Biscuit Brunches

by Emily

Did everyone have a good weekend? I had two days off with the husband so mine was fantabulous. We had two great brunches, cooked two tasty dinners, accomplished all of our to-dos… the weather even held out for us.

Have you registered your Starbucks card yet? This was free.

This coffee – a triple shot maple iced latte from Bittersweet -was better though, probably because we bought it with a giant chocolate chunk cookie that was both doughy and crispy.

Brunch 1 was at The General Greene in Fort Greene. Adam went there a few weeks ago and has been raving about the biscuits. I thought mine tasted like cornbread.

I drank a Middleton – whiskey, mezcal, lime, luxardo cherry, and earl grey syrup.

And ordered the Huevos Salvadorenos. Sunny side up eggs on bean and cheese pupusas with salsas, crema, and curtido (a fermented cabbage relish). Plus yucca fries.

Brunch 2 was bbq at Blue Smoke in Flatiron. FYI – that’s a cold brew coffee with bourbon maple cream.

I also had a mind-blowingly good Milk Punch. It tasted like melted egg nog ice cream!

And a bright eyed sandwich, aka the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever eaten. Fried egg, pimento cheese, and spicy fried chicken on a biscuit doughnut. Runny egg and pimento cheese might be the best thing ever and the person who decided to make a biscuit doughnut is obviously a genius.

We checked out the new Smorgasburg location at Skylight One Hansen on opening day.

The space was gorgeous but way too hot and with too many opportunities for bottlenecks to form. Worth it though, for this scoop of toasted nutmeg ice cream from Malai. It was scrumptious.

Sunday’s afternoon treat was winter melon bubble tea with boba and grass jelly.

I was excited about two new recipes and actually cooked us a real dinner both nights. Prep-work sustenance was pumpernickel pretzels and pumpkin beers.

Cooking Light’s black eyed pea cakes. Topped with a relish of sautéed red and yellow bell peppers and turkey bacon. Plus broccoli.

Sunday’s dinner was even better though, and I didn’t even follow a recipe. I spent three hours cooking up this turkey bolognaise and the time commitment was worth it! Best sauce we’ve ever had. Served on orecchiette pasta with roasted zucchini on the side.

Have a great week!

5Nov2016

Bites And Frights

by Emily

How in the world is it November??? I promise not to spend the rest of this year talking about how the year is running out, but it really is blowing my mind.

On the agenda before January? Christmas shopping, finding the perfect day planner for 2017, and plans for three out-of-town trips right in a row.

Presently, I’m waiting for Adam to get home so we can go to brunch. And these were the highlights from the past week…

I actually did a pretty good job with capturing things this week minus a plethora more of nachos and iced coffees. I tried a new blend from Birch.

Espresso and a KIND bar.

Coffee, chai latte, and an almond croissant.

I found a white chocolate seltzer for my Halloween lunch. It didn’t have much flavor, but my oatmeal was good – with chia seeds, chocolate-covered cacao nibs, and candy corn, plus I stirred in pumpkin puree and Greek yogurt cream cheese at the end.

Other lunches centered around this sweet box of samples from LÄRABAR. They offered me a chance to try their newest product – BITES, “truffle-like bites made from real food to satisfy your sweet craving.” The bites are vegan, gluten-free, kosher, and only use Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa and coffee.

We tried three of four flavors (I’m saving mint chocolate for December, aka Peppermint Month) and were big fans. Cherry Chocolate Chip was enjoyable but not our favorite, I thought Double Chocolate Brownie was fudgy and great next to coffee, and Adam loved the fact that Chocolate Macaroon was coated in coconut flour.

I had a serving of brownie bites with a Noosa pumpkin yogurt and some gum drop grapes(!!) for lunch.

Coconut macaroon went with plain yogurt with yummy chocolate tahini on top.

This week’s snack highlights were nut and seed centric.

Also, of course, candy. Another product review, Magic Candy Factory sent me a super exciting sample –

That’s my name! I think this company is really exciting, you can choose from 100’s of shapes, or write a custom message, and MCF will 3D print you a gummy. The candy is vegan (no dairy, no gelatin), gluten-free, nut-free, and kosher. Most importantly, it’s delicious.

We tried sublime strawberry and Adam declared this his favorite gummy candy of all time.

Orange and black nachos for Halloween. TJ’s pumpkin chips topped with cheddar, olives, black beans, and shredded chicken.

Plus pumpkin beers and Peeps. Warlock was fantastic this year.

For the rest of the week, I made a big batch of pumpkin seed pesto. Served on pizza with cheddar and sliced turkey, I promise it was tastier than it looked. With a pea sprout salad.

And we tossed the rest of the pesto with pumpkin-shaped pasta, parmesan, shredded chicken, and roasted cauliflower. Almost nothing is better than pesto pasta.

Enjoy your weekend!

31Oct2016

Top Ten Last Week

by Emily

{1} Kobrick Coffee

I stepped up my espresso game with their housemade chocolate milk. Adam and I were both swooning after every sip.

{2} Pumpkin yogurt bowls

2% Fage with pumpkin puree and pumpkin butter, cinnamon, slivered almonds, and pumpkin spice granola. With an Asian pear.

Plain Siggi’s with pumpkin x2, pumpkin spice cheerios and frosted mini wheats, and a few candy corns. With a gingergold apple.

Pumpkin Chobani with cereals and another apple.

{3} Bobwhite Counter

Fried chicken sandwich with pickles and pimento cheese.

{4} Pumpkin Smoothie

We make at least one every October. Pumpkin puree, plain Greek yogurt, cinnamon, maple syrup, and vanilla almond milk.

{5} Xzibit “Pimp My Ride” style Reese’s

Reese’s stuffed with Reese’s Pieces. My peanut butter cup obsession usually does not extend beyond Justin’s minis but I am bewitched by these; the bit of crunch takes the cups to a whole new level.

{6} Molly’s Cupcakes

They have a whole slew of gooey stuffed cupcakes.

Cake better was perfection!

{7} Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

Unsurprisingly, Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess)’s 1st memoir did not disappoint. I added her 2nd book to my Christmas list less than halfway through.

{8} Nachos

I turned my copycat Chipotle bowl leftovers into nachos. Nachos > salad bowls. Tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, black beans, corn, sautéed onions and peppers, and shredded chipotle honey lime chicken.

{9} C’est Cheese

Adam and I had a weekday off together and we spent several hours of it on the phone dealing with our retirement accounts. We desperately needed booze and cheese afterwards so we headed to Port Jefferson for lunch. Baked brie with raspberry jam.

Beer flight – Post Road Pumpkin / Telekinesis sour / Framboise / Imperial Biscotti Break stout.

Plus a Spanish salad with mandarin oranges, Manchego, olives, and a honey tarragon vinaigrette.

{10} David Pumpkins

Bless you, SNL, this is my new favorite thing.

{Bonus} Be sure to check out SaveTheDay.Vote, Joss Whedon’s super PAC that produces short PSAs about the importance of voting (for Hillary). The subject matter is sobering but somehow the videos are all still laugh out loud hilarious. Whedon is already my role model, and I am so impressed with all of the celebrities to chose to participate.

P.S. Happy Halloween!

24Oct2016

Pumpkin Yogurt — Froyo — Beer

by Emily

This weekend was low-key but exactly what we needed. Inclement weather killed our Saturday plans (instead we ran some errands and caught up on tv) and Sunday I was scheduled to work. I’ve got Wednesday off in exchange for yesterday so my workweek will be two mini 2 day blocks <– nice!

Here were the weekend’s top eats…

We made a quick trip down to Rockville Center to check out Kookaburra Coffee. They had toasted marshmallow coffee syrup!! Fan-freaking-tastic in my triple shot iced latte.

Spooky yogurt bowl. Plain Fage with pumpkin butter stirred in, topped with chia seeds, salted peanuts, cocoa nibs, and a few candy corn.

I put a lemon cream popsicle in seltzer water with some whiskey. Creamy, fizzy, and boozy, the trifecta.

Pumpkin pie froyo, topped with pretty much all of the dessert-y toppings.

Cheese plate dinner. With dates, apple, and sautéed green beans with almonds.

The highlights were this paprika cheese from TJ’s,

and these Malbranche Mura Cha Cha matcha tea biscuits I was sent to review. The cookies are gluten-free and vegan and absolutely bursting with matcha flavor. Be forewarned – if you don’t like the tea you won’t like the cookie, Adam loves both.

Copycat Chipotle salad bowls. Romaine // spicy salsa // shredded cheese // chipotle honey lime chicken // sautéed onion and orange and yellow bell pepper // black beans // fire-roasted corn.

I sipped pumpkin beer while I sautéed my chicken. Both were delicious, 8-9/10.

I’ve got three different pumpkin iterations packed for tomorrow’s lunch!

22Oct2016

Pumpkin Nice Latte

by Emily

How are we more than halfway through October? And less than three months away from the end of 2016?? I can’t handle it! Here was this week…

I had leftover sweetened condensed milk from a recipe so I put it in TJ’s coffee concentrate. Then I spent the entire morning certain I was going to die but also overcome with glee.

This Target brand salted caramel hot chocolate is delicious. Apparently I was into my morning sugar this week.

Yogurt bowls for lunch. All on theme, thank you. Chobani pumpkin with pecans and pumpkin spice cheerios and frosted min wheats. Plus an Asian pear.

TJ’s pumpkin yogurt with more cereal and an apple.

Noosa pumpkin with pumpkin spice granola and pumpkin seeds.

TJ’s caramel apple yogurt with Heritage Flakes and sliced almonds. This was the best of the apple yogurts, fyi.

It was a snack-heavy week, here were the highlights –

Related – a new pretzel shop opened right above my train and it is a problem.

Most dinners this week were weaksauce. Adam and I both get a bit bummed out as the weather cools down and we’ve had a hard time motivating ourselves in the kitchen. Case in point – I ate nachos two days in the row.

At least these nachos had turkey breast on top. And eggs with spinach in them on the side.

Another night I made a super simple turkey and cheddar toasted sandwich.

Inspiration did finally come, in the form of a box of lemons. Limoneira sent me a sample of their citrus. Limoneira Company is a 124 year old international agribusiness dedicated to sustainability. Their lemons are quite tasty, almost sweet.

I made Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken. Served with roasted broccoli and lemon pepper cauliflower rice.

Also Dulce de Leche Lemon Popsicles.

Cross your fingers for me that the weather’s nice in NYC today, if there’s no rain I’ve got a fun activity planned.

18Oct2016

26 Hours In DC

by Emily

This past weekend we took a quick trip to our nation’s capitol. It was a whirlwind in-and-out visit but I did have time for two museums, three monuments, and an epic dinner. Adam had a surgical quality improvement conference on Sunday and I tagged along to spend the day with a girlfriend who lives in the city.

We spent practically as much time in the car as we did awake in DC. Here were the healthier car snacks –

On the less healthy side, I also had potatoes in multiple forms.

We stayed at the hotel where the conference was being held, much fancier than we’re used to.

There was a lobby atrium (which our inner room looked out over) and trail mix bar.

We got in pretty late in the afternoon on Saturday, but had enough time for a visit to the Renwick Gallery.

Then we took a long walk around the river basin, and up to the Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Memorials.

The timing worked perfectly so that we could catch the reflecting pool near sunset and it was stunning.

That night we met up with friends for dinner. Returning to Tail Up Goat was our number one priority for this trip. They recently earned a Michelin star! The food was as fabulous as we remembered. I got an itsy bit drunk so I’m not great on details, but once again we tasted more than half the menu.

My cocktail with vodka and apricot was lovely.

Red grit sourdough topped with sumac onions, candied black olive, and bottarga (salted cured fish roe).

The crispy salt cod balls – no photo – were Adam’s favorite dish. We also split a cheese plate with cocoa nibs and orange and Campari jam. I’m pretty sure I never want to eat gouda sans nibs again, their crunch and sweetness was genius with the cheese.

For my entrée I did roasted eggplant with red onion, za’atar, hazelnuts, and burnt bread sauce. Guys, that bread sauce is no joke, especially with the creaminess of the eggplant.

Cannoli with lemon curd, candied pistachios, blood orange marmalade for dessert.

We also swooned like crazy over the pistachio roll (like a cinnamon pecan roll) with labneh gelato and fennel honey. 10/10.

Sunday morning I slept in and took advantage of hotel room cable. Adam had a busy day of learning and I had a fantastic afternoon walking around with my girlfriend. I had several iced lattes and we had beers and bar snacks on a patio in the sun.

The weather was crazy all weekend, I planned for layers when I packed but ended up shedding everything I could because even my thin scarf was too hot!

We settled in the AC at Ted’s Bulletin.

They had turkey reubens.

And amazing Old Bay Bloody Marys.

Before I knew it I was back with the husband and back on the road.

Vacations are great but coming home is the best – there was a dog on my lap while I wrote this post. ❤

15Oct2016

Last Week’s Top Five

by Emily

Last week was extra-stressful at work so I don’t have much to share on the food front, I ate a Starbucks sandwich for dinner two nights in a row! And I relied on hummus and fries for lunch because I didn’t pack a single yogurt bowl. Adam and I have fun plans this weekend and hopefully the downtime will help gear me up to get my act together next week.

Here were the culinary high points…

{1} Pumpkin sausage pizza.

TJ’s crust / pumpkin puree with ginger / mozzarella / sliced TJ’s turkey summer sausage / fresh sage.

{2} Pumpkin spice gum from Project 7.

I bought it because I’m a crazy person, but didn’t actually expect it to be good. It’s delicious (confirmed by Adam and a coworker).

{3} Fall flavored Ralph’s cream ice.

Caramel apple and pumpkin pie!

{4} A friend and I met for dinner at Luke’s and had lobster grilled cheeses.

Good, but my drink was better – Downeast pumpkin cider.

{5} Cheesy veggie eggs.

Scrambled with turkey sausage, chopped spinach, sautéed mushrooms and green onion, and mozzarella cheese.

11Oct2016

Best Of The Weekend

by Emily

Best coffee – The Voodoo Child at Sweetleaf.

Iced (super strong) coffee concentrate with condensed milk and housemade sweet cream.

Best new restaurant – Butler Bake Shop and Espresso Bar.

The infinitely Instagramable new Williamsburg coffee spot boasts a Michelin-starred pastry chef.

We got a caramel sea salt cookie next to an Intelligentsia Americano.

Best beer – Wick for Brains was a great first pumpkin sip of the season.

Enjoyed at Barcade while Adam and I teamed up to kick butt at the seasonally appropriate Golly Ghost game.

Best dessert – scoops from OddFellows‘ new “Passport Program.” October’s flavor inspiration is Asia.

We tried Thai Iced Tea and Ube with miso butterscotch.

Best dinner – a Jewish-Japanese feast at Shalom Japan.

Forget best dinner of the weekend, this was one of the best meals of the year!

We shared three different appetizers because we couldn’t narrow down our choices any more. Roasted cauliflower with anchovy and pickled raisins.

Tuna belly toasts that were the best bites of the night.

And Sake Kasu challah with raisin butter.

For dinner I ordered the dish that got us in the door – Matzoh ball ramen topped with a foie gras dumpling and soft-boiled egg. The ramen was 10/10 fantastic and the matzoh ball ended up being the best I’ve ever eaten.

Dessert was chocolate banana challah bread pudding with crème fraiche and whiskey caramel.

The service was almost as good as the food, which was so good I swear we would have ordered another round of every dish if we hadn’t been so full!