Booze In The Blue Ridges

by Emily

Adam and I had a really fun weekend exploring some of the towns around C-ville. Primarily we checked out Crozet and Waynesboro, both spots that are known for having fantastic breweries and wineries.

Highlights included – learning that while I dislike IPAs it turns out I adore double IPAs (especially the two at Pro Re Nata) // discovering Wild Wolf‘s super smoky Scottish ale // playing ping pong and skee-ball at Basic City // sipping espresso blended with sweetened condensed milk and mocha at Farm Haus

19Oct2018

Maple – Marshmallow – Cinnamon – Pumpkin

by Emily

The flavors in my title were mostly enjoyed separately this week, but my goodness wouldn’t they be good all together?!

I missed last weekend’s post because I was out of town at a Nutrition Support conference.

Highlights from this week included…

A new all-time favorite coffee combo – Grady’s Cold Brew Concentrate with maple sweetened condensed milk!! P.S. Grady’s is the best home-brewed coffee that money can buy. P.P.S. The maple SCM is not to be missed either, if you spot it at your store I recommend buying multiple cans.

Pumpkin power homemade trail mix. Pumpkin Puffins / Pumpkin Pie White Chocolate M&M’s / roasted pumpkin seeds / pecans.

A cookie and coffee date at Sweethaus.

Pumpkin & Spice Siggi’s yogurt topped with Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes.

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin beer. It was cinnamon-spicy and quite enjoyable.

This month’s Snack Crate.

Homemade basil turkey burgers with roasted green beans and TJ’s root vegetable medley. I burnt the burgers just a little but I covered it up with ketchup and mayo.

Green curry bowls. Cauliflower rice cooked with coconut milk topped with ground turkey, onion, shredded carrot, green bell pepper, zucchini, and basil sauteed with green curry sauce.

12Oct2018

Pumpkin Everywhere

by Emily

It was a good week for pumpkin; I snuck it into my coffee, smoothie, pasta, beer, and nachos! Highlights from the week included…

La Colombe Pumpkin Spice Draft Latte.

Homemade salted maple cold foam coffee.

Pumpkin pie smoothie. Pumpkin puree, plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, maple syrup, clove, and skim milk. Pumpkin smoothies end up basically being puddings!

Homemade fall flavors trail mix with Maple Cheerios, raisins, salted peanuts, and yogurt covered peanuts. Plus a SweeTango apple.

Adam and I went on a date to try the new Cannoli Bar. Cannolis aren’t really my thing, but our bicerin – that’s drinking chocolate with espresso and frothed half and half – knocked my socks off.

Whole Foods hot bar. Including coconut chicken tenders, furikake fried tofu, horseradish and scallion cauliflower, vegan curry, plus an assortment of other veggies.

This cheesy veggie bowl was one of my favorite dinners I’ve made all year. Roasted broccoli / roasted potatoes (cooked similarly to this recipe) / topped with a take on vegetarian queso fundido – sharp cheddar, sour cream, green onion, yellow onion, serrano pepper, and Trader Joe’s vegan chorizo. I enjoyed this so much I ended up eating my entire bowl followed by most of Adam’s!

Pumpkin nacho night! Trader Joe’s pumpkin tortilla chips baked with green onion, yellow, onion, sharp cheddar, and maple chicken sausage. Then topped with copious amounts of Cholula and sour cream. Plus roasted broccoli on the side.

Pumpkin on pumpkin on pumpkin dinner.

Trader Joe’s pumpkin pasta tossed with a sauce made of pumpkin puree, sour cream, shallots, spices, sage, maple chicken sausage, soyrizo, and parmesan cheese.

Plus pumpkin beers. I thought the AleWerks pumpkin ale was too sweet (though Adam was a big fan) but really enjoyed the Punkin Ale from Dogfish Head.

Pumpkin purchase recommendations? All of it! Every product (and recipe) was delicious. The La Colombe and AleWerks items weren’t quite to my taste, but Adam enjoyed them both so I can’t say I wouldn’t recommend trying them yourself.

1Oct2018

Engaging Eats

by Emily

It was an exciting weekend, two of our favorite people came to visit us – and got engaged while they were here! We loved being a part of their special day, and also enjoyed a winery tour, stumbling into the Tom Tom Festival, and staying up far too late. I mostly took photos of people, but here were five highlights of what I ate…

{1} Coffee from Sweethaus. Quad / nonfat / iced / latte / with vanilla and mint.

{2} Brunch at Junction. I had the Huevos Rancheros – crispy corn tortillas topped with refried beans, cotija cheese, fresh avocado, salsa, and 2 fried local eggs. Plus the Jungle Cat – Vida Mezcal, Campari, pineapple, lime, and Caribbean jerk spiced cane syrup.

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{3} Lunch at Smoked in Crozet. We could not believe how good this place was! I had smoked turkey, fried chicken, cole slaw, and smoked jalopeno creamed corn. The cream corn was my favorite side dish of all time!

{4} I did not take a picture, but I still have to mention how delicious the fried chicken sandwich at The Fitzroy is. 3/4 of us ordered it for dinner and all of us basically swooned over it.

{5} It was a coworker’s birthday this weekend so I am bringing in the best ever chocolate chip cookies and I ate copious amounts of dough as I worked.

I am looking forward to eating a baked cookie with lunch today!

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24Sep2018

Frozen And Frothed

by Emily

Top five from the weekend…

{1} A variety of fancied coffees.

This combo is still rocking my socks off.

I made a frozen coffee at home in the blender.

And had a much more successful frozen granita at the farmer’s market.

Plus a latte from Snowing in Space with nitro draft espresso!

{2} A birthday cake pop-tart from Wonderment.

{3} Cupcakes and coffee at Sweethaus.

I had a quad iced latte and a cookies and cream cupcake with Oreo pieces baked inside it.

{4} Best brunch in Virginia at Junction.

I had chicken and waffles with habenero maple syrup.

Plus we want to go back and try every cocktail on the menu! The Paloma was out of this world – blanco tequila, Aperol, salted grapefruit cordial, lime.

{5} We made fantastic bbq chicken sandwiches. Chicken roasted with paprika (cooked like this) then brushed with bbq sauce (Stubbs but mixed with butter, honey, and Sriracha) served on a bun with smoked cheddar and Kewpie mayo. Plus roasted green beans.

Have a great week!

21Sep2018

Yum Yums And Cheer

by Emily

I had some real flops in the dinner department this week, and I don’t photograph my work lunches, so most of what I have to share in this post is dessert!

I tried chocolate oat milk in my iced coffee and I didn’t totally hate it.

Wegman’s coffee counter shopping treat, salted caramel cold foam iced latte. Cold foam gets two thumbs up from me, I would get it again on an unflavored latte.

The cookie butter flavor at Red Mango is hands down the best frozen yogurt I’ve ever tasted! Topped with mochi and butterscotch chips.

Homemade tahini cookies stuffed with m&ms. A riff on this recipe because No. 2 Pencil’s cookie recipes are all genius.

Chipotle salads are my favorite restaurant meal at the moment and I’m not even ashamed about it. My perfect combo = greens, chicken, extra fajita veggies, corn salsa, hot salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Eaten at home with a super tasty Dogfish Head Dragon and Yum Yums beer.

This salad was a homemade dinner success! Sauteed broccoli slaw / shredded chicken breast / toasted almond slivers / a food processed sauce of cilantro, parsley, orange juice, lime juice, evoo, honey, and rice vinegar.

10Sep2018

New York, New York

by Emily

Adam and I drove to New York for a fantastic weekend visit!

We did tons of city walking punctuated by coffees and ice creams // Brunched with friends at Vinegar Hill House // Tried a new place for dinner on Saturday that was just terrible and ended up having the best night ever getting a variety of things from DeKalb Market and eating in bed in front of Chopped // Bought coffee and halvah to bring home to Charlottesville…

Also, I didn’t snap a picture, but we shared a a baklava croissant from Cafe D’Avignon that was the best thing I ate the whole ~~trip~~ month!

Here were five highlights…

{1} Maple Shay from Brooklyn Roasting Co. Espresso (four shots for me!) with ice, milk, and maple syrup.

{2} An iced latte from Terremoto, with housemade rose syrup.

{3} Drinks from Ramona in Greenpoint. We had a frozen mango Thai iced tea with coconut whipped cream and “The Harpooned Heart” – vodka, coconut, almond, vanilla, mint, lime, pineapple, and peppercorn bitters.

{4} Big Gay Ice Cream. I got vanilla soft serve, in a cone lined with Biscoff, topped with dulce de leche, and coated in sprinkles. It was out of this world. The sprinkles were the best part, the best I’ve ever tasted.

{5} The Little Mule combo from Chef’s Club Counter. It was white american cheese, cotija cheese, pickled jalopenos, fried egg, and chipotle mayo. Served on an Impossible Burger. We kind of swooned over it.

3Sep2018

Salty Dog

by Emily

Highlights from the weekend…

A milkshake loaded with doughnut and sprinkles.

It’s apple month now!

I had an exciting apples and honey road trip snack – honey energy drink and crispy -freeze-dried apples – while we drove up to my aunt and uncle’s cabin in Solomons Island, Maryland.