Everything But

by Emily

Adam and I had a ton of time together this week, which is just the best. We both had time off in the day on Monday and Wednesday and we liked our date so much on Monday – breakfast at Winner, a walk through Prospect Park, and lunch at Ix Restaurant – that we did the exact same things in reverse on Wednesday!

Prospect Park was an iced-over death trap but it was my absolute favorite activity of the week because we got to see swans.

Highlights from the week include…

Lots of fun in coffee. I enjoyed these new Cokes with coffee exactly as much as I thought I would.

This Trader Joe’s instant cold brew is weak on it’s own but it can total save a not-great cup of coffee.

Coffee-flavored Nutrament with a canned Stumptown.

Fancy lattes from Brooklyn Perk, mine was made with rose.

Winner’s sourdough croissant was a total win.

Meal 1 at Ix. Corn thickened Champurrado hot chocolate.

I had the kimchi soup with chicken, noodles, and poached eggs.

Meal 2 at Ix. Hot chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chips with bean dip and crazy-good housemade hot sauce.

Corn with cotija cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and chile.

Caldo Tlalpeno Rojo – soup with chicken, tomato, garlic, onion, peas, chickpeas, corn, achiote, chipotle, Oaxaca cheese, and tortilla strips.

Ciao, Gloria blew our minds with their lemoncello pistachio bars. Also we had an unphotographed housemade Oreo that was the best cookie I’ve ever eaten.

Trader Joe’s smoked salmon dip is a household favorite.

Leftover Thai green beans with soft-scrambled eggs, vegetarian pork floss, and chili oil.

Homemade taco bowls. Brown basmati rice / ground turkey / sharp cheddar / sautéed orange and yellow bell pepper and onion.

Sheet-pan shrimp fried rice.

Loxchos(!!) with roasted brussel sprouts. Trader Joe’s everything bagel seasoning chips with swiss and Gruyere, hot-smoked salmon, and green onion.

Take-out dinner from Winner, plus roasted zucchini. We split a smoked chicken salad sandwich and a grilled cheese with cheddar, provolone, and romesco sauce on sourdough.

Plus a malted flour chocolate chip cookie.

15Feb2021

Imperial Marshmallow

by Emily

Valentine’s Day weekend highlights…

Adam surprised me with a tres leches old fashioned doughnut from Comfortland, i.e., the perfect gift!

We had some crazy good beers. Prairie Artisan Ales Millennial Mansion – imperial sour ale with orange peel, lemon peel, lime, blueberry, cherry, and marshmallow (11/10). Interboro Swoon Units – imperial gose with blackberry, blueberry, lemon, marshmallow, and vanilla salt (9/10).

We got a ton of Chinese take-out. Chicken fried rice, crispy noodles with shredded chicken, garlic baby bok choy, stir-fried string beans, and taro puffs. Plus we had housemade soy milk!

I made a ridiculous take on okonomiyaki with turkey pepperoni and sharp cheddar. The million toppings make it – Kewpie, Sriracha, furikake, and Nowon’s chili oil.

12Feb2021

Chocolate-Covered Cherry

by Emily

Highlights from the week included…

I was off on Wednesday (I work the weekend again) and I took myself into the city for Dough Doughnuts. This key lime pie doughnut – enrobed in toasted marshmallow!! – was 100% worth braving the cold.

We’ve been in a pandemic for more than a year now and Winter 2021 already feels too long so I am looking to maximize the joy in my life wherever I can; hence, I declared chocolate-covered cherry the official theme flavor of Valentine’s week and I have been eating the combo left and right!

Chocolate cherry coffee = Trader Joe’s cold brew, luxardo cherries, chocolate milk.

See also – vanilla milk and luxardo juice (plus a bit of red food coloring!) plus espresso blended with hot chocolate mix.

This chocolate cherry smoothie was hands-down the best smoothie I’ve ever made/consumed. TJ’s frozen sweet dark cherries, luxardo cherries, plain Greek yogurt, chocolate milk.

Ruby cacao covered cherries + strawberry and hibiscus chocolate.

Related note – I don’t even like Hershey’s Kisses but these lava cake ones are currently one of my top five favorite products.

10/10 ridiculously amazing cherry truffle ice cream.

All of our dinners this week were tasty and wonderful (and a snap to prepare!).

Meatball subs with roasted green beans. Turkey meatballs – stuffed with garlic, fish sauce, and urfa chili peppers – tossed in marinara sauce on a toasted hoagie roll with mozzarella. Our sandwiches were comically large but neither of us could stop from finishing them because they were so yummy!

Wild mushroom chicken sausages – topped with caramelized onion and yellow mustard / roasted broccoli / Lays chili chips.

Pizza casserole. I made a crust layer out of riced cauliflower (with spices, eggs, and cheese), topped with mozzarella, marinara sauce and caramelized onions, chicken sausage, and turkey pepperoni.

8Feb2021

Leftover Madeover

by Emily

I did not watch any Super Bowl (instead I started watching Woke!) but I did eat a giant plate of cheese fries! Other highlights from this weekend included…

Salted Caramel Perfect Bar with an iced coffee.

Iced Phin coffee with maple vanilla salted cold foam.

Ice cream for a snow day. Yes, I ate the pretzel swirl out of the entire pint in less than 5 minutes.

Leftover Thai noodles and chicken stir-fried with eggs and extra veggies (Trader Joe’s frozen stir-fry mix) and topped with Nowon chili oil.

Leftover Thai green beans with soft-scrambled eggs, veggie floss, furikake, and chili oil. <– this was the best thing I’ve eaten all month

5Feb2021

Take Me Out

by Emily

It was a take-out heavy week and subsequently we ate some really amazing things! Highlights from the week included…

787 Coffee with sweetened condensed milk.

We retried the cola coffee with great success – espresso, Coke, and scm. Yes, I am furiously looking to get my hands on the newly released cans of Coke with coffee.

One of Adam’s friends delivered us amazing nutella, sea salt caramel brownies.

I obviously crumbled one into plain skyr with some berries and cinnamon.

Chicken nuggets with frozen broccoli wok-sauteed with honey mustard and pickled onions.

Plus a broccoli beer! Other Half double dry hopped IPA.

We ordered a ton of Thai take-out. This was basil fried rice, cashew chicken, and string beans.

Plus the hazy milkshake IPA that Sixpoint clearly brewed just for me!

We checked out Roberta’s new classic burger joint. <– Best! Fries!! Ever!!!

And obviously brought home pizza too. Romaine salad with garlic bread crumbs, dill, mint, and pecorino // Lil’ Stinker – tomato, mozzarella, parmigiano, pecorino, double garlic, onion, pepperoncini // Cheesus Christ – mozzarella, taleggio, parmigiano, black pepper, and cream.

Plus a cup of roasted banana pudding with dulce de leche and espresso wafers.

1Feb2021

Winner Winner

by Emily

The highlights from this last weekend were all chicken dinners.

Homemade curried chicken salad with smoked almonds, yellow raisins, and celery with baby yellow tomatoes. This meal was as tasty as it was orange.

Venezuelan take-out from White Maize. I got a sweet corn pancake stuffed with cheese and shredded chicken.

And we got a Papelon (raw sugar limeade) to make amaretto sours out of.

Plus we picked up ice cream from Malia while we waited for our food – spiced peanut crunch and rose with roasted cinnamon almonds.

The Whole Food’s buffalo chicken pizza is the best pizza (meal??) in New York City.

29Jan2021

Crisp

by Emily

I bookended this week with two weekends in a row at work which meant I had Tuesday-Wednesday off and it was just lovely. New York has been too cold for venturing into the city to sound appealing but I did read two books and finish watching Schitt’s Creek!

Food highlights included…

We tried two new apple varieties. Evercrisp > Cosmic Crisp.

We also tried two great, new-to-us gummy candies. The Sour Patch Kids are officially my all-time-favorite cola candy.

An Irish-cream cold brew (enjoyed this far more I was expecting too!) plus espresso-spiked s’mores.

A sweet and spicy mango cocktail.

We found our new favorite Chinese take-out spot and tried a bunch of dishes. Garlic baby bok choy / spicy crispy chicken / rice cakes with cabbage and shredded chicken / scallion pancakes.

One set of ingredients cooked two different ways. First eggs soft-scrambled with maple-smoked cheddar with chicken breakfast sausages and kale sautéed with tons of garlic and gojuchang.

Then all of the above baked into an egg casserole. Plus leftover scallion pancakes. This was the best meal of the week!

31Dec2020

Goodbye 2020

by Emily

Goodbye 2020, hello 2021! Highlights from the last week/end of the year include…

It was our wedding anniversary on Monday and Adam knows me very well so he surprised me with flowers and ice creams. The coffee flavor had the best consistency, so chewy!

Local, NYE-themed beers. The Kills Boro was great, a sour with milk sugar, coconut, pineapple, and strawberry.

Pretzels with hummus + Whole foods chicken nuggets and honey mustard.

Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes topped with Kewpie, Sriracha, vegan pork floss, and furikake. <– reminder to myself to make this more often!

Smoked turkey sandwiches on pretzel rolls with strawberry jam, truffle mayo, and mozzarella. Plus potato chips and simple salads.

NYE cheese plates! Sharp cheddar / smoked almonds / blackberries and strawberries / Trader Joe’s gouda and cheddar cheese crisps / ruby cacao covered cherries.

29Dec2020

Merry And Bright

by Emily

Last week was great, and filled with great eats. It worked out that I was off from work most of the week, which was just lovely! And Adam and I were both home together for Christmas, which has rarely happened in our marriage. The absolute best part of the week was walking around Manhattan (8 miles!) admiring holiday decorations and checking out the Rockefeller tree – – it was impossible to capture in a photo but even in the daytime the lights were stunning.

Other highlights included…

We obviously had to buy both of these eggnogs to do a comparison taste-test (premium was a bit better!).

Christmas morning dalgona coffee with eggnog.

Max Brenner‘s peanut butter hot chocolate blew our minds.

Trader Joe’s peppermint mini marshmallows are great.

And we loved this peppermint seltzer.

Birthday cake scone from Sweetie Pies on Main. We went out to Cold Spring Harbor to admire their decorations. And yes, we do have a car tree.

This snowball doughnut from Comfortland was insane. It was coated in coconut and stuffed with marshmallow cream.

Plain Greek yogurt bowl with banana, chocolate cashew butter, and cinnamon.

Very impressed with this vegan jerky.

I’ve had my eye on this salmon candy spread for months and it did not disappoint. Paired wonderfully with everything-style crackers.

Still very into this frozen meal. Also fresh mandarin oranges.

Best meal I’ve ever made – crockpot five spice chicken thighs / celery, bok choy, and scallions / rice cakes / gojuchang brown sugar sauce. Topped with chili crisp.

We broiled the leftovers with mozzarella cheese and it somehow got even better.

The best meal we’ve ever eaten came from Milu. Mandarin duck with duck fat rice and marinated cucumbers / brisket with chili garlic mint sauce and tofu seaweed salad / chili crisp fried chicken with scallion mayo. Plus egg tart soft-serve. Every single bite was swoonworthy.

A roasted sheet-pan meal with brussel sprouts, cave aged blue cheese, turkey sausage, dried sweet cherries, yellow raisins, and sweet and spicy pecans.

Soft-scrambled eggs with roasted broccoli rabe and purple cauliflower, cucumber salad, and hot-smoked salmon.

21Dec2020

Can’t (Co)Quit(o)

by Emily

The last week has been pretty wonderful; we made it through the first winter storm unscathed and I’ve officially eaten all of the on-theme holiday things I was excited about for this year!

Highlights included…

787‘s iced coquito latte won our hearts as our favorite coffee of the year! So thick and wonderfully spiced and just sweet enough! We also had a fantastic marzipan latte.

We tried, and loved, the new-ish Fan Fan Doughnuts.

Strawberry jam filled / salted brown butter caramel glazed / pecan hawaij sticky bun.

Lunch at Nowon. I thought I didn’t like soju but this Tiger Bomb cocktail with jasmine, yuja citron, and mint syrup changed my mind.

I kept warm with Fire Chicken – spicy chicken with cabbage, rice cakes, and mozarella.

And lost my mind for the honey butter tater tots with labneh and seaweed.

Checking out Leyenda‘s Sleyenda decorations is our favorite holiday tradition and this year’s outdoor set up did not disappoint.

I had a Coquito Ho Ho – tequilla, sherry, coconut liquor, and coconut with cinnamon and egg.

And a Candy Striper which was hands-down our favorite cocktail/beverage of the year. I said at least ten times “this drink is making me so happy!” It’s a frozen blend of cachaça, coconut, vanilla, maple, lime, peppermint, and cardamom.