Thankful

by Emily

I hope all of my American readers had a safe but satisfying Thanksgiving. Adam and I both worked the holiday but were able to continue our tradition of Thanksgiving night nachos! And thankfully our days ended early enough that we had time to chat with my parents while taking the dog on a cocktail walk and Zoom conference with all of my in-laws in the evening.

We spent a little time talking about things we are thankful for which was an easy assignment for me because I feel like thankful is actually my primary state of being – at least five times a day I thank my lucky stars that I just get to know Adam and Webster, let alone have them both love me back.

By the way, even my non-holiday eats were still pretty much on-theme because the short list of superficial things I’m thankful for definitely includes coffee, boba, sprinkles, ice cream, and pizza! Highlights from the past week include…

Stumptown holiday spice iced latte.

Thompson Square Bagels (my favorite in the city) poppy seed with birthday cake cream cheese.

Yogurt bowl win. Plain Greek with peanut butter, cranberry dressing, and granola. Trader Joe’s cranberry dressing (the stuff in the refrigerated section, not the canned one) is the best in the game.

This s’mores kefir was good but not as exciting as I wanted it to be.

Whole Foods has a whole line of specialty holiday ice cream flavors so I am obviously going to be eating ice cream every day for the next month.

Brown sugar creme brulee bubble tea!

Thanksgiving nachos. This year we did Trader Joe’s horseradish and chives potato chips / shredded cheese / duck fennel sausage / shishito peppers / cranberry dressing. Plus roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

And we stayed on theme with maple margaritas.

No pie for dessert, but we did have these festive truffles.

Roasted broccoli and cabbage with spicy cashew sauce and rolled tofu.

We lucked out that Taglio is so close to our apartment because they are currently my favorite pizza in the city. This roasted potato and vodka slice were both 10/10. Plus they have given a ton of food to the workers at Adam’s hospital throughout the pandemic so I am thrilled to support them (multiple times a week!).

Homemade chili topped with sour cream, jalopenos, and pimento cheese. I used duck sausage, black beans, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, sweet onion, diced tomato, spices, and beer.

Plus a beer for the cook.

14Sep2020

Black Cherry, Black Bean

by Emily

My work situation this past week/weekend was crazy, over-the-top busy so I don’t have a ton to share from the past seven days because I mostly ate weird snacks and sad take-out. I am actually off Monday and Tuesday this week and I could not be more excited for my “weekend.”

Here were five things I ate and loved…

{1} Top Apple Month success so far has been these caramel apple mellowcremes. They are as delicious as they are adorable!

{2} Still obsessed with Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda. I don’t know how I let this stuff fall off my radar the past few years, it’s fantastic!

{3} Also obsessed with these Trader Joe’s turkey corndogs. They are the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

{4} These buffalo blue bean burgers remain the best recipe I’ve ever created. Paired with homemade coleslaw with yellow raisins and sesame seeds. I roasted the cabbage which was a total upgrade.

{5} Before our busy weekend Adam and I managed to get into Brooklyn for a date on Friday – take-out from Donna Cocktail while watching the sunset in Domino Park! I had a frozen margarita and the best taco I’ve ever eaten. P.S. Then we went to second dinner at Meckelberg’s and split three sandwiches!

21Aug2020

Tubular

by Emily

Five highlights from this week include – – –

Arizona fruit snacks. They have a really pleasant texture and no palm oil. Does anyone else remember the terrible-in-a-wonderful-way pina colada bottled beverage Arizona used to sell?

Speaking of throwbacks, here’s a cherry cola slurpie(!) push-up(!!). Would recommend.

Beer wins. Triple dry-hopped IPA // key lime pie gose.

Dinner inspired by chana masala. Made with white beans instead of chickpeas and served on cauliflower rice.

Dinner inspired by laarb and/or fried rice. Ground turkey cooked with fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, Sriracha, and Korean chili flakes / with sauteed shallot, green onion, and Thai chili pepper / plus cilantro and mint / and roasted cauliflower rice / with eggs stir-fried in.

31Jul2020

Chocolate Cherry And Hoppy Guava

by Emily

I work all this weekend so clearly I jumped right back into my non-vacation life. It was actually a really busy work-week for me, I’ve been updating the hospital’s parenteral nutrition guidelines which is a fun but time-consuming project (in addition to my patient load). I am already quite excited for the next weekend – – in 8 days!

Highlights from this week include…

Espresso roast coffee with vanilla oat milk.

Sweet and jammy jelly berry grapes.

Double cherry truffle ice cream. I have been more than a little obsessed with these Magnum tubs throughout quarantine and cherry was my favorite variety yet!

These Slush Puppie ice pops fill me with an unfathomable amount of joy. They’re a total childhood favorite throwback and delicious to boot.

Orange soda beer float!

Local guava IPA.

Roasted zucchini with roasted chickpeas, baby tomatoes, kalamata olives, and crispy cheese bites.

Spring mix and herbs lettuce mix with Asian ginger salad dressing, Guara almonds, tomatoes, and peppered smoked salmon.

Salad with homemade honey mustard dressing, honey butter almonds, and a fried egg.

17Jul2020

Soursop And Szechuan Peppers

by Emily

Today is my 1st day back in at the hospital after a day off and a two-day stint of project days at home. I had to recertify in ServSafe and I had a big task to work on (updating the Nutrition Department’s Clinical Practice Guidelines to be more current/evidence-based) so my boss let me work from home, which was lovely. I got to leisurely brew Phin coffee and sip while I worked! Plus I ate a million snacks. <– Normally I sit in the ICUs and wear an N-95 for most of the day so I took full advantage of having a free face!

Highlights included…

The company that makes the instant espresso we love for Dalgona coffees also makes a really good espresso roast.

Plain Greek yogurt bowl with blackberries, peach, cashew butter, and a chopped up Bueno Bar. <– I realize it is ridiculous to stir a candy bar into your lunch but this was breath-takingly good and I’m glad I did it!

Vanilla skyr yogurt bowl with blackberries, black plum, cashew butter, coconut chips, and starry sprinkles.

Adam and I had to go into Manhattan for a doctor’s appointment so we stopped by Bibble and Sip for a cream puff. A cream puff topped with crème brûlée and filled with milk tea cream and boba!

I snacked on nuts every day this week. These sweet Thai chili almonds were a favorite.

Still obsessed with Hal’s caffeinated cola seltzer.

Adam and are both head over heels for these dinner mints. We made it through 12 years of marriage before we realized we are both fans of these guys!

This soursop ice cream was possibly the very best packaged ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

I topped this cheese enchilada meal with more cheese, sour cream, and Crystal hot sauce and it was 10/10. P.S. I highly recommend Amy’s frozen meal options, this one is good even if you aren’t over the top about it.

There’s a newish poke place in our neighborhood that lets you add a thousand toppings. This was white rice with crabcake, tofu, eel sauce, spicy mayo, cucumber, shiitakes, shredded carrot, string bean, green onion, tamago (shredded egg omelet), oshinko (pickled veggies), inari (tofu skin), garlic crisps, and lotus chips.

Blistered green beans – sauteed with garlic, ginger, and chili oil – with Trader Joe’s mini chicken and cilantro wontons.

Have a great – safe, distanced – weekend!

3Jul2020

Summer Fruits And Veggies

by Emily

It was a very good week in fruits and vegetables here! We went to Whole Foods on Saturday to stock up. With our new, pandemic-induced, bimonthly grocery schedule our first week of dinners/snacks always feels a lot fresher than the second week.

Highlights include…

Could Perfect Bars be any more perfect? They are the optimal balance of sweet and savory. I loved this trail mix flavor.

My parents sent us a box of tamarinds and I found these strawberry cherries at Whole Foods.

I also snagged a bag of genips (<– Caribbean fruit that I grew up picking from a tree near my house but have had an impossible time finding in New York) on the street corner near my hospital!

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Watermelon-themed things since it’s almost July 4th. The winner of the bunch was definitely the Hal’s Seltzer.

This dinner was brought to you by the color orange! Salmon/trout salad bagel melts / local heirloom tomatoes with a bit of salt and pepper / roasted gold zucchini.

We have been loving this black-eyed pea salad combo for almost a decade. This batch was actually made with fancy heirloom yellow eyed beans since BEP were sold out at the store. Beans, green pepper, smoked almonds, sharp cheddar, and green Tabasco. It is such a simple combination but super satisfying.

Roasted green zucchini topped with Moroccan tofu cubes and a simple yogurt sauce (plain skyr, mayo, olive oil, sumac, paprika, salt, and a little water).

Our best meal of the week was this trio – baked tofu (cooked with a mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, Sriracha, and honey) / Chinese smashed cucumber salad / fancy mushroom medley sauteed with salt, pepper, and butter.

26Jun2020

Bridge + Brigadeiro

by Emily

Highlights from this week include…

Adam and I were both off on Tuesday and we had a great city/social-distancing date! Walks across the Manhattan Bridge.

And take-out lunch in Seaport. Brigadeiro iced latte from Cafe Patoro. <– one of the best lattes I’ve had in awhile, even aside from the fact that the cup was slathered in Brazilian fudge sauce!

And a kimchi scallion pancake sandwich from Vanessa’s Dumplings.

My homemade dinners don’t look that exciting but were totally delicious. A cheesy, crunchy, veggie-filled casserole with cauliflower rice / ground turkey sauteed with smoked paprika, sweet onion, and orange and yellow bell pepper / black beans / Trader Joe’s pineapple salsa / and a topping of buttery crushed tortilla chips and sharp cheddar.

Ground turkey with gojuchang, Korean chili flakes, and green onion on a bed of roasted cabbage. I went back and topped the whole thing generously with Kewpie and Sriracha and loved every bite.

We made fantastic daiquiris this week! Cruzan rum and soursop nectar with lime juice and sweetened condensed milk.

Is it even summer in New York yet if you don’t eat an Italian ice? I got toasted marshmallow with key lime and I’m pretty sure that’s going to be my combo for the rest of the summer.

12Jun2020

Cola In My Beer And Oats In My Coffee

by Emily

We officially went back at the hospital full-time this week and I’m not going to lie, the transition was rough. Sitting in the ICUs means I have to wear an N-95 mask all day long which comfortwise is a big change from charting in my kitchen next to an iced coffee. Thankfully I had a few days off mid-week so I was able to ease into it.

Highlights…

This week’s coffee combo was Starbucks cold brew with the super marshmallowy Chobani chocolate oat milk.