas, leftover chicken fingers, and ZaZa za’atar pita chips.

Veggie bean bowls. Roasted garbanzo beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and red onion (the onion I tossed with evoo, honey, salt, and dried basil – it was fantastic) topped with feta cheese and lemon juice.

Sandwich Week, With A Twist

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Highlights from the week…

It was an especially successful 2nd week of Apple Month.

These apple rings tie with the Trader Joe’s gummies for best treat of Apple Month. Three different flavors!

Nightingale caramel apple ice cream sandwich is a 10/10.

I also quite enjoyed this crisp apple Olipop.

In other fruits, I tried a chocolate naval orange. It just tasted like a regular orange, but it was the best I’ve ever eaten.

The modern world is a horror-show so you’ve got to make little bits of joy where you can; hence, dinner theme weeks! This one was sandwiches, reimagined. We started out strong with Lido Kosher Deli‘s knishwich with pastrami.

I also had a latke with great applesauce.

Tuna melt nachos. Dill pickle krinkle cut kettle chips / baked with Trader Joe’s Ooey Gooey cheese blend / topped with a mix of canned tuna, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapeños (plus brine), and bread and butter pickles.

Turkey burger fried rice. Leftover brown rice sauteed with fish sauce and soy sauce / sauteed ground turkey with ketchup, yellow mustard, and pickle brine / eggs / green onions / baby tomatoes / pickles (bread and butter and sweet and sour) / sharp cheddar / sesame seeds / and crispy onion and garlic.

Tofu bahn mi panzanella. Boiled super-firm tofu / toasted day old sub roll cubes / quick-pickled cucumber (thin sliced baby cucs left for 24 hours in a mix of sugar, salt, Milu everything seasoning, rice vinegar, and sesame oil) / pickled jalapeños / Trader Joe’s pickled red onions / cilantro / sauced with a mix of Sriracha, Duke’s, lime juice, rice vinegar, and sugar.