Author Archives: Emily

Pecking Order

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Adam and I were both on vacation last week and we went home to St. Thomas for Carnival! It was a perfect week – we had time with family, went on my favorite runs, ate my favorite foods (highlights included soursop shaved ice and a dark rum and coke), and went to the beach every day. It’s hard to beat a morning walk in the sand with an iced coffee!

We went right back to work when we got home (seriously, I was at my desk less than 10 hours after we left the airport!) and I didn’t get to go grocery shopping until yesterday but thankfully I had left myself a well-stocked freezer and pantry. Highlights from the week included…

This week’s coffee combo.

Beautiful smoothies. Frozen spinach, banana, and blueberries with honey, water, and key lime juice.

Frozen soursop, banana, and strawberries with vanilla almond milk, cinnamon, and plain Greek yogurt.

Trader Joe’s crispy apple chips.

These s’mores Ben and Jerry’s bites are hands-down my favorite thing.

Leftover chicken soup I made and froze a few weeks before vacation; this reheated really well.

“Freshly made” soup with this trio. Trader Joe’s ginger miso broth and garlicky cabbage plus ginger chicken dumplings.

Farro / furikake, kelp granules, black garlic, gochugaru / canned salmon and smoked trout with mayo, rice vinegar, and Sriracha / zoodles and celery / fried egg. I actually decided I didn’t like this and abandoned it halfway through for ramen but Adam liked it and I still think it was a good idea.

I work this weekend so I was off on Thursday and I went into the city for a haircut and a fun Brooklyn date. I have wanted to go to Pecking House for more than a year and it more than exceeded my high expectations! We shared fries with chicken seasoning.

Cornbread. Charred turnips with miso and almonds.

Fried chicken with salted egg sauce.

And the fantastic spicy chicken sandwich with Fuqi chili sauce, Oaxaca cheese, and pickled jalapenos on a brioche bun.

Plus gelato for dessert. A butter and salt scoop and a scoop of a cannolo flavor with candied fruits that blew my mind.

Rolled, Dipped, Shaken

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This was a yummy week; lots of new favorites in snacks and dinners! Highlights included…

PB&J inspired yogurt bowl – skyr with blueberries, salty peanuts, and blueberry jam.

I finally got my hands on this old seasonal release seltzer and it was as good as I’d anticipated; very cinnamon-y.

Boozy, citrusy fun – citron soju and a yuzu jelly sake.

Guava and dulce de leche bites my parents sent me from home.

These Tropifrutti gummies are my favorite Haribo item, the texture is perfect.

This peanut butter fudge honeycomb ice cream easily makes my top-three-favorites list. I prefer ice creams that are loaded with mix-ins but the texture of the ice cream of here was just so decadent.

Homemade baked eggrolls! We stuffed them with a mix of crab, shredded cabbage, green onion, and red pepper jelly. Plus roasted broccoli and dipping sauce on the side.

10/10 salads – arugula / homemade dressing with lime juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar / sweet baby bell peppers / homemade wonton crisps (egg roll wrappers baked with Sichuan pepper salt) / peanuts / shredded chicken reheated in a skillet with green onions and chicken broth.

The TikTok hack of shaking your mac and cheese and nuggets together with buffalo sauce and ranch is legit. I used Whole Foods baked macaroni, Applegate Farms nuggets, and added some roasted cauliflower.

P.S. As of this morning the husband and I are on vacation! We have a whole week of time together!! And fun plans, including reservations at Oiji Mi for tonight.

Duck, Duck, Soup

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Highlights from a tasty weekend…

Giant green smoothie. This had frozen spinach, strawberry, soursop, honey, and vanilla almond milk.

Siggi’s vanilla honey skyr. I only liked – not loved – this and found it to be a little sour (and am mostly posting to remind myself).

Kimchi butter ramen. This was spicier than I was expecting.

Gelato from a new spot in LI. I got Kinder and s’mores in a vanilla cone. We weren’t head over heels for this spot but my s’mores scoop did have a giant toasted marshmallow in it and that was delightful.

Beers from Destination Unknown. This was our 2nd trip there and we have loved almost everything we’ve tried. Great IPAs.

Brunch at Maya Congee Cafe. We loved it here. We shared passionfruit tea with mango stars.

Chicken breakfast congee with smoked cheese and a soft egg.

And a braised chicken bahn mi.

Dinner at Long Island Pekin. This is officially our favorite Long Island spot. This dinner was an 11/10 and the leftovers were sooo exciting. We shared the Peking duck scallion pancakes with cheddar and sweet plum sauce.

Flat rice noodles with veggies and duck.

And the half Hong Kong roast duck.

Leftover soup. I topped my bowl with chili crisp. Served with homemade garlic bread.

No photo but worth a mention – we tried the honey butter chicken sandwich from PDQ and were both impressed!

Soup’s Up

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Highlights from this week…

Whole Foods’ Spring latte special is brown butter cookie – good but not excellent.

Meanwhile, Partners‘ Spring latte special is mojito and it is a 10/10.

I added butterfly peaflower tea to this smoothie (with frozen peaches, banana, soursop, and vanilla almond milk) to make it pretty and ended up with greige.

I was much more successful with frozen blueberries, banana, almond milk, and butterfly peaflower tea.

BelliWelli birthday cake flavored probiotic bar.

I feel like I should give another shout-out to this rapidly dwindling bag of Zapp’s Voodoo seasoned pretzels.

Passion fruit sips; hard seltzer and kombucha.

I had a day off this week and I walked 7 miles roundtrip from Penn Station to the Seaport for this burger and fries. The signature smashburger with gojuchang aioli, American, miso-caramelized onions, and garlic parmesan butter and waffle fries with red miso cheese sauce.

Monday I hadn’t gone to the grocery store for the week yet but we cobbled together a pretty good dinner. Chips and guacamole from our local burrito place.

Bitchin dip with mini sweet peppers (and cucumber slices).

And these Fillo’s walking tamales – Adam liked them, I thought they were underseasoned.

Tuesday I went to the fish counter and whipped up this Southern feast. Fried catfish (breaded in a mix of flour and cornmeal with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika); collard greens sauteed with green onion, lemon, and garlic; and hushpuppies. Then I doused my plate in honey, lemon, and Crystal hot sauce.

And Wednesday I made a giant batch of soup. With evoo, salt and pepper, garlic, yellow onion, celery, zucchini, carrot, potato, diced tomato, harissa, chicken broth, and chicken breast.

Bunnies And Chicks

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This weekend I: worked both days // celebrated Rex Manning Day by watching Empire Records and eating pizza and brownies // celebrated Easter by infusing vodka with Peeps marshmallows and eating my weight in sugar.

Highlights included…

Tapatio pickles. These were nice and firm and spicier than I was expecting.

Peeps vodka with pink Ting. <— a perfect combination!

Triple chocolate brownies. The Bakers chocolate recipe (halved) with the addition of espresso powder, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips.

Nougat candies that my parents made at home!

Noosa lemon bar frozen yogurt is a 10/10 for Spring.

Turkey laab (we love this recipe) with sauteed bok choy and fennel with ginger and green onions.

Big salads. Romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, crispy baked lentils, honey roasted baked chickpeas, sliced turkey, and turkey bacon.

Bean, Banana, Bap

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Highlights from the week…

Dessert-y yogurt bowl. Vanilla skyr with condensed milk, strawberries, banana, cornflakes, and sprinkles.

These jelly beans really do taste like Froot Loops!

We got chips and quesadillas from Chipotle with their new chicken al pastor and it was actually pretty great.

We went to Long Island Pekin this week for duck (sans camera) and it blew our minds! I ate leftovers with other leftovers and it was a great meal.

Bibimbap-inspired veggie bowls. Riced broccoli sauteed with white pepper and sesame seeds / crispy tofu shreds – extra-firm tofu that I shredded, tossed with evoo and gojuchang, then baked / bean sprouts / gojuchang / cucumber / sauteed baby shitake mushrooms and green onion / fried egg.

Roasted cauliflower with crispy white beans – tossed in evoo, cornstarch, furikake, gochugaru, and ranch seasoning then baked.

Potatoes, Eggs, And Coffees

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It was a wonderful weekend! Adam and I had a ton of time together, the weather was gorgeous, and we took some great walks around the Lower East Side and Williamsburg and admired the spring flowers. Also we went on a million and one dates; our fridge is stuffed to the brim with leftovers – a very good problem to have!

Some highlights include…

Iced coffee with ube cold foam.

Dalgona iced latte with strawberry milk and and a dreamy packet of peaflower and edible glitter!

Iced matcha with ginger sparkling water and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Pazazz apple – a good spring choice, sweet and crispy.

Butterdose. Cream puffs – yuzu, ube coconut, and an Easter special with Cadbury eggs, Oreo, whipped cream frosting, and cream cheese filling.

Levain. This dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie tastes exactly like brownie batter and was the #1 best thing I ate all weekend.

Lindens. This meal was pretty unforgettable; the space was gorgeous and it was hands-down the best service I have ever experienced at a restaurant. We will be going back!

Lavender Daisy – pisco, gin, lavender, concord grape jam, lemon, club soda, and egg white.

Rosemary spiced margarita with mezcal, habanero, grapefruit, and agave.

Parker house rolls with grilled ramp butter. Tempura artichoke, maitake, and broccolini with chili oil and a cilantro yogurt sauce.

Herbed shoestring fries with a truffle aioli. 3rd best thing I ate this weekend and easily the best fries I’ve eaten the past 5 years.

Cheeseburger with grilled onion and cherry pepper relish.

Ocean Code. We had a highball with kyoho grape syrup.

Oden – beef, black fungus, daikon, tofu, and an inari-wrapped mochi ball in a super flavorful broth.

I had the spicy tuna rice bowl.

Okka. Very good cortado and Turkish coffee, plus baklava.

OTB. My favorite bar food in Brooklyn. The fantastic cup on the left was a frozen mojito.

Nuggets and chili cheese fries.

Rule of Thirds. Chiba Surf Club – yuzu sake, lillet, strawberry, sparkling wine, and fresh chives.

Douglas Fir-Banks – sesame shochu, gin, peach, vetiver, lime, umeboshi, and douglas fir. Plus a hojicha iced latte that was the 2nd best thing I ate this weekend.

Souffle pancake.

Japanese omelette sandwich on milk bread with miso mayo and yuzu cucumbers.

Smashed potatoes with mushrooms, hatcho miso, and a poached egg.

Butter Me Up

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Some highlights from this tasty week include butterscotch, butterfingers, and butternut squash…

I bought this Monin butterscotch syrup for coffees (and ocassionally Diet Cokes!) and have really been enjoying it.

I also made an ube Vietnamese iced coffee one day.

Another fun beverage – sparkling pomelo iced matcha.

Creamy peach smoothie; frozen peaches and banana with plain skyr and cottage cheese. I will definitely be adding cottage cheese to my shopping list more often.

Voodoo-seasoned pretzel sticks.

We made Butterfinger-inspired no bakes and they were 11/10. Just crushed corn flakes with salt, peanut butter, melted butter, honey, and melted chocolate.

Many of this week’s dinners paired perfectly with dipping sauces. Baked french fries / buffalo chicken meatballs – ground chicken, egg, panko, a splash of half and half, buffalo sauce, shredded gouda, sliced green onions / roasted zucchini tossed in smoked paprika and Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning blend.

Oven-fried extra-firm tofu – marinated in pickle juice and breaded with crushed voodoo pretzels. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.

I had some leftover restaurant/take-out veggies saved in the freezer – spicy baby cauliflower from a Chinese place and garlic Chinese broccoli from a Thai place – which reheated quickly. With Trader Joe’s chicken and cilantro mini wontons.

Smoky broccoli salad – it was so good I gave it a recipe page! – with roasted butternut squash.