Doughnuts, Go Nuts

by Emily

Tasty weekend! Friday was National Doughnut Day, so I took myself on a pre-work date to Doughnut Plant. They were giving away a super cool Grand Central ceiling inspired mini doughnut away with all purchases. I got a tres leches cake doughnut. <– all-time best

And Saturday we went on a six mile // six doughnut epic walking and eating tour. South from Hells Kitchen, across the bridge to Williamsburg. We walked part of the way on the High Line which was just lovely.

Stop 1 – Underwest Donuts.

Carwash – lavender vanilla.

Halvah with chocolate.

Stop 2 – Doughnut Project.

Coffee and salted toffee.

Black Gold, Texas Tea – extra dark chocolate with cookie crumbs and sea salt. This one had a great texture, so chewy!

Stop 3 – Du’s Donuts.

Strawberry.

Chocolate caramel brownie.

My non-doughnut eats worth mentioning all included beans! Coffee beans in quad shot non-fat iced lattes from Terremoto and Black Brick.

And a maple iced latte from Bittersweet.

Black beans on nachos with sour cream and jalopenos. Plus we ate unphotographed roasted cauliflower with sumac that was somehow just as delicious as the cheesy goodness.

Pink beans on yummy Chipotle bowls. Toasted broccoli rice / sauteed onion and green and orange bell pepper / shredded cheese / chicken marinated in chipotles in adobo, brown sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, and rice vinegar / pink beans sauteed with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne, and smoked paprika / sour cream.

Did you eat a doughnut this weekend??

1Jun2018

What-A-Melon

by Emily

Four things I ate this week…

Stumptown Founder’s coffee brew with TJ’s chocolate almond-cashew milk.

Watermelon juice. Kids, it is June!

Heirloom naval orange with vanilla bean yogurt and a new flavor of Polar Seltzer I didn’t care for.

Cheesy chicken and brussel sprouts. This recipe but with low-fat sour cream, minced garlic, smoked paprika, and cheddar in addition to Parmesan.

Important FYI – It’s National Doughnut Day today!!!

29May2018

Brigadero, Beer, BBQ

by Emily

I had a good New York weekend, one of a dwindling few remaining before the move! Saturday, a girlfriend and I met near South Street Seaport for croissants, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, then spent the afternoon in Brooklyn for drinks and dinner.

Here were my top nine, three per day for a three day weekend…

{1} Iced latte from Everyman Espresso. I walked down from Penn Station to the Seaport and the iced beverage was sooo necessary.

{2} It kind of makes me feel like an asshole, but the frozen coffee from Stew Leonard’s is one of my very favorite things.

{3} Croissants from Cafe Patoro. Mine was stuffed with brigadero, aka condensed milk chocolate.

{4} Dessert bars from Hometown Bake Shop. Key lime pie and s’mores.

{5} Cocktails at Grand Army. The specialty drink menu is currently My Little Pony themed!!

We decided I ordered the best two things on the menu. Scootaloo – amburana cachaca, passionfruit, cardamom, lime, and orange.

Pinky Pie – blanco tequila, escubac, aperol, lime, and salt.

{6} Pasta at Colonie. Fazzoletti with blue crab, burrata, sorrel, and serrano chile.

{7} BBQ at Old Fields. I had smoked chicken with smokey bbq sauce, pulled chicken, cole slaw, and a lot of Adam’s corn bread.

{8} I made a take on the creamy rice casserole from Eat, Live, Run. Double the bell pepper, fire roasted ro-tel, and I swapped out shrimp for turkey sausage and red kidney beans. It was delicious. Topped with Sriracha and sour cream.

{9} Trader Joe’s sour grapefruit ale.

Have a great week!

25May2018

Three Kinds Of Eggs

by Emily

Highlights from this week included eggs served three different ways, a new take on pesto, and my current favorite snack combo…

The week started out on a high point – a breakfast date at Golda.

Quad espresso + ice + cream.

I had the grilled asparagus toast – strawberry-chili mostarda / alfalfa / ras al hanout / soft egg / charred lemon / local sourdough.

Homemade coffee combo = half and half, ice, and Stumptown Founders blend.

Snacks of note include fresh alfonso mango with cottage cheese.

Our Deadpool movie snack was right on the nose. DP 2 was not as good as the first movie but still laugh out loud funny.

My current favorite snack combo is roasted chickpeas with blistered peanuts. Eaten in bulk.

Tuesday – my early day, when I leave the house before 6 am – I drove across town after work to attend what ended up being a very disappointing lecture on TPN. The speaker ran a bit late and I didn’t start heading home until after 9 pm, at which point I was basically whimpering from hunger. Suffice to say, this is the most satisfying Chipotle bowl that’s ever been eaten!

The other three nights I cooked legitimate meals and had some major successes in the kitchen! Like a Mediterranean frittata, complete with a new recipe page.

Replete with feta, zucchini, and sumac.

One night I made okonomiyaki. We use three eggs and a heaping 1/3 cup flour for 2 servings. With shredded garnet yam, roasted cabbage, and ginger. Topped with Sriracha, Kewpie mayo, green onion, and seaweed.

I also tried a new take on pesto that turned out to be delicious. The last time we made homemade pesto we found the raw garlic and basil to be a bit too spicy, so this time I cooked them. Sweet onion, green onion, and garlic sauteed in evoo / basil cooked with the onion for 90 seconds or so / tossed in the food processor with more evoo, parmesan, and pine nuts. Served with whole wheat pasta with baby kale, toasted white beans, and roasted heirloom tomato.

Weekend plans include a bridge walk, a bar date, and a bbq spot.

21May2018

Claro, Cake, Carrots

by Emily

I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday (and I keep working Monday, Tuesday!) but I ate enough sugar the last three days to keep me Energizer Bunny-ing through.

Highlights from a tasty weekend…

Birthday cake iced latte from Milk Bar.

Trader Joe’s cold brew bottles are the 3rd best packaged cold coffees, beat only by Chameleon and Grady’s.

Fresh alphonso mango. In strawberry lingonberry yogurt with bran flakes cereal.

Desserts from House of Inasal. Halo halo with the best leche flan of my life.

And ube tres leches!

Ice cream from Van Leeuwen. A vegan flavor that was terrible and a s’mores flavor that was my new favorite.

Dinner at Sauvage // French food.

Lemony marinated olives.

Charred heirloom carrots with labne, pistachio, vadouvan, and pistou.

We shared all the entrees with mushrooms. Salmon with sorrel, shiitake mushrooms, lentils, and buttermilk sauce.

Poulet au Vin Jaune with morels and fava beans. I don’t eat chicken skin that often but it was by far the best component of this particular dinner!

Dinner at Claro // Oaxacan food. I had the housemade tepache (a fermented, sweetened pineapple beverage) with a shot of mezcal – they separated my cocktail for me so I could taste the tepache on its own.

The menu was meant to be enjoyed family style so we ordered all of the things. Too many things in fact, I wish they had stopped us one or two dishes earlier. Asparagus and avocado tostado with queso freso, radish, and spring onion.

Tacos with chipotle shrimp and quesillo cheese.

Garnachas (like an open quesadilla) with rabbit and duck confit, pate, fermented vegetables, and cojita cheese.

Memela (masa cakes) with wild mushrooms, espazote, goat cheese crema, and pasilla.

Goat’s milk chocolate ice cream with goats milk caramel, peanuts, and toasted marshmallows.

Happy Monday!

18May2018

Broccoli And Cake

by Emily

Highlights from the week…

Coffee coffee! Irving Farms Blackstrap Espresso with half and half.

Things that taste like cake! Hot chocolate that was pretty good and a candy bar that was pretty meh.

Blackberry yogurt bowl with chopped plums and Flax Plus Multibran Flakes.

Plain Greek yogurt with black sesame halvah from Seed + Mill and an envy apple on the side.

Dinners this week were easy (and very chip forward) but good. The best night I ate a crappy sandwich on the train because… I went to the ballet! My aunt brought me along with her to see Misty Copeland in Giselle. It was beautiful and fantastic!

Chips and dip. I made homemade onion dip – sauteed sweet onion and green onions, turkey bacon, fresh chives, sour cream, and kewpie mayo. Dipped with gojuchang kettle chips, baby carrots, and bell pepper. It turned out very well and I definitely went back for more chips to keep scooping.

Nachos! Toasted tortilla chips / homemade nacho cheese sauce (you literally just melt together mild cheddar and sour cream, it was crazy easy) / ground turkey sauteed with taco seasoning and onion and bell pepper / green onion on top.

Warm broccoli salad. Roasted broccoli / turkey bacon / chives / raisins / blistered peanuts / sour cream, sugar, smoked paprika, and rice vinegar.

I work the next five days but I hope everyone else has a fun weekend!

14May2018

My New Favorite Thing

by Emily

This weekend was all about fancy coffees, restaurant brunches, and yummy home-cooked dinners.

I took a vacation day on Friday – just for funsies – and had lunch with one of my favorite former co-workers and her new baby! Plus I took myself on a long walk: Penn Station down to Chelsea Market, over to Gramercy Park, and back up to Penn Station. Saturday I had a literal every cloud has a silver lining situation – the gloomy weather gave me an excuse to wear my snazzy new rain boots!

Here were the highlights…

Fancy coffees – Iced latte from Seven Point Espresso.

Rose iced latte from Terremoto. <– best coffee of the weekend

Crack pie latte from Milk Bar.

Restaurant brunches – MeMe’s Diner.

The O.C. = cara cara and blood orange, tequila, and Tang.

I ordered the greens with chili oil and a fried chicken biscuit sandwich with spicy maple syrup and root vegetable slaw. The picture does not do justice to just how gigantic that sandwich is.

Cake! I wish I had more photos because this cake is officially my new favorite thing I’ve ever eaten. Vietnamese iced coffee cake with condensed milk frosting and cocoa cardamom fudge. Moist cake, fluffy icing, perfectly balanced.

Midwinter Kitchen. I had a salad with pistachio crusted goat cheese, frisée, watercress, a sunny side up egg, and sherry vinaigrette. Those goat cheese balls were out of this world.

Home-cooked dinners – Trout salad melts. Trader Joe’s canned smoked trout with mayo and gojuchang on toast with sharp cheddar. Plus roasted zucchini with sumac.

And I had this killer drink line-up while I cooked – creamy mango soda and key lime pie gose.

Eat Live Run’s green chile crock pot chicken. I subbed in cauliflower rice to get some more veggies in there.

Gojuchang turkey burgers on toast, smothered in a tasty sauce – kewpie mayonnaise, honey, dijon, and miso. With a side of pear slices and chips – gojuchang kettle chips from Whole Foods and kettle popcorn chips from Trader Joe’s.

Have a great work-week, guys!

11May2018

Three Things

by Emily

Three things I liked this week:

{1} Mint iced coffee! Irving Farms espresso roast / half and half / homemade vanilla mint simple syrup.

{2} Kefir and apple work snacks.

{3} Starbucks’ prepared sandwiches that I’m weirdly obsessed with. Chicken and artichoke flatbread with provolone and sun-dried tomato pesto.

Three things I loved this week:

{1} Homemade turkey cheeseburger fried rice.

Leftover brown rice stir-fried with soy sauce and liquid smoke / sauteed onions / roasted cherry tomatoes / ground turkey sauteed with fish sauce, ketchup, and mayo / eggs / cheddar cheese.

{2} Dinner at Pig and Khao. I went with a girlfriend for her first visit and she loved it!

I ordered not one, but two, new to me dishes that were amazing. Mushroom salad with shrimp and fried garlic and green papaya salad with chicken and crispy taro.

{3} Dinner at Freeks Mill that knocked our socks off.

We started with roasted baby carrots with marcona almonds and herbed goat cheese.

And we ordered all the poultry on the menu for dinner. Chicken for Adam, smoked Poulet Rouge with wild mushrooms and spinach.

Duck for me, dry aged duck with fried cranberry beans, fennel, and rosemary honey. <– this was the singe best thing I've ever eaten!

Three things I’m obsessing about that you don’t know about yet:

{1} Nonfat quad iced lattes from Hungry Ghost. There are three HGs on my walk to work and it is becoming a problem.

{2} Stolen Dance by Milky Chance. This song is basically magic – I listened to it on a run and I swear my legs moved 50% more quickly than usual.

{3} Moving??! I’m not sure how I haven’t blogged about this yet, but yes, we’re moving! Adam is doing his Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at UVA next year. So we’re moving to Charlottesville. In 50 days. !!!