Claro, Cake, Carrots

I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday (and I keep working Monday, Tuesday!) but I ate enough sugar the last three days to keep me Energizer Bunny-ing through.

Highlights from a tasty weekend…

Birthday cake iced latte from Milk Bar.

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Trader Joe’s cold brew bottles are the 3rd best packaged cold coffees, beat only by Chameleon and Grady’s.

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Fresh alphonso mango.  In strawberry lingonberry yogurt with bran flakes cereal.

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Desserts from House of Inasal.  Halo halo with the best leche flan of my life.

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And ube tres leches!

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Ice cream from Van Leeuwen.  A vegan flavor that was terrible and a s’mores flavor that was my new favorite.

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Dinner at Sauvage // French food.

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Lemony marinated olives.

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Charred heirloom carrots with labne, pistachio, vadouvan, and pistou.

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We shared all the entrees with mushrooms.  Salmon with sorrel, shiitake mushrooms, lentils, and buttermilk sauce.

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Poulet au Vin Jaune with morels and fava beans.  I don’t eat chicken skin that often but it was by far the best component of this particular dinner!

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Dinner at Claro // Oaxacan food.  I had the housemade tepache (a fermented, sweetened pineapple beverage) with a shot of mezcal – they separated my cocktail for me so I could taste the tepache on its own.

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The menu was meant to be enjoyed family style so we ordered all of the things.  Too many things in fact, I wish they had stopped us one or two dishes earlier.  Asparagus and avocado tostado with queso freso, radish, and spring onion.

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Tacos with chipotle shrimp and quesillo cheese.

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Garnachas (like an open quesadilla) with rabbit and duck confit, pate, fermented vegetables, and cojita cheese.

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Memela (masa cakes) with wild mushrooms, espazote, goat cheese crema, and pasilla.

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Goat’s milk chocolate ice cream with goats milk caramel, peanuts, and toasted marshmallows.

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Happy Monday!

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Three Things

Three things I liked this week:

{1}  Mint iced coffee!  Irving Farms espresso roast / half and half / homemade vanilla mint simple syrup.

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{2}  Kefir and apple work snacks.

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{3}  Starbucks’ prepared sandwiches that I’m weirdly obsessed with.  Chicken and artichoke flatbread with provolone and sun-dried tomato pesto.

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Three things I loved this week:

{1}  Homemade turkey cheeseburger fried rice.

Leftover brown rice stir-fried with soy sauce and liquid smoke / sauteed onions / roasted cherry tomatoes / ground turkey sauteed with fish sauce, ketchup, and mayo / eggs / cheddar cheese.

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{2}  Dinner at Pig and Khao.  I went with a girlfriend for her first visit and she loved it!

I ordered not one, but two, new to me dishes that were amazing.  Mushroom salad with shrimp and fried garlic and green papaya salad with chicken and crispy taro.

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{3}  Dinner at Freeks Mill that knocked our socks off.

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We started with roasted baby carrots with marcona almonds and herbed goat cheese.

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And we ordered all the poultry on the menu for dinner.  Chicken for Adam, smoked Poulet Rouge with wild mushrooms and spinach.

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Duck for me, dry aged duck with fried cranberry beans, fennel, and rosemary honey.  <– this was the singe best thing I've ever eaten!

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Three things I’m obsessing about that you don’t know about yet:

{1}  Nonfat quad iced lattes from Hungry Ghost.  There are three HGs on my walk to work and it is becoming a problem.

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{2}  Stolen Dance by Milky Chance.  This song is basically magic – I listened to it on a run and I swear my legs moved 50% more quickly than usual.

{3}  Moving??!  I’m not sure how I haven’t blogged about this yet, but yes, we’re moving!  Adam is doing his Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at UVA next year.  So we’re moving to Charlottesville.  In 50 days.  !!!

Coffees And Cocktails

Important things first – the pink and purple trees in our complex are amazingly gorgeous.

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This is the immediate view out of our front door and it makes me smile every day.

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My purple hair finally got too patchy to be cute, while remaining highly pigmented in a few spots, and my hairdresser had to make me super blonde to get rid of it all.

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I had a fantastic weekend – including a Lower East Side day, a Williamsburg/Bushwick day, and a Long Island day – and we ate all the things!  I love New York, I love New York, I love New York.

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We checked out OddFellows‘ new coffee and ice cream spot and I had an iced latte with toasted marshmallow milk.

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I also had a toasted marshmallow iced latte (good, but not as good, obviously) from Sweetie Pies on Main while we walked around Cold Springs Harbor.

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Japanese shaved ice from The Little One.  Strawberry sauce / sweetened condensed milk / roasted strawberries / coconut whipped cream.

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Arcade games and drinks at Barcade.  <– one of my favorite spots in the city even if I’m not very good at Pac Man or Tapper

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Craft cocktails on tap at Yours Sincerely.  Adam got a tasting flight and I had a Folsom Fizz with bourbon, cola syrup, and almond.

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Snacks at Smorgasburg.  Belgian fries with malt vinegar aioli and chipotle ranch.

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Noodle bowls at Just for Fen.  Can JfF be my new living room?  The space was so cute!

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And the food was wonderful.  I had smashed cucumber salad and spicy chicken rice noodles with housemade chili oil, pickled radish and cabbage, baby bok choy, scallion, cilantro, and peanuts.

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Dinner at Forrest Point.  On the patio!

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I had a fried chicken sandwich with jicima and blue cheese slaw.

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The few things we ate at home were pretty great too.  Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes are the best frozen meal of all time.  Served with baby carrots and bell peppers.

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I made us delicious rice bowls.  Brown rice / red, yellow, and orange bell pepper sauteed with onion and garlic / chicken breast slow-cooked in the crockpot with salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, garlic, lime, and orange juice and then shredded and broiled until crispy / sharp cheddar / TJ’s tomatillo roasted yellow chili salsa.

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Plus mojito milkshakes!  Cruzan rum / homemade mint simple syrup / lime juice / vanilla ice cream / ice.

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My Favorite Thing I’ve Eaten

Top five from last week –

{1}  My favorite thing I’ve ever eaten!  Also the most “me” thing I’ve ever eaten.  Quad shot, iced, birthday cake latte (with birthday cake sprinkle sand!!) from Milk Bar.

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{2}  Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with the amazing Alphonso mango.  Plus a guava kombucha.

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{3}  BBQ from Fletcher’s.  I had smoked chicken and cole slaw.  Important note: they now sell their amazing sauce to take home. <– highly recommend.

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{4}  Bahn mi chicken salad.  With baby carrots, roasted broccoli, and Korean bbq kettle chips.

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{5}  Giant Greek salad bowls.  Local oak leaf greens from Greenpoint / TJ’s Greek feta dressing / heirloom tomato / cucumber / roasted chickpeas / dolmas.

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Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Chili Cheese Fries Because It’s Still Chilly

Seriously, why is it so chilly still??  Over the weekend I dry cleaned our winter coats, packed up our sweaters, swapped boots for sandals, etc, etc, and then Monday morning it was a balmy 30 degrees.

Freezer-burn aside, I had quite a nice week!  Tuesday I took a personal day to spend time with Adam post-call and we tried some yummy spots in Bayside.  And I’m off again today because I work this weekend.

Here were the highlights from the week…

Chocolate glazed doughnut (from Dough) and a maple iced latte at Browny.

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Juicy watermelon wonder kombucha.

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Chia pudding.  Chia seeds / skim milk / maple syrup / vanilla bean powder / sliced banana.

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Peanuts are my favorite snack at the moment.

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Dinner out at Maria’s Mediterranean.  We got some complimentary bites to start, including the best olives I’ve ever tasted.

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Plus we ordered the chips and dip – housemade pita chips with tatziki / melitzanosalata, roasted eggplant puree / and tirokafteri, spicy feta spread.

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I got the spanikopita for my entree.

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And we tried something fun for dessert – ekmek, a bread pudding-baklava mash up with syrup-soaked shredded phyllo, custard, and whipped cream.

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I leaned into the weather and made us big steamy bowls of chili.  A loose version of this recipe from Iowa Girl Eats that is our favorite.  The baked beans take it over the top.

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I topped my bowl with sharp cheddar, plain Greek yogurt, and tons of Sriracha.

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Our leftovers turned into cheese fries!  Waffle fries / cheese – TJ’s 3 cheese blend / chili / bacon leftover duck.  Plus green beans for something green.

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And yesterday I made buffalo chicken meatballs.  Ground chicken / panade / buffalo sauce / egg / cream cheese / cheddar.  Plus sauteed carrots and celery to stay on theme.

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It’s supposed to warm up this weekend, woo-hoo!

Best Babka In Brooklyn

Best bites from the weekend…

Best chocolate babka in Brooklyn, probably the world, at Oneg Bakery.  It was so chewy!  Yet crumbly and crisp too.  And the chocolate was basically brownie batter!  We were absolutely smitten and I ate too much and made myself sick.

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Vanilla iced latte at the adorable Hearts Coffee in Bushwick.

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Brunch at Meadowsweet.  My iced Oslo espresso had sugar, milk, and bourbon in it.

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And I had a beyond fantastic bowl of duck pastrami hash with parsley salsa verde and poached eggs.

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Snack attack.  La Columbe canned coffee and a cheesecake cup.

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Fruity yogurt bowl, with citrus yogurt, sumo mandarin, and pomegranate.

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Leftover breakfast casserole with the dregs of my veggie drawer.

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Snazzy pasta bowls.  Whole wheat spaghetti / brown butter and lemon / peas, green onions, and sun-dried tomatoes / crab meat.

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May The Schwartz Be With You

^^^ That’s a Spaceballs quote for my title because this post includes a lot of meatballs!

Best bites this week…

Coffee combo from heaven, Birch cold brew roast and chocolate milk.

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Even better, chocolate milk with a Grady’s cold brew.

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Yogurt bowl wins.  Chobani mango with blueberries and doughnut cereal.

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2% Greek with blueberries and a big scoop of MaraNatha caramel almond butter.

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Important note – this is my new all-time favorite nut butter.  If you eat it straight out of the jar (as I’ve been doing all week) it tastes like delicious frosting!

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Ball!  I made a batch of baked turkey meatballs with sage, lemon, and whole wheat panade.

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Served on lemon pepper broccoli rice / with gussied up tomato sauce – with tomato paste, shredded sweet onion, garlic, anchovy, and oregano.

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Plus we made toasted meatball subs!  With smoked gouda and Parmesan.

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And a side of roasted broccoli.

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I also did another round of hot dish.  This time an Asian take with shredded turkey, ginger, gojuchang, peas, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, and sweet potato tots.

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And you can never go wrong with pizza.  What am I even going to do when I don’t live walking distance from buffalo chicken?!

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I work the next three days but I hope everyone else enjoys their weekend!

Quesadillas, Chilaquiles, And Burritos, Oh My!

As I flip from one classical musical references in my title to another in my opening line… This week these were a few of my favorite things

Favorite breakfast – This incredibly excitingly pink coconut water.

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One of my coffee combos – Birch Cold Brew roast with vanilla cashew milk.  <– good idea in theory but the mouthfeel and taste were both sort of “empty” to me and I ended up having to add a splash of cow’s milk.

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Favorite yogurt bowl – Vanilla & Cinnamon Chobani with Brown Sugar Cinnamon peanut butter.  Plus a Kanzi apple.

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Favorite snack – an assortment of nuts and dried fruits from Trader Joe’s.

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Pears, persimmons, and sweetened dried lemons plus TJ’s nut and seed medley.

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I can’t choose one favorite dessert, they were all so good!  We were surprised by how tasty these TJ’s churro bites turned out to be.

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I made a batch of snack attack brownies!  This recipe, minus marshmallow, plus crushed potato chips, pretzels, and m&ms.

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And I was killing it in the dinner department this week.  Baked burritos – whole wheat tortillas / shredded chicken breast / sauteed onions and orange and yellow bell peppers cooked with cumin / shredded sharp cheddar cheese / TJ’s double roasted salsa.

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Chilaquiles, mostly from scratch.

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I made chips out of the whole wheat tortillas / cooked in salsa and diced tomatoes / with leftover onions and peppers / shredded chicken / lime / cheese / topped with a sunny side up egg and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

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Egg and cheese sandwiches with homemade sausage.

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Whole wheat hamburger buns toasted with mayonnaise / cheese / fried egg / turkey sausage made with smoked paprika, fresh sage, and maple syrup.

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Plus roasted green beans.

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And yesterday I had a late doctor’s appointment in the city so I grabbed dinner at La Esquina.  I had a ridiculously delicious chicken quesadilla with salsa verde.

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I am off of work today with a three-day weekend and we’ve got super fun dinner plans tonight, woo-hoo!