Tag Archives: berries

Winter Banana

by

Highlights from the week…

We are both really enjoying this flavored s’mores coffee from Bones Coffee Company.

Extra-purple smoothie – frozen grapes, frozen berries, Greek yogurt, and butterfly pea tea.

Yogurt bowl with fresh persimmon, caramel apple granola, honey, and nutmeg.

This giant apple was labeled a “Winter Banana” at the farmers’ market so obviously we bought it.

Such good packaged snacks this week. Jalapeño and honey chicken jerky (9/10) / peanut butter dark chocolate Over Easy bar (8/10).

Abomination Brewing’s marshmallow double IPA with a marshmallow fluff rim!!

True or False – I buy anything new Ben & Jerry’s has to offer? At least once! The peanut butter cup cookie dough bites were a new favorite, 2nd only to the s’mores option, but the Oat of this Swirled flavor wasn’t for me.

We also shop Seed & Mill pretty indiscriminately! These halvah coated pecans were a 10/10.

Take-out steak soft tacos from our local Mexican place. With zucchini, chopped tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce.

Noodle bowls loosely inspired by Khao Soi. Hand-cut noodles / shredded chicken breast / brothy sauce with coconut milk, red curry paste, and chicken broth / dinosaur kale sauteed with shallots, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, and rice vinegar / topped with tons of cashews and chili crisp.

Caribbean-inspired rice and beans (brown rice cooked with yellow onion, habanero pepper, coconut milk, chicken broth, and dark red kidney beans) / roasted broccoli / curried chicken salad (shredded chicken with mayo, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, sauteed onion, dried cranberries, salt and pepper, and Jamaican curry powder). I topped my bowl with pineapple Blind Betty’s hot sauce and the whole thing was divine.

Best Ever Broccoli Salad

by

Highlights from such a yummy week…

I enjoyed the (new?) chocolate and cherry 88 Acres bar.

These 12 Tides kelp chips are perfect; great crunch and very garlicy and savory.

I’m holding out on eggnog and peppermint until after Thanksgiving, but a winter-themed beer felt appropriate for November! Abomination Brewing’s Wandering in the Snow – double dry hopped IPA with lactose and marshmallow.

The Roast special this week was a shortrib smashburger with pickles, roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, arugula, white cheddar, and aioli on a potato bun – we obviously had to try it. Plus fries and amazing homemade green beans (sauteed with butter, garlic, and honey dijon).

Cajun-ish rice casserole. I baked brown rice with Trader Joe’s turkey summer sausage, red kidney beans, cream of mushroom and roasted garlic condensed soup, fire-roasted Rotel, red bell pepper, yellow onion, salt, pepper, and paprika. Topped with Cholula and Greek yogurt and served with a side of garlic sauteed broccoli rabe.

A new variation on a broccoli salad we made almost one year ago that I’ve thought about ever since. Roasted broccoli, roasted red onion, roasted cannellini beans, dried cherries, and the sauce (in the food processor – cilantro, roasted jalapeno, garlic, white cheddar, smoked sardines, pine nuts, honey, salt, paprika, gochugaru, evoo, and water). I topped my serving with Trader Joe’s hot and sweet pickled jalapenos. Plus a side of roasted honeynut squash that we also swooned over.

One of the best salads we’ve ever made at home. Romaine and chicory blend lettuce / charred asparagus / strawberries / white cheddar / Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy candied pecans / Greek yogurt marinated baked chicken / homemade honey mustard vinaigrette (equal parts mayo, honey dijon, yellow mustard, honey, lemon juice, and vinegar).

This Is Halloween

by

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).

Pumpkin GOAT

by

Highlights from the weekend…

Pumpkin Noosa (the best pumpkin yogurt of the month) with caramel apple granola.

Pumpkin spice Chobani with apple pie granola and frozen/warmed berries and cherries. Plus a pour-over coffee with a cinnamon and vanilla bean cold foam!

Southern Tier is the greatest of all time when it comes to pumpkin flavored alcohol.

Paris Baguette brie and cranberry croissant. This was great. I also tried an everything cream cheese croissant from Whole Foods that was only ok.

Perfect peanut butter and berry layers bar. Delicious. I’ve been very into things with a jammy layer recently (I had a Jenny’s doughnut ice cream over vacation with a mind-blowing jam swirl).

Someone at work gave Adam these spicy cashews and they are hands-down the best nuts I’ve ever eaten.

Good enough to salvage this very lackluster Cup Noodles flavor.

Taco bowls. Roasted cabbage with Sichuan pepper salt, cilantro, and lime / turkey sauteed with yellow onion, poblano pepper, and spices / double roasted tomato salsa / everything and the elote dip / sharp cheddar.

Enchilada-inspired casserole. Trader Joe’s black bean and cheese taquitos baked with a topping of roasted zucchini, leftover turkey, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. <– I will be making this again

Maple Month?!

by

Highlights from the week…

Pumpkin protein smoothie. Pumpkin puree, cottage cheese, vanilla protein powder, maple, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Pumpkin beers. We served these in a glasses with a cinnamon brown sugar rim!

Chobani pumpkin spice Greek yogurt with caramel apple granola and jumbo blueberries.

I also enjoyed the pumpkin crisp Flip.

A trio of maple treats! Maple is a year-round food (too good to limit to one month!) but it was fun to do a theme dessert. These were all wonderful, by the way, the candy bar was one of the best we’ve ever had.

Cocktail chip hour a la Trader Joe’s – their best potato chips with everything and the elote dip.

Spicy pumpkin pasta. Whole-wheat elbows with sauteed ground turkey with sour cream, pumpkin puree, and chili crisp. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.

Trader Joe’s spicy pumpkin samosas (11/10!) with roasted orange and purple cauliflower. I made a dipping sauce with sour cream, maple, harissa, and lime.

Macaroni and cheese cups with leftover cauliflower and a buffalo-ranch sauce.

P.S. Fellow millennials – We have been loving the new Goosebumps series and highly recommend it! So campy but sweet and we really like they way they’ve fit multiple titles into one cohesive story. P.P.S. Hubie Halloween on Netflix is also delightful.

Staycation 2023 [part 2]

by

Highlights from the second half of our staycation, which ended up being one of the best vacations!

We did so many fun things! Like checking out the Halloween-themed spot Haunted House of Hamburgers to grab a drink and admire decorations.

Spending a beyond lovely morning exploring the Avalon Nature Preserve and communing with nature.

And roadtripping to Connecticut for coffees and booze. Food hightlights included…

Aldo’s Coffee. This spot in Greenport makes the most perfectly roasty espresso.

Druthers Coffee. This burnt caramel latte was amazing

Perkatory Coffee [CT]. I loved this spot, especially their monthly special – cold brew with vanilla and strawberry, topped with condensed milk cold foam and Fruity Pebbles.

Yellow King Brews [CT]. Cold brew flight??!! My favorite was the fantastically blue one – cold brew shaken with cookie butter sauce and topped with cookie cold foam.

12% Beer Project [CT]. They had taps from Evil Twin, Abomination Brewing, and Fat Orange Cat. Also really good housemade thin crust pizza.

Evil Twin taproom. Always a favorite.

Whole Food’s pumpkin pie cookie.

Alligator Pear for a New Orlean’s lunch. We had (a lot) drinks and started with the wonderful cornbread with sweet brown butter and the blue crab beignets.

We shared the summer salad – baby kale with strawberries, goat cheese, candied pecans, and a honey mustard vinaigrette – and a po’boy with grilled shrimp.

Kappo Counter at Okonomi Market for a lovingly currated multi-course tasting menu. Some of my favorites included the tilefish and cucumber with yuzu and coconut.

Roasted Japanese sweet potato with salmon roe and toasted tahini.

And the frangipane with toasted rice ice cream and pickled strawberries.

Rolo’s for the best lunch of the vacation/the best meal of 2023! Spicy mezcal bloody mary.

Beet salad with concord grape vinaigrette and castelrosso cheese // grilled oyster mushrooms with pine nut miso.

Double cheeseburger with grilled onions and dijonnaise // malted waffles with plum compote and ricotta. We also had the super crispy potatoes topped with Kewpie and a spicy peanut sauce.

Apple Of My Eye

by

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!

Apple Month, Starting Strong

by

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.