Double Chocolate Cherry and Pumpkin Spice

by Emily

We’re a week into Pumpkin Month and I still haven’t cracked open any of my pumpkin beers! I have, however, purchased more (I spotted Schlafly in Manhattan – finally! – and couldn’t pass it up). Thankfully I consider November gourd drinking time as well.

I didn’t do the best job with photos, but here were some of my eats last week…

Home-brewed coffee (espresso roast with fat-free half and half) with honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice.

I dumped most of that yummy coffee into my purse and consoled myself with espresso and chocolate milk when I got off the train.

Pumpkin spice coffee with pumpkin juice that ended up being too spicy for me. I wanted it to taste like that amazing pumpkin smoothie Odwalla used to sell.

I also was NOT a fan of the pumpkin pie Quest bar, big surprise. My coffee and chocolate-covered almonds were still a good snack though.

As was this pear and Epic Bar combo.

Liberte lavender! yogurt with banana and almonds for lunch.

My other yogurts for the week came in the form of a product review – i.e. sent to me free of charge, with no additional compensation for this post. Greek Gods yogurt is both Adam’s and my absolute favorite so when they offered to send me their three newest chocolate flavors I jumped at the opportunity.

Because they’re made with whole milk, the yogurts have too much saturated fat for me to consider them an everyday staple, however, as a treat they are fantastic. Compared with ice cream they have less than half the saturated fat and calories (and double the protein) and 100% of the flavor and creamy decadence. Like I said, Adam and I both consider them to be the most pleasing yogurts on the market. And we have been eating them everyday this week!

Chocolate Cherry I decided to use in a smoothie recipe. For 2 – blend 1 cup yogurt, 1 cup frozen dark cherries, and 8 ounces chocolate milk. Yum!

Chocolate Strawberry I topped with freeze-dried strawberries, chocolate-covered cocoa nibs, and pecans.

And Chocolate Mocha turned into pumpkin spice mocha, with pumpkin spice granola and pepitas on top.

Dinners were weak this week. I made this ridiculous grilled cheese sandwich – Havarti and sharp cheddar on cinnamon swirl bread – three nights in a row!

And leftovers saved me from having to cook the only meal that counts as a meal. Pumpkin sausage pasta and broccoli salad were weirdly fantastic together. Topped with smoked paprika and shredded cheese.

Last night we went to Biang! We split shredded potatoes and garlic bok choy and I had Mt Qi spicy pickled veggies on hand-pulled noodles. My elbow was practically touching the girl next to me, so no photos.

Today, we’re hoping to go to Smorgasburg and dinner in Williamsburg. Have a great weekend!

3Oct2016

It’s Pumpkin Month!

by Emily

Pumpkin Month is here! On the Emily calendar September is for apples, October and November are for pumpkin, November and December are for eggnog and gingerbread, and December is for peppermint. This month’s on-theme stash is especially bountiful.

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Here are some highlights from the weekend…

My favorite coffee combo – espresso and chocolate milk. I hate “mochas” because the syrup is gross but this iteration of chocolate and coffee is the best.

Brunch at Benchmark.

I had a roasted vanilla lemonade with vodka.

This unassuming omelette was actually stuffed with duck confit and goat cheese.

My best lunch came from the Starbuck’s refrigerator case.

We cooked two tasty dinners. Broccoli salad based on this recipe from Cooking Light. We roasted the broccoli and sauteed the onion and served the salad warm, which I highly recommend. I also swapped maple for honey and rice vinegar for cider vinegar.

Served with white bean and basil dip with orange bell peppers and potato chips.

Plus a disappointing cider.

And I loosely followed Rachel Ray’s recipe for pumpkin and sausage pasta.

Served on butternut squash pasta shaped like tiny pumpkins!!

With roasted honey sriracha smoked paprika cauliflower.

And our last and favorite cider, just in time for pumpkin beers.

Non-food wins included…

I started reading One More Thing, Stories and Other Stories and now I’m completely obsessed with B.J. Novak. The collection of stories fits together in ways that are surprising, moving, and sidesplittingly wry.

Watching the dog put himself to bed, complete with covers and his head on a pillow.

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He’s the best.

30Sep2016

The End Of Apple Month

by Emily

This week I…

Tried two new products to review {see below}
Drank 6 cups of coffee
Worked 3 of 4 days and spent Wednesday in Manhattan
Loved the newest season of “The New Girl,” laughed out loud at “NCIS,” and felt totally over “South Park”
Ate three different plates of nachos

highlights…

Sparkling Ice offered to send me some of their new Essence Of sparkling water line. No sodium, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, just carbonated water and natural flavors. 10/10, they were very refreshing and I would definitely buy them on my own.

I enjoyed Lemon Lime and Tangerine alongside my coffee.

Caramel apple yogurt with cinnamon Chex and freeze-dried apples.

Caramel apple oatmeal bowl. Oats with chia seeds, apple, cinnamon, candied pecans, and Booterscotch M&Ms.

Buttermilk pie yogurt bowl, with a Cara Cara.

This “Red Hook” paleta from La Newyorkina was the single best thing we ate all month. Super-strong coffee with cookie dough from Baked.

Peking Duck Bing at Madison Square Eats. I knew if I kept trying these crepes I’d find one I loved. This one was stuffed with peking duck, scrambled eggs, hoisin sauce, and chili paste.

Lunch on a sunny sidewalk at Delicatessen.

We shared an everything salmon burger,

and the Mac Quack with duck confit, white cheddar, fontina, and caramelized onion.

But the best bites were the Duck, Duck, Goose Dumplings – smoked duck breast, duck confit, foie gras, cherry chutney, brown butter vinaigrette, and sliced almonds.

We’ve tried Pepperidge Farm Swirl Breads in the past and loved them (p.s. they have caramel apple and pumpkin spice seasonal flavors!!) but they recently upgraded the products with a wider slice and more visible swirl and offered to send some my way.

We loved the new version too. I typically only buy us whole-wheat bread and save the white stuff for a treat, and these swirl breads definitely taste like a treat. Plus, at 80 calories a slice with 3 grams of protein and only 4 grams of sugar, the nutritional profile isn’t too bad.

I made epic sweet and savory grilled cheese sandwiches out of the Raisin Cinnamon Swirl.

Bread with butter // blackberry jam // smoked sliced turkey // sharp cheddar and light Havarti cheese // turkey bacon // and a hot skillet.

Plus roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

And Smackintosh Hard Cider (from our trip to Traverse City) to drink.

Pumpkin Month starts tomorrow!

26Sep2016

This Is The Past Week

by Emily

The week since I last posted included – a 6 am-start work day with a blissful 3 pm return home // a limp, due to a minor biopsy on one of my toes // a free trip to the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum thanks to a Smithsonian “Museum Day” promotion // a one day weekend with a Sunday at work // two trips to the Gotham West Market // the return of most of my fall tv shows! // dessert once a day at a minimum // tons of cuddle time with Webster // etc, etc.

{highlights}

My current coffee favorite – espresso on ice with a chocolate milk carton.

Harmless Harvest coconut water with a peanut butter chocolate chip Zing bar. Two thumbs up x2.

Maple brown sugar Peeps. I know I’m disgusting but I kind of loved these, they are gritty in the best possible way.

Iced hibiscus apple cider at Argo Tea. I was limping through Manhattan on an especially hot day at this hit the spot.

Sushi burrito. Stuffed with brown rice, tofu, spicy tobanjan mayo, carrot and daikon pickles, seaweed salad, and red pepper. Their marinated silky tofu is the best tofu I’ve ever tasted.

Hail Mary. Root beer and rum for Adam and housemade cherry cola with whisky for me.

We shared two veggies – fried green tomatoes,

and fantastic charred greens (with anchovy crumbs, plum molasses, and buttermilk).

Mostly we were there for dessert.

“Mile-high” funfetti cake with salted caramel buttercream and giant housemade sprinkles!

Bareburger. I got a collard greens Caesar salad and buffalo chicken bites.

Last night we made a Southern-flavors-inspired buttermilk-laced feast. Apple cider for cooking fuel.

Oven-fried buttermilk chicken tenders and roasted green beans with homemade honey mustard.

Buttermilk pie in a Biscoff cookie crust.

YUM!

20Sep2016

Extra-Long Weekend

by Emily

My long weekend plus 1 (Friday through Monday) was an absolute delight. I got a full day off with the husband and most of three days in Ohio with my grandma. Four days of good food and great company!

Friday, Adam and I headed to Mizumi for all-you-can-eat sushi buffet.

I had that plate x 10 thousand. Not only was it plentiful, this was the best tasting sushi I’ve had yet in Long Island.

Late that afternoon we attempted to take the dog into Brooklyn for a picnic.

I’m married to a doctor, so we made it about ten minutes before Adam got called back home to do something for work. Just as well, because traffic was brutal. A couple of hours later we left Webster at home and had a people-only dinner at Hail Mary.

It was too dark for pictures but we’ll be back soon because the meal was amazing. A high point was my housemade cherry cola with whiskey.

My Ohio visit was perfect. It’s always great to see my grandma and I managed to get in time with my aunt and uncle and a cousin and her fiancé too.

Nana is a fantastic cook and everything I ate at her house was delicious (and beautiful).

Plus we enjoyed some good meals out, including personal pizza with basil and green olives.

And wonderful spinach quiche.

We went out for several lattes, explored cute Ohio towns, and took in a movie (“Sully,” because it didn’t occur to either of us until afterwards that a movie about a plane crash probably wasn’t the best choice a day before my flight!).

And now I’m home safe with my boys, and only have four days to go in my work-week.

16Sep2016

Palm Seed Fun

by Emily

This post is running a little late because I am too – I have the day off! Working last Sunday earned me a long weekend today. It’s actually an extra-long weekend because I’m off Monday as well, I’m going to Ohio tomorrow to visit my grandma. Today, I’m going to have some fun with Adam and Webster.

Highlights from this week…

I didn’t snap any iced coffee photos this week, but I promise it was consumed in substantial quantities. There’s a chance I stayed up far too late watching Road Rules on YouTube one night. <– not worth the exhaustion, that show spent way more time on relationship drama than I had remembered.

Apple oatmeal, with an Asian pear.

My Filipino coworker brought me in some palm seeds and I bought them to good use. Chia pudding with palm seeds and banana.

Yogurt with palm seeds, Luxardo cherries, Cherrios, and an orange.

Another treat from the Philippines, polvoron, or powdered milk candy. They were fantastic, crumbly and milky in such a pleasing way.

More candy, Justin’s peanut butter cups (I’m still obsessed with these) and a milk popping candy. Sparkling water and diet coke are two of my favorite things and when you drink them together – as in at the same time, not in the same cup – they both taste even better.

Other snacks included apples we picked ourselves.

And the best microwave popcorn we’ve ever popped. This tasted almost as good as stove-popped.

We kept dinners super simple this week. Leftover smoked trout casserole, eaten cold out of the pan.

Salmon salad sandwiches – canned salmon with mayo, mustard, and pickle relish – on toasted TJ’s quinoa bread.

My most complicated night involved potato vareniki which cook in about 5 minutes. Tossed with shredded rotisserie chicken / sautéed celery / garlic kale / and a sauce made of cream cheese and chicken stock.

I’m off to go start my day off!

12Sep2016

Apple Picking Outing

by Emily

I had to go into work on Sunday but Adam and I fit a weekend’s worth of fun into Saturday. We drove two hours upstate to Twin Star Orchards for an afternoon of apple picking.

We did a complimentary cider tasting first. And enjoyed a wood-fired pizza – with fancy mushrooms and truffle oil – for lunch.

We came home with fewer than 10 apples (they actually just let us take our bag for free!) because we don’t have any grand baking plans, but had a great time walking around the orchard.

Date night was a new sushi spot in Great Neck. We split seaweed salad and edamame to start.

I got a meh veggie roll and a fantastic spicy crab roll for dinner.

They were out of the mackerel Adam wanted so they gave us free red bean ice cream with our bill.

New candy bar for dessert.

The popping candy didn’t have much get up and go but the milk flavored cream was very pleasing.

New take on an old casserole. I made smoked trout noodle casserole.

I loosely followed Martha’s recipe for the sauce. With whole-wheat rotini pasta, tons of sautéed mushrooms and chopped celery, smoked trout, and dill and smoked paprika. Topped with smoked gouda and crushed sour cream and onion potato chips.

Served with a new (to us) beer, coconut caramel chocolate brown ale. I don’t usually drink ales but this was unique enough to hold my interest, at least for 3/4 of the bottle.

What’s new with you?

10Sep2016

It’s Apple Month!

by Emily

Can I show off my apple-themed haul?? I’m quite excited about it.

And fittingly, we are driving upstate to go apple picking this afternoon.

So far the gum has been my favorite, though I haven’t tried any of the ciders yet. I went out for drinks with a friend last night and had a regular (red apple) Angry Orchard that was unpleasantly sweet so I’m hoping green apple has some tartness to it.

Apple pie bar and a Gala apple.

Caramel apple bar with green apple sparkling water and some honey peanut butter. With an Asian pear.

Caramel apple pie cheesecake from work.

I did eat a few things that weren’t apple-flavored. Like a giant plate of buffalo chicken pizza! With salads from the Whole Food’s bar, Caesar, kale, and corn.

Blueberry cheesecake smoothie. Frozen berries, vanilla almond milk, cream cheese, and lemon syrup.

Green bean dinner bowl. This turned out way better than I was expecting, especially because the green beans were a bag of fresh beans that got tossed into the freezer last week when they started getting old. They would have been too mushy roasted, but were perfect with an egg on top.

Sautéed green beans tossed with turkey bacon, mustard, and lemon juice // pan toasted whole-wheat panko // fried egg // smoked paprika.

Everyone go eat an apple!