Tag Archives: booze

Super Cups

by

This weekend I – – Did not watch the Super Bowl. Wore an insane amount of red and pink in preparation for today’s holiday. Worked all three days but managed to have crazy good dinners and a date night with Adam. Highlights included…

Two things I adore and eat all of the time but don’t share often because it feels repetitious (on very separate ends of the snacking spectrum!) – Sparkling matcha.

Reese’s potato chip (and pretzel!) peanut butter cups.

Caramel matcha latte with oat milk from a super cute spot in Williamsburg.

BBQ chicken bowls. Sweet potato fries // sautéed collard greens with butter and lemon // chicken breast and red onion cooked in the crock pot, shredded, tossed with bbq sauce, then baked in the oven.

Roasted sheet-pan hash. Pesto chicken sausage, sweet potato, Japanese sweet potato, zucchini, fennel, and sweet onion; topped with pesto. <– this was 11/10 and I really want to make a Super Bowl joke about it

Date Night at Nami Nori. We were thrilled that they had Something and Nothing seltzer and I loved my Cherry Bomb cocktail – cremant sparkling wine, cherry sage cordial, and soju.

We started with furikake fries with mentaiko mayo.

And for my five temaki (a style of hand rolls) I chose: tuna poke with crispy shallots // crispy tofu chimichurri with micro cilantro // crunchy spicy crab // salmon with cucumber // spicy tuna.

Strawberry, Soursop, Taro, Pine

by

Highlights from this week include – coffee, pastel-colored foods, breakfast for dinner, my favorite Caribbean fruit…

This week’s coffee combo was beans from India with Chobani brown sugar creamer.

See also – espresso with strawberry milk.

I made a smoothie with soursop nectar. Plus Greek yogurt and frozen grapes.

See also – creamy soursop cocktails with rum, amaretto, and brown sugar coffee creamer.

I really loved this Blue Point pine needle IPA. It was interesting without being overwhelming.

Taro milk chia pudding with honey Chobani yogurt and jumbo blueberries.

Take-out Philly cheesesteak with roasted yellow French beans.

Seemore’s chicken, kale, and pesto sausage / jumbo blueberries / hash with shredded potato, leek, red pepper, and kimchi / ketchup + Sriracha.

Breakfast For Dinner And Flowers For Lunch

by

Some highlights from the past week…

Ben and Jerry’s new tiramisu ice cream is 10/10.

Caribbean-inspired snacks. Guava paste + mozarella cheese. And hibiscus things.

Breakfast for dinner. Avocado toast (on rye, with turkey bacon) and fruit salad (blueberries, strawberries, mandarin, and banana). Plus a Bloody Mary! P.S. No, this single slice of toast was not enough dinner. I had other items planned but I had my cocktail before I started cooking and I ended up eating the tiramisu ice cream instead!

Big salads. Trader Joe’s herb salad mix with balsamic fig dressing, baby corn, blue cheese, peanuts, chickpeas, and ground black garlic.

Pasta night. Udon noodles with sautéed shitake and oyster mushrooms with cream cheese, lemon, and gojuchang; topped with kelp granules. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.

A take on okonomiyaki with roasted cabbage and turkey bacon. Topped with Sriracha, Kewpie, furikake, and bonito flakes.

‘Twas The Week Before Christmas…

by

…And we made the most of it with tons of decadent and/or on theme snacks! I worked the holiday weekend but Adam and I were both off Christmas Eve so we got to spend time cuddling the dog, took a trip into the city to enjoy the light display at Hudson Yards, and drove around our area in the evening admiring decorations. Highlights included…

Peppermint cold brew with eggnog.

Stumptown’s salted maple iced latte.

This layered red and green smoothie was more successful in flavor than artistry. Ube, strawberry, grape layered with matcha banana.

The fanciest yogurt bowl – plain skyr with cinnamon, chia seeds, strawberries, nougat halvah, and chestnut paste!

Green juice and a candy cane.

Mint sparkling matcha.

Eggnog iced matcha latte.

Is there anything more luxurious than freshly made fruit salad? This was golden pinepple, strawberries, and mandarins.

This crab dip was a 6.5/10 but these crackers were a 9.5/10.

Peppermint chocolate crinkle cookie from Chip.

Repeat of my two new favorite beers. Cinnamon marshmallow cola sour ale from Evil Twin and an eggnog double IPA from Abomination Brewing.

Lunch at Dante in the West Village. It was worth sitting outside on one of the coldest days of this month! We split steak with salbitxada and a baby kale salad with beats, butternut squash, goat cheese, and hazelnuts. Plus fancy cocktails.

Avocado toast plus a quick pickled cucumber salad. Toasted sourdough, mashed avocado, a fried egg, and chili flakes.

Sautéed cabbage with peanut lime sauce and five spice candied peanuts (very loosely based on this recipe).

Roasted brussel sprouts (with chili flakes and smoked paprika) plus Christmas nachos! Kettle chips with extra-sharp cheddar, green onion, and duck sausage.

Peppermint > Wintergreen > Spearmint

by

Favorites from this week included – tons of peppermint, eggnog flavored drinks, citrus, Asian-inspired dinner bowls…

Peppermint mochas with Copper Cow.

See also – La Colombe peppermint mocha latte with a chocolate mint Perfect bar.

Eggnog Nutrament and a Lady Alice apple. This is such a childhood throw-back treat for me.

Still loving the Kishu mandarins and also this satsuma was juicy and seed-free.

Sesame seaweed sheets.

Milk Bar candy cane ice cream. You’ll never go wrong adding marshmallow to peppermint.

Very surprised by how good these seasonal white chocolate pretzel m&m’s were. I shared them at work and my coworkers were all also impressed.

My mother-in-law bought us chocolate covered pretzel sticks that are also dipped in caramel!

This egg nog beer was obviously the most “me” booze I’ve ever purchased, but also one of the best beers I’ve had all year! Abomination Brewing‘s Fog Nog – a double IPA brewed with lactose and spices.

Trader Joe’s sriracha shrimp bowl frozen meal. Topped with tons of extra sriracha, Kewpie mayo, and maple almonds.

Salmon roll inspired bowls. Farro topped with spicy salmon salad (canned fish with mayo, sriracha, and rice vinegar), sautéed zucchini spirals, chili flakes, and furikake.

Udon noodles // sautéed celery, bok choy, and green onion // sautéed ground turkey // stir-fried with egg and a homemade sauce including tomato paste and spicy bean paste.

A take on this cheesy rice porridge. We added extra broth and shredded chicken and topped it with urfa chili paste.

Trader Joe’s spicy Mexican-style riced cauliflower stir-fried with eggs and garlic olive oil. Plus roasted green beans and garlic knots.

It’s Beginning To Taste A Lot Like Christmas

by

Eggnog and peppermint are two of my all-time favorite flavors so naturally December is one of my favorite food months. Here are some of the items I’ve been stockpiling for the celebration –

On-theme things from this week include…

Coffee combo. The chobani oat nog is the best vegan egg nog I’ve tried but not as good as the traditional stuff.

Holiday kombucha with a holiday crisp barebell and a Lady Alice apple.

Hanco’s peppermint iced tea! With herbal jelly and strawberry jelly hearts (aka the best bubble tea combo).

Holiday ice creams at Ample Hills. Coquito and Co – coquito ice cream with rum, cinnamon, and nutmeg and homemade coconut cheesecake chunks // Festival of Lights – cream cheese ice cream with raspberry rugelach.

Dinner and drinks at Sleyenda, Leyenda‘s holiday pop-up! They decorate to the nines and serve a specialty cocktail menu all month.

We had coquito, obviously, plus my favorite drink of all-time – The Candy Striper – a frozen blend of Novo Fogo silver cachaça, coconut, maple, vanilla, lemon, peppermint, and cardamom.

Bonus – Coffee with cardamom and amazing Yemeni pastries at Diwan Cafe. This was stuffed with cheese and smothered in honey!

Festival Of Latkes

by

Happy Hanukkah to my readers who celebrate! Highlights from this week include…

My new favorite citrus – Kishu Mandarins. They are as juicy as they are small and adorable.

Fat Orange Cat double IPAs.

The most “me” beer I’ve ever purchased – Evil Twin’s cola sour with marshmallow and cinnamon.

A fun thing for this December – we bought a marshmallow advent calendar. Our first two flavors were cranberry and maple pancake.

My parents sent us an assortment of mint candies, including homemade buttermints!

A take on the New York Times’ cheesy white bean bake – I added shredded chicken, onion, chili flake, and urfa pepper.

Trader Joe’s cheese blintzes. Topped with cranberry sauce and a brown sugar vanilla yogurt sauce.

Chicken burger, roasted broccoli and cauliflower, and Trader Joe’s latkes and cauliflower latkes.

Takeout from Roast – chicken taco sandwich / roast beef melt / crispy chili brussel sprouts – with leftover latkes.

Calamansi, Chestnut, Coconut, Cookie

by

Highlights from this past workweek – – –

Yogurt bowl with blackberries and a salted caramel cookie.

Best (non-coffee) drinks of the week – calamansi sparking water (7/10) / lemon rose sparkling tonic (9/10) / imperial IPA (8/10)

A new-to-me apple variety – Senecacrisp.

I had an evening appointment in the city and I got to check out Marvelous by Fred and their Merveilleux (aka floofy piles of whipped cream and meringues). I tried coffee and seasonal chestnut.

I enjoyed these vegan ice cream bites even more than I was expecting to; something about the chocolate was very satisfying.

These smoky, crunchy yellow peas are also pretty addictive.

BBQ rice bowls – brown basmati rice / sautéed kale with yellow onion and passionfruit vinegar / roasted zucchini / ground turkey with bbq sauce, Korean chili flake, and brown sugar / avocado.

Leftover rice stir-fried with garlic, evoo, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and Sichuan pepper salt / with turkey summer sausage / green onion / a gourmet mushroom blend / kumato tomatoes / and egg.

P.S. By the time you read this we will be on vacation! Adam and I have seven straight days off together!! Woo-hoo!