Quality Time

by Emily

It was the best weekend ever; my boys came to visit me!!!!!

The three of us had just the absolute best time. It helped that we ate and drank such yummy things but mostly it was great to hold Adam’s hand while Webster sat in my lap.

We really made the most of Charlottesville too, we went to our two favorite restaurants and our two favorite drink spots, walked a ton downtown, ran at Riverside Park, and even went to a polo match with a group of my coworkers.

Highlights (including some random things I ate on Friday) include…

An Apple Month breakfast, Trader Joe’s caramel apple yogurt with cinnamon cereal.

Brunch at Quality Pie. We split an egg and cheese biscuit and salmon with scrambled eggs and cream cheese on rye.

Also a chocolate chip cookie.

Hail Merry cookie dough bites.

Beers at Hardywood. Tropic like it’s Hot sour with dragon fruit, blueberry, passionfruit, and pineapple // Tropication IPA // The Great Return IPA // Raspberry Short Kate milkshake IPA brewed with milk sugar and fresh raspberries.

Cocktails at Vitae. S’mores = smoked rum, chocolate bitters, marshmallow simple syrup, orange, and a graham cracker rim.

Hawaiian take out from Mochiko. Mochiko fried chicken with cucumber kimchi, slaw, and rice. Plus a passionfruit shortbread bar.

A simple salad at home. Romaine with champagne vinaigrette, celery, cashews, and curried chicken salad.

Dinner at Little Star = the best meal of the weekend and also maybe the best thing I’ve eaten in 2019. We ordered all of the things but it was serendipitous that we overordered because now Adam has dinner for tonight after his long drive.

Heirloom tomatoes with strawberries, house-made ricotta, basil, red wine dressing and chili flakes.

French fries with tarragon aioli.

Esquites, sweet corn with spring onions, Kewpie mayo, chili corn hot sauce, cilantro, and green onion.

Braised lamb with pasilla de Oaxaca romesco, butter braised leeks, and sweet onions.

Chicken with mojo verde, brown butter, and crispy epazote.

Local coffee.

Basque cheesecake.

10Sep2019

A New York Weekend

by Emily

I spent a long weekend visiting my boys in New York and had the best time ever! I walked a ton, caught up with friends, ate all the things, slept with Webster pressed up against my ribs, and got to hold my husband’s hand while we talked about his new gig – perfect!

Highlights included…

A 7 mile walk down through Chelsea and across the bridge into Williamsburg.

Iced lattes! Terremoto and Cafe Leon Dore.

Danish chocolate cinnamon swirl at Ole and Steen.

Brunch with a former coworker at Penelope. I love taking people there because they are always blown away by how cute it is. And my croissant sandwich with scrambled eggs, cheddar, and pesto was delicious.

Lunch at the new Xi’an Town. Cold fried hand ripped noodles with veggies plus cucumber salad.

Dinner with friends at Gertie. I had the blue plate special – rotisserie chicken, local green beans, and schmaltzy fried potatoes.

A half pound pink velvet cookie stuffed with cream cheese frosting from City Cakes.

The best thing we ate all weekend = ice cream from Spoons. Vanilla soft serve blended with sprinkles and Fruity Pebbles and topped with torched marshmallow!

30Aug2019

Coconut, Coffees, And Chickpeas

by Emily

Excitement from last weekend: I hung out with my extended family! At their cabin on the river in Maryland where we went boating and ate fresh crab!! And my boys were there!!!

IMG_20190824_114301_579

Upcoming this weekend: Nothing as exciting as seeing Adam and Webster. Actually, I am working on Sunday. And on Saturday I am signed up for a 4 mile race with several of my coworkers.

Food highlights from the week:

Trader Joe’s coconut cold brew. The coconut is nice but this is too sour for my tastes.

Triple Draft La Colombe cans are kind of ridiculously frothy.

Yogurt bowl win. Vanilla Siggi’s with chocolate hazelnut and almond butter and blackberries.

This was a I got hungry while grocery shopping and couldn’t wait snack but it ended up being quite tasty.

20190826_192200

This double IPA is my favorite beer I tried all summer. Honestly all of the things from True Respite look amazing right now, they have a sour beer brewed with Gushers?!!

The best dinner I ate all week was the night my cousin had friends over and we had crab cakes and salad with fresh corn. But this Greek-style salad wasn’t bad either. Romaine / TJ’s Greek feta dressing / green olives / cucumber / roasted chickpeas / dolmas.

And one night I made a yummy tasting plate. Dubliner cheese / chicken and maple jerky hard-boiled eggs / dolmas / roasted green beans.

28Jun2019

Super Salad

by Emily

We are 85% moved to NYC and the move went swimmingly! Plus we had a fantastic time at our friends’ wedding.

Here were the highlights from this week…

These new Trader Joe’s chocolate covered espresso beans are my new favorite thing. They have the perfect ratio of bean to candy and the chocolate coating isn’t waxy at all.

Ridiculously good cake from Marie Bette; chocolate with salted caramel frosting.

This cranberry sour ale was a total winner.

I got a smoked chicken quesadilla from Asado that was shockingly good. Plus fries with queso!

I had an amazing salad bowl from Mezeh. Mixed greens // veggie kefta // tabouleh // olives // red cabbage slaw // cucumber // caramelized eggplant // roasted corn // baba ganoush // harissa and tzatziki dressings.

Plus we made wonderful salads at home. TJ’s cruciferous crunch mix // spicy peanut vinaigrette // sesame honey cashews // hot smoked salmon // hard-boiled eggs. I made the eggs in the oven because we don’t have any pots and they came out great!

Finally, we met my cousin and her fiance for dinner at Maya. I had catfish with sweet potato fries and garlic broccoli. Plus we shared a cheese plate (with pickled apples!) and peanut butter pie.

IMG_20190626_204256_591

21Jun2019

On The Move

by Emily

It was an odd week here because we are moving all of our stuff to New York today. Note – we’re not moving, all of our stuff is moving; we’re living out of suitcases in Charlottesville for the next month+. Anyway, I was afraid to dirty anything in the kitchen while we were trying to sort and pack so 90% of our food this week came in a take-out box.

Here were the highlights…

Coffee combo – Starbucks Komodo Dragon blend with sweetened condensed milk.

This month’s Snack Crate from Poland.

Poke bowl from Poke Bowl. Sushi rice with tofu, krab, cucumber, edamame, spicy mayo, seaweed salad, green onions, and onion crisps.

Dumplings from Got Dumplings. More seaweed salad plus tofu dumplings and curry chicken dumplings.

One night we did sneak away from packing to get dinner and play in trivia night at Firefly.

I had a mango margarita and totchos – tater tots with house-made cheese sauce, avocado, pico de gallo, black beans, and sour cream.

We are crossing our fingers for a smooth move today and then tomorrow we’re heading to Pennsylvania for some friends’ wedding. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

15Apr2019

Bowls On Bowls

by Emily

Seven wins from the past seven days…

{1} Peeps coffee creamer!! It tastes like vanilla marshmallow!!! But they should have made it pink.

{2} Speaking of marshmallow, I made cereal bars with Trader Joe’s neapolitan cereal. I brought them to a work event and they were a hit. I used my go-to recipe but took things up a notch with the addition of vanilla bean paste.

{3} I placed a super exciting order with the Mexican Candy Lady. The standout so far has been these flan gummies.

{4} Berry breakfast bowls. Liebe strawberry quark (<– this was 10/10, btw, super creamy and delicious!) / fresh blackberries / granola / cacao bliss.

{5} Cava bowls are currently our favorite take-out, there are a ton of toppings to choose from. This was greens / tzatziki / crazy feta spread / harissa / roasted vegetables / grilled chicken / pickled onion / cabbage slaw / chopped cucumber / kalamata olives / and green harissa dressing. Plus a side of really yummy house-made pita chips.