A bananas good cup of ice cream from Cold Stone. Banana pudding ice cream with bananas, peanut butter, caramel, and graham cracker pie crust.
Very spicy vegan dan dan noodles from Very Fresh Noodles. These wonderfully numbingly spicy hand-pulled noodles are some of the very chewiest (aka best) I’ve ever eaten. I adore how cooling the cucumber salad is with it.
Best meal of the weekend/month – homemade flatbreads. Lavash bread drizzled with olive oil and baked until crispy then topped with extra-sharp cheddar, baked chicken, and marinated artichoke hearts and baked again. We loved it! Plus steamed green beans sauteed with dijon mustard, yellow mustard, maple syrup, Sriracha, and rice vinegar.
No post from me last weekend because I was away in Kingston! My cousin invited me to go with her and some friends for the weekend and we had a fabulous time. I had not seen her since her wedding last summer and it was so good to catch up! Also Kingston is super cute and packed with coffee spots and bakeries — I will be bringing Adam for a day-trip ASAP. And this weekend we are heading to PA to visit Adam’s family for Easter.
Some things I ate between trips…
This Chameleon Cafe Cubano Cold Brew was great. I wasn’t super impressed with the last few bottles I tried from them but this had good body and roastiness.
I found super juicy, ruby colored watermelon plums at Trader Joe’s so obviously my yogurt bowls this week were winners. Plain Greek with plum and salted caramel granola.
Plain Greek with plum, peanut butter, honey, and Heritage Flakes.
I am usually not a snack cake person but these Lidl milk & honey bars were lovely. Maybe I would also like Devil Dogs if they were served cold?
This boring photo is a reminder to myself that hummus makes a great after-work snack.
So much Easter candy!
P.S. Dad – the Brach’s jelly beans were great this year and totally worth buying. There is a grape flavor now!
See also – I infused Peeps into vodka. Served with lemon seltzer and edible glitter.
Dinner date at Youta Ramen. They have the sake jelly drinks!
We shared spicy cucumber salad (Persian cucumber, Serrano lime cilantro sauce, with sesame oil).
And Karaage (deep fried chicken with garlic mayo).
And I got the veggie ramen – truffle veggie broth, maitake, shitake, wood ear tempura, fermented bamboo shoots, and scallion – plus an egg and chili paste.
Brinner wraps. I sauteed Trader Joe’s soyrizo with red onion then scrambled in eggs and extra-sharp cheddar. Wrapped in a TJ’s lavash bread. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.
Sandwich roll-ups on TJ’s whole-wheat lavash – baked honey harissa chicken, roasted garlic hummus, chopped cucumber and yellow bell pepper. Plus a raw bok choy salad with homemade miso vinaigrette (1 Tbsp miso paste whisked with 1 Tbsp warm water until smooth, 1 Tbsp each sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, 1/2 Tbsp Sriracha, and 3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar).
Best meal of the week was these loaded baked potatoes. I rubbed the potatoes in evoo and salt and baked at 400 for 60 minutes without wrapping in foil and they were perfect. Topped with leftover soyrizo, roasted broccoli and red onion, and extra-sharp cheddar.
St. Patrick’s Day iced latte. A Shamrock vanilla protein shake that I dyed green plus Starbucks espresso and pistachio sauce. I also topped it with gold sprinkles! This tasted fantastic.
I also brought home a s’mores bar and a blondie that were some of the gooiest and most decadent desserts we’ve ever tasted.
Will I ever get tired of yogurt bowls? Unlikely! Plain Greek with blueberries, blackberries, Heritage Flakes, and chocolate chips.
We both were fans of these lemon frosted Trader Joe’s animal crackers. Crispy without being too crunchy and the lemon was well-balanced.
Loaded salad from Burrito Blvd. With chicken, zucchini, tomato, corn salsa, and cheese. I added ranch dressing and hot sauce at home. Plus chips and guacamole.
We got take-out from Brooklyn Dip & Burger and their steak sandwich blew my mind. Thin sliced black angus ribeye, cheddar, and five spice dusted fried onions on a buttery brioche hero. Plus a mountain of fries that were crispy and well-seasoned. We got a bunch of their appetizers and loved those too!
Brie-bimpap bowls, inspired by Cafe Maddy. I bought light Brie at Trader Joe’s and it tasted like nothing and thus added nothing to the bowl but my bibimpap base was a 10/10. Brown rice / terrible brie / this sauce / crispy tofu – extra-firm tofu that I shredded and marinated (gochugaru, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar) overnight before baking at 400 degrees for 40 minutes / sauteed brown beech mushrooms / roasted zucchini / frozen chopped spinach sauteed with chili oil, sesame oil, and sesame seeds / fried egg.
Sushi roll bowl. Leftover brown rice reheated with gochugaru, Sichuan pepper salt, seaweed, and butter / Sriracha salmon salad made with Kewpie, Sriracha, and hot smoked salmon / spicy cucumber salad / pickled ginger.
Coffee at Frame. The Upper West Side location is currently our favorite Manhattan coffee. We got the special latte with cinnamon and caramel.
We had to make a couple of stops to find worthwhile bagels near us in Long Island but this everything egg with salmon cream cheese did the trick.
We did a very fun 1990’s theme night and watched “Hey Dude” and “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” while eating throwback snacks. The Combos were lackluster but we had forgotten just how wonderful Bugles and Gushers are.
I tried tanghulu for the first time and loved it. Fresh fruit with a delicate layer of crispy sugar.
Treats at Lady Wong. The baked ube rice cake was the very best thing we ate all weekend.
Lunch at Bahn. This was the best meal of the weekend. Egg cream cold brew!!
We shared vermicelli bowls with butter beef.
And beer-battered chicken.
Dinner at Maldon and Mignonette. The lighting was bad but the food was surprisingly good. I had a nice cocktail with tequila and passionfruit and a crunchy salt rim.
Seasoned roasted carrots.
We share two (amazing) pastas. Ravioli with duck confit, sweet potato, sage, and pecorino and pappardelle with short rib and vodka sauce.
And two desserts. Cinnamon bundt cake and cheesecake-stuffed oatmeal cookies!
Some things from this week that weren’t pizza (but are mostly fruit and/or yogurt and/or dessert) –
Cherry cheesecake Chobani yogurt and a sumo orange. 5.5/10 – I need to accept that I mostly prefer the flavor of plain yogurts. That said, I added granola and the texture was fantastic.
Loaded yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with peanut butter, a Reese’s caramel peanut butter big cup (!!), granola, and blueberries.
Berry smoothie. This was good, I don’t know why the dog looks so dubious. Frozen cherries and berries blended with water, vanilla protein powder, and matcha tea powder.
Trader Joe’s had several pizza-flavored crunchy snacks and obviously that spawned a whole theme week for dinner –
Pizza Party kettle chips. 7.5/10 – they were excellently seasoned but ultimately I didn’t love how tomato-y these were.
Pizza flavored baked crisps. 6.5/10 – these were a bit too airy for me but Adam was a fan.
Homemade pizza bagels. Everything egg bagels with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and turkey pepperoni. Plus some heirloom tomato.
Homemade pizza bites. This recipe – I skipped the basil but added turkey pepperoni, gochugaru, and ranch seasoning. Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower and a homemade blue cheese dip (Greek yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, ranch seasoning, and blue cheese crumbles).
Supreme pizza inspired nachos. Pizza party chips with mozzarella, sharp cheddar, Trader Joe’s plant-based pepperoni, chicken parmesan sausage, red onion, green bell pepper, and mushrooms. This was a spot-on flavor match! Plus marinara/chili oil for dipping.
Actual pizza. We got takeout from Dario’s and loved it. Eggplant and ricotta / birria / spicy chicken and peppers. This was the best eggplant pizza I’ve ever had.
Fun things from this week – we finished watching the series Detroiters and loved every minute, Tim Robbinson is a gem / I got up early on Friday to run before work and it left me in such a good mood all day / we had really good topping options in the house (see below) and therefore had really good snacks!
I saw a lot of love for this vanilla Shamrock Farms protein shake online so I tried it in a coffee – delicious!
Iced matcha with yuzu marmalade and yuzu lemon seltzer.
Smoothie with frozen cherries, vanilla protein powder, butterfly pea tea, and chocolate milk.
Cookie x cookie yogurt bowls, plain skyr with granola, oat butter, and blackberries.
P.S. Family yogurt bowl hour!
No Meating seitan vegan jerky. This had great flavor but the texture verged on too chewy.
Apple whiskey with yuzu marmalade and seltzer.
This new Ben & Jerry’s flavor is a 10/10; all ice cream needs a pretzel swirl!
Rice cakes with Chinese broccoli, egg, seitan vegan chicken, and a pad see ew style sauce.
I liked this bowl so much I ate it for dinner two nights in a row. Baked chicken (we’ve been doing variations of this recipe and it always turns out perfect) reheated in a skillet with butter and buffalo sauce on top of homemade cole slaw.
Some highlights from an exceptionally delicious weekend…
Homemade cookie dough cold foam iced latte with frothed milk, brown sugar, vanilla bean paste, and baking soda.
Banana sesame protein coffee. Blended – coffee, chocolate milk, frozen banana, black sesame paste, vanilla protein powder.
Cookies and creme protein bar. Yes, I paired this with the cookie latte.
Golda. Breakfast plate – two eggs [over easy], spiced home fries, sourdough toast, and housemade hot sauce.
Brooklyn Kolache. We shared pimento cheese, beef sausage, and a sweet poppy seed.
Also a wonderful ube iced latte.
Fan Fan Doughnuts. I was underwhelmed by the dough today, sadly, but the toppings were top-notch. Dark chocolate with meringue / salted brown butter / lemon / Iranian Love with labne frosting.
Petee’s Pie. I am sad that we slept on this spot for so long because we were quite impressed. I had the Maine blueberry crumble pie with maple whipped cream.
These jelly sake cans – particularly in yuzu – are one of my favorite things.
This photo isn’t that exciting but it’s mostly a reminder to myself that the chicken and poblano pepper burrito from Whole Foods is pretty darn good.
I forgot to take a photo of my turkey cheeseburger salad – red lettuce, sauteed red kale, ranch dressing, ground turkey, tomatoes, extra-sharp cheddar, and sesame seeds – but we paired it with creamy dill potato chips.
Lula Mae – Cambodian food and the best meal of 2024. They had a pre-fixe happening for Restaurant Week and we got to try a ton of (amazing!) things. Spicy mezcal mule and a Tokyo Mae – Suntori whiskey, Cynar, yuzu, anise, and sarsaparilla bitters.
Cha kway fried bread with tom yum butter and pickles. <– mindblowing
Tuna on crispy rice.
50:50 fried chicken – dry rubbed with a lemon pepper dressing and a soy tamarind sauce.
Braised short-rib and morning glory greens in a tamarind stew.
Eating Chalk 