This Is Halloween

by Emily

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).

26Oct2023

Squash Your Winter Blues

by Emily

It’s a short work-week for me because tonight I head to Ohio to celebrate my grandmother’s NINETY-FOURTH birthday! She moved into an assisted living facility that she loves since I last saw her and I am so excited to catch-up!

Highlights from an incredibly tasty week…

Pumpkin smoothie – pumpkin puree, cottage cheese, maple syrup, cinnamon, and ice.

We consumed our spookiest pumpkin beers while watching Goosebumps (Roadsmary’s Baby – 9/10 and Howling Gourds – Adam’s favorite). Also mystery-flavor, black-tinted Fanta!

I made a batch of the best-ever pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

It’s Pumpkin Month but my apple line-up was top-notch. Snap Dragon, Cosmic Crisp, and Lady Alice.

These Trader Joe’s Crunchy Curls are probably the most satisfying snack food; 12/10, perfect crunch, texture, and flavor.

How cute are these little strawberry gummies I found at Target??!

Pumpkin chili! Ground turkey, pink beans, yellow onion, bell peppers, chicken broth, pumpkin puree, tomato paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper, urfa chili, gochugaru, smoked paprika, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Topped with cheese, sour cream, and pickled jalopenos.

Plus we snacked on Trader Joe’s pumpkin tortilla chips with salsa while we cooked.

Egg tofu with mushroom gravy. I used shitake and brown beech mushrooms and served on top of riced cauliflower. We loved this (especially topped with Sriracha and chili crisp).

Winter veggie sheet-pan hash. I roasted butternut squash, Trader Joe’s cruciferous crunch mix, and chicken and mushroom sausages with sweet and spicy candied pecans and sharp-cheddar. Topped with a miso maple mustard vinaigrette.

29Sep2023

Apple Crumb Pie Sour

by Emily

Highlights from the week…

I get so much joy from my milk frother; cold foam on a homemade coffee is such a treat.

I couldn’t capture it in the rainy light but this apple I got at J-Mart was delightfully pink.

Trader Joe’s chile and garlic cashews are a satisfying snack.

As are the Perfect Layers bars, though I’ve decided I prefer the originals.

We visited Fern and Aurora – a newish Filipino bakery – and got an assortment of fun treats. Including a solid halo halo and a calamansi meringue that was one of the best desserts of this year.

Fat Witch mint brownie. This is our favorite of their flavors.

10/10 beer line up. Abomination Brewing Ice Cream Sandwiches in Space milkshake-style double IPA (P.S. I also tried their pumpkin milkshake IPA at a bar this week – we went out to do poorly at trivia – and was a fan) / Blue Point Apple Pie Crumb Sour.

Homemade callaloo with spinach, crab, and turkey bacon. Plus leftover teff biscuits and blue cornbread from Hav & Mar (the bread basket was the highlight of that meal!).

Tuna pasta. Whole-wheat spaghetti with roasted zuccini and romanesco, pine nuts, canned yellowfin tuna packed in olive oil, lemon juice and zest, gochugaru, and urfa chile pepper.

Tasting plate dinner – smoked salmon spread / bitchin dip / baby sweet bell peppers / everything corn crackers / Trader Joe’s black bean and cheese taquitos.

24Sep2023

Apple Of My Eye

by Emily

Things from the past week – So much Apple Month fun. Adam was out of town at a confernce and amazingly I served myself an adult meal almost every night. Highlights…

Apple pie sundae. Vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and apple pie granolas.

Caramel apple cider doughnut cookie. I am actually not a Chip fanatic but this one is perfection! It’s a brown sugar cookie made with apple butter, with a carmel apple filling, topped with butter and cinnamon sugar.

Caramel apple boozy milkshake. Michigan apple whiskey with vanilla ice cream, ice, cinnamon, and caramel sauce.

Still loving the caramel apple Sugar Babies.

These fruit bites were good not great; something about the mango flavor was a bit gaggy to me.

A bowl of blackberries and Sumo mandarin delicious enough to document.

Homemade take on okonomiyaki. I filled mine with crumbled super-firm tofu, cabbage, cauliflower rice, and green onions (plus ginger, eggs, flour, and ginger lime seltzer – I always use seltzer here instead of water). Topped with Sriracha, Kewpie, and furikake.

Korean steamed eggs on a bed of roasted cabbage and cauliflower rice with chili crisp. Topped with sesame seeds and way too much gochugaru because my shaker broke.

Red curry salmon cakes (there was green onion, panko, egg, and cauliflower rice in there too) and rainbow cauliflower with water chestnuts, stir-fry sauce, and Trader Joe’s chile and garlic cashews.

Pizza night (this was a successful too good to go order so I don’t know exactly what they were, fried eggplant and ??). Plus more cauliflower rice; it was a big bag for one person!

Tonight we have a fun couple date – dinner reservations at Hav & Mar!

17Sep2023

Sandwich Week Forever

by Emily

Things from last week…

Coffee combo – Nguyen Dalat roast (my new favorite after Hanoi) with coconut sweetened condensed milk. The SCM was more solid than liquid and it clumped terribly but tasted amazing.

See also – a summer s’mores iced latte (as good as it looks!) from The Barn in Merrick.

An array of apple beverages! Alani caramel apple energy drink / health-ade pink lady apple kombucha / Targer honey apple sparkling water.

An envy apple with 88 Acres vanilla cinnamon sunflower butter (so dreamy!).

Over Easy apple cinnamon bar – too raw oat chewy for me.

Trader Joe’s honey crisp apple cinnamon yogurt with apple pie granolas, chia seeds, and a honeycrisp.

I did not eat enough plums this summer but I am still excited for the start of Sumo season.

I loved the idea of this Sweet Water Gummies Tropical IPA but it was too pineapple-forward for me.

This week required SO MUCH ice cream! Including this new-to-us Ben & Jerry’s – Mousse Pie.

See also – I am still in a committed relationship with the s’mores cookie dough mix.

Sandwich 1 – chopped sharp cheddar, Applegate Farms honey and maple turkey and citrus ginger turkey, mustard, mayo, and banana peppers on a ciabatta roll. With roasted baby cauliflower.

Sandwich 2 – buffalo chicken salad (shredded chicken breasts with mayo, Franks, red onion, and blue cheese) on Trader Joe’s sliced sourdough. Plus roasted green beans with furikake.

Sandwich 3 – soft scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, cheddar, and quick pickled red onions on a garlic naan. Plus roasted brussel sprouts with pecans and blue cheese.

Sandwich 4 – baked tofu (super firm that I marinated in hot and sweet pickled jalopeno juice), sharp cheddar, and mayo on sourdough. Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

10Sep2023

Apple Month, Starting Strong

by Emily

Some highlights from the past week…

This was the best bowl of fruit I’ve ever eaten together. Aprium, mango, and blueberries.

And this was the best yogurt bowl I’ve ever eaten! Plain Greek yogurt with honeycrisp apple pie granola and a Sonia apple that I microwaved with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Paired with an iced phin brew with brown sugar cinnamon cold foam.

Apple ginger crisp bar; I forget every year how excellent these 88 Acres seed and oat bars are, very balanced and satisfying.

Trader Joe’s dried apple chips (Adam loved these, I prefer the honeycrisp ones) and a BelliWelli chocolate chip cookie bar.

Caramel apple cocktail! Michigan Apple Whiskey, Goldschläger, ginger seltzer, and caramel sauce.

The Trader Joe’s cookie butter ale was okay but not as good as I was expecting; it was overly spiced in a way I found sort of nauseating.

Same review for these Utz hot honey chips.

Brunch at For Five while I powered through some work projects. I got a poached shrimp cobb salad (it came with turkey bacon so it was perfect for me).

Noodles with a gojuchang tahini sauce, topped with soft-boiled eggs, Sriracha, and furikake.

The “hack” where you shake macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets with blue cheese and buffalo sauce is a go-to in this house. I used Whole Foods macaroni, Applegate Farms nuggets, and added roasted cauliflower.

Nacho night. Tortilla chips and extra-sharp cheddar with smoked turkey, roasted zucchini, Blind Betty’s hot sauce, and a salsa with heirloom baby tomato, tomatillo, lemon, pepper, and Sichuan chili salt.

Basil tofu (so good!) on brown rice with sauteed baby bok choy and red bell pepper.

Another winner recipe – spicy salmon sushi bake. For my salmon layer I used a mix of hot smoked salmon, canned smoked salmon, and canned wild Alaskan pink salmon (all from Trader Joe’s). Plus a side of seaweed and a cucumber salad.

4Sep2023

Back To School Themed

by Emily

Highlights from a perfect weekend with my favorite boys! September 1st kicked off Apple Month. Here is my 2023 hual (I restrained myself) –

I started my Friday 9/1 with a Starbucks’ cold brew with cinnamon cold foam, apple syrup, and apple drizzle and it was pretty great. And Saturday Adam and I got a caramel apple iced latte from New York Beanery.

I made a yogurt bowl with vanilla skyr, aprium, and caramel apple granola.

Apple snacks. Caramel apple Sugar Babies – 8.5/10 / Apple harvest Sour Patch Kids – 12/10, the best gummy candy I’ve ever tasted / giant Rave apple – 8/10, juicy and crisp but a bit sour for our tastes.

We went glamping this weekend in a refurbished school bus!

With Webster!

It was great, mostly because it put us within walking distance of so many amazing restaurants. Saturday night we went to Elder Greene. “A quick one before the dinner,” Mezcal, orange, lime, and simple syrup with a Tajin rimmed glass.

Amazing crispy brussel sprouts with goat cheese and a walnut maple aioli.

The best, crispiest tater tots I’ve ever eaten. Plus we took burgers back to the bus for dinner! Elder Greene makes our favorite burgers in the city. Their classic is Pat LaFrieda short rib blend, cheddar, American, pickles, onion, and special sauce (#1) and they also make a Waygu burger with white cheddar, arugula, and lemon herb aioli on a brioche bun (#2). P.S. Nomwon is my #3.

Sunday morning we got goodies from Radio Bakery. Triple chocolate croissant and an earl grey morning bun.

Plus an everything focaccia sandwich with smoked salmon and cream cheese.

With a Voodoo Child Vietnamese iced coffee from Sweet Leaf.

24Jul2023

Denver –> NYC

by Emily

This was a “short” week because I was in Denver until 2 am Tuesday East Coast time. My mom and I had such a fun vacation! Other than family stuff our favorite activities were the Rocky Mountain National Park (and just generally being constantly awed by how fantastically beautiful the wild flowers were!) and an afternoon at Meow Wolf.

I don’t have a ton to share from my return home because this was the longest short week ever. I landed in JFK at 6 am and was at my desk at work by 7:30! Also I worked through the weekend and had some of the busiest and stressful shifts of all time. Suffice to say we’ve mostly eaten take-out the past week! Here were some highlights…

Frozen tahini iced coffee. I made coffee ice cubes and blended them with more coffee, tahini, sugar, and a splash of half and half.

Very impressed with the Sang black coffee can (roasty, good body, and outdone only by Grady’s and Stumptown).

Extra-crispy Cosmic Crisp apple.

A winner Whole Foods’ hot bar day – Roasted veggies and roasted green beans / celery, date, and peanut salad / Caesar chicken salad / hard-boiled egg / mac and cheese.