Tag Archives: coconut

Triple Chocolate, White Chocolate Peppermint

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Highlights from a festive week…

Holiday Jenni’s flavors are some of the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Boozy eggnog and white chocolate peppermint are both divine!

Ground Up salted eggnog cashew butter is delicious in yogurt or just on a spoon.

Adam’s birthday request was zucchini bread. We adored this recipe (with Ghirardelli’s unbelievably good milk chocolate chips).

Somedays Bakery new Manhattan location is knocking it out of the park. Black sesame tahini croissant and a triple chocolate pastry.

Brunch at Dante’s West Village. I had the steak and scrambled egg burrito and a boozy affogato.

Monday’s dinner was some of our (many) leftovers from wonderful dinners with my parents. We had a fantastic time while they were here! Broccoli rabe, woodfired honeynut squash, and stracciatella cheese from Rolo’s / woodfired pita bread and roast chicken from Sunday in Brooklyn / Pizza, chicken parm, broccoli rabe, and salmon from Il Gufo / also unphotographed tater tots from Sonder.

Umami baked turkey meatballs with roasted cauliflower. Ground turkey, salt, tons of pepper, urfa chili, panko bread crumbs, and mushrooms (sauteed with green onions and butter then food-processed).

Cold egg tofu and roasted broccoli with a spicy sauce (soy sauce, sesame oil, chili onion crunch, sugar, garlic, and rice vinegar).

December 1st!

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It was a wonderful long holiday weekend! We spent time with family, took a very cold long walk in Manhattan, and had a million weird drinks and delicious desserts…

Pull Tab Coffee. We quite liked our banana aerofoam.

Homemade frozen coffee. Coffee, ice, chocolate milk, vanilla protein powder, vanilla bean powder, cinnamon, and frozen banana.

Barebells wild strawberry protein soda. This was yummy, it tasted like a creamy strawberry soda.

No sugar mojito Pepsi. It had no mint flavor but was tasty.

Comfortland‘s Kerrygold butter doughnut.

Birdee‘s brigadeiro cake and excellent guava cheese tart.

Milk Bar‘s marshmallow brownie is their second all-time best item (after the anniversary cake).

Fantastic brunch at Win Son. Their Bloody Mary had so much umami. I also really enjoyed their green tea shot.

We came for the boba pancakes and were not disappointed.

Three pepper lamb with cabbage, rice, and egg.

Soft-scrambled eggs.

The pea shoots were my favorite dish of the weekend; with bean paste, sesame, and fried garlic.

Mommy Pai was a hit for us. This concord grape salty coconut frozen drink blew our minds.

We did fried fingers with Muy Thai sauce. I, of course, got extra dipping sauces. Sweet soy mustard was my favorite. The fries were great! And I loved the taro tapioca doughnuts with pandan custard.

Leftover stuffing fried rice with cranberry sauce and pimento cheese.

P.S. It’s December 1st tomorrow!

For The Graham

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It was a nice fall weekend! Some highlights…

Homemade s’mores iced latte. Marshmallow creme / Trader Joe’s chocolate shell / Trader Joe’s maple pecan cold brew concentrate / milk infused with graham cracker, cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, and salt.

I had the graham crackers in the house for the fantastic pecan pie cookies I made. Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies but with chopped up homemade chocolate pecan graham cracker toffee candy in place of chips.

The best dessert of the weekend was hands-down Librae‘s halvah chocolate croissant.

I am not a big juice person but I very much enjoyed this Alldae passionfruit and guava cascara drink.

The perfect walking snack from an Asian grocery in Manhattan – spicy tuna onigiri and crab meat inari.

Mimi Cheng‘s makes my current favorite dumplings in the city and their seasonal/collaborative options are always awesome. Three cup chicken scallion pancake melt with mozzarella and fresno peppers.

Thanksgiving dinner dumplings with local turkey, cranberry herb stuffing, housemade gravy, thyme, and a side of housemade cranberry sauce.

Dinner at The Cuban. I couldn’t take pictures because the lighting was insane but we had an excellent meal. That drink was a coquito mojito!!

Kitchen sink salads. Romaine with Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, jalapeno hummus, cucumber, raisins, walnuts, crispy broad beans, extra-sharp cheddar, and baked sprouted tofu.

Haggis And Highlands

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No post from me last week because we were in SCOTLAND! We went with Adam’s brother and sister-in-law on a road trip and had a fabulous time. We tried haggis (I loved it!), got to pet a Highland Cow, saw a thousand castles, and stayed at a bread and breakfast with baby seals.

Less exciting but still fun things from this week back in the US included…

This week’s coffee combo – beans from our last vacation (Alaska) and dulce de leche.

Pumpkin spice Chobani with Whole Food’s cinnamon granola and blueberries.

Pumpkin smoothie – canned pumpkin with frozen banana, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple sugar, and water.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (this perfect rice from Hummingbird High).

P.S. I put cookies into the best dessert bowl – plain skyr, peanut butter, dulce de leche, crumbled cookies, and blueberries.

We brought home this tablet (basically a sweetened condensed milk fudge) from Scotland. We’re glad we didn’t try it until we left the country or we probably we would have bought another 20 bars!

This treat from America (Canada?) was also good – Trader Joe’s maple pancake flavored puffs.

Thai chicken satay inspired bowls. Brown rice / baked chicken – marinated in yogurt, coconut milk, lime juice, red curry, curry powder, and ginger / roasted broccoli / peanut sauce – peanut butter, red curry, lime juice, sugar, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water / cucumber salad – cucumber, scallion, salt, sugar, rice vinegar, and chili oil.

Callaloo inspired bowls. Chopped spinach cooked down with crab, coconut milk, sauteed onion, ginger, ufra pepper, and habanero pepper. Plus roasted honeynut squash and delicata squash.

An easy soup. Leftover rice / shredded garlic-y baked chicken / sauteed dinosaur kale, green onion, garlic, and canned green chilis / chicken broth, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and a little sesame oil.

Beaches

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This weekend included a run on the Long Beach Boardwalk (one of my favorite weekend activities!), a long Manhattan walk, and some exploring in Brooklyn. It was a very tasty few days, here were the highlights…

Homemade iced coffees with banana cheesecake cold foam (in the blender – frozen banana, cream cheese, butter extract, vanilla bean powder, brown sugar, skim milk).

A wonderful smoothie – frozen banana and peaches, soursop juice, vanilla protein powder, and malted milk powder.

Delicious pandan coconut sparkler from Lucky Ox.

Other Half. We split a flight of mostly double IPAs but also their Mister Softee collab strawberry yuzu sour.

Saint Street Cakes. The hype about the chocolate chip cookie is real. We also really loved the miso peanut butter cookie and blackberry cornbread cake slice.

This mochi doughnut from Win Son‘s Manhattan location was probably the best thing we’ve eaten so far in 2025.

Post-run breakfast on the boardwalk! We split a turkey, egg, and cheese taco and a fresh juice with green apple, spinach, ginger, and lime. We probably wouldn’t get food from this spot again but I would definitely get another green juice.

An easy but exciting, mostly home-cooked dinner. Leftover brown rice reheated in the microwave with rice vinegar, furikake, and white sugar / mayak eggs (I also put some mini mozzarella balls down in the marinade! / broccoli roasted with evoo, five spice, and gochugaru / fried chicken tender from Dave’s Hot Chicken. P.S. I ate all of an order of fries on the drive home; they are fantastic.

Dinner at Kabawa. We had a great meal here – some of the best goat I’ve ever eaten. It wasn’t lit for photographs but I happened to get a shot of my two favorite dishes. The bread course with house-made roti and cassava dumplings and an assortment of sauces.

Birthday cake flan. This was the best flan I’ve ever eaten.

Dinner at The Long Island Bar. We loved it here!

Cheese curds.

Roasted beets with hazelnut dukkah, brandied cherries, ricotta salata, and creamy herbed vinaigrette and shocking good deviled crab toast with, roasted corn and herbs and black garlic mayonnaise on toasted sourdough.

A single patty L.I. burger – dry-aged beef patty, pickles, cheese, and fancy sauce. Plus a yummy side salad.

P.S. It’s Apple Month today!!

Drinks!

Catalina Crunch Wine Mixer

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Things from the week…

I tried a new canned coffee and was fairly impressed. It was not too weak or watery.

I did not like the key lime Barebells bar as much as I was expecting to though.

Triple berry yogurt. Plain Greek with chocolate coffee granola and blueberries, blackberries, and a few raspberries (which I hate but added to be festive).

Soursop juice!

I used it in a matcha spritz with lime seltzer.

We are fans of this bougie Chex Mix.

Seattle Chocolate Moon Rocks bar with pop rocks! We bought a bunch of mini bars from this company while were are at the Seattle airport on our last vacation and they made the flight home exponentially more pleasant.

Red curry tofu. I loosely followed this recipe for the sauce but used light coconut milk and more broth. We used firm tofu, scallions, red bell pepper, green beans, and basil.

Chicken and rice soup. Sauteed shitake mushrooms and dinosaur kale with scallions, garlic, ginger, and white pepper / leftover brown rice / baked chicken breast / chicken broth, light coconut milk, white miso, fish sauce, and Sriracha. I topped my bowl with chili oil.

Rockaway Beach Day

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Things from a great weekend…

Space Cowboy is a new coffee spot in Long Beach this year and I’m a fan. They have some inventive drinks — like this root beer cold foam cold brew. Every weekend we can we go for a run on the Long Beach Boardwalk followed by an iced coffee and it’s a great date.

Salted peanut butter David Bar = 10/10. The texture (chewy with crunchies) and flavor of these is just right for me.

We had a perfect (delicious!) afternoon at Rockaway Beach. Rockaway Beach Bakery – yuzu and mixed berry bun with cream cheese frosting.

More yuzu in a margarita at Rippers.

They also served us the best cheeseburger we’ve had in NYC this year! Makes my top three list, easily. Plus crispy yet creamy, well-seasoned fries.

And you can’t go to Rockaway without getting a perfect frozen pina colada at Connolly’s.

Olmsted is sadly closing and their final dinner service is tonight. We had a nice meal there Saturday sharing a bunch of dishes. Fava bean falafel with Calabrian honey, pea shoots, and pickled shallots.

King salmon crudo with rhubarb agrodolce and cilantro. <– our favorite bite of the night

Kale and crab rangoon.

Cauliflower okonomiyaki with hazelnuts, kosho mayo, and tonkatsu sauce.

Heirloom tomato schnitzel with whipped ricotta, yuzu piperade, and basil sunflower butter.

Pasilla rubbed scallops with roasted corn and a blueberry gastrique.

Finally – chocolate mousse.

Take-out dinner. Guac Shop is a fast-casual Mexican spot near us and while they don’t have roasted zucchini they do have fantastic tofu (and some great veggie topping options). This bowl was brown rice, hot sauce, tofu, cabbage, sweet potato, corn, and cheese.

P.S. We were so taken with Varli‘s Indian food that we are heading back there for dinner tonight!

Coconut Iced Coffee

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Completely unintentionally, the bulk of what I have to share from this weekend is coconut iced coffees. I’m not mad about it. The highlights…

New York Beanery‘s seasonal special – Moonbeam Iced Latte – coconut-infused espresso with coconut sweet cream and marshmallows.

See also – Cholita‘s Cocada – espresso with oat milk, sweetened condensed milk, and coconut.

Finally, we had brunch at Hellbender and I had a coconut shakerato. And a spicy Bloody Maria!

Hellbender is one of our favorite restaurants in the city and this was our first time trying their new brunch menu so we shared a bunch of things. Crispy lamb taco with avocado salsa, onion, and cilantro. 10/10.

Soft scrambled egg tostada with black beans, cheddar cheese, salsa macha, and sesame. This was my favorite dish of the meal. Plus chorizo-spiced crispy potatoes.

We didn’t love our heirloom masa pancakes because they tasted a bit burnt but if the edges weren’t overdone I could see this being fantastic.

Jell-o flavor of the day for dessert – coconut lime. Definitely the best jell-o I’ve ever eaten.

I find Chip City hit or miss but I was a fan of the oatmeal cream thinwich.

Chicken and waffle fries! Waffle fries with sharp cheddar, maple syrup, crispy chicken, and a crispy Whole Food’s Belgium waffle.

Plus a jumbo salad for balance – romaine with Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, baby tomatoes, cucumber salad (thinly sliced cucumbers with sugar, salt, and togarashi), raisins, and smoked almonds.