Tag Archives: citrus

Sandwich Week, With A Twist

by

Highlights from the week…

It was an especially successful 2nd week of Apple Month.

These apple rings tie with the Trader Joe’s gummies for best treat of Apple Month. Three different flavors!

Nightingale caramel apple ice cream sandwich is a 10/10.

I also quite enjoyed this crisp apple Olipop.

In other fruits, I tried a chocolate naval orange. It just tasted like a regular orange, but it was the best I’ve ever eaten.

The modern world is a horror-show so you’ve got to make little bits of joy where you can; hence, dinner theme weeks! This one was sandwiches, reimagined. We started out strong with Lido Kosher Deli‘s knishwich with pastrami.

I also had a latke with great applesauce.

Tuna melt nachos. Dill pickle krinkle cut kettle chips / baked with Trader Joe’s Ooey Gooey cheese blend / topped with a mix of canned tuna, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapeños (plus brine), and bread and butter pickles.

Turkey burger fried rice. Leftover brown rice sauteed with fish sauce and soy sauce / sauteed ground turkey with ketchup, yellow mustard, and pickle brine / eggs / green onions / baby tomatoes / pickles (bread and butter and sweet and sour) / sharp cheddar / sesame seeds / and crispy onion and garlic.

Tofu bahn mi panzanella. Boiled super-firm tofu / toasted day old sub roll cubes / quick-pickled cucumber (thin sliced baby cucs left for 24 hours in a mix of sugar, salt, Milu everything seasoning, rice vinegar, and sesame oil) / pickled jalapeños / Trader Joe’s pickled red onions / cilantro / sauced with a mix of Sriracha, Duke’s, lime juice, rice vinegar, and sugar.

Crab Roll Nachos, Lemon Pepper Tuna Cakes

by

The best things from the past week…

A chewy yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with blueberries, strawberry gummies, and red bean millet jelly.

Pizzaria G’s.

Green papaya salad-style roasted cabbage salad. Roasted cabbage, green onion, tomato, crispy baked shredded super-firm tofu, beef jerky, peanuts, and crispy garlic and onion dressed with lime juice, fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and serrano pepper.

I found lemon herb butter Cape Cod kettle chips so obviously I planned a meal around them (crab roll nachos). My crab mixture was claw meat with lemon juice, Kewpie, melted butter, white pepper, smoked paprika, green onion, and celery. Baked with sharp cheddar.

Lemon pepper baked tuna cakes. Canned tuna with lemon juice and zest, pepper, white pepper, leftover chips, Kewpie, and egg. Plus roasted shredded brussels sprouts with salt, pepper, gochugaru, and lemon juice.

Chicory, Miso, Tiramisu

by

The relentless rain couldn’t drown out our weekend fun! Thankfully I had already planned indoor activities — lots of snacks, fun shopping for a home improvement project, vintage window-shopping in Greenpoint, and a trip to the Museum of Art and Design for the (excellent!) Haas Brothers Uncanny Valley exhibit.

Edible highlights…

Fun coffee mediums. The egg cream didn’t work in iced coffee (not enough body) but iced Calpico with espresso was a 9/10.

Small Batch tiramisu iced latte. 8/10.

Blue Bottle iced Nola with vanilla and chicory cold foam. 9/10.

Falu House miso brown sugar iced latte with maple cold foam and birch-smoked sea salt. Best coffee of the weekend, 100/10. We loved our bun with cheese too and they also had incredible Swedish candy.

Daily Provisions yuzu crueler.

Bibble and Sip guava mochi croissant. We loved the mochi and the croissant but wanted the dish overall to have more flavor/balance. We thought their salt bread was a 9.5/10.

Bite Bao. I had tomato with scrambled eggs and Sichuan spicy diced chicken. Best Chinese food we’ve had in Long Island in awhile.

Kelang. This space was gorgeous. I had a Durian Milk Punch, obviously; durian, clarified coconut cream, spice mix, green tea, pineapple, aged rum, arrack, and velvet falernum.

I also had a kalamansi limeade with Tito’s.

We shared some really great dishes. Charred cabbage with butter, pineapple, chili, peanut, and cashew cream.

Paratha with red lentil dhal, Stracciatella, herbs, and sambal oil.

Crispy taro gnocchi with smoked shiitake, chili, and Shaoxing wine.

Hainanese Chicken. This was the only dish I didn’t love, though the bone broth and chicken rice were both lovely.

P.S. We had a no-photo lunch at Nobu and the miso black cod did live up to the hype (we also had great white fish tiradito)!

Tofu And Fries

by

We had a wonderful NYC weekend; including walks around Manhattan (Fidi and East Village) and Brooklyn (Fort Greene and Prospect Heights)! And so much good food! Highlights…

I am a sucker for limited edition fun drinks (see below!). I thought the coffee was too milky but I would buy the creamy coconut Dr. Pepper again!

Cafe Patoro brigiadeiro iced latte. Always delicious, their latte is nice and roasty.

Fasan Coffee red bean iced latte. We had also had a fantastic yuzu cold brew.

Honey’s Bistro coconut cold brew.

Chim Chim matcha banoffee pie.

Treats at Saint Street. This spot is exceptional. We had a cup of chocolate cake.

And a meringue.

DSK chicken brat on a pretzel roll with crispy onions, pickle relish, German mustard, and ketchup. Plus great fries.

Lunch at 886. This was some of the very best food we’ve eaten in 2026. My drink (sour plum highball). was only ok though.

Shaky fries with Taiwan Dust.

Crispy silken tofu with chili oil vinaigrette (1000/10).

Dry beef noodles with spicy beef fat butter, shredded beef shank, and a sunny side up egg.

Wildly good tomato with egg.

Dinner at Authentic Thai. We decided this is the best Thai we’ve had in Long Island. I had roti with peanut sauce.

And drunken noodles. I asked for them to be made spicy and they delivered – I drank all of Adam’s Thai iced tea and was in heaven.

P.S. I’ve since eaten both restaurant meals as leftovers and they remained excellent!

Pie-less Crust

by

Five things from this week…

New-to-me bars. Beni Bite black sesame protein cookie (7.5/10, the flavor had layers and I actually loved that it wasn’t sweet but the moniker cookie made the lack of sweetness jarring) and Barebells lemon cheesecake (7/10, I prefer the non-white chocolate flavors but this was way better than key lime pie).

Trader Joe’s hot honey popcorn is excellent. I am a picky about pre-popped popcorn but this had a perfect, crispy texture!

My baking project did not come to fruition but I did enjoy graham cracker crust on several skyr bowls this week. This one had sumo mandarin.

Crab rangoon bake. A take on the sushi bake – crab meat and flake-style imitation crab meat with Kewpie, cream cheese, sweet chili sauce, scallion, garlic powder, white pepper, sugar, and soy sauce on top of brown rice with furikake, crunchy chili flakes, and rice vinegar. Plus Cruciferous Crunch veggie mix sauteed with scallions, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and Sriracha, plus edamame, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds.

Take-out salad from Bango Bowl. I tried the Honey Mo – shredded kale, chopped romaine, roasted chicken, roasted broccoli, roasted sweet potatoes, grilled peppers and onions, corn, crispy onions, and honey mustard vinaigrette. It was good (but I added cheese when I got home!)

Glowy Day

by

The three best things from the weekend…

A nice IPA at Formosa Dumpling.

Brunch at Roberta’s. I had a solid Bloody Mary.

We loved the marinated cucumber with garlic, chili, chrysanthemum greens, and spicy seeds.

Buttermilk pancake with butter and syrup.

The burger (made from a house-blend of meat) didn’t make my top five but was good. Plus it came with crispy potatoes.

The best coffees of 2026 so far at Dayglow. A Warhol (orange and cream with espresso) and a coquito latte. We also had a fantastic cocktail.

Hello, 2026!

by

Some highlights from the new year…

My New Years Eve plan was fancy cheese plates and an early bedtime. We ended up eating deranged snack boards but I was in bed by 9:30! Pimento cheese, baby carrots, deviled eggs, and extra-crunchy Southwest chicken taquitos.

The best part was the homemade deviled eggs because we topped them with this delicious everything spice from Milu.

We started our new year with the Buzz’d monthly special, obviously; salted brown butter iced latte with brown butter cold foam.

P.S. The alternative title for this post was “Drinks on Drinks” because in addition to drinking my weight in hot chocolate I also tried several canned beverages. Huxley tangerine energy drink – good not great; I would not buy again but I would try in other flavors.

Liquid Death sparking strawberry energy drink – good not great; I would not buy again but I would try in other flavors.

Protein Pop watermelon clear protein drink – good not great; I would not buy again but I would try in a sour flavor.

NYC has a thousand hot chocolate options right now but I only have my eye on four. We hit three this weekend (our final/upcoming stop is the one I’m most excited for). Good – Lost Borough. Topped with torched marshmallow fluff, whipped cream, and a cinnamon Graham cracker.

Better – Frenchette Bakery. French-style hot chocolate topped with a toasted green chartreuse marshmallow. This was solid hot chocolate but it wasn’t a drinking chocolate.

Best – Rigor Hill Market. Rich and thick chocolate topped the best burnt marshmallow I’ve ever eaten.

I’ll never get tired of my usual plain skyr and blueberries bowl but I did particularly enjoy this one I smashed a hunk of cheesecake into.

The best thing we’ve eaten in 2026 came from Apollo Bagels – lightly toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese and jelly.

Brunch at Holy Water. This was a weird meal – we probably wouldn’t go back but we adored several items. We despised both of our drinks but the vodka lime Jell-o shot was the best I’ve ever had. We also had solid hushpuppies with honey butter and Tabasco.

Adam’s lobster roll was ho-hum but my (very solid) pancakes came topped with praline and bourbon maple syrup and with a side of their Nola fried chicken — some of the best fried chicken we’ve ever eaten.

We ordered take-out from Primehouse – (too much) sushi and these sort of insane Waygu meatballs. I didn’t take a photo until I realized how fantastic the leftovers were, they started out with three huge balls and a bunch of melty burrata.

A much-needed veggie(tarian) meal from Little Beet – charred broccoli, hot honey roasted carrots, green beans, and miso tofu with Chimichurri and cranberry harissa sauce.

Trader Joe’s frozen veggie pancake topped Sriracha and pimento cheese.

My favorite meal of the week was homemade! Collard greens sauteed with mined garlic, salt, pepper, gochugaru, rice vinegar, maple syrup, and smoked poblano bbq sauce. Agi’s Counter-inspired potato salad – with hard boiled egg, smoked canned trout, chopped pickles, celery, green onion, celery seed, salt, white pepper, smoked paprika, horseradish, rice vinegar, Dijon mustard, Duke’s mayo, and plain skry.

Peppermint To Be

by

I hope all my readers who celebrate had a Merry Christmas!

No post from me last week because we were on vacation back home in the VI! We had a fantastic week. Food highlights were my mom’s coffee cake, iced lattes consumed at the beach, and Gladys’ Cafe‘s soursop juice.

Things from the past week included lots of on-theme eats!…

Candy canes and other mint goodies. I was not a fan of the Hint, it wasn’t flavorless but the flavor (which I disliked) was not mint.

I also didn’t love these Hail Merry eggnog bites – too waxy/coconutty.

Last loser – I hated this Southern Tier eggnog so much that I threw it out and bought Ronnnybrook instead. <– warning to December 2026 Emily

It is Sumo season! Adam and I both think oranges are Christmas-y; thank you, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

We went on a fun seasonal date the Sunday we got home and shared a gingerbread scone from Hometown Bakeshop and an iced peppermint mocha from Sweetie Pies on Main.

Prost latkes (my favorite in the city) for the last night of Hannukah.

Kung Pow chicken salad. Baked chicken (marinated in skyr, rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil, Sriracha, and sugar) / sauce – skyr, mayo, minced ginger, sugar, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and dark soy sauce / roasted red bell pepper and green onion / peanuts. Plus roasted broccoli.

Turkey burger cheese fries. Trader Joe’s ketchup chips / Seriously Sharp cheddar / baked turkey meatballs (ground turkey with panko, mayo, white pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder) / chopped pickles and Sugar Bomb tomatoes / sesame seeds. Steamed green beans sauteed with dill pickle mustard, onion chili crisp, honey, and rice vinegar.

Red and green salads for Christmas! Baby spinach and arugula / Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing / tomatoes / red bell pepper / sauteed baby broccoli / baked tofu (marinated in warm water with baking soda and cornstarch / tossed in peanut butter, gochugang, sugar, and rice vinegar) / savory granola.

The (fantastic!) granola was this tteokbokki-inspired one I found at 99 Ranch.