Tag Archives: apple

Crab Apple

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This week had a snack theme (apples!) and a dinner theme (seafood)! Here were some highlights…

Apple energy drinks. The Alani was too sour for me this year (does it seem different than last year to anyone else?) but I ended up really liking the Bloom.

I made an iced matcha spritzer with apple cider and lemon seltzer. P.S. I also made spiced apple brown sugar syrup this week – equal parts cider and brown sugar cooked down with some ground cinnamon and nutmeg – it was good in coffee and great in Diet Coke.

High Tide’s yuzu sparkling water is a new favorite.

Apple snack plate – Cripps Pink apple, Fix and Fogg super crunchy peanut butter, Whole Food’s apple cinnamon mini rice cakes.

This furikake snack mix from Trader Joe’s is hands-down the best snack mix we’ve ever tasted; it’s almost impossible to keep your hands out of.

On-theme peelable gummies make my heart happy.

I hated this dinner – udon noodles with a sardine-scented red sauce – so much I wouldn’t eat it and got pizza instead, but I am including this picture as a reminder to myself that oven-roasted baby broccoli is delicious and we should make it more often.

Crab pasta (that I actually liked). Buckwheat soba noodles and roasted zucchini with sauteed shallots and garleek with crab, butter, evoo, cream cheese, white pepper, gochujang, brown sugar, and lemon juice.

Salmon avocado toast. Toasted sourdough / mashed avocado with salt, pepper, gochugaru, and lemon / Trader Joe’s hot-smoked sockeye salmon. Plus roasted adult broccoli. No, this was not enough food for dinner. Yes, I loved the new cantina chicken chalupas I ended up getting at Taco Bell.

P.S. We are staying on theme this evening and heading out to a fun sushi dinner at Kissaki to hopefully eat all the rest of the fishes.

Beaches

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This weekend included a run on the Long Beach Boardwalk (one of my favorite weekend activities!), a long Manhattan walk, and some exploring in Brooklyn. It was a very tasty few days, here were the highlights…

Homemade iced coffees with banana cheesecake cold foam (in the blender – frozen banana, cream cheese, butter extract, vanilla bean powder, brown sugar, skim milk).

A wonderful smoothie – frozen banana and peaches, soursop juice, vanilla protein powder, and malted milk powder.

Delicious pandan coconut sparkler from Lucky Ox.

Other Half. We split a flight of mostly double IPAs but also their Mister Softee collab strawberry yuzu sour.

Saint Street Cakes. The hype about the chocolate chip cookie is real. We also really loved the miso peanut butter cookie and blackberry cornbread cake slice.

This mochi doughnut from Win Son‘s Manhattan location was probably the best thing we’ve eaten so far in 2025.

Post-run breakfast on the boardwalk! We split a turkey, egg, and cheese taco and a fresh juice with green apple, spinach, ginger, and lime. We probably wouldn’t get food from this spot again but I would definitely get another green juice.

An easy but exciting, mostly home-cooked dinner. Leftover brown rice reheated in the microwave with rice vinegar, furikake, and white sugar / mayak eggs (I also put some mini mozzarella balls down in the marinade! / broccoli roasted with evoo, five spice, and gochugaru / fried chicken tender from Dave’s Hot Chicken. P.S. I ate all of an order of fries on the drive home; they are fantastic.

Dinner at Kabawa. We had a great meal here – some of the best goat I’ve ever eaten. It wasn’t lit for photographs but I happened to get a shot of my two favorite dishes. The bread course with house-made roti and cassava dumplings and an assortment of sauces.

Birthday cake flan. This was the best flan I’ve ever eaten.

Dinner at The Long Island Bar. We loved it here!

Cheese curds.

Roasted beets with hazelnut dukkah, brandied cherries, ricotta salata, and creamy herbed vinaigrette and shocking good deviled crab toast with, roasted corn and herbs and black garlic mayonnaise on toasted sourdough.

A single patty L.I. burger – dry-aged beef patty, pickles, cheese, and fancy sauce. Plus a yummy side salad.

P.S. It’s Apple Month today!!

Drinks!

Milk Tea, Pistachio, Rose

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We have one more work-week before we go on a vacation and my motivation to adult has already left the building. There was no dinner theme this week, just vibes, but we did have some good packaged snacks! Highlights…

El Guapo rose syrup. Enjoyed in an iced coffee (pretty good) and an iced matcha with lemon seltzer (I am between matcha brands so the drink in total wasn’t very good but I would definitely attempt this again).

Tochi milk tea popcorn. 10/10. I don’t always love pre-popped popcorn but this texture was perfectly crisp. We loved the sweet/salty/earthy flavor profile.

Obviously I bought this Dubai chocolate pistachio tiramisu from a local grocery.

I also obviously bought this Buddy’s Detroit-style frozen cheese pizza. We were fans – this was well-seasoned and the crust got nicely crispy. Made into a dinner with some chicken salads.

Waldorf-style chicken salad. Cubed baked chicken with celery, green onion, Honeycrisp apple, raisins, walnuts, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, Greek yogurt, mayo, Dijon, lemon juice, and honey.

Served with sauteed asparagus with lemon and a [bag of] Bloody Mary [kettle chips] for a country club feel.

Chicken tot pie. This was made with baked chicken, zucchini, celery, leek, and tons of spices. We used butter, flour, vegetable stock, and Dijon mustard for our sauce – no cream – and thought it turned out great. Baked with frozen potato tots on top.

Sand To Snow

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Last week we ended our work-week early and took some vacation days to go home to St. Thomas! Runs along the ocean, iced coffees while walking on the beach, and family time were just what I needed! My mom’s entire side of the family was down and we had a fantastic family reunion.

I took no food photos, only (a thousand) beach photos. Things I ate of note – 1) Fish Bar‘s smoked fish dip at a delicious dinner with my cousins 2) Soursop coquito that was sweet and creamy and boozy and wonderful 3) My mom’s homemade dumb bread – with cheese and butter – that was the best thing I ate this quarter

I had to work the holiday so we flew back in time to celebrate our first Christmas/Hannukah in our new home! {have I mentioned on there that we bought a condo? It’s been a whirlwind}

Five holiday things…

1) This week’s eggnog iced coffee was the best yet. Farmland wins this year by a mile.

2) Chinese take-out for Christmas Eve dinner felt perfect and festive. From Orchid where we will be going again shortly.

3) Red and green nachos for Christmas dinner. Kettle chips / cheese / duck sausage / roasted red bell pepper / garlic sauteed broccoli rabe.

4) Abomination Brewing‘s gingerbread and eggnog double IPAs. 100/10. These are my favorite beverages (alcoholic or otherwise) of all time.

5) Trader Joe’s thoughts — frozen vegetable and cheese enchiladas – 0/10. They were watery and under seasoned; I gave up after three bites and threw them out.

Pink Lady cinnamon sugar apple chips – 10/10. These were perfectly sour and sweet and nicely crunchy.

Turkey Tour

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We had great weather for long city walks this weekend (Williamsburg and Midtown) and ate so many good things…

Maple caramel mochi donut from Bear Donut.

Our favorite Pekin place in Long Island sadly closed but opened a new dumpling spot in Manhattan. We had steamed veggie and pan-fried chicken and corn dumplings and they were fantastic.

We tried a plethora of Thanksgiving turkey themed pastries. Trader Joe’s – cornbread stuffing, turkey, and Neufchatel cheese in a tortilla.

Starbucks – turkey sage sausage with Bechamel sauce in a danish.

Milk Bar – turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce in a herbed croissant.

Dinner at the newly reopened Kellogg’s Diner. The service/atmosphere and alcoholic drinks were meh but the food was worth it! Pimento cheese with saltines.

Short rib hash. This was great but Adam’s fried chicken and waffles was the best dish on the menu.

Desserts were the standout. Strawberry jell-o pretzel salad and passionfruit icebox pie.

Dinner at Sweetbriar. American Beauty cocktail (Rose Hip Luksosowa Vodka, lemon, rose water, egg white, and rose buds) and The Elixir (chamomile tea-infused Fords Gin, honey-ginger syrup, lemon, apricot preserves, and Laphroaig.

Cornbread with honey butter.

Wood-fired carrots with stracciatella, and salsa macha.

Roasted beets with shiso cream, green apple, avocado, and wasabi crumble.

Duck ham crostini with fig and gorgonzola.

Pistachio-crusted grilled chicken with snap peas, and red pepper pesto.

Croissant bread pudding with ice cream. This was crusted in cocoa nibs like a peppercorn steak and it was amazing.

Brinner Harvest

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It is normal to have a weekly food theme, yes? This week had two – the 1st week of Apple Month and breakfasts for dinners! On-theme highlights included…

{Apples} Duh.

Over Easy apple cinnamon granola bar (7.5/10).

Health-Ade pink lady apple kombucha (8/10).

Trader Joe’s apple chips (9/10) with a caramel apple iced matcha – matcha with caramel, apple cider, and Spindrift lime and mint seltzer.

Jelly Belly cinnamon and apple mix jelly beans (8/10).

Caramel apple cocktail – apple whiskey with apple cider, lime mint seltzer, and caramel.

{Breakfasts/Brinners} Trader Joe’s coconut cold brew. I actually really don’t like this and need to stop forgetting and rebuying it every two years or so but one morning I had a cup with young coconut water and sweetened condensed milk and that was great.

A complete breakfast coffee shake – iced coffee with half and half, cold brew powder, brown sugar, vanilla protein powder, edible glitter, frozen banana, and Lucky Charms!

Matzoh brie. We used egg and onion matzoh and it was fantastic. I top mine with salt and sugar. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.

Blueberry cottage cheese pancakes. This recipe but I used all-purpose flour, skipped the maple in the batter, and added a bit of lemon juice. These were great. I ditched my plate for a larger one so I could smoother them in maple syrup though.

Paired with the best green smoothie I’ve ever made – frozen spinach, mango, and banana, with hibiscus powder, vanilla protein powder, and water.

Egg burrito from Roast. Scrambled eggs, avocado, crispy potatoes, peppers, onions and hot sauce aioli. Plus their sweet potato tots and (homemade) green beans sauteed with honey and mustards.

Paired with a fantastic mimosa sour IPA from Abomination Brewing.

Ming Bings plant-based sausage, egg, and cheese bing. With yellow squash and fairytale eggplant that I roasted and then sauteed with gochujang, tahini, sesame oil, brown sugar, and water. After the matzoh these veggies were my favorite bite of the week!

Comfortcana

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Things from this week…

We are on our second round of Wild Twist apples and I can say that they are my newest favorite.

I didn’t mean to do another birthday cake theme week but somehow it happened. Exhibit A – Oat Haus granola butter.

Eaten with plain skyr with plucot, blueberries, and cereal (Heritage Flakes and cinnamon Frosted Flakes).

Exhibit B – edible glitter (for cold foams) / Sprinkle’s cupcake cups / Barebell protein bar.

I hated the bar – both taste and texture were off-putting, nothing like their other flavors – but how gorgeous is this candy?!?

These berry (blackberry!) fruit gels are lovely.

Snack hour – honey mustard pretzel crackers (didn’t live up to expectations) with crab dip.

This week’s dinner theme was comfort food/Americana. Starting with “Polk Special,” aka a dish my husband’s family made growing up. Meat patties (I did ground turkey with panade, egg, urfa pepper, and smoked paprika) baked in condensed tomato soup and served on mashed potatoes (I followed this recipe but browned my butter). Plus roasted zucchini.

Leftover mashed potatoes and zucchini topped with egg tofu and sauteed mushrooms in a homemade chicken gravy.

Trader Joe’s frozen turkey corndogs (plus mustards for dipping). With green beans – steamed then sauteed with German mustard, yellow mustard, Sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar.

Disco fries! Trader Joe’s frozen waffle fries / tons of shredded mozzarella and sharp cheddar / garlicy baked chicken / gravy. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.

S’more Years Older

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It was a fun week! Monday my parents were still in town and we took the day off to do Manhattan things with them. P.S. NY readers – we went to Lido Kosher Deli for their last dinner and the food was so good I got too excited to take a photo; you should go immediately.

Wednesday was my birthday and Adam and I took a long walk and got a giant ice cream (with BYOB sprinkles!). Plus I started my day with my free birthday Starbucks (with BYOB sprinkles).

Thursday we went to a bachelorette party and I had a margarita and discovered that the Trader Joe’s watermelon cucumber juice is the best mixer on the planet.

Friday we had reservations at Silver Apricot and did more fun Manhattan stuff. P.S. NY readers – they make some of the best Chinese food in the city and unfortunately are closing on August 11th so get a reservation ASAP.

Some highlights from the week included…

Joe Coffee yuzu elderflower coffee spritzer. The whole family thought this was delicious.

Donut Pub marble cruller. Stopping here after Strand book store is a great date.

Russ & Daughters + Morgenstern’s collab chocolate-covered halvah ice cream bar.

Glace by Noglu‘s Rockefeller Center truck has the same menu as their storefront with half of the line. Classic s’mores – frozen hot chocolate, marshmallow hallo, whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle.

Indoor s’mores bowl. I broiled marshmallows and chocolate chips on top of Heritage Flakes. Served with plain skry.

You know I had a cache of birthday cake snacks. Premier Protein protein shake (7/10), Made Good granola bar (9/10), Pop Art kettle corn (9/10), Sprinkles cupcake cups (11/10).

Chimango chili pineapple wedges have a wonderfully satisfying balance of savory-sweet and a great chewy texture.

This Wild Twist apple was Adam’s and my new favorite variety; crisp, juicy, and sweet.

All the leftovers. This bowl was pasta and harissa chicken from Sonder, pasta and garlicy greens from Rolos, and evoo and cheese from home.

My favorite sheet-pan hash. Roasted purple sweet potatoes and baby bok choy with smoked sockeye salmon and smoked salmon candy. Plus a sauce – plain Greek yogurt, mayo, Sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar – and furikake.

Spinach and artichoke gnocchi bake. This dip-lasagna-gnocchi abomination made a great casserole. Baked Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi; shredded chicken breast; spinach and artichoke sauteed with evoo, garlic, gochugaru, and salt and pepper; ricotta cheese, plain skyr, lemon juice, nutmeg, eggs, and extra-sharp cheddar; baked with mozzarella on top.

Silver Apricot. We shared and loved a ton of dishes. Adam had a great orange wine and I got an apricot spritzer.

Deviled tea eggs with pickled mustard seeds, chili-garlic aioli.

Crispy turnip cakes with scallion chili crisp, pickled radish, and garlic crunch.

Grilled summer squash with cashew chili crisp, cultured cashew cream, and coriander / rice rolls with celtuce, kohlrabi, and hoisin sauce / grilled hen of the woods mushrooms, pickled wood ear mushrooms, and salted egg yolk.

Mille-feuille with caramel / ridiculously good sesame panna cotta with grape granita.