Chestnut iced coffee – I blended skim milk, half and half, chestnut paste, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The flavor was good but unfortunately the blender did not work at all to create a cold foam texture.
I am still very much enjoying these Trader Joe’s dried baby pineapples.
These nuts from 7-11 were very ranch-y but not as spicy as I was hoping for.
A red and green yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with pomegranate, pumpkin seed butter, and halvah.
A weirdly wonderful dinner. Roasted cauliflower / roasted baby zucchinis / sauce – Greek yogurt, Kewpie, Sriracha, and lime juice / Trader Joe’s frozen fish sticks.
P.S./Number six – I had the cheesy nacho fries with steak from Taco Bell this weekend (I didn’t take a photo because I ate them out of the bag like a rat) and they were fantastic.
It’s the first day of Eggnog Month! Also known as December. I am very excited about this year’s cache of themed goods.
Also a time for peppermint.
And other good tidings and joy.
Highlights from the last week of November include…
Several good yogurt bowls. Plain skyr with blueberries, chia seeds, and Seed & Mill lemon and white chocolate halvah.
Plain skyr with blueberries, leftover cranberry sauce, and Target sugar cookie granola.
The newest Reese’s big cup. The caramel layer is THICK and wonderful.
The last of the stuffing-inspired fried cauliflower-rice. Topped with the last of the cranberry sauce and pineapple hot sauce. I am definitely making this dish again next November!
Roasted spaghetti squash with baked turkey meatballs (stuffed with panade, tons of garlic, urfa pepper, and cheese). Plus Trader Joe’s pizza sauce and chili flakes.
Hot/cold tofu. Cold silken tofu topped with a mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chili crisp, gochugaru, sesame seeds, and furikake. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.
Chicken and veggie dumplings from Mandu (the best!) the best with spicy sesame miso green beans (steamed, then sauteed in a mix of lime juice, brown sugar, gojuchang, miso paste, tahini, and water) and leftover tofu sauce.
I hope all of my American readers had a lovely Turkey Day! My parents flew up yesterday evening and we got to spend the holiday together. They are here through the long weekend and it is going to be a great visit. I am feeling extra grateful for family time this year – my grandmother passed away earlier this month at 94 years old. I am obviously sad, but mostly I have been feeling thankful. Thankful that I had my grandmother until my late thirties and she remained her funny, gracious, smart as a whip self until the end. Thankful she died so soon after her birthday and we had all just gotten to see her. Thankful we had such a perfect last visit – I took her out for lobster and she ate every bite and we went to a family birthday dinner and she and I shared nachos and had a wonderful talk about her life and my grandpa.
I am also grateful for cheese and good coffee, both of which I got to enjoy this week! Highlights included…
Look at my impressive stash of on-theme snacks! I was very pleasantly surprised by the popcorn.
And drinks!
Wired Coffee‘s holiday specials include a tiramisu cold foam and it was just divine.
Plain skyr with fresh persimmon, maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, and granola.
Roast‘s holiday specials are unmatched – Thanksgiving crunchwrap with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry jam, crispy onions, green beans, and stuffing / potato croquettes with cheddar, green onion, and a side of ranch. Plus homemade green beans – sauteed with garlic, lemon, and honey dijon.
This stuffing-inspired fried cauliflower rice was one of the best dishes I’ve ever made. Riced cauliflower stir-fried with smoked turkey, celery, yellow onion, portabella mushroom, butter, dried cranberries, spiced pecans, and eggs.
But the best dish of the week was Thanksgiving nachos. These nachos are at least a quarter of why my parents wanted to brave the cold and visit now. Trader Joe’s stuffing chips, white cheddar, swiss, gouda, smoked turkey, poblano peppers, and cranberry sauce. Plus sided of roasted cauliflower and brussel sprouts.
Plus for dessert we ate Ben & Jerry’s pecan pie ice cream (I thought it was only fine, basically butter pecan, but my mom and Adam were fans) with homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
We are both really enjoying this flavored s’mores coffee from Bones Coffee Company.
Extra-purple smoothie – frozen grapes, frozen berries, Greek yogurt, and butterfly pea tea.
Yogurt bowl with fresh persimmon, caramel apple granola, honey, and nutmeg.
This giant apple was labeled a “Winter Banana” at the farmers’ market so obviously we bought it.
Such good packaged snacks this week. Jalapeño and honey chicken jerky (9/10) / peanut butter dark chocolate Over Easy bar (8/10).
Abomination Brewing’s marshmallow double IPA with a marshmallow fluff rim!!
True or False – I buy anything new Ben & Jerry’s has to offer? At least once! The peanut butter cup cookie dough bites were a new favorite, 2nd only to the s’mores option, but the Oat of this Swirled flavor wasn’t for me.
We also shop Seed & Mill pretty indiscriminately! These halvah coated pecans were a 10/10.
Take-out steak soft tacos from our local Mexican place. With zucchini, chopped tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce.
Noodle bowls loosely inspired by Khao Soi. Hand-cut noodles / shredded chicken breast / brothy sauce with coconut milk, red curry paste, and chicken broth / dinosaur kale sauteed with shallots, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, and rice vinegar / topped with tons of cashews and chili crisp.
Caribbean-inspired rice and beans (brown rice cooked with yellow onion, habanero pepper, coconut milk, chicken broth, and dark red kidney beans) / roasted broccoli / curried chicken salad (shredded chicken with mayo, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, sauteed onion, dried cranberries, salt and pepper, and Jamaican curry powder). I topped my bowl with pineapple Blind Betty’s hot sauce and the whole thing was divine.
We made scones! Chocolate chip and dried cherry. They were yummy and so easy.
Brunch at Agi’s Counter in Brooklyn. Dirty Ovaltine was a hit.
We were head over heels for these palacsinta – Hungarian crepes layered with honey butter and wine poached figs.
We also shared the hashbrown with trout roe and scallion sour cream.
And the confit tuna melt sandwich. It came with great house-made pickles.
Sugar Hill Creamery. We tried a split scoop of the Unicorn (vanilla with birthday cake and sprinkles) and the Don Cartagnea (cream cheese ice cream with guava and croissant).
But really we were there for the hot chocolate! Topped with torched marshmallow fluff!! This couldn’t compare with drinking chocolate but it was definitely the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted. It was dark and bitter in a way that really complemented the fluff.
See also – I ended my weekend with a scoop of this dark chocolate and mint Ben & Jerry’s topped with fluff at home.
Chopped turkey sandwiches in nacho form – one of my best dinner ideas yet. A mix of smoked turkey, honey maple turkey, sharp cheddar, garlic sauteed baby broccoli, pepperoncinis, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, mayo, and yellow mustard; chopped and baked on top of Kettle pepperoncini chips.
Leftover rice casserole and broccoli salad plus Whole Foods’ pimento mac and cheese balls. This plate got doused with Cholula and honey.
Take-out from Datz Deli for some 10/10 Caribbean food. Wonderfully spicy jerk chicken and the best baked mac and cheese I’ve gotten in NY (mind you, not as good as my favorite from Pueblo back home). Plus we shared one of the sandwiches they are famous for – stewed oxtail and mac and cheese stuffed into a chicken patty stuffed into a coconut bread. Every component was perfect and together it was a dream! Plus roasted romanesco on the side.
I enjoyed the (new?) chocolate and cherry 88 Acres bar.
These 12 Tides kelp chips are perfect; great crunch and very garlicy and savory.
I’m holding out on eggnog and peppermint until after Thanksgiving, but a winter-themed beer felt appropriate for November! Abomination Brewing’s Wandering in the Snow – double dry hopped IPA with lactose and marshmallow.
The Roast special this week was a shortrib smashburger with pickles, roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, arugula, white cheddar, and aioli on a potato bun – we obviously had to try it. Plus fries and amazing homemade green beans (sauteed with butter, garlic, and honey dijon).
Cajun-ish rice casserole. I baked brown rice with Trader Joe’s turkey summer sausage, red kidney beans, cream of mushroom and roasted garlic condensed soup, fire-roasted Rotel, red bell pepper, yellow onion, salt, pepper, and paprika. Topped with Cholula and Greek yogurt and served with a side of garlic sauteed broccoli rabe.
A new variation on a broccoli salad we made almost one year ago that I’ve thought about ever since. Roasted broccoli, roasted red onion, roasted cannellini beans, dried cherries, and the sauce (in the food processor – cilantro, roasted jalapeno, garlic, white cheddar, smoked sardines, pine nuts, honey, salt, paprika, gochugaru, evoo, and water). I topped my serving with Trader Joe’s hot and sweet pickled jalapenos. Plus a side of roasted honeynut squash that we also swooned over.
One of the best salads we’ve ever made at home. Romaine and chicory blend lettuce / charred asparagus / strawberries / white cheddar / Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy candied pecans / Greek yogurt marinated baked chicken / homemade honey mustard vinaigrette (equal parts mayo, honey dijon, yellow mustard, honey, lemon juice, and vinegar).
I signed up for an online CEU in GI Nutrition this weekend. The speakers were former UVA colleagues so that was neat! It was four+ hours on a Saturday though so I needed a fun breakfast – Adam and I split a Roast breakfast burrito (scrambled eggs, avocado, crispy potato, peppers and onions, hot sauce aioli, and I added sliced turkey) and fries.
Starbucks’ new sugar cookie cold foam is tasty but not as good as chocolate or pumpkin. Sandwiched between shots of espresso and cinnamon dolce sprinkles.
I made a dalgona iced coffee with cinnamon and chocolate milk (YUM).
I paired Whole Food’s hot bar chicken tenders and charred broccoli – and a hard boiled egg – with every kind of dipping sauce (ranch, blue cheese, Roast house sauce, honey mustard, bbq).
Dinner at Sandro’s, which someone at work highly recommended for Long Island Italian.
It was good! I got garlic broccoli rabe and the Mafaldine pasta with pesto, tomato sauce, Stracciatella, and toasted pine nuts. This was so satisfying.
I didn’t dress up this year but still considered it a successful Halloween; Adam and the dog and I packed bags of candy and drove around admiring decorations.
Related – this candy corn hared cider was better in concept than flavor but still fun.
Other highlights from the week…
This Blue Point Big Mother Pumpkin was the last of (and one of the best of) the pumpkin beers.
Made Good cinnamon bun oat bar with fresh strawberries.
Trader Joe’s dried baby pineapple. Their selection of (unsweetened and unsulfured) dried fruit is unmatched.
An aggressively Southern snack hour. Stubbs BBQ chips with pimento cheese. Pro-tip – I served the dip warm with honey and spiced pecans on top.
This week’s dinners were all about the sauces! Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes + cucumber salad with Sriracha, sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar + canned salmon salad with Sriracha, mayo, and soy sauce + Sriracha, Kewpie, oyster sauce, and furikake.
Fried mini tofu, Sea For Yourself bechamel and sherry lobster cake, roasted purple cauliflower, and a toasted miso sesame dipping sauce (in a saucepan over low heat – canola oil, miso, tahini, urfa pepper; whisked with mayo and a squeeze of lemon).
Bok choy sauteed with miso and ginger and Mandu chicken and vegetable dumplings. Plus a spicy peanut dipping sauce (for 2 big servings – 2 Tbsp peanut butter, 2 Tbsp hot water, 1/2 tsp brown sugar, heaping 1/2 tsp Sriracha, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp rice vinegar).
Eating Chalk 