Staycation 2024

by

We spent the second half of our vacation back home and had a fabulous time! The past four days were spent cuddling with the dog, catching up on errands, checking out new spots in Brooklyn, running on the Long Beach boardwalk, and spending a perfect day in Hudson.

Some highlights include…

Hudson Roasters. They have my favorite espresso in New York.

Blue Bottle. Vanilla Nola Cola. Also our favorite seltzer – Something & Nothing.

Mel the Bakery. We got a fantastic pistachio and almond twice-baked croissant (plus a chocolate chip cookie).

Bread and Butter. We got a key lime pie soft serve (a swirl of key lime and graham cracker).

And an insanely good ube roll.

Huckleberry gummy bears we brought home from Colorado.

Lady Moo Moo. Sprinkles ice cream with sprinkles.

Cafe Mutton. My “excessive garnish” Bloody Mary came with a lamb chop!

Plus we had an omelet with trout roe, creme fraiche, and potato chips and the best buttered toast of my life (and chicken congee).

Lido Kosher Deli. Love a deli with pickles! Plus pretty great cole slaw.

We had an outstanding brisket sandwich on a knish (and a bagel loaded with lox).

Hidden Gem Cafe. We shared a Knockout – shredded beef, caramelized onion, Swiss cheese, Hidden sauce, and hashbrowns on a garlic roll (also a smoked turkey with tomato, spinach, cheddar, and bbq Dijon on ciabatta bread).

Kitty’s. Toki Kollins – Suntory Toki whisky, yuzu juice, club soda, sea salt, and thyme.

Romaneso with green chickpea, puntarelle, broken parsley bay oil, and limequat young coconut sauce.

Spring lamb sugo with treccione, Kinderhook lamb shoulder, fennel, green garlic, and shaved Pecorino Romano.

Rotisserie chicken with roasted Yukons and sunchokes, citrus, date, and charred spring onion relish.

Salted devil’s food cake.

Miso butter bean dip with roasted broccoli, baby carrots, and Trader Joe’s chicken samosas.

Egg salad (shredded hard-boiled eggs / sauteed white onion, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, and garlic / Greek yogurt, Dijon, mayo, rice vinegar, mustard powder, smoked paprika, celery seed, and salt and pepper) / baby zucchini sauteed with a tahini harissa honey sauce / chicken chips and 7-11 garlic bread chips.

Denver 2024

by

We just got back from an absolutely fantastic vacation in Denver! Now I have the long weekend to catch up with Webster and reverse my jet-lag!

We ate and saw some truly amazing things out West. We spent a bunch of time with my family, explored Garden of the Gods and Rocky Mountain National Park (and saw moose!!), day-tripped to Grand Lake, and spent an afternoon at Meow Wolf.

Can’t miss food highlights included —

Black Box Bakery – kimchi cheddar croissant

Middleman – waffle fries

One Fold – duck congee

Sap Sau – beef larb tostada (this whole meal was an 11/10)

Ti Cafe – Vietnamese egg coffee

Tocabe – fry bread taco with ground bison

Butterscotch, Coconut, Rye

by

Some things from the week…

Inspired by the last weekend, I paired coconut water with sweetened condensed milk and strong iced coffee (Cafe du Monde with chicory).

Trader Joe’s new sourdough rye crisps are a top-tier snack, especially when paired with buffalo chicken dip.

Butterscotch Snickers! This tasted exactly like pecan pie.

Salmon sushi bake. I used brown rice and hot smoked sockeye salmon and canned sockeye salmon. Plus roasted broccoli with furikake.

Mac and cheese muffins / crispy baked super firm tofu / roasted zucchini / unseen side of Greek yogurt ranch dipping sauce.

Passion, Peach, Persimmon

by

Things from this week…

Yogurt bowls of note – Plain skyr with passionfruit syrup, white chocolate passionfruit truffle, blackberries, blueberries, and maple pecan granola.

Plain skyr with granola, strawberries, and persimmon.

Iced matcha with condensed milk and plum seltzer.

These Kodiak s’mores bars taste exactly like the Chewy bars from your childhood.

Abomination Brewery’s Fogsicle is obviously our new favorite summer beer – sour double IPA with peach, vanilla, and marshmallow.

I liked the flavor of this maple cardamom candied pecan ice cream but the texture was a little funky.

I finally hopped on the TikTok smashburger taco trend and it was worth the hype. With ground turkey, extra-sharp cheddar, and a house sauce on the side. Plus roasted cauliflower.

Dinner inspired by my favorite dish from Very Fresh Noodles. Buckwheat soba / quick cucumber salad with sugar and rice vinegar / in the food processor – crumbled super-firm tofu baked until crispy, roasted serrano pepper and green onion, basil, Sichuan peppercorn, extra-virgin olive oil, crunchy yellow peas / topped later with chili crisp.

Mind-bender

by

Working in healthcare means no three-day weekends but we did have a nice weekend! Adam and I got to spend tons of time together, on Saturday we road-tripped to Pennsylvania for a bbq with my in-laws, and Sunday we did a bunch of fun Ridgewood stuff. Highlights…

Frozen coffee #1 – coffee, half and half, ice, frozen banana, vanilla protein powder, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and peanut butter.

Frozen coffee #2 – coffee, half and half, ice, vanilla protein powder, black sesame paste, and butterscotch coffee syrup.

Cholita. We got the Cocado minus milk – espresso with coconut syrup and sweetened condensed milk. It was delightful and inspired me to buy coconut water to add to coffee with condensed milk.

Salty Lunch Lady. This little luncheonette is our new favorite spot – the space was adorable, the service was great, and the food was fantastic. We got coconut cream pie.

And a turkey sandwich with dill pickles, Havarti cheese, avocado, and a dill mayo.

Mama Yoshi’s Mini Mart. Another super cute spot and our GIANT chicken katsu was so crispy and flavorful.

No trip to Ridgewood is complete without a stop at Evil Twin. We got all of the IPAs and fruity sours currently on-tap. Our favorite was the ET Stay(ed) Home 12 with raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, sweet cherry, and sour cherry.

Hellbender Nighttime Cafe. A new spot from the Rolo’s team, also a new favorite! We shared crispy lamb tacos with salsa roja, chorizo spices, onion, and cilantro.

And chicken fajitas with ridiculously good chicken, roasted shishito peppers and scallions, guacamole, Oaxan cheese, cilantro mayo, and pico de gallo.

Also several great cocktails. Our favorite was the Cocorac, a play on a Sazerac with coconut-washed rum and rye, palm sugar, absinthe, and coconut water.

We got home late on Saturday and had to get Wing Stop because little else was open. I remain fully obsessed with their hot honey dry rub. Pro tip – get the wings cooked well-done (do the same for the fries! Plus extra fry seasoning).

P.S. I didn’t realize until I was writing this post that we had coconut at 3/5 stops on Sunday; always nice to have an accidental theme!

Winner Winner…

by

… Chicken dinner(s)! I made a big batch of crockpot chicken (50:50 breasts and thighs) that was the base of our dinners this week and they all were winners! P.S. We also got Wing Stop take-out one night and the new hot honey dry rub was a 10/10 on the boneless wings.

Things from the week…

Adam and I laughed the other day that we don’t think we will ever get tired of blueberry yogurt bowls.

This one was plain skyr, 88 Acres cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter, Bear Naked maple pecan crumble granola, blueberries, and blackberries.

Trader Joe’s chicken tikka samosas dipped in caramelized onion Bitchin’ Sauce; a match made in heaven.

We tried two new beers – a Swedish fish inspired sour and a creamy IPA from Lagunitas. Both 8.5/10s, I’d drink them again at a bar but probably wouldn’t repurchase for home.

I wanted this new-release watermelon lime PowerAde to be even more sour but it was pretty good.

Passionfruit things. A white chocolate truffle bar and lilikoi Hi-Chew.

Paired with a sparkling iced matcha with passionfruit syrup.

We also really liked these hibiscus-raspberry gummies.

Chicken chilaquiles. I made homemade tortilla chips with lime and Sichuan pepper salt and sauteed them with white onion, poblano, yellow bell pepper, chicken, salsa, chicken broth, and sharp cheddar. Topped with a fried egg.

Buffalo chicken bites (inspired by this recipe). With roasted white onion, buffalo sauce, and sharp cheddar. Plus roasted yellow and green cauliflower and a homemade honey mustard dipping sauce.

Crispy bbq chicken baked tacos – hands down the best meal of the week. Tortillas baked until crispy with tons of sharp cheddar and chicken tossed with Stubbs bbq sauce and roasted white onion and poblano. Plus roasted Brussels sprouts and an avocado crema (mashed avocado with plain skyr, lemon juice, chipotle Cholula, salt, and smoked paprika).

Hometown Advantage

by

The title is a quadruple threat pun – I had things from my current hometown in Long Island, things that remind me of my original hometown in the Caribbean, things made at home, and things from a place called Hometown! Some highlights from the weekend…

Breakfast at Hometown Bakeshop. Tres leches iced latte!

Plus I got an insane build-your-own breakfast sandwich – cheddar biscuit, over easy egg, turkey bacon, caramelized onion, pickled beet, white cheddar, and smoked aioli.

And I brought home scones too! Cinnamon roll-style and pistachio.

Cheesecake smoothie. Frozen strawberries and pineapple with water and cottage cheese.

Tony’s Lil’ Bits s’mores chocolates are great, a good combination of crunchy and chewy.

Takeout dinner from Coco’s Cuisine, a Jamaican place near us that we will be going back to ASAP. We shared stewed oxtail with sauteed cabbage and candied yam.

Fantastic jerk chicken with cabbage and perfect rice and beans.

Baked macaroni and cheese.

And Jamaican black cake (good, but we prefer the other style of Caribbean rum cakes).

Saturday night Adam and I went all out making dinner. Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, roasted broccoli, and baked chicken with bbq sauce (a homemade Mediterranean bbq sauce with pomegranate and sumac!).

P.S. I wrote this post Sunday evening and we are about to head to a fancy Long Island dinner at the new(ish) Oak and Vine.

Beautiful Things, Berries, Bowls

by

Things from this week – Doing: I had a good treadmill run, 3.25 miles at a 7:49 pace. I recently set a lofty goal of 2 miles at a 7-minute pace and I am having fun trying to work towards it. // Listening: Adam and I are obsessed with Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things.” I also recently fell head over heels for Milky Chance’s “Flashed Junk Mind.” I adore that whole album actually. // Eating: Highlights below…

Fruit-forward yogurt bowls this week (I need to stop, these yogurts were both good but I always prefer plain skyr best). Elleno’s pink guava Greek yogurt with blackberries, blueberries, and Nature’s Path honey almond granola.

Painterland Sisters’ meadow berry 6% skyr with berries, 88 Acres’ cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter (9.5/10), and Made Good’s cocoa crunch granola (9.5/10).

Little Sesame caramelized onion hummus with Simple Mills everything seed flour crackers.

Served with baby carrots, of course. The crackers were a 9.5/10 but the hummus was too lemon-forward for my tastes.

Summer-y strawberry sparkling beverages.

Hawaiian/Li Hing Mui seasoned candies we brought home from Vegas.

It was Carnival back home last week and my parents sent me some goodies from Food Fair.

The banana coquito I blended with espresso, half and half, brown sugar, and frozen banana and it was delicious. Topped with sprinkles and nutmeg.

I am a fan of Yasso’s chocolate-covered Greek yogurt bites. Coffee was good but not as good as salted caramel.

Dinners in bowls are the best kind. Brown Jasmine rice / celery and scallion sauteed with ginger / roasted zucchini / Gyeran-jjim – Korean steamed egg, I make mine with just a bit of water with white miso paste and fish sauce / chili crisp.

Rice / zucchini / sauteed spinach with green onion, sesame oil, and sesame seeds / Trader Joe’s beefless bulgogi (high in sodium but delicious) / soy marinated egg.

Cottage cheese / soy marinated eggs / heirloom tomato / sliced cucumber – I let them sit in the leftover egg marinade for 20 minutes and they were great / North River crunchy yellow peas.

Not a bowl – I am going to finish out Thursday with nachos when I finish this post!