Tag Archives: cherries

Cinnamon, Five Spice, Old Bay

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Things from the week…

Wild Cherry Barebells bar, better than the key lime one but I definitely prefer the milk chocolate flavors.

This week’s apple snacks – kombucha and pink lady apple chips.

Delicious cookies – I made these brown butter oatmeal cookies and stuffed them with chopped up matzoh toffee candy.

Vermicilli bowls. Topped with celery and baby bok choy sauteed with ginger and scallions / nuoc cham / and baked turkey meatballs (with panade, egg, fish sauce, hoisin, white pepper, and tons of five spice).

Fish dip. Trader Joe’s canned smoked trout and canned tuna food-processed with plain skyr, Duke’s mayo, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, celery seed, mustard powder, smoked paprika, and white pepper. Dipped with matzoh and cocktail sauce chips and served with green beans sauteed with mushrooms, butter, Dijon, lemon, and Old Bay.

We all know I planned the meal around this cute bag of chips.

Chicken salad. Chopped baked chicken, honeycrisp apple, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapenos, walnuts, and sharp cheddar dressed with skyr, Duke’s, honey, and lemon juice. Plus baked pretzel bites and roasted yellow and purple cauliflower with salt and pepper.

Matzoh brie with leftover cauliflower. I always top mine with salt and sugar.

Sea Cliff

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It wasn’t an exciting weekend; Adam worked and I spent a bunch of time working on a project for work. We did go out for a Sea Cliff date Friday night after work though! Some highlights…

My coffee needed more coffee, but the flavor of the milk in Dunkin’s new cereal milk iced latte is a 10/10!

This root beer float latte was ok, but less successful. Dr. Brown’s root beer (good, but possibly not sweet enough for this), espresso, and sweetened condensed milk.

Yogurt bowl du jour, skyr with blueberries and Rainer cherries, with Trader Joe’s chocolate coffee granola.

Sea Cliff Shave Ice! We shared cola and coffee with ice cream, mochi, and condensed milk.

Dinner at Sarin (our favorite Thai spot in Long Island). Tod Mun Pla fish cakes that came with an amazing plum sauce.

Pad Kee Mao with beef.

Leftover fish cake / sauteed green beans that were oddly terrible (I didn’t eat them!) / Trader Joe’s frozen scallion pancakes (one of my faves, super duper filling) with Kewpie and Sriracha.

Lavish Lavash

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Tasty things from the week…

Yogurt bowl! Plain Greek with blueberries, Rainer cherries, and cute Swedish gummies.

Iced matcha. With lime seltzer and strawberry and rose syrups.

Peach yogurt jelly gummies.

This baked chicken flatbread was the best thing we ate all week! Trader Joe’s whole-wheat lavash baked with evoo until crispy / topped with TJ’s Unexpected Cheddar / baked chicken breast / roasted red onions / and marinated artichoke hearts. Paired with great veggies – baby bok choy, brown beech mushrooms, and shallots sauteed with butter.

This taco turkey flatbread was also pretty good. Lavash / TJ’s shredded three cheese blend / ground turkey sauteed with taco seasoning / roasted veggies – yellow and orange bell pepper, white onion, zucchini, evoo, salt and pepper, Jamaican curry powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Served with smashed avocado (mashed with salt, gochugaru, and TJ’s mango vinaigrette).

Paired with chips and dip.

Nacho night! Mike’s Hot Honey kettle chips / all of the cheeses / three grain tempeh sauteed with salt and gochugaru until toasty / snap peas sauteed with pecans, piquante peppers, gochugaru, cheddar, and honey.

This plate of leftovers was as yummy as it was orange. Leftover roasted veggies / leftover cauliflower okonomiyaki from Olmsted / leftover Indian take-out from Varli – butter chicken momo, house-spiced fries with cheese and minced chicken, and Baingan Bharta (spicy eggplant).

A Few Of My Favorite Favorite Things

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We spent the weekend doing all of my favorite things in celebration of my birthday! That included long Brooklyn walks, a trip to Caffe Panna, a trip to Evil Twin, and a run on the boardwalk!

Here were the highlights of the highlights…

Paloma the Bakery‘s black sesame croissant.

Ciao Gloria‘s tahini and jam bar.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop‘s carrot cake.

Elsa‘s guava daiquiri.

Elder Greene‘s Cherry Bomb – tequila, muddled luxardo cherries, amaretto, agave, and lime juice. Sadly we do not love their burger anymore.

Chuko Ramen‘s kale salad. With raisins, miso, and fried kale! And their ramen is this the best in the city.

Rolo’s cheeseburger. The best in the city! But honestly the wood-fired polenta bread and stracciatella cheese gave it a run for its money. This whole meal was fantastic; my favorite of the year!

Younger Than Dirt

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It was my birthday this week so I made some of my favorite things for dinners – nachos and weird salads!

Birthday nachos. Chili crisp Kettle chips <– these were fantastic, perfectly seasoned / shredded sharp cheddar and gouda cheese / crispy tofu (shredded super-firm tofu baked with gochugaru). I planned to add chili crisp on top but these tasted so good I didn’t want to mess with them! Plus lovely green beans (steamed and then sauteed with evoo, yellow mustard, honey, rice vinegar, and togarashi).

We had fancy dirt cups for dessert! Chocolate pudding / dirt = crushed Oreos baked with butter, sugar, sprinkles, and edible glitter / Haribo rainbow gummy worms.

And we champagne-toasted a la Tom Hanks. I used rosé champagne and added rose syrup to mine. These were actually really good!

Bacon egg and cheese on a bagel salad. Hard-boiled eggs with turkey bacon, sharp cheddar, green onion, and homemade bagel croutons (poppy seed bagel baked with evoo, sesame seeds, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika) dressed in skyr, Kewpie, Dijon, pickled jalapeno juice, salt, and white pepper. Plus roasted zucchini.

Caesar chicken salad. Baked chicken with Whisps parmesan crisps and homemade Caesar dressing (food processed Greek yogurt, mayo, Dijon, evoo, lemon juice, anchovies, garlic, capers, parmesan, and black pepper). Plus roasted purple and yellow cauliflower.

Loaded tuna salad. Canned tuna with green onion, poblano pepper, pickles, chili crisp chips, mayo, skyr, Dijon, and pickled jalapeno juice.

The only other things worth mentioning from the week were two really good smoothies. Blueberry cheesecake – frozen blueberries, vanilla protein powder, malted milk powder, butter extract, cinnamon, cottage cheese, and water.

Berry chocolate – frozen cherries and strawberries, chocolate protein powder, Dutch processed cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and water.

Spicy California Roll Bowls With Crispy Rice

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I’m at work today but starting bright and early tomorrow — I am on vacation! I am eating a take-out burrito bowl while I type but here is some of what I ate before we ran out of groceries…

Smoothie – frozen banana, blueberries, and cherries, Greek yogurt, honey, water, matcha, and vanilla protein powder.

We tried a new to us clear protein drink and were fans; this was nice and thirst-quenching.

Trader Joe’s Crunchy Curls and Everything and the Elote dip are a snack dream team.

Obviously I bought this Dubai chocolate sundae gelato. The mix-ins were a little sparse but I topped it with extra pistachio butter and chocolate shell!!

Beans with beans. Crispy beans – baked cannellini beans with evoo, panko, corn starch, salt, urfa pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder / with spicy green beans – steamed and then sauteed with evoo and butter, chopped kimchi and piquante peppers, walnuts, salt, white pepper, and sugar.

Taco turkey bowls with brown rice / baked cabbage with evoo, salt, pepper, and ranch seasoning / taco and nacho Quest protein chips / ground turkey sauteed with Jamaican curry powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder / sharp cheddar / sauteed bell pepper and green onion with lemon / and I topped my bowl with Blind Betty hot sauce.

Spicy California roll bowls with crispy rice. Crispy rice – leftover rice baked until crispy with dark soy sauce, chili crisp, sugar, and sesame oil / salad – cucumber, avocado, green onion, and imitation crab with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ponzu sauce / furikake.

Sweet (Heart)

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This week I loved…

Valentine’s themed foods!

See also – my coffees were all some version of chocolate and/or strawberry.

See also also – chocolate-covered [blank] smoothies! Frozen sweet dark cherries with vanilla protein powder and chocolate milk.

Frozen strawberries with chocolate protein powder and chocolate milk.

Korean honey cookies a nurse brought for me because I raved about them when she brought them in for Christmas.

I made brownies with hibiscus cream cheese frosting!

Baked jalapeno popper meatballs. Ground turkey with panade, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapenos, and cream cheese. Plus roasted brussels sprouts.

Leftover meatballs on fancy salads – baby spinach, balsamic vinaigrette, strawberries, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans, and blue cheese.

Turkey meatloaf. With panade, caramelized onions, ketchup, hoisin, gochujang, and extra-sharp cheddar. Plus roasted cauliflower and Bibigo frozen rice balls with kimchi and cheese.

Goodbye, 2024

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How is it 2025 TOMORROW??! This year was a great one for us but it flew by. We ended our 2024 with a visit from Adam’s family – it was our nieces’ 1st time in Manhattan to see the tree and the 5th Avenue displays. My big plans for tonight are to hopefully be asleep before the ball drops!

Some final highlights…

Peanut butter cup frozen coffee. Iced coffee blended with skim milk, peanut butter, and chocolate protein powder.

Tropical smoothie – frozen mango, pineapple, and cherries with vanilla protein powder, hibiscus powder, and water.

Snickerdoodle protein yogurt bowl – plain Greek with vanilla protein powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cinnamon extract. And blueberries.

We went to the M&M’s store with our family (never ever again) and snagged some of the new peanut butter and jelly ones. We liked them but would like them better if the jelly was a separate layer (this is a fruity-flavored peanut butter).

A lovely dinner with the family at Roberta’s. Highlights were the housemade bread with stracciatella, oxtail lasagna, and pizza with mushrooms and pickled onions.

An even better dinner at Il Gufo. I only took one photo but we will definitely be back to take more! The tiramisu was wonderful, we loved the wood-fired pizza, and this was gnocchi with creamy pesto.

We went fancy and decadent for our 2nd to last dinner – homemade crab rangoon twice baked potatoes! Baked Russet potatoes that I re-stuffed with fresh crab meat, cream cheese, Kewpie mayo, butter, Sriracha, sweet chili sauce, green onion, salt, white pepper, and shredded cheese. Baked with tons more cheese on top. Plus we had roasted cauliflower.