A Few Of My Favorite Things

We had quite a lovely time this past weekend; several long walks, lots of dog cuddles, and I had at least six of my favorite foods.  Five highlights include…

{1} The new cold brew can from Partners Coffee.

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{2} A coffee date at Rose Wolf.  We had a quad iced latte with skin milk (<– #1 favorite thing) and a whipped coffee with oat milk and vanilla.

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{3} The ET Stay Home series from Evil Twin is our new all-time favorite in beer.  We were over the moon for #8 (a sour ale brewed with pineapple, guava, hot chili peppers, and conditioned on marshmallows) and #9 (a sour ale brewed with brown sugar, apples, apricots, almonds, and milk sugar).

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{4} Halo Halo from Pig and Khao.  Shaved ice with leche flan, ube ice cream, and macapuno.

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{5} My favorite thing I’ve eaten all year = the dumpling collaboration from Pizza Loves Emily and Mimi Chengs.  Pat LaFrieda dry-aged beef, Grafton aged cheddar, crushed pretzels, caramelized onions, and Emmy Sauce.

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Soursop And Szechuan Peppers

Today is my 1st day back in at the hospital after a day off and a two-day stint of project days at home.  I had to recertify in ServSafe and I had a big task to work on (updating the Nutrition Department’s Clinical Practice Guidelines to be more current/evidence-based) so my boss let me work from home, which was lovely.   I got to leisurely brew Phin coffee and sip while I worked!  Plus I ate a million snacks.  <– Normally I sit in the ICUs and wear an N-95 for most of the day so I took full advantage of having a free face!

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Highlights included…

The company that makes the instant espresso we love for Dalgona coffees also makes a really good espresso roast.

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Plain Greek yogurt bowl with blackberries, peach, cashew butter, and a chopped up Bueno Bar.  <– I realize it is ridiculous to stir a candy bar into your lunch but this was breath-takingly good and I’m glad I did it!

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Vanilla skyr yogurt bowl with blackberries, black plum, cashew butter, coconut chips, and starry sprinkles.

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Adam and I had to go into Manhattan for a doctor’s appointment so we stopped by Bibble and Sip for a cream puff.  A cream puff topped with crème brûlée and filled with milk tea cream and boba!

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I snacked on nuts every day this week.  These sweet Thai chili almonds were a favorite.

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Still obsessed with Hal’s caffeinated cola seltzer.

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Adam and are both head over heels for these dinner mints.  We made it through 12 years of marriage before we realized we are both fans of these guys!

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This soursop ice cream was possibly the very best packaged ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

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I topped this cheese enchilada meal with more cheese, sour cream, and Crystal hot sauce and it was 10/10.  P.S. I highly recommend Amy’s frozen meal options, this one is good even if you aren’t over the top about it.

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There’s a newish poke place in our neighborhood that lets you add a thousand toppings.  This was white rice with crabcake, tofu, eel sauce, spicy mayo, cucumber, shiitakes, shredded carrot, string bean, green onion, tamago (shredded egg omelet), oshinko (pickled veggies), inari (tofu skin), garlic crisps, and lotus chips.

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Blistered green beans – sauteed with garlic, ginger, and chili oil – with Trader Joe’s mini chicken and cilantro wontons.

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Have a great – safe, distanced – weekend!

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Sweet Polly, Sweetie Pies

Adam was on vacation this weekend and since we couldn’t travel anywhere we did all of the fun, social-distancing things in New York!  Highlights include…

Breakfast from Sweetie Pies on Main in Cold Springs Harbor.  We got a cookies and cream scone

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and a quad, non-fat, iced latte with toasted marshmallow syrup

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and ate while walking around and admiring the water.

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Lunch from Lunch Lobster Roll in Montauk.  We got lobster rolls for take-out and ate near the beach.  They gave us so much lobster!

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Drinks from Sweet Polly in Park Slope.  The fact that social distancing rules have pretty much killed open container laws in NYC is a giant silver lining.  This pina colada was perfect for enjoying on a long stroll.

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Dinner from Takumen in Long Island City.  We got take-out and ate on the water!!  <– best ambiance of the weekend

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Hoji-cha bubble tea with oat milk.

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Karaage fried chicken.

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Ban ban chicken ramen for me.  Topped with chili oil and a soft-boiled egg.

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It’s Easy Being Greenpoint

Non-food things I’ve been loving lately —

Seinfeld!  I obviously quite enjoyed it in the ’90’s as well but we’ve been doing a rewatch on Hulu.  I can’t tolerate any TV that isn’t light/funny lately so old sitcoms are perfect for me.

“Adore” by Amy Shark has been played at least once on every one of my runs recently.  I heard it on an episode of Schitt’s Creek, which I’m also completely obsessed with but had to stop watching in the middle because the final season isn’t out on Netflix yet.

Dave Chapelle’s new special, “8:46,” should be required reading for any white person who still isn’t clear on why the Black Lives Matter protests are happening/necessary.

We spent Sunday getting take-out and picnicing around Greenpoint and it was a perfect day.  I love everything about how the businesses in that neighborhood brand themselves, it’s such a delight just to walk around and admire stuff.

Edible highlights this weekend —

Quad shot iced Americano with skim milk from Maman.  Plus an absolutely divine double chocolate cookie with oat milk ganache.

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Toasted coconut almonds.  I’ve been having a real love affair with nuts lately and these were a perfect blend of salty and sweet.

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Take-out cocktails and a cheeseburger from Elder Greene was obviously our best lunch of the year so far.

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Plus we got cocktails from Ramona – frozen painkiller!! – for dessert.

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Our long-time favorite pizza spot recently reopened so we got a giant buffalo chicken pie.

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I made spicy salmon roll fries.  With Kewpie, Furikaki, Sriracha, rice vinegar, and smoked salmon.

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Team Unicorns

Highlights from a very yummy week…

Still obsessed with Dalgona Coffees.

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Also yogurt bowls with fresh berries.  Plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, and amazing espresso vanilla cream granola.

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Skyr with berries, cinnamon, maple, and TJ’s flax and chia seed peanut butter.

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This cola seltzer was a very limited released and I was quite sad to finish my last bottle this week.

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Since we did several nights of sandwiches for dinner chips as a mid-day snack just felt appropriate.  Seaweed chips and kettle corn popcorners.

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Our cocktail hour was 10/10 this week.  We are fully obsessed with homemade frozen painkillers!

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Ninja vs Unicorn double IPA.

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Romaine salad with TJ’s Greek feta dressing, cotija cheese, rainbow shredded carrots, and fried eggs.

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A turkey sandwich on sweet Hawaiian bread with smoked gouda, mayo, mustard, and pickle relish.  Plus a side salad.

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Best meal of the week = a soft-scrambled egg sandwich with smoked gouda and spicy mustard.  Plus roasted okra.

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Painkillers In Quarantine

Highlights from the weekend…

Cold brew with chocolate milk.

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Cinnamon coffee.

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I ate my first apple in months – a very crispy Lady Alice – and it was delightful.

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Cookie butter Greek yogurt – with granola and chocolate chips.

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Beer!  The Grimm was too ear waxy for my tastes but the Kills Boro Amethyst sour IPA with blueberries and lavender was very drinkable.

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We were supposed to be back home in St. Thomas for carnival this weekend; instead we consoled ourselves with homemade Painkillers.  Nutmeg, pineapple juice, orange juice, rums, and I substituted low-fat coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk for coconut cream which worked out great!

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Leftover buffalo chicken pizza – with honey and Korean chili flakes – with baby carrots and blueberries.

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Roasted veggie bowls – broccoli, bell pepper, and cojita – topped with fried egg and Crystal hot sauce.

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Double Dry Hopped

Highlights from this week include…

Cafe Bustelo with chocolate milk, aka one of the best espresso-roast coffees with the best chocolate milk.

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Yogurt bowls!  Working from home means I can make a fresh yogurt bowl every day and I have been loving the crap out of having berries around.  Very excited that we are going to the store tomorrow and can restock.  Icelandic-style coffee yogurt with blueberries, blackberries, and coconut chips.

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Plain Greek yogurt with cinnamon, berries, honey maple granola, and TJ’s flax and chia seed peanut butter.

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Plan skyr yogurt with cinnamon, maple syrup, berries, and almonds and candied walnuts.

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Korean snacks from this month’s Snack Crate.

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Vanilla pineapple IPA brewed with lactose.  I’m pretty sure I want every single beer that Collective Arts sells.

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Other Half Double Dry Hopped Broccoli.  This was insanely drinkable and mellow.

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Buffalo chicken pizza.

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Ground turkey with shiitake mushrooms, onion, tomato paste, and sour cream on a bed of roasted cabbage.  This dish had so much umami!

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The best dish of the week = roasted cabbage // topped with seasoned baked tofu // and esquites.

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{Insert Fifth Harmony Lyric}

This was my first week of work-from-home and it’s definitely been an adjustment.  When I’m at work-work I tend to skip lunch 1-2 days a week because I’m busy or just not that hungry but home apparently my appetite works just fine!  I ate all the snacks.  <– all the snacks, like I can’t do a repeat performance next week because I ate all of the ice cream that was supposed to last until our next grocery trip 🙂

Thankfully we had some really good snacks on hand!  Here were the highlights…

Phin coffee with sweetened condensed milk (10/10, would recommend).

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New Orleans coffee can with scm (9/10, would recommend).

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Chicken and waffle chicken chips (10+/10, would recommend).

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Sesame ginger chicken jerky (8.5/10, would recommend).

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Sweet and spicy gummies (9/10, would recommend).

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Chocolate-covered salted caramel vegan marshmallows. (9/10, would recommend).

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Also I was thrilled to have some fresh fruit on hand and made a large, exciting yogurt bowl every day.  Trader Joe’s guava passion fruit Greek yogurt with fresh mango and blackberries and honey maple granola.

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Coffee skyr with granola, blueberries, and coconut chips.

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Plan Greek yogurt with cinnamon, maple syrup, granola, coconut chips, blueberries, blackberries, and TJ’s flax and chia seed peanut butter.

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And we made some really good dinners.  Green curry turkey chicken salad with roasted green beans.

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Sheet-pan fried cauliflower rice.  Very similar to this recipe but with cauliflower rice and smoked turkey breast.  It was wonderful!

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