Candy Corn – Love Or Hate?

Highlights from this week include – – –

Pumpkin Noosa + candy corn and Halloween mellow creams (I am very pro candy corn, by the way! I also like black licorice and mint candies)

I didn’t like this yogurt but I did quite enjoy the Jones bar.

Still very into these vegan pork rinds. Adam brought some into a work meeting and his coworkers were largely fans.

I scooped homemade caramelized onion, cheddar, and sour cream dip with these chips and that was obviously the best thing I ate all week!

I’d probably buy any Ben & Jerry’s new release but coffee with marshmallow was a no-brainer.

This week’s pumpkin booze was all from Shipyard. I shocked myself with how much I liked that seltzer.

I actually didn’t love this hatch chili mac and cheese and am posting to remind myself not to buy it again.

Whole Foods hot bar. Mac and cheese, green beans, buffalo cauliflower, and curried cauliflower.

Passionfruit vinegar chicken from the crock pot (extremely loosely based on this recipe). With roasted broccoli.

California bowls! Imitation crab sticks with cucumber and avocado / dressed with Kewpie, chili oil, and rice vinegar / and topped with furikake.

Peanut Butter, Pumpkin Butter

Highlights from this past week include…

Iced latte with ube cold foam!

Very into these chocolate peanut butter squares at the moment.

I even put one in a yogurt bowl – with vanilla bean yogurt, cinnamon, banana, and plum.

Yogurt bowl with plain Greek, pumpkin seed butter, pumpkin spice granola, and gumdrop grapes.

This week’s sparkling matchas – yuzu and mango.

This week’s pumpkin beers – the seasonal ale and imperial stout from Southern Tier.

These veggie crisps are great at baseline and even better with homemade guacamole.

I had orange juice in the house for the first time in years so I took the opportunity to make creamsicle milkshakes.

I made an amazing sundae with the guava and soursop ice creams from this fantastic line. Plus sweetened condensed milk, multi-grain Cheerios, and Luxardo cherries.

Brussel sprouts roasted with grapes, turkey kielbasa, white cheddar, and sweet and spicy pecans.

This citrus rice – I skipped the carrots and subbed almonds for cashews – with sautéed fennel and kielbasa. This was our first time cooking fennel – I used the bulb and the fronds – and we loved it.

One-tray sheet-pan hash – potato, sweet potato, red onion, bell peppers, sharp cheddar, and pinto beans, topped with guacamole, sour cream, hot sauce, and heirloom baby tomatoes.

Highlights From The Hudson Valley

Adam and I just spent an absolutely fantastic weekend in the Hudson Valley. We did a day and a half in Hudson followed by a day exploring Tivoli and Woodstock. We had a million coffees and desserts, explored cute downtowns, hiked a bit at the High Falls Conservation Area, and took a quick walk at the Tivoli Bay.

Food and drink highlights include…

Perfectly roasty iced lattes at Hudson Roastery. This was how we started both mornings in Hudson.

Inventive, extra-flakey pastries from Breadfolks in Hudson. This was a lemon meringue danish and a baklava croissant(?!!).

A freshly fried doughnut at Kitty’s Marketplace in Hudson.

We are obsessed with this seltzer, that I have been sadly unable to find back in the city.

Halo halo at Harana Market in Woodstock.

Concord grape sorbet and peanut butter swirl ice cream at Fortunes in Tivoli. This is quite possibly the best ice cream I have ever eaten.

Pupusas with queso and loroco at Casa Latina in Hudson.

Lunch outside at the food truck at Phoenicia Diner in Phoenicia. Sourdough toast with mashed avocado, sweet corn, heirloom tomato, poached egg, lime tofu, and farmers cheese // tuna salad sandwich with line-caught tuna, mayo, herbs, and wasabi tobiko.

A pimento cheese smothered hot dog at The Maker in Hudson.

Woodfired sourdough pizzas at The Mud Club in Woodstock. Bianca Rustica – mozzarella di bufala, vesuvian semi-dry red and yellow tomatoes, and evoo + hot honey // Mellanza de Pesto – tomatoes, roasted eggplant, mozzarella, aged gouda, and house-made pesto.

A terrific dinner at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson. Maiden Voyage – rum, spicy vermouth, soursop, tajin salt rim.

Tuna crudo with mango-habanero water, plum, husk cherry, and kohlrabi // sweet plantains with cilantro yogurt.

Crispy potatoes with lime pickle aioli, curry leaf, and pickled chilis.

Bok choy and endive salad with caesar-poblano dressing, pistachios, and anchovy.

Plato tropical – rice, black beans, and garlicy greens.

Fermented lentil dosa with marinated shiitakes, radish, and herbs. I am a sucker for mint in savory dishes and this ended up being one of my favorite things I’ve ever eaten!

All in all, a wonderful weekend!

Chipotle, Coconut, Curry, Callaloo

I hope all of my American readers are enjoying Memorial Day long weekends. I worked Friday-Monday; womp, womp. But Adam and I are off together next weekend and I am so excited I could burst. Meanwhile, most of what we ate last week was truly fantastic. Highlights include…

Phin-brewed coffee with herbed cold foam.

Tropical yogurt bowl – Trader Joe’s guava and passionfruit Greek yogurt with coconut chips and fresh mango.

This hibiscus water was nice and refreshing.

How excited was I to find Dr. Brown’s in a 2-liter?!

IPAs brewed with milk sugar are my favorite. The Founder’s was good and the Evil Twin is god-tier.

Pretty much any time I go to any store for any reason I come out with at least one ice cream.

Caribbean beans and rice – brown rice cooked with coconut milk, red kidney beans, habanero pepper, urfa chile, garlic, ginger, and onion // with curry chicken breast – baked after marinating in goat’s milk yogurt, green Tabasco, lemon juice, Jamaican curry powder, and paprika // and roasted zucchini.

Salad night – baby spinach and spring mix blend with green onion, red bell pepper, avocado, coconut chips, roasted garlic salmon cakes, and homemade creamy passionfruit vinaigrette.

I made callaloo! A very loose take on callaloo but a good one nonetheless. Spinach cooked with green onion, yellow onion, habanero pepper, spices, coconut milk, and crab meat.

Often eaten with rice, I paired mine with chipotle cheese crisps.

See Food Diet

Highlights from this week include…

The salted caramel Perfect bar is perfect.

Black and white cookie. I’ve decided I have not been eating nearly enough bagels or black and white cookies.

If you haven’t tried the hot honey chicken sandwich from Melt Shop yet get yourself there immediately. It has hot honey and jalopeno pimento cheese!

We went with a seafood theme for dinners this week and each night was better than the last! Seared scallops with crispy garlic smashed potatoes and sauteed bok choy and radish greens.

Roasted cabbage with sliced radishes, avocado crema, and Whole Food’s frozen fish fillets.

Broccoli rice with five spice quick pickled cucumbers, furikake, Sriracha aioli, and smoked salmon.

Apple/Spice Month

We were trying to eat through some of our stores before I went grocery shopping this weekend so the past week we ate a lot of random foods from the back of the freezer and take-out. Somehow it worked out that everything was delicious! Highlights include…

First things first, it is Apple/Spice Month! Yes, I am already feverishly shopping for pumpkin beers too.

Peanut butter and jelly crispy waffle from Costa Nova + an iced latte.

Leftover olives from our dinner at Glasserie.

Local Cava Guava IPA which was basically beer champagne.

Adam and I are both 10/10, head over heels obsessed with these Swedish Swedish fish. We bought every flavor we could get our hands on at the store the other day.

We also lost it for these Ben & Jerry’s cinnamon bun cookie dough bites. We had their original cookie dough flavor when it first came out and were underwhelmed but these were outstanding.

Trader Joe’s Asian stir-fry veggies topped with scrambled eggs.

Boca Burgers with beautiful roasted purple potato and roasted broccoli with chili spice.

Chipotle nachos! Tortilla chips with cheese, chicken, roasted peppers, corn salsa, and guacamole.

Homemade okonomiyaki. Topped with Kewpie, Sriracha, and furikake.

Buffalo chicken pizza is good, but leftover buffalo chicken pizza topped with honey and Korean chili flake is even better.

Waffley Glad

We had a really amazing time in Hawaii (several posts are coming soon!) but I am awfully glad to be back home with Webster!

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I didn’t make it the grocery until Sunday afternoon but we still managed to eat some yummy things this weekend.  Highlights include…

My new favorite yogurt bowl = Trader Joe’s plain Skyr yogurt with maple syrup, blueberries, banana, and blistered peanuts.

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Extra spicy, extra veggies hand-pulled noodles from our mall’s fancy food court.

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perfect snack.

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Costa Nova made me a fantastic quad iced latte!  Plus a waffle with marshmallow and cookie butter!

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We thought this frozen kunefe from Trader Joe’s was fantastic.  Highly recommend buying if you spot it.

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Waffle flavored chicken bites with baby carrots and maple sriracha aioli.

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My new favorite veggies bowl = a base of cauliflower rice with soft scrambled eggs, sauteed baby tomatoes, and avocado (topped with Cholula).

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The night before we left for Hawaii we celebrated our anniversary at Bowery Meat Company and the night we returned we feasted on leftover duck lasagna.

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Warm To Cold

St. Thomas was amazing, vacation was amazing.  My friends and I all had a really good time and want to go back immediately!

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I guess if I have to be back in the cold I’m glad it’s when New York is at its most glittery and beautiful!

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It was a short week with travel on Monday, but we have eaten some yummy stuff.

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Five highlights are –

{1} Mint Vietnamese coffee.  The pour over system was super easy and mint in coffee is delicious.

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{2} Lunch at Gramercy Tavern.  I met up with a girlfriend who suggested this spot and now I need to go back with Adam ASAP.  I had a Tower Bridge cocktail with gin, earl grey, almond grappa, and egg white.  And duck andouille sausage with grits and roasted pears.

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{3} After lunch I introduced her to Caffe Panna!  The affogato special sundae was peppermint mocha ice cream with junior mints, oreo crumble, nocciolata drizzle, mocha dusted whipped cream, and espresso.

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{4} Sushi!  I don’t crave/eat sushi all that often but we had it when we were in St. Thomas and ever since I’ve been obsessed.  It helps that Kaiyo is walking distance from our apartment and amazing.  I’ve gone there more than once this week!  This is spicy salmon // tuna and avocado topped with salmon, seaweed salad, and tobiko // spicy crab salad and avocado topped with tempura flakes, tuna, avocado, and special sauce.

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{5} Dinner at Atoboy, a shareable plates Korean restaurant in NoMad.  The style of the menu meant we got to try a ton.  Top highlights were charred cabbage with yuba (tofu skin) and smoked trout roe // chrysanthemum salad with leeks, plum, and cheddar // *sunchokes with oyster mushrooms, black truffle, and orange // sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch) granita with burrata soft serve and walnut.

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