Cinnamon Rose Ginger Sesame

Highlights from quite a nice weekend! We had good weather, tons of coffees, great food, and a walk across the Williamsburg Bridge…

Rose water iced Americano from Land to Sea.

The cinnamon bun from Duck Island Bread Company is my all-time favorite.

I love this sort of spicy ginger and meyer lemon seltzer from Aura Bora.

Red bean stuffed, sesame coated mochi from Lucky King Bakery are a can’t miss.

Cola-flavored Chupa Chups!!

Lunch at Tanoreen. Za’atar mezcal margarita (mezcal, house made za’atar shrub, and fresh lime) — the best cocktail of the weekend.

Falafel. Plus we had the complimentary bread basket with great za’atar crusted crisps.

I got the baked eggplant with tomato, almonds, and ground lamb.

Knafeh – crispy filo dough with sweet cheese and orange blossom syrup.

Dinner at Virginia’s. Spicy Marg 2.0 – tequilla, passion fruit, lime, Thai chili oil, and spicy salt.

A mojito that reminded me of a julep.

Fantastic hamachi crudo.

French onion and crème fraîche dip with potato chips and trout roe.

Roasted carrots with almond romanesco and goat cheese.

THE burger with cheddar and onion marmalade. This was so good that I loved it even though it was vastly overcooked.

Plus the best shoestring fries.

We got the “banana pudding” for dessert; bananas with cookie crunch and whipped cream. Adam liked it because it tasted good and I hated it because there was not even a hint of pudding.

Soup’s Up

Highlights from this week…

Whole Foods’ Spring latte special is brown butter cookie – good but not excellent.

Meanwhile, Partners‘ Spring latte special is mojito and it is a 10/10.

I added butterfly peaflower tea to this smoothie (with frozen peaches, banana, soursop, and vanilla almond milk) to make it pretty and ended up with greige.

I was much more successful with frozen blueberries, banana, almond milk, and butterfly peaflower tea.

BelliWelli birthday cake flavored probiotic bar.

I feel like I should give another shout-out to this rapidly dwindling bag of Zapp’s Voodoo seasoned pretzels.

Passion fruit sips; hard seltzer and kombucha.

I had a day off this week and I walked 7 miles roundtrip from Penn Station to the Seaport for this burger and fries. The signature smashburger with gojuchang aioli, American, miso-caramelized onions, and garlic parmesan butter and waffle fries with red miso cheese sauce.

Monday I hadn’t gone to the grocery store for the week yet but we cobbled together a pretty good dinner. Chips and guacamole from our local burrito place.

Bitchin dip with mini sweet peppers (and cucumber slices).

And these Fillo’s walking tamales – Adam liked them, I thought they were underseasoned.

Tuesday I went to the fish counter and whipped up this Southern feast. Fried catfish (breaded in a mix of flour and cornmeal with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika); collard greens sauteed with green onion, lemon, and garlic; and hushpuppies. Then I doused my plate in honey, lemon, and Crystal hot sauce.

And Wednesday I made a giant batch of soup. With evoo, salt and pepper, garlic, yellow onion, celery, zucchini, carrot, potato, diced tomato, harissa, chicken broth, and chicken breast.

Bunnies And Chicks

This weekend I: worked both days // celebrated Rex Manning Day by watching Empire Records and eating pizza and brownies // celebrated Easter by infusing vodka with Peeps marshmallows and eating my weight in sugar.

Highlights included…

Tapatio pickles. These were nice and firm and spicier than I was expecting.

Peeps vodka with pink Ting. <— a perfect combination!

Triple chocolate brownies. The Bakers chocolate recipe (halved) with the addition of espresso powder, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips.

Nougat candies that my parents made at home!

Noosa lemon bar frozen yogurt is a 10/10 for Spring.

Turkey laab (we love this recipe) with sauteed bok choy and fennel with ginger and green onions.

Big salads. Romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, crispy baked lentils, honey roasted baked chickpeas, sliced turkey, and turkey bacon.

Bean, Banana, Bap

Highlights from the week…

Dessert-y yogurt bowl. Vanilla skyr with condensed milk, strawberries, banana, cornflakes, and sprinkles.

These jelly beans really do taste like Froot Loops!

We got chips and quesadillas from Chipotle with their new chicken al pastor and it was actually pretty great.

We went to Long Island Pekin this week for duck (sans camera) and it blew our minds! I ate leftovers with other leftovers and it was a great meal.

Bibimbap-inspired veggie bowls. Riced broccoli sauteed with white pepper and sesame seeds / crispy tofu shreds – extra-firm tofu that I shredded, tossed with evoo and gojuchang, then baked / bean sprouts / gojuchang / cucumber / sauteed baby shitake mushrooms and green onion / fried egg.

Roasted cauliflower with crispy white beans – tossed in evoo, cornstarch, furikake, gochugaru, and ranch seasoning then baked.

Roll With It

I was off of work yesterday because I work both days this weekend. We are still hoping to to have some evening Long Island fun though. Highlights from this past week…

I took myself on a fantastic car picnic in Huntington for my day off! Vanilla bean iced latte from Southdown Coffee and the best cinnamon roll of my life from Duck Island Bread Company.

Sparkling watermelon waters. The watermelon flavored Liquid Death is a 10/10. We also really like this passionfruit watermelon Mela; typically we don’t buy sugar-sweetened drinks for home but this stuff is delicious (especially with tequilla!).

Crunchy things – honey roasted chickpeas and crunchy lentils.

These Blue Pearl blueberries are great; so big and sweet.

Big fan of these brown sugar boba popsicles. I have no idea how they get the frozen tapioca to stay so soft/chewy.

Leftover sheet-pan hash. We were getting sick of it at this point so I topped mine with a Sriracha honey mustard sauce.

Delicious Mediterranean-ish bowls. Farro mixed with pesto / canned artichoke hearts sauteed in evoo and then cooked with a mix of tomato sauce and harissa / roasted zucchini / canned tuna / chopped olives.

Burrito Dreams

Adam and I had a really lovely weekend. There were storms Friday night into Saturday morning but afterwards the weather cleared up nicely so we could enjoy some walking dates. We covered a lot of ground, including walks across the Williamsburg Bridge and Queensboro Bridge. Also a trip to the Guggenheim for the Nick Cave exhibit.

Highlights included…

Sawada Coffee‘s iced latte with hojicha.

Doughnut Project‘s maple cruller is our favorite doughnut in the city.

Lucky Kings Bakery‘s fried mochi stuffed with red bean paste and rolled in sesame seeds. This was amazing.

Banana pudding at Baonanas. Cookies and cream and ube.

Drinks at Dante. Our favorite was this Amalfi Limonata – malfy lemon gin. limoncello, lemon curd, lemon juice, and limonata soda.

I 100% planned last week’s meals so we would have leftover ingredients for homemade painkillers. Pineapple juice, fresh orange juice, and light coconut milk with sweetened condensed milk with dark rum.

Brunch at Loulou. I had a Remy – tequilla, Lillet Rose, and homemade grenadine with lime and sparkling grapefruit.

Also a gruyere omelette.

Lunch at Tacombi. Horchata / hibiscus agua fresca with mezcal and chile.

Corn esquites.

Breakfast taco with eggs, pico, and Oaxaca cheese. <– best dish of the meal

Birria tacos.

Dinner at Super Burrito. We ordered all of this week’s specials with ground beef – burrito, crunchwrap, and nachos. We loved it here!

Epic homemade burrito bowls. Roasted cauliflower rice with roasted onion/bell peppers/poblano pepper, sharp cheddar, double roasted salsa, chicken and chile verde sausage, crispy tortilla strips, and pickled jalopenos.

Green Moose, Guava Juice

Highlights from a yummy week…

The Hanoi roast is definitely my new favorite bean from Nguyen Coffee Supply.

Coconut breakfast bar.

Key lime skyr with passionfruit, banana, and chia seeds; plus granola halfway through.

These guava crackers were weird in a wonderful way; super thin and crispy and a bit sweet.

Fun drinks – tasty spiced hibiscus bissap tea and soursop nectar.

I enjoyed my soursop in a margarita!

See also – rum and coke slushies. Frozen coke ice cubes blended with Cruzan rum and fresh lime.

We made some really great dinners, all of which received a healthy dousing of hot sauces. I stuck with these three for a Caribbean theme.

Coconut rice and beans – brown rice cooked with coconut milk, dark kidney beans, onion, ginger, habanero, and spices / curried fish cakes – canned tuna and salmon with egg, panko, mayo, and Jamaican curry powder / rainbow chard and celery sauteed with some fish sauce and rice vinegar.

Sauteed zoodles with pineapple pulled chicken (a loose take on this recipe).

Roasted kabucha squash with a very loose take on callaloo – frozen kale with coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, habanero, turkey, bacon, fresh crab, and spices.

Chilly Chili

Some highlights from the weekend…

Cherry cheesecake smoothie. Frozen cherries with Greek yogurt, cream cheese, maple, and cinnamon.

Soursop drinkable yogurt.

Candy cane hard seltzer; this was out of season but I loved it and would buy more in a heartbeat.

Bon Appetit’s sheet-pan orange tofu and broccoli. I added toasted cashews and we really enjoyed it.

Turkey chili with white beans, bell peppers, and poblano peppers. I cooked the ground turkey with toasted rice powder and fish sauce and this came out great. I topped my bowl with plain Greek yogurt, pickled jalopenos, and tons of hot sauce and sharp cheddar.