Take Me Out

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.

Winner Winner

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.

Crisp

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!

Goodbye 2020

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.

Merry And Bright

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.

Can’t (Co)Quit(o)

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.

Hummus and pretzels with nougat and candied apricot candies my parents sent me.

Malai‘s toasted nutmeg ice cream basically tastes like eggnog! And the consistency is out of this world.

We made a batch of my Bahn Mi Chicken Salad and it was even better than I remembered. With roasted veggies and local sourdough.

Sourdough also made an appearance in great turkey sandwiches with cheddar, jam, and garlic mayo. Plus baby carrots and salted egg yolk chips.

Buffalo chicken meatball sandwiches. With sauteed carrot and celery in a mustard sauce.

Pepperminty

The number one weekend highlight was walking around Bushwish for a bit; there is so much street art it is practically like visiting a museum!

Other highlights included…

On its own this Sleigh Ride coffee can was more ho-hum than ho-ho-ho, but mixed into eggnog it was wonderful. Who knew that pepperminty eggnog is what my life was missing?!

This Dalgona iced coffee – with Cafe Bustelo and my favorite nog – was obviously the best thing.

A great breakfast at Kings Kolache.

I had a black bean and pepperjack kolache and a soft taco with cheese, eggs, and hot sauce.

We went to L’imprimerie to get a loaf of bread for next week and ended up with a fantastic lunch. 10/10 sandwich with duck pate, cornichons, and arugula.

Poppy seed and marzipan croissant.

The whole family enjoyed a lovely afternoon at Evil Twin.

Best brews (in my opinion) were the “Sour Pepper Cherry Vanilla Float” soda-style sour ale / the “I always Look Forward to Outdoor Dining in My Snowsuit” triple IPA / and the “How Much Cheese is Even More Cheese” raspberry cheesecake sour ale.

Also we had the Sweet Revenge, the most “me” cocktail of all time – a frozen blend of vodka, aquavit, Aperol, pink guava, cinammon, citrus, and milk punch.

An easy homemade dinner. Trader Joe’s frozen kung pow chicken zhuzhed up with added celery and extra peanuts.

Festival Of Nog

It was a fun week, I had two days off and I did holiday/city stuff! The timing worked out perfectly that I was taking a long walk in Manhattan just in time for the 1st snow of the season!

Holiday stuff.

Doughnut Project‘s creme brulee doughnut filled with bourbon eggnog cream.

Eggnog Nutrament! Plus a coffee can.

Trader Joe’s Nog protein smoothie.

After the Christmas decorations/lights, Max Brenner‘s hot chocolate is my favorite thing about Winter in New York.

Holiday Cheer kombucha.

I brought home Brooklyn Cupcake because today is Adam’s birthday! They had the best flavors available – coquito, tres leches, flan, guava cheese, dulce de leche, and oreo cheesecake.

These ice creams are both just insanely delicious.

I made homemade sour cream and onion dip! With baby carrots and TJ’s whole wheat pita crackers.

Chinese leftovers. Sichuan noodles, ginger green beans, chicken, and lamb.

Pizza. Vodka and buffalo chicken. Plus roasted green beans.