Vanilla Beans And David Bowie

by Emily

Fun things from this week –

Double vanilla bean coffee. I added ground vanilla to the coffee grounds and the final cup. Plus sweetened condensed milk!

A tiny ice cream scoop. Bluegrass Creamery does a “two bite” cup, which I think is the best idea ever and wish all eateries would offer. Plus it came with a free topping! This was cookie conundrum topped with chocolate chip cookie.

Chicken nachos. Black bean chips with cheese, shredded chicken, heirloom tomato, fresh corn, and homemade guacamole.

Labyrinth on the big screen. Yes, the Labyrinth. Our local theater is showing old movies for $5 a ticket this summer. It was great! And I had the very best movie snacks. A chocolate covered marshmallow from Kilwins + these new baby gummy bears from Trader Joes.

Goses. Passion fruit and sour tropic fruit.

Tacos. Three cheese (Oaxacan cheese, manchego cheese, and queso fresco, with refried black beans, sliced avocado, roasted corn pico, and pickled watermelon) and fish (blackened tilapia, red cabbage slaw, red onion, avoverde, cilantro, and lime) from Brazos.

15Jul2019

Convenience Foods And Cocktails

by Emily

It was not a super exciting weekend for me – Adam was out of town and I worked on Sunday. I spent my single day off on errands and chores around the house. On the meal front I was all about snacks, convenience foods, and cocktails.

Highlights…

Iced coffee with vanilla bean powder.

Perfect Bar comes in cookie dough flavor!! <– I’m not sure if this flavor is very old or very new but oddly I cannot find a single mention of it on their site or the internet in general

Polar unicorn kisses seltzer. I am obsessed with these fantasy-themed mini cans.

Am I determined to try every existing variety of pimento cheese before I leave the South? Yes. Northerners, take note – this variety from Trader Joe’s is not very good; pimento dip should not be homogeneous but should have individual shreds of cheese.

On the other hand, these (vegan!) mini marshmallows are vanilla-y perfection.

Still in love with these chicken and waffle chips.

Spicy ramen + agua fresca cerveza.

A not very good frozen meal + a quite good rum and coke (with Vitae golden rum and tons of fresh lime).

12Jul2019

Local Love

by Emily

Highlights from this week – my in-laws are in town and we had fun showing them Charlottseville one last time // we had some great dinners out, including a new spot that’s a new favorite // Wissotzky Tea Company – an international, family-owned tea company based in Israel with offices in London and the United States – sent me some of their inventive flavors to try…

Coffee for the week: Trader Joe’s espresso blend with sweetened condensed milk.

Tea samples; their four newest, spiciest flavors: Ginger and Turmeric Spiced Chai, Pumpkin Spiced Chai, Salted Caramel Chai, Spiced Nana Mint Chai. I cold-brewed my cups per the company’s instructions – a ratio of 4 cups cold water to 5 tea bags, covered in the fridge for 15-36 hours.

Salted Caramel Chai with a splash half and half (added post picture).

Spiced Nana Mint Chai with sugar and fresh lime. <– fair warning, this flavor was too peppery for Adam’s tastes

Tropical flavors from the Mexican ice cream place down the street: passionfruit, guava, and mamey!

Plus I picked up these super interesting gummy candies. They have milk in them and the texture is extra soft and very unique.

Roasted green beans and TJ’s turkey corn dogs. Apparently I love corn dogs, I couldn’t stop raving about how tasty these were!

Sheet pan hash: potatoes, onion, bell pepper, shredded brussel sprouts, and maple chicken breakfast sausage.

Smoked Kitchen and Tap: a bbq spot we love in Crozet. I had smoked turkey, cole slaw, and creamed corn with smoked jalopeno.

The Local: an amazing spot in Bellmont. I had the best, most Southern plate – buttermilk-brined fried chicken with pimento cheese mac and cheese, collard greens, and house made hot sauce and a buttermilk-chive drizzle.

Modern Nosh: a newish, super cute deli (which means I finally have a deli in Charlottesville!).

I had a half turkey reuben and soup with the best matzoh ball of my life.

Plus we split latkes that were wonderfully full of garlic. Yum!

5Jul2019

5 + 5

by Emily

Five random life updates –

{1} We took some stuff to Goodwill last weekend and now we are living in an empty apartment (minus a blow-up bed and all of my clothing). Literally the only things in our living room are boxes of seltzer!

{2} Last weekend was the first time in 5 weeks that Adam and I were both home and not traveling. Phew!

{3} This weekend we’re on the move again – we are heading to Solomon Island Maryland to spend some time with my family, including my youngest cousin who I haven’t seen since Thanksgiving!

{4} We finally saw “Late Night” and loved it. If it’s still in theaters in your area I recommend going if you haven’t already.

{5} Then we watched “Always Be My Maybe” on Netflix and loooooooved it! It’s officially our new favorite movie. Super funny and touching. Ali Wong is one my favorite comedians and she was fantastic as a leading lady.

Five things I ate and loved the last week –

{1} Yogurt bowl. Wegman’s chocolate Greek yogurt with pluots and Nature’s Path coconut chia granola.

{2} Dehydrated rainbow carrot snacks from Trader Joe’s.

{3} Cheese tea (aka bubble tea that you sip through foamy layer of milk and cream cheese sprinkled with salt) with strawberry heart jelly.

{4} Marshmallow! We shared a cup of carnival cake and marshmallow at Kirt’s Ice Cream. And I was living my best life with this snack combo – Kilwin’s caramel chocolate marshmallow with iced coffee.

{5} BBQ. No Limits Smokehouse is a new-ish spot in Belmont and it’s wonderful. I had a fried chicken sandwich (<– super juicy!) and collard greens, plus we got smoked mushrooms that were my new favorite savory thing I’ve ever eaten!

28Jun2019

Super Salad

by Emily

We are 85% moved to NYC and the move went swimmingly! Plus we had a fantastic time at our friends’ wedding.

Here were the highlights from this week…

These new Trader Joe’s chocolate covered espresso beans are my new favorite thing. They have the perfect ratio of bean to candy and the chocolate coating isn’t waxy at all.

Ridiculously good cake from Marie Bette; chocolate with salted caramel frosting.

This cranberry sour ale was a total winner.

I got a smoked chicken quesadilla from Asado that was shockingly good. Plus fries with queso!

I had an amazing salad bowl from Mezeh. Mixed greens // veggie kefta // tabouleh // olives // red cabbage slaw // cucumber // caramelized eggplant // roasted corn // baba ganoush // harissa and tzatziki dressings.

Plus we made wonderful salads at home. TJ’s cruciferous crunch mix // spicy peanut vinaigrette // sesame honey cashews // hot smoked salmon // hard-boiled eggs. I made the eggs in the oven because we don’t have any pots and they came out great!

Finally, we met my cousin and her fiance for dinner at Maya. I had catfish with sweet potato fries and garlic broccoli. Plus we shared a cheese plate (with pickled apples!) and peanut butter pie.

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21Jun2019

On The Move

by Emily

It was an odd week here because we are moving all of our stuff to New York today. Note – we’re not moving, all of our stuff is moving; we’re living out of suitcases in Charlottesville for the next month+. Anyway, I was afraid to dirty anything in the kitchen while we were trying to sort and pack so 90% of our food this week came in a take-out box.

Here were the highlights…

Coffee combo – Starbucks Komodo Dragon blend with sweetened condensed milk.

This month’s Snack Crate from Poland.

Poke bowl from Poke Bowl. Sushi rice with tofu, krab, cucumber, edamame, spicy mayo, seaweed salad, green onions, and onion crisps.

Dumplings from Got Dumplings. More seaweed salad plus tofu dumplings and curry chicken dumplings.

One night we did sneak away from packing to get dinner and play in trivia night at Firefly.

I had a mango margarita and totchos – tater tots with house-made cheese sauce, avocado, pico de gallo, black beans, and sour cream.

We are crossing our fingers for a smooth move today and then tomorrow we’re heading to Pennsylvania for some friends’ wedding. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

14Jun2019

I’m Not Crabby About It

by Emily

Highlights from the week…

Coffee combo = Trader Joe’s Kona with chocolate milk.

My snacks were all 10/10 this week! TJ’s newest candy bar – white and dark chocolate with mini gummi bears. I love the chocolate + gummi combo.

CoolHaus milk and cookie crumb. CH is quickly becoming my favorite ice cream brand.

A Monster smoothie at Juice Laundry – cacao, cashew butter, banana, dates, and almond milk.

Crazy good buffalo chicken pizza from Whole Foods.

My dinners were not bad either. I made crab salad! Lump crab meat with mayo, dijon, lemon, paprika, and celery. Served on butter toasted whole wheat hot dog buns. Plus sauteed kale with lemon, celery, and onion.

I turned my leftover salad into an okonomiyaki-esque crab pancake with flour, water, ginger, and eggs. Plus roasted green beans on the side.

Another night I stuffed a hot dog bun with two turkey dogs and ketchup. Plus rainbow cauliflower (a frozen bag from TJ’s sauteed with taco seasoning, lime, and butter) and potato wedge fries from Wegman’s hot bar.

Finally, we made cauliflower quesadillas that actually turned out pretty yummy. Plus a side of fajita veggies.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: chicken

Vanilla Beans And David Bowie

Convenience Foods And Cocktails

Local Love

5 + 5

Super Salad

On The Move

I’m Not Crabby About It