Tag Archives: coconut

Traverse City 2023

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Adam and I had an amazing vacation in Michigan! We ran along the lake, took a ferry to Mackinac Island and admired the flowers, explored downtown, and spent time with friends and met their twin babies!

Our favorite things we ate included…

A perfectly roasty latte from Higher Grounds.

Iced espresso with cherry cold foam from Espresso Bay.

A fantastic s’mores cold foam cold brew from Biggby Coffee.

Rocky road fudge on Mackinac Island.

Ice cream with housemade fudge from Milk & Honey.

Yuzu and Earl Grey macarons from Merlyn’s Patisserie. Also an ube crinkle cookie that was the 2nd best cookie I’ve ever eaten.

The number one best cooke we’ve ever eaten was a peanut butter cookie from Common Good.

The smoked whitefish hushpuppies from Great Turtle.

Everything on the menu at Sugar2Salt, our new favorite restaurant. We liked it here so much we went back the next day! This was The Duck – duck leg confit, duck ham, duck sausage, and a duck egg with applesauce, poached pear, and crispy greens.

The salad from Mama Lu’s with pepitas and gigante beans. Plus a margarita made with creamy coconut.

A cherry whiskey slushee from Traverse City Whiskey Co.

The Pterodact Ale IPA from Terra Firma.

Potatoes, Eggs, And Coffees

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It was a wonderful weekend! Adam and I had a ton of time together, the weather was gorgeous, and we took some great walks around the Lower East Side and Williamsburg and admired the spring flowers. Also we went on a million and one dates; our fridge is stuffed to the brim with leftovers – a very good problem to have!

Some highlights include…

Iced coffee with ube cold foam.

Dalgona iced latte with strawberry milk and and a dreamy packet of peaflower and edible glitter!

Iced matcha with ginger sparkling water and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Pazazz apple – a good spring choice, sweet and crispy.

Butterdose. Cream puffs – yuzu, ube coconut, and an Easter special with Cadbury eggs, Oreo, whipped cream frosting, and cream cheese filling.

Levain. This dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie tastes exactly like brownie batter and was the #1 best thing I ate all weekend.

Lindens. This meal was pretty unforgettable; the space was gorgeous and it was hands-down the best service I have ever experienced at a restaurant. We will be going back!

Lavender Daisy – pisco, gin, lavender, concord grape jam, lemon, club soda, and egg white.

Rosemary spiced margarita with mezcal, habanero, grapefruit, and agave.

Parker house rolls with grilled ramp butter. Tempura artichoke, maitake, and broccolini with chili oil and a cilantro yogurt sauce.

Herbed shoestring fries with a truffle aioli. 3rd best thing I ate this weekend and easily the best fries I’ve eaten the past 5 years.

Cheeseburger with grilled onion and cherry pepper relish.

Ocean Code. We had a highball with kyoho grape syrup.

Oden – beef, black fungus, daikon, tofu, and an inari-wrapped mochi ball in a super flavorful broth.

I had the spicy tuna rice bowl.

Okka. Very good cortado and Turkish coffee, plus baklava.

OTB. My favorite bar food in Brooklyn. The fantastic cup on the left was a frozen mojito.

Nuggets and chili cheese fries.

Rule of Thirds. Chiba Surf Club – yuzu sake, lillet, strawberry, sparkling wine, and fresh chives.

Douglas Fir-Banks – sesame shochu, gin, peach, vetiver, lime, umeboshi, and douglas fir. Plus a hojicha iced latte that was the 2nd best thing I ate this weekend.

Souffle pancake.

Japanese omelette sandwich on milk bread with miso mayo and yuzu cucumbers.

Smashed potatoes with mushrooms, hatcho miso, and a poached egg.

Burrito Dreams

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Adam and I had a really lovely weekend. There were storms Friday night into Saturday morning but afterwards the weather cleared up nicely so we could enjoy some walking dates. We covered a lot of ground, including walks across the Williamsburg Bridge and Queensboro Bridge. Also a trip to the Guggenheim for the Nick Cave exhibit.

Highlights included…

Sawada Coffee‘s iced latte with hojicha.

Doughnut Project‘s maple cruller is our favorite doughnut in the city.

Lucky Kings Bakery‘s fried mochi stuffed with red bean paste and rolled in sesame seeds. This was amazing.

Banana pudding at Baonanas. Cookies and cream and ube.

Drinks at Dante. Our favorite was this Amalfi Limonata – malfy lemon gin. limoncello, lemon curd, lemon juice, and limonata soda.

I 100% planned last week’s meals so we would have leftover ingredients for homemade painkillers. Pineapple juice, fresh orange juice, and light coconut milk with sweetened condensed milk with dark rum.

Brunch at Loulou. I had a Remy – tequilla, Lillet Rose, and homemade grenadine with lime and sparkling grapefruit.

Also a gruyere omelette.

Lunch at Tacombi. Horchata / hibiscus agua fresca with mezcal and chile.

Corn esquites.

Breakfast taco with eggs, pico, and Oaxaca cheese. <– best dish of the meal

Birria tacos.

Dinner at Super Burrito. We ordered all of this week’s specials with ground beef – burrito, crunchwrap, and nachos. We loved it here!

Epic homemade burrito bowls. Roasted cauliflower rice with roasted onion/bell peppers/poblano pepper, sharp cheddar, double roasted salsa, chicken and chile verde sausage, crispy tortilla strips, and pickled jalopenos.

Green Moose, Guava Juice

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Highlights from a yummy week…

The Hanoi roast is definitely my new favorite bean from Nguyen Coffee Supply.

Coconut breakfast bar.

Key lime skyr with passionfruit, banana, and chia seeds; plus granola halfway through.

These guava crackers were weird in a wonderful way; super thin and crispy and a bit sweet.

Fun drinks – tasty spiced hibiscus bissap tea and soursop nectar.

I enjoyed my soursop in a margarita!

See also – rum and coke slushies. Frozen coke ice cubes blended with Cruzan rum and fresh lime.

We made some really great dinners, all of which received a healthy dousing of hot sauces. I stuck with these three for a Caribbean theme.

Coconut rice and beans – brown rice cooked with coconut milk, dark kidney beans, onion, ginger, habanero, and spices / curried fish cakes – canned tuna and salmon with egg, panko, mayo, and Jamaican curry powder / rainbow chard and celery sauteed with some fish sauce and rice vinegar.

Sauteed zoodles with pineapple pulled chicken (a loose take on this recipe).

Roasted kabucha squash with a very loose take on callaloo – frozen kale with coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, habanero, turkey, bacon, fresh crab, and spices.

Oahu 2.0

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This week’s eats were like a mini vacation; the highlights were mostly things we brought back from Hawaii!

Coconut creme coffee with coconut cream. The cream was a terrible idea – it was too fatty and it clumped in the cold coffee – but the coffee with plain skim milk was dreamy.

Local jellies.

I made a yogurt bowl with passionfruit butter, banana, and vanilla almond granola.

And a killer drink with guava jelly, vodka, lime, and ginger seltzer.

The last of our 7-11 candy stash. The creamy peach seeds (basically candied peaches with li hing) were my favoite.

I didn’t bring this jelly sake drink back from Hawaii but that is where I discovered them. So thrilled to have found them close to home now too – they are definitely in my top five favorite drinks. They are sweet and fizzy and loaded with jelly (think grass jelly consistency from boba shops).

Finally, this dinner has nothing to do with Hawaii but it was too good not to share. Roasted riced cauliflower / locally made lamb sausage / topping made with deglet dates, pistachio, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, and parsley.

Hawaii 2022

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Adam and I just returned from six fantastically glorious days in Oahu! Best vacation we have taken yet.

Everything was beautiful (of course!), we got incredibly lucky with the weather, we loved our hotel (Hotel La Croix – amazing staff, beautiful views, and perfectly walkable to the beach and downtown), and we swooned over every activity and meal! And we saw a seal!! I did not pack a camera but couldn’t stop myself from Instagramming incessantly.

Some of our favorite activities – – –

Hiking. We went on four hikes this visit. Makapu’u Light House Trail / Kuliouou Ridge Trail / Diamond Head / Ka’ena Point State Park.

We went to Green World Coffee Farm and walked through the coffee plants. We also got a fantastic tour (with tastes) of the Old Sugar Mill Brand Waialua Coffee where they grow coffee and cacao.

Some of our favorite bites – – –

Flavor themes of the week – ahi, malasada, mochi, musubi, passionfruit, poke, taro, and yuzu. I lost my photo but we had a wonderful traditional meal at Helena’s – my first time trying poi!

We walked over to Kona Coffee Purveyors several times. Also to the Starbucks Reserve for this delicious americano con crema with demura sugar and cinnamon.

Guava malasada from Leonards. Also my favorite thing I ate all trip was a taro mochi malasada from a convenience store.

There was a great Japanese store near our hotel and between that and the well-stocked 7-11 I tried some very exciting things.

Passionfruit mochi bar.

Salted cod roe and cheese musubi.

Halo halo.

Local fruits from a roadside stand. Starfruit, passionfruit, and coconut.

Shave Ice! We went to Waiola Shave Ice and Matsumoto Shave Ice. The boring looking one was actually white cake and yuzu (!!!) with vanilla ice cream and sweetened condensed milk.

Poke! So much fresh tuna. We went to Maguro Brothers and Ono Seafood.

Dinner at O’Kims. Fried chicken and purple rice with the best kimchi I’ve ever eaten.

Lunch at Piggy Smalls was our favorite meal of the trip! And dinner at Pig and the Lady was a close second. Twice fried brussel sprouts, tea leaf salad, brisket with pancakes and eggs, great cocktails (Adam had a POG slushie!), and an egg coffee.

A perfect trip!

Rainbow, Sprinkle

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Highlights from a quite tasty weekend —

Whistle and Fizz. We got a black sesame latte and a yuzu mint lemonade.

Fantastic espresso pain au chocolat from Librae Bakery.

Banana bars. I hated the Misfits one (I tried another flavor from them and hated that too, will not buy again) but loved the Bob’s Red Mill.

Tuna snack plate. Crackers, bell pepper, and a packet of spicy thai chili tuna.

Our first trip (of hopefully many!) to Lady Wong. We loved the coconut pandan steamed rainbow cake.

More rainbow – I added sprinkles to my epic Hanoi Dessert Shop sundae. Bright Eyes: vanilla soft serve, hot fudge, egg custard, chocolate sesame crunch, and Vietnamese coffee over crushed ice.

Cheese plate dinner! Mini brie / bell pepper / feta dip / cheddar crisps / seasoned pretzels / chocolate sea salt almonds / beef bacon / apple pie rice cakes / extra-sharp cheddar / smoked almonds / crackers / dried apples.

Plant-based chicken tenders plus chicken-based chips with roasted green beans and honey mustard.

A feast at Au Za’atar. We shared fried halloum with garlic, honey, and olive oil.

Plus Dalaa Mahshi, braised lamb shoulder with seasoned rice. The meat was amazing, particularly when paired with the complimentary pickles and garlic tahini.

Tres Leches Latte

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Such a good week of meals! Highlights include…

Coconut tres leches iced latte! Espresso with a blend of coconut milk, condensed milk, and half and half. I was making a rose coffee syup at the same time so I went ahead and dyed it pink!

Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with chia seeds and strawberry jam, yellow peach, passionfruit, and praline granola.

My birthday is this weekend so these felt appropriate. We have loved every single thing we’ve tried from Made Good.

Boozy grape slushie – grape soda ice cubes blended with vodka. <– my best idea of the summer

A take on callaloo. Collard greens, turkey bacon, and crab meat cooked with coconut milk, onion, scotch bonnet pepper, ginger, and chili flakes.

Adam paired his with rice like an adult and I paired mine with pizza like a winner.

Creamy, spicy, peanut noodles. Ramen noodles + stir-fried cabbage and red bell pepper + a sauce with cream cheese, peanut butter, and gojuchang.

I gussied up store-bought marinara to make a delicious meat sauce – turkey bacon, ground turkey, onion, chili flake, urfa pepper, fish sauce, and tons of garlic. Served on Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocci with a side of garlic bok choy.

We also used meat sauce on homemade pizza. Plus sauteed broccoli with butter, chili flake, and garlic.